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Tollard Royal Parish Council
Lower Garden Cottage ~ Tollard Royal ~ Salisbury ~ Wiltshire ~ SP5 5PW
Graham Eames ~ Parish Council Clerk ~ 01725 530052 ~ e-mail:
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting
Monday 8th May 2017 at 7:00 pm in The Old Cart Shed
Present: Councillors Kay Allen (KA) (Chair), Richard Mitchell (RM), Adrian Jones (AJ), John Carlyle-Clarke, Ali Worden
Parishioners: 1 parishioner attended. Brian Palmer
1. Apologies: - Clerk: Graham Eames (GE) Kay Allen recorded the minutes
2. Declarations of interest: Kay Allen declared she was married to Brian Palmer – who acts as Internal Auditor
3. Appointment of new councillors:
a. The Parish Council for Tollard Royal received 5 nominations for 5 seats at the elections held on 4th May. The council was elected uncontested. Kay Allen, John Carlyle-Clarke, Adrian Jones, Richard Mitchell were all re-elected, The Council welcomed Ali Worden as a newly elected councillor.
b. Kay Allen served as chair in 2016. Cllr Allen stood down as chair. Adrian Jones proposed Kay Allen, Richard Mitchell seconded – Kay Allen was appointed Chair.
c. All councillors accepted their positions and signed the ‘Declaration of Acceptance of Office’.
d. The new chair signed ‘Declaration of Acceptance of office for the position as Chair for 2017/18
e. All councillors were reminded to update their details on Wiltshire’s website Register of Interests https://services.wiltshire.gov.uk/TownAndParish/ROI
f. Cllr Allen would arrange to meet with Cllr Worden and complete an induction as a new councillor
4. Public session:
Bob Marston emailed KA and reported that blanket weed was forming in the pond again and requested we buy some Barley Straw extract. The PC approved a spend of £8.45. Bob also asked that the tree be checked for nesting birds before it is felled and suggested a replacement being a sweet chestnut or walnut tree. He was not in favour of more fruit tree. He also raised the issue of Dog Fouling and asked if more could be done. Jackie Carlyle-Clarke had sent apologies and sent in a quote for the tree felling. She suggested the chippings could be used to mulch under the hedgerow.
5. Standing orders. Each year the council reviews and re-adopts the Standing Orders (rule book) and allocates areas of responsibility. All Councillors agreed that the Standing Orders had worked well and no substantive changes were needed. KA took an action to update contact details and to update dates for future meetings and to publish on village website.
a. It was agreed that councillors would be responsible for:
i. John Carlyle-Clark – Planning
ii. Richard Mitchell – Highways and speedwatch
iii. Adrian Jones – Green areas & footpaths
iv. Ali Worden – Emergency plan and defib monitoring
v. Kay Allen – Finances
b. The Parish Council thanked Brian Palmer, who has served as internal auditor for 15 years. The Council reappointed Brian Palmer as internal auditor for 2017/18.
6. Minutes: from previous meeting on 20th March approved and signed Cllr KA
Actions from the previous meeting we discussed, Planning order for the willow tree has been approved, best kept village entry has been submitted, Clerk now has online banking authorisation for the purpose of reconciling the bank statements. On-going is the removal of ivy from telegraph pole. Clerk to be asked to chase again.
7. Update from Jose Green Unitary Councillor. No Report, Council noted that Jose had given a very comprehensive report at the Annual Parish Meeting. For the minutes it was recorded that Jose Green had been re-elected at the unitary elections on 4th May. Jose won with 64% of the vote.
8. Financial Matters
a. The Annual Governance Statement for 2016/17 was presented to the council as being an accurate record of internal control. The statement had been approved by the clerk and had been reviewed by the internal auditor. Council were all satisfied that we had good controls over our financial affairs and our governance. The Governance Statement was approved and signed by the chair at the meeting.
b. The Annual Accounting Statements for 2016 / 17 was presented to the council. The clerk has already certified that the accounts fairly and accurately reflected the council’s position. The chair signed the accounts at the meeting.
c. Brian Palmer confirmed he had completed the internal audit and was satisfied the accounts were in good order. He had signed the acceptance statement on the final accounts.
d. The Chair confirmed that the accounts were now ready to send to Grant Thornton by 26th May and that the ‘Declaration of status of published accounts’ had been signed by the clerk and would be displayed on the notice board.
e. The Chair confirmed that the notice date of commencement of period for the exercise of public rights would be from 6th June until 15th July. To be legally compliant this period must run for 30 days and must include the first 10 working days of July. This would be put on the notice board on 6th June.
f. Approval of bills – None presented. Adrian Jones raised the issue that Jackie Carlyle-Clarke had bought the Hamerite paint for the lampposts. He reported that she did not have a receipt to claim this back. The auditor offered a solution that if a photo was taken of the price on the tin of paint this would be sufficient proof. Council had previously approved the purchase for the paint. Adrian to inform Jackie and get proof of purchase and submit a claim.
g. Monthly online transactions for April were reported in the cash flow presented by the chair. The precept £4768 has been received. Clerks salary has been paid, Cllr expenses reimbursed, Lee Lucas paid £100 for grass mowing, WALC subscription has been paid. Cllrs received a copy of the bank statements. Our cash balance as at 8th May is £13225.00. Parishioners can view the cashbook online.
9. Highways and Speeding.
a. Speed Watch
Wiltshire West Community Policing Team are holding a day of action this week and have asked CSW teams across the west of the county to be a part of this. In all villages and towns there will be a Speedwatch team in action backed up at some time during the day by a regular Traffic Police Unit. Sue as team leader, and Cllr Mitchell will do a session on the agreed date and hopefully, the local CPT Unit will visit and assist in our efforts!Sue will report back at next meeting on how successful the day was.
b. CATG Update
There is nothing new to report. Cllr Mitchell stated no news on our Application for restrictions is good news as if there had been a major problem we would have heard by now. Cllr Mitchell is meetingthe Area Manager for South Wilts, Tim Woolford to discuss our Application and other general Highways issues. If anyone has any questions you would like me to ask him, please let me know before 3pm on Friday 12th May.
Cllr Worden asked if enquiries could be made on the 20 mile ph zone leading up church lane and why the zone ended just past the church. The lane is used a lot by horse riders and speeding traffic is becoming an issue.
c. Warning signs
Signs warning motorists of horses on road at Tollard Green will be erected when this issue reaches the top of the list at CATG.
d. Speed Indicator Device (SID)
This was raised some time ago and although it was felt that anything that could help to reduce the constant speeding of vehicles through the village would be no bad thing there was concern that the appearance of a SID with electronic flashing lights would be the equivalent of introducing traffic lights and changing the appearance of this quintessential english village. At our last CATG meeting Cllr Mitchell took the opportunity to invite Wiltshire Councillor George Jeans to meet to discuss the complexities of installing a SID in our village.There are numerous issues we need to address. Where do we locate it/on council land or private/Power supply i.e. Battery, Solar, Electric. What type of SID would be best for our road i.e. Slow Down/Vehicle Speed/ Thank you/ Smiley Face.
We may also need public liability of £5m.More importantly, does it work? The consensus is that it works for the 1st week, loses its impact on the 2nd and is ignored on the 3rd. Council agreed we should defer for now, do a bit more research and review at a later date.
10. Green areas – Cllr Jones reported that the clean up for the best kept village had been a success, The hedges in the orchard had all been cut back. The lamppost had been painted and litter picked up. The new village bench had been installed. The application for best-kept village had been submitted. Judging will be mid May –mid June.
Cllr Allen presented the quote for the felling of the diseased willow tree on the village orchard. Cllr Mitchell asked if the tree was diseased. Cllr Allen stated that Jackie Carlyle-Clarke and Sue Smith on the task & finish group for the orchard had stated the tree was diseased and was dropping branches and that further decay was very likely. Planning had been obtained in the proper way. Council agreed to send £450 for tree felling with ‘Evans Above’. (Only 1 quote was obtained as it is below the SO amount of £500).
11. Footpaths. Cllr Jones will create a scheme for Tollard called ‘Adopt your favourite Footpath’. A list of all footpaths will be created and villagers who walk regularly asked to keep an eye on a particular route to report any issues. The 10 circular walks booklet is underway. Cllr Jones reported on the PIGS ‘paths improvement grant scheme’ – matched funding is available for any improvements. The fund may also support the printing and publication of the walks booklet. The footpath audit is underway.
12. Planning: The anticipated planning application for Upper Garden Cottage had not been formally received so this item was deferred- An extraordinary meeting will be called once the application has been received.
13. Exceptional Items: None
Confirm next meeting as 10th July 2017 at 7pm in The Old Cart Shed. Meeting date confirmed.
The meeting closed at 8:05 pm
Action list arising from the Parish Council Meeting on 8th May 2017
Willow tree – Arrange for tree felling with Evans Above spend of £450.00 – Notify villagers that they can collect any fire wood they want. Mulch to be used under hedgerow / KA / Evans Above emailed date confirmed as 31st May
Removal of Ivy round Telegraph pole - contact electricity board / GE
Purchase Barley Straw liquid for pond / KA / Purchased
Standing orders to be updated and published on website / KA / Done
Web Site to be updated / KA / Done
Accounts to be finalised and sent to Grant Thornton by 26th May / KA
Accounts to be published on Web Site / KA
Declaration of status of published account to be put on notice board along with the notice of date of commencement of the period for the exercise of public rights / KA / To put on notice board on 6th June
Induction for new councillor / KA
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8th May 2017 /Minutes Chair
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