Ripponden Parish Council Minutes Page 6463
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RIPPONDEN PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 6463 The 1185th Meeting of the Ripponden Parish Council held in the Ripponden Parish Council Office on Thursday 5th September 2019 at 7.15pm. Councillors Present: Cllr Robins chaired the meeting Cllr Holden, Cllr Issott, Cllr Moran, Cllr Nothard, Cllr Pickles 1. To accept apologies for absence and lateness. Absence with apologies – Cllr Hunt, Cllr McCarley, Cllr Mellor, Cllr Mitchell, Cllr Naylor, Cllr Thornber Lateness – Nil 2. To accept the Minutes of the 1184rd Meeting held on Thursday 8th August 2019. 17558 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Moran and seconded by Cllr Holden that the Minutes are accepted as a true and correct record of the Meeting held on Thursday 8th August 2019. 3. To receive information on any on–going items identified in these and previous Minutes and decide further action where necessary. 3.1. Feedback from Calderdale Planning Office indicated that the shortest timeframe for a planning application would be 3 weeks however, as the Parish Council only met every 4 weeks planning officers would still accept comment after this time. Therefore, it was decide to continue as is with a review in 6mths, at the February Council Meeting. 17559 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Moran and seconded by Cllr Holden that the ability of the full council to meet planning application timelines is reviewed at the February Full Council Meeting. 3.2. An email was sent to Inspector Doughty (Neighbourhood Policing Team) but nothing had been received back. It was believed that he had been away for the majority of August; therefore, the Clerk was tasked with chasing this up and is to report back to the Buildings Chair and at the next Full Council meeting. 3.3. Cllr Hunts suggestion of providing greater insight into Cllr absence from meetings was accepted, the following reasons will be recorded – Holiday, Sickness, Work, Bereavement and Other. 17560 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Nothard and seconded by Cllr Pickles that reasons for absence from meetings are recorded. 3.4. The current internet provider, BT, costs approx. £41/mth, it was recommended that we transfer to Vodaphone at a cost of £29/mth. This transfer would increase our connection to 63MB. 17561 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Holden and seconded by Cllr Moran that the Clk and Chair of Buildings arrange for a change in contract to Vodaphone for Internet services. Along with the change in internet provider, it was recommended that the Parish Office move to Office 365. This would allow each Cllr to have a secure email – complying with GDPR legislation, and allow Cllrs and the Clk to utilise file sharing facilities thus improving work efficiency. The cost to the Council for the office to be placed on Office 365 would be £9.40/mth plus vat. This would be offset by the reduction in internet provider cost. To provide all the Cllrs with the same facility would cost £3.80/user/mth plus vat, a budget increase of £54.72. There is believed to be a reduction in cost for local councils but until the contract is confirmed that savings is unknown. RIPPONDEN PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 6464 17562 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Pickles and seconded by Cllr Nothard that the Clk and Chair of Buildings arrange for Office 365 to be purchased and installed for the Parish Office and all Cllrs. 17563 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Moran and seconded by Cllr Issott that the Public Participation element of the meeting be brought fwd to this point. 3.5. The chair confirmed that letters to landlords of empty buildings had not yet been sent and recommended that she would provide landlord details to the Clk for the production of letters requesting a tidy up. 3.6. Royd Land potholes have been marked up but only 1 has been filled. Cllr Moran will keep a watching brief and report back to Calderdale Council and the Parish Council if no further action is taken. 3.7. Ryburn Utd new football clubhouse is being installed this week. 3.8. The Courier had a large spread on Calderdale Libraries but no mention was made of the fate of Ripponden Library. Cllr Holden felt this was due to the hope that it might be repurposed. 3.9. Cllr Issott bought up the Krumlin War Memorial, where it was and what its fate is to be. The plaques storage location is confirmed as in ex-Cllr Russells’s garage. The Clk was task to confirm size, material and location to Cllr Issott. 3.10. Back Lane potholes have been marked up, it is hoped that they will also be filled. 3.11. (Draft) Minutes of meeting are not being released in a timely manner. It was recommended that they are released within 4 working days. The mtg recognised that this change needed to be decided by the Standards Cttee as it may impact other requirements. 3.12. Thank you letters for the A- boards, Bench Refurbishment, Soyland Telephone box and Garden Competition Entries need to be written. Cllr Robins will provide detail of exactly which letters need to be written to the Clk. 17564 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Issott seconded by Cllr Moran that the Clk will write and send the thank you letters. 4. To receive Parish Councillors declarations of Interest None 5. Public Participation CROWS (Community Right of Way Service) presented to the Council. CROWS are a self- funding community organisation that repair and maintain access to public footpaths and bridleways. They have been very active in the Upper Calder Valley but are now looking to do more work in the Ryburn Valley. They have 21 members at this time and are always seeking new members. They requested information on funding grants so they could access the published routes within the valley and to look at producing some routes in Barkisland as it currently has no published routes. They also offered the chance to buy local route leaflets to sell within the office. The Communication Ctte took this concept on to discuss at their next meeting. 17564 Resolved in a motion by Cllr Holden and seconded by Cllr Pickles that the mtg return to agenda point 3.5. RIPPONDEN PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 6465 6. To receive reports from the Clerk, Chairman, Committees, Councillors and Outside Bodies by Council Representatives 6.1. Clerk’s Report. The Clk identified that there would be several changes in office procedure and layout in the coming months, most changes should remain unseen by the Cllrs but some will affect Cllrs directly. All changes will be implemented in order to either: increase office efficiency, reduce costs, improve time effectiveness, maintain legal guidelines/ regulations, cement our role within the local community and political sphere. Cllrs were encouraged to put forward any idea they have to improve the running of the council as well as enter a dialogue with the Clk over implemented ideas. Cllrs were requested to remain tolerant as training and reorganisation occurs in the coming months; if there are any perceived issues please notify the Clk asap. The first project started is a reorganisation of the cellars and the office. This is creating a lot of rubbish and as such all Cllrs are encouraged to drop in if they are passing and remove a bag or two of rubbish so that the office does not become too cluttered. Cllr Moran was given thanks for already completing two rubbish runs. The Clk, Cllr Hunt and Cllr Holden will be working together to arrange a big tidy up day to enable the clearance of the downstairs rooms. Key diary points for September and October were read out – see attached sheet. All Cllrs were requested to forward any mtg dates or key events as the diary is not up to date and is missing most Council activities. 6.2. Cllr Pickles’ Report. The flag was raised and lowered for Merchant Navy Day. Cllr Pickles confirmed the next flag raising would be Remembrance Sunday. Cllr Pickles went onto report an incident with a suspicious individual outside of the Co-op on the 3rd Sep. The meeting was reminded of the need to report such issues to the Neighbourhood Policing team as the stats are required to maintain our current policing level. 6.3. Cllr Issott’s Report. All Cllrs are requested to provide Cllr Issott with 20 – 30 word bio for the next newsletter. This will be followed up with an email reminder with a deadline for submissions. All Cllrs were also requested to have a new publicity picture taken. They will all be against the same background; the first set are hoped to be taken at the Comms Cttee meeting on the 10th but Cllrs not at that meeting are requested to come into the office for the picture at their convenience. 6.4. Cllr Holden’s Report. Cllr Holden Reported on the Buildings Cttee. A request has been made of the Comms Cttee to review the need for a Community Hub and what it should include to make it relevant for the community. The cost of a surveyor to assess the Library for suitability to move to was authorised. The lease will be reviewed in 2020. There is a requirement to carry out weekly fire alarm checks – the Clk was request to carry this out. At this time it was also agreed a mthly 1st aid kit check would also be completed. The discussion of storage came up; it had been proposed that Calderdale Council were paid to store files; however on review it was decided that with a the purchase of some shelves, a tidy and reorganisation there was enough storage within the building to negate paying for it.