1. Election of Chair
Cllr Irving was proposed by Cllr Thorn and seconded by Cllr Yamanaka to serve as Chair of the Council. All those present were in favour. Cllr Irving thanked members and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
Cllr Irving proposed that Cllr Gallop be elected as Vice-Chair of the Council. All those present were in favour.
3. Declaration of Members’ Interests
None on known agenda items.
4. Appointment to Committees and Working Groups
a. Planning Committee
It was agreed that all councillors would continue to be members of the Planning Committee. Cllr Irving said that Cllr Glynn did not wish to stand for the position of Chair again this year, and nominations were therefore invited. It was commented that Cllr Glynn had been able to provide an exceptional level of expertise in planning matters and this would be very difficult to replace.
Cllr Irving then nominated Cllr Thorn, and as there were no other nominations, Cllr Thorn was elected as Chair of the Planning Committee. Cllr Thorn stated that he wished to make it clear that he was not as experienced in planning matters as Cllr Glynn and he would not be in a position to provide the type of detailed notes on applications that Cllr Glynn had previously provided. It would therefore be necessary for other members to visit the locations of planning applications and be prepared to make comments.
b. Working Groups
It was agreed that the working groups would consist of the following councillors:
Highways: Cllr Ellis (Convenor); Cllr Bigg; Cllr Gallop; Cllr Glynn; Cllr Irving; Cllr Ledbury; Cllr Phillips; Cllr Thorn.
Environment: Cllr Bigg (Convenor); Cllr Berkley; Cllr Glynn; Cllr Irving; Cllr Ledbury; Cllr Moss; Cllr Turton.
Finance: Cllr Gallop (Convenor); Cllr Irving; Cllr Glynn; Mrs G Wilson (Clerk).
Airport: Cllr Yamanaka questioned whether there was now a need for a separate working group, as most important airport issues this year will be planning-related. It was therefore agreed that Cllr Turton would act as liaison officer to set up meetings with airport personnel as and when these were required.
Emergency: Cllr Thorn has done a lot of work on some of the practical issues relating to emergency planning, using the pro forma provided by NSC. He suggested that a list of names could be provided to NSC of people to be contacted in the event of an emergency. It was agreed to review this at the next meeting.
Newsletter: Cllr Thorn said that he would not wish to be responsible for editing this in 2010. He felt, however, that the principle of the person appointed as editor having control of the content, in consultation with the Chair and the Clerk, should be continued with. It was agreed that the process would be determined at the next meeting. Cllr Berkley said that he would be willing to take on the role of editor next year, with Cllr Thorn's advice and support.
5. Appointments to outside bodies
a. Memorial Hall & Recreation Field Committee
It was agreed that the present representatives of the Parish Council will continue: Cllr Irving, Cllr Gallop, Cllr Bigg, Cllr Glynn, Cllr Moss, Cllr Yamanaka, Cllr Berkley, Cllr Phillips.
b. BIA Consultative Committee and Parish Councils Airport Association
It was agreed that Cllr Turton would be the representative on both committees.
c. School Travel Plan
There was doubt as to the need for a representative for this group now, as the present representative, Cllr Bigg, had not yet arrived at the meeting. It was agreed to ask Cllr Bigg to provide an update on the current position.
6. Public Participation
The Chairwoman welcomed Mr Paul Robinson and asked him if he wished to make any statement. Mr Robinson said that he simply wished to observe the meeting with a view to being considered for co-option onto the Council in the future.
7. Co-option of new member
Mr Fred Cowgill left the meeting at this point. Cllr Irving read out a letter received from NSC stating that as no request had been received for a poll to fill vacancies, the Parish Council could proceed to co-opt members as necessary. Cllr Irving then proposed that Mr Cowgill be co-opted onto Wrington Parish Council. All were in favour. Mr Cowgill then rejoined the meeting and Cllr Irving welcomed him as a member of the Parish Council. The Clerk provided Cllr Cowgill with the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, which was duly signed.
8. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 15th April 2009 were reviewed and signed as a correct record.
Matters arising
GBSTS Report: the Clerk read out a letter to Cllr Elfan ap Rees requesting further information about the Joint Local Transport Plan and whether the concept of the link road will feature in this. A response is awaited.
9. Dates of meetings
Cllr Yamanaka spoke about the problems arising from a frequent clash of dates between the Parish Council meeting and the South Area Committee meetings, which can prevent members of the Parish Council taking part in Parish Voice, or attending meetings considering important planning applications. The dates will coincide on three occasions during the remainder of 2009.
After discussion, it was proposed by Cllr Yamanaka and seconded by Cllr Berkley that Parish Council meetings should be held on the fourth Wednesday of the month, starting from 24th June, the only exception being the December meeting, which would take place on the 16th. This was agreed. The Clerk is to produce a list of amended dates to be circulated to members and displayed on the parish noticeboards, etc.
10. Correspondence
a. Severn Estuary Partnership – information received with an invitation for the Parish Council to join the organisation. Cllr Bigg agreed to review the literature and report back to the Council.
b. NHS North Somerset – information on event to be held on 16th July.
c. NSC – offer of a bench. The Clerk reported that NSC had offered parish councils the opportunity of acquiring benches in good condition which NSC no longer required, and it was confirmed that a 3-seater bench would be available later in the year. It will then be decided where to locate the bench.
d. Alcohol requests: Wrington WI in relation to three events to be held during the remainder of 2009 – this was agreed.
11. Reports
a. Police Report: this had only been received immediately prior to the meeting by email, and therefore was not available for distribution. The Clerk is to circulate the report to members.
b. Clerk’s Report, Financial Report and accounts for the month of April: these had been circulated previously. It was noted there had been problems with vandalism at the Church Walk play area, which had necessitated the purchase of a new litter bin. An insurance claim will be made for this, and other repairs are in progress. The internal audit is in progress in preparation for the submission of the Annual Return, and the first instalment of the precept has been received from North Somerset Council. The majority of allotment rents have also been received.
The following payments were approved:
Information Commissioner’s Office – annual fee £35.00
Memorial Hall hire – Annual Parish Meeting £36.00
Village orderly – 4 weeks @ £24 £96.00
Allianz Insurance – annual insurance premium £5,724.15
Connaught Environmental – dog bins £27.60
Glasdon UK Ltd – play area litter bin £253.50
Clerk’s expenses:
Postage £40.73; travel £14.09; office expenses £63.94 £118.76
Clerk’s salary May – to be calculated
c. North East Ward report
Cllr Turton had circulated a written report previously. It was noted that a decision on the Brockley Wood ‘composter’ is expected by the end of the week. Consultation on the proposed closure of St Katharine’s School, Felton: Cllr Turton and Cllr Yamanaka had attended a meeting about this earlier in the day. Cllr Turton highlighted some concerns arising from this, for instance, children from St Katharine’s will not be guaranteed a place at Winford School; also the building work to extend Winford School may not be completed by the time St Katharine’s closes, although there seems to be no practical reason why the work could not be started earlier. It was agreed that Cllr Turton would write a response to the consultation and circulate to members for their comments, prior to submission to NSC on behalf of the Parish Council.
d. Airport Consultative Committee
Cllr Turton had circulated a report previously and this was received.
e. District Councillor’s report
Cllr Yamanaka had circulated a report previously and this was received. Cllr Yamanaka said that the planning application for affordable housing in Rickyard Road is to be considered at the South Area Committee meeting on 17th June. The officer is likely to recommend it for approval, now that the objections by the Environment Agency have been withdrawn. It is therefore likely that the committee will approve the application, unless some overwhelming reasons are presented as to why it should be refused. It was agreed that Cllr Bigg would attend to speak against the application, although this would be in an individual capacity and could not be as a representative of the Parish Council.
12. Working Groups
a. Highways
Cllr Ellis proposed that the Parish Council should invite Mr Ben Hamilton-Baillie to make a presentation on shared space at a public meeting on a date to be confirmed. Cllr Ellis explained that Mr Hamilton-Baillie would make a charge of £300 if the project for which he has submitted a quotation does not go ahead, as he has already visited Wrington on two previous occasions. This was felt to be reasonable, and the proposal was agreed. A date in July is to be sought from Mr Hamilton-Baillie, and once this is confirmed a flyer will be produced for circulation to residents. The content of this will make it clear what the project will cost, but will also state that whilst the Parish Council is keen to obtain residents’ views, the final decision will rest with the Council.
b. Finance
Cllr Gallop reported that the Finance Group had now produced a second draft of the Financial Regulations, and a copy of this was circulated to all members. The objective will be to approve a final version at the June meeting, so that a copy can be submitted with the Annual Return to the external auditors, as agreed last year. Members were therefore asked to read the document and submit any comments or suggestions for amendments to the Clerk so that a final version can be produced in advance of the next meeting.
Councillors’ expenses for producing printed documents: this had also been discussed at the meeting, and the possibility of providing a supply of paper and covering the cost of one ink cartridge per year was discussed. It was agreed that the Clerk would check with the SLCC adviser as to what would be permissible, and report to the next meeting.
c. Environment
Cllr Bigg reported that a meeting had been held on 18th May to discuss the drainage report on Wrington produced by NSC. This has given rise to a number of questions and some issues that need explanation. One comment is that the report concentrates on the village itself and does not deal with the surrounding area. Some members will be walking the route of the stream, led by Cllr Moss, on 29th May, and the intention is to submit a list of questions following this.
13. Parish Plan
Cllr Bigg explained that all the pictures are now in place, and printing should now proceed within the next couple of weeks. Distribution can then be co-ordinated with delivery of the flyer for the shared space meeting.
14. Consultations
Sustainable Communities Act 2007: Cllr Bigg agreed to formulate some ideas for a response, which needs to be submitted by 31st July.
Gypsy & Traveller Site Allocation Development Plan: it was agreed to discuss this at the next Planning Committee meeting.
15. Open Forum
The Chairwoman asked Mr Robinson whether he would be interested in being considered for co-option onto the Council, and he indicated that he would if the Council felt he could be useful. It was agreed that the Clerk would provide a copy of the minutes to Mr Robinson.
There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 9.36 pm
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