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.
Minutes:
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, yet it is closer in distance and time to
Stedham Primary. Member
DrKate O’Kelly
replied that she agreed that the data from the previous
consultation was flawed and supports the school and the areas of
concern that they have and has debated it heavily. Dr O’kelley also confirmed that she had
submitted a Notice of Motion at the Full Council Meeting in July
2019 (reference Agenda Item 7.a detailed
here.) Peter Lawrence (Partnership Area
Manager) encouraged Mr Hunter and all those attending to ensure
they have submitted all comments through the formal
channels.
-
Ms Ann Tyrell attended to ask if there is
any way that West Sussex County Council could put a strategy in
place to avoid the upset that schools like Stedham have experienced, happening again in the
future? Dr Kate O’Kelly confirm that this is something she
will be raising with officers during future discussions.
-
Mr Steve Morley attended to ask about
what is/can be done about pavement parking in the Midhurst Town
Centre area which is now heavily affecting the disabled users,
parents with prams and others. Chris Dye confirmed that if there
is a full obstruction of the highway then this should be reported
to the police, preferably with images via 101 or the online form on
the Sussex Police website (Op Crackdown). If there is an
obstruction that is on double yellow lines, this should be recorded
and reported to Chichester District Council Parking Services as the
enforcement authority.
- Mr Peter Wilding attended to ask about Ferndon Lane and comment that it is too narrow in many places and in bad shape, could passing places be added and what would the process be? Chris Dye (Area Highways Manager) confirmed that any community requesting an improvement to the highway should follow the Community Highway Scheme process, please see following link for more information. The community application would need to provide a plan showing the location of the proposed passing places and provide a justification as to why they are needed to benefit the wider community. If the community want initial advice and guidance, they could submit their proposals to West Sussex County Council Highways, and we would enter dialog about suitability and practicality of what it is they require. https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure-recreation-and-community/supporting-local-communities/apply-for-a-community-highways-scheme/
- A representative from Compton and Up Marden Primary School asked what would happen to the hall and the community if the school should close or relocate, £800,000 has just been spent on the school hall and now represents the centre of the community? Peter Lawrence (Partnership Area Manager) confirmed that a High-Level Community Impact Assessment will be carried out and this will be taken into consideration.