Recreation and Burial Committee Chair – Trevor Gilbert Vice Chair – Graham Watson-Smith

Recreation Areas Oversee maintenance all the public areas in the parish such as the Recreation ground Responsible for the ‘old’ burial ground behind St Denys Church yard and the ‘new’ cemetery on Eridge Road Responsible for all recreation areas such as the playground, pitches, Court Meadow Green Have provided additional picnic benches in Court Meadow Green and the recreation ground Carry out weekly and monthly health and safety inspection of the recreation areas and playground equipment

Old Burial Ground Currently costs more to maintain this than the “new” Cemetery. It is a closed Burial Ground although some parishioners have the right to be buried there. External survey was undertaken regarding the maintenance required on the old gravestones which identified the ones that require remedial work We have implemented a long term plan to reduce costs by removing overgrown shrubs and trees and designating one area for minimal maintenance, but other areas will be regularly maintained

New Cemetery Regularly maintained and a considerable amount of remedial work has been done on the lower part to bring it up to standard for future burials and internments Liaise closely with funeral companies to ensure the cemetery remains in a tidy and well kept condition Gates have been re-painted and a new notice board has been installed Burial rules and regulations have been extensively updated this year to make them easier to understand and implement

The Parish and Dog Poo! We continue to have problems with dogs fouling in the public areas in the village. Dogs are already banned from the Rec and we have decided to ban them from Court Meadow Green as well. Dogs are also banned from the car park at the Rec We are waiting for signs to put up reinforcing the ban. The winning posters of the dog poo poster competition have also been put up around the village

The Rec and Pitch Drainage Thanks to the Rotherfield Trust for contributing to the cost along with the Parish Council to improve the pitch drainage on the lower pitch Thanks to Peter Ford from the Sports Club for overseeing the works The Council pays the Sports Club to maintain the pitches to their high standard and our thanks go to Peter Ford The Sports Club have spent approx. £3,000 undertaking end of season work to the top pitch but the Council have not contributed to this work

Vehicle Barrier We have installed a barrier to prevent large unwanted vehicles from entering the site.

Village Hall, Scout and Youth Hall and Pre-School The Council is in the process of having broadband installed in the Scout and Youth Building which will be a great asset for the parish. We have also installed lighting in conjunction with the village hall at the front and back of the hall We have contributed towards a bin store for the pre school .