YARCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
Remote Meeting held via Zoom, Monday 19th April 2021 at 8.00 pm
In Attendance:
Cllrs C Stone (Chair), T Long, L Pidgeon, C Ford, S Horner, D Little, C Vining, S-J Martin (Clerk & RFO)
Members of the Public present – 0
Cllr Stone introduced the meeting “Following the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, this meeting was moved to after the period of mourning. As we are all volunteers, albeit on a very different scale to The Duke of Edinburgh, I would ask you all to reflect for a minute on his long life, the like of which we are unlikely to see again
1. Apologies for Absence:
Cllrs D Key, L Pidgeon, and D Barnes
2. Declarations of Interest
Cllr Stone asked if anyone had any Declarations of Interest for the meeting and none were declared.
3. Minutes.
The Councillors were asked if they were happy that the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 1st March received by email, were correct and that everyone was happy for them to be signed. Everyone agreed and they will be signed as a true record outside of the meeting.
4. Reports
To receive the following Reports
a. County Councillor – Cllr Iain Chubb
No report received as we are currently in a period of purdha and Cllr Chubb is standing to be elected.
b. District Councillors – Cllrs C Brown & D Key
No reports received.
c. Police
No reports received.
d. Yarcombe Community Land Trust
Cllr Horner advised one set of Lawyers have come to an agreement.
e. Reports from Individual Councillors
Cllr C Vining – Concerning the proposed playpark, Charlotte has received a very comprehensive report/proposal for the area and Cllr Horner responded that the Jubilee Hall Committee need to look at it first and come to a decision, but they can’t do tis until it is safe to do so.
Cllr T Long noticed that the Rates / Precept look like they have applied a 0.5% increase whereas there was no increase in our Precept this year. Cllr Stone advised it looked like a mathematical adjustment and Clerk to enquire
.Cllr T Long enquired about the Councillor details on the new website and would prefer to have his personal details removed. Clerk has investigated this and found varying amounts of information on Parish Council websites from everyone’s telephone numbers to just email addresses or no details. Clerk has removed all contact details for all Councillors but advises that the Declarations of Interest are still in the public domain on the EDDC website.
5. Parish Council Priorities including Clerk and Correspondence.
Highways
Speed Camera
One had been placed in the village which is fantastic.
Cllr Little advised it was pointing the wrong way but Cllr Long advised that when speed was assessed in the village previously, speeding was more prevalent going up the hill than going down. Clerk to ask Cllr Chubb if it was him that instigated the sign as previously mentioned at the last meeting.
Village Amenities
Yarcombe Play Area
We await the Jubilee Village Committee to meet and decide on the proposal they have received.
Landmark Tree
We have postponed the placing of a Brass Plaque near the tree until we can meet outside.
Additional Items
Review of Standing Orders
Cllr Stone mentioned the Addendum concerning the proposed Standing Order amendments and were discussed as follows:
1. Delegated Matters – Cllr Stone advised Cllr Long has a sub-committee for decisions to be made on applications in between meetings and proposes this is extended to Other Items, should a matter crop up. Cllr Horner was in favour and there were no objections.
2 Complaints – Whilst our standing orders cover procedures for complaints against the Council, Democratic Services state it would be advisory to have a standing order in place to cover members of the public’s complaints concerning Public Rights of Way, Planning and Other. Cllr Long suggested that in 6.c:
Other. The first response is to ask the complainant to take the matter up with the relevant party or land or property owner”, that the fact that the person has come to us with a complaint, means they did not want to go to the relevant authority.
Cllr Stone asked the Councillors if they were all in favour of adopting these Standing Orders in order to clarify our procedures. All Councillors agreed.
Face to Face Meetings
Cllr Stone proposed that as Zoom meetings are only allowed until our May APM/AGM meeting, and things are not currently as safe as they could be, that we reduce our meetings to the minimum allowed in our standing orders which are 3 per year, plus the AGM/APM as we may feel by the Autumn things are safer. Cllr Vining asked what the rationale was for not allowing remote meetings going forward and Cllr Stone advised it is because the legislation allowing remote meetings was only set until May but there is a fight going on at the moment to revise the legislation. Clerk has completed a Government survey concerning the issue and was strongly in favour of remote meetings continuing.
All Councillors agreed with Cllr Stone’s proposal.
Sandbags
This is on diary to order more if required this year.
John Salter Award
The Nominees were discussed, and the decision will be announced at the May APM
6. Open Session for Public Participation
• Mary Smith had emailed to enquire of the Parish Council would be happy to work with the PCC and put on a welcome tea when we are allowed. All the Councillors agreed in principle.
• Barbara Salter had written concerning a drop on the edge of the lane between the Drakes Meadow and the first Terrier racing field. The hole could be dangerous for pedestrians and cars moving to the side to let others pass – Clerk has emailed highways to investigate due to a H&S risk.
• Sandra Newton in Marsh has reported an issue with dog fouling in the village and enquired about dog bins. Clerk has sent details of costs of dog bins and that there wasn’t a budget for them this year and suggested we do the same as in Yarcombe, with signage to try and deter. Clerk has ordered some more dog fouling signs and given her the email of EDDC to report such events. Sandra Newton has also mentioned the Notice Board. Cllr Long has asked for a budget of £100 for materials and labour and will go and have a look.
7. Finance
a. The Councillors received the Clerks report on the current Financial Position by email and Cllr Stone asked if everyone was happy with the finances. None of the Councillors had any comments and the finances were agreed.
b. Payments within the Clerks Report schedule were agreed.
c. To approve the Year End Accounts, as we have a precept & expenditure of less than £25,000, Clerk seeks approval to declare YPC exempt from a Limited Assurance Review which means we declare ourselves exempt from sending the completed Annual Governance & Accountability Return to the external Auditor. Certificate of Exemption was approved and recorded in minute reference YPC.Audit.2021.1 and signed by the RFO within the meeting. Chair to sign outside the meeting.
d. Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement, as circulated, this was approved and recorded as a minute reference YPC.Audit.2021.2 and signed by the RFO (by the Chair outside the meeting).
e. Section 2 – Accounting Statements 2020/21, as circulated, these have been certified and signed by the RFO ON 3rd April 2021 and they were approved by the Council and recorded in a minute reference YPC.Audit.2021.3 then signed by the Chair outside the meeting.
f. Propose to transfer balance of Lloyds account £443.28 to Unity Trust by writing out cheque then closing account – Cllrs David Barnes and Lesley Pigeon to sign cheque and account closure form. This was agreed.
8. Planning
To receive and endorse the Planning Decisions of the Council taken since last meeting under delegated authority.
Cllr Long advised that during this time, site meetings continue to be held with a skeleton of Parish Council members, where he felt it necessary and consequently hasn’t been inviting all the Parish Councillors to all the applications, due the present circumstances.
It was raised if we should forward a letter to Planning at EDDC to enquire how and when they are approaching the AONB concerning local parishes planning issues. Cllr Long proposed Cllr Horner to draft a letter for the Clerk to send to planning which was agreed.
The date of the next meeting is the AGM & APM on Tuesday 4th May, which will be held remotely.