Apologies were noted and accepted from Mr A. Bull, and Mrs Varley, District Councillor. Mrs Oswald will be arriving late.

It was proposed by Mr Senneck and seconded by Mr Forrest and agreed by all that the Minutes of the Planning Committee Meeting held on 8th September 2005 be accepted as a true and proper record.

Mrs Stainton said that residents had commented to her that whilst there was now a pleasant walk from the RSPCA right through to the Country Park, there was only one dog bin on the route, and would it be possible for the Parish Council to install more bins.

Mr Clarke said that it was not the provision of the bins that was the issue, as the Parish Council were keen to provide new ones throughout the village, but Horsham District Council would not accept any more bins on their list to service and empty. Indeed it had been agreed by the District Council to put two new bins at Foxfields and on Millstraight, and it had reneged on this agreement and refused to install them.

The Deputy Clerk reported that the Parish Council were still experiencing difficulties in the servicing of the present bins; the operative had recently been on holiday, which meant that all the village dog bins were not emptied at all one week, without any prior notification. On these occasions, credit notes are not automatically issued, but have to be sought by Parish Council staff.

The Deputy Clerk also reported that the Parish Office had tried with no success to source another company to service dog bins.

Mr Senneck said that he had been approached to have a bin at the end of Easteds Lane, at the junction with the red route, but again until the issues surrounding the servicing of the bins has been resolved, a bin cannot be erected on this site.

Mrs Stainton will make enquiries at the District Council in relation to the possibility of adding new dog bins to the servicing list.

A resident in the Tower Hill area has copied the Parish Council in to a letter she has sent to John Lambarth, who is the Traffic Officer at County Highways. The resident has noted the temporary signage for a 30mph limit due to drainage works in the area, and is asking that they remain. She states that the road is narrow with no footpaths, and that there are several families with young children who live in the area.

Mr Nagy, Parish Councillor, has sent photos to the Clerk of missing road signs in the Blakes Farm Rd/Warren Drive area. Many delivery vehicles are confused by the present signage, resulting in them have to perform three-point turns in Warren Drive, which sometimes involves thirty vehicles a day.

Mr Nagy suggests

Mr Nagy also points out that there is no priority marked at the pinch point at the Coles roundabout end of Blakes Farm Rd. This is dangerous in his opinion, as the pinch point is partially unsighted due to the bend, resulting in regular "near misses".

There are also problems with the pinch point by the Southwater St underpass, as there have been several accidents as again the area is unsighted by the brow of the hill. Mr Nagy suggests that a warning sign to state "give way in 100 yards", as there is already a post with lighting on the site, but with no signage on it.

Mr Clarke pointed out that it was a 30mph limit along Blakes Farm Rd, and speeding motorists may account for some of the incidents at Southwater St underpass. However, if there was a signage pole already in situ, it made sense to use it.

Two complaints have been received in relation to horses fouling the red route. It has been pointed out that the path is also a bridleway, but it is apparent that the horses? hooves are damaging the tarmac surface.

This matter had already been reported to the Finance & General Purpose Committee meeting, and it had been agreed to ask the County Rights of Way department whether it would be possible to have signage to indicate that the grassed bridleway was in fact to the eastern side of the tarmaced route.

Mrs Stainton reported that the path through the Ghyll running from Timbermill through to the Leisure Centre was overgrown with brambles. Mr Senneck advised Mrs Stainton that the Ghyll is District Council land.

The following applications were deferred from last week?s Full Council meeting, when the Planning Committee was not quorate.

Mrs Hill declared in interest in DC/05/2051 as she is friends with the owners of the property. Mrs Hill left the room, and Mr Senneck took the Chair, as the Vice-Chair, Mrs Oswald had not yet arrived at the meeting.

The Deputy Clerk is currently making enquiries as to whether Ye Olde Barne can be listed. Initial investigations suggest that the building, although one of the oldest in the village, has had too many internal alterations to make it of sufficient interest to be listed. However, it is possible that the pond may be of historical value, as it was the old steam pond. The pond does not form part of the local drainage system, but is fed by a natural spring. The Environment Agency is currently checking to see what information they have on the pond.

The Technical Services Officer at Horsham District Council Chris Sepke has advised the Parish Council that he recently carried out a study of the pond at the owner?s request, and he had found that although the water levels in the pond fluctuated, they regained any losses naturally, and that the pond is sustainable in his opinion.

The Council have received two letters of objection to the proposal, both citing the historical relevance of both the house and the pond. One letter states that the pond has great crested newts.

A member of the public told the committee that he had had to put in 5000 gallons of water a week into the pond over the past few weeks, so the District Technical Services Officer was wrong to state that it was sustainable. The usual depth of the pond is in the region of 3 feet, but it is now only about 4inches in depth. There are no newts in the pond to his knowledge, and all the fish and lilies are to be transferred. The levels of the pond have not been the same since the Blakes Farm Rd estate was built as the water table was affected, and the member of the public has been told that the pond will take 25 years to recover.

Mr Stainton said that the main issue of this application was the proposed loss of the pond, as there is a generally agreed policy against the filling in of ponds. In this instance, there would be a loss to the street scene and wildlife habitat if the pond were to be removed. He reminded Councillors that the Local Development Framework had stated that Southwater was inappropriate for small scale developments such as this.

Mr Clarke asked if an Environment Impact Assessment had been requested for the pond. The Deputy Clerk reported that there was no indication that such an Assessment had been sought.

Mr Senneck said that in his opinion there were too many houses proposed for the site, even though the number fell within the requirements under PPG3. Mr Stainton suggested that the site could be seen as unsustainable.

The member of the public told the Committee that the pond had no traction engine rights. Rumours of this might have come about as the pond was used by some traction engines as a stopping point as part of some publicity that he had arranged some years ago. The water was too dirty to be used for traction engines.

Mrs Stainton said that she was under the impression that the pond had been used in years gone by as filling point for traction engines.

The member of the public said that all ponds in the area were used by such engines. However, Mrs Stainton said that she thought that this pond was one of the three main ponds in the area, together with the pond at Marlpost, and one other which she could not recall.

The member of the public said that there was a well on the site in which the water level rose and fell at the same level as the pond, which led him to believe that the water table had been affected in the recent past.