Held in the Council Office, Grayshott Village Hall On Present: Mr C. Thompson, Mr I. Robinson, Mr R Fudge, Mr C. Jones, Mrs J. Gale plus the Clerk, Mrs L. Pennick 1 Apologies – Mr C. Slaughter 2 Declaration of Interests – None. 3 Minutes of Meeting held on 4 Matters Arising - None 5. Draft Accounts for Year Ended 6. Policy 6.1 Risk Assessments – The amendments suggested by Mr. Slaughter stating that minutes would be displayed on Grayshott.com website and back-ups would be made of data on the Dell computer were agreed. Mr. Slaughter was thanked for his attention to these. A further amendment regarding the regularity of P+R meetings was pointed out by Mrs. Gale and would be considered at the GPC meeting in May. 6.2 Archiving Parish Records – It was agreed that minutes of GPC meetings should be archived at 6.3 Greening Grayshott – Mr. Fudge had received a positive response from the Parish Assembly to his environmental suggestions and he now suggested that GPC should develop an environmental policy. It was pointed out that there were difficulties in pleasing everyone and balancing safety and visual qualities with environmental care. Mr. Fudge pointed out that streetlights with sensors would ensure safety whilst protecting the environment. In particular, committees managing GPC-owned properties should be encouraged to conserve energy. 6.4 Parish Assembly – It was noted that there were too many presentations, which were too long and there was not enough involvement from the floor or enough time for questions. It was agreed that one presentation, which should be community based, was a good idea. The date for next year’s assembly had already been set and it was decided that in 2010 it should be held on 26th March. It was agreed that, in future, a brief synopsis of accounts could be provided in a written format. Alternatively, principal figures could be highlighted in the March edition of The Parish Scene. It was felt that it was unnecessary to hold The Square Group AGM at the Parish Assembly although a report would be good. It was noted that the sculptures displayed for public consultation were not popular. Following the questions raised at the assembly about the need for infrastructures for developments, Mr Fudge raised concerns about EHDC planning policy and the weight given to a Parish Council objection. He felt that it should count as 5 objections when officers considered whether to send an application to Committee for consideration. The clerk pointed out that the District Council was obliged by Government ruling to consider 90% of applications within 3 weeks and this would not be possible if the numbers sent to Committee were increased. Councillors agreed that EHDC should give more weight to Parish Council views and Mr Fudge was asked to draft a letter, for consideration, to be sent to other local Parishes to ascertain their views. If all Parishes were in agreement then the matter would be raised with EHDC Planning Department. 6.5 Human Resources Policies – Councillors considered information provided by HALC about Abacus Employment Consultants. The clerk was asked to ascertain the cost of providing advisory services for two part-time staff and the matter would be discussed further at the next P+R meeting. 7 Festive Lights It was agreed that GPC should take on responsibility for authorising the use of the festive lights but environmental issues should be considered in line with Item 6.3 above. It was noted that the PIG committee would not be requiring them this year as the Sunday Funday would be finishing before dark. It was agreed that the chairman or vice-chairman, together with one other Parish Councillor and Dick Smith should head up a committee who would inform Peter Norman if the lights needed to be turned on. Use should be limited to special occasions. 8 Grant Applications 8.1 Whitehill and Bordon Citizens Advice Bureau had applied for a grant of £350. It was noted that Grayshott residents accounted for 0.7% of those people assisted by the CAB. It was therefore agreed to make a grant of £140 as budgeted. 8.2 8.3 Grayshott Concerts – Mr. Thompson had requested Mr. Harrison to provide a copy of the last set of accounts for Grayshott Concerts however, to date, these had not been received. The grant application could not, therefore, be considered at this time. 8.4 Rezurgence – The clerk had requested Mr. Lanham-New to provide details of the manner in which ongoing running costs for the project would be funded. To date, this had not been received. It was felt by councillors that the project was not specific to Grayshott and without the supporting information an application could not be considered at this time. 9 Council Office Letting Agreement Mr. Thompson read out amendments made to the agreement by GVHMC. The amendments were agreed and the agreement was signed. 10 Parish Scene Following discussion by councillors, it was agreed that electronic delivery of the Parish Scene where possible was the way forward. This would save money and be more environmentally friendly. The next edition of the Parish Scene would advise residents of the proposal to make residents aware of the newsletter’s publication via the Grayshott.com weekly email. Hard copies could be available for collection from designated locations and local Estate Agents for new residents. Views would be sought on this proposal. Following correspondence from Russell Cupitt of Visual Assets, it was agreed that the logo on the title page of the Parish Scene should be amended to the generic Grayshott logo. Councillors agreed that the name of the newsletter should be amended to The Grayshott Scene but should still include the words “published by Grayshott Parish Council”, the issue number and the date. 11.1 HCC invitation to attend the service at Winchester Cathedral. The Clerk was asked to write and thank HCC for the invitation but decline. 11.2 Social Justice Board – notice of a meeting to be held on 11.3 A letter from a local resident asking for details surrounding the history of her property. Councillors were unable to assist. The clerk was asked to reply. 11.4 EHDC – notification of the Community Strategy Conference. The Clerk and Mrs Myers would be attending. 11.5 An email urging GPC to sign a No.10 petition in favour of reducing bureaucracy for small parishes. The clerk was asked to email the website link to all GPC Councillors should they wish to respond individually. 12 Date of Next Meeting – the next meeting will be announced in the early part of June, subject to the finalisation of the 2007/08 accounts. The meeting closed at Signed: ……………………………………….. Date: …………………………………………..
11 Correspondence