Minutes 3rd May 2017
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 3rd May 2017 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr A Wiles Cllr S Luxton, Cllr A Birmingham, Cllr M Merrett, Cllr G Carden and Cllr R Tillett
Apologies: Cllr E Hollingsworth (Away)
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC)
56/17 Election of Chairperson
Cllr A Wiles opened the meeting and requested nominations for Chairperson. Cllr S Luxton was nominated and this was proposed by Cllr M Merrett and seconded by Cllr R Tillett. The Council voted and the result was unanimous and Cllr S Luxton was duly elected as Chairperson.
57/17 Chairpersons declaration of office
Cllr S Luxton signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and this was witnessed by the Clerk
58/17 Election of Vice Chairperson
Cllr A Birmingham was proposed by Cllr S Luxton and seconded by Cllr M Merrett. The Council voted and the results was unanimous and Cllr A Birmingham was duly elected as Vice Chairperson
59/17 Lead Councillor Roles
The lead councillor roles were agreed as:
• BSVHT – Cllrs M Merrett & R Tillett
• Footpaths & Verges – Cllr A Wiles
• Trees – Cllr E Hollingsworth
• Traffic Management – Cllr G Carden
• Human Resources (for Clerk) – Cllr E Hollingsworth
• Finance – Cllr A Birmingham (Vice Chair)
• Planning – Cllr M Merrett
• Communications – Cllr M Merrett
• Community Grant Fund – Cllr G Carden
• Speke Up – Cllr R Tillett
60/17 Apologies
Cllr E Hollingsworth (Away). Resolved to accept this apology
61/17 Declarations of interest
Cllr S Luxton (Chair) declared an interest on works to the Village Hall as he had been contracted to complete the works on the ramp to be installed
62/17 Minutes of meeting held on 5th April and APM on 26th April 2017
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 5th April 2017 and the Annual Parish Meeting on 26th April 2017 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by Chair
63/17 Democratic period
None
63/17 Annual Parish Meeting
The Council agreed that the meeting had been successful and that the new ‘round the table’ format introduced by the Clerk had been a success. It was agreed to adopt the format for future Annual Parish Meetings. Cllr S Luxton (Chair) advised Council that he would like Councillors to each give an update on their lead roles at the next APM.
64/17 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall –
• Cllrs Tillett and Merrett advised that there had been good progress on the extension and they were now waiting for the roof to arrive. Cllr S Luxton advised that the works on the ramp would be starting in July. Cllr R Tillett advised that the Hall’s finances had been depleted due to the increased costs of the extension and that the Trust would be looking to increase revenue by marketing the hall to rent out for local groups.
2: Footpaths & Verges -
• Cllr A Wiles advised that he had received the strimming program which was due to start in June. It was decided that Cllr A Wiles would store the Council’s strimmer.
• Cllr A Wiles asked the Council if they actively wanted to pursue employing a contractor to cut the verges around the village. The Council resolved that Cllr Wiles could contact prospective contractors and be permitted to spend up to £300 on the first cut.
3: Trees –
• Cllr E Hollingsworth had informed the Clerk that Four Seasons had been instructed to complete the first cut around the WW1 trees.
4: Highways –
• Cllr A Wiles had chased the pothole report but would follow this up via Helen Selby.
• Cllr R Tillett advised that Burridge Hill was in a bit of a state and he would contact DCC Highways to report
5. Litter Bin – Cllr S Grundy provided a report he had written to EDDC regarding the provision of additional litter and dog bins. The Report was well received by Councillors and Cllr Grundy advised that Richard Martin had been tasked to resolve the issue and the liaise with Cllr E Hllingsworth
6: Superfast Broadband – Cllr M Merrett advised aa parishioner was due to have SB installed in the coming week and had been promised 70 Mbps by the provider. He would report back at the next meeting regarding was speeds had been achieved.
65/17 DCC Matters
No update
66/17 EDDC
Cllr S Grundy gave the council his report into provision of additional waste and dog bins
67/17 Planning
No applications reieved
68/17 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Cheques were approved for:
• The Clerk
• HMRC
• Cllr A Wiles
• B Fenn
• J Hubbard
The Council resolved to close the Co-Operative bank savings account and transfer the monies into the Santander Savings account. A letter has been complied by the Clerk and the instruction was duly signed by Cllr S Luxton (Chair) and Cllr R Tillett.
The Clerk was tasked with checking the signatory arrangements on the Santander Accounts.
69/17 Governance
The Council received and approved the internal auditors report and certified, approved, signed and dated the Accounting Statements for year ending 31st March 2017
70/17 Community Grant Fund
No applications had been received
71/17 Other information
The meeting closed at 8.30pm
72/17 Next meeting
Wednesday 7th June 2017 - 7.30pm, Village Hall