BAYDON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at the BYPA Hall on 11th May 2009
(Draft copy. Subject to approval at the next meeting)
PRESENT: Cllr Tony Prior (Chair), Cllr Michael Edmonds, Cllr Tony Routledge, Cllr Alison Tomkins, Cllr Tamsin Witt, Elizabeth Carmichael (Clerk) and 3 members of the public.
Before the meeting commenced the Chair remind the public that there were still vacancies on the Council and said that the Parish Council looked forward to getting the two vacancies filled.
1. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE-CHAIRMAN
Resolved: That Cllr Tony Prior be elected Chairman for the coming year. Cllr Prior signed the Acceptance of Office form.
It was agreed that a Vice-Chairman would not be appointed.
2. APOLOGIES
None.
3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
4. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
The minutes of the meeting on 20th April were approved subject to the following changes: i) in 6.4 third paragraph, the words ‘mean that the land would be used for allotments’ was changed to ‘meant that the land would continue to be used for allotments’.
5. SUSPENSION OF THE MEETING FOR PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
The meeting was suspended so that members of the public could speak to the Parish Council.
6. CLERK’s REPORT
The clerk advised the meeting that she had sent letters to the bank and building society advising them that the accounts should have interest paid gross and that she had also spoken to HMRC to find out how any tax could be reclaimed. On their advice, letters had been sent to the relevant financial institutions advising them to refund any tax and to subsequently reclaim it themselves from HMRC. The clerk advised the meeting that a letter had been received that evening regarding the allotments. It was noted that Cllr Routledge requested copies of the letters to the bank and building society.
7. FINANCE
7.1 Payments between meetings – The clerk advised the meeting that there had been no payments between meetings.
7.2 Clerk’s Remuneration – The Parish Council approved payment of £346.59 for the clerk’s remuneration for 30 March – 10 May.
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7.3 Parish Council’s Insurance Policy – It was agreed that the quote from Norwich Union should be accepted because the policy was competitive and included cover for a fireworks event.
7.4 Draft Financial Regulations - It was noted that there were no objections to the changes proposed by Cllr Prior. The clerk showed the members the master copy of the Standing Orders adopted on 11th January 1999 which included Financial Regulations specific to Baydon.
Revise and circulate amended financial regulations Action: Cllr Prior
Circulate copy of existing financial regulations to Councillors Action: Clerk
7.5 Internal Auditor’s Observations – It was agreed that a meeting should be scheduled for the end of June this year and in future years so that the Annual Return could be approved by the Council before the end of June deadline. It was noted that the clerk does make periodic backups of Parish Council files. The meeting noted that Vat returns up to and including 29/02/08 had been posted on 29th April. It was agreed that assets should be set at a nominal value of £1. The clerk advised the meeting that she had contacted the school office on 11th February to enquire about the Vat on their invoices and had sent a reminder as she was still awaiting their reply. It was noted that the cashbook should be maintained with more accuracy and care and that minute pages should be correctly numbered. It was agreed that petty cash should not be allowed to become overdrawn.
Backup financial spreadsheet and give CD to Cllr Prior Action: Clerk
Produce asset register for review & approval at next meeting Action: Clerk
Produce draft Parish calendar for review & approval at next meeting Action: Cllr Witt
7.6 Statutory Declaration – The Parish Council agreed to enter the letter from Bryn Pugh into the minutes as a reference and agreed, by majority vote, that the NSALG legal advice should be taken rather than the advice received from Withy King and that no further action would be taken regarding the usage of the lane. It was noted that the clerk had not seen a copy of the legal advice from the NSALG.
7.7 Community First Membership – The Parish Council decided not to become members of Community First.
7.8 Expenses – The Parish Council approved, by a majority vote, Cllr Prior’s expenses of £24.40
7.9 Reimbursement From Petty Cash – The Parish Council agreed that Cllr Prior should be reimbursed the sum of £8.63 from petty cash for the leaflet printing costs; for which a sum of up to £20 was approved at the 12 January 2009 meeting. It was noted that the Auditor and clerk had both previously advised that the practice of a third party paying for goods or services on behalf of the Parish Council was to be discouraged. It was agreed that, in future, payment for any expenditure by Councillors or the Clerk must be made by withdrawal from Council funds.
7.10 Wine For The Parish Assembly – The Parish Council approved payment of the invoice from Baydon PO & Stores for £30 for wine for the Parish Assembly
7.11 Posts And Barrier Tape – The Parish Council approved, by a majority vote, the purchase of fencing posts and barrier tape as per the quote submitted by Cllr Tomkins. The following cheques were signed for the purchases: Mr A Martin £28.80 for 20 white poly fence posts, Scaffolding Direct £12.48 for 2 rolls of barrier tape.
8. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION
8.1 Disabled Access To The Parish Field – The Parish Council agreed to grant Tom McGowran permission to drive his wife onto the Parish Field.
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8.2 MAVCAP Representative – It was agreed that Cllr Edmonds would be the Parish Council’s representative at the MAVCAP meetings and that Cllr Witt would attend when he was unable to.
8.3 Steps To Establishing Allotments – It was agreed that the steps to be followed were : i) to place a notice in a local newspaper for 2 consecutive weeks advertising the Parish Council’s intention to retrospectively reappropriate land on the Parish Field for allotments and to invite comments ii) to consider any feedback and ratify the allotment documents iii) to retrospectively appropriate the land for allotments.
8.4 Notice For Newspaper – The clerk advised the meeting that Newbury Weekly News had said that the average cost was £8.40 per square column cm and estimated that the notice would cost approximately £170 per week.
Produce draft notice for approval the next meeting Action: Cllr Witt
8.5 Risk Assessment – It was agreed that the risk assessment should be updated to include the additional levels of cover offered by the new insurance policy and that the Parish field and common land should be checked quarterly.
Update risk assessment Action: Clerk
8.6 Meeting – It was agreed that the 6th July meeting be brought forward to 29th June in order that the Annual Return could be approved before the end of June deadline. The Parish Council agreed to consider the need for another meeting in July or August at the meeting on 29th June.
8.7
Traffic Calming Working Group – The Parish Council approved the
draft letters to Mark Stansby, Martin Cook and PCSO
The Parish Council agreed to extend the meeting to 10.15pm in order to complete outstanding agenda items.
8.8 Playground – It was noted that the Parish Assembly considered that the playground should be for children aged between 2 and 13 years old. The Council endorsed this proposal. It was also noted that 63% of those who voted on the location for a playground had opted for the Parish field. The Parish Council confirmed its intention to adopt the Parish Assembly’s choice. It further agreed that a notice would be placed in Scene in Baydon notifying residents of the intention and inviting comments on it.
Produce draft notice for approval the next meeting Action: Cllr Prior
8.9 Hours Worked By The Clerk – It was noted that the clerk was prepared to work flexibly accruing more hours in any one week depending on the workload on the understanding that this time would be clawed back when the workload was lighter. The Parish Council agreed that the clerk should submit timesheets for review at each meeting.
8.10 Withy King – The meeting noted Withy King’s transfer of Parish Council work from Mr A Moore to Mrs L Smith.
8.11 NALC Annual Conference, Putting People First – It was agreed not to send someone to the conference.
8.12 Employment Act 2008
Briefing note to be copied and circulated to Councillors Action: clerk
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8.13 Equality Duties
Leaflet to be circulated to Cllrs and then returned to the clerk Action: Cllr Prior
9. CORRESPONDENCE FOR INFORMATION
The list of correspondence for information was noted by the Parish Council. It was noted that Cllr Prior could not open the zipped file with the MACVAP minutes.
10. PLANNING
10.1 The clerk advised the meeting that there were no planning decisions but two planning applications had been received.
11. ITEMS TO NOTE / ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
It was noted that the payments and receipts needed to be sent to the webmaster.
Items for next meeting: i) To discuss the Parish field fence
The meeting closed at 10.35 pm
Signed: ________________________________ Date: _______________
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