Minutes of the MEETING OF LYTCHETT MATRAVERS PARISH COUNCIL

Held on Monday February 16th 2015 at 7:30 in the Village Hall, Lytchett Matravers.

PRESENT were Cllrs: A Bush, A Cottman, R Carswell, A Huggins, K Norris, J Taylor, P Webb, E Wilson, C Wood and Mr T Watton (Parish Clerk).

County Cllr F Drane and two members of the public were also present.

1. REceipt of apologies for absence – Cllrs M Colvey and I Maitland.

2. CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS.

There were none.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION (Standing Orders Suspended)

There were none..

4. DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST; AND CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR SPECIAL DISPENSATIONS UNDER SECTION 33 OF THE LOCALISM ACT 2011. There were none.

5. THE MINUTES of the Council meeting on January 19th 2015 were approved as a true record of those meetings, and signed by the Chairman.

6. MATTERS ARISING & UPDATE ON ACTION POINTS.

  1. Minute 13, 18th August 2014. Establishment of Google Diary. Cllr Carswell had previously commented that he would develop and circulate some instructions to guide members in how to link their diaries to the online calendar on the Council’s website; and also how to add items to the website calendar. Action: Cllr Carswell to prepare and email this briefing – CARRIED FORWARD.
  2. Minute 10, 15th September 2014. Litter bin for MUGA. Awaiting installation by the Village Handyman. Cllr Taylor indicated that he would check this.
  3. Minute 23, October 20th 2014. DCC Consultation on litter and street cleaning. Cllr Norris reported that as he had not had a response on this matter from the responsible officer at DCC he had now raised a complaint with that person’s second line manager.
  4. Minute 17, 15th December 2014 – correspondence with a resident regarding poor mobile phone signal. Cllr Colvey had indicated that he would raise this matter with Ofcom, but had not yet been able to do so. Action: Cllr Colvey to contact Ofcom accordingly. CARRIED FORWARD.
  5. Minute 17, 15th December 2014 – Fly tipping near the Sports Club’s bulk waste bin alongside the Sports Pavilion. Cllr Cottman reported that he had raised this matter with the Sports Club and they had confirmed that the rubbish had not been dumped by them. Consideration was given to the idea of installing a CCTV camera to monitor the area. However it was AGREED that the first step should be to display a “No Fly Tipping” notice adjacent to the bin. Action: Parish Clerk to arrange for the purchase and installation of the notice.
  6. Minute 10, 19th January 2015 – Regular meetings with allotment holders. It was confirmed that the Village Hall has been booked as the venue for the meeting on 25th March 2015. Invitations will be sent out with the allotment rental receipts.
  7. Minute 10, 19th January 2015 – Allotment Society to be asked by Cllr Colvey for their views on the idea of charging new plot holders a substantial deposit to be used in the event of it being necessary to clear the plot up after it is eventually vacated. As Cllr Colvey is currently away this matter was CARRIED FORWARD.
  8. Minute 10, 19th January 2015 – Dog control signage. The Parish Clerk reported that he had not yet asked the contractor to amend the quotation. Consequently he had also not yet sought two further quotations for the same work. CARRIED FORWARD.
  9. Minute 13, 19th January 2015 – matters raised during visit to the village by County Cllr P Finney and Officers from DCC. Cllr Bush reminded those present that it was the intention to ensure that all matters noted during this visit to the village by Cllrs and officers from DCC were pursued to a satisfactory conclusion. It was noted that it was necessary to resolve which Council member is to take up each of the 7 outstanding points with appropriate contacts at DCC. After discussion it was RESOLVED that Cllr Norris would draft a suitable letter to DCC which would then be sent under the Chairman’s signature, signed “pp” by Cllr Bush.
  10. Minute 17, 19th January 2015 – review of the Council’s banking arrangements. A review of the Council’s banking arrangements was undertaken by the Finance & Policy Committee at it’s meeting on Monday 9th February and RECOMMENDED that Mr R Miller and Mrs J Dyball be removed as signatories to the HSBC accounts and replaced by Cllrs C Wood and P Webb. The full list of signatories to the HSBC bank accounts is therefore A Bush, K Norris, T Watton, P Webb and C Wood. It was unanimously RESOLVED to accept this recommendation

It was further RESOLVED that:

1. The HSBC bank accounts be continued and the HSBC bank is authorised to act on any instructions provided they have been given by those persons named in the specimen signatures section of the mandate (or authorised by such persons in accordance with the applicable authorisation requirement(s)) as follows: “any two listed persons”.

2. That any debt incurred to the HSBC bank under this mandate shall, in the absence of written agreement by the HSBC bank to the contrary, be repayable on demand.

3. That the Parish Clerk is authorised to supply the HSBC bank, as and when necessary, with lists of all persons who are authorised to give instructions on behalf of the Parish Council, and that the bank may rely on such lists.

4. That the Parish council accepts the accounts and banking relationship with the HSBC bank will be governed by and subject to the business banking terms and conditions (a copy of which has been provided by HSBC bank) as amended from time to time, together with any terms and conditions in respect of specific products and services requested by the Parish Council.

5. That these resolutions be communicated to the HSBC bank and remain in force until cancelled by notice in writing to the bank, signed by the Chairman or Parish Clerk from time to time acting or claiming to act on behalf of the Parish Council, and the bank shall be entitled to act on such notice whether the resolutions have been validly cancelled or not.

  1. Minute 22, 19th January 2015 –Venues for Council meetings. It was clarified that the Village Hall has been booked for all council meetings until the end of the Council year – i.e. May 2015. Some discussion took place regarding the effect of other VH bookings from 7:30pm on Mondays which can affect council meetings. It was suggested that from now until the end of the council year meetings start at 7pm rather than 7:30pm, and also that the Zumba group be asked to keep the doors the main hall closed in order to reduce the level of sound affecting the Council meetings. These actions were AGREED. Action: Parish Clerk to make the necessary arrangements with the VH bookings secretary.

The matter of the three dates when the Village Hall is unavailable were also considered and it was AGREED that the meetings on Thursday 2nd April, Monday 13th April and Thursday 7th May would all take place in the Sports Club Pavilion – also commencing at 7pm.

7. District Cllrs report.

Dist Cllr Taylor reported on issues from the PDC meeting on Tuesday 13th January 2015 but acknowledged that this meeting had also been commented on by Cllr Colvey at the January Parish Council meeting:

  1. PDC had resolved to support in principle working jointly with all other Dorset Councils to evaluate models for working together to support economic development in the county through the mechanism of a Combined Authority. Concerns were expressed that the formation of a Combined Authority (to include Bournemouth and Poole as well as the Dorset “district” authorities) for economic development could lead to Unitary Councils via the back door. However the Leader of PDC had reiterated an assurance that the exercise was about focusing on strategic economic development only.
  2. PDC had agreed that the Purbeck Local Plan Part 1 Partial Review Issues and Options Document be published for a six week consultation period between January and March 2015. The review was a condition of the Planning Inspector approval of the Local Plan in November 2012 – because the Inspector did not believe PDC had provided enough opportunities to meet the need for housing.
  3. PDC had agreed a response to the Dorset Waste Partnership’s consultation on possible changes to household recycling centres. The response opposed closure of any HRC’s and charging residents for their use.
  4. The Dorset Waste Partnership’s £32,456,000 Revenue Budget for 2015/16 had been approved. PDC’s share is £1,301,472; which was higher than planned, but still represented a saving on the previous contracted-out service.

8. County Councillor’s report

County Cllr Drane reported on matters covered at the most recent meeting of DCC:

  1. He reported that the main issue under consideration was the DCC Budget. However, he remarked that before the DCC meeting started a new seating plan for council meetings was introduced – with the aim of emphasising that DCC is intended to be a member-led Council.
  2. Local Authority Trading Company. During the meeting Cllr Drane expressed concern that the operation of the “The Local Authority Trading Company” (LATC) should not be interfered with by members of the DCC Cabinet. Assurances were given that this would not happen.
  3. Performance of Dorset Waste Partnership. It was noted that the operations and financial performance to date of the Dorset Waste Partnership had caused a lot of complaint and concern. The current overspend for the year is understood to be just under £3m. DCC is to contribute £1.14m towards the net cost of running DWP in 2015-2016. No provision is included for additional increase in costs beyond 2015-2016.
  4. Medium term Financial Plan and Budget 2015-16 to 2017-18. An increase of 1.99% for the DCC share of the Council Tax for 2015-2016 (with a further 2% for planning purposes for the remaining of the MTFP period) was approved by DCC on a unanimous vote. It was noted that during the following 2 years a further £23m of savings will be required over and above what has already been identified by DCC.
  5. Members’ Divisional Budgets. Cllr Drane reminded Parish Council members that DCC members are each provided with a small budget for them to use at their discretion for the benefit local people in the communities they represent. This was established in 2014-2015 initially as a one-off exercise. However it has been carried forward to 2015-2016 with a total of £1000 allocated per DCC member. He reported that some DCC members would have preferred that this money was used to fund bus services. However Cllr Drane was in favour of the Members’ Budget as he felt that small groups would welcome the money. He was concerned that, with overspends such as £3m by DWP and some project budgets similarly performing badly, if the money were held centrally it may be merely sunk into those deficits.

9. REPORTS FROM SUB-COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS

Neighbourhood Planning Group.

Cllr Bush reported that the Neighbourhood Planning Working Group are using the Lytchett Link to publicise the current consultation exercise on the Partial Review of the Purbeck Local Plan Part 1 – and the special session being run by PDC on Thursday 26th February at Lytchett Matravers Library. Cllr Bush also referred to the Heathland Strategy survey which closes on 18th February. He explained that heathland impacts on development in an around the parish because development proposals are required to provide for heathland mitigation. Finally, Cllr Bush referred to an email from Mr D Bevan on 16th February which indicates that a draft of the Neighbourhood Plan is nearing completion. A meeting is to take place on this with Mr Bevan on Wednesday 18th February.

10. Recommendations from Committees:

(a) Planning Committee – meeting 5th February 2015:

It was reported that the Council had registered an OBJECTION to planning application 6/2015/0024 to demolish the existing Youth Club building and erect a new one. This objection is on the grounds that the building design (in terms of footprint and materials) is considered by the Council not to be in keeping with the other adjacent community building on the overall site, nor is it in line with the general street scene comprising the surrounding residential area. The Council believes the proposal does not make optimum use of the site with regards to the building’s position in relation to the site boundaries, as well as being inappropriately close to the site boundaries – particularly being positioned too far forward on the site. It also appears to be too close to an adjacent tree. The particular significance of this matter is that the current building belongs to the Parish Council and the scheme for its demolition and rebuilding has been encouraged and materially supported by the Council.

(b) Finance & Policy Committee – meeting 9th February 2015; Recommendations –

  • Receipt of the latest bank reconciliation and update of the working accounts as attached at Appendix 1 to the Finance & Policy Committee minutes 9th Feb 2015.
  • That Mr Miller and Mrs Dyball are replaced as signatories on the Council’s HSBC accounts by Cllrs C Wood and P Webb. See also minute 6, bullet point (x) above.
  • Acceptance of the revised Risk Register as attached at Appendix 2 to Finance & Policy Committee minutes 9th Feb 2015.
  • Acceptance of the revised and updated version of the schedule of Governance / Internal Controls and their responsibilities – as attached at Appendix 3 to the Finance & Policy Committee minutes 9th Feb 2015.
  • Acceptance of the recommended increase in the hourly pay rate for the Parish Clerk to £11.19 per hour backdated to 1st January 2015 (representing an hourly rate increase of 35p), plus an unconsolidated payment of £100.
  • That the requested grant of £1454.40, in respect of the cost of operating the weekly CAB advice service in Lytchett Matravers Library, is paid in full before the end of this financial year. Action: Parish Clerk to include on the list of payments for authorisation at the March meeting of the Full Council.
  • The introduction of a standing agenda item on Full Council meeting agendas to record relevant decisions taken by the Parish Clerk – in compliance with the provisions of the Openness of Local Government Regulations 2014.

It was RESOLVED to approve all of the above recommendations, and to accept the minutes of this meeting.

11. Receipt of remaining risk assessment.

As Cllr Colvey was unavailable and the new round of Risk Assessments was under way, this item was DISCHARGED.

12. Consideration of changes proposed by PDC to rules about public speaking at Planning Board.

Members were reminded that currently at the PDC Planning Board meetings members of the public who wish to object to a proposal are each permitted up to 3 minutes to speak – which can add up to an imbalance in time afforded to objections, when there are several objectors. It has been suggested that this is biased against the proposer of a scheme and therefore PDC have suggested that this be changed to allow the proposer extra time to speak in such circumstances – at a rate of one minute for each objector, up to a maximum of ten minutes. It was RESOLVED to respond to this consultation by supporting this suggestion.

13. Primrose Donation to Village Hall Toilets / Cloakroom Project.

The Parish Clerk reported that a response had not yet been received to the request sent to NALC via DAPTC for professional advice on the matter of the VAT – which had been raised by Primrose Solar. The Parish Clerk had contacted the Chief Executive of DAPTC to request that she chase NALC on this matter again.

14. REPORTS Of TRAINING ACTIVITy UNDERTAKEN IN THE PAST MONTH. Cllrs Taylor and Carswell had attended a PDC Planning Training session on “enforcement”. A key message from this was that PDC Planning’s enforcement efforts are being prioritised on to the cases having highest impact on neighbouring properties and / or the environment.

Cllrs Bush and Cottman attended a PDC event covering the consultation exercise on the Partial Review of the PDC Local Plan, Part 1.

15. REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES (by exception)

Sports Club DAPTC Footpaths Village Hall
School Liaison Youth Organisations

DAPTC: It was noted that the next meeting is on 25th February 2015.

Footpaths: Cllr Bush indicated that he would check that the Primary School is working on the naming of the new path.

Sports Club: Cllr Cottman was confirmed as the new Sports Club Representative on the Parish Council. He reported that the new doors have been fitted to the Pavilion.

16. COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING PAYMENTS DUE: –

Inv To Whom For What Net VAT Total
3412 Asbestos Contracting Ltd Asbestos management survey – Club Hall 195.00 39.00 234.00
3413 T Watton Clerk’s salary – February (12 equal monthly payments by standing order) 878.20 0.00 878.20
3414 T Homer Handyman duties – January. 297.50 7.18 304.68
3415 Continental Landscapes Grass Cutting, Southern end of Rec – January 20.00 4.00 24.00
3416 The Landscape Group Cemetery maintenance – January 303.49 60.70 364.19
3417 Glasdon UK Supply of waste bin for Rec ground 130.98 26.19 157.17

It was RESOLVED to approve all the payments listed in items 16 above.

  1. CORRESPONDENCE.

Cllr Wood commented on an exchange of emails with a representative of the 1st Lytchett Matravers Scouts regarding the planning application for the redevelopment proposal for Club Hall. It was noted that the application may be re-presented as a revised scheme within the next 12 months without incurring a further fee. A Scout meeting is due to take place on 19th March. Cllr Norris offered to speak to the Scouts’ representative on this matter to offer encouragement to continue – by working with the Council and local architects on an improved design and layout for the scheme.

Cllr Taylor reported on correspondence he had received from a resident regarding possible flooding at the cemetery. He had advised the Parish Clerk of the graves affected by this, and the Clerk has investigated the matter. It seems that the problem is a temporary one during and immediately after particularly inclement weather. There is no evidence of a lasting problem.

18. MATTERS OF INTEREST AND INFORMATION

Discussion took place regarding the forthcoming issue of Lytchett Link. It was RESOLVED to approve expenditure for an order of 2000 copies of the latest edition – to be printed during week commencing 16th February. Some time was then spent allocating areas of the Parish to be delivered by each member.

The Parish Clerk reported that the missing dolly posts adjacent to the car park have now been replaced.

He also reported that the Council’s contractor has completed the clear-up work on the vacant allotments.

The meeting closed at 9:30pm.

Annotated by/on …………………………….. Signed by/on …………………………

Minutes of Full Council meeting 16th February 2015