Minutes of Shevington Parish Council Meeting s1
Minutes of the Annual Meeting (followed by the Ordinary Meeting)
of Shevington Parish Council
Held Thursday 24 May 2012
7:30 pm - Shevington Library
Present: Councillor J Ball (Chair), Cllrs Horridge, Whiteley, Chadwick and Clerk (Pilkington).
Dist Cllrs Crosby, Collins and Edwardson and 4 members of the public.
Annual Meeting of the Council
308 Election of Chairperson
One nomination was received: Cllr John Ball.
Resolved: That Cllr John Ball will serve as Chairman until the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council in May, 2013.
309 To Receive the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Cllr John Ball duly gave and signed the Declaration of Office of Chairman. The Clerk signed as witness to the declaration.
310 To Elect the Vice-Chairperson
One nomination was received: Cllr Ira Whiteley
Resolved: That Cllr Ira Whiteley will serve as Vice Chairman until the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council in May, 2013.
311 Apologies for Absence
Cllrs Miles and McKnight.
312 Declaration of Interests
None.
313 Representatives to Outside Bodies
Shevington & District Community Association
Resolved: Cllrs Miles and Whiteley were appointed as the Council’s representatives to Shevington & District Community Association until the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council in May 2013.
Shevington Youth Club
Resolved: Cllrs Ball and Whiteley were appointed as the Council’s representatives to Shevington Youth Club until the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council in May 2013.
Shevington Recreation Ground Trustees
Resolved: Cllrs Ball and Whiteley, Mr J Maloney, Mrs V Maloney and Mr A Williams were appointed as Trustees of Shevington Recreation Ground until the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council in May 2013.
Standards Committee
Resolved: Cllr Chadwick was appointed as the Council’s representative to the Standards’ Committee.
314 Committees
The constitutions and terms of reference of the Policy, General Purposes and Finance Committees were reviewed. No amendments were made to the constitutions of any of the committees or to the terms of reference of the Policy and General Purposes Committees.
Amendment to the Terms of Reference of the Finance Committee:
Delegated Powers: ‘approve risk assessments’ to read ‘approve risk assessments, with the exception of financial risk assessments, which can only be approved by the full Council’.
Resolved: The constitutions and terms of reference of the Committees (including the above amendment to the delegated powers of the Finance Committee) were approved.
Resolved: Mr B Lomas, Mrs E Longmore, Mr B King and Mr M Thomas were appointed as co-opted members of the Policy and General Purposes Committees.
315 Deeds and Instruments
Deeds to Memorial Park are held at the Natwest Bank in Wigan.
Other deeds and instruments are held with the Clerk.
Ordinary Meeting of the Council
Standing Orders were suspended.
316 Matters Introduced by Members of the Public
Councillors engaged with members of the public in relation to the following:
· the accuracy of the reporting of the first bullet point in Item 272;
· the representation of the Clerk’s salary in the accounts as gross expenditure;
· the format of the minutes in Item 272;
· watering of plants along the car park border;
· feeding and weeding of the grass surrounding the two flower beds on the corner of Church Lane and Shevington Lane;
· the Parish Caretaker’s job specification.
See Appendix A.
317 District Councillors Reports
The Chairman congratulated newly elected Dist Cllr Damian Edwardson on his success and offered his commiserations to Cllr Chadwick.
The District Councillors’ reports were received. See Appendix B.
Cllr Horridge was absent from the meeting for a short time during this item.
Standing Orders were re-instated.
318 Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Council (26 April 2012)
The previously circulated Minutes were considered.
Resolved: Subject to the above amendment, the Minutes of the last Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on 26 April 2012 were approved as a true and correct record.
319 Minutes of the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Council (10 May 2012)
The previously circulated Minutes were considered.
Resolved: The Minutes of the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on 10 May 2012 were approved as a true and correct record.
320 Chairman’s Report
The Chairman’s report was received. See Appendix C.
321 Reports from Councillors
Compost Bin
A member reported that Shevington in Bloom had asked permission to keep a compost bin in one of the bays in the Bowling Green car park. The Chair advised that they should liaise with the Clerk.
Brown Bins
A member observed that the brown bins in Shevington Vale had not been emptied this week.
Footpath Between Old Lane and Gill Avenue
A large amount of horse deposit had been found along the footpath between Old Lane and Gill Avenue in Shevington. Many children walk along there on their way to school and the deposits posed a danger to them. It was suggested that the introduction of gates at either end could be a solution to the problem.
Shevington Fete
The Fete would take place on 4 August and volunteers were needed to help with the games. Anyone willing to give some of their time should contact Cllr Whiteley.
322 Reports from Representatives
Shevington & District Community Association
There had been no meeting since the previous month.
Crooke Village Residents’ Association
At the recent AGM Mr Jim Haynes and Mr Mike Thomas had been re-elected Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively. Crooke residents had been very disappointed with the length of time it had taken WLCT to pay their first visit of the season to Crooke Village to cut the grass in the public areas and also with the quality of the cut.
Shevington Youth Club
The last meeting had been inquorate – the next meeting would be in July.
Shevington Recreation Ground Trustees
There had been no meeting recently.
Standards Committee
The Committee had not met recently.
Shevington in Bloom
A great deal of planting had been taking place recently. Plants had been re-cycled in Shevington, as last year, and a similar re-cycling project had been planned for Appley Bridge. Wild flowers had been planted at both Appley Bridge and Gathurst Stations. Those at Gathurst could be seen coming through.
323 DRAFT Minutes of the Policy Committee Meeting (10 May)
The Minutes of the Policy Committee meeting of 10 May were received.
324 Position of ‘Matters Introduced by Members of the Public’ on the Agenda
Resolved: The item ‘Matters Introduced by Members of the Public’ would remain in the same position on the Council Agenda as it was at present.
325 Unsecured Bin at the Entrance to the Memorial Garden
Resolved: The unsecured bin at the entrance to the Memorial Garden would be secured by the Parish Caretaker.
326 New Play Equipment for Shevington Memorial Park
Dist Cllr Crosby had presented details of this project during Item 317.
See Appendix B.
He would be seeking funding from other sources and needed permission from the Parish Council to go ahead with the project. A request was made that a plan of the re-arrangement of the play area should be laid before the Council.
Resolved: The Council gave permission for the re-arrangement of existing equipment and fitting of the new equipment in the Play Area in Shevington Memorial Park, subject to all the funding being secured from external sources.
327 Forward Planning Working Party Matters
Cllr Whiteley presented a report on a meeting of the Forward Planning Working Party, which had taken place the previous week. It had been a fruitful meeting and the group wished the meetings to continue bi-monthly. Proposals had been agreed and would be placed before the General Purposes Committee.
328 Newsletter (Summer Edition)
Suggestions for the contents of the Summer edition of the newsletter were discussed.
Resolved: The Summer edition of the newsletter, which would be distributed in July, would include items on the following:
· Diamond Jubilee events/initiatives;
· Proposed new equipment for the play area in Shevington Memorial Park;
· Appley Bridge in Bloom;
· Progress with other initiatives;
· An item from the CVRA;
· District Councillors’ Brighter Borough expenditure;
· Lamp Post 23.
329 Asset Register, 2012/13
The Asset Register, 2012/13 was circulated and accepted. The Clerk drew members’ attention to amendments.
330 Insurance Policy
The final year of the three year agreement with Zurich Municipal was due to begin on 1 June 2012. A fresh tendering process would take place in 2013.
331 Clerk’s Report
The Clerk’s report was received. See Appendix D.
332 Financial Aid Applications
Applications for financial aid had been received from Shevington Luncheon Club and from Shevington Methodist Church and were referred to the Finance Committee.
333 Accounts
See Appendix E.
Resolved: That the Accounts be approved and the cheques signed in payment, due notice being given to the bank statements exhibited.
334 Planning Applications
None to note.
335 Next Meetings: 7 June (General Purposes & Finance Committees);
28 June (Council).
CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS
Resolved: That, in view of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the press and public be excluded and they are instructed to withdraw.
District Councillors and members of the public left the meeting.
336 Parish Caretaker’s Contract Specification
The contract specification was reviewed and discussed.
Resolved: The specification for the Parish Caretaker’s contract was approved. It was agreed that the length of the current contract with Shaun Heyes Home & Garden Services would be extended for a further three years, subject to there being no increase in the price of the core contract or the rate at which additional items were charged during the first year of the contract. The price would be reviewed and re-negotiated annually in relation to the two subsequent years.
337 Sale of Land by Orica
Suggestions for amendments to terms proposed by Orica (UK) were affirmed.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the Meeting at 10:15 pm.
Chairman
Page 1 of 6 Extra-Ordinary Meeting of Shevington Parish Council – 24 May 2012