Minutes of PC meeting June 3rd 2009

ORLINGBURY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held in the Village Hall on
Wednesday 3rd June 2009

48 Present: Councillors Allen (Chairman), Miles, Rowlatt, Waller, Charlotte Cook, Rod Derry, PC Lee PCSO Amey-Head and Mrs McLaven (Clerk)

49 Apologies: Councillor Rootham and Councillor Timms sent their apologies which were accepted.

50 Police Surgery:

50.1 PCSO Lynette Amey- Head advised the meeting that the meeting with PC Macavoy, regarding speed issues, was going ahead next month. He would talk for half an hour and then take questions. Concerns were raised that there was a need to reassure the public that any exercise would not become a vigilante situation, and that those involved need not use the speed gun. There would always be a group of people using the gun, no one will be alone.

51 Public Question Time:

51.1 Rod Derry asked what had happened when Councillor Miles stepped down and Councillor Allen took over as chair, as in the minutes he had seen it appeared as a fait accomplit. The Clerk advised it was minuted in a separate meeting, where Councillor Miles stepped down due to other commitments, Councillor Allen was then nominated and voted as Chair, The new chair had thanked Councillor Miles for his work as Chair of the Council. Communication was again discussed, as all minutes should have been available. Mr Derry then congratulated the new chair and thanked the previous one.

52 Comment from the Police.

52.1 PC Lee advised that the community police have been concentrating on Police watch and will concentrate on interaction with the community later, but they will attend neighbourhood watch meetings, which are taking place 2-3 monthly.

52.3 PCSO Amey-Head has made a note of all our meeting dates and will do her best to attend. The council was asked to give prior notification if possible of any specific problems they need dealing with.

52.4 A previous issue of markings on a private lawn and on the little green were raised. These had not been recorded as a crime, but appropriate advice has been given by the police.

52.5 The speed check signs on the village green have been investigated by PCSO Amey-Heard, but it has not been discovered who installed them, She suggested it may have been highways, but when councillors had questioned highways, they too denied knowledge of the signs. The chairperson questioned the logic of the location.

52.6 Charlotte Cook (Neighbourhood watch) thanked both the old and new Chairpersons for working together with Neighbourhood watch.

53 DRAFT Minutes of meeting 6th May 2009 and matters arising.

53.1 The original minutes prepared by Councillor Allen had been amended to reflect the tone of the minutes re recommendations, and therefore, the words “seek assurance” had been changed to “register concern”.

53.2 A site viewing has been arranged on 9th June at 2.10pm Councillors Allen, Rowlatt and Waller are able attend and as many other councillors as possible

53.3 Councillor Watts name was corrected from Councillor White.

53.4 Councillor Rowlatt proposed and Councillor Miles seconded that the minutes be signed as a true and correct record. All were in favour.

54 Minutes of meeting 7th May 2009 and matters arising.

54.1 Councillor Rowlatt proposed and Councillor Miles seconded that the minutes be signed as a true and correct record, all in favour.

54.2 – 37.1 Councillor Timms was not in attendance so could not be asked about funding for grit bins, but Helen Howard and Mark Gatling had advised Councillor Allen to contact Dave Grindley at the County Council. He had done this but no response had yet been received.

54.3 37.4 Councillor Allen had not yet been able to speak to Andy Gosling about the web site, but discussion on communication would take place later in the meeting.

54.4 37.5 Alan Chapman (WBC) had emailed NCC Highways to advise (re sect. 106) that the developer had been invoiced and that if payment not received soon then legal action would be taken. No response had been received from Joe Hubbard, to either Councillor Allen’s emails and the Clerk’s letter.

54.5 44.1 Gillian Walton had accepted the lead role with the PCEG, it was agreed to wait until she held her meeting to discuss details e.g. that no nurses are available, only first aiders.

55 Minutes of meeting 28th May.

Councillor Rowlatt proposed and Councillor Miles seconded that the minutes be signed as a true and correct record, all in favour.

56 Future conduct of meetings and agendas.

56.1 The council have now doubled the number of meetings. It is intended to close the meetings by 9pm, this should allow the council to focus and prioritise, and anything not dealt with should roll forward to the next meeting.

56.2The council needs to celebrate what it has achieved and record its progress.

56.3 The development plan has been in progress for 2 years and we need to see how far we have got towards declared targets. There have been items generated extra to the plan. The council has to be aware of not extending the expectations of the public. The involvement of village sub-groups is imperative.

56.4 The council should be aware of dealing with time sensitive issues promptly.

57 Progress on priority plan

57.1 All Councillors had a copy of the priority plan, which had been recently updated to show what had been achieved.

57.2 Priority 1 “Communication”,
Councillor Rootham was to report on Priority 1 “Communication”, but unfortunately, he was unable to attend the meeting and therefore, this item will be discussed at the next meeting.

57.3 Communication with the Borough Council is slowly improving, a file of all letters and their responses is being kept.

57.4 Gillian Walton has agreed to take on take on the key role with the emergency plan and all the village have been asked to be part of the focus group.

57.5 The Clerk and Councillor Allen to collaborate on a letter to the Borough showing our concerns about time limits on planning, although a recent meeting had been achieved in 3 days, we should not have to work on such small time limits.

57.6 Councillor Waller advised the meeting that the welcome pack was updated before the Annual Parish Meeting. There were now more changes, it was agreed Councillor Waller and Councillor Allen would update the pack and then mail shot the village, also placing a copy in the Notice board, after this the pack will be updated yearly.

57.7 Councillor Waller proposed and Councillor Rowlatt seconded a summary of the minutes to be placed in the parish magazine. This followed discussion of what should appear in the magazine, as it now is a benefice magazine reaching Pytchley, Little Harrowden and Great Harrowden as well as Orlingbury. Councillor Miles will organise this.

57.8 Priority 2 “Roads and Footpaths”.
Councillor Rowlatt will liase the Clerk regarding the response from Highways regarding roads and pathways, There are a range of positive responses from Highways which will lead to requests being addressed. This resulted from a further meeting with Helen Howard (Highways) and Mark Gatling (MGSWP).

57.9 Charlotte Cook advised the meeting of progress within Neighbourhood watch reiterating about the speed meeting, and residents concerns about repercussions. She was thanked for all the work done for the community.

57.10 Priority 4 “Allotments”.
Rod Derry advised the meeting that the allotments were a success story. The old plots having been re-divided into 12 with well defined and maintained paths. The Borough Council having provided 6 bins for water storage. He is trying to find someone to start a website for the allotments. A good gardening community was developing. He was thanked for all his work done.

57.11 A letter has been received regarding the 15ft boundary line. Councillor Miles and the Clerk to liase with a response to clarify that the line is straight down.

58 Financial Matters

58.1 The accounts were agreed and the Annual Report signed.

58.2 It was agreed to update the asset register.

58.3 The following accounts were agreed for payment.

613 Mrs D Sisman – audit fees £70.00

614 Smartwater signs £48.00

615 P Allen expenses £64.02

616 Village hall rent £56.70*

* the Clerk and Councillor Allen to liase on a letter showing the council’s disapproval as this payment relates to old invoices including one never received and one for which the cheque previously issued had never been cashed.

59 Correspondence.

A letter from the County asking for information regarding the empowerment grant. To be responded to by Councillor Allen

60 Priority 3 “Development funding” and associated empowerment grant

60.1 Helen Howard had contacted Councillor Allen and advised him that proposed speed limit changes need planning permission. She was told to go ahead and do what was necessary.

60.2 The empowerment grant from Councillor Bailey has been used and a good job done by Bosworths (see 57.12 above).

60.3 The old notice board now needs to be relocated, it was thought a good idea to site it either outside the front of the village hall towards the dovecote or on the left of the village hall, it was agreed to wait for the village hall committee to meet and discuss their wishes.

60.4 The old seat also needs re-siting this will be an agenda item at the next meeting.

61 The date of the next meeting

This will be Thursday 2nd July at 7.30pm in the village hall.

62 There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.10 pm, with thanks to those attending.

Chairman Date