Minutes of the meeting of Bramley Parish Council
held in the Village Hall on Monday, 19th October 2009 at 7.30 p.m. |
Parish Councillors present were: Richard Wood, Jane Payne, Claire Penfold, Philip McCorry, John Ferguson, Hugh Tottenham and Chris Tomblin Also present were: The Clerk, County Councillor Keith Chapman, Borough Councillor Ranil Jayawardena and 7 members of the public. |
ITEM | COMMENT | ACTION |
1.0 | Apologies and Declarations of interest | |
| Apologies were received from Councillors Allan Douglas (work), Rhydian Vaughan (work) and WPC Mandy Jewell. | |
2.0 | Minutes of the last meeting | |
| The minutes of the meeting held on 21st September 2009, having been circulated, were agreed and signed as a true record. Proposed by Cllr. Payne and seconded by Cllr. Tomblin | |
3.0 | Matters arising and not appearing elsewhere on the agenda | |
| Cllr. Tottenham wished it to be noted that he was impressed with the service from BDBC with regard to the cutting of grass verges and the collection of dumped litter reported to the helpline. | |
4.0 | Finance | |
4.1 | Budget Update | |
| The budget figures for the year to the end of the second quarter had been circulated. No questions were raised. | |
4.2 | Monthly Income & Expenditure | |
| Reconciled Balance of Accounts as of 30th September 2009 | |
| Lloyds Bank Current Account | £4,564.95 |
| Lloyds Bank Business Account | £26,219.19 |
| National Savings Account | £15,986.49 |
| Total | £46,770.63 |
| Plus receipts not banked | £145.00 |
| Less Cheques Outstanding | £2,064.98 |
| True balance as of 30th September 2009 | £44,850.65 |
| Income Received since last meeting | |
| Interest September - Business Account | £0.82 |
| 500298 – Burial ground | £145.00 |
| 500299 – Burial Ground | £330.00 |
| Basingstoke & Deane BC – Precept 2nd half | £13,000.00 |
| Basingstoke & Deane BC – Litter Warden Grant 3rd quarter | £799.50 |
| HM Revenue & Customs –VAT Refund | £187.30 |
| Total | £14,462.62 |
5.0 | Accounts for payment | |
| Cheques approved for payment – Proposed by Cllr Ferguson, seconded by Cllr. Payne | |
| 001278 J Snow - Litter Warden | £236.10 | 001279 G Fowler - Clerk | £679.73 | 001280 Bob Gregory - Burial Ground (September) | £160.00 | 001281 Bramley PCC – Cross House Hire | £31.00 | 001282 Basingstoke & Deane BC – SLR Machines
(July, August & September) | £825.00 | 001283 Audit Commission – Annual Audit Fee 2009 | £327.75 | Standing Order Lloyds Bank – Deeds Safe Custody | £7.50 | | £2,267.08 |
| |
6.0 | Planning | |
6.1 | German Road | |
| Cllr. Wood confirmed that a meeting had been arranged with the Site Manager for Wednesday 28th October. He reported that following enquiries with BDBC Planning Dept. there was no facility for consultation with local residents regarding the landscaping of the new estate. Cllr. Ferguson reported he had received a complaint from one of the new residents regarding the compound and he would arrange to meet with her to discuss the problem. Cllr. Tottenham asked when the Section 106 funds would be available to the village. Clerk to send a copy of the original letter detailing the release of the payments, to all Councillors | Clerk |
6.2 | Planning Applications – See Appendix 2 attached No Comments on attached applications Cllr. McCorry asked what the position was regarding the caravans in Cufaude Lane. Clerk would chase Enforcement, Planning Dept. | Clerk |
7.0 | Public Comments | |
| Open Forum for Public comments – recorded in attached appendix 1 | |
8.0 | Transport Highways & Parking | |
8.1 | Highways Feasibility Study | |
| Hampshire Highways had confirmed that a feasibility study of improvements that could be implemented in Sherfield Road and Bramley Lane would be carried out. Early stages of the study would include traffic counts and speed surveys at various locations in addition to level crossing barrier down time and pedestrian movements. | |
8.2 | SLR Speed Devices | |
| An initial debate was started to decide whether or not to continue with the SLR devices and whether they have a beneficial effect. The Clerk was asked to obtain further information from BDBC and Cllr. Vaughan would be asked to contact the Police | Clerk/RV |
9.0 | Environmental Matters | |
9.1 | Little Apples Playgroup Building | |
| Sarah Naylor & Anna Keir attended. Notes from the recent public meeting and an updated map were circulated. They confirmed that a planning application would be submitted within the next 2-3 weeks. Also that the new building would be green and that they would be investigating the road crossing/junction with the main Sherfield Road and Farriers Close. The result of their travel survey showed that a large percentage of children to attend the school would be within walking distance. Cllr. Tottenham asked who would be responsible for the funding and upkeep and was advised that it would be self funding with fees and grants and the Little Apple Trustees had worked on the business plans. Cllr. Payne asked what security arrangements there would be. Mrs Naylor advised that the whole building would be ring fenced with similar fencing to that at Bramley Primary School. | |
9.2 | Notice Boards | |
| Cllr. Payne reported that she and the Clerk would be submitting an application for a Lottery grant to fund four new notice boards. Three would replace existing ones which were coming to the end of their life and one new notice board would be installed on the new housing estate at German Road | Clerk |
9.3 | Bramley Pond | |
| Cllr. Payne advised that she had arranged with Wellington Estates to assist with the clearing of the pond by cutting back trees and bushes by the end of November. She had also approached an Employee Voluntary project who would be assisting with the clearance of other rubbish and undergrowth. Whilst she appreciated the offers of help from local residents the issues of health and safety risk assessments and insurance cover would be more easily dealt with by the Community Project. Borough Councillor Jayawardena was also looking into the possibility of funding in the future to enable further improvements to be carried out. | |
9.4 | British Legion land | |
| Cllr. Ferguson advised that there was no further news to report at this stage. | |
10.0 | Donation Request – CRUSE Bereavement | |
| The representative for CRUSE did not attend the meeting | |
11.0 | Parish Plan Update | |
| Cllr. Payne reported that the 2nd meeting of the Parish Plan group had taken place and a steering committee formed. All participants would be obtaining a Parish Plan toolkit. They would be devising plans for short term, medium term and long (10 year vision) and also attending local village groups and events. Ultimately plans would have to be adopted by the Parish Council. 20% of the cost would have to be supplied by the Parish Council and the remainder sourced from a grant by BDBC. A monthly update would be given to the Parish Council by Cllrs. Payne, Tomblin and Penfold. | |
12.0 | Review of Allotment Rents | |
| A review of the allotments rents was considered. It was resolved to maintain them at the current rate of £24 per year. Proposed by Cllr Ferguson, seconded by Cllr. Tottenham. | |
13.0 | Review of Burial Ground Charges | |
| A review of the burial ground charges for 2010/11 was considered. It was resolved to maintain them at the current 2009 rates. Proposed by Cllr. Penfold, seconded by Cllr. Ferguson | |
14.0 | Website Review | |
| Cllrs. Tomblin and Payne circulated notes on their review of the Website which suggested a general make-over and refresh would be beneficial. Further work would be carried out and Cllr. Payne would contact BDBC for assistance with updating the website. It was felt that consideration should also be given to moderating the Google group discussion forum. | JCP/CT |
15.0 | County & Borough Councillors and Police reports WPC Mandy Jewell – Beat report was in the monthly correspondence folder. Clerk was asked to forward a copy to Cllr. Payne | Clerk |
| County Cllr. Chapman – reported that he had taken a break from the Adoption and Fostering Panel, Children’s Services in Hampshire had received two days notice of an Ofsted visit, which had resulted in a very good report and that the Hampshire service was currently helping other local authorities improve their services, he would be attending a Fire Safety meeting at the Houses of Parliament in November, some retained Fire Officers had been trained to respond to 999 emergency calls as the ambulance service was currently not meeting standards of response times and on 11th November children from Hampshire would be singing at the Royal Albert Hall. Vaughan advised that the appropriate officers from BDBC were investigating the circumstances of the caravan that had appeared in Cufaude Lane. He also advised that he had received a letter from Maria Miller regarding Bramley Training Camp, which was passed to the Clerk. Whilst it had been agreed to reduce the amount of explosive used in training, if this was found to be unsuccessful the matter would be reviewed again. | |
| Borough Cllr. Jayawardena had three points, the safest way to protect the British Legion site from housing development was a Community Hall, he was looking into funding from Basingstoke & Deane to help with the improvements to the pond and was working with Cllr. Payne, and would encourage people to get involved with the discussions on both sides for the Little Apples/Farriers Close topics. Cllr. Ferguson asked if BDBC was increasing the number of rubbish bin for households. B. Cllr. Jayawardena advised that to his knowledge the existing collections were remaining but there were discussions about the possibility of introducing kerbside bottle collections. | |
| 16.0 | Representatives Reports | |
| | Cllr. Wood congratulated County Councillor Chapman on being appointed a Vice President of HALC (Hampshire Association of Local Councils). He also added that he was disappointed that at the HALC AGM no handouts were available. | |
| | Cllr. Tottenham reported for Clift Meadow Trustees – The pavilion had been re-decorated, there would be a fence installed between the pub and the green to prevent intruders, daffodils would be planted on the green, lighting for the car park was proceeding and finally that a bench had been destroyed and a tennis court net damaged. These issues had been reported to the police and insurance companies. | |
| | Cllr. Payne reported on Footpaths – the Heritage trail way markers and field ware (kissing gates etc) had been installed and the information board would be installed at the station by the end of the month. The Bramley footpaths booklet was undergoing a review with help from local residents and would be reprinted in due course. | |
17.0 | Correspondence/ Consultations | |
| Cllr. Douglas had been asked if he would be able to attend the Annual Parish Transport Meeting on November 14th. Invitation to attend the Parish Conference and Mayor’s reception on Monday 30th November was in the folder. Chairman Richard Wood would attend and there were two other places available. Monthly Information folder was issued. | AD |
18.0 | Items for next meeting Audit of Annual Accounts Review Quotes for Bramley Green Cut SLR Devices Friends of Farriers Grant Applications Review of Clerks Salary & Conditions Review of Grounds man hourly rates and tool allowance Budget 2010/2011 | |
| There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.25 p.m. | |