The first Parish Council meeting of 2021 took place online only on Monday 11 January. Several members of the public were also able to join the meeting via the zoom platform.
The meeting commenced with the usual formalities and was followed by the police report. The reason this always appears at the top of meeting agendas is because the police used to attend parish council meetings and it was thought polite to allow them to speak first so they could go on to other duties. However, these days the police are so short of active frontline officers that they are unable to attend parish council meetings. The highlights of the police report for the current period included an altercation, described as violent crime, between two drivers over right of way resulting in one spitting in the face of the other; a mandate type fraud where someone was persuaded to change details of a bank mandate; and theft of a motor vehicle.
The condition of Underhill Road was again on the agenda for discussion. Following the December meeting, the Parish Council had been in correspondence with residents and the County Council regarding the poor condition of the area where pedestrians cross the junction with Village Street. SCC had been asked to repair the area it is responsible for, as a matter of urgency. This week, following the meeting on Monday 11 January, the repair was carried out and this has improved safety for pedestrians.
SCC Councillor Mrs Helyn Clack attended the meeting and said she still had funds available in her Members Community Allocation Grant which parishes are invited to apply for to use on environmental projects. It was agreed that an application for £500 be made by the Parish Council to purchase an extra kissing gate for one of Newdigate’s footpaths.
Footpaths came up again for discussion later in the meeting. An application to divert footpath 295 had been made. The proposal is to divert part of the footpath to run around the edge of a field instead of across the middle of it. The application is to enable the field to be used for goats. A resident had explained that footpath 295 is an historic footpath, much of it has followed the same route for 2,000 years, so it would be sad to see part of it diverted. The question was asked why walkers cannot use the existing route even if there are goats in the field. A councillor with experience in keeping goats described what can happen when walkers mix with goats, particularly in the breeding season, which is apparently quite extensive, and especially if the walker has dogs or children in tow. It was decided to object to the application.
The finance committee’s proposal to increase this year’s precept request was agreed. The increase will enable the Parish Council to fund some calming measures to improve road safety in the village. There has been very little progress with the project to manage Newdigate Brickworks owing to the on-again off-again lockdowns and restrictions which have disrupted staff availability. Some key personnel at Surrey Wildlife Trust have again been furloughed. Mrs Clack offered to write to SWT to try to get a response to the Parish Council’s formal proposals
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Monday 8 February 2021 at 8pm. The agenda notice will be published on the website and the noticeboards at Bob’s Shop and the Surrey Oaks on the Wednesday before the meeting. The public are welcome to attend all public meetings, which are being held online only at the current time.
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[mks_one_half]Lesley Bignell, Clerk to the Council[/mks_one_half]
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14th January 2021[/mks_one_half]
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[mks_one_half]clerk@newdigateparishcouncil.gov.uk[/mks_one_half]
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www.newdigateparishcouncil.gov.uk[/mks_one_half]
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