Worplesdon Parish Council
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Approved by the full council – 23 January 2014 Worplesdon Parish Council Minutes of the monthly meeting held on 28 November 2013 in the small hall, Worplesdon Memorial Hall – 7.30pm 504-13 – Present There were present Chairman Dr P Cragg, Mr T Cater, Mr M Dillon, Cllr D Elms, Mr D Howard-Jones (arrived late due to work commitments), Mrs J Messinger, Mrs S Morgan, Mrs E Nagle, Mr V Searle, Mr D Slaymaker, Mr R Welch and Mr C Venables. Dr Cragg advised that Mrs M Wilson had tendered her resignation on 28 October which he had regretfully accepted. The Borough Council had been informed and the requisite notice had been erected on the notice boards and on the Parish Council’s website. Those present expressed their appreciation to Mrs Wilson for all her hard work over the last 25 years. The Council wished Mrs Wilson a very happy retirement! If ten electors request an election it would be necessary to hold an election, if not the vacancy will be filled by co- option. At the time of holding the meeting the Borough Council had not advised whether or not an election would be required or whether the Parish Council is free to co-opt. 505-13 - To accept apologies and reason for Absence in accordance with the LGA 1972, Sch12 para 40 Apologies and reason for absence were received from: Cllr R McShee and Mr R Watson. Apologies accepted. Mr R Clark was absent (apologies received after the meeting). Apologies were also received from Cllr Roche, Cllr K Witham and PC S McMurtry. 506-13 - Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPIs) by Councillors on any of the agenda items below in accordance with The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012. (SI 2012 No. 1464) Cllr D Elms declared a DPI interest in the potential development of up to 773 homes beside Fairlands as his home is just 80m from the edge of the potential development. Cllr Elms will be unable to participate in any future discussions about the Local Plan. 507-13 - To receive and consider written requests for new DPI dispensations No requests were received. 508-13 - Declaration of non-pecuniary interests in accordance with the Parish Council’s Code of Conduct Parish precept 2014/15: Declarations were made by the following members: Mr R Welch – Parish representative to the Worplesdon Memorial Trustees Mr T Cater - Parish representative to the Worplesdon Memorial Trustees Mrs E Nagle – Parish representative to Stoke Hospital Mrs S Morgan – Parish representative to the FLGCA 509-13 - Amendments to the Register of Interests 200 Approved by the full council – 23 January 2014 Mr C Venables had completed a new Register of Interests – Mrs L Venables being a temporary part time Admin Assistant to the Parish Council. 510-13 - Declaration of Gifts or hospitality over £25 No declarations were made. 511-13 - Police matters in Worplesdon PCSO Yeomans gave the following report: Worplesdon Stats 25/07/13 – 12/09/13 Worplesdon Wood Street Jacobs Well Fairlands Crimes Assaults 2 2 1 Burglary Criminal Damage 2 2 Drugs 1 2 Robbery Sexual Offences Theft from motor vehicle 1 Theft of motor vehicle Theft – other 2 2 Other offences (including Fraud, 1 3 Harassment, Public Order offences etc.) Total crimes 6 7 6 2 Non -Crimes Child protection reports Communication offences 1 2 Domestic reports 1 2 Vulnerable adult reports 1 3 Others (including drink drive and 4 drunkenness offences) Total non -crimes 3 8 0 3 Total (Crimes and Non -crimes) 9 15 6 5 Dr Cragg thanked PCSO Yeomans for her report. PCSO Yeomans left the meeting at 7.46pm 512-13 - Borough Councillor’s report Cllr Elms gave the following report: 1. Two licences have recently been rescinded by the Borough Council’s Licensing Committee – The Guildford Charcoal Grill and the Apple Tree public house in Park Barn. Dr Cragg thanked Cllr Elms for his report. 201 Approved by the full council – 23 January 2014 513 -13 - County Councillor’s report Cllr Witham had provided the following written report: As your elected representative at Surrey County Council (SCC) I thought you would like to see a roundup of the main issues currently being dealt with by the County Council. I am always happy to receive feedback or comments regarding these or any other services run by SCC. 1. WINTER AND EMERGENCY PREPARATIONS The extreme weather a couple of weekends ago was a timely reminder that good advance planning is essential to minimise the effects of extreme weather and to enable quick responses. Over that weekend SCC had key staff from Highways and Social Services located in the emergency services control rooms to direct enquiries regarding trees blocking roads and highways problems, and to ensure quick responses to any vulnerable people in emergency situations. Surrey County Council are again ready for winter with more than £2.5 million being spent on a programme that includes using more than 40 specialist vehicles, hi-tech monitoring equipment, weather stations and 16,000 tonnes of grit. SCC have also resurfaced or repaired more than 200 miles of road in the year to April, as well as repairing more than 20 miles of footpaths and pavements and updating two miles of drainage. £5 million extra has also been put aside to repair the 200 roads in most need of fixing after cold weather damage. During last year’s snow, SCC’s fleet of gritters treated 10,000 miles of road in just 4 days. Highlights of the SCC Winter Service Plan include: • Providing 39 gritters, all fitted with location trackers and salt-spreading monitors; • Preparing more than 1,800 roadside salt bins across Surrey by October; • Installing 6 weather stations providing real-time updates on air and road temperature, rainfall and salt and ice levels; • Extending the trial of alternative vehicles (such as quad bikes) in the winter clear-up; • Having a standby team of 51 farmers to give extra support in less accessible areas. SCC prepared well last year and has repeated that preparation this year. We are spending £100 million on relaying more than 300 miles of road in the next three years. The new surfaces will have a 10-year guarantee – or the contractor pays to do them again. For pothole reporting and all highways issues see: www.surreycc.gov.uk 2. SURREY SUPERFAST BROADBAND The first phase of Surrey County Council and BT’s project to ensure every community gets a broadband boost and to help firms do business online has been completed - on time. This means that 15,000 homes and businesses now have access to high-speed internet as part of a scheme to make Surrey the UK’s best connected county in superfast time. The programme will now aim to give another 15,000 premises high-quality access by the end of December as part of the drive to ensure virtually everyone in the county is covered by the end of 2014, compared with the national superfast broadband aim of 95% by 2017. 202 Approved by the full council – 23 January 2014 Once completed, the Superfast Surrey project will ensure the council provides high-speed fibre broadband access to more than 80,000 premises not covered commercially. This is great news and means we remain firmly on course to make Surrey the UK’s best connected county. Now we’ll press ahead with the next stage of this programme to ensure almost 100% high-speed internet access by next year. Already 63% of everyone aged 65 or over in Surrey has internet connection- the highest proportion in the UK. 3. HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 16-19 The number of young people in Surrey who are "NEET" - "Not in Education, Employment or Training" has more than halved in just over four years thanks to a series of initiatives spearheaded by Surrey County Council. Latest figures show there were 449 NEETs aged 16 to 19 last month compared to 1,080 in April 2009. That means around 1.5% of 16 to 19-year-olds in Surrey are classed as NEET. According to the latest annual figures from the Department for Education, the figure is closer to 6% nationally. The dramatic drop follows a series of county council initiatives designed to boost the job prospects of the County’s young people. These include incentivising businesses to hire more than 760 apprentices by next April, a new chain of county-wide centres to equip young people with basic skills, plus extra support in youth centres for those at risk of becoming NEET. SCC has also saved £4.5 million transforming young people’s services by working more closely with voluntary and community groups. It’s fantastic news that the number of NEETs has halved in four years, while we’ve also saved local taxpayers £4.5m by doing things differently and better. Apprenticeships provide young people with skills they need for a successful career, give businesses the workforce they require to thrive and help the economy grow. That is why we’re aiming to create another 500 by next April. I am grateful to the Worplesdon, Normandy and Pirbright Parish Councils for circulating information to local businesses about the support available. Last year, the County Council incentivised businesses to hire more than 260 apprentices and is aiming to achieve a further 500 by April 2014. 4. SCHOOL PLACE Surrey’s school children returned from their summer holiday to schools with extra classroom space for 2,800 children - the equivalent of 7 new large primary schools. Plans have also been unveiled by Surrey County Council to create more than 3,000 new school places in the next year, as part of the biggest investment programme in Surrey’s history.