KING’S SOMBORNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held in the Epworth Hall commencing at 7.00pm on Monday 12 June 2017
Present: Cllr R Lane (Chairman)
Cllr A Brock
Cllr R Harwood
Cllr R Sutton
Cllr S Whitehead (paras 92 to 105.1)
In Attendance: Mr P J Storey (Clerk to King’s Somborne Parish Council)
Public Session
Mr Dyke (Open Spaces warden) and C/Cllr Gibson were present for part of the meeting.
C/Cllr Gibson would review and update members on progress being made or not on those matters of general concern, in particular, the stream haunching and speeding on local roads, and report back at the next meeting.
At closure of the public session, the meeting was not quorate but in view of the matters needing to be determined Cllr Lane proposed and Cllr Harwood seconded that Standing Orders on being quorate be set aside for the time being. This was agreed.
89. Apologies for Absence
89.1 Cllrs Hughes and Griffith; also B/Cllr Ward. Cllr Curtis not present.
90. Chairman’s announcements and Councillors’ questions
90.1 The Chairman reported that Cllr Fahy had tendered his resignation on grounds of health and family pressures. He would formally acknowledge Cllr Fahy’s contribution to the Parish in general and the Council in particular and wish him well in the future.
Action: Cllr Lane
91. To accept the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 8 May 2017
91.1 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Harwood, RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2017 be accepted as a true record.
Cllr Whitehead arrived at this point and the meeting was henceforth quorate
92. To consider any Matters Arising from those Minutes
92.1 Para 74.1 Cllr Sutton was still awaiting a set of terms, conditions and costs for the new website for acceptance by the Council.
Action: Cllr Sutton
92.2 Para 75.2 All councillors had confirmed their current declarations and TVBC had been notified accordingly.
92.3 Para 76.1 The Eldon Road petition for speed limitations had stalled for want of positive support from TVBC/HCC.
92.4 Para 78.3 A technical hitch with Virgin’s website meant that prospective Broadband customers currently had to complete a paper sign up. A one-off fee of £300 would be required before Virgin would agree installation and a minimum of 150 customers was required. Given the number of previous expressions of interest, this number was thought easily attainable. Virgin would be present at the forthcoming Fun Day on 22 July 2017 and installation could be before the yearend.
92.5 Para 78.5 All Parish notice boards were now open to the public to display notices of general interest on them but with priority being given to Parish notices.
92.6 Para 87.2 In view of the high costs required by the Police to provide a dedicated PCSO for the Parish, no further action would be taken on this matter at this time.
93. Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensations
93.1 None declared or sought.
94. To consider Correspondence Received and determine any action required
94.1 Test Valley School had invited a representative to attend their annual prize giving on 30 November 2017; Cllr Curtis would attend.
94.2 As in past years, a grant was considered to sponsor some prizes.
94.3 Proposed Cllr Whitehead, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that £75 be granted to sponsor prizes at the Test Valley School annual awards ceremony.
95. To receive minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 22 May 2017
95.1 The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 22 May 2017 had been circulated with the agenda.
95.2 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Lane, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 22 May 2017 be received and accepted.
96. Councillors’ Reports
96.1 Cllr Harwood expressed his pleasure at the high standard of cricket outfield maintenance by the TVBC grass cutting team; the Clerk would relay this to TVBC.
Action: Clerk
96.2 Cllr Whitehead drew councillors’ attention to the expiry of the current website’s associated security systems and emphasised the need for the new website to be set up soon to avoid expending a further year’s costs on security. This was noted.
96.3 Cllr Brock confirmed that all action was now complete on the land title transfer between Fields in Trust and the Parish Council and that the Clerk had formally notified the Scouts that the Council was now their landlord. Cllr Brock had also been approached by the Save Our Sombornes campaign group to seek help from the Community Speedwatch volunteers in concentrating on traffic volumes on Eldon Road and nearby to build up a database on traffic volume for use in a possible appeal by Gladman Developments; this would be done. He also commented that traffic regulation orders specifying the size of vehicle which could use some of the local roads were still awaiting signature although many of the related signs had already been installed.
96.4 Cllr Sutton was now co-ordinating action on the various concerns relating to speeding vehicles especially along Old Vicarage Lane at peak travel times in an effort to have some physical restrictions installed.
97. To receive the RFO’s Report and Budget Monitoring
97.1 A budget monitoring report had been circulated with the agenda papers. This was noted.
97.2 Councillors noted the average national Band D council tax rate to be £61.03 compared with the local rate of £69.53.
98. Payment of Accounts
98.1 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Harwood, RESOLVED unanimously that the following accounts for May 2017 be approved for payment:
To For Net VAT Gross Chq/Internet
Mr P Storey Salary/expenses 750.76 750.76 Int
HMRC Tax/NIC 429.66 429.66 Int
Legal & General Staff pension 58.39 58.39 DD
Toolsonhire Ltd Generator 3697.40 973.00 4670.40 Int
Complete Weed Ltd KS rec 432.90 86.58 519.48 Int
HPFA Subscription 40.00 40.00 Int
KSVH IT hire 32.00 32.00 Int
Barker & Geary Fence repairs 55.62 11.12 66.74 Int
Mr M Rebbeck Grounds maint 510.00 510.00 Int
BT Tele box purchase 1.00 1.00 1816
Totals 6007.73 1070.70 7078.43
99. Grant Aid application from Victim Support
99.1 Victim Support Hampshire had applied for a grant of £50 to help offset their running costs; help had been provided to 19 local residents in 2016.
99.2 Proposed Cllr Sutton, Seconded Cllr Lane, RESOLVED unanimously that £50 be granted to Victim Support to help offset their running expenses.
100. Councillor appointments revision
100.1 It was necessary to review councillor appointments for 2017 as a result of Cllr Fahy’s resignation. As a result, it was decided not to earmark a councillor with particular responsibility for CPRE liaison and to approach Cllr Hughes, who already sat on the Village Hall management committee, to represent the Parish Council at the same time.
Action: Clerk
101. Village Hall extension plan
101.1 Councillors noted the plans to extend the Village Hall to accommodate the Pre-School.
102. Recreation ground marked car parking slots
102.1 As part of the Village Hall’s plans to extend the building, thought was being given to incorporating marked car parking slots, including two for disabled parking, on land immediately in front of the Hall. The management committee had expressed the hope that the Parish Council would adopt a
plan to mark out slots on the remainder of the current hard surface to assist more motorists to park in the available space. A previous exercise had identified the potential for 50 marked slots including those adjacent to the Village Hall. Whilst recognising the benefits of marked slots, there
was a increasing need to resurface half the length of the approach slip road and councillors thought it appropriate to combine the two requirements. The Clerk would investigate further.
Action: Clerk
103. Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) progress
103.1 Cllr Brock reported that Steering Group members continued with drafting and editing the NDP. A public consultation on the draft would be held in late July and the Steering Group would have a presence at the Fun Day on 22 July 2017.
104. Clerk’s monthly report
104.1 The Clerk had signed the necessary sale paperwork for the acquisition of the redundant telephone kiosk in Up Somborne. BT would now disconnect the facility and it would be for local residents to determine a future use for the kiosk.
Action: Cllr Lane
104.2 The John O’Gaunt field lease with TVBC was overdue renewal and the Borough Council was working on this. However, there was a view that if the Parish Council could acquire ownership of the land it would help protect it from future alternative uses. Although TVBC had a current policy of not disposing of land, it was thought appropriate to invite the new property portfolio holder and the new council leader to a future meeting to explore the possibilities.
Action: Clerk
104.3 The Clerk had been approached with a view to installing a new seat at the top of the cricket outfield and also in the Muss Lane open space.
104.4 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that two new seats be purchased for installation in the Muss Lane open space and at the top of the cricket outfield.
104.5 Replacement work continued on rotted fencing around the open spaces in the Parish.
105. Date, time and place of next meeting
105.1 The next meeting would be held on Monday 3 July 2017 at 7.00pm in the Epworth Hall, Winchester Road, King’s Somborne.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 7.55pm