GUARLFORD PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL ON MONDAY 14th MAY 2012
Present
Councillor Mr M G Huskinson Chairman
Councillor Dr P E Mayner Vice Chairman
Councillor Mrs J E Hadley-Roberts
Councillor Mrs E B J Hill
Councillor Mr E Jones
Mr Tony Stock Parish Footpath Warden
PC S Ransome-Williams Local Police officer (part of meeting)
Mrs H J Sommerville Clerk
1. Apologies
1.1. The Council accepted the apologies of Cllr Andrew Medcalf, Cllr Michael Simpson and Richard Chamings.
2. Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman
2.1. Chairman. Cllr Dr Peter Mayner proposed that Cllr Michael Huskinson be elected Chairman, Cllr Jane Hadley-Roberts seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.
3. Election of Planning Committee
3.1. Cllr Eric Jones was proposed to be elected to the Planning Committee by Cllr Michael Huskinson, Cllr Jane Hadley-Roberts was proposed by Cllr Eric Jones, Cllr Michael Huskinson was proposed by Cllr Dr Peter Mayner and Cllr Dr Peter Mayner proposed by Cllr Jane Hadley-Roberts and the motion that all 4 Councillors be elected to the Planning Committee was carried unanimously.
4. Code of Conduct and Declarations of Interest
4.1. Parish Councillors were reminded that, as required by the Parish Council Code of Conduct Order 2001, they should notify the MHDC Monitoring Officer of any changes to their Register of Interests or the receipt of any unrecorded gifts or hospitality. They should also declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any of the items of this meeting.
4.2. There were no declarations of personal or prejudicial interest.
5. The Race Relations and Crime and Disorder Acts
5.1. All the business carried out and decisions made at this meeting have observed the requirements of the above acts.
6. Acceptance of the Previous Minutes
6.1. The minutes of the previous meeting, having been circulated, were taken as read, approved by the Council as a true record and would be signed by the Chairman after the change of spelling to Blackmore Park and the removal of the words “and the Extraordinary Meeting” from the Acceptance of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting.
6.2. The Clerk was asked to send the Minutes of the Previous Meeting to Tony Stock. ACTION Clerk
7. Report by PC Sarah Ransome-Williams, Local Police Officer
7.1. PC Sarah Ransome-Williams now has a CSO and they have 18 parishes between them. She is the LPO for Guarlford. She was pleased to hear good feedback from Neighbourhood Watch. There had been no incidents of antisocial behaviour between 1st April 2011 and 1st May 2012. There had been 8 thefts including 1 bicycle, cattle and lead from the church. No burglaries, no criminal damage, 6 road traffic accidents but no-one hurt, 1 trespass. Travellers on Clevelode Lane. The crime was slightly up due to the church theft.
7.2. Cllr Eric Jones reported longstanding speeding problems and on 13 May had observed 2 cars ‘racing’ in the 30 mph area at well over 40mph. PC Sarah Ransome-Jones said going from 60 mph to 30 mph was not good and Cllr Eric Jones asked if flashing 30mph signs might help. The Chairman asked PC Sarah Ransome-Jones how to go about it and she said she would speak to retired Inspector David Perridge who was the Traffic Management Officer and feed back through the Clerk. She would email him this evening.
8. Report by Cllr T Wells, District & County Councillor
8.1. There was no report.
9. Report by Mr A Stock, Public Path Warden and a Neighbourhood Watch Leader
9.1 Mr Stock reported as follows:-
“1 Specific Issue from last meeting. The installation of replacement gate over Brook on path to Blackmore never happened. Chris Burton took it on himself to supply and fit some cross beams on the bridge to ensure that his cattle could not escape the field. In my opinion, this is the worst possible outcome, since traversing the beams is not easy, and certainly not in the best interests of the public. I reported my concerns to the County Council, and supplied photos of the work, which falls far short of their initial requirement for a gate, but in essence they have now turned their back on it, and said that Chris has done what he needs to do to restrain his cattle, and that they are not prepared to take the matter further.
2 Other PPW Matters. Now that the weather may have started to improve, I have begun my routine inspection of the parish footpaths, focussing on areas where there are reported problems. Of course, my work coincides with the late onset of the growing season, but I will have walked all the paths over the next fortnight to assess what needs doing - basically a lot of cutting back, but there are a few tilting stiles etc that will be attended to. I was scheduled to attend the annual meeting of the County PPW’s in March, but the same illness that kept me from you at the last Parish council meeting precluded me from attending the meeting; I requested details of any specific issues that needed bringing to your attention, but received no response, so assume there is nothing exciting to report.
3 Neighbourhood Watch. I am circulating details of all incidents forwarded to me by the local constabulary; these can number up to 3 a day; my policy is deliberately NOT to filter these for relevance, since events occurring some distance away may still be of interest to the local community. This is a different approach to that adopted by Colin Lettice, leader in Bamford Close, who summarises incidents and forwards on as he thinks appropriate. Two different approaches – I wonder which you (the residents) prefer.”
Cllr Dr Peter Mayner thanked Tony Stock on behalf of Rectory Lane residents for his work.
9.2 The Chairman asked Tony Stock to generate a communication to the County Council re the inadequacy of the ‘barrier’ on the bridge as a Health & Safety issue and to liaise with the Clerk over this matter.
9.3 It was agreed that Mr Stock should continue to circulate details of all incidents as he is presently doing and would ask Mr Lettice if he would do the same.
10. Report by Mrs J Lomas, Tree Warden
10.1. There was no report.
11. Report by Mr R Chamings, Malvern Hills Conservators
11.1. Mr Chamings wrote that there had been a new Board at the Conservators formed in November with Brian Pilcher elected as Chairman. Guarlford resident, Peter Hughes had been welcomed on to the Board, nominated by Worcester County Council. Fiona Macklin was the new Administration Officer and had replaced Val Moore who had retired after 28 years. Ian Rowat had resigned as Director after 13 years and Stephen Bound the new Director would start on 2nd July. Stephen has been reserves manager at the Hertfordshire & Middlesex Wildlife Trust.
11.2. The St Ann’s Well inquiry is ongoing. The committee, chaired by retired Colwall rector, Carl Attwood, should present its conclusions within the next couple of months.
11.3. To celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee the Conservators would be lighting a large fire on the top of he Worcestershire Beacon at 10.15pm on Monday, 4th June, 2012. As part of the celebrations the Board will be dedicating to the event the avenue of ten oak trees planted last year in Barnards Green to replace the unhealthy limes and will also be planning a new copse of Black Poplar trees on Castlemorton Common.
12. Report by Mr D Hill, Chairman Village Hall Committee
12.1. The Chairman read out the report as Tony Stock had not received the circulated copy. It is attached to these minutes.
12.2. Cllr Barbara Hill to let the Clerk know what the cash balance is.
13. Report by Cllr Dr E Jones, Chairman Guarlford History Group
13.1. Cllr Eric Jones hoped all had seen the new Noticeboard which had been erected yesterday. He recorded his thanks to Don Hill for putting it up and to Brendan of Essential Garden Services. The Clerk will need her own key.
13.2. The base for the bench in memory of Joan Newell is in place outside the nursery on Conservators’ Land, with their permission. Following the epidemic of metal theft from the church it has been decided to replace the bench with one made from recycled materials and a blacksmith would be employed to remove the plaque from the metal bench.
13.3. There would be a ceremony at 12 noon on 5th June, ahead of the Jubilee Picnic for the new noticeboard and bench. The Revd. Sue Irwin would say a prayer.
14. Administration
14.1. Archives. The archives had been delivered to Cllr Michael Huskinson.
14.2. The Clerk was dealing with the PAYE and Bank Mandate forms.
14.3. Clerk’s Contract of Employment was still outstanding.
15. Parish Environment
15.1. Mr Rangeley. Guarlford Parish Council can not take any action as this is private land. Cllr Dr Peter Mayner drafted a formal reply for the Clerk to send to Mr Rangeley which was approved. ACTION Clerk
16. Planning
16.1. Cllr Eric Jones reported that Cllr Charles Eden from Madresfield had written a good letter on the SWDP to the Malvern Gazette.
16.2. It was noted that The Plough and Harrow Public House had now closed.
17. Liaison with Other Bodies – Nothing to report.
18. Waste Recycling – Nothing to report.
19. Finance
19.1. The Internal Financial Monitor had nothing to report.
19.2. The Council approved the Clerk’s salary of £433.88.
19.3. The Clerk is to clarify the matter of the transfer of gratuity funds from the Deposit Account to the Current Account. ACTION Clerk
19.4. The Council approved the CALC annual subscription of £129.21.
19.5. The Council approved the AON insurance premium of £355.73.
19.6. It was agreed that there was no need to consider the Plough and Harrow’s application for discretionary rate relief.
19.7. The Clerk was asked to speak to Michael Skinner about the approval and signature of the 2011/2012 accounts and the Annual Return for auditing by the internal auditor. ACTION Clerk
19.8. Approval of AR Governance was deleted from the Agenda and not considered.
19.9. The Council approved the Village Hall donation of £200 and the Clerk was asked to pay the donation to the Church. ACTION Clerk
20. Diamond Jubilee Picnic
20.1. The marquee would be put up on the Friday before at a cost of £450; the necessary portaloo would cost £75. The costs would be shared between the Guarlford Parish Council and the Guarlford History Group and were thought reasonable for a very special occasion and approved.
21. AOB (For Consideration At Next Meeting)
21.1. There was no other business.
22. Date of Next Meeting
22.1. The next meeting will be held in the Village Hall at 7.30pm on Monday the 9th July 2012.
Mrs H J Sommerville Cllr Michael Huskinson
Clerk Chairman
Guarlford Village Hall Committee
Annual Report to Guarlford Parish Council
for the year 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2011.
Use of the hall in 2011 was steady, though down on the previous year. Unfortunately the children’s ALF (About life & Faith) group disbanded early in the year for various reasons and this was a big disappointment; the committee enjoyed seeing the hall used by young children. Other major users such as Guarlford WI, Yoga Club and Table Tennis Club maintained their support.
The joint Church and Village Hall Committee annual Christmas Fayre was again a great success, both financially and as a pleasant social occasion. Grateful thanks go to all the volunteers and generous donors who made this possible. The event raised £536.90 each to church and village hall.
A much appreciated grant of £200 towards running costs was received from Guarlford Parish Council.
The aim of the committee is to keep the hire charges as low as possible to encourage further lettings but increasing running costs are a concern. Fire protection measures are particularly expensive because legislation requires six monthly inspections by an authorised agency. In 2012, for example, several of the emergency light units must have their batteries replaced at an overall cost of over £200. From the summary below it can be seen that without income from the Christmas Fayre and the Guarlford Parish Council expenses would far outweigh income. It is essential that the Christmas Fayre continues and it is hoped that the Parish Council can continue its support for this village amenity.
Receipts and Payments Summary for 2011
Receipts / PaymentsFund Raising / £536.90 / Insurance / £430.17
Electricity / £761.64
Hire of Hall / £1386.00 / Severn Trent / £78.27
Cleaning / £240.00
Donations / £12.14 / Fire Protection / £368.93
Stair lift service/repair / £110.40
Parish Council Grant / £200.00 / General maintenance / £93.29
Bank Interest / £23.20
Total Receipts / £2154.24 / Total Payments / £2082.70
GPC Minutes 14 May 12.doc 3 of 5 Print date: 05/07/12