MInutes July 2020

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2020/14

Minutes from a meeting of Cropthorne Parish Council held on Monday July 6th 2020 in the Village Hall at 7pm Conducted via Zoom

  1. PRESENT:

Chairman B Annis Vice Chairman S Smythe Cllr M Rowell Cllr J King

District Cllr T Rowley Clerk L Yapp

  1. APOLOGIES – Cllr W Clive
  2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
  • Cllr King – Village Hall
  • Cllr Rowell – Chairman of Sheppy Corner Residents Association
  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Minutes from previous meeting were approved and signed – proposed Cllr King, seconded Cllr Rowell – all in favour
  2. PARISHIONERS QUESTION TIME – No one in attendance
  3. PLANNING/ENFORCEMENTS:
  • Kimberleys Field – Awaiting lifting of Covid restrictions to enable site visit at traveller sites
  • 20/0112 – Watergate Barn, Neigh Lane – garage conversion and rear extension, roof lights and window – there were no objections to this application
  1. VILLAGE HALL – Cllr Kings advised that the hall is still closed with none of the regular users groups looking at using the facilities until a least September. The Government guidance requirements are proving problematic for both village halls and playgrounds. Junior football want to use the grounds outside in small groups. They have supplied the VHMC with a Risk Assessment which the committee are happy with. The seesaw is showing significant sign of decay and is not viable for repaired. It will be removed and replaced with another piece of equipment.

New Pathway – the new pathway has now been completed by the committee are not happy with the result. They were expecting a more compacted surface rather than the loose finish. A meeting was held with the contractors, Cllr King and Cllr Annis and were advised that this would become more compact with time. A suggestion was made that we retain some of the money to see how the path settles down. It was agreed that the parish council should write to the contractors with our concerns. Since the meeting Cllr King has requested specification for the path which will be reviewed before any further action.

  1. HIGHWAY MATTERS :
  • Speeding – Cllr Eyre is looking at setting up a sub-committee throughout her other parishes to look at all the traffic calming options available, where suitable and where not. The clerk and Cllr Annis are happy to be involved in this.
  1. COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT – Nothing to report
  2. DISTRICT COUNCILLOR – Cllr Rowley reported:
  • Meetings are still being carried out virtually
  • Opening of Playgrounds – agreed that the guidance was difficult to work with, and the recommendation that playgrounds are permanently supervised would be impossible to police
  • Coronavirus – Figures record that 15 patients are in hospital with Covid, and 1 in intensive care. Only 4 care homes have recorded cases compared with 68 at the peak of the pandemic. Testing has been good throughout the care homes in the District. Death rates are now at seasonal levels

2020/15

  1. PROGRESS REPORTS:
  2. Lengthsman – It was agreed that the LM send a weekly report to the clerk to enable works to be checked. Baldwins Bank was in need of a tidy up
  3. New Home Bonus – A proposal for project funds had been received from Corran Dean and was well received by Cllrs. This includes cycle track, sound/sensory activities, play equipment, seating and planting opportunities – the start of a larger and ongoing scheme. We are awaiting suggestions from Holland House before formally making a decision on both or just one of the projects. The clerk had chased Holland House but would contact them again to make sure they get a proposal to us by the September meeting, proposed Cllr Rowell, seconded Cllr Annis
  4. Community Infrastructure Levy Fund – In hand – to be considered for traffic calming options – awaiting input from Cllr Eyre
  5. Speeding – To be included in CIL Fund and awaiting feedback / input from Cllr Eyre
  6. Bollards Lower Croft – The clerk reported that bollards had been put in but there was still a gap which in encouraging some residents to park on the grass. The clerk had taken this up with Rooftop and awaiting a response. One suggestion made was for ‘grasscrete’ to be installed to maintain green space but also to enable parking of vehicles. The clerk would take this up also with Rooftop
  7. War Memorial – Nothing further to report
  8. Minerals Consultation – A steering committee are continuing to meet. A website and social media page had been created to keep residents up to date and to receive comments
  9. Passing Bay, Orchard Row – the clerk has been in contact with WCC who would be writing to the owner of the offending vehicle. The clerk has chased this up with WCC. Another issue was raised regarding overgrown hedgerow. Cllr Annis would take a look to see if he could establish ownership of the hedge.
  10. FINANCE
  11. Payments made since the last meeting/for authorisation

Up to date accounts have been circulated to Cllrs – Acceptance of payments made, approved Cllr Annis, seconded Cllr King – all in favour.

(b) AGAR Part 2 – Internal Audit Report – this has been circulated to Cllrs – no concerns raised

(c) AGAR Exemption Statement – to approve, proposed Cllr King, seconded Cllr Rowell – all in favour

(d) AGAR Part 2 – Section 1 Annual Governance Statement – presented to Cllrs with no issues raised, proposed approval by Cllr Rowell, seconded Cllr King – all in favour

(e) AGAR Part 2 – Section 2 Accounting Statements – presented to Cllrs with no issues raised, proposed approval Cllr King, seconded Cllr Smythe – all in favour

The clerk would send the sections to Cllr Annis for signature.

Current account balance:

(incl. unpresented cheques) £40,271.98 (Incl. s106 Monies)

Deposit account: £5,021.65

Full accounts had been circulated to all Cllrs

2020/16

  1. CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – Covered in Cllr Rowleys report
  2. WEBSITE / ACCESSIBILITY – the clerk reported on the new legislation regarding accessibility features for the website. She had been in touch with the current website administrator and whether these could be accommodated on the website as it is, and any costs to update. There had been another offer from a resident to look at the website and it was agreed that we ask them too for their opinion on what could be done and costs involved
  3. ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDAS / FUTURE DISCUSSION:
  • Fly Tipping – Asbestos by the bus stop has been reported
  • Overgrown hedge – junction Field Barn Lane / B4084 – the clerk to write to property owners
  • Sinking drain between Brook Lane and The Bell – to be reported
  1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Monday 7th September at 7pm