BAYDON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Meeting held at the BYPA Hall on 20th April 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), County Cllr
Before the meeting commenced the Chair advised that he would be allowing members of the public to address the Council before any specific agenda items where a Parish Councillor had a prejudicial interest. He advised the public that although a new Councillor had been co-opted at the last meeting, there were still 2 vacancies and the Parish Council would welcome applications from any residents who wished to join the Parish Council.
1. APOLOGIES
None.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr Witt declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6.4 and a personal interest in agenda items 6.3, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7. Cllr Prior declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6.4 and a personal interest in agenda items 6.3, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7.
3. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
The minutes of the meeting on 30th March were approved subject to the following changes: i) in 10.8 the word ‘again’ was inserted in the second sentence before “this year” ii) in 10.9 the words ‘comprehensive FRs‘ were changed to ‘FRs tailored to Baydon Parish Council’.
It was noted that one member did not have with them the current version of the draft minutes and that a review of document version numbers should be undertaken when the Admin Procedure is reviewed.
4. SUSPENSION OF THE MEETING FOR PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
The meeting was suspended so that members of the public could speak to the Parish Council.
5. CLERK’s REPORT
The clerk advised the meeting that she had advised DR & RA Pittams that they had been awarded the grass cutting contract and that she was waiting for a copy of their liability insurance. The contractors will do the first cut as soon as possible. The clerk advised the meeting that the bank statement to the 15th of the month had been received and that no money had been deposited in the account by Kennet District Council.
6. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION
6.1 Increase in the Precept – It was agreed that the answer recommended by the clerk would suffice as a response to any queries made by members of the public regarding why the precept had increased.
6.2 Parish Assembly – It was noted that the Village Plan Steering Group (VPSG) had agreed to fund any excess expenditure, over £30, on the wine. The Parish Council agreed to purchase the wine
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from Baydon PO & Stores and decided not to purchase any cheese. Separate bills would be needed for the Parish Council and VPSG. The offer from the VPSG to pay for the hire of the hall for the Parish Assembly was accepted by the Parish Council. It was noted that voting on the location for the playground would be by a show of hands and that if there is a low response which is not felt to be truly representative of the village’s wishes, then another vote may be necessary. The clerk advised the meeting that it may not be possible to put a playground on some of the proposed locations e.g. the common land and that unless allowance was made for people to vote on their first and second choice of location, the results would be distorted and would not be representative.
Organise wine for Parish Assembly and ensure there are separate bills Action: TP
6.3 Statutory Allotments – It was agreed that the allotments on the parish field fit the definition of statutory allotments.
6.4 Options from the NALC Solicitor – Cllr Witt addressed the meeting and said that the Parish Council had a statutory duty to provide allotments. She stated that the allotments on the Parish field were statutory allotments and that the Parish Council needed to decide if justification could be found for removing statutory allotments.
Cllr Witt and Cllr Prior left the meeting after which the remaining members voted in favour of Cllr Tomkins chairing this part of the meeting. A member of the public addressed the Council and stated that the allotments provided a valuable recreational facility for the community.
The Parish Council reviewed the options on the way forward that had been proposed by the NALC solicitor. All members were in favour of option 2 which mean that the land would be used for allotments. In making this decision the Parish Council agreed to regularise the status of land on the Parish field as statutory allotment land by retrospective appropriation. The Parish Council accepted that there were a number of other tasks which it needed to be undertaken, including regularising the tenancies of the allotments by granting written tenancy agreements and managing the allotment land. Reference was made to the solicitor’s advice that the Parish Council should have regard to any resolutions arising from the parish plan process with regard to the provision of recreational land. It was noted that the allotments only utilised part of the parish field and that there was still remaining space that could be considered for use as alternative recreational land.
Cllr Witt and Cllr Prior rejoined the meeting. The chair was given back to Cllr Prior.
6.5 Allotment Documents – It was agreed that the following documents associated with the provision and management of allotments would be allocated to the following Councillors:
Tenancy Agreement - Cllr
Allotment Rules – Cllr Witt
BPC/BAA Partnership Agreement – Cllr Prior
Definition of Liaison Officer Role – Cllr Routledge
Proposal for handling allotment queries between meetings – Cllr Routledge
Produce draft documents for approval by the Parish Council Action: All cllrs
6.6 Rabbit Proof Fencing Risk Assessment – The draft risk assessment was approved subject to the following i) earliest start time for work on the parish field changed to 9am ii) add a risk that the person installing the fencing may have an accident. The control is to ensure that the contractor has liability insurance or to ask the Council’s insurance company to cover the risk iii) add a risk that members of the public could have an accident as a result of the fencing was added. The control is to ensure that the public is covered for accidents by the Parish Council’s insurance policy.
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6.7 Outstanding Correspondence Regarding Allotments – It was agreed that the clerk draft a response to the outstanding letters regarding the allotments and send the draft to the Councillors for review.
Draft response to letters Action: clerk
6.8 Model Publication Scheme – The following changes were agreed : i) list of members of Planning Committee to be added to notice board ii) external auditors report to be placed on the notice board at audit time (if necessary everything else, except for the agenda & minutes, will be removed to make space) iii) payments and receipts lists to be available on the notice board and website at audit time iv) Administration procedure, Chairmanship and Parish field access policy to be made available in hard copy from the clerk. The parish field access policy will be also be available on the website v) the Councils assets of the parish field and Downsmead notice board will be listed in the publication scheme document.
7. CORRESPONDENCE FOR ACTION
7.1 Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011 – The Parish Council had no comment to make.
7.2
North
8. CORRESPONDENCE FOR INFORMATION
The list of correspondence for information was noted by the Parish Council.
9. PLANNING
9.1
The Parish Council noted that full planning permission had been given
for the proposed extension to the swimming pool building at Heddons Cottage,
10. FINANCE
10.1 Payments between meetings – The clerk advised the meeting that there had been no payments between meetings.
10.2 WALC Annual subscription – It was agreed to renew the WALC subscription at a cost of £167.75.
10.3 Parish Council’s Insurance Policy – It was agreed that details of the insurance renewal quote should be circulated to Councillors for review and that additional quotes should be obtained.
Circulate insurance renewal document to Cllrs. Action: clerk
Obtain additional insurance quotes. Action: clerk
10.4 Quarterly Budgeting Report - The report for March 2009 was reviewed. It was noted that the totals for the budget figures excluded the money for projects and that as no money had been spent from this category the actual spending to 31 March was not over budget. It was agreed that any overspend for Christmas tree lights and legal fees should come from unspent budget items not from reserves. It was noted that as it was the end of the financial year this amounted to the same thing. The recommendations were approved subject to the above amendment. It was suggested that in future the report should include a column for the original budget agreed by the Council as this would make the report clearer and easier to understand.
10.5 Internal Auditor – It was agreed that due to the poor report from the previous internal auditor, a thorough audit was required. The Parish Council decided to appoint Auditing Solutions Ltd as the internal auditor subject to written confirmation that they would carry out a 100% check of all payments made against the minutes.
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10.6 Financial Regulations – The Parish Council agreed to defer this agenda item to the next meeting so that it could compare the draft Financial Regulations against the current NALC template for financial regulations.
Review draft financial regulations & NALC regulations & consider differences Action: All Cllrs
10.7 Auditor’s Observations – The action plan for resolving the auditor’s observations was reviewed and, due to the meeting running overtime, it was agreed that the clerk should work on the 3 most important issues and the remaining issues would be reviewed at the next meeting. The three high priority items are i) the outstanding VAT claims for 2006/07 and 2007/08 ii) R85 forms for the bank accounts & reclaim of deductions from HMR&C iii) a letter of confirmation from HMR&C regarding PAYE arrangements. It was noted that the VAT returns would take about ½ hour each. The clerk was asked if more hours were required to complete the work. A member of the Council stated that they did not agree with overtime being paid for work that should have been done in previous years. The clerk advised the meeting that as there was another meeting in only 3 weeks time which needed to be prepared for and minutes for the current meeting which needed to be written, in order to complete the above action items by the end of the month she would have to work extra hours which would come from future weeks. This would result in leaving one week short on hours. The clerk advised the meeting that HMR&C had stated that as she was paid ‘cash in hand’, she was, for income tax purposes, considered to be self employed and the Parish Council had no liability or risk. The clerk stated that she would get written confirmation from HMR&C. The Chair stated that he would continue discussions with his contact at HMRC.
Complete tax claims on bank accounts by 30 April Action: clerk
Complete VAT claims and get letter from HMR&C regarding tax position Action: clerk
The Parish Council retrospectively agreed to extend the meeting by 15 minutes in order to complete outstanding agenda items.
10.8 Current Account – It was agreed that Cllr Routledge should be the 3rd signatory on the Parish Council’s current account.
11. ITEMS TO NOTE / ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
It was noted that the Traffic Calming Working Group would be meeting to discuss the response from Highways and would be putting forward a proposal for consideration at the next meeting.
Items for next meeting: i) Approval of the request for disabled driver access to the Parish field to be added to the agenda for the next meeting. ii) To agree the primary nominee for attending MAVCAP meetings.
It was noted that the ‘No Access’ sign had been installed at the entrance to the Parish field.
It was noted that there was a query regarding whether or not allotment holders were covered by the Parish Council’s insurance.
It was noted that the copy of the clerk’s contract of employment should be signed before the next meeting.
It was noted that the Parish Council’s expense form should be distributed to Councillors.
The meeting closed at 10.25 pm
Signed: ________________________________ Date: _______________
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