Parish Review 2008-09

Freedom of Information Act 2007 documents

Notices: -Footpath Diversion

Opening hours and contact informationMayfield Village Centre Transitions MayfieldEast Sussex CCWealden DC

As mentioned in the January Newsletter, we have entered the New Year with an intensely active programme of work, and the subject of this month’s Newsletter is to bring you up to date with Parish Council activities.
One really pleasing item to report is that our County Councillor, Robert Tidy, has been awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours list. I cannot think of a person who deserves it more; Bob Tidy has represented the people of the Mayfield Area at East Sussex County Council for 14 years at least, and has made a massive contribution to the public affairs of Mayfield, and to me as Clerk to the Parish Council has given me a great deal of help and support. He is one of those people who believe that holding office on behalf of the people is a privilege!  President Obama tells the world “We Can”. If you draw Robert Tidy he will modestly say “I have and I did”!
Back to the cut and trust of Parish life, And I have to report that while drafting the main headings of the forthcoming Annual Report, which will be published this year in late April, your Parish Council have probably broken quite a few records on achievement, and some of these will be self-evident in this Newsletter. Earlier in the Year the Parish Council agreed that we would hold the Annual Assembly earlier in the year so that residents can meet and question those Councillors who made the decisions which affect you. The Annual Assembly will be held this year on Monday, 23rd April at Five Ashes Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm. This is because of the arrangements, whereby Five Ashes is the venue for the key meetings of the Parish Council once every four years. With the passing of the Localism Act in November 2011, this meeting will become more important, and will be one of the many ways by which the Parish Council will be able to discuss decisions and policies with you on the many activities which are carried out by the Parish Council on your behalf.
Parish Councils are now, thanks to the Localism Act, and other recent legislation, are able to put forward policies and plans which truly represent our needs, and have the powers to achieve them that ever before. So if you have something to say we need to hear about it, and the Annual Assembly is the time and place. As part of this process we need to ensure that that our Parish Plan reflects the views and needs of our residents, and to achieve this we shall be asking each resident to tell us what they need from us so that we can reflect the majority views in the Parish Plan.
The Parish Plan is dealt with by our Community Development Committee, which is currently working on a number of significant projects for our community. These are:

• The production of a comprehensive questionnaire to solicit all views on how are villages should be developed over the next 20 years.
• Housing Allocations Policy - the subject of a press article in the Courier last month. We have made representations to Wealden District Council on what we consider to be an unfair system for housing allocations to Mayfield and Five Ashes residents, where having co-operated in the building of affordable houses over recent years, our residents do not seem to be able to obtain dwellings. From a Parish Council point of view, we find that Wealden District Council is reluctant to advise us of who is on the housing list and this hampers our ability to assist.
• Youth Services fall under the auspices of this committee, and at its meeting on 30th January, the Youth leader Janet Stead explained that the youth facility is essentially a drop-in centre where youngsters can come and go, and it offers activities for those who wish to participate, whilst others just want to come and catch up with friends they haven’t seen for a while. So it is informal but remains a safe place for them to meet, and keeps them off the streets.
• Court Meadow where at present the committee is making a study to ascertain how best we can ensure that Court Meadow is retained as a recreational establishment.

Our Community Safety and Traffic Committee is also very active, because as traffic flows increase so do the traffic problems - car parking being the main problem.

• During January we signed the agreement to purchase the two plots of land, the first at Love Lane which will be made into a small car park and an adventure area for local residents. The second will be a nature reserve and will be named “Jubilee Wood”, and in March we shall receive advice from one of our local companies Wildlife Splash on how to manage the project.
• We are also considering a project to increase the size of the Mayfield Memorial Hall Car Park, without causing any incursion onto the environmental area of Court Meadow. We believe that could add between 20 and 30 extra spaces between the Tunbridge Wells Road boundary and the side and end of the Memorial Hall. Early days yet!
• In addition we are looking at a number of traffic calming schemes for both Mayfield and Five Ashes, all of which will cost money.
• This Committee also monitors local crimes, in conjunction with the Police, and is trying to redevelop the Neighbourhood Watch.
• For some time now we have, as you will have read periodically, a number of conflicts with Wealden District Council over road naming. Following a number of complaints raised by the Parish Council, Wealden District Council have now reacted in a more positive manner and have invited the Parish Council to discuss with them ways by which this function can be dealt with by the Parish Council under the Localism Act
• There have been a number of reports recently regarding sheep worrying by dogs. If you are walking a dog where there are sheep in the vicinity please ensure that your dog is under proper control.

Village Organisations have also been active, and the Parish Council has agreed to assist Transition Mayfield Local Energy Initiative with getting a grant to help with their local energy assessment project.
With regard to the Mayfield Fire and Rescue Service I am advised that although we have been successful in obtaining a number of recruits, so that we can continue with our daytime cover, we still need more to ensure that we reach the full complement of fire-fighters. So if you would like a challenging career as a retained fire-fighter the Mayfield Fire and Rescue team at the Mayfield Fire Station will be pleased to hear from you.
Looking at Street Lighting where the Parish Council owns 102 Street Lights and spends some £10,000 on maintenance and energy costs we have recently changed our energy supplier and we believe that this will bring us a substantial reduction in energy costs, and will give us greater control over our energy use.
Finally the new office at the Old Manor House is bedding down nicely, and it is encouraging to report that we now have upwards of five visitors a day, and an increase of correspondence both letter and Email. The meeting area is also an improvement and for example on 9th January the Planning Executive was able to accommodate nine members of the public, plus the 5 members of the Planning Committee and the Clerk with ease.
All Parish council meetings are open to the public.