Parish Council Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date: 19th April 2022
Venue: Mendham Primary School
Time: 19.00

Committee Members: Role; Present/Absent
Dennis Pye: Chair; ü
Thelma Brown: Vice Chair; ü
Yvonne Lidgate: ü
Jimmy Kent: Abs
Richard Mattocks: Apologies
Sally Mckinnon: Apologies
Clare Rix: Apologies
Mark Shortt: Apologies

In attendance: LH
Clerk: Liz Frere-Smith

1. Public Forum & Reports from Councillors – Clerk had forwarded all correspondence received from LH. It was discussed that this may be of some use on the website as much of the content could be relevant to areas of the local community.
Action: LH to forward specific information and Clerk to request upload to the website.
2. Welcome and Apologies - Apologies received from SM, MS and CR. No notification from RM and JK as yet.
Action: Clerk to check emails for correspondence from other councillors.
3. Declarations of interest and any dispensations allowed – None declared
4. Minutes of previous meeting – Agreed as correct.
5. Matters arising not covered by the agenda - None
6. Chair to report on Parish actions (DP) – Chair reported that he had been dealing with minor enquiries but nothing of any great significance.
7. Finances
Cheques requested to be paid
- SALC membership
- SALC payroll costs
- Hire of School
Clerk confirmed the current balance held at the bank is £22069.46 which included a CIL payment of £7859.98. It was confirmed that a further £3929 would be due in November 2022 which would be paid to the council in April 2023. Due to the size of the grant it was decided that a detailed and appropriate plan of spend would be necessary and it may be possible to apply for some further funding from the Council’s CIL funding allocation too. There was some significant amount of time that the monies could be spent and clear guidance would be provided when required.
Clerk had obtained 3 quotes for laptop and printer
- £289 – very basic home computer
- £514 – basic business computer
- £718 – mid range business computer
- Printer starting from £69.00
It was agreed that it would be wise to purchase the higher spec machine as this would ensure longevity and suitability for the role. There would be a further £50 set up fee and £80 for a perpetual Office licence.
Action: Clerk to complete purchase as described above.
EFS to contact bank to progress with online payments.
8. Planning – all details had been forwarded. One further receipt of planning application for Foxes Lane, clerk to lodge no objection to the final plans.
DP had attended a meeting regarding Wakelyns Farm. This meeting had proved to be successful in allaying some concerns surrounding the project and it appeared that sufficient plans and restrictions had been put in place to cope with traffic on training days/courses. Passing places had been planned and paid for by the owner it was just a case of waiting for them to be installed. It was planned that these meetings would occur every 3 months for the time being. Chair was reasonably satisfied with the outcome but would continue to monitor carefully.
Action: Clerk to lodge ‘no objection’ to the final plans for Foxes Lane.
9. Update of village celebrations re Jubilee – Village hall is holding a planned event confirmed as the 4th June 2022. The community council had not yet sent any correspondence regarding any event that they may be involved in.
TB asked who was the new representative of CoCo and if there was any conflict of interest with who may be appointed?
10. Succession planning – YL confirmed that she would be prepared to stand as chair with the support of DP but only if the remaining members of the committee agreed to take an agreed area of responsibility to spread the load – if this was not confirmed by all then YL would be unable to take on the role as it currently stands. TB confirmed that she would be stepping down and the AGM and CR had confirmed in an emailed to the clerk that she would also step down. Clerk would start the process for co-opting 3 vacancies. It was discussed that a broad range of members would be beneficial and there may be some interest from the residents of the new houses. DP would consider the proposed list that was originally created by RM and now there would be more vacancies a revised plan would be necessary. It was also discussed that a more visible website platform would be useful to some residents and this would be added to the list of responsibilities.
Action: Clerk to commence the recruitment process.
11. Correspondence – all forwarded as received. Clerk commented that there were some courses available through SALC for new members or new chairpersons which may be useful to YL when she commences her new role. TB confirmed that she had received no reply regarding her initial email regarding the installation of an electric charging point.
Action: Clerk to forward emails to YL
12. Any Other Business – Clerk mentioned that the LGA had at last agreed the 2020 Code of Conduct but as yet there was no template that could be used. SALC had confirmed that they would address this issue asap and after the AGM and new appointments an updated version would be sent to all members of the council for consideration.
13. Date of next meeting
- Annual Parish Meeting 9th May – Withersdale village hall
- AGM 9th May
Refreshments for between 12-20 attendees
- School
- WI
- Village Hall committee
- Church
- Community Council
Action: Clerk to book hall and send invites to local bodies

The meeting closed at: 7.53pm

Signed by Chair: …………………………………………………. Date: ………………………...........

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