Minutes of Meeting- 15th May 2024

db-clerk

2024/007

MINUTES

DEFFORD & BESFORD PARISH COUNCIL

https://defford-besfordparishcouncil.co.uk

Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting of Defford & Besford Parish Council held on Wednesday 15th May 2024 at 7pm in Besford Court Hall

PRESENT: Cllrs: P Hale, D Lamont, S Soukup, S Rees, I Spiers and I Stephens plus 2 members of the public

  1. APOLOGIES were received from Cllr G Marshall, County Cllr A Hardman and District Cllr P Middleborough
  2. ELECTION OF CHAIR: Cllr Stephens was proposed as Chairman by Cllr Rees, seconded Cllr Soukup – all in favour

ELECTION OF VICE CHAIR: Cllr Rees was proposed as Vice Chair by Cllr Spiers, seconded Cllr Hall – all in favour

  1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
  2. Cllrs are reminded of the need to update their register of interests.
  3. To declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in items on the agenda and their nature
  4. To declare Other Disclosable Interests in items on the agenda and their nature
  5. Written requests for the council to grant a dispensation (S33 of the Localism Act 2011) are to be with the clerk at least 4 clear days prior to a meeting.

Cllrs who have declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, or Other Disclosable Interest which falls within the terms of the code of conduct, must leave the room for the relevant items.

  • Cllr P Hale – Chair of Defford Village Hall Committee

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – Two parishioners spoke on Appeal W/23/01224/PIP Shazam, Upper Street, Defford and should the appeal be successful, the impact that this would have on near properties and questioned the accuracy of the planning officer’s reason for approval.

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES from meeting dated 20th March 2024 were approved, proposed Cllr Rees, seconded Cllr Hale – all in favour.
  2. FINANCE
  3. Approval of receipts and payments to 9th May 2024 (made since last meeting)
  4. Payments for authorisation:

Payments 2023/24: Payments 2024/25:

Payments were authorised, proposed Cllr Spiers, seconded Cllr Soukup – all in favour.

2024/008

The clerk advised that there was a legal requirement for an electrical safety test to be carried out on the streetlamps in Defford at a total cost of £180 plus VAT. Cllrs were in agreement that we had no choice but to have these electrical checks carried out and agreed to the expenditure.

  1. Account Balances:


Unity Trust Current Account: £21,477.50

Unity Trust Savings Account: £9630.53

  1. Year End Accounts 2023 / 24 had been circulated to Cllrs for consideration prior to the meeting – no issues were raised, proposed acceptance Cllr Rees, seconded Cllr Stephens – all in favour.
  2. Clifton-Crick Sharp had offered to carry out the internal audit again (having carried this out previously for the Parish Council). This was approved, proposed Cllr Rees, seconded Cllr Stephens – all in favour. There would need to be an extra meeting scheduled before the end of June to formally review the Internal Auditors report once received and approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return.
  3. PLANNING – W/23/01224/PIP Shazam, Upper Street, Defford – notification of Appeal received. The Parish Council were invited to make additional comments to the Planning Inspector (on anything not already covered within our previous objections). Discussion took place and it was agreed that specific reference should be made regarding the fact that the SWDP review had identified 3 sites for new housing with an additional 28 properties within a village of just 240 properties. This particular site is not one included and that demand for properties in Defford was for more affordable housing of 2 – 3 bedrooms. In addition, it was agreed that it should be identified that the area within the vicinity of Shazam is known locally to be a location of springs and a source of surface water flooding within Upton Drive and the A4104. The points would be included in additional comments to the Planning inspector.
  4. CORRESPONDENCE / EMAILS had been circulated to Cllrs and included:
  • Picnic table at Millennium Green – the clerk had managed to secure replacement legs at no cost.
  1. OTHER MATTERS FOR INFORMATION / FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
  • Besford Parish Council Vacancies and the need to promote
  1. DATE OF NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS – Wednesday 26th June 2024 7pm, at Defford Village Hall – just to consider Internal Audit report and approve AGAR documents (members of the public are welcome to attend). Regular Parish Council Meeting Wednesday July 17th at Defford Village Hall at 7pm.