Agenda Item No. 2
ROMNEY MARSHES AREA INTERNAL DRAINAGE BOARD
A meeting of the Board was held at Brookland Village Hall, on Wednesday 19th November 2014 at 2.00 pm.
PRESENT
C Apps Esq., D Body Esq., P Boulden Esq., F Cooke Esq., L. Cooke Esq., D Furnival Esq, Mrs H Langrish, J Langrish Esq., S Marshall Esq., W Maylam Esq., T Piper Esq., D Thompson Esq., D Wheeler Esq., S Wright Esq., B Wrout Esq., Elected Members. Cllr M Burgess, Cllr P Coe, Cllr A Ganly, Cllr A Hills, Cllr C Hill, D Lovejoy Esq., Cllr R Patten, Cllr T Preston, Cllr Mrs S Prochak, Cllr C. Ramus, Cllr D Wimble, Appointed Members. N. Botting Esq., Clerk/Engineer to the Board, Mrs D Chalcroft, Finance Officer and R Monje Esq., Assistant Clerk/Engineer to the Board., D Oliver Esq., Former Clerk/ Engineer to the Board.
The Chairman asked the meeting for a minutes silence in respect of the deaths of Tim Price, previous member of the Pett Board, Bob Langrish, previous Chairman of the Pett Board and Tony Lackner, previous Clerk to the Board.
471. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from A Clifton Esq., R Frith Esq. and F Langrish Esq., Elected Members. Cllr A Cragg, H Bates Esq., C Jenkinson Esq., R Langrish Esq., R Nickerson Esq. and Cllr R Tillson, Appointed Members.
472. ELECTION – RETURNING OFFICER’S REPORT
The Returning Officer explained that no election had proved necessary after the requisite Public Notices had been published. He added that two elected members had resigned from the Romney District and two new members had been correctly nominated; he then welcomed Douglas Furnival and James Langrish to the Board. The officer informed the room that Paul Boulden, previously co-opted as an elected member, had also been nominated successfully.
473. REGISTER OF INTERESTS
The Clerk/Engineer explained the necessity of keeping the Register of Interests up to date and thanked those who had returned their completed forms; he stated that the update would facilitate the adoption of the Code of Conduct he intended to re-present to the Board at the upcoming January meeting.
474. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
The Chairman explained he had retired from the Board and as such a new Chairman should be elected.
It was PROPOSED by Mr L Cooke, SECONDED by Mr S Wright and RESOLVED UNAMINOUSLY that Mr D Lovejoy be elected as the new Chairman of the Romney Marshes Area Internal Drainage Board for the three-year period commencing 1st November 2014.
475. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN
It was PROPOSED by Mr D Lovejoy, SECONDED by Cllr Mrs S Prochak and RESOLVED UNAMINOUSLY that Mr L Cooke be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Romney Marshes Area Internal Drainage Board for the three-year period commencing 1st November 2014.
476. FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE
PROPOSED by L Cooke, SECONDED by Cllr Mrs S Prochak and RESOLVED UNAMINOUSLY that the Finance and General Purposes Committee shall comprise Mr L Cooke (Committee Chairman), Messrs A Clifton, A Clifton-Holt, F Cooke, D Furnival,
C Jenkinson, Mrs H Langrish, Messrs R Langrish, D Lovejoy (Ex-Officio), R Nickerson, R Patten and Mr D Thompson.
477. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 18th June 2014 having previously been circulated to members prior to the meeting were taken as read. The minutes were accepted as a correct record of the previous meeting and signed by the Chairman.
478. MATTERS ARISING
470. Any Other Business
Cllr Mrs S Prochak thanked the Assistant Engineer for his help regarding the problem of Japanese Knotweed in Robertsbridge. It was acknowledged that the law was changing with regard to the control of the species.
479. ENGINEER’S REPORT
The report, having previously been circulated was briefly explained by the Clerk/Engineer. Cllr Ramus made comment on the efforts made by staff and Board members in Winchelsea Beach to try to help resolve the many issues affecting the public foul sewer owned by Southern Water.
Cllr A Hills asked the Engineer if he was satisfied with the EA’s preparations for Winter; the Engineer replied that the EA had been more proactive and their improved maintenance programme including the desilting work should leave the area in a far better condition for the coming months.
480. CONSENTS
The Engineer briefly covered the consents issued since the last meeting; no comments were made.
481. BOARD HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
The Clerk/ Engineer explained that the Board’s Health and Safety Policy required updating. The suggested policy, having been circulated with the Agenda, was accepted as a suitable update. Its adoption was PROPOSED by CLLR R PATTEN, SECONDED BY CLLR MRS S PROCHAK, agreed unanimously and duly signed and dated by the Chairman and Clerk/Engineer.
482. MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS OF THE F & G P COMMITTEE
The Vice-Chairman gave an overview of the minutes of the last meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. D Thompson stated that the EA had carried out the planned CCTV survey on the Denge Main outfall. There were restrictions found at the old penstocks that had seized in a semi-closed position, additionally he had been advised that the Agency were to approach Natural England with a view to improve the lower reaches of the Main where machine access and flow were restricted. Cllr Mrs S Prochak enquired after the surface water strategy for the Lydd Airport runway extension. The Clerk/Engineer explained that the strategy had been conditioned on the planning application and Board officers and the EA were attending meetings with the airport’s consultants; the original strategy had not been verified and new calculations were being made to ascertain the requisite storage requirements for run-off.
483. ACCOUNTS VOUCHERS
The Vice-Chairman presented the list of accounts paid that had already been checked by the F&GP Committee, there were no issues raised.
484. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
The Financial Officer gave a comprehensive breakdown of the Income and Expenditure statement; Cllr P Coe asked how many instalments were left to be paid on the Special Levy due from Shepway District Council; the Financial Officer informed the meeting that two payments remained with the third due imminently.
485. EXTERNAL AUDITORS CERTIFICATE & OPINION
The Financial Officer advised that the External Auditor had approved the Annual Return with no matters giving cause for concern. They had stated that fixed assets on the 2014/15 return should be recorded at their original cost if possible; this information was received with some degree of bemusement as certain Board assets such as Pumping Stations were over 50 years old.
486. BOARD INVESTMENTS
The Financial Officer gave an overview on the Nationwide Fixed Term Deposit Accounts held by the Board; one account had matured in September and the second was due to mature that very day. The monies were to be reinvested with the Nationwide in two separate one year deposit accounts; one which comprised of monies from commuted sums and the other would be Capital Reserve funds. The Board agreed this was an acceptable strategy.
487. BOARD PENSION POLICY
The Financial Officer presented a previously distributed paper on pension policy regulations that employers who were members of the Kent County Council LGPS were required to determine. It was PROPOSED by MR S WRIGHT, SECONDED BY MR D BODY and RESOLVED UNAMINOUSLY that the Pension Policy be adopted by the Board.
488. REPORT ON ADA CONFERENCE
The attendees gave an overview of the ADA Conference held on 12th November. The Chairman made mention of a presentation given by Albert Vermue, Managing Director of the Uni Van Waterschappen from the Netherlands, he continued that many of the issues faced by IDBs in England were replicated in Holland. The Clerk/Engineer reported that concern existed over the recently formed Somerset River Authority’s negotiations with Defra where it appeared that in order to receive certain funding streams new primary legislation was being considered. Of most concern to IDBs was the possibility of the new authority being allowed to receive the Special Levy from Councils that would normally be paid to IDBs. Defra’s stance is that it would only apply to Somerset but ADA believe that, with legislation passed, any county could form a river authority and divert income that IDBs rely on to operate effectively. Lastly, the Assistant Engineer apprised the Board of the resignation of the ADA Chief Executive, Dr Jean Venables, who would formally retire in March 2015. The new Chief Executive will be Innes Thomson, ex. EA, aided by an Operations Manager which sees the return of Ian Moodie from the NFU. The Board agreed that Dr Venables had contributed much during her tenure.
489. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
It was resolved that the next meeting of the Board would be held at Brookland Village Hall at 2pm on Wednesday 28th January 2015.
490. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Vice-Chairman informed the Board of a meeting he, Cllr R Patten and the Clerk/Engineer had attended in Eastbourne regarding the Sussex IDDs and the Agency’s withdrawal from the running of the same. He stated that there appeared to be consternation from the affected councils with confusion over funding streams and, in the case of the Pevensey Levels, the liability of adopting ageing pumping stations. It was suggested that engagement with landowners in the area was the best way of ensuring some form of continuity with regards to forming a Board and providing effective, joined-up maintenance.
The Clerk/Engineer advised the room that the Vice-Chairman and he had held preliminary talks with the EA about Public Sector Cooperation Agreements (PSCAs). ADA were keen to pursue PSCAs where one authority can conduct works on behalf of another; the concept being that IDBs could work on Main River or indeed the EA could work on IDB watercourses with a formal agreement being signed for five years. Theoretically efficiencies could be made regarding logistics or, if applicable, where the cost of an IDB doing work would be significantly cheaper than the EA or its contractors doing the same job. The Clerk/ Engineer stated that an informal arrangement had been in place for a number of years but he was mindful of signing an agreement that may put too much pressure on the Board’s contractors should the EA view the agreement as an opportunity to cut down on activities they could satisfactorily perform themselves. Cllr Mrs S Prochak asked if it would provide better value for money; the Clerk explained that it depended on what our contractors’ rates would be compared to, certainly compared to a large national contractor they would be cheaper but compared to in-house staff and machines there may not be great deal of difference. He ended that ultimately, any PSCA would require Board approval.
There being no other business the meeting ended at 1515hrs; this was followed by an excellent tea held in respect of the outgoing Chairman who had been a Board member for 41 years. Mr W Maylam was presented with a telescope and tripod to allow him to keep an eye on the Marsh and the Board’s activities from the comfort of his farm and was thanked for his diligent service over the preceding four decades.
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