PARISH OF
ANNUAL PARISH
MEETING,
CHAIRMANS REPORT TO THE MEETING
The Parish of Arlington is essentially rural in character
However, we have some facilities not normally found in a small rural parish and
This varied landscape is reflected in the ongoing work of your Parish Council during a busy year since April 2007..
Planning
Arlington Parish Council is a statutory consultee to Wealden
District Council for all planning applications within the parish. Councillors
Helen Proctor (for Upper Dicker) and Carolyn McCutchan (for
A liaison committee of the Parish Council meets regularly with the school to discuss local issues, including initial information relating to future planning applications.
From the many planning applications received for
consultation, I would select two that have caused some controversy this year.
Firstly, the application by Sussex Past to host a limited number of corporate
dinners at Michelham Priory raised objections on account of noise and
disturbance, particularly to nearby residents and was opposed by your council
and subsequently by Wealden District Council. However this application was
granted on appeal subject to strict conditions. Secondly, an application by St
Bede’s school for four multi use sports pitches to be constructed by St Bedes school in a field behind
Your Parish Council consulted with Wealden District Council
concerning Strategic Planning. . This arose from housing development
targets, including affordable housing, set by Central Government and the South
East Regional Assembly for the Wealden District up to the year 2026. A
portfolio of policy documents known as the ‘Local Development Framework’ set
out the general development principles. In particular, the consultation
focussed on an ‘Issues and Options Paper’ that invited the views of the council
regarding proposals for spatial development across the Wealden District, known
as the Core Strategy. A public meeting for residents was held on
Limited development within villages was favoured by your
Council with up to 25-30 new homes at Upper Dicker, including affordable homes.
A small number of low-cost market homes at
Adequate infrastructure including transport links and services should be provided throughout Wealden.. Money generated from 106 agreements should stay within the locality for the improvement of local amenities.
A further consultation took place concerning the Wealden Design Guide. As a document within the Local Development Framework, the purpose of the guide was to set standards and general principles of housing and other developments within the Wealden District. Your council commented on the need for design to minimise the effect of road noise, to control domestic and garden waste and to provide adequate parking. We thought that the guide was a highly commendable document, particularly regarding the control of light pollution, the protection of natural landscapes, energy saving and water conservation.
Post Office closure
In common with many individuals and other organisations your council opposed the closure of the Upper Dicker post office by writing in some detail to Gary Herbert, Network Development Manager,
indicating the future potential of
the post office and the inconvenience to residents that would arise from
closure. It was all to no avail and the Upper Dicker post office closed earlier
this year.
Play area and cricket pitch
Maintenance of the play area at Upper Dicker was carried out during the year and the council gratefully acknowledges generous donations from Mr O’Driscoll and Ms Scott as contributions to this work. The council wishes to thank St Bede’s School for maintenance of the Cricket Pitch at Upper Dicker throughout the year.
Traffic calming and speed restriction.
The menace of speeding traffic though Upper Dicker has been a long term problem and Councillor Doreen Goodchild has consistently sought a solution to this over a number of years. Several meetings with East Sussex County Council road safety department regarding road improvements and traffic calming produced a sympathetic response but funding was not available at the time. St Bede’s school indicated that they would provide funding for traffic calming measures prompted your council to engage traffic consultants Amey (formally Owen Williams) to prepare comprehensive and costed proposals for traffic calming within a 30mph limit for the cost of £6800. This work was almost complete when ESCC received funding of £550,000 for similar measures in villages throughout the County. Upper Dicker fell within the first group of villages to be selected under this scheme and the work was taken over completely by the County Council. The net payment to Amey by the parish was £6000.
We are pleased to have --------------------names-----------------------------here tonight to continue this saga and to seek your views on the proposals.
Your council has a policy of restricting traffic speeds throughout the parish to the maximum of 40mph. Although this largely remains an aspiration it is one we will continue to seek.
Parish Plan
The Parish Plan was presented by Councillor Ray Collins at the last Parish Meeting in April 2007. A steering committee was formed and has met regularly throughout the year. This functioned quite separately from the work of the Parish Council but was funded by the council within the limit of £2000. Some valuable work has been done in obtaining the views of the electors and local business in some detail as well as general data concerning the parish. I look forward to the presentation of the plan later this evening.
Quality council
I cannot let this report end without reference to a very
enjoyable event last June when Arlington Parish Council received the
certificate of Quality Council status. This is awarded to parish councils on
the attainment of proficiency in standards and management. Our previous Parish
Clerk, John Roberts worked hard for this award. The certificate was presented
by Councillor Bob Peters, Chairman of Ringmer Parish Council and Vice President
of the
Also at this event it was my privilege to present framed historic maps of the parish as tokens of gratitude to two former council members: Robin Sadler, an astute chairman of the council for many years to May 2007 and Henry McCutchan who retired after long and valuable service to the council.
I wish to thank my fellow councillors for their dedication, particularly in their various alloted tasks as Councillors, and to Mrs Linda Baxter who has given excellent service as Parish Clerk over the year. It is with regret that we will soon lose her excellent advice and service due to promotion to a part-time post as Clerk to Polegate Town Council. I wish her well in her new post.
I thank District Councillors David White and John Blake for attending our parish meetings and keeping us informed of Wealden District Council matters, my thanks also to County Councillor John Garvican for likewise keeping us informed concerning developments at East Sussex County Council.
The increasing numbers of residents attending our meetings and often speaking in the public adjournment is most heartening and valuable to us as a council and I wish to thank all those who have attended during the past year.
Finally, my thanks to all those who have worked hard to provide the refreshments for this evening.
J S T