DC Mrs Osborne Patterson (MVDC) Was Present

At the meeting of the Leigh Parish Council held on Thursday 7th July 2011 in the North Downs Primary School – Leigh, there were present

Mrs Parker in the Chair, Mrs Hall, Mrs Gilbert, Mrs Patterson, Mr Dobell, Mr Wilkinson and the Clerk.

Apologies were received from Cllr Mrs Clack (SCC), Cllr Murdoch, PC Dom Loraine andMr Hall

DC Mrs Osborne Patterson (MVDC) was present

The minutes of the meeting held on 07.07.2011 were approved and signed after one alteration (prop: Mrs Hall. Seconded: Mr Wilkinson)

Mrs Hall had informed the meeting that she would be resigning from the Council at the end of the year as she and her husband were moving to Wales.

PC Loraine had sent a written report of recent crimes in Leigh – 5 reported. 1 theft of a car and also a child’s scooter stolen, one communications offence (threat made on Facebook), and 2 criminal damage, glass pane broken and lock damaged (possible attempted theft)

Matters Arising

Allotments Mrs Patterson had received no information from Mr Stuart. Mrs Parker believes she has a plan of the allotment which she will pass onto Mrs Patterson.

Rent due from 1st September – Clerk to send invoices and check if new lease documents have to be sent to be signed

Mrs Patterson queried how often the allotment hedge is cut. This is done annually in the winter months along with all the other parish hedges.

The site lines on the Newdigate Road/ Bunce Common Road junction are checked and cleared if necessary when the recreation ground hedge is cut in the summer. They were cut back this year.

Telephone Kiosk.

Application (in quadruple) submitted to MVDC. Only a few screws need to be added to fix the display boards. Discussions have taken place regarding the name display. Proposal to remove “Telephone” from the top of the kiosk and replace it with “History Box” is being considered.

History group will research the availability of local donations and grants to meet the running costs.

Planning permission had been granted with the usual conditions (no deviation, time frame) Funding to be explored and Mrs Clack approached but definite plans required before a grant application is submitted.

Ground immediately outside the kiosk is uneven and requires attention. One quote for laying York flag stones received (£1500.00) which seems excessive. Mrs Hall to approach MVDC to ask if they have any redundant stones and Mr Dobell to give contact details of other contractors to Mrs Hall (minimum of 3 required). It was agreed that ordinary concrete slabs are quite adequate.

Mrs Hall proposed that she look into the cost of an A board or one similar to the notice placed in the playground to place beside the kiosk to advertise the museum.

St Bartholomew’s Church is open during the Heritage Week-end (9,10,11th September)and it is proposed that some extra work be done to the temporary display in the kiosk before this.

The door is very stiff and difficult to open wide – this is to be investigated. Mrs Hall and the History Group to action all these points

Dean Oak Lane Field Right of access by Thames Water to the pumping station at the rear of the site.

All relevant documents including copies of the Shellwood Inclosure Act have been forwarded to our Solicitor (Roger Taylor)

Prospective tenant queried how negotiations were proceeding and has reduced the amount of rent that she is willing to pay.

The Clerk was instructed to contact the other person who had expressed an interest in renting the land.

Clerk had contacted our Solicitor and was informed that they had been waiting for a set of plans. These had now been received and negotiations were proceeding.

The Chairman had been approached by a new party regarding renting the field and a letter expressing interest had been sent to the Clerk. Contact details were passed to Mrs Hall to make contact. Initially the tenant would be willing to carry out remedial work to the land and shelter. This offer to be explored and might be acceptable in lieu of the first years rent. The Council would have to draw up a lease document, have photographic evidence of any work carried out (before and after photographs) – Clerk to contact our Solicitor to enquire if he has a draft agreement on file on which we could base a lease. Clerk to confirm rent offered by other interested parties. New prospective tenant is a local farm manager and has access to the equipment to carry out remedial work which is necessary as the field has been vacant for two year.

Cricket Club Lease. This is up for renewal in May 2012. Mr Stuart had agreed to continue to liaise between the PC and the Club but this had not taken place. A new Officer needs to be appointed but in the mean time Clerk to ask for dates of committee meetings, copies of the minutes and the accounts. All Councillors to review the current lease documents which had taken many months of negotiations to agree on. Any changes proposed must result from a real concern and should be kept to a minimum unlessconsideredreally necessary.

The Council have been lax in enforcing some points of the current lease (estimates for work, inspections, risk assessment, annual user group meeting each February) and this should be rectified. Cost of insurance and hedgecutting to be identified. Mr Wilkinson to check rental cost of similar pitches. Clerk to contact Mr Slade re these matters and arrange a meeting in February 2012.

Condition of the Outfield Football was played on the recreation ground during the 2010/2011 season and the deposit from the football club was retained to cover the costs of the remedial work. Originally the football club had stated that the work would be carried out by their members who had the knowledge required but this work never took place and the Cricket Club had to employ Burleys to carry out the repairs.

Mr Dobell inspected the pitch after this and reported that ideally further work was required.

The football club had been in contact with the Cricket Club asking for the surplus of the deposit to be returned.

In response Mr Slade (CC Secretary) had informed the FC (with a copy to the PC)that the repairs were still ongoing and the balance of the deposit will not be returned until all necessary works have been completed. Mr Dobell had again inspected the area and agreed that inhis opinion the damage was fairly superficial but further work was required. The whole area needed to be re-seeded and top dressed. (Report to follow)

No action from the Council at this time.

Playground.

Safety. Several items of concern highlighted in the Digley Report dated April were being rectified by Halcyon as a matter of urgency.

Mrs Hall and Mrs Gilbert had been in contact with Mr Lock from Halcyon. Our Insurers were also being to be kept fully informed regarding the progress of the repairs.

Mr Tony Wynne from MVDC and Engineer (Dean) from Digleys met with Mrs Hall, Mr Brockwell and Mr Dobell from Leigh at the Playground on 30th July to review the equipment.

They were entirely happy with the state of the ground and Dean stressed that there was no cause for concern. It was acknowledged thatthere is nothing we can do about the ground until the autumn.

Dean and Tony agreed that the zip wire was entirely safe and informed us that “bespoke items” such as those Halcyon have built do not need to comply with EU regulations. They use British Standards. Parts of the zip wire will need to be repaired but it is not urgent. They agree that we have met the medium risk concerns and will update the report accordingly. They would like the balance bars removed or the log shifted and Dean pointed out that rolling the large log away from the shelter would reduce the likelihood of anyone climbing onto the rafters but did not suggest that either of these options were urgent.

The weekly inspections that the PC undertake are best practice and are a requirement of the Insurers and so a rota will be required throughout the year. Mrs Hall has asked for a monthly inspection from Digleys starting next month at a cost of between £30 but we are only committed for August and September if it is felt that this is too expensive. Officer from MVDC can take on the running repairs – the only cost would be his time and Digley would let MVDC know what items required attention. It was agreed that that monthly inspections are not required during the winter but should take place from March – September. David Lock (Halcyon) might need to be contacted for the more major works and an estimate would be required and we could consider whether we ask him to do an annual check including treating the wood.

Mrs Halls proposals were accepted. Digleys to inspect the playground in August and September

Log to be moved so that it cannot be used to climb onto the shelter or be in the way of the balance beam. Mrs Hall and Mr Dobell to meet on site to agree a new location

Monthly inspections by Digleys to re-commence in the spring – March to September

Halcyon (David Lock) be asked to inspect once a year in the off season and to treat the wood

Repairs be made to the zip wire over the winter (traveller and seat)

Mrs Hall to check with Mr Lock that the wood treatment can be done during the winter months. An estimate is required for the replacement of spars and the work on the travellers and seats.

Mark to obtain estimates for the ground works for drainage. Mrs Parker to ascertain if any lottery funding is available for the ground work.

Working party willing to meet to add topsoil to the mound and re-turf. Mr Dobell to obtain prices.

Insurance

A list of all the remedial work carried out by Halcyon has now been receivedand the Clerk is to send a copy to our Insurers and ask for confirmation that we are fully covered.

The Council have received confirmation that the insurance is in place. Clerk to send a copy of the Digleys report as soon as it is received.

Grass Council have been informed that Burley have been unable to cut the playground grass as it is constant use and so giving rise to Health & Safety issues. We understand that the Cricket Club have been trimming the grass when the area is empty

Clerk to clarify the situation with Burley before any further payments are made. (see finance)

Mrs Gilbert asked if anybody had examined the trees within the playground and asked if they were safe.

Mr Dobell reported that he had inspected them very recently and considered them sound.

Highways – Speed watch.

Speed watch is reliant on the helpers and without the support of the Parishioners there will only be the limited Police presence to deter speeding.

Some believe that the long 30mph speed limit down the length of BCR is counter productive and that the limit should be changed back to 40 mph until the “welcome to Leigh” sign by the gate to the recreation ground. This would mean that the 30 mph limit would be through the main part of the village as in other parishes. Work is still required to the VAS signs

Clerk to invite PC Tom Arthur (Casualty Reduction Officer) to the next meeting in October and also make enquiries about how the Council should go about investigating the possibility of the change to the speed limit along BCR.

Meetings: SAPTCAGM & Conference Tuesday 27th September – East Horsley – registration 9.15 am

Eight Parishes Forum 10th November – Headley

Autumn Clear-up scheduled for Saturday 22nd October – 10am at The Plough.

Mrs Parker to approach Sarah, Mrs Hall to contact Mr Worsfold and the Clerk to organise pickers, jackets and sacks from MVDC

North Downs School. Mrs Evans be invited to the November meeting of the Council

Correspondence

The Webmaster passed on a request from Gatwick Airport for a volunteer from the parish to have a monitoring station on their land. This would have to be accessed once a week so that information could be retrieved.

Mrs Patterson kindly volunteered to have the equipment on her land and it was placed in situe today – Thursday 1st

All other items noted or discussed under other headings.

PlanningList circulated. 2 new applications listed and four decisions.

The Vicarage – fell an oak tree – permitted by MVDC

North Lodge SHR – single storey extension – approved by MVDC

Bunce House, BCR – change of use of part of the garage to ancillary accommodation – Approved by MVDC

Leigh PC - Telephone Kiosk – internal alterations – Approved by MVDC

Finance

BDO had returned the audit papers with a query on our assets. Mr Wilkinson had corrected the figures and returned the documents.

The error had occurred due to the accumulated expenditure of PLAY within our accounts.

Annual Review - Risk Assessment – Mr Wilkinson has amended the document as necessary and it will be circulated for approval.

Effectiveness of Internal audit. Mr Wilkinson to contact Mrs Braidwood to confirm that our processes are correct

Payment of the invoice from Halcyon for the inspection of the Playground had been held back until a list of the work carried out is received. This has now arrived and the invoice has been passed for payment.

Payment of theinvoices from Burley for grass cutting was held back until clarification is received regarding the cuts from the playground

Invoices for three months are outstanding but it was agreed that 2 invoices would be paid until the situation is clarifies.

Cheques to be signed

` Halcyon April inspection210.00

Burley - grass cutting - 2 months 2 x 246.30

Fuller – Hedges 220.00

Questions

Mr Hall reported that the plans for the Diamond Jubilee Celebration for 2012 are well advanced.

Mrs Parker reportedthatthe granite setsopposite the church are falling into the ditch again. Clerk to inform Highways

Mrs Hall understands that Simone Bartley might still be interested in being a Councillor. Mrs Parker to contact her.

Caravan parked at Oakleigh Garden Farm aka Hook Copse Farm. Clerk to ask if permission is required

Register of Councillors Interests – Clerk to send copy to Mrs Hall

The next meeting of the Council is on Wednesday 5th October in the School Hall.

There being no further business the meeting was closed.

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