GREAT WRATTING PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of a meeting of Great Wratting Parish Council held on Wednesday 17th July 2019 at 7 pm at Little Acorns Fostering, Rook Tree Barn, Withersfield Road, Great Wratting CB9 7HD Councillors present: Diana Curtis (Chairman), Terry Holloway (Vice-Chairman), Neil Curtis, Dawn Fisk, Beverley Griffin, Tim Hayes, Margaret May In attendance: Mary Evans, Suffolk County Councillor (for part of meeting) Two members of the public Richard Bowler (Parish Clerk) Public forum There were no comments or questions from members of the public. 1. ACCEPTANCE OF APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE None. 2. 1. RECEIVE MEMBERS’ DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None. 3. 2. TO RECEIVE CHAIRMAN’S DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE 3. The Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office was received. (This had been deferred from the Parish Council’s Annual Meeting, when the Chairman was not present.) 4. 4. 5. TO APPROVE AND SIGN THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING th 6. The minutes of the Parish Council meeting on 15 May 2019 were approved. 7. 5. 8. MATTERS ARISING o Cllr Fisk said that, as agreed, she had bought a gift for Gavin Acheson to mark his retirement as a Parish Councillor and had sent it to him. o The noticeboards had not been re-varnished yet. o Cllr Fisk had inspected both litter bins and they were in good condition. 9. 10. (7.12 pm County Cllr Mary Evans joined the meeting) 11. 6. PARISH COUNCIL GOVERNANCE 12. (Deferred until later in the meeting) 13. 7. 14. LOCAL AUTHORITY REPORTS 15. a) Suffolk County Council 16. County Cllr Mary Evans’ report included the following points: o She will pass on to the Highways Dept. the Parish Council’s request for ‘Unsuitable for HGVs’ signs to be installed at each end of Withersfield Road. o Verges may be cut less frequently in future, for environmental reasons. o Smaller pot-holes are being mended, in the hope that it will reduce the number of larger pot-holes developing. o Policy on road closures has been reviewed. In future signs will give more information, including the dates and times of planned closures, the location of the closure, the reason for closure, and a contact number. 17. 18. b) West Suffolk Council 19. District Cllr Peter Stevens was not able to attend the meeting. 20. 21. (7.42 pm County Cllr Mary Evans left the meeting) 22. 6. 23. PARISH COUNCIL GOVERNANCE 24. a) Register of Interests 25. Clerk to check which Parish Councillors have not yet submitted their Register of Interests. Clerk 26. 27. b) Objectives o It was agreed that at the September meeting objectives would be set. Great Wratting Parish Council Minutes of meeting held on 17 July 2019 GREAT WRATTING PARISH COUNCIL o Regular agenda items will include agreeing the budget at the November meeting and agreeing the request for the precept at the January meeting. o The Parish Council’s legal obligations, and ideas put forward at the Annual Parish Meeting, will also be addressed. 28. 29. c) Audit 30. In future the Annual Return will be approved at the May meeting. 31. 32. d) Frequency of meetings 33. It was agreed that in future the Parish Council will meet every month, apart from August and DC December. The Chairman will contact the County and District Cllrs about this, pointing out that the Parish Council would not necessarily expect them to attend every meeting. 34. 35. e) Standing Orders 36. Clerk to circulate Standing Orders and also the model Standing Orders produced by the National Clerk Association of Local Councils (NALC). 37. 38. f) Legal basis for Parish Council’s decisions 39. Until the Clerk completes the CiLCA qualification, which will give the Council the ‘General Power of Competence’ (under the Localism Act 2011), the legal basis for each decision taken by the Parish Council is to be noted in the minutes. Clerk 40. 41. g) Actions resulting from meetings 42. An ‘Actions’ list is to circulated with draft minutes. Clerk 43. 44. h) Information issued by Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) 45. Clerk to circulate e-mails and other information from SALC. Clerk 46. 47. i) Haverhill Area Forum 48. Clerk to circulate details of Haverhill Area Forum meetings which Parish Councillors are invited Clerk to attend. 49. 50. j) Village Plan 51. The possibility of a Village Plan being drafted for Great Wratting is to be discussed. 52. 53. k) Risk management 54. A risk management policy is to be drafted. 55. 56. l) Asset register o The asset register is to be updated. o Cllr Fisk mentioned that the village sign, one of the Parish Council’s assets, needed re- thatching. 57. 7. 58. LOCAL AUTHORITY REPORTS 59. (Received earlier in the meeting.) 8. GREAT WRATTING PARISH WEBSITE Cllr Fisk is keeping it up-to-date. 9. VILLAGE LINK It was agreed that the Parish Council should submit a short report each month. DF/Clerk 10. PLANNING APPLICATIONS Clerk to report on any planning applications received. None 11. HIGHWAYS a) VAS Cllr Holloway is to contact the person responsible for the VAS in Great Thurlow and will put it in THo position when it is Great Wratting’s turn to use it. He was thanked. b) b) Parking near Withersfield Road/Thurlow Road junction Cllr Fisk said some drivers park very close to this junction, creating a hazard. The Chairman will DC consult County Cllr Mary Evans about it. Great Wratting Parish Council Minutes of meeting held on 17 July 2019 GREAT WRATTING PARISH COUNCIL 12. LITTER PICK th b) The next litter pick is on Saturday 14 September. Clr Griffin was thanked for organising it. BG c) 13.d) PROVISION OF DEFIBRILLATOR e) Cllr Hayes spoke about the installation of a defibrillator, which he said will need to be connected to a power supply. 14. PROPOSED LINK WITH LITTLE WRATTING Cllr Hayes said there were mixed views about this proposal when it was discussed at the Annual Parish Meeting. Cllr Holloway said more analysis was needed; if, after that, it seemed like a good idea residents should be asked to vote on it. 15. FINANCE a) a) To receive the financial report, including bank balances, from the RFO The RFO presented the financial report as at 30 June 2019, which was noted. b) b) To complete and approve the Annual Governance Statement 2018-19 The Annual Governance Statement 2018-19 was completed and approved. c) c) To complete and approve the Accounting Statements 2018-19 The Accounting Statements 2018-19 were completed and approved. d) d) To receive and approve payments since last meeting and authorise any cheques for signature The following payments were approved: ref. payee details amount i 0232 Suffolk Association of Annual subscription (2019-20) £135.47 Local Councils (SALC) ii 0233 Community Action Suffolk Hosting fee for Parish Council website £60.00 (12.9.18 – 11.9.19) iii 0234 S Parry Repairs to roof of bus shelter £330.00 iv 0235 Cllr Dawn Fisk Refreshments for Annual Parish Meeting £30.78 (22.5.19) v 0236 Cllr Dawn Fisk Gift for retiring Parish Cllr (Gavin Acheson) £50.00 vi 0237 HMRC PAYE £257.49 vii 0238 SALC Councillor briefing, Horringer (10.6.19) £110.40 viii 0239 Richard Bowler Clerk’s salary (May 2019) £178.57 ix 0240 Richard Bowler Clerk’s salary (Jun 2019) £178.57 16. MATTERS TO BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE COUNCIL None 17. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING It was agreed that in future agendas are to be circulated well in advance of meetings. Clerk 18. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 18th September 2019 19. CLOSURE OF MEETING There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.08 pm. Great Wratting Parish Council Minutes of meeting held on 17 July 2019 .