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East Dean Parish Council Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 16th September 2009 at 8.15 pm in St. Winfrid's Church, East Dean. Welcome RN welcomed everyone to the meeting. Present Richard Newton, RN (Chair), Phil Stone, PS (Vice Chair), Jan Barker, JB, (councillor),Andrew Sillence, AS,(councillor), Mark Barrow, MB, (councillor), Helen Wheelwright, HW, (clerk), Trevor Kill, TK, (tree warden) and one member of the public. None - Open Forum
One member of the public enquired who is responsible for the stile on the east side of Holbury Lane, as the stile seems to have broken. It was agreed to pass this query on to the Footpath rep, Rob Dodd. Action: Clerk - Declarations of Interest
None - Minutes of last meeting 23.07.09
Minutes of the last meeting on 11/03/09 were agreed and signed by the chairman as a correct record. - Playing Field: No Reply from new owners.
AS has removed the council sign as agreed and as the owners have not replied, AS has looked into the possibility of mowing the grass. If he acquires a larger mower, he may be able to mow it. - Adoption of Paragraph 12 (2) of the Model Code as contained in the Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) Order 2007.
It was agreed to adopt Paragraph 12(2) of the Model Code, which will allow a councillor who has a prejudicial interest to speak about the issue in Open Forum. - Review of Training and This year's Training Needs. (See email"Training Needs of 27/08/09)
RN and JB returned their Questionnaires. It was agreed that the other councillors should return their questionnaire to the clerk in the next few weeks so that the matter can be discussed at the next PC meeting. Action: PS, AS and MB - Neighbourhood Watch Scheme
The clerk reported that she had spoken to the local coordinator, Ken Parker about setting up a scheme. It was agreed that the PC should advertise for Co-ordinators in the next PC newsletter. It was also agreed the clerk should order new signs or overlays as appropriate and try and get a delivery of NHW newsletters to go out with the PC Newsletter. RN agreed to put up the new signs. Action: Clerk and RN - Calor Gas Village of the year Competition: Who will pick up the award and attend HALC AGM afterwards?
It was agreed that RN would attend the award ceremony and AGM on 10th October. AS to ask AW if she would like to attend also. RN thanked PS for organising the competition entry and HW and AS for attending judge's visit. Action : RN and AS - Chronicle 2010
JB reported that seven people were interested in forming a working party to produce the Chronicle. Rob Dodd will kindly redo the map. It was agreed that the PC should apply to Andrew Gibson for a grant and JB to take charge of costing the project. JB will send AG a book and a map. Clerk to ask AG for application form. Action: JB and clerk - Roads, Footpaths and Traffic
RN reported that the road is going to be resurfaced very shortly. He will mail HCC to summarise the problems with drainage, stressing the problems with flooding by the church and the fact that some of these problems had been caused by resurfacing. Andrew Gibson is also pursuing the issue of quality control at county level. Action:RN - Clerk's Update: Village Tidy Up and Hall Committee Meeting
The clerk reported that the Village tidy up had been successful although there was not enough manpower to cover the stretch from the Musson's house to Lockerley Green. She thanked all those who had attended. It was agreed that the clerk should contact those who had offered to help, but been unable to help on the day, to ask them to cover this area. The clerk also reported back from the Lockerley and East Dean Village Hall Committee. The PC was pleased to hear of the opening of the Lockerley Cafe and the relocation of Acorn Community Pre School. The hall committee are planning to renovate the kitchen soon. Action: Clerk - Welcome to the New Tree Warden
RN welcomed the new tree warden, Trevor Kill to the meeting. Trevor raised several issues. Mr and Mrs Wells want permission to prune their tree. It was agreed that as there is no Tree Preservation on the tree, no permission is needed to go ahead. Secondly Trevor raised the issue of sight lines being obstructed by trees at the exit to Glebe Meadow. It was agreed that the clerk should write to Testway Housing to ask for permission to cut back the trees to the right of the exit back and RN to talk to the owner of the hedge on the other side. It was agreed that the third issue was a matter for neighbours to discuss but RN agreed to talk to the involved persons informally. Action: Clerk - Content of Next Newsletter
The content of the next Newsletter was agreed. Action: Clerk - Accounts
The current a/c has £1816.78 and the deposit a/c has £636.98 in credit. - b. Cheque Payments Authorised
16th September,HALC for Quality Course, £15.00 16th September, Helen Wheelwright, salary 19.7.09-12.09.09, £276.32 16th September, Helen Wheelwright, reimbursement for photocopying, £11.50 16th September, Audit Commission, 2008/9 Audit fee, £57.50 - c. Internal and External Audit: Discussion of Auditors' recommendations
The council discussed the internal Auditor's report. Items a-d were mistakes which were noted. The Council agreed with the auditor over Item e, this was a one off blip due to change of clerks and the fact that payment now comes two months in arrears instead of six months in arrears. Thus five extra months' salary came out of our funds last financial year. This is not likely to reoccur in the future. On Points g and h it was agreed that the clerk should continue using the spreadsheet for the council cashbook but that the Receipts and Payments Book would be included in the next internal Audit to allow the auditor the opportunity to make comparisons with previous years. As regards the External Audit the clerk was pleased to announce that the Auditor had given the Council an Unqualified opinion. However the auditor advised that the Council has low working balances. This was something which was noted when the Council set the budget last November and the Council is already taking every possible action to increase reserves. The clerk has published the Conclusion of Audit Notice on all notice boards. - Correspondence
· Correspondence Bag JB presented the Council with a beautiful new Correspondence bag for which she was heartily thanked. The clerk urged all councillors to pass on the bag asap so that all councillors have a chance to read the correspondence before returning it at the next meeting. - Open Forum
Alex Walker sent her thanks for the Council's contribution to the Lockerley School Play Scheme - Date of Next Meeting
To avoid the late meetings on Wednesday nights it was agreed to change the date of the next meeting to Tuesday, November 10th at 7.30 p.m. The following meeting was fixed for Tuesday, 12th January at 7.30 p.m. Clerk to notify church wardens. Action: Clerk The meeting closed at 9.40 p.m.
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