Minutes of the Meeting held on: 15th January
2008
Minutes remain in draft until ratified at the next Council meeting
PRESENT: Cllrs B. Usborne, K. Lewis, J. Ford; Viv Robins (Clerk) and County Cllr Tricia Birchley. Apologies received from Cllrs Carleton-Smith and Fortgang and Cllr Stacey on late arrival.
08/01 Minutes: the minutes of meeting held on November 13th 2007 (previously circulated) were approved and signed as a true record by the Chairman.
08/02 Matters arising from the Minutes: none.
08/03 Reports from County/District Cllr: District Cllr Nick Rose had sent apologies. County Cllr Birchley said she would draw the recent flooding outside the Vicarage and Pipers to the attention of local BCC technicians. She would also ask Shaun Pope, Manager of the Central Chiltern Area Traffic Management Project, to up-date the Chairman on any developments re. the re-assessment of speed limits.
08/04 Declarations of interest on forthcoming business: The Chairman declared an interest (non-pecuniary) in Agenda item No. 15: Grant application from The Lee Shop.
08/05 Planning applications: none for consideration.
The Chairman said he planned to attend the appeal by The Lee Cricket Club on January 22nd against the dismantling of its nets, but would wait and hear what was said before deciding whether to speak, the Parish Council having already submitted its views in writing.
08/06 Footpaths: The Chairman reported that Trevor Pearce wanted to fence off the field south of Cornerwood Cottages in Swan Lane so that he could keep livestock in it and wanted to know whether the County Council would put in kissing gates on the footpaths which cross it. The Chairman said he would make enquiries. It was also reported that footpath GM 3A from Bellows Wood to Ballinger Bottom was overgrown. The Chairman promised to report the matter to Bucks County Council and the Chiltern Society.
08/07 Council property: The Clerk would arrange a meeting between the Chairman and Cllr Lewis and Ken Humphreys to discuss the repairs needed to the woodwork surround of the Jubilee Well.
Cllr. Lewis said she planned to get a briefing from former Cllr Knowles shortly on further playground improvements.
It was reported that Justin Lewis had taken over the tenancy of plot 10b on the allotments and removed the willow bushes there. At the request of the PC the Clerk had written to the tenant of plot 17a asking him to cut back the overgrown area on his patch and this had now been done.
The Clerk reported that Norwich Union was entering the insurance market for Parish Councils and guaranteeing not just to match the cover on existing policies but also to provide a minimum saving of 15% in comparison with the 2007 premium. To qualify for a no-obligation quotation Councils were merely being asked to forward a complete copy of their 2007/8 renewal schedule by the end of January. The Clerk was instructed to do this.
08/08 Representation on Committees: Cllr Lewis had been unable to find any trace of Wendover Charities; Cllr Ford offered to see whether he could come up with any evidence that they were still in existence.
Cllr Stacey entered the meeting at 8.25 pm.
08/09 Co-option of new Councillor: The Chairman reported that he had received an expression of interest in joining the Council from Peter Hammond of Clump House Farm in Lee Common. After a short discussion it was unanimously agreed that he be co-opted.
08/10 Grant application: The Clerk reported that a letter had been received from Fiona Baxter, Secretary of The Lee Parish Shop Committee, asking whether the Council would consider making a grant of £150 to cover the cost of an extension to the planning permission for the Portakabin and some minor safety improvements to the access ramp. It was agreed that this was a worthwhile cause and that a grant of £200 would be made (prop. Cllr Lewis, sec. Cllr Ford.)
08/11 Finance: Cllrs approved the Financial report and Budget review (previously circulated). The drawing of the following cheques was also approved (prop. Cllr Usborne, sec. Cllr Stacey):
The Council also authorised the Clerk to buy a new edition of Charles Arnold-Baker’s “Local Council Administration” – the unofficial Bible for Clerks -- on hearing that the one she was currently using was nearly 14 years old.
08/12 Chilterns AONB Management Plan Review: no comments were forthcoming.
08/13 Any other business:
Minutes remain in draft until ratified at the next Council meeting
PRESENT: Cllrs B. Usborne, K. Lewis, J. Ford; Viv Robins (Clerk) and County Cllr Tricia Birchley. Apologies received from Cllrs Carleton-Smith and Fortgang and Cllr Stacey on late arrival.
08/01 Minutes: the minutes of meeting held on November 13th 2007 (previously circulated) were approved and signed as a true record by the Chairman.
08/02 Matters arising from the Minutes: none.
08/03 Reports from County/District Cllr: District Cllr Nick Rose had sent apologies. County Cllr Birchley said she would draw the recent flooding outside the Vicarage and Pipers to the attention of local BCC technicians. She would also ask Shaun Pope, Manager of the Central Chiltern Area Traffic Management Project, to up-date the Chairman on any developments re. the re-assessment of speed limits.
08/04 Declarations of interest on forthcoming business: The Chairman declared an interest (non-pecuniary) in Agenda item No. 15: Grant application from The Lee Shop.
08/05 Planning applications: none for consideration.
The Chairman said he planned to attend the appeal by The Lee Cricket Club on January 22nd against the dismantling of its nets, but would wait and hear what was said before deciding whether to speak, the Parish Council having already submitted its views in writing.
08/06 Footpaths: The Chairman reported that Trevor Pearce wanted to fence off the field south of Cornerwood Cottages in Swan Lane so that he could keep livestock in it and wanted to know whether the County Council would put in kissing gates on the footpaths which cross it. The Chairman said he would make enquiries. It was also reported that footpath GM 3A from Bellows Wood to Ballinger Bottom was overgrown. The Chairman promised to report the matter to Bucks County Council and the Chiltern Society.
08/07 Council property: The Clerk would arrange a meeting between the Chairman and Cllr Lewis and Ken Humphreys to discuss the repairs needed to the woodwork surround of the Jubilee Well.
Cllr. Lewis said she planned to get a briefing from former Cllr Knowles shortly on further playground improvements.
It was reported that Justin Lewis had taken over the tenancy of plot 10b on the allotments and removed the willow bushes there. At the request of the PC the Clerk had written to the tenant of plot 17a asking him to cut back the overgrown area on his patch and this had now been done.
The Clerk reported that Norwich Union was entering the insurance market for Parish Councils and guaranteeing not just to match the cover on existing policies but also to provide a minimum saving of 15% in comparison with the 2007 premium. To qualify for a no-obligation quotation Councils were merely being asked to forward a complete copy of their 2007/8 renewal schedule by the end of January. The Clerk was instructed to do this.
08/08 Representation on Committees: Cllr Lewis had been unable to find any trace of Wendover Charities; Cllr Ford offered to see whether he could come up with any evidence that they were still in existence.
Cllr Stacey entered the meeting at 8.25 pm.
08/09 Co-option of new Councillor: The Chairman reported that he had received an expression of interest in joining the Council from Peter Hammond of Clump House Farm in Lee Common. After a short discussion it was unanimously agreed that he be co-opted.
08/10 Grant application: The Clerk reported that a letter had been received from Fiona Baxter, Secretary of The Lee Parish Shop Committee, asking whether the Council would consider making a grant of £150 to cover the cost of an extension to the planning permission for the Portakabin and some minor safety improvements to the access ramp. It was agreed that this was a worthwhile cause and that a grant of £200 would be made (prop. Cllr Lewis, sec. Cllr Ford.)
08/11 Finance: Cllrs approved the Financial report and Budget review (previously circulated). The drawing of the following cheques was also approved (prop. Cllr Usborne, sec. Cllr Stacey):
BALC (Cllr training: £37/cheque no. 100456);The Council agreed to retain Geoff Weir as its internal auditor on hearing that his rates to The Lee would remain unchanged at £30 for the initial meeting of up to two hours (which had always proved sufficient), plus car mileage expenses at 40p per mile. The Clerk also pointed out that he did the same job for 14 other parishes and was generally viewed as efficient and pleasant to work with.
V Robins x 2 (invoice no. 39: £210.21/cheque no. 100457; invoice no. 40: £6.96/cheque no. 100458).
The Council also authorised the Clerk to buy a new edition of Charles Arnold-Baker’s “Local Council Administration” – the unofficial Bible for Clerks -- on hearing that the one she was currently using was nearly 14 years old.
08/12 Chilterns AONB Management Plan Review: no comments were forthcoming.
08/13 Any other business:
- Cllrs Stacey and Lewis offered to look into reports that Gt. Missenden Post Office had been due to close its doors in December.
- Cllr Ford expressed concern that the weekly envelope sent out to Councillors by the Clerk often took several weeks to do the rounds: the Clerk was instructed to try to find out where the bottle-necks were occurring.
- Cllr Ford also raised the continuing problem of the site of the old chicken sheds which had now been boarded up and notionally made safe but were still in a decrepit and unsatisfactory state. It was agreed to liaise on this with District Councillor Rose who had asked the owner to restore the boards where they had come down.
- The Clerk said that
all three of the P.C.’s noticeboards appeared to be letting in water
in the very wet weather, despite the repairs recently carried out on them. The Chairman promised
to investigate.
*SUBJECT
TO RATIFICATION AT MEETING ON 11th MARCH 2008*
Viv Robins (Clerk)