WEST CREWKERNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on
Tuesday 14TH May 2019 at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall
Members Present
Mrs Julia Borland (Parish Councillor)
Mr Barrie Carter (Parish
Councillor)
Mr Frank Freeman (Parish
Councillor)
Mr Roger Franklin (Parish
Councillor)
Also present
Mr Mike Best (Somerset County
Councillor)
Mrs Sue Osborne (South
Somerset District Councillor)
Miss Jackie Parsons (Parish
Clerk)
4 Members of the Public
1. The election of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and
Joint Burial Committee members.
Mr
R Franklin (Parish Councillor) asked what the difference was between the Annual
Parish Meeting and the Annual Parish Council Meeting. Mrs J Borland and Mrs S Osborne explained
that some parishes are so small, they do not have Parish Councillors and they
do not set a precept. The Annual Parish
Meeting is to allow the parishioners to bring any concerns to the meeting and
discuss those concerns. A parishioner
can give notice of a meeting, within a certain time frame and also state the
nature of the concern, at any time and a meeting can take place. The Annual Parish Council meeting is called
by the Councillors to review the preceding year and for the benefit of the
parishioners to raise any concerns. Mr R
Franklin asked if therefore it was necessary to have an Annual Parish Meeting. It is a legal requirement to have both
meetings.
The
Chairman Mrs J Borland then stood down as Chairman and the Parish Clerk asked
for nominations for Chairman. Mr F
Freeman nominated Mrs J Borland and Mr B Carter seconded the proposal, Mrs J
Borland duly elected.
The
Clerk then asked for nominations for the vice-chairman stating that Mr D
Yeomans had stated that he was willing to stand as Vice-Chairman if there were
no other nominations. Mr D Yeomans was
proposed by Mr B Carter and seconded by Mr F Freeman
The
Clerk then asked for Councillors willing to serve on the Crewkerne and West
Crewkerne Joint Burial Board. Mrs J
Borland and Mr F Freeman both were willing to stand and the Clerk stated that
she believed that Mrs C Broom would be willing to stand again. The Clerk asked the other Parish Councillors
if they were in favour of the nominations, they all agreed.
The
Clerk asked if any Parish Councillor was willing to stand as a trustee from
West Crewkerne Parish Council for the Alms-houses as Mr J Wyatt wished to stand
down as trustee. Mr F Freeman agreed to
stand as trustee and was proposed by Mrs J Borland and seconded by Mr B Carter
and agreed by all the Parish councillors.
2. Apologies
for Absence
Apologies received from Mr Don Yeomans (Parish
Councillor) and Mrs Caroline Broom (Parish Councillor)
3. Public Open Forum – Each member of the public
present is entitled to speak once only, in respect of business itemised on the
agenda and shall not speak for more than 5 minutes.
Nobody from the public wish to make any comments or raise any matters
not covered on the agenda.
4. Declarations of Interest in items on the agenda (Pecuniary or
non-statutory
Interests).
Mr B Carter, Mrs J Borland, Mr F Freeman and Mr R Franklin all declared
no interest in any of the items on the agenda.
5. To approve the minutes of the Parish
Council Meeting held on the12th March 2019
The minutes of the meeting had been circulated to the Parish
Councillors and members of the public present at the meeting. The minutes were proposed for adoption at the
meeting by Mr B Carter and seconded by Mrs J Borland. All Parish Councillors in favour of the
minutes.
6. Matters arising from the minutes not
covered elsewhere on the Agenda.
Mrs
J Borland brought up two matters with Gigaclear. The first was the spoils left in the pub car
park in Roundham and the second matter was Axe Road in Drimpton. Mrs J Borland asked Mr B Carter if the spoils
had been removed, Mr B Carter stated it had.
Mrs J Borland then commented on Axe Road, two days after the Parish
Council Meeting in March 2019 there were six people in Axe Road, 2 from
Gigaclear and 4 from County Council. On
the road there are now yellow arrows, red arrows and white arrows with no
explanation as to what they stand for and nobody has been back to do any
work. Mrs J Borland looked on Gigaclear’s
website and it states on there that they are behind schedule with the
work. Mrs S Osborne (South Somerset
District Councillor) stated that they are behind schedule on work in a number
of parishes that she serves.
7. Planning Matters.
West Crewkerne Parish Council is a Statutory
Consultee for Planning Applications
and
as such does not make the final decision on any application. Any decisions and comments made by the Parish Council
will be fed into the planning process and added to the report by the Planning
Officer. South Somerset District Council
is the Planning Authority and will issue the final decision notice (Planning
Determination) once their investigations into the application, consultation
period and decision making process has been completed.
A): 18/03873/HOU. 14TH January 2019 Clapton Court , Clapton Road West Crewkerne Crewkerne TA18 8PT, Alterations to dwelling including replacing a single building with new single storey garden room and conversion of part of an existing outbuilding into a games room and yoga studio.
Application permitted with conditions and the Parish Council had no issues with this application.
B): 19/00301/HOU. 5TH
February 2019 Manor Barns (10) Manor Barns Annexe (10A) Henley Crewkerne
Somerset TA18 8PQ, Erection of a fence to separate 10 and 10A.
The
Parish Councillors had no issues with this planning application.
Status Approved
C):
19/00297/HOU 5TH February 2019 1 Wetstone View Council Houses Hewish
Crewkerne Somerset TA18 8QX, Demolition of existing porch and rear conservatory
and erection of side, front and rear extensions.
The Parish Councillors had also looked
at these plans and had no objections to the plans.
Status Approved
D):19/00844/HOU.
4TH April 2019 Lyminster Farm Hewish Gates West Crewkerne TA18 8QP,
Erection of Single Storey extension and replacement
Mrs
J Borland also stated that there was an ongoing application for the erection of
an agricultural building at Little Shabby Farm.
Mrs J Borland had written to the planning office asking why the
application was for three years only and she had received a reply from Mike
Hicks regarding the matter. Mrs J
Borland read out the reply. The letter
stated that where the business is a new business there is a bedding in period
of 3 years to ensure that the business is a success and that the business meets
all the requirements then for an application for a permanent dwelling. If the business fails then the residential
use ceases to exist after the 3 year temporary
period. Mrs J Borland thanked Mr M Hicks
for his clarification.
8. Highway Matters
Roundham
Small Improvement Scheme.
Mr
M Best (Somerset County Councillor) stated that he had been in contact with Mr
G Warren of Somerset Highways on a regular basis and they are in the process of
putting together the construction drawings, once they have come together they
will forward the drawings to Mr M Best, if the drawings are the same as the
ones that the residents and the Parish Council held meetings about and approved
the plans, then Mr M Best will push the plans back to them to send them out to
contractors to tender for the work and give a price. Mr M Best is fairly confident that the
process will not take too long.
Mrs
J Borland had taken a copy of the flowchart of the processes of a Small
improvement scheme for Mr B Carter so that he could see the various processes
that have to be done before the scheme gets approval.
Mr
B Carter would like Mr M Best to accompany him in Roundham to see the speed of
the traffic coming in and going out of the village, so that Somerset Highways
can be made aware that the de-restriction zone needs to be moved along with the
speed limit signs. Mrs J Borland had
also taken off the internet information on the applying for a speed warning
sign to be erected. Mr B Carter stated
that Mr G Colman estate manager of Coombe Farm Roundham had offered to pay for
a speed warning sign from one of the estates charitable bodies which would
benefit the community. Mrs J Borland had
also looked at the Avon and Somerset Police website and stated that the Police speed van
was also deployed in Roundham this week.
Mr B Carter was adamant that no Police speed van came to Roundham, they
did have a speed motorcyclist but he only stayed approximately 40 minutes and
therefore it was only a token gesture and did no good whatsoever. Mr B Carter feels that the scheme Somerset
Highways has come up with is just an appeasement to try and keep everybody in
Roundham happy but that Somerset Highways have failed to research the matter
properly. Mrs J Borland then asked Mr B
Carter if he had done anything about setting up a Speed watch group, Mr B
Carter stated that he had asked 3 or 4 people but they were just not
interested. Mrs J Borland had also
printed off some material regarding speed watch and communities working with
the Police on speeding and gave this to Mr B Carter for his perusal.
Mrs
J Borland then asked Mr M Best if he was happy to meet with Mr B Carter in
Roundham which he was but Mrs J Borland stated that she did not want the small
improvement scheme for Roundham jeopardised in any way otherwise the scheme
could face longer delays in being implemented.
Mr
M Best asked the meeting as Highways was being discussed could he bring up
about the Maiden Beech cross roads.
There was now research going on into Cathole bridge road due to
developers planning to build 160 houses at the top of Lang road in
Crewkerne. They originally stated that
only 9% of people would use Cathole bridge road. Mr M Best stated that he had pushed for this
to be reviewed. Somerset Highways had
given their approval to the developer’s plans but had stated they were not
happy with the state of Cathole Bridge road, so the developers were now looking
at ways of widening Cathole bridge road.
The plans are due to come before South Somerset District Council at the
earliest in June for approval. Mr M Best
stated that maybe the alterations to the Maiden Beech cross roads that had been
discussed at previous Parish Council Meetings could be incorporated into the
developer’s plans and costs instead of waiting for the Small Improvement scheme
to come to fruition. However, Mr M Best
will not withdraw it from the Small Improvement Scheme at this moment in time.
9.
Reports from Councillors, including District and County Councillors.
Mr
F Freeman and Mr B Carter had nothing further to bring to the meeting. The Chairman Mrs J Borland explained to Mr R Franklin
the new Parish Councillor that this was where he could bring up any concerns he
may have or any concerns that parishioners had come to him with. As this was his first meeting he nothing to
report. Mrs J Borland brought up the
number of tractors with slurry trailers that are using the roads around the parish
over the last six weeks and because they are so huge they are eroding the edges
of the roads. The only good thing is it
has been dry and therefore the erosion has not been as great as it would have
been if it had been wet weather.
Mrs
S Osborne (South Somerset District Councillor) had nothing to report as the
full council did not meet until next week.
The first full meeting was like an AGM and a Chairman would be appointed
and portfolios would be given to Councillors, so it would not be until those
committees starting meeting that there would be anything to report back to Parish
Councils.
Mr
M Best (Somerset County Councillor) had nothing further to report. Somerset County Council does not meet until
next week to resume business.
10.
Finance
A) To pay:-
1.
Clerk Salary of £251.85 which includes travelling expenses of £27.00 Cheque No.
314
2. HMRC - £56.20 Cheque No. 313
3. Crewkerne Joint Burial Board Precept of £3107.00
Cheque No. 307
4. Annual Public Liability Insurance of
£257.60 Cheque No. 311
5. SALC Annual Subscription of £147.47 Cheque
No. 309
6.Grant to the Village Hall as agreed in the
Precept of £800 Cheque No. 310
7. SALC Training Course £30.00 Cheque No. 312
8. SALC Good Counsellor Guide Books £24.00
Cheque No. 308
The
Chairman, Mrs J Borland, stated that she had booked a refresher course with
SALC (Somerset Association of Local Councils) for being a Councillor and she
felt that all the Councillors should go on a refresher course. The Clerk stated that she had a list of
courses available and that Mr B Carter should go on a course as he had not been
on one yet.
The
Chairman, Mrs J Borland, explained to our new councillor, that the Clerk does
not sign any cheques and that the current signatories are four in number and
they are Mrs J Borland, Mr D Yeomans, Mr F Freeman and Mrs C Broom. The Chairman thought that four signatories were
adequate, there was no objection from the Parish Councillors.
B) The Clerk proposes to exempt the West
Crewkerne Parish from the External
Audit.
The approval of the Parish Councillors to take this course of action.
The
Clerk explained that the external auditor P.K.J. Littlejohn and Co. can accept
an exemption from a council if their income and expenses are under £25000 in
the year. West Crewkerne Parish
Council’s income as you can see from the Accounts is made up of the Precept, a
small grant and a small amount of interest on the business reserve
account. Our expenditure is mainly
clerk’s salary, tax, new website and new laptop, grants and SALC and insurance. Our Income and expenditure are under £25000
in the year. The Clerk would like the
approval of the Parish Councillors to take this course of action. This course of action was proposed by Mrs J
Borland and seconded by Mr F Freeman.
C) To approve
the Annual Governance Statement
The
Clerk stated that although she is exempting the Parish from the external audit
she still has to complete all the external audit forms in case they are
required if the external auditors do an interim audit. The forms also have to be presented to the
Councillors in a set order.
Mrs
J Borland proposed the acceptance of the Annual Governance Statement and Mr F
Freeman seconded the motion and all Parish Councillors were
in agreement.
D) To approve
the Annual Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 31st
March 2019
Mr R Franklin
asked a question on the receipts and payments.
The balance carried forward was approximately a £1000 less than the
previous year, was this going to be a continuing trend. The Clerk explained that we had purchased a
new laptop in the year to 31st March 2019, a new website had been
created with setting up costs and gift vouchers had been purchased. All this expenditure had been one off
payments, although there would be an ongoing maintenance charge on the website.
The
approval of the receipts and payments for the year ended 31st March
2019 was proposed by Mr F Freeman and seconded by Mr B Carter and carried by
all the Parish Councillors.
E) To agree the
bank reconciliation as at 31st March 2019
The
approval of the bank reconciliation as at 31st March 2019 was
proposed by Mr B Carter and seconded by Mrs J Borland with the approval of all
the Parish Councillors
F) To approve the Annual Statement of Accounts to
31st March 2019
The
Annual Statement of Accounts to 31st March 2019 was proposed for
approval by Mrs J Borland and seconded by Mr F Freeman and carried by the
Parish Councillors
G) The exercise
of Public Rights to the financial records of the Parish Council will be
available from Thursday 20th June 2019 to Wednesday 31st
July 2019.
The Clerk
stated that the Public Rights to the financial records of the Parish Council
has to include the first 10 working days of July and has to run for 30 working
days. The Clerk is on holiday from the
13th June to the 19th June so she proposes starting the
Public Rights notice from the 20th June. The notice will go up on the village hall
noticeboard one day before the commencement of the period and will also go on
the website on the same day. The Parish
Councillors agreed with the proposed period for Public Rights to the financial
records of the Parish Council.
H) To confirm
the appointment of the internal auditor.
The
Clerk asked the internal auditor Mr Mick Wilson if he was willing to audit the
Parish Accounts for next year, he was willing to audit them again.
11. The adoption of a Red Telephone Box in
Hewish.
The
Clerk had received an e-mail from a Christine Klein a resident of Hewish. Ms C Klein stated in the e-mail that they
have a disused Red Telephone Box in Hewish which they would like to use for the
community as a book exchange and also for selling eggs. However the adoption
of the telephone box has to come from the Parish Council as an individual
cannot adopt a telephone box. The only
concern that the Clerk had was the health and safety issue, Mrs S Osborne
stated that you would put the telephone box as an asset on your Public
Liability Insurance. The Chairman Mrs J
Borland wondered who would pay the electricity for the telephone box. The Clerk stated that she thought from reading
the adoption rules and regulations that BT continued to pay the electricity but
she would re-check this information. Ms
C Klein had stated in her original e-mail that the number in the Red telephone
box was discontinued. The Parish Council
was in agreement to adopt the telephone box subject to
ascertaining who pays the electricity.
S
12. Correspondence;
Various e-mails
The
e-mails are primarily waste recycling, police commissioner, rural bulletin and
Road Closures. The Chairman Mrs J
Borland had printed off the change of days for recycling and had displayed on
the village hall noticeboard together with the extended opening hours for the
Crewkerne waste recycling centre. These
will also appear on the website.
13. Training Courses for Parish
Councillors
Mrs
J Borland is already booked onto the 31st July 2019 course at
Somerton. Mr F Freeman would like to go
on that course on the same date as well.
Mr B Carter and Mr R Franklin would like to go more into the Autumn and
in the daytime if possible.
14.
To confirm that the next meeting of the West Crewkerne Parish Council
will be
held on Tuesday 9th July 2019 at Clapton & Wayford
Village Hall at 7.00pm.
Confirmed that the next meeting will
be on the 9th July 2019.
Meeting
closed at 8.30pm
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Chairman