Minutes of theAnnual Parish Council Meeting of Hargrave Parish Council
held on Monday 9th May 2016 in Hargrave Village Hall
Members Present:
Cllr J Brotherton in the Chair
Councillors
J GunthorpeH JonesD FarringtonN HowD Thrift
The meeting started at 7.00pm and there were no members of the public present, H Howell from ENDC attended
Apologies - Received D Hughes from NCC
16/01 a)Election of Chair and Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Nominations were received for Cllr J Gunthorpe as Chair for the ensuing year. It was Resolved: That Councillor J Gunthorpe be elected Chairman for the ensuing year. The Acceptance of Office for this position was duly signed.
16/02 DPI's
Councillors signed and completed their change of registration of interest forms for 2016/17
16/03 Appointments of Members to the following:
All councillors continued with the following responsibilities which are:
a) Vice Chairman - Cllr N How
b) Footpaths - Cllr M Clarke
c) Village Maintenance and Highways - Cllr D Thrift
d) Community and Road Safety - Cllr J Gunthorpe
e) Internal Controller - Cllr J Brotherton
f) Village Hall Management Committee - Cllr N How & H Jones
g) Wind farm Trustee - Cllr D Farrington
16/04 Dates of meetings for the forthcoming year were agreed as:
4th July 20165th September 2016
7th November 2016 9th January 2017
6th March 20178th May 2017 – Annual Council Meeting
16/05 Chair's Report for 2015/16
This last financial year has been a difficult one to enable us to get results from either East Northamptonshire Council or County Council, particularly highways.Eventually after a lot of co-responding with highways and Jonny’s discussions with JAG we have achieved our ambition to get a gated entrance to the village on the B645 approaching from Chelveston. We are hoping to follow this up with the same from the Tilbrook direction with part of the funding coming from the Parish Council and grants from our County and District Councillors.
No further progress was made on addressing the dangers of the white bridge or repairs to the surfaces around the village. Funding was always the excuse of the Highways representative.
The Old Nag’s Head was valued again with a full visit by the District Valuer. This was to enable to Village Pub Group to meet and put forward new proposals to the owner. This unfortunately was met with no new enthusiasm to try and solve the unfortunate plight of the Pub.
The issue of an inadequate internet connection in the village was also further explored by a residential group and the company Redraw was contacted to try to establish a connection around the village via radio signals. The group handed the project over to the Parish Council as funding is needed to pay for the mast. The Parish Council Applied to The Windfarm Trust and was successful in its bid.However this has now got its own problems as the preferred site by Redraw is the Village Hall land which on further investigation looks quite unsuitable because of the positions of drains and consideration of the disabled access at the rear of the Hall.
A debate over the trees on the verges at the entrance to Church Road has been ongoing for some years and as promised I spoke to the Tree Preservation Officer at length about any potential problems with roots or visibility at the junction. In her opinion the root system of the trees is more likely to grow backwards towards the field where there is more moisture and nutrients. It is very unlikely that the trees will cause any damage to the road surface for another 150 years and it is good to see trees of this age coming on as the area in general has either very mature or very new oak trees. Tamsin is going to send me a report to confirm her views
I have now completed my 13 year on the Parish Council, 9 of which I have been Chairman. I have decided it is time for me to stand down but be available for the next 3 years still as a Councillor to assist whoever takes my place.
I would like to thank everyone who has been on the Council with me during these years for the support, lively debates, and contributions whether it be mowing the verges, helping with the Village Spring Cleans or the many other tasks that have come our way.
The Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council Commenced at 7.20pm
16/06Minutes
RESOLVED: to accept the minutes of the meeting held on 7th March 2016 as a true and accurate record.
16/07Public Participation - None Present
16/08County Councillor - No report received from NCC. Cllr H Howell from ENDC gave a written report to councillors highlighting future news for ENDC and explaining which committees she was a member of.
16/09 Village Infrastructure
a) Footpaths – no issues reported since the last meeting. It was suggested installing some dog bins as a great deal of mess was being reported. It was however agreed to write an article for Hargrave Herald asking residents to clear up after their dogs. Action DT
b) Village Maintenance and Highways- there was still a problem outside Hilltop House with water flowing from the land. NCC had been contacted but stated that they could not resolve the issue until the water flow had stopped. Further advice from the engineers was being looked into. Dip in the road in Brook Street becoming a health and safety issue however NCC will monitor the situation for possible inclusion in the highways maintenance programme. It was felt that further action should be taken and it was agreed to ask the highways representative to visit the village regarding the issues.
Standing Orders were suspended so that Cllr Howell could notify the council that she was due to have a meeting with the highways representative and would, if possible, bring them to Hargrave to look at the problems raised. Standing Orders resumed.
Discussion took place regarding the gated entrance to the Kimbolton End of the B645. Funding of £300 had been received from Cllr H Howell of ENDC from her empowerment fund towards the entrance. RESOLVED to pay for the gated entrance and suggest that highways attend in order to discuss/agree the area for installation.
Action NH
c) Traffic Survey - RESOLVED to order a speed traffic survey to be carried out on B645 near to the village entrance and at the Raunds end of Brook Street in order to collate the data and submit the information to the JAG meeting at a cost of £400.00 plus VAT each survey.
c) Public Lighting - Still waiting on information from Western Power regarding the pole in Church Road.
d) Village Hall - Bookings steady, nothing else to report.
e) Internet System - the Village Hall land where the mast was to be located looks quite unsuitable because of the position of drains and the disabled access at the rear of the Hall. Waiting for a response from Redraw as to where the mast could be positioned as they were reluctant to place it on private land. Suggestion was made that the church may be an ideal place. It was agreed to contact the members who originally had shown an interest in the scheme advising them of the problems and asking if the system was still required. Action JB
16/10 Community and Road Safety
No police reports were available however these were being asked to be sent out on a more regular basis through the JAG meeting. Information was requested regarding the Children Crossing Sign which could be installed on private land but must meet the Road Traffic Regulations for signage.
16/11 Planning
16/00778/FUL - Single storey oak framed garden room - Woodlands Church Road - No objections were raised.
16/12 Financial and Review of Procedures
a) RESOLVED that the following payments for May 2016 of£1311.19were approved. It was agreed that Cllr How check the connect to the telephone box before the cheque to Western Power is sent.
Chq No. / Payee / Value / Description100771 / Western Power / £93.76 / Tel Box power
100772 / Eon / £52.43 / Unmetered supply
100773 / HMRC / £77.20 / Tax
100774 / N Daft / £346.93 / Salary & Website
100775 / Aon / £344.00 / Insurance
100776 / Balfour Beatty / £124.87 / Lighting Repairs
100777 / Greenbiro / £72.00 / Internal Audit
100778 / Hargrave pcc / £200.00 / Queens Birthday Celebrations
Total / £1,311.19
b) It was noted that there was £10147.17in the bank from the latest statement but £2,500.00 wasring fenced for the Internet Mast.
c) It was agreed that Cllr Gunthorpe would be added to the councils bank signatories
g) Annual Return – RESOLVED: That the Annual Return figures for 31st March 2016 for the Statement of Accounts was accepted and agreed as a true record. RESOLVED that questions 1 – 9 of the Annual Governance Statement regarding the responsibility of the statement of accounts and internal controls be agreed with Yes answers. The Internal Audit had been carried out with no matters arising.
16/13Wind farm Funding
A grant had been given to celebrate the Queens 90th birthday of £999.00 from the Windfarm Trust
16/14Old Nags Head
Nothing to report
15/15Correspondence
A mandate form from CCLA was received and needed to be signed regarding change of address for future correspondence. It was agreed that the trustees Janice Brotherton and Clive Jones sign the form in order to have the details changed.
The meeting closed at 9.20p.m. Chair
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