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Buxted Parish Council

Buxted Parish Council came into being in 1894 when the present system of Parish Councils was instituted to give rural communities a voice. Buxted Parish covers some 7,000 acres with an electorate of about 2,500 out of a population of 3,200. It encompasses the villages of Buxted, High Hurstwood and Five Ash Down.

The parish is divided into two wards – Buxted/Five Ash Down (10 councillors) and High Hurstwood (5 councillors). Councils are elected for a term of 4 years. Council meetings are held on the second Tuesday in every month (except August), alternating between Buxted Reading Room, High Hurstwood Village Hall and Five Ash Down Village Hall, at 19.30. Meetings agendas are displayed one week in advance on the Parish notice boards in Buxted (on the Ionides Trust site), High Hurstwood (near The Hurstwood pub) and in Five Ash Down (outside the Village Hall) and on the website. The agenda includes a list of any planning applications received from Wealden District Council for consultation. All meetings of the Council and its committees are open to the public, who are welcome to ask questions or raise issues with the Council before the meetings formally begin.

An early requirement was to provide allotments, which we do. Councils can also support arts and crafts; contribute to maintenance of churchyards; protect commons, provide buildings for public meetings, functions and entertainment, maintain public footpaths and bridleways (jointly with ESCC), provide footway lighting (we don’t), provide and maintain public open spaces, and comment on planning applications.

We also take an active interest in highways matters, policy and our environment (e.g. trees and hedgerows). More and more we have to comment on government policies for local government and voice our electors’ concerns.

Parish assets include Buxted Reading Room, two recreation grounds (Buxted and High Hurstwood), two allotment areas in Buxted (recently re-generated) and High Hurstwood, children’s play areas in Buxted and High Hurstwood, and two bus shelters. The budget is set annually over the period October to December. Planned expenditure less income forms the ‘Parish Precept’ which is levied as part of annual Council Tax. Apart from meeting general running expenses of the council – specifically employing our Parish Clerk – the council makes grants to local organisations and contributes to local projects e.g. Buxted Traffic calming.

The Parish Council recognises the burden of Council Tax but is also conscious of local needs for improvements in the Parish that increasingly are not being covered by either County or District as they seek to keep within national government budgets. Before increasing Precept to cover costs of local improvements such as the recent traffic calming, the Parish Council ensures that such improvements are what our electorate want and are prepared to pay for.

Councillors sit on various committees (e.g. Finance, Planning, Communications) and outside bodies (e.g. Ionides Trust, Buxted Community Hall Trust). Each keeps an eye on different parts of the Parish, e.g. for planning purposes and trees.

Our Parish Clerks, Beccy Macklen & Claudine Feltham (01435 515219) clerk@buxted-pc.gov.uk, who act as the Council’s ‘proper officers’ on the Council’s behalf and under its direction. 

26 November 2024

Finance Committee

Five Ash Down Village Hall Tuesday 7:30 pm View Details
26 November 2024

Planning Committee

Five Ash Down Village Hall Tuesday 7:00 pm View Details

Latest Parish News

Southern Water's new Rivers and Seas Watch service

18

November 2024
Southern Water's new Rivers and Seas Watch service

While we work hard to cut storm overflows across our region, as set out in our £1.5bn Clean Rivers and Seas Plan, it is key that communities can view information on all our storm overflow activity.

From 13 November 2024, our new https://www.southernwater.co.uk/our-region/clean-rivers-and-seas-task-force/rivers-and-seas-watch/ replaced the Beachbuoy online monitoring tool.

Rivers and Seas Watch now includes all of our storm overflows including those inland, not just our coastal overflows.

Rivers and Seas Watch has been running in beta mode on our website since June. During this time, we collected feedback from users, including Beachbuoy subscribers, campaign groups and local stakeholders, to ensure Rivers and Seas Watch provides relevant information in an easy to read format. Technology experts also fed into our Beachbuoy Independent Review.

Key features of Rivers and Seas Watch include:

· Enhanced user experience across different devices (mobile, laptop, desktop), making it easier to find a location, and access and understand information

· Comprehensive and accessible information on how the service works

· An industry-leading mapping platform, presenting information in a clean and timely way

· Improved email notifications, including start times, impact times and the release status

· Integration with our overall plans to cut storm overflows, to help users understand what improvements are planned in each area

Improving how we communicate this important information to the public in a transparent, accurate and timely way is crucial. Rivers and Seas Watch has been created following a customer-first approach, engaging extensively with our community to understand their needs, wants and feedback from Beachbuoy.

Users can sign up for alerts https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/e9a1db8d193d4cd582d550285a3aeb44/page/Map/ for their local beaches on Rivers and Seas Watch, as data protection rules mean we cannot carry previous Beachbuoy users over.

Christmas Collection Dates for Rubbish and Recycling

18

November 2024
Christmas Collection Dates for Rubbish and Recycling
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