Chailey

BONFIRE SOCIETY: The society are holding a Jumble Sale will be on Saturday March 5 at the village hall and the doors will open at 11am. If you can offer assistance either on the Friday evening from 7pm to set up or Saturday from 9am with the sale please contact Diane Palmer on 01273401900 or email [email protected]. Diane is also the contact if you would like to have jumble collected although please note the Society are unable to collect before the end of February.

SPRING CONCERT: The Friends of St. Peter’s Church invite you to a Spring Concert and are delighted to welcome back Coro Nuovo together with soloists. The concert will be held on Saturday March 12 at 7.30pm in the church on Chailey Green. The programme will include favourite movie themes. There will be an interval with refreshments. Tickets are £10 in advance or £12 on the night with accompanied children under 16 free. Tickets are available on the door or from Fiona Pearl (email [email protected]) on 01825 723135 or Janet Barnes (email [email protected]) on 01825 722574.

GOVERNANCE REVIEW GROUP: Is looking for a secretary. The Bluebell Railway Preservation Society Governance Review Development Group wishes to appoint a Secretary to take minutes at meetings of the group and sub groups, produce final copy, and distribute these within the group. The candidate will have a good working knowledge of Windows 7 or above and will be capable of working in a sensitive environment where his or her skills in organisation and communication will be fully utilised. This post is on a voluntary basis and will provide the candidate with an opportunity to contribute towards the future of the Railway. The vacancy has arisen due to the increasing workload of the group as the review reaches an important stage in development. Candidates should contact the group at 07799116654 or [email protected].

ST GEORGES FETE: One of the bonfire society’s biggest annual events is underway. The Fete will take place on Saturday April 23 and the society are keen to hear from you. If you are interested in having a car boot space or a stall please contact us via www.chaileybonfire.co.uk or call Clare on 07985 112968. Also if you can help on the day please contact [email protected] or call Diane on 01273 401900 as help is needed with site preparation, bar, barbecue, parking, dog show, the gate, stalls with homemade goods, cakes, tombola and a raffle, coconut shy, rowing challenge, hoopla, crepes and clearing up.

PRECEPT 2016/2017: The parish council terms its budget the Precept which is the money needed to service and maintain parish assets such as the Reading Room and the Windmill; and to make grants or provide financial support to parish organisations. It also pays the cost of maintaining the parish office and employing the clerk. We estimate we shall spend £54,800 next year on these and other recurring items, slightly lower than the budget set a year ago. However, this year The council are budgeting for two exceptional items of expenditure: refurbishment of the Sports Pavilion for which £35,000 has been set aside from reserves; and secondly, a deficit attributable to the Council which has accrued in the Local Government Pension Fund for which we are setting aside £12,000 (the amount which will need to be paid and the timing of the payments are not yet determined).This means that the council are planning to spend a total of £101,800 in the next financial year. This cannot all be paid for from the amount raised by the Precept and the Council will use a significant part of its existing reserves to meet some of the expenditure. However, Councillors have resolved that, because of the anticipated depletion of its reserves, an increase in the Precept is necessary to ensure that the expected day-to-day costs of running the Parish can be met in full out of the amount raised by the Precept. Councillors have therefore agreed a sum of £40.68p to be paid next year by a household with a property in Band D for Council Tax purposes. For such a household this represents a rise of £3.53 in the annual amount paid, or an additional 29.4p per month. The additional amount payable will be lower for properties in Council Tax Bands A to C and higher for those in Bands E and above.

PARISH COUNCIL ADDRESS: Current works are on track to permit the council office to move to the Reading Room during the course of March. The new address and telephone details will confirmed on the parish website (www.chailey.org) during March and in the April issue of Chailey News. Residents should note that the Office will be housed separately (in the refurbished Storeroom) and the Reading Room continues to be available to be booked for meetings, and other functions.

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