Snape with Thorp Parish Council

Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 15 September 2015 in the Snape Methodist Church.

Present: Councillors John Duck, Jenny Rydzewski, Steven Smith, Terry Warwick, Richard Poole, District Councillor David Webster, Alan Jewitt and Paul Carlo of Openreach, and 3 members of the public

1. Declaration of Interest – There were no declarations of interest
2. Minutes of the meetings held on 23 July 2015 were accepted as a true record.
3. Matters arising:
   1. Avenue – a draft consultation letter had been circulated with the agenda and was considered. It was resolved that the letter should be distributed to each household in the parish using labels provided by HDC. Councillors offered to assist with the distribution. A meeting would be held as soon as possible after the end of the consultation period.
   2. Outstanding planning matters – Cllr Webster and Peter Jones from HDC Planning Department had provided an update on the outstanding issues. It was felt that there remained an issue with dust and further information would be gathered. The Clerk was asked to contact Peter Jones to advise this was the case.
   3. Transparency and Openness – the Clerk provided an update on the development of the website; some information still needed to be uploaded but could only be saved in a specific format which the Clerk’s IT equipment did not apparently create. An e-mail had been received from YLCA notifying of government funding available to support PCs to meet the transparency code requirements. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should explore applying for funding to purchase equipment specifically for the PC to avoiding using the Clerk’s own equipment and for the use of the website development and maintenance.
   4. Grasscutting – The Clerk had attempted to find out the prices for adverts in the D&S Times but had not been able to do so. In discussion it was RESOLVED to identify a number of local contractors to invite to tender. Mr LeCornu, who was present, was asked if he would be interested; he confirmed he was not. There was a need to revise the letter of invitation to tender; consideration should also be given to splitting the work into a contract for grasscutting and a further contract for the beck cleaning. This would be further discussed at the next meeting.
4. Asset Transfer – Final documentation, copies of which had been previously circulated, was considered. The PC expressed concern about the possibility of paying to HDC 80% of the increased value of the field should planning approval be approved whether or not it was implemented. This requirement would last for 50 years. The Clerk was asked to contact the solicitor to seek her view and advice with a view to seeking a rewording of the document.
5. Financial Matters
   1. Receipts and payments since the last meeting were noted and approved as follows:
      1. Receipts: NYCC - £443.50 – for grasscutting; Northern Electric - £3.45 – for wayleave; interest on bank account £0.56.
      2. Payments: A Whitehead Associates - £288.00 for tree survey; S Lowe - £43.20 (July), £55.20 (August) salary; S Lowe £7.15 expenses
      3. The balances stood at Current Account £2291.31 and Business Premium Account £4181.92; both accounts were in credit. There was £16768.69 credit held on behalf of the Institute Committee.
      4. It was noted that the bank had charged £12.50 for the cancellation of a cheque for £20 and that as Mr Whitehead had advised that the cheque for £288 had been lost this cheque had also been cancelled.
   2. The hours worked by the Clerk (20 hours 30 minutes) in the last two months were noted.
6. Playing Field Committee

Cllr Smith had been elected Chair at the Committee meeting held immediately before this meeting. He reported on the Committee meeting. The following were noted:

• An application to Awards for All had been prepared and submitted to Nicki Smith for her advice on its content;
• An application had been made to West Tanfield Tour de France fund for £1k. It was understood that a large number of applications had already been received.
• There were now only 3 members on the Committee although Joanne Sweirs was willing to join the Committee. An advert would be placed in Yoredale News and on the website to seek further members. Due to changes it would be necessary for the PC to revisit the constitution in relation to membership.
• The asset transfer needed to be completed before developments on the field could be progressed.
• Communication had been received from Lisa Wilson, HDC, regarding goal post safety and this had been circulated
• Weekly checks of the equipment were being undertaken.

7. High Speed Broadband – Alan Jowett and Paul Carlo of Openreach presented their proposal to install equipment to support faster speed broadband in the village. This would require a cable to be installed to be run from the current cabinet into the village down grassed areas and to the power point at Beech Close. NYCC were of the view that the grassed areas were not registered as parish land, however, as the PC assumed ownership by cutting the grass Openreach were seeking approval of the PC for these works. A new cabinet would need to be erected opposite the Castle; further details on its size etc would be forwarded to the Clerk for onward transmission to the Councillors; it was suggested that the cabinet should not be placed directly opposite an entrance point to the Castle grounds. The work could be completed within a 2 month period. It was resolved that approval would be given.

The meeting closed at 8:45 pm