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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WATER ORTON PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 31st July 2019 AT 7.30 PM IN THE PAVILLION
In the chair: Cllr, Coldrick
Present: Cllrs. Chown, Robinson, Lee, N Bevan, O’Meara
In attendance:
Daphne Robinson – Clerk 16 members of the public
Public Forum
A resident from Coleshill Road asked if any traffic calming could be put into place because of speeding and the speed at which drivers cut across the road from Coleshill Road to Plank Lane. He believed it had been mentioned sometime ago that a Speedwatch program would be put into place. Another resident explained that the police had arranged training at Maxstoke village hall for volunteers wishing to be involved with the Speedwatch campaign. She would give the details to the clerk to pass on.
John Warren gave an update on HS2. He explained that HS2 had a Road Safety fund available. There had been major complaints about the number of trees being removed. The archaeological dig had discovered significant evidence of the bronze age and iron age.
106. Apologies
B & C Cllr. Reilly and B C Macdonald, Cllr Tripllet, Cllr Kelley
107. Declaration of interests and requests for dispensation:
There were no declarations of interest.
108. To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26th June 2019.
Proposed by Cllr O’Meara, Seconded by Cllr. Lee and Resolved (unanimously)
That the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 26th June 2019 were a true
Record. The Chairman signed the minutes.
109. To approve the Standing Orders
Copies of Standing Orders had been issued to all councillors prior to the meeting for comments. There were no comments raised.
Proposed by Cllr. Robinson, Seconded by Cllr. Bevan and Resolved (unanimously)
That the Standing Orders be approved.
110. To approve the Financial Regulations.
Copies of the Financial Regulations had been issued to councillors prior to the meeting
for comments. There were no comments made.
Proposed by Cllr. Bevan, Seconded by Cllr. Robinson and Resolved (unanimously) that
the Financial Regulations be approved. It was discussed that a Data Protection Officer
should be appointed. Cllr. O’Meara agreed to be the Data Protection Officer.
111. To receive a brief update on the status of the Rugby Club and timeline to further
developments.
Mr Lee presented an Ecology Plan which outlined the various stages of the plan
including pruning, habitat build, trapping fence, newt migration to habitat and the
completion of the archaeological surveys.
Mr Lee explained that a presentation was being prepared for NWBC regarding various
conditions to be addressed, including more visibility on Vicarage Lane, the new
entrance and improvement on natural drainage i.e. clearing of ditches. A number of
trees will be planted within the boundary of the club site. Tenders would be issued in
August. Construction was expected to commence October but may be slightly delayed
to November. Completion is expected to be Spring 2021.
There will be 3 senior pitches and 3 junior pitches.
It is estimated that traffic will be around 60 – 80 cars on a junior event. Signage for the
club entrance is likely to be on Gypsy Lane. Efforts have been made with highways to
prevent parking on the roads and there will be enough parking spaces for 130 cars at
the rugby club. The rugby club had asked for 170 spaces but HS2 reduced it to 130 by
allowing overflow parking to be made available on Coleshill Road.
The chairman thanked Mr Lee for the update.
112. To review and agree the council’s priorities/objectives for the next twelve months.
Cllr Bevan explained to the members that he believed the council needed to identify
the council’s priorities/objectives for the next twelve months. He suggested that the
council consider financially supporting the projects suggested by residents including
the street planters, Christmas lights, Men’s Shed, Wilder for Wellbeing and VE Day 75
event on 8th May 2020.
Cllr Bevan told members he believed that £25, 000 should be ringfenced for these
Projects and give the Financial committee the delegated powers to spend this money.
Bearing in mind the council precept increase for 2019/2020 and the chairman’s public
announcement for residents to put forward their ideas on how the excess money
should be spent, he believed the council were duty bound to make the funds available.
Members were in agreement with Cllr. Bevan.
It was Proposed by Cllr Bevan, Seconded by Cllr. Lee and Resolved that the Financial
Committee be given delegated powers to ringfence £25,000 to fund the various
projects within the community.
113. To receive reports and consider decisions to be made from the following committees:
Finance Committee – Cllr Robinson explained that the council did not have a payroll
software program and were therefore unable to issue payslips to the employees. He
believed it would be more efficient and economical to outsource the payroll. He had
passed on the contact details of Harben & Baker Accountants in Coleshill to the clerk.
She had been given a quote of and annual cost of £480. Cllr. O’Meara commented that
as she worked in payroll, she believed this to be a very good price. Council members
agreed that this would be the best option.
It was Proposed by Cllr O’Meara, Seconded by Cllr Bevan and Resolved (unanimously)
that the payroll for employees be outsourced to Harben & Baker Accountants in
Coleshill at an annual cost of £480.
Maintenance committee – Cllr Robinson reported that the inspection on the drain
chambers had discovered that it had been installed incorrectly. The flow is not correct
and there are broken pipes. He also said that the manhole covers are domestic rather
that heavy duty and need to be replaced. Cllr Robinson explained that the drainage
work needed to be done as a matter of urgency as the drains keep blocking up. He
believed that this was a separate project to that of the resurfacing of the car park and
did not therefore need to be put out to tender on the government contractor website
as the cost would be around £3000. As per the council financial regulations this meant
that the council only needed the one quote. Cllr Robinson said that Nedlon, the
company who had submitted the quote, could carry out the work within the next two
weeks. Councillors agreed that this work needed to be carried out as soon as possible
so that there would be no further delay on the resurfacing of the car park.
It was Proposed by Cllr Robinson, Seconded by Cllr. Bevan and Resolved (unanimously)
That Nedlon be commissioned to carry out the drainage work.
114.To consider to support and help with funding of the planters.
The clerk reported that money had been donated by Cllr. Reilly, The Carnival
Committee, The PCC and WHS Plastics ltd towards the purchase of 8 planters. There
was a shortfall of £1500. The council had already resolved to help with the cost of the
planters (minute ref. 112) Councillors acknowledge the donations received from the
various organisations and thanked them for their support and generosity.
115. To consider to support and help with funding of the Christmas lights
An email from Cllr Macdonald informed the council that the Water Orton Action Group
had been asked to project manage the Christmas light display. She reported that she
had emailed several business asking for donations towards the project, but had not had
any response. The total initial cost would be £5108.56 with annual costs for
the following 3 years of £1814.00 per year. The council had already resolved to fund
the cost of the Christmas lights and budget for the annual cost (minute ref. 112)
116. To consider to support VE Day celebrations in May 2020.
The clerk reported that SSAFA- the Armed Forces charity had issued details for town
and parish councils to participate in the VE Day 75 celebrations on the weekend of 8th
May 2020. All the information could be found on the website www.veday75.org.
The council said they would support any celebrations and help to fund if necessary. It
would need to be run by a voluntary group which should consist of representatives and
or input from all organisations in the village.
It was agreed that the clerk would put an article in the Coleshill Post and that a notice
should go on the council website asking for volunteers.
117. To receive a report from Cllr Lee regarding facilities in the village for young people.
Cllr. Lee reported that in her role as one of the governors of the school, she had spoken
to year 6 to ask what facilities they would like. The girls said they would like to have
more arts and crafts workshops for after school and during school holidays. The boys
wanted more facilities to learn how to use tools and make things with wood. It was
noted that the library has craft workshops and Knit and Natter. There was a
suggestion that the Men’s Shed project would be an ideal opportunity for young people
to work with tools and gain experience from the Men’s Shed members. It was unclear if
the Men’s Shed was up and running. The clerk would find out. It was agreed that there
were plenty of facilities for those interested in sport but not for those who were not.
118. To review options for an office for the clerk.
It was agreed this would be deferred to the September meeting.
119. To receive a report on the play equipment.
Cllr Chown reported that the annual inspection report had been received from NWBC
and there was nothing that needed to be highlighted. He did feel that appeared very
similar in its contents to previous reports and would like to meet with the inspector
when the next inspection is carried out. The clerk said she would talk to NWBC
regarding the report’s contents.
120. To discuss the aircraft noise and the flight path over Water Orton.
As this was an item requested by Cllr. Triplett and she was absent, it was agreed to
defer this item to a later agenda.
121. Financial Matters –
To consider the purchase and installation of a baby changing unit. The clerk had
received a quote of £395.00. Councillors agreed that this needed to be done as soon as
possible. It was Proposed by Cllr. Robinson, Seconded by Cllr Lee and Resolved
(unanimously) to accept the quote and for the clerk to arrange for the purchase and
installation of the baby changing unit.
To give a breakdown of the professional costs from the 2018/19 council accounts as
requested by a resident. The clerk explained that the costs included cost for the
accountant to produce the previous year’s accounts for the external auditor as there
was no clerk or RFO. There were medical fees paid for assessments for the clerk In line
with the council’s obligation in aiding the clerk to be able to return to work.
To approve automated payments and future payments to be made.
A full list of payments had been issued to councillors. It was Proposed by Cllr Bevan.
Seconded by Cllr Robinson and Resolved (unanimously) that the automated payments
and future payments be approved.
122. Correspondence
Cllr Coldrick had received a letter from Miss McKenzie regarding a contact to obtain a
photograph of Dr Somerby. A resident said she would be able to find a photograph.
123. To agree who would install the new notice board and dog bin
The clerk acknowledged that as the council did not have a handy man and these two
items needed to be installed. It was suggested that she contact Orton Installation to
see if they would be interested in doing the work.
124. To discuss the potential parking problems which may occur once the new school
opens.
Cllr Robinson said he had concerns regarding the parking problems which may occur
once the new school opened. Cllr Lee informed members that the school had arranged
to have police present for the first three weeks of the school opening. She explained
there was a car park in the school grounds to drop off the very young children. For
children in year 2 and above there would be a circular drop off system. This system will
be reviewed if it doesn’t work. The Digby car park had also been made available.
125. To consider having one page every other month in the Coleshill Post instead of every
quarter. The clerk reported that the cost of having one page every other month would
be cheaper than quarterly. It would also give more up to date information to the
readers. The annual cost for quarterly publication was £1200.00. The annual cost for 6
issues would be £900.00. It was Proposed Cllr Robinson, Seconded by Cllr. Bevan and
Resolved (unanimously) that the council have an alternate monthly page in the Coleshill
Post.
126. To consider the Local Plan and Green Spaces and confirm to the NWBC if these spaces
should be retained and to justify the reasons for being retained.
The map received by the clerk from NWBC highlighting the Green Spaces within the
village had been circulated to councillors. It was noted that The Green was not marked
as an open green space. It was Proposed by Cllr. Bevan, Seconded by Cllr O’Meara and
Resolved (unanimously) that the Green Spaces on the Local Plan be retained and to
include The Green and the section of land between Coleshill Road and Watton Lane
which is maintained by the parish council.
127. Exclusion of Public and Press – That under the Public Bodies (admission to Meetings)
Act 1960, the public and representatives if the press be excluded from the meeting
during the consideration of the following items of business as publicity would be
prejudicial to the public interest because of the confidential nature of the business to
be transacted. The council Resolved to exclude the public and press.
Quotes received for both options for either removing or reducing the two polar trees on
the Playing Field. Copies of quotes had been issued to councillors for their
consideration. The quotes were similar in cost. It was agreed by councillors that the
trees were fast growing and not a significant species worthy of being retained. It was
agreed that it would be more economical to have the trees removed completely. The
council Resolved to award the contract to Greens Tree Services Ltd and that the
stumps be ground to prevent regrowth.
Greens Tree Services were the only company to quote to reduce the height of the
laurels round the Green Room and to carry out a Tree survey on the trees the council
were responsible for. The council Resolved to award the work to be carried out on the
laurels and the tree survey to Greens Tree Services Ltd. Cllr. Robinson suggested that
the Clerk found out who planted the laurels and inform the Company of the Curtain
would be paying for the work to be carried out. He said that if the Company of the
Curtain planted the laurels then the council should perhaps consider asking them for a
contribution to future work.
The Chairman produced an email from Cllr. Hodkinson submitting his resignation as a
parish councillor. Cllr. Hodkinson explained that due to work commitments he was no
longer able to attend meetings. He wished the council success for the future. The
Chairman said he had tried to pursued Cllr Hodkinson to remain but to no avail. The
clerk would notify the returning officer and begin the process for filling the vacancy.