Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Grafton Parish Council held on 1st July 2008 at 7.15pm in the Coronation Hall, East Grafton
Present: Mr Lemon, Mrs Dudney, Mr Hatfield, Mrs Brew, Mrs Comyn, Mr Garman, Mr. Evans, Mrs Zweck (KDC - Bedwyn Ward), Mrs Heard - Clerk, and three members of the public.
1. Apologies: Mr Beese, Mr Cannadine, Brigadier Hall (WCC)
2. The Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of 6th May 2008 were approved (unanimous).
3. Matters Arising: Wexcombe road conditions/Parish Stewards. Mr Hatfield reported that despite letters and phone calls over the last 18 months there has been no action by Highways/KDC to remedy the flooding problems that result from water run-off from the Fairmile. Any surface maintenance work undertaken by the Parish Stewards will continue to prove useless until drainage issues are addressed. Mrs Zweck kindly offered to investigate and will also draw attention to road flooding at Dark Lane and at the A338 junction with Wilton. Mrs Zweck and Mr Evans (now Parish Steward contact) to liaise.
4. PC Audit: Miss Crees has kindly once again conducted the internal audit of the Parish accounts and approved them. Mr Lemon proposed thanks on behalf of the PC for Miss Crees’ continued help, and also for undertaking the internal audit of the Hall accounts. To satisfy the Charities Commission’s requirements the Hall accounts have also been audited by a Chartered Accountant. The PC reviewed and approved a Statement of Accounts and a Risk Assessment, and agreed that the conditions of the Auditors’ Annual Governance Statement had been met. (Proposed Mr Hatfield, seconded Mrs Brew, unanimous) The PC Annual Return will be sent to Mazars (the external auditors) and there will a 20 day period for public inspection.
5. Meetings Attended:
a) WCC Meet and Greet (Mrs Comyn/Mr Garman) – Mr Garman reported that at this event WCC’s Chairman outlined how the planned Partnerships and Community Area Boards would function under the Unitary authority.
b) Marlborough Community Area Strategic Partnership: Community Area Boards (Mr Garman/Mrs Brew) – Mr Garman explained that this meeting expanded on a) above and dealt with the composition of these local groups, which will include council members and representatives from, e.g. the police and health services, and it was suggested how they would work with WCC. There were some negative responses from attendants at the Partnership meeting; the police in particular could not guarantee having time available to attend meetings. It was felt there were no obvious benefits to the public, and the partnerships had no powers, but only reported local views. After discussions Mrs Zweck added her concerns regarding funding issues and areas of responsibility, although it was pointed out that PC’s will not be obliged to take on responsibilities offered to them.
c) AONB N Wessex Downs Annual Forum (Mrs Brew) – This meeting provided an update on the work of the partnership and covered issues such as sustainable agriculture. Mrs Brew reported that there were some funding possibilities for local projects and that she was looking into this.
d) Wiltshire Police – roles and activities (Mr Garman) – This was an event primarily to update neighbourhood watch schemes, and covered plans for crime prevention. At the meeting PC Bayliss advised Mr Garman that there were no crimes in Grafton parish in May, and that the Hearing for the earlier disturbance in the Severalls has been postponed for further investigation. Marlborough Police Station is once again staffed and open to the public during working hours.
6. Hall Report:
a) Fundraising Activities – Mr Davenport updated the meeting on the
Music on the Green event and on behalf of Major General Walsh and his team thanked all those who helped and gave support. People came from far and wide and many donations were received from those who could not attend, including a contribution of £350 from Vodafone. After expenditure a sum of £8,350 was raised, which will be equally divided between the Parachute Regiment and the Hall rebuild fund. Mr Lemon expressed the PC’s gratitude to the team and the Regiment for their extremely hard work in putting on an event that was very much enjoyed by all. Game Fair – Mr Lemon advised that this event would be making a donation of £1500 to Grafton School. Hall ‘bridge event’ – Mrs.Comyn announced a donation to the Hall fund of £1273.15 from this successful cards and tea event. Mr Lemon thanked everyone for their continued efforts
b) General – Mrs Dudney advised that the Charities Commission have now provided authenticated and sealed deeds and trust transfer forms for the Hall and these will be held by Mr Lemon, who thanked Mrs Dudney for her hard work.
7. Planning: Applications are as listed. K/58691/TR2, E.G Farm House – Mrs Comyn has had discussions with KDC regarding confusion over the tree surgeons’ interpretation of drawings for this application in particular, but was also concerned about the reading of drawings for tree work in general. It was agreed that for clarity the PC will state its own interpretation of the drawings when responding to applications.
8. Cheques: Information Commissioner (data protection) - £35. (proposed by Mrs Dudney, seconded Mr Lemon)
9. Correspondence: The PC has been advised that WCC and the Wiltshire Association of Local Councils is involved in government consultations as to whether the next local elections should take place in 2009 or 2013.
10. A.O.B:
a) Mr Hatfield raised the question of the poor condition of some of the parish
seats and it was agreed that Mrs Heard would obtain quotes for maintenance work on them and also for renewing Marten’s noticeboard.
b) In response to a parishioner’s concerns Mr Hatfield has looked at a beech
hedge on Grafton Road and it was agreed that Mr Evans will talk to the householder about the possibility of improving the width of the pathway for wheelchair mobility.
c) Brigadier Hall has advised that following a general review there will be no
change to the parish boundary.
d) Mrs Brew advised that possibilities for a public access defibrillator in the
community were improving and she is looking at options and costs.
e) Mrs Zweck updated the meeting on the status of the application for a
judicial review on the future of Savernake Hospital and pointed out that this constituted a crucial test case.
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Dates for future meetings:
2nd September 2008, 4th November 2008,
6th January 2009, 3rd March 2009, 24th March 2009 (AGM)