WINSTRED HUNDRED PARISH COUNCIL

Peldon   Great Wigborough   Little Wigborough
Salcott   Virley

Draft minutes of the meeting of Winstred Hundred Parish Council held at Peldon Village Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday 10th May 2016.

Present: Bob Holmes, Nicky Ellis, Liz Davidson, Jinny Gale, Lynne Simmons, Phil Gladwin, John Walker, Netty Knill-Jones, John Jowers, Pat Moore, Robert Davidson, Andrew Ellis, Kevin Bentley and 5 members of the public

Apologies for absence: Jackie Maclean

The Annual Parish Assembly

Everyone was welcomed to the meeting by the chairman and all the Borough Councillors who had recently been voted into office were congratulated by the Parish Council.

Annual Council Meeting (AGM)

Nicky proposed, Jinny seconded and all agreed for Phil to be the Chairman for the next two years. Phil proposed, Nicky seconded and all agreed for Bob to be Vice-Chairman for the next two years. Phil proposed, Nicky seconded and all agreed for the clerk to continue as the Financial and Responsible Officer.  All necessary forms were filled in and signed accordingly. Thanks were given by all to Lynne for her time as Chairman, particularly as she stepped in at short notice when the previous chairman moved from the area.

Chairman’s Report: Thanks were given to everyone who has been involved in working for the council and our villages be it paid or voluntarily; there was mention of meeting attendance of other bodies by parish councillors, various grant monies received and the parish council’s day to day duties such as commenting on planning applications, playgrounds and fields, flooding issues, highways defects and informing the all the residents on matters of interest and dealing with any concerns or queries brought to us where ever possible.

Financial Report: The parish council finances are in good order with no major expenditure during the year resulting in this financial year completed with a small increase in surplus funds. The External Audit Return will be displayed on the noticeboards and website in accordance with requirements.

Membership of EALC, NALC, CALC, and SLCC: Phil proposed, Bob seconded and all agreed for our continued membership of these associations.

Ordinary Council Meeting

Minutes of the last meeting were agreed by all and signed by the chairman

Zone Warden Report: None sent but we have been informed of some very unsightly fly tipping in School Lane that was removed by CBC very quickly.

County and Borough Councillor Reports: Well done to Peldon for moving forward with the new village hall project. CBC Local Plan is still being considered and Colchester will be building more houses. The Community Initiative Fund is available again this year for which our villages have benefitted from on many occasions. There will also be fund for just Parish Councils to apply for and not any other groups. A potential flooding matter in Church Road will be followed up. The possibility of a speeding deterrent sign and the siting there of in Peldon is still being considered (see below at item 3). Congratulations were expressed to Phil and Bob for their new positions on the parish council. We are advised that there are one and half units of allotments available at Langenhoe, near the Langenhoe Lion. If you are interested please contact Claire Collett, the Abberton and Langenhoe Parish Clerk. (parishclerk.al@hotmail.com) or Chris de Courcy Bower (chris.decourcybower@gmail.com)

Public-Have Your Say: The speed survey results for the two roads in Peldon were spoken about, excessive litter at a certain field entrance in Peldon was discussed.

Declarations of Interest: None

1. Playgrounds and Playing Fields: following the annual inspection report some minor defects will be addressed shortly. The new fencing for the Salcott play area will be installing in due course. A request for strimming at Salcott crossroads was made which will be looked into. Tesco’s Bags of Help Programme is a possible source of funding for open spaces.
2. External Audit Return: Phil proposed, Nicky seconded and all agreed to accept the financial return for 2015/16 including completion of the Annual Governance Statement which in turn includes the Financial Regulations and Risk Assessment acceptance, also the Accounting Statement 2015/16, noting the internal auditor return for which we are grateful, as always, to Steve Copeland for carrying this out for us.
3. Speed Survey Results –The Parish Councillors would like to clarify they had not offered their own interpretation of speed survey figures as was incorrectly reported on a leaflet delivered privately to every household in Peldon. The Parish Council had deliberately repeated the exact words supplied to them by Essex Highways.  These conform to standard national policy regulations and follow the criteria for all of Essex.  We shall continue to consult with Peldon residents and Highways engineers about the best site for a VAS sign if one is to be installed.
4. Google Search Rankings & SSL Certificate: Phil proposed, Lynne seconded and all agreed not to improve our website rankings which would have been at a cost. Our website operator will be informed of our decision who had also decided not to improve his ranking on his own site.
5. Neighbourhood Watch: postponed till next month owing to circumstances of those showing an interest.
6. Standing Orders: Phil proposed, Nicky seconded and all agreed to adopt our newly constructed Standing Orders having had our attention drawn to any major changes from the last edition. Bob proposed, Phil seconded and all agreed to pay the clerk her share of the Transparency Funding having received the full amount requested that includes website costs for the parish council.
7. Peldon Vacancy – our 3 applicants are all well again after illnesses so a date will be arranged in the near future for interviews.
8. Actions and Reminder List – updated and to include that Netty has offered to take a seat on the Essex Coastal Forum.

Planning Applications:

Planning Decisions:

Finances:

The next meeting will be on Tues 14th June 2016 at 7.30pm at Salcott Village Hall