HIGHCLERE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Highclere Parish
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HIGHCLERE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Highclere Parish Council Meeting held at Highclere Village Hall Tuesday 14 March 2017 at 7.00pm Members: Sally Izett (Chairman), John Stoker (Vice Chairman). Councillor Mike Jenkins, Councillor Don Langan, Councillor Brad Norton, Councillor Jane Smith, Councillor Mike York In attendance: Clerk to the Council Sue Edwards. Borough Councillor Graham Falconer, Jane Meredith Newbury Weekly News, Millie Nicholls. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. 152/16 Apologies for Absence. Apologies were received from Borough Councillor John Izett and County Councillor Tom Thacker. 153/16 Declarations of Interest. There were no declarations of interest. 154/16 To confirm accuracy and sign the Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 14 February 2017. The Minutes were circulated and it was unanimously resolved that the Minutes be accepted as an accurate record. They were duly signed by the Chairman, Sally Izett. 155/16 To Progress Resolutions from 14 February 2017. (Matters arising from the Minutes). 48 /16 Report on Internal Audit HVH Trust Deed - The Clerk has contacted Roger Taylor, a solicitor with Wellers Hedley’s for advice. He has been on holiday. 81/16 Little Penwood Trim Trail. The Clerk has received a reply from BDBC saying that the Trim Trail cannot have a tourist Brown Information Sign. Action: Cllr. Falconer asked for the email to be forwarded to him. 84/16 Report on Planning The HPC Planning Protocol to be revised by the Planning Advisory Committee. 115/16 Report on Roads and Transport Cllr. S. Izett asked Cllr. Thacker to find out if there were more Barred Route Funds for Highclere. Cllr Thacker has responded – “I and my fellow County Councillor for Andover North are working with Test Valley borough council to resolve the issue. The agreement is between TVBC and HCC and has been escalated to the TVBC overview and scrutiny committee, whose chairman has written to the HCC executive member for clarification on the collection and use of the funds, which must be spent on local projects. While I have requested to be copied, but not yet seen the reply, I have been indirectly told that the problems with the recording systems have been resolved for a couple of months, so the fines, which it seems stopped for a period, should now be operating. As soon as I know more I will report again”. 145/16 Report on Environment Flooding in Highclere Street and on Treasure Hill. The Clerk reported the flooding to HCC and Steve Goodall. Work has been undertaken on Treasure Hill. The Highclere Street ditches require clearing by the landowner. Action: The Chairman to contact the Highclere Estates’ Manager. 1 146/16 Report on Roads and Transport Speedwatch The Clerk notified Cllr. Norton that £1000 had been received from HCC. 156 /16 Public Participation. No members of the public were present. 157/16 Reports from Borough and County Councillors. Borough Councillor Graham Falconer. The Council voted for the 2017/18 budget as expected and so the increase in council tax is 4.99%. Cllr. Falconer said that it is worth noting that council tax raises £6.5 million whereas our commercial rents raise £16 million. HCC Education were unable to attend last week’s Scrutiny Committee but figures show that Testbourne and The Clere School performed well both in BDBC, Hants and nationally. There is a worrying national trend that, in many subjects, boys are performing badly compared to girls. The Executive Directors vacancy is as yet unfilled as the person who accepted it then changed their mind. The pre-application to develop 3,200 dwellings at Manydown has now been submitted. A statue is to be erected in Basingstoke to Jane Austen. Cllr. Falconer questioned its value at the Performance Panel and was informed that she was born and raised in Steventon, just a few miles from Basingstoke. Cllr. York asked what was the plan for Recycling Centre passes after December 2017. Cllr. Falconer said that he was already working on this issue with Cllr. Thacker. Action: The Chairman to write to Cllr. Thacker and Cllr. Humby. 158/16 Co-option of new parish councillor. Following the resignation of Cllr. Graham Falconer notification of a Casual Vacancy was made to BDBC elections. A Notice of Vacancy (s.87(2) LGA) was posted on the three Parish noticeboards on 12 January 2017. The Notice was posted for 14 working days. After 14 working days, there was no request from the Public for an election. BDBC were informed that the Council intended to co-opt when there was a suitable candidate. Subsequently parishioner Camilla Nicholls emailed the Chairman to express interest in becoming a Parish Councillor. The Clerk sent information to Mrs. Nicholls pursuant to s.79 of the 1972 LGA Act to inform her of the criteria of eligibility. Mrs. Nicholls supplied the Council with self- certification of eligibility to stand. Cllr. Norton proposed Camilla Nicholls for the position of Parish Councillor, the motion was seconded by Cllr. Stoker and the Council unanimously supported the appointment of Mrs. Nicholls. Resolution: Camilla Nicholls co-opted as a councillor. Acceptance of Code of Conduct Camilla (“Millie”) Nicholls agreed to adopt the Code of Conduct for councillors and signed the acceptance of office book. 159/16 Report on Environment. Southern Water Tubbs Lane Scheme. The Clerk explained that unfortunately Southern Water were not able to attend but they had sent an update. “Southern Water will start work to replace 25m of water main in Mount Road (the section between Tubbs Lane and Pantings Lane) on 13 March 2017. They hope to finish the project completely by May or June this year and will carry on working closely with the community to make sure any disruption is kept to a minimum”. Cllr. Smith said that she had spoken with representatives in Pantings Lane. Cllrs York and Smith raised many questions about the end of the project plan. Cllr. Norton said that work had finished in Pantings Lane but the road appeared to be a dumping area for the spoils of Mount Road. Action: The Clerk to invite Southern Water to the next parish council meeting. Litter. BDBC are to inspect the A343 and clear when they think that it is required. The Chairman informed that Council that the Litter Warden had been threatened by a motorist. 2 The incident was reported to PCSO D. Hope who had advised panic alarms and a body camera which can record incidents and act as a deterrent. The litter warden has requested a flashing orange light for the top of his van. Action: The Clerk to purchase a flashing light and to circulate the costs of two body cams with supporting explanations. Agenda item for April meeting. Lengthsman. Cllr. Jenkins said that he had not received any notification about the scheme. Some councils had not used their allocation but, unlike last year, this had not been re- distributed. Action: The Chairman to contact Cllr. Thacker for confirmation that the scheme was continuing. 160/16 Westridge Studio update Westridge Studio Reimbursement of Costs – the Clerk confirmed that the accounts have been fully reimbursed and the legacy fund from Miss D. R. Gribble has been transferred to the Westridge Trust following a visit to the bank on 23 February by Cllr. Stoker (Vice Chairman) and Cllr. Jenkins accompanied by the Parish Clerk. The accounts now show that the reimbursements to the Parish Council have been completed. Cllr. York stated that the planning application has been submitted to BDBC and it could take 12 weeks to approve as it is judged as a business application as opposed to a residential application. He thanked Cllr. T. Thacker for the grant which was used to cut the hedge. Cllr. S. Izett has already written to thank Cllr. Thacker. The printing press is to be removed this week. A kitchen has been donated and crockery has been given by the village hall. Builders’ ball park estimates are being collated. Cllr. Langan asked if there would be residual funds after the building work. Cllr. York said that the plan was to leave fuds to sustain the project for at least five years. It is essential to refurbish the building but perhaps grant funding could be used to complete external works. Cllr. York explained that the delegated Launch Committee was working hard on grant applications. Cllr. Langan asked if he could see a copy of the business plan which was produced in February 2017. Cllr. York to arrange. 161/16 Social Media Policy Before the meeting the Clerk had circulated PowerPoint slides from the recent HALC training. The councillors discussed Twitter and Facebook. The consensus was that Twitter was not appropriate. There were mixed views about Facebook. The advantage is that news is immediate. The Clerk explained that parishioners can sign up to email alerts on the parish council website www.highclerepc.uk and they will receive the News as soon as it is posted. Cllr. Smith said that perhaps a Highclere Facebook page should be a community page which the parish council website could link to. Action: Cllr. Smith to speak to Patrick Hedgeland of the Highclere Society. 162/16 Data Protection and Cyber Security The Parish Clerk had previously circulated PowerPoint slides from the recent HALC training. The law will be changing and the parish data protection policy will need to be amended. It will no longer be possible to charge for information requests. A new EU directive is being released in 2018 and the UK will opt-in as data is used across borders in the commercial environment. The key points relate to how data is sent and received e.g.