Minutes 7th November 2018
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 7th November 2018 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton (Chairman), Cllr A Birmingham (Vice-Chairman), Cllr J Gibson, Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr E Johns, Cllr R Tillett and Cllr M Merrett
Apologies: None
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) and 1 member of the public
124/18 Apologies
No apologies were received.
Apologies received from Cllr R Bloxham (DCC) & Cllr S Randall-Johnson (DCC)
125/18 Declarations of interest
None at this stage of the meeting
126/18 Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 3rd October 2018
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 3rd October 2018 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by the Chairman
127/18 Democratic period
Gregg Dawe gave an update on the Chapel Road tree. He explained that residents were setting up a working group and were looking at tree protection from vehicles. The group were currently getting costings and would bring a detailed plan to the January meeting which would include ongoing maintenance of the tree and any protection barriers required. Councillors advised the group to seek guidance from the DCC Highways department, planning and the tree officer in EDDC.
He reported that the lights in Chapel Road had been staying on to 1.30am. There was a general discussion about the times the street lighting came on and Cllr Tillett said that the Parish Council had been able to negotiate the timings in the past with DCC Highways but he felt that a consensus should be sought from villagers before any action was taken. He suggested an article in Speke Up to gauge the feeling within the village.
With regard to the footpath to the church steps he reported that it was muddy and asked about the possibility of having hard core put down. The Parish Council confirmed that there was no adopted footpath in the location so it would be unable to instigate any repairs.
128/18 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall – The Parish Council discussed the response from the Village Hall Trust with regard to having another survey completed and decided that it would be beneficial to set up a working group with them to agree a way forward, which may include getting a contractor to inspect the state of the roof. Cllrs Tillett, Merrett and Birmingham would arrange this.
2: Footpaths & Verges -
Cllr Gibson had contacted a contractor, Allan Tyson, who would be completing the repairs to Lake Bridge, the kissing gate and replacement of footpath signs in November. She confirmed that monies to pay for the repairs would come from P3 funds. She confirmed that she would sort out the fallen tree on Gypsy lane.
The Clerk confirmed she was awaiting a response from Ros Davies about the Japanese Knotweed problem but early indications would be that if the Parish Council wanted to take action to remove the knotweed from the footpath it would need to source its own contractor. The Clerk would forward on the response when received.
The Chairman explained that he would be liaising with the Chairman of Stoke Canon Parish Council to determine what work would be required to repair the footpath between the two villages and enable a Parishes Together Fund bid to be made.
3: Trees – No Update
4: Highways & Traffic Management-The Chairman advised that the two lorry loads of plainings were yet to be delivered to his yard and he would chase DCC Highways and once received would complete the repairs to the verges at Stipperstones.
Cllr Tillett explained he had emailed DCC Highways about the road dressing which had eroded on Pynes Hill as this would be lethal in icy weather.
The Chairman agreed to move the salt bin in the parking space outside of the village call to create more space.
Cllr Hollingsworth agreed to contact DCC Highways to get another salt bin installed at Lake Bridge.
The Clerk was asked to write to SWWA about the ongoing issues in the winter of burst pipes to the village to see if there were any plans for action to ensure that these did not reoccur.
The Chairman advised he was happy to continue to complete additional gritting in the village over the winter months.
Cllr Birmingham explained that he had cleared the gully at Lake Bridge and advised that the Parish Council should add monies in the budget to pay for additional clearance of gullies on top of what the lengthsmen did. Cllr Tillett said he would contact DCC Highways to see if he could arrange for the gully to be cleared.
5: Community Engagement-Cllr Gibson circulated the revised newsletter she had produced and asked for any amendments by Friday 16th November. She explained that the newsletter would be printed and distributed to all households in early December. If any Councillors would like to assist with the distribution please contact Cllr Gibson direct.
129/18 EDDC
Cllr Grundy explained the actions he had taken for the following topics:
• Answer to the query that the Street Scene Team in EDDC would clear litter from private land – He had emailed the Manager of Street Scene at EDDC
• Confirmation that the Team Manager from the Recycling Team at EDDC will/has inspected the debris left behind by the Recycling teams in Brampford Speke – He had emailed the Team Manager from the Recycling team at EDDC
• Update on Cllr Grundy’s lobbying to the Police and Crime Commissioner regarding a closure working relationship between the Police and EDDC on dog attacks – He had spoken to the Environmental Manager at EDDC who said the relationship had improved
• Outcome of MOTION raised by Cllr Grundy for higher financial penalties for people whose dogs attack- He had decided not to raise a Motion at EDDC but to support Neil Parish MP who was trying to get the legislation changed.
130/18 DCC
No update
131/18 Planning
No applications within the Parish had been dealt with since the last meeting
132/18 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Payments were approved for:
• 2 x The Clerk (Oct & Nov)
• 2 x HMRC (Oct & Nov)
The authorisations were signed by Cllr Luxton and Cllr Birmingham.
Accounting Statement October 2018
The Parish council NOTED that two payments had been made to:
• Four Seasons – 2 x £228.00 – Grass Cutting (Authorised by A Birmingham and R Tillett)
• E Gillbard - £345.60 - Verges (Authorised by A Birmingham and R Tillett)
Cllr Birmingham gave an overview of the budget for 2019/2020 and explained the reasoning behind the expenditure. The Council discussed the budget for 2019/2020 and agreed that an increase of 2.9% on the precept was required.
It was therefore RESOLVED that the budget for 2019/2020 was approved subject to any feedback from the public when the increase was reported in the December edition of Speke Up.
(Proposed by the Chairman)
133/18 Other information
• Speke Up – the following items would be included in the next edition
o Tree group
o Timings of Street Lights
o Proposed Precept increase of 2.9%
o Elections in 2019
• The Group asked the Clerk to contact the recipients of the Community Grants for an update on what the monies was spent on and feedback on the scheme.
• Chapter 8 Training – No update
134/18 Access to Information
Prior to considering the following item on the agenda, discussion took place as to whether it was necessary to pass the following resolution to exclude the press and public having reflected on Article 15 15.02(d) (a presumption in favour of openness) of the Constitution. The Parish Council decided that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.
It was therefore RESOLVED that Under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public will be excluded from the next item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to an individual.
(Proposed by the Chairman)
135/18 Clerks Appraisal and Renumeration
Discussion took place about the Clerks 2018 appraisal and remuneration.
It was RESOLVED to accept the recommendation of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and the Lead HR Councillor in respect of the Clerks remuneration and change of hours.
(Proposed by Cllr R Tillett & Seconded by Cllr J Gibson)
136/18 Next meeting
The meeting closed at 9.18pm.
The next meeting would be Wednesday 9th January 2018 at 7.30pm, Village Hall