Parish Council News – August 2019

Fire at Mayfield skate park

On the evening of Tuesday 09 July youths lit a fire in the skate park that East Sussex Fire and Rescue had to attend. It has caused some damage to the surface of the skate parkwhichis a great shame and waste of public money to repair. It has beenreported to Sussex Police however, if anyone has any information about this, please do contact the Parish Council as all antisocial behaviour needs to be deterred.

 

Proposed telephone mast

It was with great surprise on Friday 21 June when a consultation letter was received by the Parish Council from Waldon Telecom Ltd on a proposed site for a telephone mast in South Street car park with only 14 days to respond. This was posted on the website and Parish Council and village Facebook pages the next working day. Due to the tight timescale, the only scheduled meeting at which it could be discussed was the Planning Executive meeting on Monday 01 July 2019.

 

The meeting was very well attended including one representative speaking on behalf of 150 residents (at that time) who had signed a petition against siting the mast in that particular location. The Planning Committee consulted with members of the public in attendance at the meeting whose objections included:

  • Visibility in an area of outstanding natural beauty and its proximity to listed buildings within the conservation area
  • The disruption of the attractive view from South Street car park
  • Health concerns
  • Poor consultation due to nearby property owners not being informed and a very short consultation period.
  • The mast drawing not being to scale in relation to the height of the existing streetlight
  • Further work needed to explore alternative location sites
  • Conflict of interest as Wealden District Council owns the land and will theoretically therefore receive an income

It is obviously apparent that Mayfield is in desperate need of improved mobile phone signal however, as with the previous telephone mast consultation for Little Trodgers Lane received in December 2016, it is felt that insufficient work has been carried out on assessing more appropriate locations.

 

Certain forms of telecommunication development, eg mobile telephone masts, are permitted development, that is, they do not require full planning permission however, some development is conditional on the operator making a prior approval application to the Local Planning Authority for its siting and appearance. The Prior approval process generally covers transport, highways, air quality, impact on intended occupier, noise, contamination risk, flooding and risk on existing industrial, storage, distribution uses. A local planning authority cannot consider any other matters when determining a prior approval application

 

Wealden District Council has advised that it is up to the Planning officer to decide on whether to consult with the local Parish Council on a Prior Approval application. They also informed that for the District Council to object to the siting of a mast in a Prior Approval application they would have to have a very strong reason why it would not be a good location.

 

Waldon Telecom Ltd has been requested by the Parish Council to further assess other possible locations before any application is submitted and the Parish Council’s consultation response is available to view on the community website.

 

Parishes and large village in bloom competition

A very big thank you goes to the volunteers and Councillors who invested so much of their time towards the event. Mayfield and Five Ashes looked beautiful, helped by the sunny afternoon the judging took place on. Mayfield Pre-School was fantastic and the children who interacted with the judges were brilliant. Mayfield High Street looked so attractive once all the wheelie bins were taken round to the back of the properties out of sight. It would be so beneficial to the High Street if this could be done regularly by residents and retailers after waste has been collected!

 

Dementia Awareness

The Parish Council attended a Dementia Awareness Session organised by MAYFACS who are working towards a Dementia Friendly community. The training was provided by Jo Evans from Rotherfield St Martins who was very engaging, and the course really opened your eyes on how you think, act and talk about dementia and how you can help those living with dementia. I would strongly urge other organisations and societies to contact MAYFACS to organise a session as is extremely worthwhile

 

Parish Council Grants:

Please note that the application deadline for Parish Council grants each year is 30 September for the following financial year. Information on how to apply and the application form can be found in the “Key Documents / Finance” section on the Parish Council website at https://mayfieldfiveashes.org.uk/

 

Councillor Vacancies for Five Ashes

There are still two vacancies on the Parish Council to represent the ward of Five Ashes. If you would like to be considered for co-option please send your CV and a letter outlining why you would be a valued member of the Council. To be eligible to apply for co-option you must:

  • be a UK or commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, or be a citizen of another Member state of the European Union (yes, this still will apply;
  • be a least 18 years old.
  • be an elector of the parish, or;
  • for the whole of the previous 12 months have occupied (as owner or tenant) land or other premises in the parish, or;
  • during the previous 12 months have worked in the parish (as your principal or only place of work), or;
  • for the whole of the previous 12 months lived in the parish or within three miles of the parish boundary.

You do not have to be connected to a political party.

The Parish Council meets once a month (for around two hours) except during the months of January and August. The meetings take place in Mayfield Memorial Hall and Five Ashes Village Hall. Its following committees carry out the detailed work of the Parish Council:

  • Planning Executive
  • Finance and General Purposes Executive
  • Community Development Advisory
  • Rights of Way and Trees Advisory
  • Community Safety and Traffic Advisory

 

Hearing bus

East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre is a registered charity working in partnership with Adult Social Care to provide a no charge mobile information and advice service for Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people living in East Sussex. It has a vehicle, funded by the Big Lottery, which is equipped to offer demonstrations of assistive equipment and hearing screening tests (when time permits).

Their mobile unit will be visiting Mayfield on Thursday 22 August 2019 in the Memorial Hall Car Park (or overflow carpark), Tunbridge Wells Road from 13:30 – 15:30. The bus is accessible to wheelchair users and representatives from both the East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre and Adult Social Care will be available to provide individual information and advice on all aspects of hearing loss.

For further information please contact East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre:

Tel: 01323 722505 (voice/text/fax) e-mail: info@eshrc.org.uk

Free electric blanket testing – a date for the diary

Tuesday 15th October 2019

  • 00am – 12.00pm – Eastbourne Fire Station
  • 00pm – 4.00pm – St Johns Church Hall – Polegate

Wednesday 16th October 2019

  • 00am – 12.00pm – Hailsham Fire Station
  • 00pm – 4.00pm – Heathfield Fire Station

Thursday 17th October 2019

  • 00am – 12.00pm – Uckfield Fire Station
  • 00pm – 4.00pm – Crowborough Fire Station

 

Pledge to fly less

Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions has launched their Pledge to Fly Less environmental campaign to reduce damage aviation is doing to the planet and the wellbeing of those on the ground. If you would lie more information on this the link is: https://pledgetoflyless.co.uk

 

Keys found

A set of keys have been handed into the Parish Council office. If you have lost your door keys please do come along to determine whether they are yours.

 

Summer Holiday Office Closure Dates

The Parish Council Office will be closed from 09 August 2019 to 23 August 2019; however, it will open for the Planning Executive meeting on Monday 12 August at 9:30. Normal office opening hours will resume from 28 August 2019