25 Jan 2017

Minutes: 16th January 2017


­­­­­­­­­DRAFT MINUTES

CHEARSLEY PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 16th JANUARY 2017 IN THE VILLAGE HALL AT 7.30PM

PRESENT

Councillors:                                         Nic Brown (NB), John Lewis (JL), Paul Bown (PAB), Julia Witcher (JW)

Parish Clerk:                                       Helen Spurgeon

Responsible Finance Officer:      Robert Parkes (RP)

Parishioners:                                      There were 2 Parishioners

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no interests declared. 

PARISHIONERS QUESTION TIME

There were no questions.

1.        APOLOGIES

Michael Edmonds (ME), John Howard (JH), Michael Heybrook (MH).



2.       APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 2016 MINUTES

Minutes were agreed as a true record and signed by Chairman, Nic Brown.



3.       MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES

·         Provision of Welcome to Chearsley signs. NB is awaiting the artwork. ACTION: NB to present cost and options of sign wording at next meeting.

·         Bank Mandate forms. ACTION: JL to submit forms to bank.

·         Kerbing and Verges. JL is now leading this project.

·         Feasibility study for traffic calming measures. JH is still waiting for a proposal from Bucks CC to carry out the study in April – indicative cost £3k. ACTION: JH to obtain final quote.

·         Trees in Village. There is no list of public owned trees in Chearsley. ACTION: ME to identify on a map trees the Parish Council are responsible for.

·         Grass Cutting. Bucks CC will issue the grass cutting schedule on their website in the spring listing the dates of the 2017 cuts.

·         War Memorial repair and conservation. Grants pre-application form has been submitted. The War Memorials Trust aims to respond within ten weeks.

·         Defibrillator. Councillors are keen to get a defibrillator into the village as soon as possible. ACTION: NB to chase BT to remove the old phone box. PB to chase grant for defibrillator. Discussions took place over whether the defibrillator should be housed in the bus shelter if locating it in a new red phone box was going to delay its installation. ACTION: NB to contact Paul Oliver regarding provision of electricity to the bus shelter and Village Green.

·         Signage for Village Green. The ‘No Parking’ signs have been put up. ACTION: Clerk to contact Margaret Morbey to ask for a note in the Chearsley News requesting people respect the no parking signs around the Green and park safely in the lanes to allow emergency vehicle access.

·         Flagpole. A discussion took place regarding what flag should be flying on the flagpole and when. It was decided to fly the Union Jack on the 20 designated days for Union Flag flying and the St George cross on its designated days. It was decided to have a village flag flying the rest of the time. A competition will be held to design a Chearsley flag. Entries can be submitted to the village shop or via email to the Clerk, closing date 19th March. The winner will receive an award and have their flag flying. ACTION: NB to contact Jay at village shop to ensure he is happy to receive competition entries. ACTION: Clerk to produce competition poster for noticeboard and village website. At present, there will only be a flag flying on the designated days.



4.       COUNCILLOR MICHAEL HEYBROOK’S RESIGNATION

NB formally accepted MH’s resignation. ACTION: Clerk to email MH to confirm acceptance and ask if he is willing to continue as Footpaths Officer. Clerk to ascertain if there is a formal process we should adopt when a Councillor resigns. Clerk to publicise the vacancy via a note on the village noticeboard and ask Margaret Morbey to promote via website.



5.       PLANNING

Two new planning applications were received prior to the meeting:

·         17/00043/ALB – Farthing Cottage, Watts Green, Chearsley HP18 0DD

Widen and refurbish existing box dormer on rear wing left roof slope, general maintenance of rainwater goods & render and removal of redundant cold water tank and housing.

ACTION: CLERK to return NO OBJECTIONS to AVDC.

·         17/00096/ACL – Cavenings, School Lane, Chearsley HP18 0BT

Insertion of additional window to front elevation to serve en-suite shower room.

ACTION: CLERK to return NO OBJECTIONS to AVDC.



6.       CORRESPONDENCE

There was no correspondence outside the Agenda items.



7.       CONTRIBUTIONS FROM AVDC AND BCC COUNCILLORS

There were no AVDC or BCC councillors present. Margaret Aston (BCC) and Michael Hawkett (AVDC) were both emailed last year and invited to attend meetings but no response was received to the email. ACTION: Clerk to email both again to invite to attend future meetings.



8.       FINANCE

·         Budget for 2017/18 was formally approved by the Councillors. ACTION: Clerk to put the budget finance report on website (chearsley.blogspot.co.uk) so that it is available for all to read.

·         It was noted that the External Auditor from 2017/18-2021/22 will be PKF Littlejohn.



9.       REPORTS FROM COUNCILLORS ATTENDING MEETINGS AND OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS

There were none over the Christmas period.



10.   2017 MEETING DATES

It was agreed that meetings would continue to be held on the 3rd Monday of the month at 7.30pm in the Village Hall. 2017 dates were agreed as:

20th Feb, 20th March, 24th April, 15th May(AGM), 19th June, 17th July, 21st August, 18th Sept, 16th Oct, 20th Nov, 11th Dec. ACTION: Clerk to confirm dates with Ruth Holland.



11.   VILLAGE NOTICEBOARD

·         The door is swollen with the damp weather and is jammed. The door panel needs sanding down, treating and securing with a padlock. ACTION: NB to arrange.

·         Replacement of the railings by the bus shelter was discussed. ACTION: PB to progress new railings and speak to Jon Parry.

·         The Parish Council received an email from Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity asking if they could use our noticeboard to display some of their posters advertising upcoming fundraising events. It was agreed that the charity may use the public section of the noticeboard to post small notices which are to be removed once they are out of date. ACTION : Clerk to respond to email.



12.   BOLLARDS AROUND THE VILLAGE GREEN

Further investigation into the various options is required. ACTION: NB to research options for bollards.



13.   PLAY AROUND THE PARISHES 2017

Councillors decided not to book a session due to the high cost of £340 for a 2 hour session.



14.   PC GOVERNANCE

Code of Conduct, Standing Orders and purchasing guidelines to be discussed at the next meeting. ACTION: Clerk to agenda for next meeting.



15.   PARISHIONERS QUESTION TIME

There were no questions.



16.   ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

JH will be attending the Buckinghamshire Freight Strategy – Initial Workshop on 13th February 2017.



17.   DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING in Chearsley Village Hall

·         Monday 20th February 2017 at 7.30pm

Finance report budget 2017-18


Chearsley Parish Council

16 January 2017

Finance Report

Budget 2017/8







Introduction

This paper has been prepared on behalf of Chearsley Parish Council to support its proposal of a precept of £32.000 for the financial year 2017/8.



Current situation

At the beginning of the year 2016/7, the Parish Council had £21,360 in funds.  The precept for the year was £16,000.  Expenditure for the year is likely to be in the region of £34,000.  Of this £34,000, the single biggest item already incurred, was a payment of £7,500 to clear the backlog accumulated at the beginning of the year.   Routine running expenses for the whole year will be around £7,700, (these include salaries to the clerk and supporting clerk, accounting and audit, grass and tree cutting, rental and support for village projects).  The balance, £18,700 is accounted for by projects of a capital nature either incurred or expected to be committed.  Chief among those are: kerbing, £12,000, traffic calming survey, £3,600, work on the village bus shelters, notice board, etc, £3,100.

If all of these projects go ahead, the Parish Council will finish the year with £3,400 cash in hand.



Proposal for 2017/8

For next year, planned expenditure will be approximately, £32,000.

This figure has been arrived at, as follows:

Ongoing ‘routine’ expenditure has been budgeted based on the figures already known for 2016/7, except where existing commitments are in place, leading to different figures.  Specifically, work will be required on a number of the village trees which are either unsafe or in need of work, increasing the cost by £4,000.  A full year’s allowance also needs to be made for the salary and expenses of the Parish Clerk.  As a result of this, on-going expenses are likely to reach £12,250.



The second part of the budget comprises those projects of a capital nature.  The Council has a number of initiatives, which at this stage are not fully costed, but which reflect very closely the demands and requirements of the village. Chief among those are to continue the planned kerbing in the village, progress the traffic calming scheme, replace the telephone kiosk with a ‘defibrillator shelter’, securing the Green and providing electricity thereto, investigating the parking bays on Church lane which have fallen into disuse, and refurbishing the War Memorial where much of the cost will be met by a charity.

To meet the expected cost of these, the Council is putting aside £19,000.  This is in recognition that, where the cost assumptions used are not accurate, it may not be possible to go ahead with all of the projects.  In which case, the portfolio of projects will be prioritised to reflect the village’s needs.  In addition, a contingency of £750 has been included.



The total expenditure for 2017/8 is planned to be £32,000.  The Council wishes to retain the cash reserve accumulated at the end of 2016/7 of £3,400 to provide a level of contingency, and therefore seeks to fund its expenditure for the year by requesting a precept of £32,000.


















Out-turn
Budget
2016/7
2017/8
Opening cash balance
21364
3468
Precept, (actual or proposed)
16000
31250
Clerk's salary
-1512
-3000
Administration
-9275
-800
Road maintenance
-600
Grounds maintenance
-2688
-6750
Village furniture
-40
-300
Village events
-200
Village grants
-1525
-600
(subtotal here £12,250)
Traffic calming
-3756
-3500
Kerbing
-12000
-6000
Other village projects*
-3100
-9000
Prior year items
Devolved responsibilities
-500
Closing balance
3468
3468
*
Other Village Projects
Telephone kiosk/defibrillator
1500
Electricity to the Green
2000
Car parking bays
2000
Protection of the green
3000
Refurb of war memorial
500
9000



Contingency                
        £750                 









13 Jan 2017

Agenda: CPC meeting 16th January 2017


CHEARSLEY PARISH COUNCIL

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE NEXT MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON:

Monday 16th January 2017 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall

Councillors are summoned to attend.

AGENDA

Declarations of Interest, in accordance with Sections 30(3) and 235(2) of the Localism Act 2011 Councillors to declare any personal, prejudicial or pecuniary interests pertaining to the Agenda.

Parishioners Question Time, 15 minutes will be set aside to receive representations from members of the public.

1.    Apologies for Absence

2.    Approval of Minutes – Monday 12th December 2016

3.    Matters Arising from previous Minutes

4.    Councillor Michael Heybrook’s resignation

5.    Planning, to note that no new planning applications received

6.    Correspondence, any outside Agenda items

7.    Contributions from AVDC and BCC Cllrs

8.    Finance

a.    Orders for Payment

b.    Budget, to formally approve 2017/18 budget

c.    External Auditors, to note External Auditor from 2017/18-2021/22 will be PKF Littlejohn.

9.    Report from Councillors attending meetings and outside organisations

10.  2017 meeting dates, to agree

11.  Village Noticeboard, to discuss any issues

12.  Bollards around the Village Green

13.  Play around the Parishes 2017, to resolve to book a session in 2017

14.  PC Governance, to discuss Code of Conduct and Standing Orders

15.  Parishioners Question Time – 15 minutes will be set aside to receive representations from members of the public.

16.  Items for Information

·         Buckinghamshire Freight Strategy – Initial Workshop on 13th February 2017. Councillors to confirm attendance.

17. Date and Time of Next Meeting in Chearsley Village Hall

·         Monday 20th February at 7.30pm – Parish Council Meeting

The Minutes and Agenda of the Parish Council can also be viewed at chearsley.blogspot.co.uk

Helen Spurgeon

Clerk