Report on East Hoathly with Halland Parish Council Meeting Mon Sept 26th

Submitted by Village Concerns

Some important points for village concerns were raised at the above meeting.
In the session open to the public the issue of a Neighbourhood Plan was raised. This would take a long time to produce but would be important for the future of the village. An Interim plan could possibly be produced based on the Parish Survey. David Vaughn , a Parish Cllr said he would pursue the issue of neighbourhood plans.
The Parish survey results had been collated from 244 returns and a report was being done for WDC
Tania Freezer was elected as Chair, Sarah Callender to continue as Vice Chair.
School Report from Lindsay Wigens . Both East Hoathly and Chiddingly Schools are full with waiting lists. The proposed new houses would mean 2 extra classes for East Hoathly. The school did not have the space or budget to effect these changes. The school already has temporary classrooms and does not have a school hall.
Nick Bennet ESCC Councillor said funding could be available for extra school places from Government Basic Needs Grant providing  ½ cost, developers (CIL and 106 money) and ESCC capital funds providing the rest. New schools were not built before houses.
Nick Bennet said he was going to do some work on effects of Local Plans across the County in particular Rother, Wealden and Lewes. He appreciated Government were pressurising District and Town Councils re new housing  but he did not think they had been robust enough in their response to Government.
He said the level of housing being proposed would cause Significant Infrastructure Difficulties. There was already a £13 million overspend due to Adult Care and Special Educational needs costs