WINSTRED HUNDRED PARISH COUNCIL

Peldon   Great Wigborough   Little Wigborough   Salcott   Virley

Draft minutes of the meeting of Winstred Hundred Parish Council held at Salcott Village Hall on Tuesday 14th May 2024 at 7.30pm

Present: Roger Pittock, Liz Davidson, Clare Lauwerys, Jinny Gale (chair), Phil Gladwin, Catherine Sprott, Netty Knill Jones

Apologies for absence: Robert Davidson, Martin Parsons

The Annual Parish Assembly

Everyone was welcomed to the meeting and no-one spoke at this time

Annual Council Meeting (AGM)

Present: as above and County Cllr Kevin Bentley

Election of Officers: It was proposed, seconded and all agreed for Jinny to continue as chairman for this next year, it was proposed, seconded and all agreed for Liz to continue as vice-chairman for this next year, it was proposed, seconded and all agreed for the clerk to continue as Responsible Financial Officer for this next year. Declaration of Acceptance of Office forms were duly completed and signed.

Parish Council’s Annual Report: was circulated before the meeting and will be displayed on the usual communication platforms.

Financial Report: it was noted that we had normal spending for the year with no unexpected outgoings, any substantial projects were paid for with grant money and/or Locality Budget money leaving us with a comfortable amount in the bank.

Continued membership to EALC, NALC, CALC, SLCC, RCCE was agreed by all 

Ordinary Council Meeting

The minutes of the April 2024 meeting were agreed by all and signed by the chairman

County and Borough Councillor Report: Cllr Bentley was congratulated for winning the latest election and he expressed pleasure in dealing with us as a parish council.

Locality Budgets are open for applications again as are ECC CIF Grants.

The winter has been the wettest for years hence the very poor condition of some of the roads but gradually these are being dealt with and new teams will be designated to one area for a week to address all the defects. Reporting potholes etc. to the parish council or on the ECC Highways website is encouraged so that areas in need of urgent repairs can be identified more quickly.  

Certain local problems were brought to Kevin’s attention which he will try to address.

The data gathered from the speed strips installed at Great Wigborough to identify the need for the 30mph limit to be extended qualified for this to take place and extra buffers of a 40mph limit both ends will be included in the project. The 40mph limit from The Rose to The Strood has also been applied for.

Public-Have Your Say: None

Declarations of Interest: None

1. Playgrounds and Playing Fields – both playgrounds and fields are in good order. The Community Group Documents were discussed and agreed by all to be standard wording for this type of contract and contact details will be confirmed with them and signed accordingly. It is hoped that the group will resume work for us when their organising staff levels permit.
2. Audit Return and Associated Compliances AGAR Part 2 2023/24: the finance summary and internal audit were noted and accepted, the Certificate of Exemption, Annual Governance Statement and Accounting Statement were agreed by all and signed by the chairman and Clerk/RFO.
3. Affordable Housing Survey – no further conclusions other than that workers in the villages may be included, if possible, next time we carry out a survey.
4. Website – new style website is nearly finished.
5. Speed Assessment Strips – as above in Councillor Report, excellent result.
6. Communications/Facebook – further progress made.
7. Request from Salcott Church – donation for churchyard upkeep – after much discussion, bearing in mind thatwe have not budgeted for this and we also have to consider that there are 4 churches in our villages therefore making this very costly, it was agreed by all that, with regret, we will not donate to the upkeep of the churchyards.
8. Peldon & Wigboroughs Community Hall Board of Trustees – it was agreed by all that Liz and Phil remain as the parish council representatives.
9. Actions and Reminder List – updated, to note that the parish council is meeting with CCC Local Plan Team to discuss the particular features of our villages.

Planning Applications:

Finances: Schedule for May 2024 payments:

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 11th June 2024 at 7.30pm, at St Stephen’s Church, Great Wigborough

9th July 2024 meeting will be at Peldon and Wigboroughs Community Hall meeting room.    There will be no meeting held in August