Agenda, decisions and minutes

The members of the North Chichester County Local Committee are David Bradford, Janet Duncton and Kate O'Kelly.

13.1   The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. Members and Officers introduced themselves.

13.2   The Chairman read out a statement regarding the small school’s consultation. A copy of this document is appended to the printed minutes.

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personal interest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it. If in doubt, contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

14.1   None declared.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 June 2019 (cream paper).

15.1 Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Items not on the agenda that the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

16.1   The Chairman agreed to consider an additional Micro Fund application (ref: 450/NC) which was discussed under the relevant item (item 9).

To invite questions from the public present at the meeting on subjects other than those on the agenda. The Committee would encourage members of the public with more complex issues to submit their question before the meeting to allow a substantive answer to be given.

17.1   The Chairman introduced the item and advised that the open

forum was an opportunity for comments and questions to be raised on

items not already on the agenda, and over which the County Council

has jurisdiction. The following issues were raised, and responses made.

-      Mr Gordon McAra, Midhurst Town Council, attended the meeting to request the Committee’s approval to use excess S106 monies to replace a bus shelter on New Road that had recently fallen down. The Committee agreed that this would be a great use of the funds and asked Chris Dye, Area Highways Manager, to issue the licence.  

-      Mr William Hunter attended to express the grave concern and distress the people of Stedham were experiencing over the West Sussex County Councils Small Schools Consultation. Mr Hunter made the following points:

- In 2017 West Sussex County Council proposed the expansion of Easebourne Primary School. This campaign was damaging to Stedham Primary because expansion of the former would deplete the latter of pupils, many of whom come from Midhurst, and was wasteful of school places that already existed in Stedham.
- It is believed that the proposal was fundamentally flawed - the major residential part of Midhurst is on the South side from which Stedham is arguably more accessible than Easebourne, the route impinges greatly on the already choked Midhurst traffic congestion and the need for additional places was not demonstrated. The new consultation is again damaging to Stedham Primary, specifically naming this school as a possible closure and presenting dubious data as if they were facts. A drop in pupil numbers is predicted without stating the assumptions which can create any prediction that we wish.
- Further data that appear to be designed to project negative conclusions about Stedham Primary are that 77% of pupils here are from outside the published catchment (PC) and only 20% of pupils from within the published catchment attend Stedham Primary. Regarding the former, this is a positive indicator, and regarding the latter there are a host of possible reasons that have no negative implications.
- The presenters at the Stedham Primary meeting on 24 October 2019 asked for feedback as to the causes of the apparently odd Published Catchment numbers. This data should have been available. The maps below show (not to scale) the Published Catchment of Stedham Primary, on the right, and the joint Published Catchment of Easebourne and Midhurst Primaries on the left. Can the Councillors not see that if West Sussex County Council sets a small published Catchment for Stedham Primary which does not include Midhurst and Easebourne, just two miles away, and a large joint published catchment for Easebourne and Midhurst Primaries, that does not include Stedham, you get exactly what we have, namely: odd percentage figures for where Stedham Primary pupils live and vacancies at Stedham Primary? And just one example that appears absurd – Bepton is in both the Easebourne and Midhurst publishd catchments but not the Stedham published catchment,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

The document contains brief updates on statements of progress made on issues raised at previous meetings.  The Committee is asked to note the document.

18.1   The Committee considered the progress statement on matters arising from previous meetings (copy appended to the signed minutes).

18.2   As there is a new allocation of Police Community Support Officer’s to the Petworth and Midhurst areas, the committee agreed to invite one or both of them to the March Committee Meeting to discuss on going concerns around speeding. Peter Lawrence (Partnership Area Manager) agreed to ensure that the invitation is extended.

18.3   Resolved – That the Committee notes the progress statement.

Report by Director of Highways and Transport and Head of Highways Operations.

The Committee is asked to prioritise the progression of Traffic Regulation Orders in the area based on the attached report and supporting documents.

Community requests for Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) that cost under £3,000 to implement are considered annually by County Local Committees (CLCs). More complex TROs are considered for progression as a Community Highways Scheme and so fall outside the process.

The TRO requests received since July 2018 have been assessed and scored and the results are attached for the CLC to consider and prioritise in line with the Cabinet Member Report for Traffic Regulation Orders – Assessment and Implementation Process (see link in Background Papers) for progression in the 2020/21 works programme.

At its meeting on 12 November 2019 the North Chichester County Local Committee agreed to progress the highest scoring TRO from the list attached at Appendix A:

 • A286 North of Cocking Village – Speed Limit.

This TRO was agreed for inclusion under decision NC03(19/20)

The call-in deadline for this decision is 20 November 2019.

19.1   Community requests for Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) that cost under £3,000 to implement are considered annually by County Local Committees (CLCs). More complex TROs are considered for progression as a Community Highways Scheme and so fall outside the process.

19.2   The TRO requests received since July 2018 have been assessed and scored and the results are attached for the CLC to consider and prioritise in line with the Cabinet Member Report for Traffic Regulation Orders – Assessment and Implementation Process (see link in Background Papers) for progression in the 2020/21 works programme.

19.3   At its meeting on 12 November 2019 the North Chichester County Local Committee agreed to progress the highest scoring TRO from the list attached at Appendix A:

 • A286 North of Cocking Village – Speed Limit.

19.4   The Committee agreed to ask the Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure to consider the remaining New Road Scheme in the County Wide TRO allocation.

The Committee to receive a service level update from the Area Highways Manager and the Area Communities Manager based on the attached decision report.

20.1   Chris Dye, Area Highways Manager, introduced the report and made the following comments:

20.2   Following Scrutiny at Select Committee the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport & Planning approved the revised service levels that are contained within the new Infrastructure Maintenance Plan.

 20.3  Mr Dye explained that, as set out on page 20, specifically points 1.2-1.4, the main reasons for introducing the new Infrastructure Maintenance Plan and revised service levels, was as a result of the reduced revenue budgets that have been given and as well as this there has been introduction of a new Code of Practice which was released by the Department for Transport. We have been, and in some cases are still operating on the new replacement Code of Practice “well maintained highways”, we need to ensure that we align all our processes and services to becoming more intelligence led and risk based.

20.4   He then referred the committee to page 21, point 2.4, that summarised the changes in the various service levels, some of which have been in operation for a number of months.

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The report summarises the Community Initiative Funding applications received via The West Sussex Crowd.  The Committee is invited to consider the applications and pledge funding if appropriate.

The Community Initiative Fund is a County Local Committee (CLC) administered fund that provides assistance to local community projects.  Bids should show evidence of projects that have the support of the community and make a positive impact on people’s wellbeing and support The West Sussex Plan.

At its meeting on 12 November 2019 the North Chichester County Local Committee considered the Community Initiative Funding applications received via the West Sussex Crowd as set out in Appendix A.

During the Urgent Matters agenda item, the Committee agreed to also consider an application that had been received after the papers had been dispatched and was approved as follows: -

450/NC – Home-Start Chichester & District, ‘Supporting families with young children’, up to £2000.00 – towards covering hall hire to hold two regular ‘Family Groups’ in Chichester and Midhurst in addition to publicity costs.  

The following pledge was also approved: -

436/NC – Royal Artillery Equestrian Centre, ‘Saddle for disabled riders’, up to £1500.00 – towards purchasing an adaptable saddle supportive of all riding standards to facilitate disabled people’s access to horse riding.

The call-in deadline for this decision is 20 November 2019.

21.1   The Community Initiative Fund is a County Local Committee (CLC) administered fund that provides assistance to local community projects.  Bids should show evidence of projects that have the support of the community and make a positive impact on people’s wellbeing and support The West Sussex Plan.

21.2   At its meeting on 12 November 2019 the North Chichester County Local Committee considered the Community Initiative Funding applications received via the West Sussex Crowd as set out in Appendix A.

21.3   During the Urgent Matters agenda item, the Committee agreed to also consider an application that had been received after the papers had been dispatched and was approved as follows: -

450/NC – Home-Start Chichester & District, ‘Supporting families  with young children’, up to £2000.00 – towards covering hall hire to hold two regular ‘Family Groups’ in Chichester and Midhurst in addition to publicity costs.

21.4   The following pledge was also approved: -

436/NC – Royal Artillery Equestrian Centre, ‘Saddle for disabled  riders’, up to £1500.00 – towards purchasing an adaptable saddle supportive of all riding standards to facilitate disabled people’s access to horse riding.

The next meeting of the Committee will take place at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 17 March at a venue to be confirmed.

Members wishing to place an item on the agenda should notify Jenna Barnard via email: jenna.barnard@westsussex.gov.uk or phone on 033 022 24525.

22.1   The Chairman confirmed that the next meeting of the North Chichester County Local Committee would be held on 17 March 2020 at a venue to be confirmed.