COPLE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of Meeting of the Parish Council Held on Monday 20th January 2020 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm PRESENT: David Hughes Chair Lesley Cole Vice Chair Chainie Worrall Councillor Steve Halton Councillor Navin Sankersingh Councillor Anne Miller Donkin Councillor David Small Councillor Stephen Moon Borough Councillor Anne Papé Clerk APOLOGIES: Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant, Borough Councillor Action PUBLIC QUESTION TIME None 1/20 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE None Anne Papé was welcomed as the new Clerk/RFO. The Chair thanked Councillors Cole and Halton for managing the recruitment process for the new Clerk. 2/20 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING The meeting was asked to acknowledge that the minutes of the meeting held on 18th November 2019 were a correct record. RESOLVED That the minutes of the meeting held on 18th November 2019 were agreed and signed as a correct record. Prop: Councillor Halton , Sec: Councillor Small, All in favour 3/20 DECLARATIO N OF INTERESTS As previously declared and as recorded in the minutes. Note Minutes January 2020 Signed (Chairman) ………………. 4/20 REPORTS (a) Borough Councillors Report See Appendix 1 In addition, Councillor Moon advised that consultations would commence shortly for the extension of the speed limit on the A603. Average speed cameras were to be installed on the A603 in Willington. (b) Police/Crime Stats The Crime stats for 27 Nov - 17 Dec and 18 Dec 2019 - 07 Jan 2020 had been circulated to the Councillors previously. One crime was recorded in Cople. Recorded date – 02/01/20 Committed from - 10/11/19. Theft if not classified elsewhere. Willington Road, Cople (c) Police Priority Setting Meeting Councillor Worrall had been unable to attend the January Police Priority Setting meeting. Councillor Worrall advised that rural crimes information was circulated via e-mail. 5/20 UPDATE ON CURRENT ISSUES (a) Neighbourhood Planning Councillors Miller Donkin, Halton and Cole would meet on the 05th February to discuss the Neighbourhood Plan. It was noted that the Bedford Borough Council Local Plan 2030 had now been approved. Cardington Neighbourhood Plan group would be holding an open event on the 21st January. A suggestion for Cardington and Cople Neighbourhood Plan Committees to undertake some joint working was made. (b) Five Bells PH Bedford Borough Council provided an update on the 25th November 2019 confirming it would be recommending that the nominated property be listed as an asset of community value however it must first be approved by the portfolio holder. Once obtained, confirmation letters would be issued to the PC and the owners and a request made to the Land Registry to update the Five Bells title register to reflect this. Councillor Moon would ascertain who the portfolio holder was. (c) Parish Council Website The website was live and limited access had been given to the dashboard. The Clerk would undertake video training and would then be upgraded to administrator. Clerk Councillors would look at the new site All Minutes January 2020 Signed (Chairman) ………………. (d) Digital Connectivity Councillor Sankersingh reported that there had been no further update. There were still properties in Cople that did not have superfast broadband. Councillor Sankersingh would contact the relevant Council Officer and would copy in Stephen Moon. NS (e) Action Plan The action plan would be reviewed periodically. (f) Bedford Borough Council Budget and Capital Consultation The consultation was closed. (g) CPRE membership and training The Councillors were informed of the benefits of CPRE membership: Councillor Halton already had membership as an individual. Information on the Neighbourhood Planning training from CPRE had been circulated to the Councillors previously. Councillor Miller Donkin would attend the CPRE Neighbourhood Planning training. The Parish Council reconciled to fund the training for Councillors that wished to attend the training. Clerk/All 6/20 PLANNING (a) Planning Applications Considered 19/02808/S73WM Willington Quarry, Amend the approved restoration scheme and to Bedford Road allow retention of the access road after completion of restoration operations to provide continued access to the site No objections 19/02807/S73WM Willington Quarry, Extend the timescale for the completion of infilling Bedford Road and the final restoration and landscaping operations No objections 19/02702/OUT Land rear of 14-20 Outline application with all matters reserved for Chair/Clerk Northill Road residential development of up to 5 dwellings. The Parish Council reconciled to object to the application. The Councillors felt that the impact of the proposed development could not be fully assessed due to the absence of detail in the application. Councillors were concerned about the proposed access, narrowing of Northill Road due to an estimated 20% reduction in width due to the installation of a footway. Objections submitted for previous planning applications for the site remained valid and would be referred to in the response to the current application. Minutes January 2020 Signed (Chairman) ………………. Clerk to send original objections to the Chair. 20/00036/FUL 119 Willington Road Single storey rear extension No objections (b) Update on Decisions from recent Planning Applications BBC Granted 19/002715/AGR Moxhill Farm, Northill Erection of agricultural building. No Road comments made BBC Refused None Withdrawn None Appeal Dismissed None Planning Enforcement Investigation None 7/20 FINANCE (a) Schedule of Receipts and Payments Parish Council received a copy of receipts and payments made. Receipts Detail Total Nil 0.00 Grand Total 0.00 Payments Detail Total Bedford Borough Council Clerk's Wages 501.24 Swarco VAS maintenance contract 665.27 Cloud Next Ltd Hosting & Domain 155.98 Opus energy Street Light Electricity 133.53 Peter James Village maintenance 120.00 Lawn Lord Grass cutting &litter picking A603 225.00 Minutes January 2020 Signed (Chairman) ………………. Website development, file list folders, annual Eyelid Productions 420.00 support ICO Data Protection Fee renewal 40.00 Warners of Bedford Cople Woods maintenance 300.00 Bedford Borough Council Clerk's Wages 501.24 Andy Muskett Ltd Street Light Maintenance 128.70 Opus energy Street Light Electricity 131.94 Cople Village Trust Hall Hire 16.00 Swarco 2 x Batteries 281.33 Warners of Bedford Cople Woods maintenance 300.00 Grand Total 3920.23 RESOLVED That the schedule of receipts and payments made as above, as circulated, be approved. Prop: Coucillor Worrall, Sec: Councillor Cole, All in favour (b) Current Bank Balances/Bank Reconciliation Bank Reconciliation Spreadsheet Balance 33301.44 Bank Balance 31-Dec-2019 5296.41 Unreconciled receipts 0.00 Unreconciled payments 1994.97 Balance 3301.44 Reserves Lloyds Flexible Savings 9927.56 NS & I Investment Account 11700.05 (c) Precept 2020/2021 At the November 2019 meeting, the Council resolved to approve the budget and to increase the precept by 3% to £17,474 for 2020/2021. The Council Tax charge on a band D property would be £55.18; an increase of £1.61. RESOLVED The Council proposed a precept request of £17,474 and completed the request form Clerk accordingly. Prop: Councillor Cole, Sec: Councillor Halton, All in favour (d) Lloyds Bank Account Signatories Minutes January 2020 Signed (Chairman) ………………. Lloyds Bank had advised that signatories could not be amended on a classic account. The advice from Lloyds Bank was to change to a Treasurers Account. RESOLVED The Council proposed to remove Tony Fisher, Mike Vacher and Jeanne Pope as signatories and to add the Clerk and Councillor Halton as signatories. The Council also proposed to convert to a Treasurers Account. Clerk Prop: Councillor Worrall, Sec: Councillors Sankersingh, All in favour The Council proposed to change the contact address to the address for the new Clerk, Anne Papé Clerk Prop: Councillor Cole, Sec: Councillor Halton, All in favour (e) Review of Effectiveness of Internal Audit The Parish Council agreed that the Chair and the Clerk would review the Effectiveness of Internal Audit for presentation at the March Parish Council meeting. Chair/Clerk (f) Risk Assessment The Parish Council agreed that the Chair and the Clerk would review the Risk Assessment for presentation at the March Parish Council meeting. Chair/Clerk (g) LGA 1972 s137 Expenditure The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had confirmed that the Local Government Act 1972 s137 allowance for 2020/2021 would be £8.32. Noted (h) Village Trust – Playing Field Maintenance A request had been received from the Village Trust for a grant towards the maintenance of the Playing Field and Children’s Playground RESOLVED To donate £1,000 towards the Playing Field & Playground maintenance (Section 19 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 Clerk Prop: Councillor Cole, Sec: Councillor Worrall, All in favour (i) Appointment of Internal Auditor The Parish Council was required to appoint an independent and competent person to carry out checks on the system of internal control. The auditor should not be related to the Clerk or any member of the council and should have an understanding of book keeping and also the Parish Council law and procedures. Carol Carter undertook the Internal Audit for 2018/2019 was happy to undertake Cople Parish Council’s Internal Audit for 2019/2020. RESOLVED Minutes January 2020 Signed (Chairman) ………………. Carol Carter to carry out 2019/2020 Internal Audit at a cost of £135. Clerk Prop: Councillor Worrall, Sec: Councillor Cole, All in favour 8/20 AMENITY & HIGHWAYS (a) Highways Items reported to highways detailed in Appendix B. Councillor Worrall reported that the VAS on Northill Road was not working. Clerk Works to the road surface at Grange Road/Willington Road junction were still to be carried out. The give way sign was due to be maintained at the same time. Councillor Moon would request an update from Andrew Prigmore at Bedford Borough Council (b) Village Map Counsellors Cole, Miller Donkin, Small and Halton would meet on the 5th February to LC, AMD, discuss the village map.