FPC Report 2005-6

Planning matters have continued to occupy considerable Parish Council time over the past year. Firstly there are those areas within Mid Sussex that directly affect Felbridge residents, this included a proposal to build 95 houses south of Copthorne Road, and the plans for the proposed 2,500 houses at East Grinstead which are available for 6 weeks public consultation starting this week. The Parish Council are members of the Mid Sussex Council key stakeholders group and continue to object to any housing development on Imberhorne Farm due to the huge impact that this would have on our village. We are also seeing ever increasing numbers of applications for in-fill development within the village. Whilst we support the need for affordable housing, the majority of these applications have high housing densities behind the current building lines and are out of character with our rural village. We will continue to oppose inappropriate housing and have had to set up a planning sub-committee to consider the planning applications and meet our response time obligations.

This last year has also seen continued use of Green-Belt land behind the Felbridge Hotel for car parking and the Parish Council have continued to drive Tandridge District Council to act in this matter which is now at the planning appeal stage.

We have also considered our local environment and have had the Evelyn Chestnut trees along Crawley Down Road assessed and trimmed with the aim of preserving them in a safe condition for as long as possible, a large number are soon approaching 300 years old (2014).

We have now worked up detailed plans for the expansion of the play equipment area at the Village Hall, these plans also include new equipment to replace some of the older items as well as augment the facilities available for younger children. The plans will take a number of years to complete, and we have budgeted for these works from our reserves, but hopefully our funding applications to local companies and associations will be awarded and we will not need to use all of our budgeted funds and may also be able to bring forward the completion date.

We continue to be very concerned about road safety within the village, we have had speed surveys carried out on both Copthorne and Crawley Down Road, both of which showed a very high percentage of speeding vehicles. Copthorne Road even had cars recorded in excess of 70mph near the end of Rowplatt Lane. We continue to press Surrey Highways to progress the reduction in speed limit to 30mph along all these roads as they committed to do last Spring and remain very disappointed that they have not completed this work which would drastically improve the road safety around the school. We were also very disappointed that the roundabout at Judges Corner has been abandoned by the Council, this junction is still the worst accident statistic in the whole of Tandridge excluding the M25! I also have to report that, despite last years promise by Surrey Highways to complete the work within one year (subject to safety studies) no date has been confirmed for the start of construction of the puffin crossing at the telephone box on Copthorne Road, again the delay to this work increases the risk of a serious or fatal accident on such a dangerous road. The Parish Council will continue to press our County Councillor and publicly raise the continued delays to these agreed safety improvements. In relation to vehicle speeds, it was a shame that we were unable to find enough volunteers to join Speed Watch, this is organised and trained out by the Police and enables a local team to record vehicle speeds in an approved and safe manner resulting in warning letters being sent to speeding drivers by the Police.

Unfortunately, this year has seen an increase in anti-social behaviour with several incidents reported at the council meetings, there has been considerable nuisance at Hedgecourt Lake and the Village Hall. We have awarded a contract to install a CCTV camera point at the Village Hall to be operated in association with the local Police, this will be completed within the next months. We all need to work together as a community, reporting petty crime and abuse to eliminate this unacceptable behaviour.

During 2006 we have seen the retirement of two long standing people from the Parish Council, first was Lis Scott our clerk who retired in September after training up Ros White our new clerk. In November, Alec King retired after 34 years of being a Parish Councillor which is the longest period for any Councillor to date. To commemorate his very long service we planted a hornbeam tree on the green and added a plaque to the nearby village sign. Shortly after his retirement he suffered a fall and I am very pleased to see that he is here tonight.

We are also pleased to see the start of work on the long awaited new pavilion at the playing fields in Crawley Down Road. This is a project which has the full support of the Parish Council and will provide a great facility to the users of the playing fields and tennis courts.

Finally, I would like to thank all the Councillors and the Clerk for their support during the year. In particular I should mention Brian Apps who continues as our Responsible Finance Officer maintaining our accounts and obtaining internal and external auditor approval. I also want to mention Ken Harwood who has to juggle the dual responsibilities of both District and Parish which generates additional complications. Other Councillors have their areas of interest and work hard for Felbridge on various topics. We also have to thank the non-council members who work on our behalf, some of whom are here tonight.

That completes my report, your questions or comments are invited.