Minutes of the Meeting of Ringsfield & Weston Parish Council Held on Friday 21 March 2014

Minutes of the meeting of Ringsfield & Weston Parish Council held on Friday 21 March 2014 at 7.30 pm at Ringsfield Village Hall

Councillors Present : Cllr P Johnson (Chair), Cllr P Fearn, Cllr S Hemp, Cllr A W Wheeler, Cllr S Saunders and Cllr R Sherriff. Cllr L Rees arrived later.

Also Present : Mrs T Hazell (Clerk)

1. Apologies : Cllr C Mehew, Cllr C Leggett, Cllr K Springall, PCSO Le Surf

The Chairman welcomed councillors to the March 2014 meeting.

2. Declarations of Interest : None.

3. To confirm the minutes of the Parish Council held on 21 February 2014 at 7.30 pm

Cllr Wheeler referred to Item 6(c) regarding the Commemoration of the Great War and stated that an event in November would not really be appropriate and would be better held in August 2014, 100 years after the war started, or in November 2018, 100 years after it ended. This comment was noted.

On the motion of Cllr Fearn, seconded by Cllr Wheeler, it was unanimously agreed by those members present that these minutes be signed as a true and correct record.

The meeting opened for public consultation.

a. Report from the Police : PCSO Le Surf had emailed the clerk with her apologies and the following crime report :

A burglary had occurred in Weston when a portacabin was broken into between 10th/11th March. It appears a jemmy like instrument had been used to force the window. The premises were entered and a small amount of cash taken. This is still being investigated.

A burglary had occurred in Ringsfield Church between 9-12th March. The vestry door had been forced and half a bottle of red wine had been taken. This remains undetected.

b. Report from Suffolk County Council : County Cllr Ritchie was not present and a report had not been received.

c. Report from Waveney District Councillor : Cllr Springall had sent apologies and had nothing to report.

d. Residents Questions to the Chairman of the Council : None.

The Chairman closed the meeting for public consultation.

6. Chairman’s Matters : a. The Chairman reported that Mr Stamford is suing Waveney District Council for costs after the Public Inquiry into the wind turbine. b. Community Council : The Chairman stated that various requests had been received. The first one was for approval to purchase a new floor polisher for the village hall and three quotes had been received. The preferred machine is an Orbis SV660 Rotary Polisher. Jangro are the firm they have used before and as their quote was not the cheapest, Mrs Lanchester had spoken to them and they had reduced their price to £914.90 + VAT.

On the motion of Cllr Hemp, seconded by Cllr Saunders, it was unanimously agreed to approve the expenditure of £914.90 for the polisher from Jangro.

At this point, Cllr Wheeler asked if we could put an item on next month’s agenda to raise the expenditure limit for the Community Council from £500 to £1000. This was agreed.

The Community Council were also asking for a container for the cricket club. Cllr Wheeler suggested we look at a longer term proposal for storage, rather than a container. Funds are available to help build a more permanent structure for storage and also neighbours need to be consulted. The Chairman stated he would email Mrs J Betts about this matter.

c. Centenary of the beginning of the Great War : The Chairman asked if anyone had any ideas on this, and said his wife is interested in coordinating something eg. exhibition about village life at the time. It was agreed to keep this under review.

d. Newsletter : the clerk had produced this and had 180 copies – Cllr Botham had printed some more off and bring them later. These were handed out to councillors to distribute to households in their areas.

e. Litter Pick : this had been advertised in the newsletter and the Chairman will talk to the publican about providing bacon rolls at 12 noon.

f. Annual Meeting of the Parish Council and Annual Parish Meetings : these will be held at 7 pm and 8 pm on Friday 16th May and the format will remain the same. The clerk was asked to write to the various organisations asking for their reports at the 8 pm meeting.

6. Clerk’s Correspondence

The clerk circulated her correspondence report and action was agreed as follows :

a. Brandon Lewis MP from The Department for Communities and Local Government had written on the subject of localising council tax support grant and making it clear that the Government’s intention was that part of the funding provided to local authorities in respect of localised council tax support should be passed down to parish and town councils.

b. Suffolk Community Foundation had sent their newsletter on Sport Relief Community Cash – this was passed to the Chairman.

c. Waveney & Suffolk DC had written with forthcoming dates for World of Planning meetings. The two dates for our areas is 11th June at Beccles Public Hall or 19th June at Wangford Village Hall. These will be evening events and more details, agendas etc will follow but dates can be noted in diaries. The November dates are 3rd November at Beccles and 20th November at Wangford. d. SALC Admin had written regarding the Repeal of s150(5) of the Local Government Act 1972 and that the Minister will be making an LRO repealing the statutory requirement for 2 elected members to sign cheques and other orders for payment. This will give councils the opportunity to review how they control their money and take advantage of new technology such as internet banking. The guidance states that the two signature rule must not be abandoned until a council has put in place safe and efficient arrangements in accordance with the guidance. It is essential that councils “maintain robust controls on payments as an integrated part of their overall financial control system”.

e. SALC Admin had emailed information about the Policy and Crime Commissioner Public Meetings involving a quick overview from Tim Passmore and Douglas Paxton, Chief Constable, and give the public an opportunity to ask questions. The Waveney meeting will be held at East Point Academy, Kirkley Run, Lowestoft on Monday 22 September 2014. This was noted.

f. RSS Playground Inspection had written with a leaflet on the services they provide – this was passed to the Chairman to pass on to the Community Council for information.

g. Suffolk County Council had emailed their e-newsletter on Smarter Choices promoting more sustainable travel in the county.

h. SALC Admin had emailed to say that audit packs including the annual return will be issued shortly by BDO. Regarding the internal audit, the Chairman will ask Tess Blowers if she would be willing to do this once more. It was agreed to put the audit on next month’s agenda.

i. A letter had been sent to the Charity Commission, Dame Suzy Leather by the Chairman, regarding the difficulty the clerk had experienced in changing the contact details. The clerk has now received a new password and has managed to change the details and submit accounts from the Community Council on to the website.

7. Planning Applications

8. Reports on Meetings attended by Councillors

a. SALC Waveney Area meeting at Wangford – the Chairman had attended this and had found it very interesting. Information had been passed on regarding the tidal surges and they also talked about the Sustainable Communities Act. The Chairman asked the clerk to forward information we have received on this to him.

Discussion had also taken placed on Neighbourhood Plans and there was an idea that Beccles incorporate the surrounding parishes in their Plan. It had been agreed to keep this under review.

The Chairman agreed to go to the next meeting on 11 June.

9. Finances

(a) On the motion of the Cllr Wheeler, seconded by Cllr Hemp, it was unanimously agreed to sign the following cheques : Mrs P A Hazell (Clerk’s salary) £144.52

Sotterley Farms Partnership (photocopying expenses for the newsletter) £19.80

10. Matters Arising

(a) The Chairman has been approached by Mr Colin Leer with regard to using Community Service groups to give help with community projects for a small charge of £75 per day for approximately 10 people for 6/7 hours daily. Cllr Sherriff has found some projects they could work on and it was generally agreed that the Parish Council would be in favour of this.

(b) Cllr Rees stated that she is investigating the reclaiming of VAT wih Suffolk County Council and will report back when she has more information.

11. Date of Next Meeting : Friday 25 April 2014.

There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.10 pm.

Chairman …………………………………. Dated ………………………………..