24 Mar 2017

Minutes: 20th March 2017


DRAFT MINUTES

CHEARSLEY PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 20th MARCH 2017 IN THE VILLAGE HALL AT 7.30PM

PRESENT

Councillors:                                         Nic Brown (NB), John Lewis (JL), John Howard (JH), Julia Witcher (JW), Martin Hearmon (MH), Michael Hawkett

Parish Clerk:                                       Helen Spurgeon

Responsible Finance Officer:      Robert Parkes (RP)

Parishioners:                                      There were 3 Parishioners

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no interests declared. 

PARISHIONERS QUESTION TIME

A parishioner asked whether the white gates at the entrances to the village have been repainted. They have and NB has finalised the new Welcome to Chearsley signs.

1.        APOLOGIES

Paul Bown (PAB), Michael Edmonds (ME), Margaret Aston.



2.       APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 2017 MINUTES

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



3.       MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES

·         Bank Mandate forms. The bank has requested these be redone due to too many crossings out. ACTION: JL to resubmit.

·         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.

·         War Memorial repair and conservation. ACTION: Clerk and JL to complete War Memorials Trust Grant Application form.

·         Signage for Village Green. The ‘No Parking’ sign cannot be repositioned on Mr Slatter’s wall as his railings have been removed. ACTION: NB to remove the first ‘No Parking’ sign.

·         Bus Shelters. ACTION: NB to order new bus stop signs.  Improvements to the interiors of the bus shelters are needed. ACTION: NB to determine cost of new wooden benches and slate floor. JW raised a concern that the wood inside the bus shelter roof may be coming apart. ACTION: NB to look at bus shelter roof. JH put forward the idea of having a picture inside the bus shelter. It could be a children’s competition and be changed every season. ACTION: NB to contact Jay in the shop to see if he is able to replace the bin outside the shop.

·         Communication. ACTION: JW to set up Chearsley PC Facebook page. It was agreed we need a Chearsley PC logo which will probably be the new Chearsley flag. The deadline to submit entries for the Chearsley Flag Competition has been extended. CHUFF and local schools have been invited to submit entries. JL and JH are working on a village email database using Mailchimp. Once this is set up, it will be manage by the Clerk and anyone who wishes to receive the mailings will be able to subscribe.



4.       PARISH COUNCILLOR VACANCY

Martin Hearmon has been co-opted onto the Council.



5.       PLANNING

·         17/00686/APP – The Old Chapel, Winchendon Rd, Chearsley HP18 0DW

Site visit on 21/03/17 at 2pm. NB, JL, JW, MH to attend.



6.       CORRESPONDENCE

·         The Boot and village kerb damage. The owners would like to make a significant financial contribution to the Parish Council towards kerb repairs once their renovation works are complete. ACTION: Clerk to respond to email accepting the offer.

·         An email was received from a resident informing the Parish Council that the ‘No Parking’ signs by the Green are not working and a dust cart had to drive over the verges. ACTION: NB to update resident.

·         WI homemade cake sale on the Green Saturday 8th April 12-2pm.

·         There will be no village show this year due to the rebuilding of the Village Hall.

·         Village events:

·   Flower Festival in the Church Friday 30th June & Saturday 1st July

·   Village Fete Saturday 24th June

·   Classic Cars with Hurricane fly past Sunday 10th September

·   NB suggested a street musicians festival



7.       CONTRIBUTIONS FROM AVDC AND BCC COUNCILLORS

There were no contributions.



8.       FINANCE

·         Orders for Payment – cheques were issued for new flags for the flagpole and the Clerk’s salary.

·         It was decided not to enter the Bucks Best Kept Village Competition this year. Councillors felt it was better to wait until next year when a number of major village projects will be complete.

·         RP produced a draft finance report for the year ending 31/03/17. We are building up a fund and making good progress to complete several village projects. JH will need audited finance figures from RP for the LAF grant application.



9.       REPORTS FROM COUNCILLORS ATTENDING MEETINGS AND OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS

There were none.



10.   VILLAGE PROJECTS

·         Kerbing. Councillors supported JL’s proposal to proceed with the kerbing work in Dark Lane.

·         TfB Feasibility Study. On Friday 24th March at 10am Trevor Bonsor, the project engineer from TfB, is meeting with Councillors on the Green for a village walk around to discuss local concerns and priorities. The next step would be to produce proposals to address these concerns.

·         Defibrillator. BHF have confirmed that our grant application was unsuccessful. ACTION: JH to contact Claire Lazaruk and Angela Gray to ascertain whether village fete funds are available to put towards the purchase. Locating the defibrillator in an old red phone box is proving very complex so the bus shelter would seem the best location. An electricity supply to the bus shelter is needed. ACTION: NB to send electrical report to JL. ACTION: JL to contact Simon at Adam 1st Electrical.

·         Quotation for new railings, litter bins and bollards. JL and NB met with a supplier who quoted for new railings to replace those by the bus shelter, 2 new litter bins to go by the bus shelters and bollards in either cast iron or timber for the Green. The grand total was over £14k with around 50% of the cost being for installation. We need to obtain more quotes. ACTION: JL and NB to meet to discuss project. JW suggested as a temporary measure to clean up the existing bin by the bus shelter and attach it to the railings so that the unsightly concrete post could be removed.

·         Pruning of horse chestnut tree. The survey of the tree recommended pruning. ACTION: JL to chase quote for pruning.



11.   ANNUAL VILLAGE MEETING (AVM) 24th April

The AVM will need to be promoted and advertised well. ACTION: JH to email invitees, asking them to say a few words. Village hall users and car pool to be added to invitees. ACTION: JH to ask Alicia Howard to design a poster for the AVM which will go on the notice board, in the Chearsley News and be emailed out. Presentation slides will form a backdrop to the Agenda which will include the finance report. There will be a meeting to discuss the AVM (theme, method, messages) on Friday morning 24th March, following the 10am feasibility study meeting. JL, NB, JH to attend. The Parish Council are trying to encourage the engagement of people in the village with this new approach to the AVM.



12.   PC GOVERNANCE

·         Code of Conduct and Standing Orders were approved and adopted by the Councillors. ACTION: Clerk to update and email out.

·         Equalities Policy – ACTION: Clerk to circulate to Councillors for comments.

·         Financial Regulations and Risk Assessment– RP recommends adopting the Financial Regulations and this was supported by the Councillors. ACTION: Clerk to send Risk Assessment to RP for comments. Clerk to send both documents to NB.



13.   PARISHIONERS QUESTION TIME

A Parishioner asked where Parish Council funds come from. They come from the Precept which is collected through Council Tax.



14.   ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

·         HS2 Update – 30/03/17 2pm, Quainton Village Hall, JH to attend.

·         Elections to Buckinghamshire County Council on Thursday 4 May 2017.

·         JW mentioned the parking on grass verges by CHUFF parents which is causing damage. ACTION: NB to speak to Hannah Eames.



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

·         Monday 24th April 2017 at 7.30pm (Annual Village Meeting)