CLEE ST. MARGARET PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES of the MEETING held on MONDAY 29th FEBRUARY 2016 at the VILLAGE HALL at 7.30 pm Present: Councillors Mike Hardingham, David Palmer, Vicky Matthews, John Heighway, Bob Day, Tamsin Osler Clerk: Joan Palmer IN ATTENDANCE: Councillor Cecilia Motley 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Councillor Nesta Heighway 2. APPROVAL of the MINUTES of the PARISH COUNCIL MEETING held on MONDAY 18th JANUARY 2016 and MATTERS ARISING The minutes were unanimously agreed. Councillor Hardingham had spoken to a resident of Marshgate (not the person who was suspected of leaving the rubbish in the carpark) about the complaints the Council had received about the rubbish left in the carpark. It had been noted that the rubbish had not been removed. 3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Having reviewed the agenda Councillors were of the opinion that there were no anticipated conflicts of interest. 4. LOCAL JOINT COMMITTEE i) Suggestions for topics to be raised at future LJC meetings There was to be a LJC meeting in a week’s time. Councillors were asked for topics that could be discussed at the meeting. Councillor Hardingham told Councillors that a number of influential county councillors, as well as the Chairs of the local parish councils, attended the LJC meetings. It was suggested that fast Broadband (or the lack of it) should be discussed. Another topic could be the training of first responders for the area. Councillors understood that Clee St. Margaret was in the ‘catchment’ area for Clun and that having a locally based first responder would be of more benefit. ACTION: Clerk to find out where the nearest first responders were based. 5. CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS. Councillor Motley attended the meeting part time to report on the situation in the County Council with particular reference to financial decisions. The leader of the council had recently been replaced which had not helped the continuity of discussion. In common with other councils Shropshire had frozen the Council Tax for the past five years and had therefore been unable to build up the reserves which would help at this time. Financial arrangements and provision of services had been sorted out for 2016 but the severe problem of financial cuts would re emerge in 2017. The council had held several meetings under the heading ‘The Big Conversation’ to try and establish the choices the public would support on making cuts. Overall, the meetings had not been of great value to rural communities as the bias of discussion had been towards the urban areas. The main problem for Shropshire was that it was a relatively large county with few inhabitants and few rural businesses to provide rate income. The large towns were reasonably well off because of the concentration of business income. The rural communities were at the other end of the scale with little income and an increasing demand on services. 167. Councillor Motley was reasonably confident that things could be sorted out and intended to call a meeting of Parish Council Chairs to discuss the way forward. 1. The Council had been given the option, it being classified as a small council, to opt out of the county’s external auditors’ arrangements. Councillors decided that they would rather stay with the county council’s external auditing scheme. 2. The clerk had been informed by SALC that there was funding for a laptop and scanner for use by small parish councils. This would be dependent on the council giving its permission for funding application. After discussion Councillors decided that a lap top and scanner were not needed by the council as the clerk and any subsequent clerk would probably have their own machines. ACTION: Clerk to inform SALC that a lap top and scanner were not required. 3. An opportunity had arisen for the council to set up its own web site. It was decided that the Community web site, on which the council published all materials necessary for public scrutiny, was perfectly adequate for Clee St. Margaret. 4. Tina Ranson, the Chair of the Brown Clee Medical Practice Patient Group had asked if she could attend a council meeting to explain how the group worked. 5. There was to be a ‘Clean for the Queen’ weekend 4 -6th March when volunteers were asked to clean up their neighbourhoods in honour of the Queen’s forthcoming 90th birthday celebrations. 6. The fee for an election was to stay at £100 if the election was uncontested. 7. On Wednesday 15th June at the Shirehall, Shrewsbury, from 6.30pm, there was to be the Annual Town and Parish Emergency Planning Briefing. 8. On Thursday 16th April there was to be a meeting of the Southern Area Committee of SALC at Craven Arms and a representative of Clee St. Margaret Parish Council had been invited. Planning Officers from Shropshire Council would be attending the meeting to give an update. 9. A guide, entitled ‘Shropshire’s Great Outdoors’ for landowners and farmers had been sent for information. 6. BROADBAND i) Proposal to request a quotation from ‘Connecting Shropshire’ to extend the planned Phase 2 Clee St. Margaret enhancement to include the remaining one third of the parish. Councillor Hardingham tabled a summary document setting out the broadband position for Clee St. Margaret. The document is attached (Appendix 1) but a brief summary is as follows:- Clee St. Margaret would benefit from monies in phase 2 which would result in extension of the fibre to a new cabinet nearer the centre of the village. This would take place in 2018 and would result in two thirds of the community having decent broadband speeds. The remaining one third (which includes Cockshutford and Cold Weston) had no prospect of an improved service without additional funding. Councillor Hardingham had established that it was likely that community funding could be added to the available resources and it was proposed and agreed that we should seek a quotation from BT to establish the costs involved. 168. As well as providing funding it was possible that costs could be decreased by providing a route across the common or, indeed, digging the trench ourselves, as it was about one tenth of the cost of routing along the roads. 7. FINANCE i) The Current Financial Position. Councillor Palmer explained that there was approximately £900 in the current account and £21,000 in the reserve account to the end of the financial year. The monies for the mast on the hill were due shortly but could not be considered as a reserve as they formed part of the council’s budget for the next year. Copies of the budget for 2015/16 were tabled, adjusted for known expenditure and income up to the end of March and showing the actual income and expenditure during this financial year. 2015/16 had resulted in expenditure under budget and a slightly greater income. A proposed budget for 2016/17 was tabled for councillors to consider. Because of the likelihood of some solicitors’ fees in connection with hill access and the cost of the provision of the Cold Weston defibrillator, it was likely that expenditure would exceed income in the next financial year. The Hargreaves Lansdown investment was recovering in capital value as the stock market was improving and it was likely that in a full financial year, the income would be £2,200 after management charges. The clerk’s final salary for the financial year 2015/16 was paid.(£318.48) The Commoners’ Association was paid £238.31 for loss of grazing. 8. THE COMMON i) The well above Burnt House – update Councillors Palmer and Heighway and Ms. Bolton had met on site to discuss what work was to be done. The Council would provide the materials and the work would be done by volunteers from the Commoners’ Association in the summer when the ground would be drier. ii) Hill Management Forum This was due to meet in April but at the moment had no chairman. iii) Access rights and permissions – update This was ongoing. Further investigations about names and addresses had to be made before the solicitors could proceed. iv) Permission sought to use the stone road on Monday May 2nd 2016 A number of walkers would be crossing the common on Monday 2nd May and the organisers wanted permission to take a 4x4 to the top of the hill where they could monitor the walkers’ progress. Councillors granted permission for one vehicle to have access to the summit. ACTION: Clerk to inform the organiser of the council’s decision. v) Bracken control management This had been discussed at the Commoners’ AGM but would remain under the Hill Mangagement Forum as before. vi) Fencing against the Common Councillor Hardingham tabled information about the accepted position of landowners whose land abuts the common. According to tradition it was the duty of the landowner to fence against the common so that animals grazing the common could not escape. It was agreed that the clerk would write to all parishioners whose land abutted the common to explain this rule. ACTION: Clerk to write to all parishioners, whose land abuts the common, to explain the rule about their responsibility to fence against the common. 169. 9. THE VILLAGE i) Defibrillator – update The defibrillator for Cockshutford should be delivered soon. Councillor Palmer and Dave Boxold had already prepared the electrics for the phone box. Once the defibrillator for Cockshutford had been installed the council would proceed with the purchase of one for Cold Weston. It was suggested that a representative of the First Responders’ Organisation be asked to come to speak to parishioners at the Annual Parish Meeting in May.