Parish Council Meeting Minutes
MEETING OF CHOLMONDELEY & CHORLEY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 24 NOVEMBER 2020
(THE MEETING WAS HELD VIA VIDEO-LINK IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATIONS INTRODUCED UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS ACT 2020)
| PRESENT: | Councillor A D Fennell (In the Chair) Councillor C Baker Councillor C Farquharson Councillor A Gresty Councillor C Hopley | Councillor R Keys Councillor S Langton Councillor C Nickson Councillor P Probin |
97 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
Members were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, personal interest or non- pecuniary interest which they had in any item of business on the agenda, the nature of that interest, and in respect of disclosable interests, to leave the meeting prior to the discussion of that item.
No declarations were made.
98 MINUTES
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 September 2020 be approved as a correct record.
99 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
In accordance with the Parish Council’s Standing Orders (i.e. its Constitution) members of the public are able to ask a question of make a statement, both of which must relate to matters with fall within the remit of the Parish Council.
100 CASUAL VACANCY
It was reported that Chris Crossley had resigned as a councillor, with immediate effect.
The vacancy would be reported to Cheshire East Council which would allow 10 registered electors to call a by-election for this vacancy.
If no by-election was called, the Parish Council would be able to co-opt to the vacancy.
RESOLVED: That the Clerk write to Ms Crossley to express the Parish Council’s appreciation for her work over many years, mostly as Chairman of the Parish Council.
(Note: On behalf of Members, the Chairman would purchase and deliver a gift to her as a token of their appreciation.)
101 WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY
(Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018)
101.1 Councillor Chris Baker reported on progress in respect of the transfer of the domain name to the Parish Council, to enable the new website to be created and operational by 31 December 2020. He also reported in detail on the changes which were required to enable the website to be accessible and therefore compliant with the regulations.
Councillor Baker would provide all Councillors with new details to include passwords and client settings to enable email addresses to be operational.
The accessibility statement, as required under the regulations, was not yet available, but this would be prepared in due course.
RESOLVED: (a) That Councillor Baker be authorised to create the new Parish Council website, as discussed at previous meetings;
(b) That the Parish Council domain name be transferred from Coderra Ltd. to the Parish Council;
(c) That Councillor Baker be thanked for his work in respect of the website to enable it to become fully compliant with the Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
101.2 Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities – 2015
As part of the compliance, the Parish Council was required to observe the requirements of the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities.
Members were reminded that at its meeting in July 2015, the Clerk submitted a report in respect of The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and The Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015. A copy of that report was now submitted, together with the Transparency Code itself. At that meeting, the Council noted the following:
Where an authority has certified itself as exempt, it does not have to comply with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2014 in most respects, but instead, will be required to comply with the new Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities (authorised by the Smaller Authorities (Transparency Requirements) (England) Regulations 2015 which came into force from 1 April 2015. This requires the following information to be published annually.
Councillor Baker and the Clerk had been in email communication regarding the documents which were required to be uploaded onto the website.
(a) From April 2015 Smaller Councils should publish
- Minutes of formal meetings (including drafts of council, committee and sub-committee minutes no later than one month after the meeting). Not currently up-to-date.
- Full and informative agendas not later than three clear days before the meeting to which they relate. The Clerk generally issued the agenda five clear days before each meeting which was a requirement for principal authorities only; on occasions, however, it is the statutory three days.
(b) From July 2015 (and annually thereafter) Smaller Councils should publish
- Details of every item of spend of £100 or more (exclusive of VAT) showing the date/purpose/amount/and VAT which cannot be recovered. The Clerk reported that there were six items during 2019-2020 which had not been published. Previous years had not yet been reviewed.
- End of Year accounts as per the Annual Return. Published.
- The annual governance statement as per the Annual Return. Published.
- Bank reconciliation statements. Not currently provided.
- The Internal Audit report as per the Annual Return. Published.
- Names of councillors, their responsibilities and which committees and outside bodies they are appointed to by the Council. Other than the Chairman’s role, councillors have no specific responsibilities, but the appointments to outside bodies could be used as an indication of where individual councillors have particular interests.
- List of assets (land and buildings).
The information referenced should be published on the website. Where councils did not have their own website, the information could be published on another organisation’s website; for example, the principal authority.
101.3 Document Retention Policy
As part of the review of the website and the documents which were required to be uploaded, Members were provided with a copy of the Document Retention Policy which was approved in September 2014.
This policy could be published on the website to inform residents of the information which could be made available to them.
102 BUDGET – 2021-2022
The Parish Council was asked to consider its budget requirements for 2021-2022.
Cheshire East Council required notification by no later than Friday, 15 January 2021. The following documents were submitted:
- Clerk’s Financial report
- Budget Monitoring to 30 September 2020 and draft budget 2021-2022.
Members agreed the following amendments to the draft budget.
| Line 11 | Website support: Reduce from £350.00 to £60.00 |
| Line 14 | Neighbourhood Plan – £2,000. Delete on the basis that the Parish Council could apply for a grant from Locality, thereby reducing the burden on Council Tax-payers |
| Line 16 | Unallocated reserves: Reduce from £2,500 to £2,000 |
This had the effect of reducing the budget proposals to £5,270.00 requiring a precept of £2,900.00
RESOLVED: (a) That the budget proposals for 2021-2022 amounting to £5,270.00be approved; (b) That the Clerk’s gross annual salary be increased to £1,600.00 in line with the rates agreed by the National Association of Local Councils; and
(c) That the Clerk be authorised to request a precept of £2,900.00.
Arising out of discussion, the Clerk was asked to seek a refund in respect of the hosting fee for 2020-21 from Coderra Ltd.
103 PLANNING
103.1 Planning Applications
The Parish Council was invited to comment on the following planning applications by 2 December 2020.
| 20/3719N | Old Hall, Cholmondeley Park, Cholmondeley SY14 8HB Listed building consent for landscaping works to the garden surrounding Old Hall, including re-laying of the drive, new hard and soft landscaping, fencing and the construction of three garden structures: Orangery/ Garden Room, Wood Store and Glass House. |
| 20/3718N | Old Hall, Cholmondeley Park, Cholmondeley SY14 8HB Landscaping works to the garden surrounding Old Hall, including re-laying of the drive, new hard and soft landscaping, fencing and the construction of three garden structures: Orangery/Garden Room, Wood Store and Glass House. |
RESOLVED: That no observations be made on planning applications Nos. 20/3719N and 20/3718N.
103.2 Revised Publication Draft Site Allocations and Development Policies Document (SADPD)
Cheshire East Council had extended its consultation in respect of the amended SADPD and was now inviting further representations before it was submitted for examination by a planning inspector.
The following documents were submitted:
- Letter to town and parish councils.
- Statement of Representations Procedure
- Notice for display on notice-boards (or to be uploaded onto websites)
Comments were invited by 5.00 pm on Wednesday, 23 December 2020.
RESOLVED: That no comments be made on the Revised Publication Draft Site Allocations and Development Policies Document I(SADPD).
104 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
Councillor Farquharson updated the Parish Council in respect of responses to the most recent questionnaires which were delivered to each household in the parish.
The data would be analysed, following which the Steering Group would include them in the draft Neighbourhood Plan.
It was reported that Andy Champion had resigned as a Member of the Steering Group.
105 DISTRIBUTION OF SELECTAMARK KITS
The Clerk had contacted Selectamark about a training video and advice about the distribution of the kits. In response, a member of the Selectamark team contacted the Clerk and undertook to provide detailed information, including a training video, to enable the Parish Council to be able to offer registration to householders who wished to take advantage of this scheme.
Details were submitted to the meeting, together with a link to the registration system and a link to the YouTube channel.
Members discussed ways in which the kits could be safely delivered –
- Prepare a letter/notice of explanation to be inserted into each Selectamark box with a named contact on the notice.
- Provide contact details of the councillor delivering the kits.
- Print sufficient notices at the Chairman’s office.
- Councillors C Baker, C Hopley, R Keys and the Chairman, meet up at School Farm onWednesday, 2 December 2021 to discuss the arrangements for distribution.
106 APPOINTMENT TO WRENBURY CONSOLIDATED CHARITY
Further to the discussion at the previous meeting the Council was asked to nominate a potential representative to the Wrenbury Consolidated Charity.
It was agreed that this be added to the agenda for the next meeting, at which time, the Council could consider nominations, or notify the Secretary that there were no appropriate candidates at this time.
107 SHARED ITEMS
Councillor Hopley reported in report of Police Cluster meetings.
108 DATE OF NEXT MEETING – 26 JANUARY 2021