Parish Council Meeting Minutes: Monday 11th May 2020

Minutes of Parish Council  meeting on Monday 11th May 2020 at 8:00 pm via ZOOM
Present: Mr Dinsdale, Mr Dalton, Mrs Mallows, Mrs Edwards, Mrs Glasse, Mr Oliver, Mr Watterson and, in the Chair, Mr Prince.

Annual Meeting and Parish Meeting Update
There is no requirement to hold an annual meeting – Regulation 4 – this provides that where an appointment would otherwise be made or is required to be made at an annual meeting of a local authority, the appointment continues until the next annual meeting of the authority or until such time as that authority may determine (Regulation 4 (2). This would apply to the election of the chairman, the first business at the annual council meeting.  Therefore, the current chairman will remain in place until an annual meeting is held (possibly next year) unless the council decide to elect a replacement earlier.

Changes to regulations state that parish councils in England are included within the definition of “local authority” in the 2020 Regulations.  Parish meetings are not included within the definition however, unlike Parish Council meetings, there is nothing permitting Parish meetings to take place remotely and the current Government guidance means that parish meetings cannot take place in person.  We have therefore circulated the Parish meeting minutes via Eversden online and they will be available on the website.

Apologies for Absence from Mrs Handley.

Declarations of interest:  Mrs Glasse declared an interest in the Item 7

Approve Minutes of the Full Council on 17th February; Planning meeting on 16th March;   Full Council on 30th March 2020; Planning meeting on 20th April and Planning on 4th May 2020;

The above meetings were approved as true and accurate records.  They will be signed off by the Chair once social distancing has been relaxed.

Open Forum for Public Participation.  There were no members of the public present remotely.

Matters Arising & Clerks Report

    1. Fossey Trust: The Clerk had given Taylor Vinters authority to proceed and this could take 6/8 weeks.
    2. Footpath 25 Update: Footpath 25 goes east from the end of St Helen’s churchyard across the corner of the lawn of the occupiers of No 15. There is currently disagreement regarding the line of the footpath and Mr Dalton has referred to the Rights of Way Officer for response.
    3. Planning Container at VH Update: The Clerk received an email this afternoon regarding the application which she is following up to ensure all paperwork and payment is correct.
    4. Update on Online Banking: Despite receiving online banking authorisation, this was invalid as the bank account requires two signatory’s authorisation.  Mrs Glasse said that the Recreation Ground also used Santander online banking so suggested the Clerk speak to Mrs Coyle.
    5. Update on Parish Insurance:  The premium has now been paid at a cost of £1688.87.

Recreation Ground and Village Hall meeting minutes
Both sets of minutes had been circulated.  Mr Prince apologised for his involvement in the roundabout negotiations, he thought that it was the end of the line for the roundabout and that it would be dug up and didn’t want to see that happen.  It was agreed that a new safety surface would be needed and ROSPA involvement and that it would revisited once social distancing was relaxed.

The Recreation Committee asked that it be minuted to avoid any confusion that they did not understand the comment that within the Village Hall minutes “the Rec Committee would not work with think tank”.  Again, this can be revisited once life returns to normality.

Annual Governance and Accountability Return
The Clerk informed the meeting that due to Covid 19 the dates had been set back for the Annual Return.  It now had to be submitted to PKF Littlejohn by 31st July and the public consultation will be 30th September.

It was agreed the Clerk would get quotations from Internal Auditors following the sad loss of Tony Richford.

Allotment Insurance
Mr Prince asked the PC if they would consider paying an annual grant for the allotment public liability and accident insurance at of cost of £163.15 for the year from 30 March 2020.  The allotments are not financially sustainable on subscription only. The revenue is about £250 per year which means they have to save up for 2 years plus to carry out basic tree pruning and certainly cannot afford a water supply. The lack of public insurance would prove problematic in trying to maintain the facility.    The allotments provide a resource for 15 parish members on 10 plots.

The Parish Council agreed to unanimously approve this payment.

No planning applications had been received.

Finance
Clerks Payment: K Easey                                                           £524.62
Reimbursement of Electrical Work for Defib for VH           £48.00
Reimbursement of Defibrillator for VH                                    £1336.80

The Clerks payment was approved.

It was minuted that on this occasion the Council were non-compliant as the purchase was not approved and voted on by the Council.  Quotes had been obtained and the best price chosen and ordered given the urgency of installation before the Covid 19 lockdown.  However, the cost for the device and parts for installation were under the budget previously approved by a PC resolution.  The Defibrillator payments were therefore approved.

We had been offered a donation towards the cost of the defibrillator.  The Clerk will contact the resident.

Due to social distancing the Chair had signed an extra 5 cheques, numbers 22243-22247.  Once the two approved payment have been paid from this meeting there will 3 blank cheques remaining; numbers 22245, 22246 and 22247.

Correspondence
Royston & District Community Transport (RDCT) had asked for funding from the Parish Council.  The Council asked the Clerk to investigate if RDCT provided transport in the village before making a decision.

The Clerk had received an email from Peter Mallows indicating there are several dead branches in the tree behind the village sign which could be dangerous if they break, especially as it is overhanging the footpath and the seat.  There are also some very large branches overhanging the road, and several branches are intertwined and will break in time.  It was agreed the Clerk would obtain 3 quotation for the tree work.

The Clerk had been asked about the security of Zoom and whether calls were recorded.  Mrs Edwards confirmed that it could be recorded by the host but it was apparent if a third party were present.

County & District Councillor Reports:
Cllr Lina Nieto attended via Zoom.  She said due to the amount of information currently online she was trying not to bombard councils with information.  She wanted to thank communities on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council for the work that is currently happening for all those shielding or self-isolating.

She informed the Council that applications were being taken for a share of the £5m community capital fund; recycling centres have reopened and Highways officers redeployed to help with other things.

She informed us that the A603 will be included in transport development fund; Mr Dinsdale wanted to minute his thanks to Cllr Nieto for her help with this.

Mr Prince asked for the Eversdens to be remembered in the £22bn for cycle paths and Cllr Nieto informed us this was in hand!

Mrs Glasse asked that Cllr Nieto passed on thanks to the Covid 19 Coordination Hub as she was very impressed with their efforts.

Next meetings: Planning, if required, Monday 1st June 2020 and Full Parish Council on Monday 15th June 2020.

The Chair closed the meeting at 8.56 pm.

 

 


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