LINTON PARISH COUNCIL

Bromsash Gorsley and Linton

 

Minutes Of The Meeting Held On October 14th 2002

in Gorsley Village Hall at 7:30 p.m.

 

Present:

Cllr Richard Smith , Chairman

Cllr Jean Foley, Vice Chairman

Cllr Audrey Duke

Cllr John Foley

Cllr Phil Page

 

Brian Atherton (Clerk)

 

2 Parishioners attended.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                 

Minute Item

 

Action

 

 

 

 

1

 

Apologies

 

 

1.1

Cllrs Jim Stewart and Ken Downham

 

 

2

 

Declarations of Interest

 

 

2.1

None

 

 

3

 

Minutes of the Meeting held On 9th September 2002

 

 

3.1

Adopted without change, these were duly signed by the Chairman.

 

 

4

 

Matters Arising Not Covered in the Agenda

 

 

4.1

Hedges Bounding Mr Carpinina’s Property.

These have now been cut by CHDC.

 

 

4.3

Road Naming At The Burrups Lane Development.

The Clerk has written to CHDC, asking that the Council be involved in the name choosing.

 

 

4.4

Letter to CHDC Planning Re The Burrups Lane Development.

Cllr Jean Foley confirmed that she is still drafting this as she needs to see further references. The matter is not urgent.

Cllr Jean Foley

 

4.6

The Clerk reported that he has inspected the Jubilee Oak Tree but its state can not be visually judged because of the season. It will be necessary to wait for the Spring to judge the condition.

The Clerk

 

4.7

Council’s Response to the B4221 Safety Survey Proposals.

The Clerk reported that he has received an acknowledgement of Council’s letter. He had also received a courtesy visit from the new Rural Beat Manager, Pete Beasley, who had copies of all the correspondence.

 

 

4.8

Requirement for Councillor’s Declarations To Be Available At Each Council Meeting.

 

This item led to a discussion of the propriety of the launching of the web site, which is minuted under that item at 9.3.

 

The Clerk explained that, after an exchange of e-mails he had received a reply which reads:

Dear Brian

 

Thank you for your e-mail.  The concerns of Linton and Lea parish councils about the need to have a copy of the members register of interests available at every meeting is noted.

 

There is no legal requirement to have  the register available at meetings. It is however good practice for the Clerk or, in the case of principal authorities the monitoring officer, to have available to them a copy of the register of interests at meetings. 

 

This is to ensure that all interests are being declared correctly and to assist if members are in doubt about whether a colleague may have an interest they are not declaring when they should.

 

Regards

 

Anne Rehill

Senior Policy Adviser

The Standards Board for England

 

Proposed by Cllr John Foley, seconded by Cllr Phil Page and approved unanimously, IT WAS AGREED that Council will not have these documents available at meetings.

 

Proposed by Cllr Jean Foley, seconded by Cllr Phil Page and approved unanimously, IT WAS AGREED that where a Declaration of Interest would apply throughout the year, this need only be stated once and an appropriate entry signed in the Declarations Book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clerk

 

 

4.9

Cllr Jean Foley asked to see the revised Model Standing Orders.

The Clerk

 

4.10

The Chairman said that he had studied the Herefordshire Partnership’s Community Regeneration Proposals document (D704) but it does not apply to this Parish Council.

 

 

5

 
Roadmaker Inn

 

 

5.1

Nothing to report

 

 

6

 

Budget for 2003/2004

 

 

6.1

This was tabled for discussion and proposed adoption at the next meeting. The Clerk explained that, Council having been prudent with expenditure, reserves and expenditure control were such that, for this budget, a lower reserves target of £3,000 could be set, still within the guidelines set down by the District Auditor. Minor amendments to the figures were proposed and a revised copy is attached to these minutes.

The Clerk

 

6.2

To assist discussions, the Clerk was asked to ensure that, by the next meeting, the 2002/2003 accounts will reflect the apportionment of costs to the Plan.

The Clerk

 

7

 

Accounts, Treasurer’s Report and Authorisation of Payment of Accounts

 

 

7.1

The Clerk showed Council the signed Internal Auditor’s report for the period July to September, which did not raise any issues. Blank returns on the report were against items that are only pertinent once per year, not during the year. All had been addressed in the report for the period April to June.

 

Proposed by Cllr Phil Page, seconded by Cllr Richard Smith and approved unanimously, IT WAS AGREED to extend a vote of thanks to Richard Delahay for his work as Internal Auditor.

 

 

7.2

Accounts to date for 2002/2003 were tabled and noted. Cllr Phil Page asked for an explanation of the item for £45 against the Three Villages Jubilee Celebrations. (Clerks Note: This is the Jubilee Oak Tree Commemorative Plaque, net of VAT, for Linton Village Hall).

 

 

7.3

Proposed by Cllr Richard Smith, seconded by Cllr Phil Page and approved unanimously, IT WAS AGREED to make the following payments and the cheques were duly signed.

 

 

AP71

Village Halls for Parish Plan Consultations

16.50

AP72

Sheila Jakeway for Refreshments for PP Consultations

6.20

AP73

Clerk's Salary for September2002

159.50

 

8

 

Working Party Reports:

 

 

8.1

Planning

 

 

8.1.1

P62. SE2002/2832/F. Extension and new carport/garden store at Cherry Trees, Linton, HR9 7RY. Council supported.

 

 

8.1.2

P63. SE2002/2853/F. Two storey side extension at Woodside Cottage, Gorsley, HR9 7SL. Council supported.

 

 

8.1.3

P64. SE2002/2889/F. Amendment to existing planning permission SS980913/F to increase length of approved extension by 1.4m to accommodate staircase at The Quarries, Gorsley, HR9 7SH. Council supported.

 

 

8.2

Allotments - No report.

 

 

8.3

Finance – No report. There was no objection to the Chairman’s suggestion that it may possibly be found unnecessary to re-convene this working party as financial matters were now adequately covered in full Council.

 

 

8.4

Footpaths

 

 

8.4.1

Cllr John Foley has inspected the path past the allotments down to the Quarry and English Heritage have agreed to carry out a survey.

 

 

8.5

Parish Roads in Need of Repair

 

 

8.5.1

Cllr John Foley reported that substantial work has been done from Fiddlers Cross to Shotten lane.

 

 

8.5.2

A road sign at the Bromsash crossroads has been stolen and he has taken the matter up with CHDC.

 

 

8.5.3

The road closure notice for repairs to the Lower Linton Ridge road has been issued.

 

 

9

 

Parish Projects for 2002/2003

 

 

9.1

Cllr John Foley said that the Scouts now have further clearance work at the Linton Pound and Talbot’s Well in their formal programme.

 

 

9.2

Reordering of the Allotments: Nothing to report.

 

 

9.3

The Council’s Web Site

 

 

9.3.1

Cllr Phil Page expressed his view that Council had acted in contravention of Standing Orders by proceeding with this activity without first having made a specific resolution. The Chairman stated that he had not thought that a vote was needed as Council funds were not required and if that was incorrect, then he apologised.

 

 

9.3.2

Cllr Page several times stated his opposition to the web site and so was invited to propose a resolution. He proposed “That the Web Site be Discontinued”. There being no seconder, the resolution was not put.

 

 

9.3.3

After further discussion, proposed by Cllr Phil Page, seconded by Cllr Audrey Duke the resolution “That The £200 anonymous donation be returned” was put. At this point Cllr Richard Smith passed the Chair to Cllr Jean Foley. The vote was tied at 2 for and 2 against and the Chairman exercised her casting vote against. Thus the resolution WAS NOT AGREED.

 

 

9.3.4

After further extensive discussion, Cllr Richard Smith made the following statement:

“I did not wish my name to be coupled with the donation of £200 because:

a) I did not wish to give the impression that I have “money to burn”

b) I did not wish to be perceived as seeking aggrandisement.

I now offer to resign.”

 

 

9.3.5

Cllr Phil Page welcomed this statement, thanked Cllr Richard Smith for his honesty and said that the last thing he sought was to attach blame or discredit to him. Cllr Page, all other councillors and Parishioner Gwynne Rowley urged Cllr Smith to remain in office. He, accordingly, resumed the Chair.

 

 

9.4

Parish Photographic Survey

 

 

9.4.1

The Clerk was asked to write to the two volunteers and ask them to proceed with a general photographic survey of the main Parish features and topography.

The Clerk

 

10

 

Quality Council & Parish Plan

 

 

10.1

Drafting of the Factual Introduction to the Parish Plan

 

 

10.1.1

Cllr John Foley has this in hand for Bromsash and will keep Cllr Audrey Duke informed as he progresses. No report from other Councillors.

Councillors

 

10.2

Consultation Meetings

 

 

10.2.1

The meetings with individual groups are now completed. Cllr Jean Foley reported that the meeting with the Linton WI was extensively discussed at their following meeting.

 

 

10.3

Community Planning Days

 

 

10.3.1

Proposed by Cllr Richard Smith, seconded by Cllr Phil Page and approved unanimously, IT WAS AGREED to hold two Community Planning Days and to adopt the Planning for Real technique as the basis for these events.

Cllr Richard Smith

 

10.3.2

The Chairman will now obtain a Planning For Real pack from Patrick Clark (Herefordshire Partnership) and on receipt will consider how best to proceed. He stressed that it will require a great deal of work, with all Councillors involved, and will take some time to plan to ensure that the actual meetings (one each in Gorsley and Linton) are successful.

Cllr Richard Smith

 

10.3.3

The school will be asked whether they wish to participate. Cllrs Phil Page and Audrey Duke asked to be included in any meetings with the school.

Cllr Richard Smith

 

10.3.4

There is a Parish Plans Annual Meeting on Saturday October 19th and the Chairman will be attending, no other Councillor being available. The Clerk was asked to make the necessary booking.

The Clerk

 

11

 

Standing Orders v New Guidelines Comparison

 

 

11.1

Still waiting on the electronic version. Cllr Jean Foley asked to see the paper version.

The Clerk

 

12

 

Freedom of Information Act

 

 

12.1

The Clerk and The Chairman had both studied information from the Information Commissioner and found it incomprehensible. Subsequent advice is to wait for further guidance from HALC.

 

 

13

 

Chairman’s Announcements

 

 

13.1

He attended the Herefordshire Council Standards Committee and tabled the agenda and accompanying papers.  These were taken by Cllr Jean Foley.

 

 

14

 

Correspondence

 

 

14.1

The following correspondence was tabled:

 

 

D711

12-Sep-02

SHLAF Meeting on September 18th - Programme

CHDC

D712

13-Sep-02

Annual Report and Accounts

Herefordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

D713