Minutes Extraordinary Meeting 1st September 2015

Extraordinary Meeting of the Parish Council

Minutes of a meeting held on Tuesday  1st September 2015 at 7.00pm Yarkhill Village Hall

Present: David Probert (DP) Chair, Roger Barnett (RB), Richard Williams (RW), Keith Bayliss (KB)

  1. Apologies for absence

Tony Walsh

  1. Declarations of Interest

None

  1. Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting held on 12th May 2015

Approved and signed

  1. Minutes of Annual Meeting of the Parish Council held on 26th May 2015

Approved and signed

  1. Matters Arising from the Minutes

None

  1. Neighbourhood Development Plan Update

RW advised that good progress was being made. The informal consultation on the draft plan has ended and councillors had been circulated an analysis of the responses. The chief issues arose over:

  • Settlement boundaries; Herefordshire Council was keen on these being drawn or at least described. We are negotiating this because very difficult to do given dispersed nature of parish.
  • Renewable energy; there is clear consensus in the parish that small scale development, appropriately sited and for the local benefit would be acceptable but not large scale commercial projects.
  • Protecting specific views; Herefordshire Council keen on this but there are so many open views throughout the parish that it is difficult to specify any particular viewpoints
  • Smaller dwelling size; We have indicated in the draft plan that smaller dwellings of 3 bedrooms or less would be particularly supported. This is controversial because most responses have suggested we would not want to absolutely prohibit the development of a larger dwelling. The smaller size was included in the plan to address the fact that current dwellings in the parish are skewed towards larger sizes compared with the rest of the county. Also to meet a need for smaller dwellings identified in the Council’s evidence base.

It is anticipated that the plan will go to formal Regulation 14 consultation towards the end of September. An application for further funding following this will be made and RW will keep the parish council informed on the sums involved and the progress of the plan. It is hoped to have a completed plan by late spring 2016.

ACTION: RW

  1. Finance Report

In the absence of the Finance Officer, DP advised that he understood that the auditors were happy with our accounts.

The subscription to HALC had been paid.

  1. Correspondence Received
  • A letter from Herefordshire Council had been received advising that the closing date for submission of our precept application for 2016 was due on 31st December 2015. It was agreed that we defer a decision on setting the precept until our next meeting when issues relating to payment of a parish clerk were clearer.
  • A letter from the Pensions Regulator had been received advising that we need to nominate point of contact as an employer. The deadline for this has passed (31st July 2015). Our situation is complicated because we are not currently employing anyone. RW agreed to address the issue.
  • An email regarding litter picking and an offer help from Herefordshire Council in organising one was received. There was agreement that we should engage with this and RW agreed to pursue this.

ACTION: RW

  1. Appointment of Parish Clerk

Following an interview on 25th August 2015 the prospective candidate had declined to accept the post.

RW received a phone call from Malcolm Walker at HALC offering their services in providing a temporary clerk until we can sort out our medium to long term needs. This would come at a cost of £100 per meeting plus travelling expenses and would include the preparation of agendas and minutes, dealing with correspondence and day to day issues. It would not include any extra services such as clerical help with the NDP.

There was agreement that we should pursue this and accept HALC’s offer. A number of questions arise from this including our position regarding PAYE and pensions.

RW agreed to further this.

ACTION: RW

  1. Date of next meeting and items for agenda

Tuesday 24th November 2015 at 7pm Yarkhill Village Hall

Items for Agenda

  • Parish Clerk Issues
  • Consideration of merging with neighbouring parish(es)
  • Communications: Parish magazine, Noticeboards, Website
  • NDP
  • Finances and Precept

RW agreed to ensure that the agenda for the next meeting would be published in the parish magazine and also that the ward councillor, Jonathon Lester would be invited to all our meetings