Grounds & Environment Committee

Agenda

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL
To: All Members of the Grounds & Environment Committee (Kate Bailey, Jane Baker, David Bunting, Kristian Berggreen, Leslie Campbell, Frances Gaudencio, Bill Hatton, Sue Hatton, Angus Neil and Alex Simmons) with copies to all other Councillors for information.
cc. Richard Higgs

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A meeting of the GROUNDS AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE will be held on Wednesday 7 December 2022 at 7.30pm in the Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.
Parish Clerk  – 29 November 2022

1. TO ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2. TO ACCEPT DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
3. MINUTES. To accept the Minutes of the Grounds and Environment Meeting held on 19 October 2022. (Previously Circulated)
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
5. OFFICER’S REPORT. (Appendix 1)
6. ADASTRA PARK
6.1. ADASTRA PARK BARRIER. Members are invited to consider and approve a replacement to the bollards at the entrance to the South Field. (Appendix 2)
6.2. OAK TREE – North Field. Members are invited to consider and approve necessary safety works to an Oak Tree in the North Field. (Appendix 3)
6.3 PAVILION WIFI. Members are invited to consider a request from Keymer & Hassocks Cricket Club to install a secured Wi-Fi access in the Pavilion for the use of Cricket Club members only. The club would have full responsibility for all costs and equipment and its use.
6.4 ADASTRA PARK MASTERPLAN. Verbal Update (Parish Clerk)
7. HASSOCKS BURIAL GROUND; Path Network. Members are invited to consider a proposed design and material for the Burial Ground path network. (Appendix 4)
8. HIGH STREET LITTER BIN. Members are invited to consider a request to fund the purchase and installation of a post mounted bin in the High Street. (Appendix 5)
9. FLOOD ACTION GROUP. Verbal Update.
10. PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY (PROW). Verbal update Cllrs Ian Weir and Leslie Campbell.
11. URGENT MATTERS at the discretion of the Chairman for noting and/or inclusion on a future agenda.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING. Wednesday 1 February 2023 at 7.30pm

Please Note:
All members of the public are welcome to attend meetings of the Parish Council and its Committees. Item 4 – a period of 15 minutes will be set aside for the public statements and questions relating to the published non-confidential business of the Meeting.
It may be necessary to consider particular items in confidential session and where this arises, these items will be considered at the end of the agenda.

FILMING, RECORDING OF COUNCIL MEETINGS AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. During this meeting members of the public may film or record the Committee and officers from the public area only, providing it does not disrupt the meeting. The Confidential section of the meeting may not be filmed or recorded. If a member of the public objects to being recorded, the person(s) filming must stop doing so until that member of the public has finished speaking. The use of social media is permitted but members of the public are requested to switch their mobile devices to silent for the duration of the meeting.

 

Appendix 1
HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

To: Grounds & Environment Committee Date: 7 December 2022
Contacts for this report: Deputy Clerk
Subject: Agenda Item 5 – Officer Report

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1. AGREED ANNUAL DONATIONS. Members are invited to note that the following agreed annual donations/grants have been paid, and that all groups have expressed their appreciation for the support.
• £200 to Hassocks Allotment Holders Association. This is a contribution of £5 per half plot which is used by HAHA towards materials and projects for improvements and maintenance on the allotment site. This expenditure forms part of the approved part budget for 2022/23.

• £750 to the Monday Group in recognition of the work carried out by the group on HPC land and around Hassocks on behalf of the Council. This grant comes from Section 137 expenditure and was approved as part of the budget for 2022/23.

• £500 to The Woodland Flora and Fauna Group towards their work in maintaining and managing Talbot Field as a nature reserve. This grant comes from Section 137 expenditure and was approved as part of the budget for 2022/23.

 

Appendix 2
HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

To: Grounds & Environment Committee Date: 7 December 2022
Contact for this report: Deputy Clerk
Subject: – Agenda Item – 6.1 Adastra Park Barrier

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1. The purpose of this report is to inform Members that the drop down bollards at the entrance to Adastra Park South Field from the Keymer Road Car Park are beginning to fail and require replacement.

2. This entrance is currently protected by a wooden five bar gate secured by a padlock and two drop down bollards which are key operated. The entrance is used regularly by the grounds maintenance contractor and ad hoc by hirers of the park who need to access the field. The access is also the entrance point for any emergency vehicles that may need to get onto the South Field.

3. Members are invited to consider two options for this access:

Option 1:

• To retain the current wooden gate and replace the two bollards with like for like.

• The cost to purchase and install two new identical bollards and five additional keys would be £1251.38 plus VAT with an additional small charge to remove the existing bollards.

Option 2:

• To remove the wooden gate and bollards and replace with a low defender barrier as situated at the Burial Ground.

• The cost for the removal of the gate and the installation of a barrier (green paint) would be in the region of £4,785 plus VAT. This would be supplied with 3 keys and additional keys could be purchased at a cost of £13 per key.

4. The quote for the barrier has been sought from the same company which supplied and fitted the barrier at the Burial Ground and the height barrier at the access to the North Field car park. This company has been used by the District Council to provide access protection to various open spaces.

Replacement bollards would be the less expensive option, however points to note are:
• The current bollards are very heavy to lift and can be inaccessible for some users.
• The bollards require on-going maintenance to ensure the mechanism remains functional and in time the bollards will require replacing again.
• If the bollards are knocked or hit by a passing vehicle they will no longer function and will need to be replaced.
• It is also understood that these bollards are designed primarily for domestic use rather than commercial. They have not been impact tested.
• To access the South Field, two bollards and a gate need to be unlocked.

5. Members are also invited to note for information that the same system is in place at the entrance from the North Field car park onto the North Field and at some point a decision will also need to be made for this access in the future. However the bollards in the North Field are currently fully functional.

6. Available funds within the Adastra Park Repair and Renewals budget currently sits at £2,100. Therefore the cost of replacement bollards could be met within the existing budget. Should the decision be made to install a low defender barrier, Members would need to approve the release of up to £3000 from General Reserves to meet this cost.

7. OFFICER RECOMMENDATION. Members are invited to decide whether to improve the access at the entrance to the South Field of Adastra Park with:

Option 1: Replacement Bollards at a cost of be £1251.38 plus VAT with an additional small charge to remove the existing bollards, which could be funded from the existing Adastra Park Repair and Renewals Budget.
Or

Option 2: A low defender barrier gate at a cost of £4,785 plus VAT to cover the removal of the gate and the installation of a barrier (green paint).

If Option 2 is the agreed course of action, Members are then requested to approve the release of up to £3000 from General Reserves to meet the additional cost of the barrier.

 

Appendix 3
HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

To: Grounds & Environment Committee Date: 7 December 2022
Contacts for this report: Deputy Clerk
Subject: – Agenda Item 6.2 – Oak Tree Adastra Park

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1. The purpose of this report is to inform Members that an Oak Tree bordering the North Field Car Park/Orchard Lane has been assessed as showing signs of die back with the major limb on the northern side appearing to be completely dead.

2. This tree overhangs Orchard Lane and the Car Park and therefore potentially poses a safety risk to users of both areas. Rather than completely remove the tree, it has been advised that a heavy reduction/monolith could be carried out leaving the tree about 20ft high whilst trying to retain health growth.

3. If Members are minded to approve this approach, the estimated cost for the work as described above has been provided as in the region of £1,600 excluding VAT.

4. The current Tree Maintenance budget for Adastra Park is £3000, however £1850 has either been spent or allocated for other identified essential tree works in the park. Therefore the additional cost would need to be funded from General Reserves.

5. OFFICER RECOMMENDATION. Members are invited to:

5.1 To approve the tree work to the Oak Tree in the North Field Car Park as identified above and

5.2 To approve the release of up to £1600 from General Reserves to cover the cost of the necessary work.

 

Appendix 4
HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

To: Grounds & Environment Committee Date: 7 December 2022
Contacts for this report: Deputy Clerk
Subject: – Agenda Item 7 – Burial Ground Path

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1. The purpose of this report is to invite members to consider proposed design and material for the Burial Ground path network.

2. A suitable surface which has been identified is Terrabase Rustic. This surface has been used for similar projects and provides a permeable self-bonding footpath. The finished path has a rustic look and will provide an attractive and practical footway network for visitors to the burial ground.Some groundwork may be necessary to ensure the paths can withstand being driven over by heavier vehicles which are used for maintenance of the burial ground. Further details can be found on the supplier website – https://addagrip.co.uk/systems/resin-bound-porous-surfacing/terrabase-rustic/

3. It is proposed that using the Terrabase Rustic surfacing, the existing tarmac path which runs from the entrance gate down to the bottom of the burial ground is replaced with a path of 1.5m wide.
It is then proposed that a further path network is installed allowing visitors to walk around the perimeter of the burial ground as far as Row D, with an additional path leading from the main path to the tap. Visitors would then be able to access the bins, taps and the west side of the rows throughout the year without needing to walk on the grassed areas. These paths would be 1m wide.
A basic plan of the proposed network can be seen below:

4. OFFICER RECOMMENDATION. At this stage, Members are invited to consider whether the Committee is in agreement with the design and choice of surface being proposed.

 

Appendix 5
HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

To: Grounds & Environment Committee Date: 7 December 2022
Contacts for this report: Deputy Clerk
Subject: – Agenda Item 8 – Additional High Street Litter bin.

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1. The purpose of this report is to invite Members to consider a request for the Council to fund the purchase and installation of an additional litter bin in the high street outside of Marram, 36 Keymer Road. At the front of this unit there is a bench which is frequently used, and was particularly well used over the summer in the evenings.

2. Unfortunately the area in the immediate vicinity of the bench has been regularly subject to excess littering which has been cleared by the proprietor of the nearby shop and also by community spirited passers-by. However clearly the litter has a detrimental impact to the High Street and to the shop fronts in the immediate vicinity of the bench.

3. This area is not West Sussex County Council (WSCC) Highways land and is privately owned by the leaseholder of the Old Sorting Office building, therefore permission has had to be sought from the landowner in the first instance for the installation of a bin on private land. Permission has been granted and a post mounted litter bin would be preferred by the landowner.

5. Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) contractors empty the litter bins in the village. Confirmation has been sought and received from MSDC that there is capacity to empty an additional bin.

6. The proposed bin would be a hooded post mounted bin as below, but mounted on its own post:

7. The cost to purchase the above bin with a post and suitable fixing would be £392 plus VAT. There would be a further cost for installation which has yet to be confirmed.

8. OFFICER RECOMMENDATION. There is currently £500 in the Litter Bin budget and £1000 in the Pedestrian Environment budget. Members are invited to consider approving the expenditure of up to £650 for the purchase and installation of a hooded post mounted litter bin on the land outside of 36 Keymer Road, Hassocks.