Parish Council Projects
The Parish Council is funded from a proportion of our parishioners annual Council Tax bill. It was therefore thought worthwhile to highlight the achievements of the Parish Council over the last few years. There are constraints to the budget, but, our aim is to maintain, where possible improve the appearance of the Parish, promote appropriate community ventures and ensure all legal requirements are met.
Listed below are some of the projects the Parish Council has supported and financed:
PLANNING
Neighbourhood Plan
Parish Plan
Parish Design Statement
(Just to give an idea of some of the work the Parish Council does, over 90 Planning Applications within the Parish have been submitted during 2017. Every application has to be discussed and the Parish Councils observations are submitted to HDC, as the Local Planning Authority, for their consideration.)
NEW PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE
In 2017 the undertaking to create a new website for the Parish Council was started. The original website had become outdated, was difficult to update and maintain and was not very user friendly. Along with our chosen website provider (Profitable Websites Ltd), a design was chosen and the long process of populating the site begun. The result is a modern efficient website which is easy to navigate and which holds a huge amount of information on Parish matters.
SPEEDING
Speeding is an issue in probably every Parish in England and ours is no exception, made more difficult as we have a major road (A281) running through it. Trying to change a speed limit can be an extremely long winded, expensive process with no guarantee of success. However, it has been proven that other methods at reducing speed can be possible. One of these are village gateways which reinforce the point that the driver is entering a village environment and that speed limits need to be adhered to. Village Gateways have recently been installed on the A281 and Nuthurst Road. Copsale is programmed for 2018/2019 with the other hamlets in the Parish to be reviewed thereafter.
HEALTH & WELLBEING / COMMUNITY
Parish Walks
You may have noticed the “Ten Circular walks in the Parish” that recently appeared on the website, this was an initiative highlighted in the Parish Plan. Detailed maps can easily be downloaded and the walks are proving extremely popular and well used. Although no funding was required it has been included here to show that it is possible to create something of benefit to the community with no funding.
Plant Bulbs
1000 bulbs were purchased, 800 were planted on the green between Church Road and Lime Kiln Road and the balance have been planted at the entrance to Masons Field and beside the recently erected Village Gateways. These should come into bloom in Spring and visually enhance our Parish. Further planting is to be programmed for the rest of the Parish.
Adopt Phone Kiosk in Maplehurst
Part funding was supplied to Nuthurst Society for their plan to adopt and convert the phone kiosk in Maplehurst into a book swap store for the community.
GENERAL MAINTENANCE
Parish Benches
Members of the Parish Council have restored the Jubilee benches in Mannings Heath, Monks Gate, Nuthurst, Maplehurst and Copsale as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Cllr O Hydes, the Chairman of the Parish Council, has donated a bench to the parish, this is located on the green between Church Road and Lime Kiln Road.
Queens Platinum Jubilee
The Parish Council and Horsham District Council arranged for an orchard to be planted in the field behind Woodlands Walk. Children from St Andrew’s School assisted planting the trees. A commemorative bench has also been placed in the field. As mentioned above Councillors also restored four Silver Jubilee benches in the parish to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Salt Bins
In previous years we have relied on one of our parishioners at Maplehurst Farm, who very kindly volunteered to distribute hippo bags of salt to various locations around the Parish. These locations are included in the Winter Management Plan which the Parish Council annually submits to WSCC. This year, permanent green salt bins have been purchased and stocked with salt by WSCC.
Lighting Columns
Through a historical agreement, 35 lighting columns within the Parish are maintained by the Parish Council and these had to be replaced to meet new EU standards. WSCC kindly replaced 23 under the PFI agreement and subsequently 11 more have been replaced by the Parish Council.
Bus Stops
An ongoing item. All bus stops within the Parish are programmed to be cleaned and repaired (or if required replaced)
Wall in Gagglewood
The wall around a mature Oak tree a the entrance to Gagglewood was damaged early in 2017, the Parish Council were unable to get anyone to take responsibility for the repair and subsequently arranged for the wall to be repaired.
Finger Posts
Six of the traditional black and white fingerposts within the Parish were in need of repair and to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee it was decided that these should be restored to reflect the heritage of the village rather than replacing them with more modern signs. Subsequently this work was arranged and the restored signs are now found around the parish.
Trees on the green adjacent to Church Road
Brambles and ivy were removed from two of the trees. More trees, shrubs and bulbs have been planted and a wildflower meadow is flourishing.
VILLAGE GREEN
Play Area
The Children Play Area has had several “upgrades” in the last few years.
1/ The “wetpour” was replaced in the “Fall area” around equipment. This specialist substance is used to reduce the risk of injury to children should they fall.
2/ A new slide was installed
3/ The last section of the log train has recently been replaced
In autumn 2022 the Parish Council are working on upgrading the children’s play area.
Trees
Every 18 months a tree survey is commissioned by the Parish Council to evaluate the health and possible risk of the trees that border the Village Green and the Jubilee trees planted in the hamlets..
ANNUAL GRANTS
Various organisations are the recipients of annual grants from the Parish Council. Theses are deemed to be of benefit and use to the Parish community. In the 2021 financial year , to date (15 August 2021) grants have been awarded to Nuthurst Cricket Club and the Link Magazine,
OTHER GRANTS
In addition to the above, one-off grants may be made to help pay for work within the parish.
e.g. Copsale Hall (extension) , Mannings Heath Village Hall (car park) , Mannings Heath Cricket Club (pavilion)
