church were all present. It was useful and interesting to have so much expertise and local knowledge gathered together at one time. Cllr Wilson was most appreciative. Special thanks are due, as ever, to the ladies who provided the refreshments.
NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
THURSDAY 12th FEBRUARY AT 7.30 PM
IN ARLINGTON VILLAGE HALL
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The March meeting will be held on Thursday 12th March at 7.30 pm in Upper Dicker Village Hall
COPY
FOR NEXT NEWSLETTER TO BE WITH THE CLERK BY WEDNESDAY 18TH MARCH
PLEASE:
E-mail arlingtonpc@freeuk.com
ADVANCE NOTICE At the Annual
Parish Meeting to be held on Thursday 23rd April at Arlington
Village Hall, the guest speaker
will be Georgia Conolly, the
newly appointed Coastal Officer for the National Trust, based at
Alfriston. Assisted by
specialist wardens, Ms Conolly will also be offering guided walks around coastal sites including the Cuckmere
Estuary and Birling Gap, during the year.
Mrs K Larkin 01323 911870 The Old
Cottage Lewes Road Laughton BN8 6BQ
Parish Clerk
ARLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
St Bede’s School Planning Appeals. Parishioners will remember that St Bede’s School appealed against the decision by the Wealden District Council to refuse planning application Ref WD/2008/2234/F for the provision of four multi-function sports pitches, and also appealed against the decision by the East Sussex County Council to refuse application Ref WD/522/CM for the temporary storage of topsoil and subsoil within school grounds.
Both Appeals were heard at an Inquiry held on 16th and 17th December 2008, and the results have now been made public. Both Appeals have been dismissed.
The Inspector considered the main issues in the sports pitch appeal to be ‘the effect of the proposals on the character and appearance of the Upper Dicker area, and the effect of the proposals on the
working environment of staff and pupils at Park Mead Primary School with particular regard to noise and disturbance’. The Inspector concluded that Park Mead School could have been sufficiently protected by the use of ‘robust conditions strictly enforced’ but that ultimately ‘the use of the land and the work required to form the pitches and to landscape them would harm the rural character and appearance of the area contrary to the aims of Local Plan Policy EN8 and Structure Plan Policy 510, representing an intrusion of damaging appearance and activity into the open countryside with insufficient link back to the edge of the village to be considered development adjacent to the village as referred to in PPG17’.
As to the stockpiling of soil, the Inspector accepted that the preferable way of dealing with this material would have been to use it in the proposed development of sports pitches, if that had been allowed to go ahead. But in the absence of that means of disposal ‘the retention (of the stockpiles) for any longer than is necessary would be contrary to the aims of Development Plan policies and Central Government advice regarding the protection of the environment in general and the countryside in particular as well as the orderly treatment of waste’.
Finally the Inspector had some advice for the future. ‘I am concerned at the apparent lack of a master plan linking numbers and available facilities, and informing the plans for the growth of the school. The position appears to have been reached where there is an imbalance between numbers and certain sports facilities, hence the appeal proposal. I am of the view that an audit of available land and facilities would assist in ensuring that the best and most appropriate use is made of resources’. Arlington Parish Council agrees; but we can still readily acknowledge that St Bede’s School enhances the life of the village with its vibrancy and generosity. Long may it continue to flourish.
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Freedom of Information Act – your rights explained.
The Information Commissioner now requires all public sector bodies – which includes Arlington Parish Council – to tell the public, via an approved Publication Scheme, what information the council will make available on a routine basis; how it can be accessed, and whether any fees or charges will apply when information is supplied. Your Parish Council has formally adopted such a publication scheme.
You will find copies of the Publication Scheme plus the list of available information in several places: there are paper copies on the notice boards at Arlington Village Hall and Upper Dicker Village Hall, and further copies are being posted on the parish website,
www.arlington-parish-council.org.uk
Where information is supplied electronically (i.e. by email) it will be free. However, where paper copies are required the cost will be 10p per sheet plus the cost of second class postage. You will, find that the list of available information is very comprehensive, and in fact it follows a government template. Even so, if you can think of anything not listed that might be held by Arlington Parish Council, you can still have it – and it will be added to the list.
Wealden Design Guide
The Wealden District Council has published a new Design Guide which all future planning applications will be expected to take into account. The guide is mainly aimed at large scale developments but can also be used by those wishing to comment on such developments, as it offers an insight into good practice and the local architectural character, which is often drawn from the local landscape and building materials. The Guide can be viewed on the Wealden District Council’s website:
(go to Planning and Building then to Design Guide), and hard copies of the whole and of individual sections can be made available at a cost to cover printing and postage. Reference copies will also be placed in Public Libraries and in the Council Offices. With its wealth of photographic evidence, the Guide makes for an enjoyable browse.
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Upper Dicker Play Area
The Leisure, Allotments and Recreation Advisory Committee is working on a programme of parish consultations whilst pursuing grant information (e.g. Heritage Lottery Fund, ESCC Play Pathfinder). It is hoped that it may be possible to use the Annual Parish Meeting as an opportunity to display sample designs of play equipment. The evidence is that grant providers look favourably on those projects which show real community involvement, and especially on those which have captured the thoughts and wishes of the children and their families.
Visit from the Chairman of the Wealden District Council
On 10th January we were privileged to welcome the Chairman of WDC, Cllr Mrs Chantal Wilson, to a New Year Gathering in Arlington Village Hall. Cllr Wilson is on a mission to find out about all the parishes in the District, and each parish chooses the format of its own visit. Representatives of the Parish council, the Dicker Residents Association, Robin Post Residents Association, the two village halls, the Parish Plan Group, the Safety and Environment Group, St Bede’s School, the magazine distributors and Arlington parish