Sovereign Harbour Neighbourhood Members
| Resident Panel Members | ||
| Jan Weeks | Chairman | |
| Adrienne Brecher | Deputy Chairman | |
| Rick Runalls | Secretary | |
| Brian Holmes | Panel member | |
| Malcolm Nevins | Panel member | |
| Alison Attwood | Panel member | |
| John Rabbits | Panel member | |
| Norman Cruse | Panel member | |
| Adrian Tickell | Panel member | |
| Sovereign Neighbourhood Policing Team | ||
| Sgt Ed Ripley | Sussex Police | |
| PC Ed Faulkner | Sussex Police | |
| PC Louis Thompson | Sussex Police | |
| PCSO Martin Hylands | Sussex Police | |
| County and Borough Councillors | ||
| Cllr. David Elkin | County Councillor | |
| Gordon Jenkins | Borough Councillor | |
| Philip Ede | Borough Councillor | |
| Patrick Warner | Borough Councillor | |
| Associate members | ||
| Paul Metcalfe | RNLI Representative | |
| Sue Criddle | Dog Welfare Officer | |
| Janet Taylor | Premier Marinas | |
| Bruno Di Lieto | Waterfront Traders | |
| Antony Small | NSL | |
Aims and Guiding Principles
Aims
Neighbourhood Panels are directed at issues related to law and order and anti social behaviour; an aim which is reinforced on Police web sites in areas already promoting this approach.
The Neighbourhood Panel provides a non party political mechanism led by residents. It identifies local problems and has the authority to call upon the Police, elected representatives and other supporting agencies capable of resolving those problems.
The overall purpose of the Neighbourhood Panel is to agree a realistic and achievable course of action to address the issues raised by the Sovereign Harbour community.
Guiding Principles
- The Panel is made up and chaired by members who are Sovereign Harbour Residents.
- The Panel has a Constitution under which it is managed and the community is made aware of its activities.
- The Panel will try and attract as wide a range of people as possible to ensure it is representative of the community. Panel members will be expected to take an active role in consulting and representing their local areas. In setting priorities the Panel will consider information collected by Police, elected representatives, and other invited partners. It will use the support and advice of the Police and other invited partners to ensure that priorities are achievable within available resources, and that timescales set for addressing problems and feeding back to the community are realistic.
- Elected representatives have an important role to play in addressing local problems. However, it has been recognised that there is a danger in Panel decisions being seen as politicised and consequently elected representatives will not be Panel members and therefore not involved in setting priorities.
- In order to keep the perspective of the Panel fresh elected officers will normally remain in place for a maximum of two years.
Constitution of Sovereign Harbour Neighbourhood Panel
General
- The Sovereign Harbour Neighbourhood Panel is to prioritise and agree realistic and achievable courses of action in response to issues related to law and order and antisocial behaviour raised by the Sovereign Harbour community.
- Membership of the Neighbourhood Panel will not include elected members of political parties to ensure it is seen as representing the views of all groups within the community.
Membership
- Members of the Panel are drawn from residents of Sovereign Harbour (as defined in Figure 1) and any resident of the Harbour can apply to be a member of the Panel unless precluded by political interests under 2 above.
- The Panel shall comprise a maximum of 12 members and each Panel member shall be entitled to one vote in decision making.
Management
- The management of the Panel shall be invested in its members comprising chairperson, deputy chairperson and secretary and up to 9 other members.
- A quorum at Panel meetings shall comprise no less than 50% of Panel members.
- Decisions will be taken on the basis of a majority of those members present.
- To ensure the widest representation from the local community on the Panel, applications for Panel membership shall be reviewed and agreed at a Panel meeting.
- Panel meetings will be supported by key community partners who have the responsibilities and resources to address the issues raised by the community and the priorities set. The chairperson will invite partners as appropriate, with support from the Police and elected representatives being essential to the viability of the Neighbourhood Panel.
- Suitable and sufficient notes will be kept of the proceedings of Panel meetings with particular emphasis on recording actions and results. The frequency of Panel meetings will be set by priorities on Sovereign Harbour.
- Changes to this Constitution can only be agreed at a Panel Meeting comprising at least 75% of members.
- In circumstances where the Panel membership no longer considers the Neighbourhood Panel to be viable or have value then it can be wound up. This will be done by a majority vote at a Panel meeting comprising at least 75% of members.
Appointment of Officers
The chairperson, deputy chairperson and secretary will be elected as soon as possible after the formation of the Neighbourhood Panel. The tenure in these roles will normally be limited to 2 years, although an extended period may be used if agreed by a majority of Panel members.