Parish Matters July

On Saturday morning of the 13th July I sat in the village hall with a cup of coffee and a very nice piece of lemon drizzle cake, very well done whoever made it. The purpose of my ‘sit in’ was not to judge cakes but rather to allow the good folks of the parish to see the proposed development of Barlavington farmyard. If you are not sure where that is, it is where the great old barn is behind the church in

Barlavington. Many people took the opportunity to view the drawings and express their thoughts and opinions. I am most grateful as there were some useful

comments and observations. Several residents asked what was going to be the

parish council’s view; we will have submitted those thoughts by the time the VN goes to the press. Broadly our thoughts are exactly the same as the opinions I heard from residents. The site is an ancient farmyard, which probably hasn’t been touched for two or three hundred years and now is nearly in a state of abandonment. Do go and see it if you haven’t already done so, it’s quite a treasure. Sadly, if nothing is done further degradation will only make the site worse. Something has to be done to save the buildings that will keep the essence of the character of what was

formally there, of course that is never going to replace an old farmyard. Cllr Hilary Andrews’, Arthur Thompson and I also visited the site and will submit a number of observations, but generally the PC will not object to this development..

In the previous week, the 10th July, we also held a parish council meeting; unusually this was well attended by a number of residents for several different reasons. The first was the so called caravan site to be located in the village. There was much

discussion about this subject at the meeting, and generally in the village beforehand. We heard a statement read out by a friend of the caravan site licensee, which was tabled and will be minuted, and you can see that in the PC folder on the village

website. This matter does not fall within the remit of the PC, but it was agreed at the meeting that the PC would facilitate a discussion with a number of persons, yet to be identified, to bring this issue to a conclusion that is satisfactory to all. The

discussion group will table progress before the next PC meeting.

The other major issue that arose from the parish council meeting was the commotion that took place on the evening prior to the parish council meeting. The meeting heard the account of a number of residents in Greenfields and beyond, and again this falls out of the remit of the PC, but a number of residents asked the PC to intervene on their behalf and write to Hyde Marlett to ask them what action they would be taking in light of such a serious case of anti social behaviour.

Finally, on a more cheery note, the PC is in the process of putting a Community Initiative Grant for new seating benches for the Bowls Club. The current ones are rotten and not fit to be sat on so we are only too happy to help to get the club back on its feet and fit for purpose. Do go along on Monday or Wednesday evening from 6.30 and have a go, you might surprise yourself!

John Cross

Chair Sutton and Barlavington Parish Council

Next meetings of the Parish Council:

Wednesday 7.30pm, 13th September, SUTTON PARISH CHURCH

Wednesday 7.30pm, 15th November, Sutton Village Hall

Planning Applications

Case Number: SDNP /17/03290/LDE

Closing Date for Comments: 4th August 2017

Case Officer: Jenna Shore

Location: Sutton Court barn, Barlavington Lane, Sutton, RH20 1P

Proposal: Change of use land to garden