AVENING PARISH
COUNCIL
MINUTES OF
MEETING OF AVENING PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON
THURSDAY 19th
July, 2012 AT 7.30 PM
The following Councillors were
in attendance:
Cllr Williamson (Chair), Cllr Catterall, Cllr Slater, Cllr Reid, Cllr Conway.
Also in attendance: Julie Wickham, temporary Clerk
to the Parish Council. Deborah Cook, permanent Clerk to Parish Council.
The meeting opened at 7.30pm
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PUBLIC
QUESTION TIME |
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Dog Faeces at the Recreation
Ground ·
A member of the public came to the meeting to
report that two children aged 15months and 5 years had been covered in dog
faeces at the recreation ground. In total there were 9 piles of dog faeces in
the area, all appearing to be from the same dog. The resident is not against dogs but felt
that something needed to be done. ·
The Chair of the Avening Playing Field
Association (APFA) explained that in order to play quick cricket recently they
had to do a clean- up of the area.
They now play elsewhere. The
previous work in The Villager and at the school had helped but the effect was
short lasting. The Chair of APFA
called for a complete ban on dogs at the recreation ground. ·
The Clerk had received an email
from a member of the public stating that a ban was heavy handed. ·
All agreed it was a few
irresponsible dog owners who spoiled it for the others. ·
The Chair was minded to hold a
public meeting in future to discuss the options. Telephone
Boxes and Use of them ·
Miss Nanette Godfrey of Nags Head had noted the
use of a phone box in Chedworth as a book exchange and wondered whether
Avening could do the same. Ideally she
would like to see some metal shelving in the phone box with books placed for
informal loan. Miss Godfrey had asked
most of the residents of Nags Head and of the ones she had asked, all were in
favour. She offered to keep an eye on
the area and monitor its use to ensure it was appropriate. In addition to
this request Council had also received a similar request for Avening. ACTION Clerk to put the two people in
touch with each other and add to September Agenda. Land
at the back of Sunground Helen
Wilson is interested in becoming a Councillor should a vacancy arise. In
addition Helen spoke to Council about
land at the back of Sunground, Avening.
ACTION This item will be
added to the September Agenda. |
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TO RECEIVE A
REPORT ABOUT CRIME AND ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR |
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Council
received a police report from the Police Team. Crime figures had shown a reduction this
year by comparison to the same period last year. |
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APOLOGIES
AND REASONS FOR ABSENCE |
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Apologies
and reasons for absence were received from Councillors Mitchell, G Parsons, J
Parsons, and Beardsell. |
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TO RECEIVE
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST |
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There
were no declarations of interest received. |
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MATTERS
ARISING FROM THE MINUTES |
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For
the June minutes, Councillor Beardsell was in attendance. The
minutes should have shown a resolution to pay £250 to the Parochial Church
Council for the Bumper edition of the Villager. The minutes were annotated and signed to
this effect. |
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TO APPROVE
AND SIGN THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL 21st June
2012 and also of the Annual Parish Meeting held 31st May 2012. |
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With
the addition of the points above it was RESOLVED
to accept and sign the minutes of 21st June 2012. There were no amendments to the draft
minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of 31st May, 2012 which will
be signed next year. |
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ACTION
POINTS FOR REVIEW |
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39/12
all were in receipt of Parish Maps with the exception of Councillor John
Catterall. ACTION Clerk to send him the email. 40/12
The Clerk had spoken with Mr Wheatley who had said that he would like to see
the reinstatement of the Reading Room and additional more efficient storage
would be explored. Mr Wheatley hoped
that work would commence on this over the summer. 43/12
All to contact Wales and West Utilities if they are concerned about gas leaks
in and around the village. Wales
and West Utilities emergency gas number is 0800 111999 or for general
enquiries please call 0870 165 0597. The
details of the third contractor quoting for work on Mays Lane Bus Shelter had
been sent to Councillors. The
filing cabinet for the permanent Clerk was in hand. |
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TO RECEIVE
PROGRESS REPORTS FOR INFORMATION a)
Temporary Clerk’s Report
The
temporary Clerk had been doing the work necessary on distributing the grants
this month as well as the usual monthly tasks. She was in receipt of a finance sheet from
the Avening Silver Band who have modest sums in the bank. A grant application form had been received
from the Youth Club. The PCC have
submitted quotes for work on the walls which are boundary walls to the
Churchyard, near the area ashes are scattered. The retrospective grant for the flag pole
is on the agenda. b)
Permanent Clerk’s Report The
Clerk had attended the CILCA (Certificate in Local Council Administration)
training course and set a deadline of
March 2013 to attempt to complete it so allowing the Council to then
utilise the General Power of Competence. The
Clerk had been made Treasurer of the Gloucestershire and South
Gloucestershire Branch of SLCC. |
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COMMUNITY
PROJECTS |
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Traffic and
Highways a)
To agree upon the specification for maintenance
of Avening’s bus shelters and to resolve to obtain quotes for the work to be
carried out. The
specification to maintain the Mays Lane Bus Shelter and the Hampton Hill Bus
Shelter had been distributed to Councillors.
Council RESOLVED that the
Clerk should ask three people to quote for the work. Council RESOLVED to add the third bus shelter to the Agenda for
September. b)
To discuss and resolve to add additional work to
the grass cutting contract and to examine the cost implications; in
particular, additional cutting at Hampton Hill bus shelter up to the 30mph
limit sign, additional bramble clearance at Mays lane bus shelter, additional
cutting at Old Hill. Mr
G Brookes had submitted a quote for additional work as follows:- additional
cutting at Hampton Hill bus shelter up to the 30mph limit sign £52.50 additional bramble clearance at Mays lane
bus shelter £20 additional cutting at Old Hill £52.50 Last
year Council budgeted £4,300 for grass cutting and spent £3,780. Council
RESOLVED that these additional
cuts should go ahead for this year. Community
Projects a)
To consider awarding a retrospective request for
a Community Grant contribution of £300 from the Parochial Church Council
towards the erection of a flagpole at the church. Council
RESOLVED to pay £300 towards the
erection of the flagpole at the church.
All
Councillors to be reminded that all requests for spending must be placed on
the agenda before they are incurred. The
request and the amount to be paid must be determined by the Council as a
Corporate Body. b)
To consider awarding and to confirm amounts
(taking into account additional information) for the grant to the PCC for
Queen Matilda's celebrations, wall repair and grass cutting. The
grant request was restated. The
request was for ‘Queen Matilda’s
Celebrations, Churchyard Improvements including safety control work’. It was noted that the PCC would still be
cutting the grass at the churchyard. Council
RESOLVED to pay £2,000 to the
Parochial Church Council for the above (in bold). c)
To discuss and agree next steps for ensuring
that Avening residents are aware of the existing Dog Control order that
covers the Cotswold District to the effect that each dog owner is responsible
for the removal and correct disposal of dog faeces from their dog, on open
ground (which includes the recreation ground in Avening). Council
RESOLVED that the Clerk should
write to Cotswolds District Council in the first instance:- ·
The Clerk should accept CDC’s offer of help in
working with the school to raise awareness of the issue ·
Work with CDC to put up signs to reinforce the
existing Dog Control Order at a cost in the region of £150 for four signs
bolted to the available posts, (but Council making our own arrangements if
this was not quickly forthcoming) ·
Continue to work with CDC with regards information
about people who do not pick up after their dogs and
further to:- ·
Use the fliers on file to prepare a draft for
Councillors (to be agreed by email) to
be distributed with the Villager Council
were minded to speak with APFA to arrange a Parish Meeting on this issue and
other ideas were discussed but not resolved upon. These were:- Fliers
to be distributed at the recreation ground in three shifts (morning,
afternoon and evening) to make people aware of the penalties if they do not
pick up after their dogs, and the danger to small children of infection and
blindness, reminding residents that a total ban would be considered if this
work wasn’t successful Fliers
to be distributed by village children Surveillance
in order to secure a prosecution Council
RESOLVED that these items be added
to the agenda for September. d)
To provide a summary of the grant monies spent
by members of the PCC on the Jubilee celebrations (cheques for approval under
Finance). The
amount spent on the Jubilee was as follows:- Public
toilets £123.50 Citronella
and Fireworks £79.96 Entertainment
System to Enable Viewing of the Concert £680 excluding VAT making a total
cost of £944.50 e)
To note the progress with the work in order to
obtain quotes to repair the Avening Sign by the school The
Clerk had received two quotes for repair and renewal of the Avening sign by
the school. A third quote was sought
but was not forthcoming. Council RESOLVED to accept Mr R Newton’s
quote in the sum of £1148 and the Clerk to ask him to begin the work. f)
To note the implications for the village of the
cancellation of the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park Councillors
noted this cancelation and regretted its effect upon the village. |
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FINANCE |
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a)
Balance at Bank.
There was £19221.28 in the current account and £7,284 in the Business
30 day notice account. b)
It was RESOLVED
to approve the following bills for payment as below and instruct the signatories
to sign the cheques with the exception of the amount to Councillor Lucy Reid
which had reduced to £79.96 following contributions from other people. ·
Clerks’ Salary less income tax, NI plus expenses
£889.72 ·
G Brookes, Avendale Garden Services £630 ·
Avening WI refreshments for APM £114 ·
SLCC Inserts to Clerks manual £30 ·
Cllr Lucy Reid Jubilee entertainment and
associated costs in provision of entertainment £79.96, previously £141 but
reduced (see above). ·
PCC For
Villager Bumper Edition £250 ·
PCC Annual Grant for Avening Villager £300 ·
APFA Annual Grant for Avening playing Field
£1600 ·
Avening Memorial Hall Annual Grant £1,500 ·
Avening Playgroup Annual grant £500 ·
CCVS Dial a Ride £400 ·
Cobalt Cancer Unit (Volunteer of the Year) £50 ·
Friends of Avening School £651.60 ·
It was
RESOLVED to approve the following cheques written since the last meeting
and instruct the signatories to sign the cheques. ·
James and Owen Stationery £80 ·
GAPTC CILCA Training £150 ·
SLCC CILCA Management £150 ·
Cllr W J Parsons Jubilee entertainment £120 ·
Cllr Mick Williamson reimbursement for payment
to Cross Public House £50 c)
To approve changes to annual budget for 2012/13 The
Council’s income for 2012/13 was expected to be below £25,000 d)
To receive advice and consider diversifying Council
investments The
permanent Clerk reported that Councils did not seem to be covered by the
financial services scheme covering up to £85,000 held in bank accounts. Council could review this when it reviews
its banking when s150(5) is repealed shortly. e)
To resolve to obtain photographs of all assets
on the Avening Parish Council asset list and to make the necessary
arrangements for this to happen. It
was RESOLVED that Cllr Slater
would take photographs of the assets upon receipt of the asset list. f)
To resolve to obtain photographs of proposed new
items to be insured to request an accurate quote from the insurance company
for possible future insurance. It
was RESOLVED that Councillor
Slater would take photographs of the proposed new assets to be insured. The Clerk had checked this with the
insurance company. It is possible to
insure an asset that belongs to someone else but they have to ‘gift’ the item
to the Council. It was RESOLVED to take the photographs of
the new assets in the first instance.
With thanks to Cllr Slater in anticipation. g)
To consider and resolve upon matters set out in
the permanent Clerk’s report on contract matters (closed session). It
was RESOLVED to vary the agenda to
deal with agenda point 10, Planning and Tree Works Applications. |
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PROCEDURE/UPDATES |
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a) To note
progress/advice on the new Code of Conduct to reflect content introduced by
the Localism Act 2011 and to adopt a code of conduct. Council
RESOLVED to ‘roll over’ their
existing code of conduct (subject to the deletion of the section on Members’
Interests and its replacement by the provisions of the Relevant Authorities
(Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012) until such time as a
Gloucestershire-wide Code is agreed between the various authorities. This approach has been adopted by a number
of other authorities, including Gloucestershire County Council, and Cotswold
District Council. |
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PLANNING |
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12/01483/FUL Decision: Permit |
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TO AGREE/NOTE A RESPONSE TO THE CORRESPONDENCE
LISTED WITH THE AGENDA PLUS ANY OTHER URGENT CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED SINCE
THE PUBLICATION OF THE AGENDA Correspondence:- CPRE Field work magazine, Tom Long’s Post, CPRE
Branch AGM papers. |
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Julie Wickham left the meeting at 10pm. Councillor John Catterall left the room
briefly but returned at 10.05pm. |
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It
was unanimously RESOLVED that the meeting move into closed session under the
terms of The Public (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 as the business to be
discussed included staffing matters and contracts which were
confidential and could be prejudiced by being in the public domain at this
time, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960. |
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TO
CONSIDER AND RESOLVE UPON MATTERS SET OUT IN THE PERMANENT CLERK’S REPORT ON
TRAINING AND CONTRACT MATTERS (Closed Session). |
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It was RESOLVED to approve the matters set
out in the Clerk’s staff report with the implementation of item 2 from 1st
April 2013. Under item 4,
option 3, the Clerk’s suggestion was approved. |
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The meeting closed
at 10.30pm. |
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The Next
Meeting of Avening Parish Council will be on Thursday, 20th September
2012
in Avening
Memorial Hall at
7.30 p.m. All welcome.