FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE
Meeting held on Wednesday December 4th 2019, at 7.00 p.m. in the Methodist Church, Wareham Rd, Lytchett Matravers
PRESENT: C Wood (committee Chair), Cllrs R Carswell, A Bush, M Colvey, R Watts, P Webb and Mrs A Clothier (Stand In Parish Clerk). No members of the public were in attendance.
Public participation:
There was none.
1. APOLOGIES. M Attridge, C Maher, A Cottman B Barker and A Huggins.
2. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest; and consideration of requests for Special Dispensations under Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011.There were none.
3. To receive and approve minutes of the Finance & Policy Committee meeting held on 13th november 2019. The minutes were ACCEPTEDas a true record and signed by the committee Chairman.
4. To receive and consider reports of past subject matters.The following matters were included in the Clerk’s report of past subject matters. [nb: comments made or decisions taken at the meeting are shown in italics]
i. F&GP, 13th February 2019, Minute 12. Also F&GP 13 November 2019, Minute 8 –Health and Safety Policy, Cllr Attridge indicated at the November 2019 meeting that he would circulate his report to all council members for comment in time for formal consideration at the December meeting. Cllrs acknowledged receipt of the draft policy and propose to adopt at the next Full Council.
ii. F&GP Cttee, 12th June 2019, Minute 20 Role of Parish & Town Councils in the planning consultation process – Cllr Bush reported that he had exchanged emails with DC Officer Anna Lee; and members noted that the focus is on the role of Parish & Town Councils in the process for considering planning applications. Attention was drawn to a document published by Winsham Parish Council (Somerset) which attempts to interpret and define that role. It is intended that LMPC should offer a statement to David Walsh at Dorset Council based on the Winsham document and invite his comments. No update
iii. F&GP Cttee, 14th August 2019, minute 9 – Gap in the am peak bus service arriving in Poole. At the Nov 2019 meeting it was noted that whilst this was written into the PLP Infrastructure Delivery Plan as an option it was not taken forward as a Local Plan issue. Consequently if the Parish Council wishes to contribute to the introduction of a service to bridge this gap it would be necessary to talk to the Dorset Council about it. DISCHARGE.
iv. F&GP Cttee, 19 October 2019, minute 6 – Annual Licence with Lighthouse church for Club Hall – Review of licence fee by Cllrs Bush and Watts. At the November meetingCllr Bush and Cllr Watts acknowledged that the matter should be considered also in the light of the annual ground rental charge to the Scouts for their premises – possibly also taking into consideration the alignment of expiry dates of the leases for these two organisations. Cllr Watts outlined that the licence expires at the end of March 2020 so this will be resolved by this date. There will be an opportunity to review the rent on the Scout Hut in 2021. Carried Forward.
v. F&GP Cttee, 19 October 2019, minute 6 – review of food vending licence. November and December agendas judged to be too full; to be included in the new-year. Cllr Attridge indicated that he would pursue an application for change of use for the recreation ground car park to enable a possible expansion of food vending activity. It was noted that the details of the food vending licence and the related fees would be reviewed In January 2020.Councillors commented that there was a need to consider the charges as well as the change of use application. The current charge is £100 per year however the consultant recommended £20 per pitch. This is a service to the village so the Parish Council do not want to price them out of the market. There is also a decision to be made about how the money is collected. It was concluded that a phased increased would be the best option – £10 per night per pitch from the 1st April 2020. This was agreed.
vi. F&GP Cttee, 19 October 2019, minute 10.2 Cllr Cottman to arrange for improved access car park gate lock (VH end) by removing part of cover. Carried forward
vii.Planning application responses sent to the DC Planning Team:
Planning application 6/2019/0441 Harlequin Homes. The Shooting Box, Middle Road, Lytchett Matravers BH16 6HJ. Sever plot, erect two dwellings with access and parking. DC planning portal shows that this application has still not yet been determined.
Planning application 6/2019/0455 Treetops, Flowers Drove, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6BX. Single storey side extensions. Erect detached carport with office above. DC planning portal shows that this application has still not yet been determined.
Planning application 6/2019/0530 Lewis Wyatt (Construction) Limited. Land off Flowers Drove, Lytchett Matravers. Change of use of land to Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) & associated car park. DC planning portal shows that this application has still not yet been determined.
Planning application 6/2019/0528. 3 Foxhills Crescent, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6BEFlowers Drove, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6BX. Erect a two storey extension. DC planning portal shows that this application has still not yet been determined.
Planning application 6/2019/0538 Quarr Grange, Halls Road, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6EP. Erect agricultural barn. DC planning portal shows that this application has now been approved.
Planning application 6/2019/0548 Caroline Cottage, Prospect Road, LYTCHETT MATRAVERS, BH16 6ED. Variation of condition 2 of pp 6/2016/0721 (Subdivide plot and erect single dwelling in front garden of existing cottage, and single dwelling in rear garden of existing cottage with new access from Prospect Road and associated car parking) to increase floor area of dwelling A to create an extra bedroom. DC planning portal shows that this application has still not yet been determined. The works appears to have come onto Parish Council land – Cllr Bush to investigate.
Planning application 6/2019/0585 Bracken Developments Limited. Former Royal British Legion Club, Wimborne Road, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6HQ. Erection of 9 dwellings with car parking and landscaping. DC planning portal shows that this application has not yet been determined.
Planning application 6/2019/0616 16 Huntick Estate, Lytchett Matravers BH16 6EB. Sever plot & erect single storey bungalow with access and parking. DC planning portal shows that this application has not yet been determined.
5. To receive and note the 2019/20 bank reconciliation. A copy of the bank reconciliation is attached at Appendix 1 to these minutes. Members also examined copies of the relevant bank statements. It was RESOLVED to accept and approve this reconciliation.
6. To receive and consider a report covering 2019/20 year TO DATE council income and expenditure. The reports were circulated to all members by the Parish Clerk. The CIL budget was discussed and it was concluded that the dolly posts should come out of the precept rather than the CIL budget. This was because CIL will be spent on bigger projects such as the pharmacy steps and the cycle path. It was noted that CIL needs to be spent within 5 years however clarity was needed as to whether this would be extended if projects were upcoming. Action: Clerk to establish the time limits for spending CIL. With these changes was RESOLVED to accept and approve these. Copies of the report and the Sports Club financial tracker are attached at appendices 2 and 3 to these minutes.
7. To consider the work so far in developing the budget proposal and precept requirement for 2020/21.
A detailed discussion was held on development the budget and the following points were raised for further thought in the January meeting:
· Sports Club – The Sports Club will be a separate entity managing its own funds from April 2020. This will be under a Trust which will oversee operations for this and other organisations in the village. The budget items connected to the Sports Club need to be taken out of the main budget and put under a subsection. Action: Clerk to create a Sports Club subsection in the budget.
· Youth Hut – this will be transferred to the Parish Council which will be managed by the Trust. There is a decision to be made about how much to charge the Lighthouse Church. Action: Clerk to find out how much the insurance is for the Youth Hut and to report back to Cllr Bush and Cllr Watts.
· Gables – the garage is currently pay £120 per year for the lease of the car park. Recommend to consider reviewing that this to increase it by the level of inflation.
· Climate Emergency – Action: Cllr Watts to circulate figures to all Councillors.
· Recreation Group Car Park – there was a discussion regarding whether this should be transferred to the Trust. It was concluded that this would not fall within the remit of the Trust and should remain with the Parish Council.
· Allotments – the works to the area around the allotment was discussed relating to the planting of wild flowers. The problems of overgrown allotments also need to be addressed.
· Website – there are a number of changes that need to be made to the website so that it conforms with new accessibility standards. This will be a maximum of £5000.
· Sinking Funds – the increase in the Prudential Fund has covered for the increase in the budget. The Parish Council need a new valuation or to use the previous valuation to inform these figures.
· Defibrillator. The income for the defibrillator is not show.
8. To consider the remedial actions required as a result of the worsening cracks and slippage in the wall behind the war memorial.
This was raised by a member of the public. There is a need to commission a professional to look at rebuilding the wall. Action: Clerk to get three quotes to rebuild the wall – using the three contractors giving quotes for the pharmacy steps.
9 . To CONSIDER ITEMS FOR THE NEXT PARISH MAGAZINE Discussion took place concerning the next Parish Magazine. It was concluded that the following items should be raised:
· Village Tidy Working Group,
· Recycling Christmas Trees. Query Christmas Tree Recycling – Beverly are you organising the chipper.
· Climate Emergency Survey,
· Village Summer Fayre,
· Removing advertisements
10. TO note correspondence received.
· It was noted that the development at 86 Wareham Road is building an extension to the agreed planning permission. Permitted development cannot be started until the build is complete so this needs to be reported to Planning Enforcement. Action: Cllr Bush to report to Planning Enforcement Team and copy in Anna Lee.
The meeting closed at 20:27.
Annotated by/on …………………………. Approved by/on ………………………
Fin&GenPurposesCommitteeMinutes 191204 Appendix 1 (Bank reconciliation Dec 2019).pdf (PDF)
Fin&GenPurposesCommitteeMinutes 191204 Appendix 2 (Reports of performance vs budgets YTD Dec19).pdf (PDF)
Fin&GenPurMinutes 191204 Appendix 3 (Sports club tracker 2 Dec 19) (Excel)