MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF BISHOP'S HULL PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT THE FRANK BOND CENTRE ON THURSDAY, 28th MAY 2009
Present: Mr K Burgess (in the Chair)
Mrs J Beaumont
Mrs C Bulbeck
Mr G Everett
Mrs W Lewis
Mr R Porter
Mrs S Ravenhill
Mr N Roper
Mr E Rose
Mr M Summers
Cllr Ian Morrell was also in attendance.
E2058 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Kelly.
E2059 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN and VICE CHAIRMAN
On the nomination of Mr Porter, seconded by Mrs Bulbeck, Mr Burgess was elected as Chairman for the coming year.
On the nomination of Mr Rose, seconded by Mr Summers, Mr Porter was elected as Vice Chairman for the coming year.
Mr Burgess then took the Chair and thanked Mr Summers for his service as Chairman for the past four years. There had been some difficult times and he had steered the Council through some choppy waters. Mr Summers thanked everyone for their support during his time as Chairman. He was then presented with a leaving gift.
E2060 TAUNTON DEANE STANDARDS COMMITTEE
The Chairman welcomed Mr Bob Symons, from Taunton Deane Borough Council, to the meeting. He addressed members on the work of the Taunton Deane Standards Committee. There were three parish councillors and three Deane councillors on the committee, and their objective was to ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct and to raise awareness. The Code of Conduct applied to all members, and set out the high standards to be maintained. If the Code was contravened, there were sanctions which could be taken, including suspension, admonishment or training. The Committee was there to also help and advise, not just to apply draconian rules. A couple of local councillors had already fallen foul of the rules, and been give diversity training. Bob then answered some questions, mainly on when members needed to withdraw from discussion of an item in which they had an interest. Bob said that, if an interest had been recorded, it was up to members to use their discretion about whether to withdraw or not, but in general the safe rule was 'if in doubt', walk out'. He was thanked for his attendance and talk.
E2061 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd April 2009 were signed as a correct record.
E2062 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
E2038 - Freedom of Information - Mr Everett said that it may not be appropriate to put this on the noticeboards and website yet, and asked for the item to be put on the agenda for the next meeting.
Minute E2006 (dropped kerbs) Kate Morgan was waiting for instructions about this work as there had been some confusion about who was funding it. In view of the small cost, it was agreed to proceed and the Parish Council would pay if no funding was forthcoming from Cllr Paul from his community budget.
E2018 - Bridge in Pigs Loose Lane -the Clerk had still had no response from Di Hartnell about this bridge. It was thought that she was on leave. The Clerk would chase her up yet again.
E2037 - Village Website - this would now be on the agenda for the July meeting.
E2052 - Planning - the following applications had been GRANTED:-
05/09/008 - change of use from commercial to residential accommodation at former government offices, Roughmoor Farmhouse;
05/09/009 - single storey extension to rear of 6 Mountway Road;
05/09/010 - rear extensions at 40 Mountway Road;
05/09/011T - application to fell 7 cypress trees and one pine tree in the conservation area on land north of Northway Cottage;
05/09/012 - two storey extension at 59 Stonegallows.
Milligan Hall - David Galley, the Tree Technican from TDBC, had visited this property and inspected the trees. He thought that the new owners were preparing a long term management plan for the trees, and it was not necessary at this stage to protect any of the trees with TPOs. He should in any case automatically receive notification of any tree work, unless they were dead, dying or dangerous.
E2042 - Mountway Road - was due to be top-dressed imminently. The Clerk was asked to find out how far this dressing would go - to the bus gate, the cemetery or all the way to Wellington Road.
E2053 - Persimmon update - Cllr Morrell thought that this matter was due to come to the July Planning Committee, although he was still unclear about what was proposed in terms of S106 agreements. The Clerk was asked to pursue this urgently.
E2054 - Footpath T3/6 - the Clerk had received a response from SCC about this footpath, saying that negotiations with the landowner were still continuing. Meanwhile that section of the path remained closed.
E2057 - Tytherleigh Bridge - the response from the Bridge Maintenance Team Leader at SCC was that they knew about it and had immediately put up protective barriers, but they had a long list of bridges needing repair, and a limited budget. As the bridge was not dangerous, it took lower priority. The Council would be informed when the work was due to take place. It was suggested that the Clerk reply saying that what was needed was a solution to why the coping stones kept getting knocked off in the first place.
Cobbles at Netherclay - Roger Hagley (SCC) had confirmed that this work would take place in the Autumn and that the Parish Council would be making a financial contribution to this work. This had been confirmed at £3,000. The total cost of the job would be over £10,000, and Mr Hagley had said that he was chasing up funding from other sources. He may have to come back to the Council to see whether they could contribute any more.
Parking on Waterfield Drive - the situation there had improved somewhat, but there were still cars parked between the junctions with Silk Mills Road and Waterfield Close/Great Mead. It was agreed to ask the Police to look at it again, especially as the bus route had changed directions which aggravated the situation.
White van outside Malthouse Court - this had now gone.
Bench at Haydon Close - no more bricks had been thrown, but there was still a lot of litter. When the electricity works were completed, it might be possible to get the bench moved to the other patch of grass, opposite the bus stop. It would be necessary to check who owns the land.
E2063 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
Mr Porter had prepared the annual accounts in the correct format, based on the content of the Clerk's record of income and expenditure for the financial year ended 31st March 2009. He said that the accounts should be presented to the Council in that format in future, and all earmarked funds should be clearly shown.
The accounts for 2008/09 were agreed and signed off. A copy is attached to the signed copy of these minutes.
There was some discussion about the best way of showing depreciating assets. These had not been depreciated in the past, but the Clerk had produced a list of assets which the Council either owned or part-owned, having contributed to their purchase. These included benches, road signs, and the bronze plaques on the War Memorial. It was agreed to write these off, but all future purchases of any significance should be depreciated over 5 years. It was also agreed as a general rule not to insure assets, as the replacement cost was usually less than the insurance premium would be.
E2064 AUDIT
The Annual Return form required by the external auditors was considered. On Section 1, the statement of accounts, it was agreed to round the figures to the nearest £, not to the nearest £5 as had been done in previous years. This would lead to some differences and possibly some audit queries, but the Clerk would put explanations into a covering letter. The new figures were agreed. Explanations of any differences of more than 15% were given and would be put in a letter to the auditors.
Section 2 - the annual governance statement - all the sections were examined, and actions agreed as follows:-
Para 1 - the new format of the accounts had already been agreed.
Para 2 - internal controls had been approved during last year's audit but were due to be reviewed. Due to the length of today's agenda, it was proposed to review them at the meeting in July. It was agreed that between internal audits, a councillor would carry out random checks of invoices to ensure that they were being properly dealt with.
Para 3 - agreed.
Para 4 - opportunity for electors to comment - the correct procedures had been followed in this respect. However it was agreed that the Notice of Audit should be put on all three parish noticeboards, not just the main one by the Post Office in future.
Para 5 - fidelity insurance had been increased at renewal, as suggested by the auditors last year. In response to a question, the Clerk said that she had not done it earlier because the fidelity insurance had been adequate at the time. On renewal seemed the most apposite time to do it. There had been a request from the insurance company for quarterly bank reconciliations, but members agreed that this was over the top in terms of what was already being done. The Clerk was instructed to reply to the insurance company saying that the Council's internal controls were adequate and if they didn't like it, we would take our custom elsewhere.
Para 6 - internal audit had been carried out satisfactorily, but it was agreed that the Council should hear directly from the internal auditor in future, rather then him just reporting to the Responsible Financial Officer.
Paras 7 and 8 - this had been done.
Para 9 - not applicable.
Section 4 - the internal auditor's report - this was noted, but it was agreed to change NO in para F to Not Applicable as the Council did not hold a Petty Cash account.
With the above comments being taken into account, it was agreed that the Chairman could sign the form once the Clerk had made the changes and shown the form to the Vice Chairman.
E2065 RENEWAL OF SUBSCRIPTION
It was agreed to renew the Council's subscription to CPRE.
E2066 CHEQUES FOR AUTHORISATION AND SIGNATURE
The following cheques were presented and signed:-
S Watts - Clerk's salary and expenses for May £686.67
R Dezille - street cleaner's hours £360.00
R N Coombs (internal audit) £37.50
Allianz Insurance £421.47
CPRE subs £29.00
E2067 STREET CLEANER
It was agreed to postpone consideration of this matter until the next meeting.
E2068 PLANNING
The following planning application had been considered and no objections raised:-
25/09/006 - erection of four coach station platform on land adjacent to West Somerset Railway, Allerford Lane, Norton Fitzwarren
E2069 FOOTPATHS GROUP
Mr Burgess reported on the meeting of the Footpaths Group which had been held on 25th March. There were very few problems with the parish footpaths in general - the odd finger post missing or stile needed replacement. Some crop planting had taken place where the farmer was being asked to provide suitable alternative access. As reported previously, T3/6 was still seriously eroded and urgent action was needed.
E2070 REPORTS FROM OTHER BODIES
Local Action Team - Mr Burgess reported that Speedwatch was continuing - speeding had been recorded on Bishops Hull Hill and in Netherclay. There had been no progress with getting the speed limit on Silk Mills Road increased and it was thought that would be unlikely to happen. Motorists did appear to take notice of Speedwatch checks.
There was to be a VEG event on the field on 11th July - a 'Summer Sizzler' - which would require marshalling.
Youth - paintballing had been moved to a new location near Hestercombe, but there were still diary problems.
Police - crime levels were generally low, and included domestic incidents, rowdy behaviour and fly tipping.
E2071 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Thursday, 16th July 2009, at 7.30 p.m.
E2072 ITEMS OF REPORT
Somerset Wildlife Trust - a guided walk was to be held in the Community Woodland on 8th July.
Fideoak Mill - noted that this was up for sale.
CHAIRMAN