Bursledon Parish Council

 
Minutes of the full council meeting of Bursledon Parish Council
held on Wednesday, 25 November 2009 at the Village Hall,
Long Lane, Bursledon at 7.00 p.m
 
Present :            Cllr Millar (Chair)
                        Cllr Allen
                        Cllr Holes (up to and including item 14)
                        Cllr Misselbrook
                        Cllr Moneypenny
                        Cllr Woodhouse          
 
In attendance:  Mrs Jennifer Whittle (Parish Clerk)
                         6 members of the public
 
1.  Apologies for absence
 
Apologies had been received from Cllr Clarke, Cllr Craig, Cllr House, Cllr Lippold, Cllr Milne & Cllr O’Sullivan.
 
2.  Declarations of interest
 
Cllr Millar declared an interest in item 9.1.
 
3.  Minutes of the meeting of 28 October 2009
 
Cllr Allen proposed, Cllr Misselbrook seconded and Members voted unanimously to agree and sign the Minutes.
 
4.  Matters arising from the minutes of meeting of 28 October 2009
 
Item 16 – Cllr Woodhouse advised that she had contacted EBC regarding Windfalls’ roadside hedge.  Cllr Millar confirmed that he was liaising with EBC regarding the trimming of the Yew Tree and the lamp post on the triangle.  The Clerk was in the process of requesting EBC to relocate the dog bin.  ACTION:  CHAIR/CLERK.
 
5.  New pcso Donna Kay – introduction and report
 
PCSO Donna Kay introduced herself as the new PCSO for Bursledon; PCSO Bob Finch had relocated to Eastleigh.  Donna has been at the Hedge End Police Station for 3 years and used to be located at Hamble and so knows the Bursledon area very well.  She advised Members that she would forward a monthly report to the Parish Office for their information, should they wish to see this.
 
Donna felt that crime had reduced in the area, especially since two anti-social residents had been put in prison; she advised that these two members of the public would also have ASBOs when they were released from prison. 
 
She advised that PCSO Paling was trying to re-launch “Boat Watch”, which was the river version of the neighbourhood watch scheme.  PCSO Scoates and Stevens were setting up a cycle reward scheme, whereby young cyclists were rewarded for safe and sensible cycling, i.e. using lights and reflective gear and using good road sense.  Sensible young cyclists would be issued with a card to hand in at school and the one with the most cards will get a prize.
 
Donna advised that she herself is currently trying to get residents to report crime incidents and highlight methods of contacting the Police/PCSOs to give residents good access to the service.  Residents need to report any incidents to ensure that Police statistics are correct and problem areas can be targeted.  Donna then invited any questions.
 
Cllr Millar asked Donna to visit the Lowford Car Sales owner, where the Parish Council CCTV system for Lowford was based, to introduce herself.  She advised she would do this.
 
Cllr Woodhouse queried where Beat Surgeries were now being held.  Donna explained they had been at Tescos, but proved to be ineffective as most queries were from non borough residents.  The surgeries were now held at Pilands Wood Community Centre every third Friday and they were looking to visit places such as schools on parents evenings etc.  The Clerk and Members thanked Donna for her time.
 
6.  nick tustian, finance, EBC presentation - devolvement of services
 
Nick Tustian introduced himself as the Corporate Director/Chief Financial Officer at Eastleigh Borough Council and advised that he had come to help Members understand the financial implications of the devolvement of EBC facilities.  He advised that some people believed this was a method of EBC ridding themselves of costly areas, which was not the case; EBC are looking to the future when there is a good chance that the Borough could become unitary.  EBC felt that by handing these facilities over at this stage they were protecting them for the public.  Nick then went on to show his Transfer of Assets slide show, which was originally designed as a training tool for Councillors; a copy of which is available at the Parish Office for information purposes.  Nick then went on to explain the Special Expenses element of the slide show and invited questions.
 
Cllr Moneypenny asked when the residents would know about increases in the parish element of the Council Tax.  Nick advised that they would be made aware when they received their notice of community charge.  The Clerk advised that BPC had already incorporated some increases into their Parish Council Tax for the current year, which seemed not to have raised too many concerns.
 
Cllr Woodhouse thanked Nick for his presentation, which Members agreed had been an informative session.
 
Cllr Misselbrook queried the covenants attached to the Peewit Hill transfer that BPC could not dispose of the land, other than back to EBC.  Nick explained this was because BPC had not paid for the facilities, but by transferring the land to Bursledon Parish Council it enabled them to protect the land as open spaces for their residents. 
 
Cllrs Moneypenny and Woodhouse raised concerns about the expense and equipment required to maintain the areas transferred to BPC.  Cllr Millar advised that there would be no costs for maintenance or equipment on any of the areas, except for the Lionheart Way Ecology Park and Pilands Wood Play Areas, which had public access.  The Clerk and Members thank Nick for his time.
 
7.  colin mercer presentation – nalc membership
 
Colin introduced himself and advised that he was on the Finance Committee of Hampshire Association of Local Councils (HALC).  HALC had been looking into the possibility of discontinuing their membership of NALC (National Association of Local Councils), as a large proportion of all parish councils’ membership fees paid to HALC went towards HALC membership, which did not offer value for money.  He advised that NALC does not have a future plan of action and for the last year and coming year would be running at a deficit.  Colin circulated his own NALC Benefit Analysis form for Members’ information and advised that this document was not to be made available to the public at this stage.  Members were alarmed that NALC were running at such a deficit and asked Colin who they were accountable to.  Colin advised that they were not accountable to anyone.  Members thanked Colin for his presentation and Cllr Millar instructed the Clerk to add this item to the December Agenda for Members to make a decision whether BPC wished to support HALC in not renewing the NALC Membership.  Colin advised that if Members had any further questions in the meantime, the Clerk could email these to him.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
8.  Public Session
 
There were no matters arising.
 
9.  Planning applications received from Eastleigh Borough Council
 
9.1  1 Greyladyes, School Road, Bursledon – Construction of replacement garage and log store & first floor garden store.  Planning Officer:  Nicola Reid.  Planning Ref:  C/09/66129.
 
Cllr Allen proposed DO NOT OBJECT, Cllr Moneypenny seconded.  4 Members voted in favour, with LAC Member Cllr Holes abstaining and Cllr Millar abstaining in conjunction with his declaration of interest.
 
10.  Planning decisions notified by Eastleigh Borough Council 
 
10.1  35 Hill Place Bursledon – single storey front extension.  Planning Officer:  Juile Wellstead.  Planning ref:  F/09/65810.   PERMIT
 
10.2  Land adjacent Pylands House, Pylands Lane, Bursledon – Construction of 3 bed chalet dwelling with associated driveway.  Planning Officer:  Narinder Phaghra.  Planning Ref:  F/09/65842.   REFUSE PLANNING PERMISSION
 
10.3  Rye Acre, Salterns Lane, Bursledon – Construction of rear conservatory. Following demolition of existing.  Planning Officer:  Gemma Christain.  Planning Ref:  C/09/65909.   PERMIT
 
The planning decisions were noted.
 
11.  Finance
 
11.1  To approve and sign the payments list and bank reconciliation and to approve the monthly accounts, summary income and expenditure by budget heading, and balance sheet. (Papers previously circulated to Members).
 
Cllr Allen proposed to approve the finance, subject to a £2 amendment to the HMRC payment on the payments list, Cllr Holes seconded and all agreed to approve and sign the payments list.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
11.2  To approve HALC’s Internal Audit Service carrying out BPC Internal Audit 2009/2010 - the Clerk advised Members that BPC had originally used Paul Reynolds for their internal audit, but following Paul’s ill health they had transferred to using Eleanor Greene.  Eleanor had now set up HALC’s Internal Audit Services and they wished to establish who they would be acting for.  The Clerk advised Members of the fees listed in their correspondence.  Cllr Misselbrook proposed that BPC instructs HALC that we would like them to carry out BPC’s internal audit.  Cllr Holes seconded and Members voted unanimously in favour.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
12.  DEVOLVEMENT OF COUNCIL SERVICES
 
12.1  To approve draft Transfer and Report on Title for Lionheart Way Ecology Park (previously circulated to Members).
 
This item was deferred until the December meeting, as the Agenda incorrectly referred to Lionheart Way Ecology Park, instead of Peewit Hill.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
13.  TO APPROVE THE DRAFT NEWSLETTER
 
Cllr Moneypenny proposed to approve the draft Newsletter as drafted.  Cllr Holes seconded and Members voted unanimously in favour.  The Clerk would send future Newsletters as PDF documents to allow all Members to access them more easily.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
14.  PARISH PLAN UPDATE AND ACTION
 
The Clerk updated Members that BPC Members had previously voted in favour of producing a Parish Plan alongside community members.  She advised that a Parish Plan was designed to get community involvement in the future of parish.  At that time is was agreed that Cllrs Clark, Holes and Woodhouse would be the Parish representatives, alongside the Clerk/Assistant Clerk.  The Clerk had applied for a grant and BPC had been £750 towards the costs of developing a Parish Plan.  The Clerk informed Members that she would now like to set up a separate public meeting to be attended by Members and advertise in the Newsletter to get a broad range of public involvement in the process.  Members suggested that the Clerk also writes to community groups, large businesses, churches and public houses in the area to get a wide spectrum of the community involved.  Cllr Moneypenny proposed that a meeting be arranging at some time in the New Year to be widely advertised as suggested, Cllr Holes seconded, 5 Members voted in favour, with Cllr Allen abstaining.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
Cllr Holes left the meeting.
 
15.  to approve HCC local councils survey response
 
The Clerk advised Members that HCC had forwarded a survey to establish what Parish Councils felt was important to enable them to give good services to the parishioners.  The Clerk briefly went through the survey questionnaire advising Members of her responses and said the only outstanding questions related to what additional services BPC would like to devolve from HCC/EBC.  Members generally asked the Clerk to respond “none at this stage”.   Cllr Woodhouse felt that BPC should adopt more services, but Members felt the services she referred to would prove too expensive for BPC to carry out, as they did not currently have the equipment/manpower.  Cllr Millar proposed to approve the survey response subject to these additions, Cllr Moneypenny seconded.  4 Members voted in favour, with Cllr Woodhouse abstaining.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
16.  to allocate BPC eastleigh transition network representative
 
Cllr Millar nominated himself to be BPC’s representative for the Eastleigh Transition Network group in the absence of an alternative representative.  ACTION:  CLERK/CLLR MILLAR
 
17.  GRANT APPLICATIONS
 
17.1   Vitalise (essential breaks for disabled people and carers) for £270.50.
 
Cllr Misselbrook proposed that BPC makes a grant of £270.50 under Section 137.  Cllr Allen seconded and Members voted unanimously in favour.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
18.  Correspondence
 
18.1  EBC had sent a copy of a letter they had written to Diane Andrewes regarding the transfer of land to the Parish Council, setting out that the Parish Council is being asked to covenant that it will not use the land for any other purpose than public open space.  This letter also explained Special Expenses.
 
18.2  The Open Spaces Society had written, at the suggestion of a member of the public, to advise of the service they provide, to assist Parish Councils to protect public open spaces, in view of the transfer of land from EBC to BPC.
 
18.3  The Valuation Office Agency had written to advise of the amount of business rates BPC will pay in accordance with the rateable value of the Parish Office. 
 
18.4  HCC had written regarding the Have Your Say about changes to the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Consultation 23-11-09 to 29-1-10 advising that this document can be viewed on line at www.hants.gov.uk/mwcorestrategy.
 
19. Clerk’s report
 
19.1  The Clerk confirmed that she had written to Mr Horne the owner of the View Point, requesting him to put forward in writing his terms and conditions for the relocation of the View Point.
 
19.2  The Clerk had ordered a new projector to replace the stolen one and was in the process of replacing the laptop.
 
19.3  The Clerk once again confirmed that HCC had made a grant of £750 to BPC to help cover the costs of establishing a Parish Plan.
 
20.  Chairman’s report
 
20.1  Following a complaint from Cllr Allen, the Chairman advised Members that Agendas and associated papers were emailed to Members to save on the costs of posting large envelopes out to all 12 Members.  Cllr Allen queried having to print off papers.  The Clerk advised Members that paper copies of the Agenda were always available at meetings and on request she would happily provide paper copies of any other documents, should Members at any time require these.
 
20.2  The Chairman advised Members that he was currently investigating the possibility of extending the Pavilion to incorporate a vehicle store, in order that BPC may safely store vehicles, if and when BPC adopts more services from EBC.
 
21.  Councillors’ Questions
 
Cllr Allen queried why one of the CCTV cameras at Lowford was incorrectly positioned on the chip shop, instead of the Post Office and footpath.  Cllr Millar advised that he had paid a visit to the owner of Lowford Care Sales to discuss the CCTV as problems were being encountered, which the Clerk was in the process of liaising with the maintenance company about.  The Chair asked the Clerk to request them to reposition the camera on the Post Office.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
Cllr Moneypenny asked the Clerk to list all future Agenda items put forward by any Member as a Motion by that Member, as this helped Members to appreciate who had made requests.  The Clerk/Chair confirmed that this would be done.  ACTION: CLERK.
 
22.  Exempt Business   
 
22.1  Planning Enforcement.  The items were noted.
 
22.2  To approve Christmas office closure.  Members approved the Parish Office Christmas closure. 
 
22.3  Parish facility gates update.
 
22.4  Head Groundsman/Trainee Assistant Groundsman update. 
 
22.5  Allotments tree maintenance works – to consider quotations obtained.  Broadoak Tree and Groundcare won the contract.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
22.6  Top Allotments – to consider quotation for site clearance works.  LBH Landscape & Ground Works won the contract.  ACTION:  CLERK
 
22.7  Top Allotments – to consider quotations for security fencing.  KM Fencing Specialist won the contract.  ACTION:  CLERK.
 
 
The meeting closed at  9.15 pm.

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