SIGNED Joint Parish Council Minutes April 2018 to March 2019 Page| 28 Initialled

Eathorpe, , & Joint Parish Councils Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at 7:30pm, 19th March 2019, Offchurch Village Hall, Offchurch

Present: Councillor M Brooks Councillor D MacDaid Councillor Mrs C Foyer Councillor S Palmer Councillor Mrs M Green Councillor W Redford Councillor J Hammon Councillor Mrs J Seaton

In Attendance: Jane Chatterton Clerk & RFO

Warwick District Councillor: Councillor Mike Doody

73. Apologies Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ryan and Burgun.

74. Declarations of Interest: There were no declarations of interest.

75. Public participation 75.1 Offa House, Planning Application Councillor Doody updated that the owners of Offa House had requested a meeting with the Head of Planning to discuss their application.

75.2 District Elections Councillor Doody reported that after 32 years he had decided to call it a day. This would be his last Parish Council meeting. He had very much enjoyed his 32 years as a Councillor, including being Chairman 6 times.

He thanked the members of the Parish Council for always welcoming him to meetings and had enjoyed working with everyone.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Doody on behalf of the Parish Council for his hard work and engagement with the Councillors and the parishes.

76. Minutes The minutes of the meeting held on 15th January 2019 were discussed.

RESOLVED THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 15th January 2019 were approved.

77. Matters Arising 63.2 Cllr Jeff Clerk ACTION: Clerk to send letter in response.

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78. Councillor’s reports and items for future Agenda

WCC WCC Precept Increase Councillor Wallace Redford updated that WCC had increased the precept by 3%, the Government had given County Councils the opportunity to increase the precept by another 2% to pay towards Adult Social Care, therefore the precept would increase by 5%.

Adult Social Care costs would rise to £7m and children’s social care to £6.4%.

79. Correspondence 79.1 Making Tax Digital It was noted that where a council was not VAT-registered and reclaimed using a VAT126 form, it would NOT be affected during 2019/20, nor does it seem likely this would change in 2020/21.

Councils that were VAT registered would have to comply from 1 October 2019, although they may join the pilot scheme from 1st April 2019 if they wished. The 6-month deferral to 1st October 2019 for local authorities was announced by HMRC last October.

Currently there was no requirement on the JPC to comply, but this may change in the future.

RESOLVED THAT the update be noted.

79.2 Broadband Wappenbury A letter had been received from CSW Broadband. In collaboration with their build partners, Openreach, they were intending to bring superfast broadband to properties within the CV33 9DN and CV33 9DW postcodes in Wappenbury as part of our Contract 2 programme of works.

The intention was to site the new cabinet on Main Street in Wappenbury. However, in order to bring the benefit of superfast broadband to residents within these postcodes, Openreach required a power wayleave so that they can provide power to the new cabinet.

In order to do this, they needed to lay a power cable from the power pole to the new broadband cabinet. CSW had notified the parish council that a landowner would not allow the work to be carried out unless a sum was paid for an Easement Right across their land.

Openreach had looked into an alternative solution but this would require the construction of a new transformer at a cost of £28,000.

Both CSW Broadband and Openreach were of the opinion that the landowner was demanding an astronomical sum of money given the amount of work and low level of disruption that would be involved.

It was not a sum that either party was willing to pay, meaning that if a compromise could not be reached there was a very real danger that this build would be de-scoped from their current programme. This would mean that local residents would not get a superfast broadband upgrade or any of the benefits that such an upgrade would bring to the village.

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The Joint Parish Council had been asked if they could assist in reaching mutual agreement between the parties.

RESOLVED THAT the Clerk reply to CSW and arrange for a meeting between them, Councillors Hammon and MacDaid and hopefully the landowner, in an attempt to progress the matter.

80. Planning Planning Applications since the last meeting

25/02/2019 and 03/03/2019 Nothing to report

04/03/2019 and 10/03/2019 Nothing to report

11/03/2019 and 17/03/2019 Nothing to report.

81. Highways Hunningham ACTION: Councillor Mrs Green to forward photos of the problem to Councillor Redford for progression with David Elliston.

Hunningham Bridge The work carried out to the Hunningham Bridge was discussed. ACTION: Clerk to write to Richard Roberts for an update.

Offchurch Councillor Palmer updated that work to the footpath in front of the Church had been completed. The workmen had carried out a good job with the path now being level.

82. Police Matters – two pregnant ewes had been found dead.

Offchurch – bikes had been stolen from a garage.

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83. Finance 83.1 to approve payments: - Date Reference Payee Details Value 19.03.19 Clerk Clerk’s Salary February (PAID) 19.03.19 HMRC February Tax Payment for Clerk (PAID) £78.20 19.03.19 Clerk Clerk’s Salary March 2019 19.03.19 HMRC March Tax Payment for Clerk £68.40 19.03.19 Clerk Office Allowance March 2019 £16.00 19.03.19 Offchurch Village Hall March’s meeting (PAID) £16.00 19.03.19 ICO Membership £35.00 19.03.19 D Moorcroft Playground Inspection £220.00 19.03.19 D Moorcroft Playground Inspection £160.00 19.03.19 J Chatterton Reimbursement Stationery £84.28

RESOLVED THAT the payments be approved.

83.2 Coventry Building Society The Clerk reported that updating the signatories on the Coventry Building Society account was proving difficult. A form had been obtained and partially completed, the issue being that the signatories on the account were no longer JPC councillors.

RESOLVED THAT the Clerk write a letter to the Coventry Building Society detailing:

(i) The Clerk & RFO be added to the account as a signatory. (ii) The account correspondence address be updated to current Clerk’s address. (iii) New signatories be added to the account after the May 2019 elections. (iv) Outdated signatories be removed.

83.3 Internal Auditor The JPC accounts were required to be Internally Audited as part of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return process for 2018-19. A recommendation was made to appoint Louise Best as Internal Auditor for 2018-19 AGAR.

RESOLVED THAT Louise Best be appointed as Internal Auditor for 2018-19.

84. Election Process The key dates and information for the Election, 2nd May 2019 were discussed.

26th March Notice of Election by Election Authority Nomination Period Commences – Each nomination must be separate, and hand delivered 3rd April Poll card despatched from elections authority 4pm Last Date for Receipt of Nominations by elections authority Deadline for withdrawal of form 4th April FIND OUT IF A POLL OR NOT Publication of persons nominated 12th April Last date for registering to vote 15th April Last date for new postal vote applications 24th April Last day for proxy vote applications SIGNED Joint Parish Council Minutes April 2018 to March 2019 Page| 32 Initialled

2nd May Polling Day – all elections - 7am to 10pm 11am - if there are more vacancies than candidates the returning officer will declare them elected 3rd May Results 7th May (All councillors retire on the same day) New councillors take office on this day (4 days after the date of the election – the Saturday and Sunday are counted) – on the 7th in 2019 because the 6th is a Bank Holiday which is not counted as one of the 4 days. 7th to 23rd May The first meeting of the council must take place between these dates Only Sundays are omitted when calculating the 14 days after the councillors taking office, during which the meeting must take place.

It was noted that currently there was a vacancy on Eathorpe Parish Council and two Councillors for Hunningham would not be re-standing.

RESOLVED THAT: (i) the update be noted. (ii) Clerk to provide Notice of Election to Councillors for the individual parish noticeboards.

85. Parish Council Donations to Churches The Clerk updated that at a recent WALC training event, Clerks and Councillors were reminded that the Local Government Act 1894, expressly prohibited parish councils from spending any money on maintaining or improving church property. In practice this included the church building itself, the churchyard and the church hall.

In this instance, the situation was complicated by the fact that subsequent legislation appeared to contradict the earlier 1894 Act. For example, s.214(6) of the Local Government Act 1972 permits a parish council to contribute towards the expenses incurred by any person in providing or maintaining a cemetery and s.215 of the Local Government Act 1972 permits a parish council to maintain a closed churchyard.

Whilst it was widely accepted now that a parish council can legally maintain a closed churchyard there remained a difference of opinion amongst some legal professionals over whether a parish council was permitted to maintain or contribute to the maintenance of an open churchyard.

RESOLVED THAT this update be noted.

86. HS2 86.1 Community Fund Councillor Redford updated on the application to the HS2 Community Fund for Eathorpe playground refurbishment. After liaison with the person in charge of the fund, 3 quotations were required. A letter from WDC in support would also be required.

It was noted that another local Parish Council had been successful with their application.

ACTION: 3 quotations to be obtained.

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86.2 Update Councillor Burgun had prepared an update on HS2. On 13th February a letter was sent to HS2 Ltd in relation to their presentation to the JPC in November 2018.

They had responded on 15th February that no trees would be cut down on the Hunningham Road area during early works schedule.

The remaining questions remained unanswered, no doubt due to the delay in obtaining permission to proceed with construction. This was not expected to be prior to June 2019.

26th February, WDC advised that Sir Mark Worthington, the Independent Construction Commissioner would visit the area during the first week in April, date to be confirmed. Councillor Burgun had advised that he wished to meet him and other JPC members may wish to attend.

13th March, Stop HS2 had reported that the new Chairman of HS2 Ltd, Allan Cook had met the Transport Select Committee. He appeared to admit that the HS2 business case was disingenuous and also appeared under questioning to confuse costs and benefits.

These exchanges can be found via www.stophs2.org

Stuart Robinson, was preparing to carry out a photographic project with people’s views included on HS2. He had been referred to the JPC by PC. Councillor Burgun would meet with him in late March and advise accordingly.

RESOLVED THAT the update be noted.

87. Councillor Updates Trees It was reported that the trees overhanging the grass triangle opposite Threeways, Wappenbury, required trimming/tidying. The trees made the area look untidy and the contractors could not get under the trees to cut the grass.

ACTION: Matter to be reported to Gavin Callard.

Event on Offchurch Playing field A private event would take place on the playing field in the summer. A deposit of £250 to be paid.

ACTION: Clerk to liaise with Councillor Brooks for the details. Risk Assessment to be carried out prior to the event. Clerk had liaised with the Insurance Company and the event was covered by the Parish Council’s insurance.

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88. Next Meeting The next meeting will take place on 21st May 2019 at Offchurch Village Hall. To include:

• The Annual Parish Council meeting • May meeting

Meeting closed at 8:30pm.

SIGNED BY THE CHAIRMAN 21st May 2019 Councillor S Palmer