MINUTES of THE COUNCIL MEETING
HELD IN THE HOOKWOOD MEMEORIAL HALL
MONDAY,19th OCTOBER, 2015
PRESENT
Mr Martin Needham (in the chair), Ms Carolyn Evans,Mr Nick Hague, Mr Walter Hill,
Mr James O’Neill, Mr Richard Parker, Ms Lisa Scott, Mrs Penny Shoubridge.
1APOLOGIES
Mrs Lisa James
2DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None
3COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT
Police reported 5 incidents in each of Charlwood and Hookwood all of the normal
categories.
4MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON THE 21st SEPTEMBER, 2015
Mr Martin Needham proposed and MsLisa Scott & Mr Nick Hague seconded that the Minutes of the meeting held on 21st September2015 be approved. The Council present agreed and the Chairman signed the Minutes as a true record.
5CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS
None
6PUBLIC QUESTIONS
Mrs Sally Nillson introduced herself from the public. She had been involved in assisting Asylum Seekers currently staying in the Russ Hill Hotel. She was liaising with the Red
Cross in distributing essential toiletries and clothing where needed. She commented that,
contrary to the information published by the Home Office, there were females and children in the groups and not just young single men.
Mrs Hilary Sewill asked if the Parish Council were doing anything to assist the Asylum Seekers. Mr Martin Needham responded that the information from the Home Office indicated they were predominately young men in transit, usually for 1 or 2 nights. This made it difficult to provide any practical support. He added that the Clerk was in contact with the Home Office and monitoring the information received. The Clerk advised that Mole Valley, who were responsible for family welfare, were being advised by the Home Office of any needs.
Mr Nick Hague suggested the parish council once again contacted Sir Paul Beresford MP
to ensure the Home Office is fully aware of the unsuitability of the Russ Hill for use as
Asylum Seeker accommodation principally due to its isolation.
Mrs Hilary Sewill asked if the Parish Council had yet appointed a footpath officer. Mrs Penny Shoubridge advised it would be included on the next Services & Amenities agenda.
Mrs Hilary Sewill further asked if councillors had a footpath map of the parish.
7REPORT OF THE PLANNING AND HIGHWAYS SUB COMMITTEE
7.1 Planning (Appendix 7.1)
The Clerk informed the meeting that the planning officer had advised that applicationMO/2015/1494/PLA, Rosemary Cottage, would be refused if was not previously withdrawn.
Mr Nick Hague commented on application MO/2015/1169/PLA 66, The Street that it was not clear why the assessment would be the loss of 2 spaces in the bay and suggested the council defer response until this has been clarified.
Mr Nick Hague proposed, MrsLisa Scottseconded, that the remaining planning comments recommended by the Planning Committee for Octoberbe accepted and submitted and the council present agreed.
7.1.1 Wellpools Farm & Hales Bridge Land Banking Development
The Clerk confirmed that the Article 4 direction had now been issued by Mole Valley District Council.
7.2 Highways Matters
The Clerk advised that work on Flanchford Bridge would not be commencing until the New Year as a result of emergency water pipe works and re-surfacing on Pebble Hill.
The Clerk also advised that there was an ongoing ‘mini sink hole’site in Glovers Road which was of concern to residents. It had been surrounded by barriers at the beginning of June and no repair work had been carried. Surrey Highways Officers were being frustrated by the limited powers available to them to enable prompt action from the utilities liable for the work. They were continuing to press for prompt action. A similar situation was developing on the pavement in Norwood Hill Road where a large manhole cover had collapsed. Surrey Highways had secured the site and were attempting to obtain identification of the utility owning the site. It might be BT or one of the cable companies.
Mr James O’Neil commented on the large tree trunks across the entrance to the footpath on Horse Hills by the oil rig site. The Clerk advised the site and footpath fell under Reigate & Banstead.
8REPORT OF THE SERVICES AND AMENITIES COMMITTEE
Mrs Penny Shoubridge presented the Services and Amenities report:
and informed the meeting of the progress status on current activities.
8.5 Verge & Footpath survey
Mrs Penny Shoubridge advised that she and the Clerk had carried out a ‘drive round’
of the rural roads to evaluate the vegetation cuts. A number of areas had not been done and it was noticeable that traffic and other signs were obscured by vegetation growth.
The policy of 1m wide cuts instead of ‘back to the hedge’ did in some cases make the
verge look even untidier. Various bits of ‘street furniture’ were observed buried in hedges. Ditches and hedges were left uncut although it was noted this was not a Surrey CC responsibility.
Mrs Hilary Sewill commented that the 1m strip cut may be policy partly for environmental reasons to maintain wild flower growth and insect protection.
The drive round had highlighted the absence of a proper footpath between Charlwood and Hookwood and from Russ Hill Cottages to the Charlwood village centre.
Mr Walter Hill offered to undertake a review of footpaths and investigate ways to address the lack of them.
8.6 Sports & Community Centre Project
Mr Martin Needham presented the following statement on the project.
Funding
I am pleased to report that SCC has approved a further £2500 towards the project from the members Allocation Fund. We must express our gratitude to our Surrey County Councillor, Mrs Helyn Clack for her continued support to the project.
Funding to DatePartnership Funding from external sources / £391,190
Community Funding / £25,036
Bank Interest (Pavilion Account) to Sept 2015 / £1,631
CPC Agreed Funding / £150,000
Sub Total / £567,857
2015 fete income (awaited) / £4,000
Total / £571,857
Reserves
Reserves from Cash Book (End Sept 2015) / £283,993Funding already received for Pavilion / £41,166
Funding Allocated from Reserves to Pavilion / £150,000
Remaining Reserves / £92,827
Current VAT reclaim / £13,412
Project Costs
Riverside Contract Price (including contingency of £13,850) / £617,490Consultants Fees yet to be charged / £5,000
Total / £622,490
Fund Raising to Date / £571,857
Shortfall / £50,533
Assuming that the total value of the contract for the build costs is £617,490, the reserves would be reduced to £42,298. However a number of savings have already been provisionally identified totalling £22k but have yet to be agreed. These savings include
1) Temporary entrance works - £600
2) Facing bricks – £2,400
3) Replacement of water fountain – £500.00
4) Internal doors – non-proprietary make but equal in all respects to the specification.- £6,650
5) Alternative specification for Netpave 50, together with substrate – but capable of taking the axle load from a fire tender (An alternative was passed to VKHP for their assessment) - £2,500
9)Indicative savings which could be made to the Mechanical and Electrical installations following a review with the Consultants. - £7,500
10) Other possible specification changes considered which could result in savings without changing the design concept. - £2,000
Further saving may be identified from items such as special deals that the parish council have obtained for bricks and skips reducing further the value of the tender.
As part of these discussions, the M&E (mechanical and electrical) costs, which represent a significant increase from the original estimate, will be investigated to see if there are any opportunities for cost saving. Riverside Construction has stated that they will explore the options in greater depth once they are under contract. The saving will be confirmed within 4 weeks after contract award.
Following the our letter of intent, a pre-contract meeting was held with Riverside Construction, VKHP engineers and the Parish Council on 15 October 2015. Most of the planning/building regs conditions were now complete with the exception of BREAM which was expected to be removed. The proposed start date for the project was 26 Oct 2015 and expected to run for 30 weeks, finishing at the end of May 2016 (subject to weather).
Detailed discussion included concerns of the impact of VAT reclaim on cash flow, impact on future parish council expenditure, the absence of a car park, further fund raising.
Mr Martin Needham explained the VAT process was clear and VAT was reclaimable.
The provision of a car park had already been discussed with planning and the message was that in the conservation area permission would not be granted. The fitting out of the building was not included in the costings nor fundraising and would be the subject of a further fundraising exercise. He further commented that grant funders did not normally grant funds retrospectively.
Mr Martin Needham proposed that the Parish Council places a contract with Riverside Construction to build the new Sports and Community Centre based on their quotation of £617,490 dated September 2015 and the tender documents previously supplied by GWP Architects and P J Brown and Partners. The contract also requires Riverside Construction to work with the Parish Council (or their representatives) to identify and agree cost savings to the contract with the Parish Council (or their representatives) within 4 weeks of contract award and throughout the contract period.This contract is subject to the approval of our partnership funders including Sports England, Football Foundation and Veolia Environmental Trust.
Mrs Penny Shoubridge seconded the proposal, the council present voted five in favour, two against and one abstaining and the proposal was therefore passed.
9REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
9.1 Payments Received & Cleared payments
Barclays Deposit Account 30th Sep 2015 £ 93,129.55
Barclays Pavilion Account 30th Sep 2015 £136,846.04
Barclays Bank Current Account
Receipts :
Balance at 30th Sep, 2015 £54,017.71
Uncleared: £ 2,759.52
Forecast Balance 19th October, 2015£51,258.19
9.2Accounts for Payment & Authorised Transfers
The following payments were proposed by Mr Martin Needham, seconded by
Mrs Penny Shoubridge with a maximum limit imposed on the ‘tba’ references of £1500.00 per item and agreed in accordance with Appendix A of Standing Orders.
Payee / Purpose / VATPayments made in Sep/Oct 2015
T Beattie / Replacement Cheque / 270.00 / 0.00 / 270.00
BBS Design / Balance on M&E design Inv 153 / 550.00 / 110.00 / 660.00
KPN / Wasp nest removal / 45.00 / 0.00 / 45.00
TGMS / Inv 3687 Pitchworks / 800.00 / 160.00 / 960.00
Sub Total / 1665.00 / 270.00 / 1935.00
Current Payments
Peter Barclay / Salary September 2015 / Tba
HMRC / Oct Payroll / Tba
BT / Tel & Broadband 01293 86384 / 170.57 / 34.11 / 204.68
John Billings / Inv 3775 Repairs to Cage / 237.00 / 47.40 / 284.40
South Coast Containers / Container Hire to 09/11/2015 / 40.00 / 8.00 / 48.00
SSALC / Inv 8789, 8921, 8942,8992 Training Seminars / 575.00 / 115.00 / 690.00
Providence Chapel Trust / Grant towards grounds maintenance / 500.00 / 0.00 / 500.00
Charlwood Copiers / Stationary to 7 Sep 2015 / 41.88 / 8.38 / 50.26
Sutton & East Surrey Water / Bi-annual account to 18 Sep 2015 / 92.53 / 0.00 / 92.53
Playsafe / Withey renewals & repairs Inv 5312 / 4983.70 / 996.74 / 5980.44
Mole Valley DC / Supplemental Planning Application Pavilion / 48.00 / 0.00 / 48.00
Totals / 6688.68 / 1209.63 / 7898.31
9.3 Annual Return - The Clerk informed the meeting the external audit had been completed and passed with comments on late submission and minor items.
9.4Letting fees – Mr Martin Needham requested that the clerk provide an updatedlist of the outstanding letting fees for the Pavilion/Recreation Ground for discussion at the next meeting.
9.5VAT recovery – Mr Martin Needham pointed out that the process of VAT recovery during the building project could impact on the council’s cash flow. The current recovery was being reviewed and may be re-submitted.
10GATWICK MATTERS
Ms Carolyn Evans & Mr Nick Hague reported on Gatwick matters.
Update on change to Departure Route 4 – 26LAM
The CAA had still not published their review on this route and until they did the proposed rectification and its associated consultation could not proceed. More news was expected at the GATCOM meeting on the 22nd October.
Arrivals Review & Review into GAL’s Complaints Policy
The promised review of flight arrival routings was now underway and the team appointed to carry out the review were tro meet GATCOM members later in the week.
GAL Surface Transport Forum
Ms Carolyn Evans and Mr Nick Hague had attended the forum on behalf of the Parish Council. Ms Carolyn Evans had raised the lack of any public bus services from Charlwood to Gatwick and was promised this would be looked into
Mrs Hilary Sewill informed the meeting that there had been statements to the effect that
civil servants had advised cabinet members not to make any comment on the runway
decision in case there is a judicial review of the government’s final decision. She added that GAL had indicated they would file a judicial review if the decision was not for a runway at Gatwick. She advised that current information suggested the government would take the final decision before Christmas but even that was doubtful.
Mrs Sewill asked if the Parish Council received the details of the scheduled closure of the main runway and use of the northern runway. The Clerk advised that he no longer received the information directly despite regular requests. Ms Carolyn Evans offered to make a formal request at GATCOM.
11REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES
SALC Planning Seminar
Mr Martin Needham advised that a number of council members had attended the SALC Planning course in Dorking and found it extremely useful. He further commented that the recent Chairman’s Course was also very useful.
Mole Valley were holding a briefing on planning on the 25th November at Pippbrook and any councillors interested were asked to inform the Clerk as soon as possible to secure a place.
12 COMMUNITY EVENTS & AFFAIRS
12.1 Bus Services update
Mr Martin Needham would be arranging a meeting in November with the East Surrey Transport Officer to discuss Buses4U and other potential resources.
12.2 Council Business Plan & Neighbourhood Development Plan
Mr Martin Needham was waiting for SALC to revert with a new date for the preliminary meeting.
12.3 Policy for Parish Council engagement in social media.
Mrs Penny Shoubridge offered to investigate solutions and lead a sub-committee to evaluate the subject.
13PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mrs Hilary Sewill suggested that the grants from the John Bristow and Thomas Mason Trust for the pavilion project be displayed separately from the external funders in the listings as they represented a local trust.
14DATES OF FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
DATE / PURPOSE / VENUE / TIME10 November / Planning & Highways / Sewill Close / 19:00
10 November / Service & Amenities / Hillside Cottages / 19:30
16 November / Charlwood Parish Council / Nicholas Room ,
St Nicholas Parish Church / 20:00
25th November / Planning Seminar-Mole Valley / Pippbrook Dorking / 19:00
Meeting ended 9:50pm