ETCHINGHAM NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
Minutes of the Meeting of the Steering Committee
of the Etchingham Neighbourhood Plan
held on Thursday 11th May 2017 at 11.30 at Bistro at the Station, Etchingham
Members Present: Frank Smith (Chairman), Roy Mawford (Vice-Chairman), Richard Childs (Treasurer),Barbarann
Smith, Sue Westbrook and Cllr Geoff Lucas.
Also present: Ms P Barton – Clerk to EPC and Acting Secretary to the Steering Committee.
Before commencement of the meeting and the agenda the Chairman invited Mr Mawford to address the Committee. He told them that he would shortly be moving away from Etchingham and under the circumstances would be standing down from the Committee. However he offered to remain in place until the Public Meeting on 20th May at which time he would officially resign. This offer was gratefully accepted.
24/17. Apologies for Absence: None had been received.
25/17. Minutes of previous meetings:
The draft Minutes of meetings held on 10th and 20th April, having been previously circulated, were taken as
read and then approved as a correct record. The Minutes were signed for filing.
RC said that he was disappointed the previous minutes had not been distributed much more quickly following
the meetings, as this meant he had been unaware of the Committee meeting to debrief after the RDC meeting
and as he could not change his plans at the last minute had been unable to attend the meeting. The acting
secretary undertook to do so and repeated the apology given when sending them out
26/17. Chairman’s Update:
The Chairman thanked Mr Mawford for his work to date and while wishing him well for the move expressed
the regret of the Committee as a whole that he would no longer be a member.
All other items for update and already on the agenda.
27/17. Treasurer’s Report:
The Treasurer was handed a copy of the Remittance Advice from Groundwork UK for the second tranche of
the Grant (in the sum of £4,620). SW confirmed that the remainder of the grant available would be applied for
appropriately in due course and also that discussions were ongoing to achieve free ‘Technical Support’.
There was nothing further to report at this time.
28/17. Update on Questionnaire:
It was reported that FS, BS and PB had viewed the response analysis and read the comments on-line but that
due to the number of replies received and the complexity of inputting this data the analysis is not complete.
So far the responses have not thrown up any unexpected views overall. The main concerns – i.e. considered
Very Important or Important were Housing, Traffic and Conservation/Environment.
Full analysis will be distributed as soon as available. FS took the opportunity to minute the thanks of the
Committee for the sterling work being undertaken by Marion inputting the responses.
29/17. Public Meeting 20th May 2017 :
The Committee reviewed the latest information supplied by Moles Consultancy.
The Focus Groups to be suggested will follow the pattern of the Sections in the Questionnaire although it
might be possible to combine Sections 2 & 4 (Community with Environment). The interest, opinion and
available volunteers at the meeting will help determine this outcome.
At the meeting FS will open, after a brief overview of Neighbourhood Plans in general, he will be more
detailed on the role and function of the Focus Groups. He will send his draft to Donna Moles prior to the
meeting. BS will also prepare a Powerpoint presentation to expand and support this information. BS said she
would welcome assistance and input from the Committee to complete the presentation.
Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee – Etchingham Parish Council – 11th May 2017
4 Posters placed around the hall will indicate the different groups and forms/information will be created
appropriate to each group in order to gather names and contact details, to begin discussion and formulate the
group hierarchy if possible.
Once initially established, Moles Consultancy will come and direct the groups at a future meeting, date/venue
to be confirmed.
Volunteers unable to attend will be invited to express their interest via email prior to the meeting so they can
be included from the beginning.
RC volunteered to Chair the Transport Group and was thanked for his offer.
30/17. Any other urgent business:
Holiday dates for June were shared but otherwise there was nothing further to discuss.
31/17. Date of Next Meeting & New Agenda Points:
The Acting Secretary will contact Donna Moles to establish her availability for a Steering Committee Meeting.
Given the suggested dates it is confirmed that the next meeting will be at 10.30am on Thursday 1st June at
Bistro at the Station.
