KING’S SOMBORNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held in the Epworth Hall commencing at 7.00pm on Monday 5 December 2016
Present: Cllr R Harwood (Chairman)
Cllr A Brock
Cllr R Curtis
Cllr F Fahy
Cllr K Hughes
Cllr R Sutton
In Attendance: Mr P J Storey (Clerk to King’s Somborne Parish Council)
Public Session
C/Cllr Gibson and Dr T Macintosh were present for part of the meeting. Cllr Gibson confirmed he was in contact with Hampshire Highways over improvements to the all-weather path and would look at the prospect of it being extended to connect with Lancaster Green. He was also reviewing the possibility of kerbing the bend in the Winchester Road adjacent to the stream to strengthen the bank.
Action: C/Cllr Gibson
Dr Macintosh briefed on the introduction of CCTV at the Village Hall and the anti-vandal paint on the drainpipes designed to deter access to the roof. There had also been a worrying incident with the Hall cleaner being frightened by youngsters following her from room to room albeit from outside the Hall and making unwelcome comments. The matter had been referred to the Police.
Mr Harwood also briefed on the damage to the cricket nets and store. Cllr Hughes agreed to contact the TVBC Wardens to seek their increased patrols and the Clerk would update the PCSO.
Action: Cllr Hughes and Clerk
179. Apologies for Absence
179.1 Cllrs Griffith, Lane and Whitehead; B/Cllr Ward.
180. Chairman’s announcements and Councillors’ questions
180.1 The Chairman thanked those who had attended the Remembrance Day Service at the War Memorial for joining with him. This had been the largest attendance for many years at the outside Service.
181. To accept the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 7 November 2016
181.1 Proposed Cllr Curtis, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2016 be accepted as a true record.
182. To consider any Matters Arising from those Minutes
182.1 Para 169.3 Purchase of Up Somborne BT box. Our wish to acquire the soon to be redundant BT telephone kiosk in Up Somborrne had been registered both by BT and TVBC planners.
183. Declarations of Interest and requests for Dispensations
183.1 Cllrs Fahy and Harwood declared an interest in the charges for use of the cricket field at Item12 and did not vote on this item.
184. To consider Correspondence Received and determine any action required
184.1 TVBC had written thanking us for our community’s contribution to their recycling effort. Over the 12 months to March 2016, 40.09 tonnes of glass had been collected for recycling.
185. To receive minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 7 and 21 November 2016
185.1 The minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 7 and 21 November 2016 had been circulated with the agenda.
185.2 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 7 and 21 October 2016 be received and accepted.
186. Councillors’ Reports
186.1 Cllr Sutton reported that only another 30 signatures were required for Virgin Media to install superfast Broadband in the local communities and it was anticipated that connection would be available from the Summer of 2017.
186.2 Cllr Hughes proposed that the Council had a stall at the Horticultural Show on 22 July 2017 at which councillors could be available to meet the public and also members of the NDP Steering Group could update on the Neighbourhood Development Plan, as necessary; this idea was supported.
186.3 Cllr Hughes also updated councillors on the installation of the bug house at the Old Palace Farm entrance to 3 Fields which the children would monitor and maintain. Some seeds had been planted along the side of the path and later next year some work would be done on the biodiversity site. She would arrange for an information sign to be displayed nearby to encourage interest in developments.
Action: Cllr Hughes
186.4 Cllr Brock briefed on progress being made by SSE in upgrading the power supply. Work was in hand along Chalk Vale reaching King’s Somborne early next year. The recent power outage was due to loose wires overhead wires touching in the wind causing a short. The incidence of this would reduce in future as some of the supply lines would be undergrounded and others routed in a straight line where-ever possible. Both he and the Clerk had attended a session with SSE customer relations to look at ways the company could improve its service and a number of suggestions had been made following our recent experiences. Finally, Cllr Brock confirmed that the draft transfer agreement with Fields in Trust for the transfer of the recreation ground to the Parish Council was nearly completed.
187. To receive the RFO’s Report and Budget Monitoring
187.1 Some tree work was necessary on a tree on the perimeter of the Scout’s complex for which they had insufficient funds to pay and intended to seek a grant from the Council. In view of the urgency of the work, it was thought exceptionally that a grant could be made before receipt of the application form.
187.2 Proposed Cllr Hughes, Seconded Cllr Curtis, RESOLVED with four votes for and two abstentions that a grant of £250 be made to the Scouts to enable some essential tree work to be undertaken.
187.3 A budget monitoring report had been circulated with the agenda papers.
187.4 Proposed Cllr Hughes, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED unanimously that the Budget Report be accepted as tabled.
188. Payment of Accounts
188.1 Proposed Cllr Hughes, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED unanimously that the following accounts for November 2016 be approved for payment:
To For Net VAT Gross Chq/Internet
Mr P Storey Salary/expenses 919.32 2.58 921.90 Int
HMRC Tax/NIC 410.84 410.84 Int
Legal & General Staff pension 37.82 37.82 DD
SLCC Subscription 149.00 149.00 Int
M J Ellis Seat fixings 25.00 5.00 30.00 Int
Wellers Hedleys Land transfer fees 384.00 76.80 460.80 Int
Mr M Rebbeck Grounds maint 240.00 240.00 Int
Totals 2165.98 84.38 2250.36
189. To adopt the Precept and Expenditure Budget proposals for 2017-18
189.1 A draft Expenditure Budget and Precept had been circulated with the agenda. It was thought appropriate to consider a small increase of 1.99% in the Precept which on current rates would produce an extra £658 next year.
189.2 Proposed Cllr Curtis, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED with Cllrs Harwood and Hughes voting against that the Council adopted an Expenditure Budget of £39,418 and a Precept of £33,698 for 2017-18 with the difference being met from other income and reserves, as necessary.
189.3 A copy of the adopted Expenditure Budget and Precept is attached to these minutes.
190. Recreation Ground hire charges for 2017-18
190.1 With the increasing costs of grounds maintenance, it was thought appropriate to increase most of the current charges for next year. (Current charges in parenthesis)
190.2 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that the hire charge to the school for use of the recreation ground which now included the multi-use games area be increased to £250pa. (£185).
190.3 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Fahy, RESOLVED unanimously that the hire charge for use of the football pitch by each of the user clubs be increased to £150pa. (£115).
190.4 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Hughes, RESOLVED with Cllrs Harwood and Fahy abstaining (personal interests) that the hire charge for use of the cricket pitch be increased to £115pa. (£100).
190.5 Proposed Cllr Sutton, Seconded Cllr Harwood, RESOLVED unanimously that the hire charge for use of the recreation ground by the dog trainers be increased to £50pa. (£20).
190.6 No increase was to be levied on the Pre-School hire charge (£55) and there would continue to be no charge for casual users of the recreation grounds.
191. Burial Board fees and charges for 2017-18
191.1 The Clerk would table fees charged by TVBC to enable a decision to be made on our fees and charges at the next meeting.
Action: Clerk
192. Meeting dates for 2017
192.1 The proposed meeting dates for 2017 were tabled and noted.
193. Replacement play equipment at Up Somborne
193.1 Following the recent safety inspection of the Up Somborne play equipment, it had become necessary to modernise the Hoggs Back climbing frame and replace the junior slide. The Hoggs Back replacement cost amounted to £1,374.69 ex VAT of which C/Cllr Gibson had kindly contributed £750 and B/Cllr Ward had been asked for £500; a decision on this was awaited. The lowest quote for removing the current slide, installing a new one of similar design and making good the safety surface, was £4,191.96 ex VAT and a bid had been submitted to TVBC to have this cost met from S106 developers’ contributions held by TVBC on our behalf; a decision was awaited.
193.2 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Hughes, RESOLVED unanimously that improvements costing £1,374.69 ex VAT be made to the Hoggs Back climbing frame and that a replacement junior slide be installed costing £4,191.96 ex VAT in the Up Somborne play area funded by external grants where possible.
Action: Clerk
194. Data Protection Policy
194.1 A draft Data Protection Policy had been circulated with the agenda. Such a policy was deemed necessary to protect councillors in the performance of their duties.
194.2 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that the draft Data Protection Policy be adopted, as tabled. Cllr Whitehead would be requested to implement and allocate personalised e-mail addresses.
Action: Cllr Whitehead
195. Current Resilience Planning
195.1 Following the recent loss of electricity for up to 9 hours in many parts of the local area, it was opportune to review those aspects of the Community Resilience Plan covering this type of emergency. The most telling lesson to come out of the situation was the need to be able to identify those who were vulnerable in the event of loss of electricity. It was proving difficult to obtain the willingness of qualified residents to acknowledge their vulnerability but the Clerk would continue to use local knowledge and a personal approach to encourage those eligible to sign up to the SSE and Southern Water’s Priority Services Registers. (More information and registration forms available from each of the company’s websites). Meanwhile, the emergency kits provided by TVBC were being distributed by the Clerk to those most in need.
Action: Clerk
196. Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) progress
196.1 Cllr Brock briefed on the progress to date regarding preparation of the NDP, in particular, the need for a housing needs survey to identify the potential need for additional housing in the Parish. The questions to be aske in the survey were being finalised with TVBC and it was anticipated that the survey would be distributed in the immediate future. It was important that a representative response was achieved to provide meaningful statistics and to this end volunteers would distribute and likely collect completed forms.
197. Clerk’s monthly report
197.1 The Village Hall and the recreation ground shared a common water supply pipe which had proven faulty over recent months. Southern Water had now remedied this situation and had been requested
to cease reading the second meter serving the recreation ground thus achieving a small saving by abolition of the standing charged. KSPC would, in future, reimburse the Village Hall for any water consumed by the recreation ground.
197.2 Hampshire Highways had completed replenishment of all the salt/grit bins in the Parish and advised that given the 50/50 mix of salt and grit, one tablespoonful, around 20 grams, was sufficient to treat one square metre of road or pavement, thus a full bin could treat a substantial area.
198. Date, time and place of next meeting
198.1 The next meeting would be on Monday 9 January 2017 at 7.00pm in the Epworth Hall, Winchester Road, King’s Somborne.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.30pm
INCOME and EXPENDITURE BUDGET 2017 -18
Budget
Income
Precept 33698
Interest Received 70
Interment 2000
Memorials 1200
Purchased Graves 1800
Sports Field 650
Grants/Donations 0
Total Income 39418
Expenditure
General Administration
Clerk’s Remuneration NIC 14400
Office Expenses 1400
Insurance 1698
Audit 950
Subscriptions 750
Courses 200
Facility Hire 600
Election costs 0
Councillors’ Expenses 100
Sub Total 20098
Community Services & Projects
Communications/S137 1000
Parish Clock 310
Vandalism repairs 1200
Grant Aid 1800
Maintenance/dog bins 2000
Biodiversity 250
Sub Total 6560
Burial Board
Cemetery maint 1750
General maintenance 400
Church Yard 1500
Sub Total 3650
Open Spaces
3 Fields 2000
Village Green 750
Muss Lane 200
Up Somborne Rec 500
King’s Somborne Rec 2500
Sub Total 5950
Amenities
Play equipment maint 1500
Community safety/SID 1500
Street lighting 60
MUGA maint 100
Sub Total 3160
Non-budget items
Legal fees 0
NDP costs 0
Sub Total 0
Total Expenses 39418