May 19 2022 - Minutes - Annual Meeting of the Parish Council
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL OF FENTON & TORKSEY LOCK,
held on Thursday 19 May 2022, 7pm, at Kettlethorpe Village Hall.
PRESENT: Cllr G. Newton (Chair *see minute 834), Cllr A Woods (Vice-Chair * see Minute 835), Cllr D Canning-Jones.
Also present: Ruth Keillar (Clerk),
0 members of the public were present.
Chairman’s opening remarks.
834. Election of Chair and receive Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
The 2021-22 Chairman requested nominations for Chair of the Parish Council for 2022/23.
Cllr A Woods proposed Cllr G. Newton as Chair. This was seconded by Cllr D Canning-Jones.
There were no other nominations.
A vote was taken on this proposal and it was unanimously RESOLVED that Cllr G. Newton be re-appointed as Chair to the parish council.
Cllr G. Newton completed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
835. Election of Vice Chair and receive Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
The Chairman requested nominations for Vice-Chair of the Parish Council for 2022/23.
Cllr G. Newton proposed Cllr A Woods as Vice Chair. This was seconded by Cllr D Canning-Jones.
There were no other nominations.
A vote was taken on this proposal and it was unanimously RESOLVED that Cllr A Woods be appointed as Vice-Chair to the Parish Council.
Cllr A Woods completed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office
836. To receive apologies and reasons for absence.
Apologies were received from DCllr J Ellis and Cllr I B Smith, reasons accepted.
837. To receive Declarations of Interest on any item on the Agenda.
Members may make any declarations of interest at this point but may also make them at any point during the meeting.
No Declarations of Interest received.
838. To resolve to suspend the meeting to allow no more than 15 minutes of public forum.
No members of the public were present.
839. Notes of the Parish Council meetings:
a. Notes of the Parish Council meeting held on: 17 March 2022 to be approved and signed as minutes.
As there was one Cllr present who had been in attendance at the meeting of 17 March, approval of the Minutes was deferred to the following meeting (21/07/2022).
b. Notes of the Parish Council Business conducted under Delegated Powers to carry out PC business by the Clerk, as adopted 5 May 2021, minute 757 b.
No business to note. It was agreed that this item be removed from the agenda going forward.
840. To receive reports from Police with crime information.
Crime report 26/02/22 to 31/03/22 - 0 incidents reported.
Crime report 01/04/22 to 29/04/22 - 0 incidents reported.
841. Planning Matters.
Updated as of 16 May 2022
143697 – (Little London Park) - Current status: Public consutation period extended to 10 June 2022.
144148 – Fenton Fields) - Current status: Refused. Application is proceding to appeal.
144200 – (Sunny View) - Current status: Refused.
842. To receive any updates regarding the Speedwatch scheme and to consider any action.
The Chairman stated that it has been very disappointing that residents in Fenton who have expressed an interest in joining the team and others who have received training, have failed to engage with the project. This has resulted in the same members doing all the work and the Chairman regards this as unfair since this is supposed to be a community led project and the vast majority of the community is not prepared to participate. This is despite several appeals for more volunteers in the parish newsletter that goes to all households. Volunteers from Torksey Lock have been requested to join the team to monitor speeds in that part of the parish in advance of the speed limit reduction coming into effect however no responses have been received into the parish council.
The Chairman suggested that the team may wish to suspend speed monitoring until such time as more residents are willing to participate by their actions and not by their words alone.
After discussion it was agreed that the scheme be continued at this time and that Cllr D Canning-Jones will pass the contact details of the current volunteers to Cllr G. Newton, as a fresh attempt to engage those who had failed to do so to date.
Cllr. Canning-Jones will contact another person who may be interested in volunteering and Cllr A Woods volunteered. Cllr G. Newton will put the names forward for the next training session. It was agreed that two extra volunteers is not sufficient to run the scheme, should the original volunteers opt out.
It was agreed to review the situation going forward.
843. To receive any updates regarding the proposed Speed Reduction at Torksey Lock.
LCC has advised that the second phase of public consultation has been successfully completed and the work package for their contractor is in hand.
844. To receive any updates regarding the provision of a bench at Chestnut Corner in Fenton.
Funding in the amount of £400 has been received from the WLDC Platinum Jubilee Fund. This is against the estimated cost, as submitted, of £686.89. The VAT to be reclaimed by the PC is £107.81, leaving the PC with a net contribution of £179.08.
The materials for the footings have been supplied and delivered and a pro forma invoice is awaited from the bench supplier to procure the bench. It was agreed that the clerk chase this with the supplier.
845. To receive any updates regarding the adoption of ‘gov.uk’ email addresses for Cllrs and Council business. To note that the account is currently set up with a ‘contact@’ email address for all incoming correspondence, which is forwarded to all members for their information.
The new system is fully “live and operating satisfactorily.
We will continue to leave the old Bt account “on the books” for a period of acclimatisation.
The clerk will investigate the transferring of all data from the old BT account into separate accessible storage .
When the above has been completed, the BT account will be closed down.
846. Parish Newsletter. To receive any feedback and to consider any action for the next issue.
The next issue is scheduled for July 2022.
847. I D for parish Councillors. To receive any updates regarding ID for Cllrs. and information in the Notice boards.
All councillor IDs have been completed and issued.
This item can be removed from subsequent agendas.
848. To receive any updates regarding the defibrillator.
The Chairman advised that all was normal with the defibrillator.
This item can be removed from subsequent agendas and future reports will be made by exception only.
849. To consider Training arrangements for Cllrs. To receive any feedback on training attended.
Cllr A Woods confirmed that the I.T. Skills Word Training, attended 17/05/2022, had been very informative.
Cllr A Woods is due to attend Chairmans Workshop training, 24/05/2022
Cllr D Canning-Jones had been unable to attend the New Cllr training, scheduled 23/03/2022, due to work commitments. It was agreed that future dates for this be investigated.
850. To consider the adoption of the WLDC code of Conduct. Cllrs will be asked to sign an “undertaking to abide by the Code of Conduct” on a form that will be provided.
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr A Woods and so RESOLVED that the WLDC Code of Conduct as contained in WLDC letter of 2 March 2022 be adopted by this Parish Council
The undertaking to abide by the new WLDC Code of Conduct was completed by each member of the Parish Council present. It was agreed that a copy of the undertaking form be sent to Cllr I B Smith for completion asap.
851. Clerks report
Website analytics March: users 323, page views 916, unique page views 753.
Website analytics April: users 373, page views 950, unique page views 855
852. Financial Matters
a) To approve the Statement of accounts and bank reconciliations to date.
To approve the Statement of accounts and bank reconciliations as at 18 May 2022.
The RFO reported balances as at 18/05/2022:
i. Lloyds Current Account £8,731.13
ii. Lloyds Bus Savings A/C £15,465.10
Interest accrued April/May £0.26
Uncleared cheques: NIL
Payments received, included from balances:
WLDC Precept 2022-23 £5,300
WLDC Grant, ref PJCF21-22 72 £400.00
Payments received, excluded from balances: NIL
To note any regular payments made between 13/03/2022 – 18/05/2022:
To approve additional accounts for payment 19 May 2022: N/A
To note expenditure against budget:
TOTAL SPENT: 627.95
BUDGET: 8052.00
BALANCE REMAINING AGAINST BUDGET: 7424.05
To note:
HMRC. PAYE
April £2.40
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr D Canning-Jones and it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the statement of accounts, bank reconciliation and additional accounts for payment for part March, April – 18 May 2022.
b) AGAR for 2021-2022:
i. The Annual Internal Auditors Report was noted.
ii. The Governance Statement was noted.
iii. The Accounting Statement, which had been signed and dated by the RFO prior to presenting for approval, was noted.
iv. The Exemption Certificate was noted.
v. It was noted that the Notice of Public Rights will be posted onto the website for at least 30 working days, commencing Monday 13 June – Friday 22 July 2022.
vi. It was noted that the above and the following additional completed documents will be posted onto the PC website:
a. Bank Reconciliation
b. Explanation of Variances
c. Expenditure of £100 and over.
d. Asset list to 31/04/2022
The above documents were circulated to all members of the Parish Council prior to this meeting.
The Chair requested comments on any of the above.
As there were no comments, It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr D Canning-Jones and it was RESOLVED that the above AGAR documents are approved and duly signed by the Chairman and the Clerk, noting the Minute references.
853. Any urgent items for discussion
Matters can be raised and may become future agenda items. Items will only be taken if notified to the Chairman 24 hours prior to the meeting.
a) Notice Board at Torksey Lock – Refurbishment. This item was missed from the agenda and has been inserted here by the Chairman.
This item is now on hold pending further investigations. It was agreed to seek alternative contractor to quote for the work.
b) Cllr A Woods had a query relating to LCC Highways Grass-cutting, which had not been submitted in advance of the meeting. It was suggested that any Highways queries from members of the public can be addressed directly to Highways, with the https://www.fixmystreet.com/ being the best option. Cllr G. Newton offered to submit a report on behalf of Cllr A Woods, due to unfamiliarity with use of IT.
854. Date of next meeting and following meetings in 2022.
Regular Meetings – July 21, Sept 15, and Nov 17.
As there was no further business, the Chair declared the meeting closed at 19:55
Chair..................................G . NEWTON...................................Date.....................................21/07/2022