Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Beech Parish Council

held in the Village Hall on Monday 19 MAY 2010

 

 

        PRESENT: 

         

                   Councillor Ian Gibson

                   Councillor Peter May (arrived after start of meeting)             

       Councillor Edward Neish

       Councillor David Woodroofe

       Mrs Sheron Gillard – Clerk to the Council                                       3 Members of the Public

 

 

10.01  ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

           Councillor Edward Neish indicated he would be prepared to stand as Chairman for a further year.

  Proposed by Ian Gibson and seconded by David Woodroofe.  There being no further nominations, it was

  unanimously agreed and RESOLVED: That Councillor Edward Neish be elected as Chairman.  Chairman Neish

  signed a declaration of acceptance of office.

 

10.02  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

           Apologies were received and accepted from Cllrs Anne Burridge and Gill Young.

 

10.03  ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

           Proposed by Edward Neish and seconded by David Woodroofe RESOLVED: That Councillor Peter May be

           elected as Vice-Chairman. 

 

10.04  APPOINTMENT  OF ADVISORY PANELS AND REPRESENTATIVES

  Unanimously RESOLVED: That the following advisory panels and representatives would remain as currently

  appointed until after co-option of new councillor:

 

Finance and General  Development &                      Highways and                        Community &

Purposes                     Planning Advisory Panel       Footpaths Advisory Panel     Environment      

Advisory Panel                                                                                                          Advisory Panel

To be appointed                    Ian Gibson                              Anne Burridge               Anne Burridge

as required.                           David Woodroofe                   Ian Gibson                     Ian Gibson

                                                                                             Peter May                      Peter May

                                                                                             Gill Young                     Gill Young                                                                             

Hampshire ALC/EHALC Representatives                                 

Gill Young

 

Financial Controls

Unanimously RESOLVED: That Councillor Peter May continue to have responsibility for Councils Internal Controls.                                                                                                 

 

Internal Auditor

Mrs Sandie Fisher to undertake internal audit of 2009-10 accounts but a new auditor would need to be appointed for 2010-2011 accounts.  It was hoped that another member of the village would be willing to carry out this work but if a volunteer cannot be found by September/October 2010, Council would consider requesting internal audit from the Hampshire ALC Audit Service.

 

10.05  CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

  The Minutes of the Council meeting held on 19 April 2010, copies of which had previously been circulated, were

  confirmed.  Chairman Edward Neish signed them as a true record.

 

10.06  DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

           a)     There were no declarations of interest.

           b)     EHDC Standards Bulletin (Issue 1) – NOTED.

 

10.07  REPORTS FROM ADVISORY PANELS AND ITEMS FOR REFERRAL

           I)   Finance and General Purposes Advisory Panel

                 Councillors Edward Neish, Peter May and Anne Burridge and the Clerk had met on 26 April to consider the

                 Annual             Accounts (see under Finance) and carried out a detailed review of Council’s Standing Orders and

                 Financial Regulations .  The panel put forward proposals for a number of changes to these documents, full                 

                 details of which would be circulated to all Councillors prior to the June meeting when these revisions would                 

                 be considered for adoption.

           II)  Development & Planning Advisory Panel

                 a) The Council considered one application.  Proposed, Seconded and RESOLVED that the comments of the

                      Council be forwarded to EHDC as follows:

                      i)  30797/017   Rear of 10 King’s Hill   Three dwellings and car parking following demolition of former agricultural buildings.      

                             OBJECT for the following reasons:-

                             1.         Increase in built area on previous permitted application 014

                             2.         Traffic generation– narrow, blind track not suitable for this level of site development

                             3.         Insufficient information regarding the disposal of surface water – BPC do not consider that the drainage proposals shown would be adequate to ensure surface water does

                                         not discharge onto highway.

                             4.         Lack of elevation details do not show relationship with adjoining properties or other

                                         buildings on site.

                             5.         Insufficient details relating to renewable/sustainable energy proposals

                             Comment:

                             Given the history of this site, BPC consider it prudent to request a detailed ground contamination           investigation.  The site is known to have been used for pig farming, car repair/paint

                             workshops and that asbestos sheeting was previously used on the buildings on site.

 

           (Standing Orders briefly suspended to allow member of the public to make comment.  Standing Order reinstated).

 

                 b)  Previous applications – EHDC Decisions NOTED:

                      i)     52230   The Coppice, 184 Medstead Road   Single storey extension to side, porches to front and rear            PERMITTED

                      ii)    28390/008   116 Medstead Road   Renewal of extant permission for dwelling with associated parking and access     PERMITTED

                                                                                                                           

            III)   Highways and Footpaths Advisory Panel:

                    a) SLRs – A meeting with HCC to discuss suitable sites in Beech, Bentworth and Medstead had been

                        arranged for Tuesday, 25 May at 10.00 am.  Councillor Ian Gibson to attend.

            IV)   Community and Environment Advisory Panel

                    a) Parish Plan

                        A second meeting had been held on 10 May, attended by 17 village members and Jo Dixon of Action

                        Hampshire and Linda Munday of EHDC who gave presentations and issued the group with the Community Toolkit/Planning Guide.  The group had received a grant of £750 through

                        Action Hampshire and would be applying for the same amount from EHDC.  The group appointed Saman Jayalath as Chairman and Malcolm Grace as Treasurer.  Council agreed to

                        make payments for hall hire from funds being held on group’s behalf.   The next meeting was planned for 17 June.

                   

10.08   FINANCE

            a)  Councillors Edward Neish, Peter May and Anne Burridge and the Clerk  had reviewed the Annual Accounts

                 for year ending 31 March 2010 which were presented to Council for approval.   Proposed Ian Gibson and

                 seconded David Woodroofe RESOLVED: That the Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2010

                 be approved. 

b)  Council completed the Annual Governance Statement which was then signed by Chairman Edward Neish and

     Responsible Finance Officer Sheron Gillard on behalf of the Council.

c)  Clerk to arrange with Mrs Sandie Fisher to undertake an Internal Audit using the ten key control tests as set

     out in Appendix 9 of the Governance and Accountability in Local Councils in England and Wales

     Practitioner’s Guide 2010.

d)  Responsibility for Internal Controls for 2010/11: Councillor Peter May had been appointed and was

     asked to undertake twice yearly checks along similar lines to 2009/10. 

e)  Chairman’s Allowance: Proposed by Ian Gibson and Seconded by Gill Young and RESOLVED that

     Chairman’s allowance for 10/11 be set at £200.00 to be drawn as required.

            f)  Payments authorised:                                                                                                                

                 Proposed Ian Gibson and Seconded by Peter May

                 RESOLVED:    i)     Broker Network Ltd (Aviva Insurance) - annual insurance policy     £270.70

                                         ii)    Mrs Sheron Gillard: Clerk’s Salary, Allowance and Administration

                                                Expenses (May 2010)                                                                        £476.48

                                         iii)   HCC - Pension Payments (employer’s & employee’s contribution for

                                                May 2010)                                                                                         £115.31

                                         iv)   Hampshire Association of Local Councils – photocopied

                                                publication ‘Governance and Accountability 2010’                               £7.50

                                         v)    NALC - LCR subscription (1 copy)                                                      £13.50

                                         vi)   Beech Village Hall (hall hire Apr-Jun 2010)                                        £45.00

 

10.09   EHDC COMMUNITY FORUMS

            Notification relating to imminent changes to forums in East Hampshire and future consultations had been

            previously circulated.  Chairman and Clerk had been invited to meet with the Leader, officers and District

            Ward councillor for more detailed discussions and would attend, if available.

                       

10.10   ANNUAL COUNTY SERVICE

            To be held on Sunday, 13 June in Winchester Cathedral.  No Councillors were available to attend.

 

10.11   EAST HAMPSHIRE PASSENGER TRANSPORT FORUM

            To be held at Alton Maltings on Friday, 21 May at 10.00 am.  No Councillors were available to attend a daytime

            meeting.

 

10.12   EHDC'S 2ND CLIMATE CHANGE SEMINAR

            To be held at Penns Place on 20th May, 6.30pm - 8.00pm.  No Councillors were available to attend.

 

10.13   REPORT FROM HAMPSHIRE ALC AND REPRESENTATIVES

            Next meeting of the District Association had been scheduled for 9 June at 7.30 pm at Liss Village Hall.  It was

            hoped that Councillor Gill Young would be able to attend.

 

10.14   TRAINING

            Code of Conduct training had been organised by EHDC.  Whilst not required by current Councillors, once

            Council had co-opted new Councillor, Clerk would source suitable training events.

                       

10.15   NEXT MEETING

   Confirmed that the next meeting of the Council would be held in the Village Hall on Monday, 21 June 2010 at

   7.30pm preceded by Parishioners’ Question Time at 7.15 pm. 

 

CLOSURE OF MEETING      

Chairman thanked all present for their attendance and closed the meeting at 8.35 pm.

 

                                                                  

 

signed: ...........................................................

                                                                                                         Chairman Beech Parish Council

date: 21  June 2010