Present: Mr. C. Thompson; Mrs. J. Gale; Mr. C. Jones; Mrs. A. Myers; Mr. R. Fudge; Mr. I. Robinson; Mr. S. Georgii; Mr. S. Herrett and the Clerk Mrs. E. Pennick 1. Apologies – Mr. C. Slaughter, Mr. H. Murphy 2. Election of Chairman and Receipt of Declaration of Acceptance of Office 3. Election of Vice Chairman and Receipt of Declaration of Acceptance of Office 4. Declarations of Interest 5. Appointments 5.1 Committee Structures 5.2 Appointments 5.2.1 Internal Appointments – The following appointments remained unchanged: 5.2.2 External Appointments – The following appointments were confirmed: 6. Minutes of Meeting Held on 10th March 2008. 6.1. Matters Arising – there were no matters arising that were not noted separately on the agenda. 7. Minutes of Annual Parish Assembly 4th April 2008 7.1. Matters Arising – The clerk was asked to write to HCC Cllr. Sam James to ascertain if he had been able to glean any further information regarding speed control by residents as promised at the Parish Assembly. Mr Fudge asked whether Mr Slaughter had brought the item raised in paragraph 3, page 3 to the attention of the District Councillor. The clerk undertook to enquire. 8. Planning & Conservation Committee 8.1. Minutes of Meetings held on 3rd April 2008 & 1st May 2008 8.1.1. Meeting of 3rd April 2008: No response had been received by EHDC in respect of the required retrospective planning application by the Co-op, which Bill Young was progressing. Mr Thompson informed Councillors that GPC’s solicitor had not received a response from the Co-op in respect of the Trolley Park licence nor had they paid last year’s licence fee. The Core strategy and Community Strategy responses had been agreed and submitted by the assistant clerk and the committee wished to minute a vote of thanks to Leah Coney for the additional work incurred by this. Grove House - the Committee's concerns had been passed to Cllr Ferris Cowper who was looking into the matter. 8.1.2. Meeting of 1st May 2008: The Clinic application for 3 dwellings had not been objected to but a request to replace the commemorative plaques on the site had been made. In addition the Committee wished to see better on-site parking provision and a condition attached to any permission notice stating that cars must be able to exit the site in a forward gear. An appeal against the decision to deny planning permission for 4 houses on the site had been registered by the applicant. 8.3 Eplanning Consultation: The Council has been asked to respond to a government proposal for a central planning portal for electronic applications / submissions. The following questions were discussed and responses agreed as stated and the clerk was asked to liaise with the assistant clerk and Mrs Gale before responding by the deadline the next day: Question 16. Yes, moderately Question 19. There is a substantial number of elderly residents within the parish who do not have or use computers. Public IT facility is in the library but this is only open 2.5 days a week. These documents are printed in the council office for inspection by the public. A3 plans might be difficult to read for the elderly and there is a cost issue for employing staff for additional hours to print out plans for public viewing. Question 20. We are concerned over the centralisation of planning which is contrary to the public utterances of local involvement by the government. It reduces the likelihood of open discussion in the local community due to restricted availability of plans. We have no confidence in the proposals given so far. 9. Recreation and Amenities Committee 9.1. Minutes of Meeting held on 10th April 2008. The following items were brought to the Council’s attention: Lyndon Green – it had been agreed that the there would be no change to the access onto Lyndon Green before the Sunday Funday on 29th June. The PIG committee would take precautions with regard to the wetpour path and edging and the access would be looked at again after that date. In addition, the area under the tree on the Headley Road side of the Green would be treated with top soil and grassed after the Funday event. The bollards had been installed around the car park at the Sports Field. The bus shelter, which had been blown over in recent high winds had been removed. EHDC and HCC were not prepared to replace it but HCC had offered a contribution of £500 towards the cost. It was proposed by M.r Robinson and seconded by Mr. Thompson that Developers Funds for Transport should be applied for to cover the outstanding cost of the new shelter after the contribution of £500 by HCC had been confirmed and accepted. The Grayshott Society had been approached with regard to the proposed design of the wooden shelter which they approved of, subject to a tiled roof as opposed to flat sheet felting. Three estimates were considered by Councillors and it was agreed to place the order with Phoenix Timber Buildings based at Wrecclesham at the price of £2858.00 to include a brick base to prolong the life of the shelter, unless a quotation was received by the clerk from Oakley Stables at a cheaper price, in the meantime, when this should be accepted. It was agreed that no glass or polycarbonate should be installed in the windows. The results of the Questionnaire from the Parish Scene had been analysed and circulated to Councillors. The majority of residents had voted against lighting the War Memorial and Councillors agreed by a majority vote with the decision not to proceed with this project. Mr. Robinson recorded a vote of thanks to Mr. Georgii for his investigations into this matter. Any additional street lighting would be considered in line with the PFI lighting project being undertaken in the near future in Hampshire and it was agreed to take no action until details of this were released. The assistant clerk had ascertained that HCC were not prepared to install additional street lights in unadopted roads but the Parish Council was at liberty to undertake the role of a local lighting authority in this respect. Councillors agreed that GPC was not prepared to take on this responsibility due to the maintenance costs involved. The clerk was asked to inform Peter Hatch of this legislation in respect of his interest in additional lighting in Hill Road. Japanese Knotweed was prevalent on the Sportsfield but had been treated during the preceding week and Mr Robinson reported that it appeared to be wilting. The Category 2 tree surgery had been completed and the category 3 work had been allocated to Mr Taylor who had been asked to liaise with the football club regarding their requirements for pruning of branches along the Headley Road side of the Field. 10. Policy and Resources Committee 10.1. Minutes of meeting held on 21st April 2008 10.2. Committee Recommendations 10.3 Greening Policy – Mr Fudge had drafted a Greening Policy for consideration by Councillors and the items contained therein were discussed and a number of minor amendments agreed. The final Policy is attached as appendix 1 to these minutes. The clerk was asked to request Mr Hatch to upload this onto the www.grayshott.com website under the parish Council link. Mrs. Gale pointed out that the onus now falls on Councillors to print minutes, agendas and any additional documents circulated by email. Councillors’ printers do not always have the facility to print double sided documents and consideration should be given to the font style and size in which paperwork is produced. It was also noted that when the new equipment is received from EHDC for Eplanning, this could be used to project minutes onto a screen at meetings negating the need for printed copies for each Councillor. This would be investigated by the clerk. Mr. Herrett noted his concern for the loss of trees in the village on some developments. Mr. Georgii suggested that whilst residents could not be forced to retain trees on their property, the Planning Committee could include a request to consider the retention of trees wherever possible in their submissions to EHDC Planning Department and this was agreed. 10.4 Planning Policy - A letter had been drafted to a small number of other Parish Councils to seek their views on EHDC’s Planning Policy. Councillors approved the letter and the clerk was asked to liaise with the assistant clerk and send the letter by email wherever possible. 10.5 Insurance A quotation for insurance had been received from Norwich Union via Came and Co. Insurance agents who had been recommended to Parish Councils by HALC. The cost would be 15% cheaper than the renewal invitation from Allianz and they would guarantee a no claims discount of 5% p.a. up to a maximum of 5 years. In addition, they would not raise the premium beyond the RPI increase for 3 years if GPC committed to a 3 year term of insurance. Mr Thompson advised Councillors that Mr Slaughter had approved the proposed cover which would in all cases be equal to if not better than that provided by Allianz. He pointed out to Councillors that the Fidelity guarantee applied to Councillors up to the age of 75 with Allianz but age 80 with Norwich Union. He then proposed that GPC accept the invitation from Came and Co. and all agreed. 10.6 Risk Assessment The amendment to the regularity of Policy and Resources meetings was approved and Councillors agreed to accept the revised Risk Assessment. 10.7 Postal Address Questionnaires – the majority of respondents wished to use “Hants” in their postal address. A summary of the responses had been forwarded to EHDC Cllr Ferris Cowper. 11 Financial Matters 11.1 Budget 2007/2008 Income and Expenditure Report 11.2 A list of current Direct Debits was circulated to Councillors and these were approved. 11.3 Bank Accounts 12 Grayshott Heathland Trust 13 Correspondence 13.1 Surrey CC Waste Plan adopted 6/5/08 - available for inspection. Noted 13.2 Community First Interagency Forum at Liphook Village Hall. Noted. 13.3 Emails from Cllr Ferris Cowper, Phil Bates and Chris Vardy from the Grayshott Society regarding the suggestion of 2 hour parking restrictions in the village. Mr Thompson read these to Councillors. The questionnaire responses to this question had totalled 50 in favour of the restriction and 18 against. The clerk was requested to ascertain whether there was an officer / facilities at HCC Highways to create a traffic management plan for Grayshott. The clerk pointed out that the traffic problems in Avenue Road caused by delivery lorries would be eased if there was restricted parking for other vehicles at certain times. There have been occasions when a Councillor had been forced to reverse into Headley Road as a lorry had blocked Avenue Road at the rear of the Co-op. 14 Future Dates: 14.1 GPC Extraordinary Meeting to approve 2007/08 Accounts 9th June 2008 7.45pm 14.2 Beech Allotments Charity Meeting of the Trustees - 9th June 2008 7.45pm 14.3 Charlotte Lyndon Trust Meeting of the Trustees - 9th June 2008 7.45pm 14.4 Policy and Resources Meeting – 9th June 2008 8pm Signed: …………………………………………. Dated: ………………………. CHAIRMAN
In the absence of the Chairman, Mr. Thompson assumed the Chair of the meeting and informed Councillors that Mr. Slaughter had declared his willingness to be appointed to the office of Chairman and had signed a declaration of acceptance of office should this be the wish of Councillors. He then nominated Mr. Slaughter as Chairman of the Parish Council. This was seconded by Mr. Herrett and agreed by all. Mr. Slaughter’s declaration was then witnessed by the Clerk.
Mr. Jones nominated Mr. Thompson as Vice Chairman of the Council. This was seconded by Mrs. Myers and agreed by all. Mr. Thompson completed a declaration of acceptance of office which was witnessed by the Clerk.
Declaration of Interest forms received from EHDC had been circulated to all Councillors prior to meeting. The clerk reminded everyone that these should be completed and when returned to the office would be forwarded to EHDC on Councillors’ behalf.
The Chair and Vice Chair of each of the Council and its Committees were confirmed as:
Full Council:
Chairman – Mr. Clive Slaughter
Vice Chairman – Mr. Colin Thompson
Policy and Resources Committee:
Chairman – Mr. Colin Thompson
Vice Chairman – Mr. Clive Slaughter
Planning and Conservation Committee:
Chairman – Mr. Chris Jones
Vice Chairman – Mrs. Jan Gale
Recreation and Amenities Committee:
Chairman – Mr. Roy Fudge
Vice Chairman – Mr. Steve Georgii
Committee Members:
Policy & Resources – made up of the Chair and Vice Chair of each of the other Committees/Full Council
Mr. S. Herrett: Recreation & Amenities, Planning & Conservation
Mr. I. Robinson: Recreation & Amenities, Planning & Conservation
Mr. H. Murphy: Recreation & Amenities, Planning & Conservation
Mrs. A. Myers: Recreation & Amenities, Planning & Conservation
It was noted that all members of the Policy and Resources committee are ex-officio members of all other committees.
Charlotte Lyndon and Jack Smith Legacy – Chairman, Vice Chairman and Mrs. J. Gale
EHAPTC – Chairman, Vice Chairman and others in turn
Beech Allotments – Chairman, Vice Chairman and Chairman of R&A Committee. As Mr Fudge was newly appointed in the role of Chairman of R&A, the Clerk was requested to obtain the necessary bank mandate to amend the signatories on the bank account.
Philips House: Whilst the Philips House Committee was no longer in existence, the Council agreed to ask Mr. Murphy to remain as sole representative and to liaise with residents of Philips House as necessary.
Grayshott Day Centre: It was agreed the Clerk should write to Mrs. Helene Sanderson requesting her to be the Council’s representative.
Grayshott Nursing Charity: The representatives, Mrs. Clark, Miss Moore and Mrs. Pain, remain unchanged but as the Rev. Susan Wing was no longer in the village it was agreed to write and ask the new Vicar to represent the Council as and when she or he was appointed.
Grayshott Village Hall Management Committee: Mr. Herrett agreed to continue as the Council’s representative and this was agreed.
Sports Field Committee: It was agreed that the Chairman of the Recreation and Amenities Committee, now Mr. Fudge, and Mr. Murphy would continue to represent the Council.
Three Parishes Fund: Mrs Gale agreed to continue in her role as the Council’s representative on the Three Parishes Fund for the remainder of her term of office until 2012.
Neighbourhood Watch: The Council agreed Mr. Lee should be asked to continue to act as its representative.
Parish Scene: Mr. Georgii agreed to continue as editor of Parish Scene.
Grayshott Archive: Mr. Fudge agreed to continue as the Council’s representative and this was agreed.
Grayshott Primary School: Mr. Robinson agreed to continue as the Councils representative until 2011.
Grayshott Heathland Trust: Mr. Thompson and Mr. Robinson agreed to continue as the Council’s representatives and this was agreed.
It was noted that Mr Fudge’s name should have a capital F at the beginning. The minutes of the meeting held on 10th March 2008 were then agreed and signed.
It was noted that Mr Murphy was incorrectly stated as present. His name was therefore deleted. It was further noted that David Barrett’s title should be Dr. not Mr. Subject to these amendments, it was proposed by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mrs. Gale and agreed that the minutes of the Annual Parish Assembly were a true and accurate record of the meeting and that they could be signed at the next Annual Parish Assembly in 2008.
The following items were brought to the Council’s attention:
All reports had been circulated to the Council prior to the meeting
A draft statutory income and expenditure report had been circulated prior to the meeting. Mr. Thompson proposed that the overspend against the 2007/08 budget for tree surgery would be funded from general reserves. The category 3 and 4 work being undertaken by Mr Taylor would be paid for by GPC and a contribution sought from Beech Allotments Charity towards the cost of tree surgery within the boundary of Beech Allotments. This was agreed. Mr Thompson proposed that the balance of funds at the end of the year after the allocation of earmarked funds to the Village Hall Refurbishment and Grant Aid accounts, the Sports Pavilion grant and the Tennis Court earmarked funds would be transferred to general reserves. This was agreed.
A list of bank account balances at 30th April 2008 had been circulated prior to the meeting. These were approved. It has occasionally been difficult to keep track of balances within the bank accounts and Mr Thompson requested Councillors to consider permission for the clerk to set up of a sweep between the current account and the business call account on a monthly basis to assist the clerk in maintaining an optimum balance in the current account. Councillors agreed.
Mr Thompson reported that a 999 year lease should be established by the Autumn and when this had been approved the area would be open to the public. An area fronting Headley Road would be grassland and available for fetes etc with heath land behind with access for the public. The showmen living at Fairlands next door have been very pro-active in monitoring the area.
The list of correspondence had been circulated to all Councillors prior to the meeting. Councillors were unavailable to attend the HAT Rights of Way Conference on 16th June.
Additional Correspondence received that day as follows: