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Denmead Minutes
Full Council - 13 January 2010
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PARISH COUNCIL OF DENMEAD
MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 13 JANUARY 2010
IN THE DENMEAD COMMUNITY CENTRE,
OLD SCHOOL, SCHOOL LANE, DENMEAD COMMENCING AT 7.30 pm
Members: Cllr K Andreoli (P)
Cllr G Bendall
Cllr C Browton
Cllr B Gibbs (P)
Cllr R Hallett (P)
Cllr J Harrison (P)
Cllr F Hull (P)
Cllr J Knight (P)
Cllr N Lander-Brinkley (P)
Cllr C Phillips (P)
Cllr G Phillips (P)
Cllr I Reed (P)
Also present: Mr Tony Daniells, Clerk to the Council
142/10C Apologies: Apologies were received from Councillors Bendall and Browton.
143/10C Declarations of Interest: Cllr Hallett declared a personal interest in agenda item 7a as he was a member of All Saints Church. No other Declarations of Interest were made at this point in the meeting.
144/10C Minutes of the previous Meeting: The Minutes of the Full Council meeting held on the 18 November 2009 were submitted for approval. It was RESOLVED that the Minutes be accepted as an accurate record and were duly signed by the Chairman.
The Chairman welcomed Cllr Smart to her first Full Council meeting.
145/10C Public Session (SO.68): There was no requirement for a public session.
146/10C County Councillor’s Report
Apologies were received from C/Cllr Freddie Allgood. A written report was submitted prior to the meeting and is appended to these minutes. The content of the report was NOTED.
147/10C District Councillor’s Report
Apologies were received from D/Cllrs Stallard and Allgood. D/Cllr Allgood’s report is appended to these minutes. The content of the report was NOTED.
Cllr Knight was disappointed over the delay to the refurbishment of White Wings.
Village Matters
148/10C Havant and Waterlooville CAB Outreach Service: Cllr Lander-Brinkley gave a verbal update on this matter. John Stuart had been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Havant and Waterlooville CAB. D/Cllr Stallard would meet with him on 3 February 2010. Bishops Waltham CAB would normally receive grant funding from Winchester City Council. It was unclear on the status of this funding in the next financial year. Cllr Lander-Brinkley would contact Susanne Gill to understand the position. DPC had pledged grant funding on the basis of a matched grant from WCC.
149/10C Denmead Parish Plan: The Clerk gave a verbal update on this matter. Follow a further meeting held on 7 November 2009, he had circulated the information asked for by the attendees at that meeting. He had written to Graham Bryant to ask for a date for a follow on meeting, and sent a draft of an invite letter to go out under his name. A reply was awaited.
150/10C Denmead War Memorial Hall: Further correspondence had been received from the Denmead War Memorial Hall Management Committee (DWMHMC) attaching a map and commenting on further legal costs. The Chairman invited comments from Councillors. They agreed that the area bordered in red on the map showed the footprint of the Hall as previously agreed. There was some confusion as to why the car park area was shaded blue on the map and the significance of this. It was AGREED that the Clerk should to contact the DWMHMC for an explanation. A copy of the draft Transfer document was not available at the meeting. It was asked that a comparison be made with the previous transfer document and the latest one. If there was no difference, the Chairman and the Clerk were authorised to progress the matter of the land transfer. Glanvilles Solicitors had acted for the Parish Council on this matter in the past, and the Clerk was asked to contact them to regarding re-opening this matter. It was also asked that the Clerk contact DWMHMC’s legal adviser to ensure the matter of legal fees was put before the full Management Committee.
Correspondence
151/10C All Saints Church: A letter dated 17t December 2009 with a request for support and a grant for building an extension to the Church Hall Storage had been received. Cllr Hallett gave an outline of the proposal. A plan of the proposed extension was presented to the meeting. Although no timescale had been given in the letter, Councillors considered that a request for financial support had been received too late for consideration in the 2010/11 financial year as the budget had been allocated. It was suggested that this could be reviewed once the current financial year ended to determine if any surplus funds could be granted to All Saints Church. Councillors considered this a worthy cause as the Church facility was of benefit to the wider village community. It was RESOLVED that a letter be sent to All Saints Church giving support in principle to the building of a storage extension. It was Further RESOLVED that the matter be referred to FA&P at their March 2010 meeting to consider if there were to be surplus funds that could be used towards this and other late grant applications.
152/10C Winchester City Council: Notification had been received that precept requirements should be received by WCC by 13 January 2010. Due to the timing of this meeting, the Clerk had asked for a days grace to which WCC had agreed. NOTED.
153/10C Winchester City Council: Council had received an invite to budget discussions on Wednesday 27 January at 6.00pm in the Walton Room, Guildhall Winchester. Cllr Lander-Brinkley wished to attend. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Lander-Brinkley should attend as an approved duty.
154/10C Hampshire Constabulary: A letter dated 24 November 2009 giving an update on a recent incident at the Pavilion had been received. The suspect was due to appear in court in December. No further update had been received. NOTED.
Membership of NALC [min ref 96/10FAP]
155/10C FAP considered a letter from Steve Lugg, Chief Executive of HALC regarding continued membership of NALC. A letter from the National Association outlining the case for HALC staying within the national structure had since been received. Councillors considered that
• there was a large cost in being a member of NALC but little value
• HALC were not alone as a county association in suggesting withdrawal from NALC
• NALC appeared to have little influence over policy decisions by central government despite their recent statements.
It was unanimously RESOLVED to support HALC in withdrawal from NALC. It was further RESOLVED to delegate powers to the Chairman to complete the survey on
member Councils opinions when it arrived; to write to Steven Lugg giving the unanimous support of Full Council; and for the Clerk to invite Dr Colin Mercer to present to Full Council on this matter at their next meeting in February.
156/10C Budget 2010/11: The Chairman referred Councillors to the draft Budget. Minor amendments had been made so that if a grant to cover the cost of Youth Workers for DAN was not received, it could be covered from elsewhere. The rise in the precept of 4.06% was the outcome compared with that for the previous year. WCC may arrive at a different figure depending upon how many houses were included in the Council Tax Band calculation. It was unanimously RESOLVED to agree the budget for the financial year 2010/11.
157/10C Precept 2010/11: The precept for the financial year 2010/11 was unanimously AGREED at £331,188.50.
158/10C Parish Scene: Councillors commented on Parish Scene issue 102. The quality of photo reproduction was poor and there were some errors, possibly due to the printer picking up a draft version.
The Clerk gave a verbal update on the proposed content for issue 103. Cllr Gibbs would supply articles on footpaths and litter. Cllr Harrison would submit an article on a resident. Cllr Lander-Brinkley will prepare a report on the Winchester Sports Awards.
There were no other matters arising.
159/10C Call out Rota: The Clerk introduced his paper on the types of callout, and the possible reasons for callout, and the process used today. Councillors consider that the emergency callout as part of HCC/WCC emergency process was separate to that of the Pavilion callout. Following discussions it was RESOLVED that
• The use of the mobile telephone to contact a Councillor by HCC/WCC in an emergency should be discontinued.
• The mobile should instead be used to contact whoever was the first contact for an incident at the Pavilion.
• Staff who lived locally, and who could respond to an incident at the Pavilion should be asked if they were prepared to be the first contact on a rota basis. The Clerk was asked to assess the likely costs of standby/callout payments and to refer this to FA&P for consideration. Cllrs Gibbs and Hull would be the next on the list.
Finance
160/10C Orders for Payment (S.O.40): It was unanimously RESOLVED that the payments detailed on the Orders for Payment should be ratified in the sum of £6,130.99 and the receipts of £28,927.00 be noted.
161/10C Minutes, Reports, Recommendations and Resolutions from Committees (SO.46c)
It was unanimously RESOLVED to accept the Minutes, Reports, Recommendations and Resolutions of the following committee meetings:-
(a) Amenities Committee – Minutes of 21 October 2009. Noted
(b) Finance, Administration & Personnel Committee – Minutes 27 October 2009. Noted
(c) Highways & General Purposes Committee – Minutes 4 November 2009 Noted. Cllr Knight informed Council that at this meeting he was authorised to sign the legal agreement for the PFI Street Lighting Initiative.
(d) Planning Committee – Minutes of Meetings held 11 and 25 November and 9 December 2009. Noted
162/10C Parish Representation on other bodies and organisations
(a) Children’s Fund (DAN Nights): Cllr Hull. Cllr Hull reported that the sessions had not started yet in 2010. There was a need to revisit the Youth Partnership and to formalise the agreement.
(b) Church: Cllrs Bendall and Hallett. Nothing to report.
(c) Denmead Community Association: Cllrs C & G Phillips. Nothing to report.
(d) Winchester District Association of Local Councils: Cllrs Hallett and Knight. Cllr Hallett said that the last meeting had been in October 2009 and he had submitted a report to Council. There was nothing new to report.
(e) Hambledon and Denmead Welfare & Educational Trust (formerly John Ring Charity): Cllr Hallett. Nothing new to report.
(f) Denmead Festival: Cllr Lander-Brinkley. Cllr Lander-Brinkley had hoped to update Council following the Denmead Festival AGM. As this had not been properly called, it had been rescheduled to 19 January 2010. He would therefore report at a later meeting.
163/10C Any other report which the Chairman deems urgent – no decisions can be made:
(a) The Council had received a mention in the publication ‘Clerks and Councils Direct’ with reference to the award of Quality Status
(b) The Chairman thanked the Clerk for his efforts in keeping the Office open during the recent bad weather.
(c) The Chairman informed Council there were to be elections to fill Member vacancies on the SDNP Authority. There were two candidates for one seat. He would vote for Caroline Dibden as this Council had seconded her nomination.
There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.58 pm
The next scheduled meeting is on Wednesday 24 February 2010
Hampshire County Council Report
Top Marks for Hampshire
Hampshire is one of only three county councils to be awarded the top rating of four stars in a new and tougher inspection by Government watchdogs.
It has been given the rating of “performs excellently” by the Audit Commission in the new Comprehensive Area Assessment. The county council was praised for its work on the A3 bus corridor, the pioneering system of personalised care for adults, for recycling, recovering or composting 90 percent of waste, and for refurbishing half of the libraries in the last five years. The Audit Commission also noted the county is excellent at financial planning and financial management, achieving value for money for its residents.
The Commission also praised the way public services such as local authorities, parish councils, the health authority and the police work well together.
Finding Jobs
Hampshire has been awarded £5.8 million to help find jobs for 18-24 year olds who have been out of work for more than six months. The county council will be working with district councils, and the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton to create 900 new jobs.
The first jobs to be created under the scheme are for a trainee countryside ranger, grounds maintenance assistants, trainee lifeguards, curriculum support assistants and a customer services assistant.
Hampshire has also launched an apprentices scheme with the first 20 being recruited last month to work as catering staff, lab technicians and care assistants. They are all aged between 16 and 24 and will work for a year in various departments of the county council, spending four days a week working and one day a week on training for qualifications.
Other measures to help people and business through the recession are a network of Smarter Working Centres offering drop-in low-cost workspaces, grants for business to take on apprentices and training for redundant workers.
Winter Maintenance of Roads
This has been a busy time for Hampshire as it copes with some severe weather conditions. The county’s staff of 35 has been working round the clock with 100 drivers gritting roads and pavements to keep the priority routes open – the roads that carry 85 percent of the county’s traffic.
Freddie Allgood
Winchester City Council Report
Budget Preparations
My main task at the City Council this month is to prepare the General Fund Budget for 2010-11. Further consultations will be held with our key community partners such as the health authority, the voluntary sector, faith communities and the police, and meetings have also been arranged with business leaders and with parish council representatives.
The Budget proposals will be presented to Winchester’s Cabinet on 3 February and to the full council for approval on 18 February.
Guildhall
I have been overseeing in the renovation of Winchester Guildhall which is now under way. Our aim is to keep as much of the building open for public meetings as possible while the work continues. The first phase will involve the opening up of a new entrance to the Guildhall at ground level from the Broadway, a new reception area and the conversion of the Saxon suite into a cafeteria.
Benefits Team
We have lost some key members of the Benefits team who have retired in the last few weeks. But we are able to keep up with handling new claims for benefits and changes of circumstances.
White Wings House
We are continuing to seek a way to convert part of White Wings into extra care units. Currently half of the building is empty – the block with bedsits. We have tried to work with two registered social landlords but both have run into difficulties and are not in a position to go ahead. The city council is working with Felicity Hindson, executive member for adult services at Hampshire County Council, to seek a solution.
Refuse Collection
The refuse collection crews have been working hard to collect rubbish, empty recycling bins and deal with garden waste despite the severe weather conditions. The crews have not been able to reach some bottle banks but will clear up the backlog as early as possible. The advice from Serco is to leave bins out until they are emptied.
Freddie Allgood
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