4. AUDITED STATEMENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL'S ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2010

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1 RUSTINGTON PARISH MEETING MINUTES: of the Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting held on 18 May 2011 PRESENT: Rustington Parish Councillors A Cooper (In the Chair), A Akbar, Mrs C Broomfield, J Collins, P Evans, G Eyre, T Field, R Grevett, Mrs F Harrison, M Jones, Mrs S Lines, D Rogers, G Tyler and P Warren, Mrs C Ward, Mrs E Lamb, Mrs J Jones and D Moyle (Rustington Parish Council), Sgt R Phillips (Sussex Police), I Armstrong (Rustington Community Partnership and Rustington & District Twinning Association), Mrs J Armstrong (Rustington Community Partnership), T Barker, A Beard, Mrs L Beard (Zachary Merton Community Hospital League of Friends), S Blowen (Rustington Sports and Social Club), M Broomfield, P Brown, Mrs E Collins (St Andrew s United Reformed Church), R Collison, Mrs A Cooper, Mrs S Evans, Mrs F Eyre, Mrs P Field, R Gillett (Angmering Parish Council), D Herbert (Rustington Otters Youth Football Club), T Hunt, A Jones, Mrs E Jones (Rustington Library), P Lines, R Mann (Rustington Cricket Club), Ms D McDonald, B McLaughlin (The Lamb Public House), Mrs V Narayanaswamy (Rustington In- Bloom), Mrs A Pizzey (Arun Decorative and Fine Art Society), D Richardson (Woodlands Table Tennis Club), E Spencer, A Taylor, Mrs M Taylor (Chaucery Memorial), D Wakeling and Mrs A Wakeling (Rustington Residents Association), Ms P Wells, JP and Ms J Wilson (Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust) APOLOGIES: Rustington Parish Councillors J Bennett and S Perry, District Councillors R Steward and D Wilde, PCSO H Pearson, N White (Rustington Community Primary School), W Molloy and Mrs R Cornish (Georgian Gardens Community Primary School), D Brixey (The Angmering School), Mrs G Donaldson (Cudlow Avenue Freeholders Association), P Ingram (Overstrand West Estates), K Grimes and C Putnam 1. PRESENTATION - SURREY AND SUSSEX PROBATION TRUST The Meeting received a Presentation from Ms Pam Wells, Magistrate, and Ms Jane Wilson, Probation Officer, Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust, on Local Crime and Community Sentences. Following the Presentation, the Chairman of the Meeting thanked Ms Wells and Ms Wilson, on behalf of the Meeting, for their interactive, and most interesting and informative Presentation. 2. MINUTES The Minutes of the Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting held on 8 April 2010 were approved by the Meeting and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. 3. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE RUSTINGTON PARISH COUNCIL Councillor Mrs Lines (previous Chairman of the Parish Council) reported on the activities of the Parish Council during the preceding year. A copy of this Report is attached and forms a part of these Minutes. 4. AUDITED STATEMENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL'S ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2010 The Meeting received the Audited Statement of the Parish Council's Accounts for the year ended 31 March The Clerk reported that these Accounts were available for inspection in the Council Offices.

2 5. FINANCES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2011 AND 31 MARCH 2012 The Meeting received a Report from Councillor G Tyler, Chairman of the Parish Council's Finance and General Purposes Committee on the Council's finances for the year ending 31 March 2011 and 31 March A copy of this Report is attached and forms a part of these Minutes. 6. LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERNING BODIES The Chairman advised the Meeting that the Chairmen of the Governing Bodies from each of the three Primary Schools in Rustington were invited to attend the Meeting to provide a brief Annual Report in respect of the individual Schools. The Chairman then confirmed that written Reports had been received from Mrs Rosemary Cornish, Chairman of Governors, on behalf of Georgian Gardens Community Primary School, Mr John Ceiriog- Hughes, Chairman of Governors, on behalf of Rustington Community Primary School, and Ms J Blackman, Deputy Headteacher, on behalf of Summerlea Community Primary School. The Reports were presented to the Meeting by Councillor G Tyler, in his capacity as a Member of the Governing Body for Georgian Gardens Community Primary School, Councillor D Rogers on behalf of Mr Ceiriog-Hughes, and Councillor A Cooper on behalf of Ms Blackman. Transcripts of the aforementioned Reports are attached and form a part of these Minutes. 7. REPORT FROM SUSSEX POLICE AUTHORITY The Meeting noted a Report produced by PCSO Hannah Pearson for the period from May 2010 to April A transcript of this Report is attached and forms a part of these Minutes. Sergeant Russ Phillips then provided the Meeting with a general overview of Police activity in and around the Village, together with further detailed information on the points covered in PCSO Pearson s Report 8. REPORTS FROM COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS The Meeting received the following Reports from the County and District Councillors:- (a) County Councillor G Tyler Councillor Tyler advised the Meeting that the County Council was in the midst of very difficult times, and was having to make major savings. He said that, at the present time, Rustington seemed to be fairly sheltered from the cuts to services currently being made across the County. As far as cuts to bus subsidies were concerned, there were no changes to be made to the routes servicing Rustington as none of these were subsidised routes. He confirmed that Rustington was not affected by the new criteria for cuts to the Older People Day Services, as The Laurels would be continuing to operate, without any changes to its service. He then referred to the extra care housing development at the Abbotswood Site, and said that this was due to be completed towards the end of the year, with the opening taking place in December. He also reported on the current County Council Community Action Pilot, whereby Parish and Town Councils from the East Arun Area had been clustered together with a view to working in partnership to provide more effective services for the local community. He said that the Pilot was currently progressing the possibility of local youth provision, which was particularly important, as the direct senior youth provision at Rustington was due to be withdrawn with effect from September He said that other areas currently being discussed included the Library Service and Shared Community Buildings.

3 He concluded his Report by assuring the Meeting that he would continue to ensure that if there were any issues in the future that might adversely affect the Village, the Community of Rustington would be consulted fully. (b) County Councillor Dr J Walsh Councillor Walsh referred to the requirement for the County Council to make 79M savings, which it had chosen to implement over three years. He said that 40% of the required savings would be coming from Adult Social Services, mainly by reason of changes to the eligibility criteria. This, in effect, would mean that 4,000 people would cease to receive grants from the County Council. He said that he had been Chairman of the Joint Eastern Arun Area Committee s Highways and Transport Working Party for the past year, and referred to issues that had been considered recently as follows:- Sea Lane Pedestrian Safety Scheme - Currently in abeyance Flooding Issues in vicinity of junction of Station Road with Mill Lane Vehicular access arrangements for proposed new industrial development - Mill Lane north of the Windmill Roundabout Various School Travel Plans He also reported that a new East Arun Hospital Forum Working Party would be looking at the need to provide community beds and community provision in hospitals across West Sussex. He said that he still remained optimistic that a new Community Hospital would be built in Littlehampton at some stage in the future. He then advised that he was a Member of the County Council s Energy Saving Working Party, whose objective was to reduce the carbon footprint in West Sussex, and to increase energy conservation. He concluded his Report by saying that he was extremely pleased, as a Rustington resident, to note that three pieces of music by Hubert Parry, were played at the recent Royal Wedding. (c) District Councillor R Bower Councillor Bower commenced his Report by saying that he was honoured to have been re-elected as a District Councillor in the West Preston Ward of Rustington. He reported that Councillor Dennis Wilde was currently Chairman Elect of the District Council, and would be formally appointed as Chairman at the next Council Meeting on 25 May He then advised that the South East Plan would become null and void when the Localism Bill received Royal Assent later in the year. He referred to the Housing Numbers Consultation that had been undertaken by the District Council earlier in the year and said that the results would be reported to the next Local Development Framework Committee Meeting within the next month, and within six weeks, the District Council would be determining its housing numbers for the period up to He said that it was anticipated that certain changes would be being made in respect of the criteria for the Housing Waiting List, whereby homeless individuals who were currently classed as a local need after they had been in the District for a period of just 24 hours would, in future, need to have been in the District for much longer. He also referred to the recently introduced New Homes Bonus and said that the District Council had received in excess of 500K in respect of this. He said that a detailed Report would be being considered by the Cabinet imminently regarding how the money should be apportioned, but he understood that some would be allocated to the Local Area Committees. He then briefly reported on the District Council s success in respect of Planning Appeals, advising that only 22% had been lost.

4 He concluded his Report by advising that there would probably be some changes, following the recent Elections, in the District Council Cabinet. He reported that the District Council was currently undergoing a major restructure, associated with its efforts to make efficiency savings. He said that whilst this was resulting in the loss of some staff, the majority of savings would be made through natural wastage and not through redundancies. He advised that the Chief Executive had announced his decision to leave the District Council within the next two year period, and he also understood that two other Senior Directors had opted to retire from their positions. He said that the District Council would be undergoing an enormous amount of change over the next three years but he believed that the end result would see a stronger Council emerging. (d) District Councillor Mrs P Bower Councillor Mrs Bower said that she was delighted to have been re-elected to the District Council to represent the East Ward of Rustington. She also congratulated the Parish Councillors for their elections and re-elections. She referred to the recently published problems in respect of the Refuse Collection Service, and said that the Service should not be adversely affected in any way, as the Contract had to be honoured. She said that the District Council would continue, during the next four years, with the regeneration of both Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. She also advised that a new Chief Executive would be being appointed within the next month, and would be taking over the role in October She concluded by saying that she was happy to report that no District Council Frontline Services had been affected by the recent savings that had been made. (e) District Councillor M Clayden Councillor Clayden thanked the community of the West Ward of Rustington for re-electing him as one of their District Councillors. He said that he was pleased to report that over the past year, the District Council had managed to make 50% of the 3.1M savings that had to be made over the three year period. He said that there was a balanced Budget, which, in effect, meant that there should be no need to increase the Council Tax levied by the District Council in the next financial year. 9. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME Questions/matters raised by Members of the Public present included the following subjects:- (a) (b) (c) Clarification on reduction in cost of Council s Annual Insurance Premium - Clerk of Parish Council responded that this was due to a change in Insurance Companies (Mr T Barker) Concern expressed, once again, in respect of vehicles continued use of Albert Road and Woodlands Avenue at excessive speeds as a short cut to the centre of the Village - Police asked to monitor the situation and look into any possible action that could be taken (Mr P Brown) Concern expressed regarding poor condition and level of maintenance of Woodlands Recreation Ground due to insufficient resources - Council to meet with representatives from Sports Clubs using the Recreation Ground, to walk around the Ground and discuss the way forward (Mr R Mann)

5 (d) Request from Woodlands Table Tennis Club for heating to be turned off in Village Memorial Hall during Club s hirings (Mr D Richardson) Chairman:... Date:...