FG50/07/05

There were no apologies for absence. Mr Dye and Mr Nagy will be arriving late.

FG51/07/05

There were no declarations of interest.

FG52/07/05

It was proposed by Mr Forrest and seconded by Mr Bull and agreed by all present that the Minutes of the Finance & General Purposes Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, 8th June 2005 be accepted as a true and proper record.

FG53/07/05

The Chairman asked Councillors if anyone would be attending the Art Exhibition tomorrow night at Easteds Barn, as the Deputy Clerk needed to inform Adult Education of the numbers.

Mr Pearson has accepted the Parish Council?s invitation to this month?s Full Council meeting on 27th July to mark the occasion of his retirement.

FG54/07/05

The Deputy Clerk referred Members to the financial analysis produced for the meeting giving a full breakdown of the current financial situation. She indicated that the Britannia deposit is now back with Britannia at a fixed rate of 4.3%.

It was reported at last week?s Full Council meeting that Partridge Green Football Club has not paid Invoice 365 dated 31st March 2005 for £57.60. After several phone calls and two warning letters, Mr Buckley as Internal Auditor authorised the sending of a letter threatening legal action. This letter was sent Recorded Delivery, and delivered on Thursday, 28th June. However, the outstanding amount has still not been paid.

The Leisure Centre Manager has been advised not to accept any further bookings from this customer, and that the Club should pay in advance in future.

The same situation has arisen with Greenway Football Club, with Invoice 363 dated 31st March for £79.50 remaining unpaid. No letter threatening legal action has been sent. Leisure Centre staff have spoken to this customer, who has promised to pay; indeed a later invoice has been paid. However, another member of the Club has now contacted the Leisure Centre to apologise for the delay, saying that unfortunately, there has been an alleged incident of misappropriation of funds at the Club. A personal cheque has been offered, although not yet received, and it has been agreed that all future bookings will be paid for in advance.

HM Revenue & Customs have written to advise that there has been a change in Customs Guidance concerning the estimation of input tax, which will entail local authorities being treated in the same ways as any other business using estimation. A questionnaire has been enclosed for completion by 31st August. A copy of this information and questionnaire has been passed to Mr Buckley, as Internal Auditor.

Mr Buckley reported that Input Tax was in fact another name for Value Added Tax. As the Parish Council does not estimate VAT, the questionnaire can be returned stating this.

These are almost ready to be sent off, although the report from the External Internal Auditor Mrs Anne Swain is yet to be received. The documentation may have to be sent without this report, and then sent at a later date.

FG56/07/05

Mr Buckley asked where the Fun Fair was to be held in the village, as he had seen it advertised. The Deputy Clerk replied that it would be in the field opposite the graveyard in Church Lane next weekend.

Mr Nagy asked if the police have been informed, and the Deputy Clerk replied that they had.

FG57/07/05

Councillors will have received a copy of the Interim Guidance for Measures for this Act, which will enable local councils, including parish councils to issue fixed penalty notices in relation to litter, graffiti, fly-posting and dog fouling. However, although the Guide sets out the definitions now in force under the new Act, it has not yet been decided how the fines will be collected.

Public consultation will carried out throughout the remainder of this year, with a view to publishing the final guidance in Spring 2006.

Mr Blanchflower said that the Parish Council should wait to receive guidance from Horsham District Council before deciding what, if any, aspect of the Act it wished to enforce. In his opinion, the Parish Council lacked the infrastructure to deal with the requirements for imposing and collecting fixed

penalty notices.

Mr Clarke asked whether in theory it would be possible for a designated Parish employee to approach e.g. youths at a bus stop and request them to stop littering. Mr Blanchflower said that it would not be possible for such an employee to approach anyone under the age of sixteen. He reiterated that the Parish Council should subscribe to a District Council led scheme, and not try to set one up itself.

FG58/07/05

Councillors will have received a copy of the Environmental review of all Council premises, commissioned free of charge from the Suppel Partnership. The recommendations are summarised for each premises:

There are no operating instructions for controlling the building services, as none were received when the Parish Council took over the building a few years ago. No programmers or controllers are used to control the heating apart from a wall thermostat controlling the under-floor heating in the Lardner Hall. This would imply that that the Leisure Centre is likely to be operating in an inefficient manner resulting in higher energy bills.

The recommendations for the Leisure Centre are:

The Barn is a reasonably energy-efficient building. The recommendations for the Barn are:

The recommendations for the Council Offices are:

FG59/07/05

Nothing to report.

The Deputy Clerk is currently researching the submission of a planning application to change the use of the Barn from meeting room, to allow for functions to be booked. Whether or not planning permission is needed for a storage unit/shed is also being investigated, as this could be put on the same application.

Nothing to report.

FG60/07/05

The Deputy Clerk has completed the application to have the current premises licence at the Leisure Centre transferred to the new licence, without provision for the sale of alcohol. As no change will be made to the existing licence, the fee will be nominal. However if any changes are made, e.g. to include the sale of alcohol, then the fee will be increased.

The Deputy Clerk was asked to investigate the fees for licensing areas of public open space within the village to stop others holding events on Parish Council land without permission.

Nigel Haverson, head of Public Health and Licensing has replied that the initial fee will be £100, with a further annual fee of £70. This will apply to each area of land, so smaller "pockets" of land would each be liable.

Mr Clarke noted that it would be difficult to define the separate areas of land in the village, as they did tend to adjoin one another.

Mr Blanchflower asked where the Clerk had received the advice to licence the areas of public open space. The Deputy Clerk replied that the Clerk had been given the information when she had attended the recent Larger Council Conference.

Mr Bull said that licensing the land would only prohibit others selling alcohol on the land, and would not deter others holding events on the land without permission e.g. barbecues. He was not in favour of applying for licences for the land.

Mr Blanchflower agreed, saying that if the Council had chosen to apply for a drinking ban in Southwater, then there would be no need for such licences. Mr Clarke said that as this matter had been discussed, then it could not be readdressed for six months, although he noted Mr Blanchflower?s comments.

Mr Bull said that the Village Hall would be applying for twelve TENs or Temporary Event Notices, and it would be written into the hall hires agreements, that the hirer must have the permission of the Committee prior to applying for a TEN. The conditions in applying for a TEN were stricter than the applying for the previous licence.

Mr Clarke said that it was important for all the Council?s hall hire agreements to have a similar clause stating that the Hirer must have the permission of the Leisure Centre Committee prior to applying for a TEN.

FG61/07/05

The Clerk has now spoken to John Lacy of Coole and Haddock. He has reported that the plan has gone to Land Registry for checking, and the four title documents are with Persimmons with various questions outstanding.

The materials for the new fencing have been ordered, and are due in this week. The contractor will advise when this has arrived and when work is to commence.

The area at the junction of Cripplegate Lane and Cedar Drive is very overgrown, and we have had complaints from residents enquiring when it will be cut back.

Mr Senneck will visit the area and report back to Council.

FG62/07/05

There is still some confusion as to where the Community Police Office will be resited after the demolition of the current unit as part of the Village Centre Redevelopment. Inspector Eastwood is of the opinion that the office will close, and has concerns about retaining the volunteers, but the Clerk has had discussions with Horsham District Council who are willing to provide alternative accommodation for the interim period. The Clerk has advised Insp. Eastwood to liaise with Mike Baty direct.

The PCSOs are saying that many acts of anti-social behaviour and vandalism are going unreported and present a false picture of the village. They asked that the public be encouraged to report all incidents, which will then be logged and recorded.

The next meeting will be on 12th July at the Leisure Centre.

Mr Senneck said that he had attended a site meeting with Jim Gee, Trevor Beadle, Alan Harris, the Cabinet member for Leisure, Alan Haffenden, the Crime Prevention Officer at Horsham District Council, and Steve Delahunt, the Country Park warden. Planning permission will now be sought to have the usage of the area changed from agricultural to car parking and street sports.

Mr Senneck reported that he had asked for the matter to be dealt with promptly by the District Council, or the impetus for the project would be lost.

FG63/07/05

John MacArthur has taken over temporary responsibility for the dog bins in the village, following the departure of Ian Poyser to another Council. The Clerk is trying to organise a meeting with him to discuss the provision of dog bins at Foxfields, Millstraight and the allotments as previously agreed, then refused by Mr Poyser.

With regard to the emptying of bins, Mr MacArthur stated that bar code technology can now prove that the operative visited the bin, although it cannot prove that he dealt with the contents. There is still an issue with some people filling the bins with carrier bags of waste immediately after the bin has been emptied. Mr MacArthur suggested that Southwater have bag dispensers installed at some sites to give people access to the right size of bag. The Clerk has informed him that Mr Poyser had already promised two dispensers at Church Lane and Edinburgh Close, but none had been forthcoming.

Mr Senneck reported that the Clerk had contacted Environmental Services to remove a chair and ironing board from Old Stakers Lane. As this had not been done, Mr Senneck removed them himself.

FG64/07/05

The possible provision of a Youth Worker by the local Churches was discussed fully at last week?s Full Council meeting.

Nothing further to report.

FG65/07/05

Hilary Conlon, the officer responsible for the Village Centre redevelopment application has now returned from leave and is addressing the issue of the possible decrease in size of the area of the community building designated for Parish Council use. She is also in the process of organising a site visit by the Parish Councillors for sometime in September.

Mr Nagy said that it was important that the usable area of the Parish Council office is defined, as this would exclude stairwells and corridors etc.

The Parish Office has made enquiries to have the electronic board removed and stored for the duration of the Village Centre Redevelopment. This will cost £500 to remove, and an additional £500 to put back in a new location once works are complete.

There are also other issues in relation to the noticeboard, as it appears that the mobile phone bill, via which the board receives its information, has not been paid. This bill has not been sent to the Parish Council, but to the District Council, and would explain why the board has not been functioning correctly of late.

Mr Nagy said that it was important that the board was professionally removed and stored.

FG66/07/05

Nothing to report.

FG67/07/05

The Deputy Clerk presented to Members for authorisation the payment schedule dated 6th July 2005 amounting to £2635.33 inclusive of VAT. The motion was proposed by Mr Dye seconded by Mr Apted and agreed by all present that the payment schedule dated July 2005 be accepted and approved.

FG68/07/05

The date of the next Finance & General Purposes Meeting will be Wednesday, 7th September 2005.

Mr Dye said that he wished to advise the Council that he would not be able to attend Council meetings for the next three months, due to work commitments away from home.

Mr Nagy pointed out that he was marked as present at the last Full Council meeting on 29th June 2005, when in fact he had given his apologies.

The meeting finished at 8.55pm