MINUTES of the ANNUAL PARISH MEETING held on 24th April 2008 at 7.30pm in Arlington Village Hall

1.

WELCOME 

The Chairman of the Parish Council, Mr John Turton welcomed six Parish Councillors and 24 members of the public to the Annual Parish Meeting along with two District Councillors, Cllrs J Blake and D White.

2.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 26th April 2007, having been circulated, were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

4.

CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT

The Chairman presented his report for the year, a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes.

5.

EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

Mr M Oates and Mr Michael Higgs from East Sussex Highways Safety Department presented the proposed traffic calming for Upper Dicker – plans were on display – which was to be installed later in the year once safety audits have been carried out on the design.

Residents present made critical reservations on the plans to include further measures. These would be taken into account by Highways to see if they could be included in the final draft. Any changes or updates on the plans would be conveyed in writing to the Parish Council for further consideration. The Chairman thanked Mr Oates and Mr Higgs for all their work and for attending the meeting.

6.

ARLINGTON PARISH PLAN

(Copy of presentation & ‘Draft’ plan on file with the minutes)

Arlington Parish Plan Steering Group gave a presentation one year on since it was first agreed to go forward with the Parish Plan. From the questionnaire last Autumn and subsequent consultation the group has drawn together the values, opinions and priorities which were expressed by residents and made them into the ‘Draft’ Arlington Parish Plan which they were presenting this evening. Various members of the group updated the meeting on aspects of the plan:-

Henry McCutcheon

Ray Collins

Frank Coward

Jenny Holland

Derek Newton

The ‘Draft Plan’ would be finalised with any additional comments following tonight’s meeting being inserted  and being published as a final document by the end of May after which a special Parish Plan meeting will be held on 10^th June 2008 in Arlington Village Hall at 7.00p.m. Short term plans were explained to the meeting, they are:-

Cuckmere Community Bus – residents felt that the proposed service was not what was required but additional services to and from Hailsham were

Recycling – residents felt that this was worth pursuing as soon as possible

Speeding and traffic issues – residents supported this in general

Lengthman Project – this was not to be included in projects for the present time but something to consider in the future

The meeting voted in favour of adopting the ‘Draft’ Plan and allowing it to move forward.

(Copy of the Action Group’s Terms of Reference and Working with the Parish Council on file with these minutes)

7.

Accounts 2007/08 - Distributed

8.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

None

The Chairman thanked all those who had participated by giving presentations and reports, and those who had attended the meeting for coming. He hoped to see more members of the public attending the regular Parish Council meetings. He thanked those who had provided the refreshments