Whatlington

Patricia Begg

Riccards Spring

Parish Assembly and Parish Council Meeting: The speaker at our recent Parish Assembly was Bev Marks who is the Ramblers Local Footpaths Secretary for Whatlington. His presentation was on Footpaths and Rights of Way. He explained the four groups who look after these, The Ramblers, East Sussex Rights of Way team, Landowners and Walkers all of whom help in their own way to keep the paths open and accessible. He said the members of the public who regularly walk the paths should report any problems they encounter. He said there was a new project, adding any paths that have been used in the past but were not on the Definitive map. There may be older people in the parish who remember using these paths; the project does not end until 2026 so there is plenty of time for these to possibly be added. He then took questions; those attending said the talk was very interesting and informative.

Then followed reports from our parish chairman- district and county councillors- our PCSO and local groups. All the reports will be on the council websites by Easter.

Following the Assembly was the last council meeting of the current council before the election.

Matters discussed -The ongoing problem with blocked storm water drains was discussed and the council are again writing to the highways. The siting of a new substation on the A.21, near Woodmans Oak, is a little closer so properties in that area will soon hopefully have a more reliable electric supply.

Parishioners can go on http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl.ADSL.Checker.TelephoneNumberOutput to find their BT area and cabinet no. and the date when they will have faster Broadband.

Councillors reviewed and approved two of their policies and agreed a new policy for Photographing, Filming and Audio Recording council meetings.

The Village Hall Committee advised the council they will be amending Clause 19 of the Hall Trust which restricts use of the hall on Sundays to entertainments of a religious or cultural nature. They will be applying to the Charity Commission for this.

The elections for the parish council will take place on 7th May and nominations papers for this are available from the parish clerk or from Rother District Council.

The following grants were given - Good Companions £50 to help with their running costs –

Whatlington Newsletter £100 to help with costs -Whatlington Parochial Church Council £375 towards costs to remove and replace hedging –Whatlington Village Hall £375 – Towards repairs to the hall.

Councillors were sorry to hear that David Vereker who has been our District Councillor since 2003 will not be standing in the May elections. David over the years has been of great help to both the council and parishioners.

The next meeting of the council will be the Annual Meeting on 21st May in the village hall at 7.30pm

The Good Companions: 17 members of The Good Companions enjoyed a lunch at The King`s Head In Battle last week. It is hard to believe that this was our third meeting of the year! Next month the group will be visiting The Royal Oak at Whatlington. The group is made up of retired people who like to meet once a month for luncheons, outings and fellowship. There is no membership fee, no committee, and members choose which outings they would like to attend. If you would like any further information or would like to come along please do feel free to telephone Hilda on 01634 932135. We are a very sociable group of people and all are welcome to join.