Parish
Council meeting
Monday June 25 2007
Belmont Community Centre
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BELMONT
RURAL PARISH COUNCIL
Parish
Council meeting |
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Present: Mr. P. Edwards Chairman In attendance: Mrs. E. Kelso Clerk Apologies: Mrs. V. Gummer 73/07 Declarations of Interest Councillor Andy Myatt and Councillor John Newman declared a personal interest in agenda item 20, the funding application from South Wye Community Association. 74/07 Co-option of new Parish Councillors The Chairman advised that there are currently three vacancies for which three individuals had expressed an interest. · Beryl Brown – who was unable to attend
the meeting but had expressed an interest in co-option having served as
a Parish Council for some years before the last election. After a brief discussion, it was unanimously agreed that Mrs. Beryl Brown, Mr. Andy Myatt and Mrs. Wendy Butler be co-opted to the Parish Council to hold office until the next full Parish Council elections or until they submit a formal resignation, whichever comes first. Councillor Andy Myatt signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and took his seat on the Parish Council. 75/07 Minutes of the previous meetings (a) Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting It was agreed that the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 14th May be signed by the Chairman as a true record of proceedings at that meeting. (b) Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting It was agreed that the Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting held on 14th May be signed by the Chairman as a true record of proceedings at that meeting.
(a) Litter bins The Clerk reported that Herefordshire Jarvis Services have not yet completed moving the existing litter bin in Abbotsmead Road to its new location and installation of the replacement larger bin. Written permission from Persimmon Homes as landowners is still awaited although verbal authority has been given. The final stage of this project is the provision of a new litter bin top for the bin which is adjacent to the bus shelter on the Belmont Road, which has also not yet taken place. Clerk will progress these items. (b) Parking on grass verge It was noted that there have been further instances of cars being parked on grass verges. These have been reported to Herefordshire Council for action. 77/07 Report from West Mercia Police Sgt. Payne reported that there had been a small number of incidents since the last meeting, the most significant of which was a burglary at Tesco for which two youths had been arrested. There had been some instances of the use of “mini moto” bikes within the Parish and within the wider South Wye area which were being dealt with. Sgt. Payne explained that initially riders were warned not the ride the machines on public land which is followed by confiscation of the bike if used again. The two Community Support Officers are now nearly back to full duties and new CSOs are working in Redhill/Newton Farm. In his volunteer Parish Watch role, Councillor Edwards noted that he has reported a number of incidents of minor vandalism mostly involving damage to fencing since the last meeting. There has also been damage to the Northolme Community Building roof from youths throwing rocks. He also reported that there has been some anti social behaviour associated with drinking in a field belonging to Home Farm and in Glastonbury Close. Discussion then moved to reports of children playing football in the play area within Coppin Rise which had resulted in the police being called when property was damaged by footballs. Sgt. Payne agreed to investigate this further and ascertained that the problem is caused largely by one family living in the area inviting friends from outside the parish to use the area. Further discussion on this item took place under agenda item 19. Please see Minute no. 91/07.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting for a brief period of public participation during which the following items were raised: · It was felt that the signs indicating that an area is an “alcohol controlled” area have been placed too high on lamp posts for people to notice them. · Residents from Coppin Rise asked that one of the benches on the public open space be moved as they felt it attracted anti social behaviour. The bench does not belong to the Parish Council and has been placed there in memory of a resident. It was agreed that the Parish Council would consider a new location by the next meeting and if agreed, request that the bench be moved. In the meantime, Sgt. Payne agreed to arrange for more visits by the Community Support Officers. 79/07 CorrespondenceOther than routine items previously circulated to Members or addressed elsewhere on the agenda, there has been one item of correspondence:being a letter from Conservative candidate Jesse Norman requesting the Parish Council support of the campaign to stop the closure of rural post offices. It was agreed that the Clerk be instructed to write to Mr. Norman in support of the campaign to retain rural post offices but to indicate that the Parish Council would also urge for the protection of urban post offices too.
(a) Payments Councillor Myatt left the room for this agenda item. Authority was given to make the following payments: South Wye Community
Association Herefordshire Jarvis
Services Mrs. E. Kelso Inland Revenue Mr. R. Rose Cash (b) Receipts Since the last meeting the sum of £292.08 has been received from HM Revenue & Customs being the reimbursement of VAT paid during the year 2006/7. (c) Balances Current account:
£500.00 Councillor Myatt returned to the room at the end of this agenda item. 81/07 Planning Matters (a) Applications received since last meeting The following applications have been received since the last meeting: Ref: DCCW2007/1580/F Ref: DCCw2007/1782/F (b) Observations passed to Herefordshire Council since last meeting None other than that noted above. (c) Notification of decisions received since last meeting Notification of the following planning decisions has been received since the last meeting: Ref: DCCW2007/1229/F Ref: DCCW2007/1238/F 82/07 Review of Internal Audit Procedure The Clerk explained that it is now a requirement that the Parish Council conduct a review of the Internal Control regime for the Parish Council and whilst in future it was recommended that the review be carried out by a working party, this year the review would take place at part of this meeting. A draft statement on internal control was considered and after some discussion, it was agreed that the Statement as produced to the meeting be adopted by the Parish Council. 83/07 Annual Return for the year ended 31.3.2007 It was agreed that this item be deferred to the next meeting when the report from the Internal Auditor would be available. The Clerk confirmed that papers are to be submitted for external audit at the end of July. 84/07 Cycle Track/funding application Members noted that the initial expression of interest to the Big Lottery Fund had been sent off but as at the date of the meeting, no response has been received. The Clerk confirmed that she had checked with the external auditors and ascertained that apart from an increased audit fee, any grant would not adversely impact on the audit requirements for the Parish Council. 85/07 Standing Orders The Clerk explained that the current Standing Orders do not permit Members of the public to speak during Parish Council meetings although it is the current practice of this Parish Council to permit public participation during an adjournment of the formal meeting. After some discussion, it was unanimously agreed that the following clause be added to the Parish Council Standing Orders as a new clause: “68(a) At the sole discretion of the Chairman of any meeting, a member of the public in attendance may be permitted to give a brief statement or raise a matter of concern either verbally or in writing provided that the statement or matter is relevant to the debate, as determined by the Chairman. Nothing in this clause provides members of the public with an automatic right to speak on any subject at any meeting.” It was further noted that our Standing Orders contain reference to “pecuniary and non-pecuniary” interests, a phrase which is no longer relevant under the Code of Conduct. The Clerk advised that where Standing Orders are inconsistent with a statutory requirement such as the Code of Conduct, the statutory regulation would automatically apply. However, it was noted that the National Association of Local Councils is currently working on new Model Standing Orders and it was agreed that these should be considered for adoption, when available. 86/07 Code of Conduct It was unanimously agreed that this Parish Council adopt the New Code of Conduct as applicable to Parish Councils. It was further agreed that the Parish Council adopt paragraph 12(2) which is optional for Parish Councils which permits Members with a prejudicial interest in an agenda item to speak at meetings in connection with that agenda item before leaving the meeting in accordance with the Code of Conduct, in the same manner as a member of the public might be permitted to speak at a meeting in accordance with Standing Orders. 87/07 Parish Plan Review It was noted that no one had been available to attend the Parish Plan training event in June. However, it was agreed to move ahead with the Parish Plan review, with an opportunity for public comment on priority items at the Northolme Community Centre opening in August. In preparation for the review, it was agreed that a working party be set up to make the necessary arrangements. All Members are welcome to take part but initially Councillors Edwards, Myatt and Cook volunteered to join the working party. It was noted that Veronica and Roderick Robinson had kindly volunteered to help. 88/07 Clerks Model Contract of Employment In accordance with Standing Orders, it was unanimously agreed that this item be considered without members of the public in attendance. Members noted that the National Association of Local Councils had recently published a new Model Contract of Employment for Parish Clerks, to incorporate recent changes in employment legislation. The Model Contract had been previously circulated and was discussed during which it was noted that the new Model Contract differs from current Contract of Employment for the Clerk in a number of areas, including (but not limited to): · There is no pension provision for the Clerk. It was noted that an alternative is to offer a gratuity to the Clerk on retirement. It was agreed that this required further research. · There is currently no provision for the Clerk to receive payment for any hours worked over the agreed 15 hours per week. · The Clerk is not provided with any equipment other than a mobile phone and uses her own computer for parish council work. A basic software package was purchased by the parish council but internet access, anti virus software and other office equipment is currently provided by the Clerk free of charge. It was noted that in the event of a change of staff, it would be necessary for the Parish Council to provide this and the Clerk was requested to ascertain a budget for this. It was finally agreed that the Model Code be adopted insofar as it is consistent with the Clerk’s current contract, i.e. excluding reference to pension arrangements. 89/07 Parish Watch Councillor Edwards reported that Parish Watch is a voluntary arrangement and suggested that it would be appropriate if a regular report could be made available to Members and the public in attendance at Parish Council meetings. This was unanimously agreed. 90/07 Pride in Parish Councillor Edwards explained his proposal that Pride in Parish would be a group of volunteers with a common aim of caring for the environment within the parish, litter picking etc. Members noted the need to ensure that any voluntary action under the direction of the Parish Council must take place with appropriate training, equipment, risk assessments and insurance provision. It was noted that this item could be furthered via the Parish Plan revisit. 91/07 Coppin Rise Members noted that a temporary “no ball games” sign has been erected on the children’s play are in Coppin Rise by Herefordshire Council at the request of District Councillor Glenda Powell. When this matter was discussed by the Parish Council last year, it had been agreed that Parks & Countryside would write to all local residents and advise them of instances of anti social behaviour relating to the play area and suggest that if the situation did not improve, ball games would be banned. As noted in Minute 77/07 West Mercia police had been made aware of one family playing ball games on the site with the result that there had been some property damage. Several members commented that a “no ball games sign” had, in other locations, resulted in similar problems being reduced elsewhere although it was noted that without a bye law, the notice would be unenforceable and would mean that no children would be permitted to play with a ball on that site. After some discussion it was agreed that this Parish Council endorse the decision by Herefordshire Council to forbid the playing of games with a ball on that play area. The Clerk was instructed to notify Herefordshire Council accordingly. 92/07 Funding Application – South Wye Community Association Councillor John Newman and Councillor Andy Myatt declared a personal interest in this item and, after presenting the application to Members, left the meeting for this item and did not take part in any further discussion or vote. Members noted that as part of the refurbishment plans for the Belmont community Centre, the South Wye Community Association was requesting a grant of £2,100 to replace two emergency doors at the Centre. Funding to replace a further emergency door had been granted by the Parish Council approximately 18 months ago. Members adjourned the meeting for a brief site visit to look at the doors in question and upon return agreed to provide a grant of up to £1,500 towards the cost of the refurbishment. It was further agreed that the Clerk request that South Wye Community Association provide a schedule of planned refurbishments to the Centre together with copies of the most recent udited accounts and such other financial information as may be required for future reference. 93/07 Grant funding for communications schemes Members noted that a grant of up to £300 might be available through HALC towards projects to improve communications within Parishes. It was agreed that the Clerk be authorised to make an application on behalf of the Parish Council with a view to using the grant towards covering some of the cost of producing the regular newsletter/information sheet for residents on the work of the Parish Council. 94/07 Parish Matters (a) Councillor Loft gave a brief report on the most recent meeting of the PCCG that he had attended. (b) Councillor Cook reported that a manhole cover is sinking in Yarlington Mil, outside numbers 11 and 12. The Clerk was instructed to report this to Herefordshire Council. (c) It was noted that the new wire fencing around the Tesco site appears to be retaining the litter from the site. (d) Councillor Myatt noted that South Wye Community Association would be interested in supporting a strategy to promote combined working between organisations within the area. (e) Councillor Edwards reported that loose highway kerb stones at the entrance to Belmont Community Centre/Belmont Medical Centre Car Park have been refitted where necessary. (f) Members noted that a number of shopping trolleys (not all Tescos) have been abandoned in streams, leading to some problems during the recent heavy rain. The system for retaining the trolleys on the supermarket site does not appear to be working. (g) During the recent heavy rain the ewer manhole cover on the CH7 footway adjacent to Abbotsmead Road was lifted by rising water levels. (h) The barrier to the petrol filling station has been sent away for repair during which time there was a burglary at the garage. 95/07 Date of next meeting The next meeting will be held on Monday 30th July at Belmont Community Centre, Eastholme Road, Belmont, commencing at 7pm.
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