The Minutes of an End of Year 2019-2020 virtual meeting of Ashwell Parish Council on Monday 8 June 2020 at 6pm.
Central Government ruled that council meetings must be carried out by virtual means, APC used a Zoom meeting hosted by Val Harvey. All participants were in their own homes for the meeting. Appreciation was expressed by APC to Val Harvey for agreeing to be host.
All voting was carried out by show of hands on screen, all screens visible to all participants.
Present were Val Harvey as host, Tony Graveling, Brian Farr, Wendy Cheesman and Councillor June Fox. Clerk was Sally Harnett.
There were no members of the public.
1 Election of Chair.
Wendy Cheesman was proposed by Brian Farr, seconded by Tony Graveling and voting was unanimous. Mrs Cheesman was thanked by APC for agreeing to be nominated.
- There were no apologies received.
3 Declarations of Interest.
Val Harvey declared an Interest in the Ashwell Village Hall as a member of the Hall Committee.
4 The Minutes of the previous meeting had been read on line and were unanimously agreed.
5 Matters Arising
Celebrations of VE Commemoration were held throughout the village, residents observing the social distancing rules by picnicking on the edge of their own properties. Mrs Elizabeth Mills and Miss Jessica Mills distributed boxes of cakes decorated in red, white and blue, baked by Miss Mills, throughout the village. Miss Mills sourced the attractive boxes, and Mr John Mills assisted in their generous enterprise. It was decided to write a letter of appreciation for their family’s evidence of traditional village spirit.
6 Finance report by Tony Graveling.
The balance stands at £13,785.66. The precept of £3000 was received for 2020/21 and the Clerk’s wages of £327.96 up to 19March were paid.
Membership of LRALC was renewed – £157.22 and CPRE membership for £36. The Parish Council Insurance with Zurich was renewed with effect from 1 June for £288.20.
A sum of £443.93 was received from RCC as payment resulting from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) on the shipping containers at Eastfield Farm.
Fiona Tylecote has completed the Internal Audit of the accounts for the year ending 31March2020 and her fee of £60 has been paid. A letter has been written to the Chair for consideration.
Resolution: Approval of accounts for the year ending 31March2020, passed unanimously by show of hands on screen. (Signed by Chair later.)
Resolution: Approval of Certificate of Exemption for year ending 31March2020, passed unanimously by show of hands on screen. (Chair to sign later.)
Resolution: 6.1 Approval of Audit Form – Governance Statement 2019/2020, passed unanimously by show of hands on screen. (Signed by Chair and Clerk later.)
Resolution: 6.2 Approval of Audit Form – Accounting Statement 2019/2020 – passed unanimously by show of hands on screen. (Signed by Chair later)
Resolution: To agree a donation to the Ashwell Village Hall Committee for refurbishment of £1700, passed unanimously by show of hands on screen.
Val Harvey declared an Interest in the Village Hall item in Finance, and took no part in this section of the agenda.
The necessary Audit forms will be published on the website as soon as possible.
Purchase and installation of 2 waste bins through RCC – positions identified. £100 each.
Resolution: to purchase 2 waste bins through RCC for Ashwell, at a cost of £100 each, to be placed at the side of footpaths in the village, positions identified previously, passed unanimously by a show of hands on screen.
The Clerk was thanked for her work and wages of £309.25 for 26.5 hours and £10.15 for diary were paid.
The Chair thanked Tony Graveling for all his work.
The Chair stated that mention must also be made of the great appreciation of APC for the voluntary repainting of the red telephone box by Tony Graveling.
7 Planning.
PLANNING
APC made comments and observations on 22 applications throughout the year 2019-2020.
All applications are available to view on line at Rutland County Council Planning Portal. Residents can make comments & observations on line if they wish.
8 Highways
HIGHWAYS
APC involved with the following issues throughout the year.
Speeding. Pot holes in roads. Poor visibility caused by overgrown hedges. Ditch clearing after flooding. Various tree works. Speed indicator repair. Replacement of tree on village green.
The cherry tree on the green near the Lychgate has died. A resident has offered to buy a new tree to replace it. APC supports this offer and will thank the resident. The Fred Archer bench outside the village hall will need to be removed into safe storage during the renovations, and will be replaced in its present position at the finish. The overgrown hedge in Oakham Road has been cut back to the other side of the ditch, making walking much easier. The ditch has not been cleared of debris, RCC will contact the field owner.
There has been much correspondence with RCC, the Police, and the local Health and Safety Officer, Hugh Crouch, concerning speeding in Ashwell. Work by RCC has been held up by the Covid Virus lockdown, but pressure will be maintained by APC to find solutions to improve road safety in Ashwell.
The position of the new traffic signs in Teigh Road has proved dangerous to residents and motorists, the repositioning of these has also been held up, but APC will continue to ask for urgent application by RCC.
The new road layout agreed for Woodside/Cottesmore Road junction has been held up, APC will continue to press for urgent application by RCC due to the danger to road users.
The speed indicator in Cottesmore Road was twisted out of line, this has been repaired by RCC.
9 Public Session.
There were no members of the public waiting to speak to the meeting.
10 Police reports are circulated to parish councillors by email when received by the Clerk.
11 Commemorative Street Furniture.
After some discussion it was decided to include this item on the agenda for the next meeting.
12 Correspondence.
All correspondence had been circulated by email.
- Any Other Business to be raised at the next meeting.
Progress on Ashwell Village Hall. Commemorative furniture for Ashwell.
14 Date of the next meetings.
Monday 7 September 2020. Tuesday 1 December 2020.
Signed…….. Date…………