GRANBOROUGH PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of Granborough Parish Council
Held in The Village Hall on Tuesday 18th October 2011 at 8pm

Attendees: Cllr Bunyan (Chair), Cllr Wright (Vice-Chair), Cllr Doncaster, Cllr Skinner, Cllr Thompson,
District Cllr Blake, Clerk Victoria Firth and 0 members of the public

150. Receive Apologies; Cllr Swinson

151. Open Forum for Parishioners; No residents present

152. Declaration of interest in items on the agenda; None

153. To confirm the minutes of the last meeting;

Minutes of the meeting held on the 13th September were confirmed as a true record

154. Finance;

a) Accounts for September 2011 were agreed

b) The Council resolved to issue the following cheques;

453 £17.34 D Thorogood, 454 PRA Randles £115.00,

455 £351.60 Wicksteed Playscapes, 456 £752.54 Election Expenses

457 £7,099.20 Eon Street Lighting, 458 £70 Lynch Garden Services

459 £425.28 Eon Electricity, 460 £***.** Clerks Pay & Expenses

c) A budgetary review was delivered, finances are on track.

d) It was agreed to hold a separate Precept Meeting on 30th November at 8pm in the village hall. Clerk to check availability of the hall.

e) The Parish Council agreed to adopt the Grants Policy with one minor change. Clerk to amend the Policy and create the associated form.

155. Planning;

The Council resolved to oppose planning application 11/01902/APP, erection of a two storey house at Hogshaw Road Farm, due to a lack of information regarding the present business viability or a future business plan, to support the necessity for an agriculturally tied dwelling at this location.

156. Highways, Footpaths & Footways and Street Lighting;

a) Update on outstanding issues;

02 Footpath – this is on the list for repair but no date has been set

36 White Lines – a quote has been requested, repainting is imminent

40 Children Playing and Children Crossing signs – request confirmed

41 Cross Hatching – the road is too narrow but lines will be repainted thicker

b) “Donate a Gate” scheme, Cllr Swinson has found the owner of the land where it is proposed that two stiles are replaced. Cllr Bunyan will progress this with the Owner. Concerns were raised regarding dogs and farm animals, the Clerk will ask that the Countryside Code is printed in the Magazine as a reminder of how to behave responsibly on farm land.

c) The Council resolved to accept a quote from James Tattam to provide a new closed notice board to replace the existing Parish Council closed notice board.

d) Winter Maintenance;
Highways agreed to give the Parish Council two Salt Bins and replace the broken bin on Church Lane, the Parish Council will purchase an additional bin for Marston Road. These will be in place and filled before November 2011.
Farmers clearing snow is only allowed through a controlled scheme run by Bucks CC requiring the farmers to hold a large amount of public liability insurance. The issue of farmers using Red Diesel is still under discussion at Bucks CC. Cllr Wright will write to Peter Hardy at Bucks County Council to express concern regarding this and other Highways issues.

e) The new street light isn’t working, the Clerk will investigate this.

157. Recreation Ground;

a) Inspection Reports; no further action is required at this time.

b) Maintenance; the swing seats have been replaced, the chain walk has been raised, the wooden equipment has been painted (and so have the white gates at either end of the village).

c) Basket ball hoop, the quote was considered, further information is required and the Clerk is to source this.

158. Outside Bodies; There were no updates at this time.

159. Village Plan; The surveys have been collected in and response rates are good. Results will be collated using Survey Monkey. The next meeting will take place on 7th November 2011.

160. Speedwatch;

When the equipment was last used a significant number of cars were recorded at excessive speeds of up to 15mph over the speed limit. Cllr Wright will speak to John Spargo about what to do with the data. More volunteers are required for operating the equipment, if you would like to help, this is a genuine effort to reduce the speed of traffic coming through the village making our streets a safer place. Please contact the Clerk: 670910, Cllr Bunyan or Cllr Wright.

161. War Memorial;

The Faculty has been agreed but due to the impending 11th November memorial day the work will not start until later in November. The Clerk will confirm dates and arrangements including the storage of equipment in the church, with the Stone Mason.

162. Newsletter; The Council resolved to delay the next Newsletter until January/February 2012.

163. Training; Cllrs Skinner, Doncaster, Swinson and Herbert have attended training and found it very useful. As yet, BALC have not announced further training for other Councillors.

164. Clerks Report; The Clerk drew the Council’s attention to the PAYE situation. Telephone advice in March was conflicting, a letter sent in June has gone unanswered, the Clerk wrote a further letter to HMRC at the beginning of October.

No further queries were raised concerning the content of the Clerks Report.

165. Date of the Next Meeting; The next meeting is for Precept setting and will be an additional meeting to be held at 8pm in the Village Hall on Wednesday 30th November 2011.

The meeting closed at 9:55pm.

Signed:__________________________________ Date:__________________