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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. 

Latest Parish News

Howbourne Lane, Buxted - Drainage Work

10

October 2024
Howbourne Lane, Buxted - Drainage Work

Dear Resident,

Balfour Beatty is working in partnership with East Sussex County Council to manage the highways service across East Sussex. As part of this, we will be carrying out drainage works at Howbourne Lane, Buxted.

When do they start?

Work will be carried out from Monday 28 October 2024 to Wednesday 30 October 2024 between 9am to 4pm.

We will inform you of any changes to the dates or times via advanced warning signs on site.

What are we doing?

These works involve replacing damaged pipework, clearing and reforming the ditches to alleviate flooding in the area.

How will this impact highway users?

The team will be working between properties ‘Two Ways’ and ‘Treetops’.

Access will be restricted for residents for the duration of these works.

If you need vehicle access to your property, please discuss this with the team onsite. Please bear in mind there will be delays whilst the area is made safe and your vehicle is escorted by site marshalls. Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times.

Information for residents and businesses

Parking: If required, we will put out ‘no parking’ signs and cones on the site to advise where parking is restricted. Please avoid parking in these locations as it will delay our works.

Weather: All of these works are subject to favourable weather conditions, for example heavy rain may affect the progress of the works.

Waste collection: Access will be granted for waste collection.

Properties close to the carriageway may experience a temporary disturbance as this can be a noisy process and those properties may experience flashing lights and reversing sirens.

We would like to take this opportunity to apologise in advance for any inconvenience or disruption this work may cause, however this forms part of our continuing improvement for the East Sussex highway network. Should you have any concerns regarding these works, you can contact us at eshcomms@balfourbeatty.com.

For information on roadworks and journey planning, visit www.One.Network.com. Please follow us on X (formerly Twitter)@esccroads or Facebook@EastSussexHighways for updates. If you would like to know more about East Sussex Highways and what we do, please visit our website www.eastsussexhighways.com.

Thank you,

East Sussex Highways

Southern Rail Digital Lineside Notifications

10

October 2024
Southern Rail Digital Lineside Notifications

We are continuing our drive to promote this new and innovative way of informing residents who live near the railway about our work and projects.

As part of our ‘Digital Notification’ programme, neighbour notification letters will where possible be replaced by emails.

Thousands have already signed up in the southern region, and we would really appreciate your support in helping us stay in touch with our neighbours and communities.

If you haven't already done so, we’d be grateful if you could share this link. This will help our ambitions to keep everyone informed of our work in their local area.

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