TODWICK VILLAGE

Todwick Parish
Council Minutes

JRW/306

TODWICK PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting held in Todwick Church Hall at 7.00 p.m.
on Tuesday 31st July 2007

Present
Councillor Langford - Chairman
Councillor Palmer - Vice Chairman
Councillor Hill
Councillor Kettell - from 8.15 p.m.
Councillor Mathieson
Councillor Pantry
Councillor White
J R Walker - Clerk

Eight members of the public.

PC Tina Jones and Police Support Officer Karen Coles

PC Jones reported on the crimes in the parish between 1st June and the meeting date. These included:

• an assault on Pocket Handkerchief Lane following a road accident
• a burglary at Todwick House Gardens
• thefts from
  • allotment sheds
  • lead from the Church roof
  • motor vehicles on Kiveton Lane and at The Red Lion Hotel
• theft of a trailer from a driveway at Mortains

PCSO Karen Coles was one of two police support officers undertaking high visibility patrols in Todwick and Kiveton and gave the details of recent activities.

Norman Anderson represented the Neighbourhood Watch Group and addressed the meeting. He explained the progress being made. Some 47% of households had now joined the scheme.

Members thanked PC Jones and PCSO Coles for their contribution and they left the meeting at 7.30 p.m.

07/38 APOLOGIES
Councillor Wolf did not attend.

0739 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - 26th June 2007
There were no amendments
The minutes were signed as a correct record.

07/40 MATTERS ARISING
1. 0723(2)
Pantry Fencing at the playground was virtually completed. A new gate was required and quotations were being sought. Minor repairs had been arranged to the fencing surrounding the basket ball area.

07/41 URGENT ITEMS FOR LATER CONSIDERATION
1. Street light outside 1 Millfields
2. Bluebell wood
3. Code of Conduct Advertisement
4. Sub station fence at Kiveton Lane
5. Submission of Personal Interest Forms
6. The Informer
7. Village Plan

07/42 CLERK'S REPORT
Clerk had undertaken all the duties placed on him at the last meeting.

07/43 FINANCIAL OFFICER'S REPORT

07/44 CORRESPONDENCE
Copies of all correspondence received had been included with member's papers for the meeting.

1. YLCA - Assembly Digest

2. RMBC - Review of Polling Districts and Places

3. Barclays Bank - Signature Mandate
Clerk bank rules had changed such that only a total of three approved signatures would be allowed. Under Standing Orders two of these would have to be the Chairman and himself.
Resolved that Councillor White be the third councillor permitted to sign.

4. RMBC - Presentation to Parish Council
Resolved that the Clerk

• invite Mr. Finley to the September Council Meeting
• ask RMBC to provide the services of a street cleansing lengthman to sweep and remove litter fronting the shops at The Pastures.

5. RMBC - All Parish Liaison Meeting
Pantry reported on his attendance at the meeting including the plans for a new town hall.

6. RMBC - Review of the Joint Working Charter - Date for the next Parish Network Event

7. RMBC - Traffic Movements/Tipping
Chairman was concerned that RMBC was not prepared to accept the reports made by the Parish Council as proof that tipping was taking place at both local trips out of approved days and times.
Members expressed dissatisfaction at the RMBC response but would await a reply to the Clerk's most recent letter before considering further.

8. Atisreal - Orgreave Reclamation Site : Consultation on Restoration Proposals

9. RMBC - Flooding and Rights of Way

10. Mrs. J Leah/Mr. D Gregory - Council Vacancy
Resolved that the Chairman and Councillor Pantry interview both applicants and make their recommendation to full council.

07/45 PLANNING APPLICATIONS
1. RB2007/1284
Conservatory to rear at 105 The Meadows for Mr. M Thomas
Resolved to offer no objection.

2. RB2007/1315
Conservatory to front and rear at 81 The Meadows for Mrs. Greer-Waring
Resolved to offer no objection.

3. Manor House
Pantry/Palmer had received suggestions that a planning application was to be submitted for the construction of up to 50 new houses in the vicinity of the Manor House.
Clerk had not received notification of any application but would of course refer this to members if he did.

07/46 COMMITTEES

Allotments
Mathieson had received the Allotments Register and other papers from the Clerk. He had revised the Tenancy Agreement and standard letters for non compliance.
Resolved to

• thank Councillor Mathieson
• approve the revised Tenancy Agreement and letters
• approve the purchase of marker posts to delineate individual plot numbers

Recreation
Mathieson reported that a Mrs. Atkin had tripped and fallen on the roadway between the football and bowls pavilions on the 14th July. Fortunately she had not been badly injured but the Council should consider undertaking repairs as a matter of urgency.
Resolved

• that Councillors Mathieson and Palmer arrange appropriate minor repairs
• to await the External Auditor's report before taking any further measures to separate the management of the recreation ground from other Council business.
• to invite a representative from each of the user organizations to a meeting on 21st August

The meeting closed at 8.30 p.m.

OPEN SESSION

1. Mr. N Anderson was concerned that the former nursing home building was unoccupied and may be vulnerable. He would report this to PC T Jones and ask the police to monitor.

2. Mr. N Anderson enquired whether the Parish Council had asked the Borough Council to provide an additional dog waste bin at Goosecarr Lane.
Clerk had written but no reply had yet been received.

3. Mr. N Anderson had been approached by a member of the Neighbourhood Watch who was concerned about the Church's application to extend the opening hours at the Church Hall.
Clerk the Parish Council had neither supported nor objected to the proposal.

4. Mr. A Tizard (Bowling Club) gave details of the national bowling event to be held at the Bowling facility on 18 August. He had arranged for the erection of new perimeter fencing which would be completed in advance of the event.

5. Mr. A Tizard (Bowling Club) had noticed that the hedging adjacent to the roadway to the bowling green was overgrown.
Palmer would arrange for this to be trimmed by the Village Maintenance Contractor.

Open Session Closed at 9.00 p.m.

07/46 COMMITTEES

Village Hall
Palmer reported on the latest Village Hall Building Committee meeting:

• individual users organizations would have their own alarm code settings
• the office would be shared between the Parish Council and the Village Hall Committee and other approved users as appropriate
• the telephone line had been installed and consideration was being given to providing broadband
• a grant to buy computer equipment for community use was being sought from the Yorkshire Rural Community Council
• he and the Village Hall Secretary had visited the Treeton Village Resource Centre to see how that was managed. It was also planned to visit Whiston Parish Hall
• two filing cabinets were to be purchased and sited in the office. One would be for parish council use

07/47 INTERNAL AUDITOR
Resolved to await the external Auditor's report before considering further.

07/48 CLERK'S CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT AND JOB DESCRIPTION
Pantry informed that following consideration of documents produced by the Local Councils Associations a Revised Job Description and Conditions of Employment were being prepared and would shortly be handed to the Clerk for his comments.

07/49 NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Clerk there were no further comments

07/50 VILLAGE MAINTENANCE
Palmer gave a précis of the duties carried out by the Contractor since the last council meeting. In addition to routine matters these had included cleaning out the football pavilion in advance of the Fun Day and repairing the ceiling at the cricket pavilion.
He expressed his thanks to Mrs. Sheila Pantry for providing a litter picker for use by the Contractor.
Resolved to extend the Village Maintenance Contract for a further year and on the same terms.

07/51 NOTICE BOARD
Chairman/Kettell would pursue provision.

07/52 RISK ASSESSMENTS
Clerk informed members that the Rother Valley South Parishes Group was preparing a compendium of all member council's assessments with a view to sharing generic assessments which might also be amended for particular circumstances.
White was to study the Council's existing assessments and advise on their extension and improvement.
Resolved to await the outcome of Councillor White's review and the receipt of information from the Rother Valley South Parishes Group before revising the existing documentation.

07/53 URGENT ITEMS

1. Street light outside 1 Millfields
Pantry had received a report that a new white lantern fitted to the street light fronting 1 Millfields was causing inconvenience to the occupier of the property. He had heard that this type of lantern would be used to replace the yellow lights throughout. The problems being experienced at Millfields may be replicated elsewhere in the village.
Resolved that the Clerk express the Parish Council's concerns to RMBC.

2. Bluebell wood
Palmer was concerned about the state of the bluebell wood and had discussed possible maintenance works with the RMBC Woodlands Officer. The interest of the Parish Council would be paramount in enabling him to visit the site(s) after which he would compile and send a support advice pack.
Hill would have further discussions with Mr. Hague the owner of the wood who might be prepared to agree to appropriate works.

3. Code of Conduct Advertisement
Clerk drew members' attention to the requirement to advertise the Council's adoption of the revised Code of Conduct in the local press.
Kettell would include an article in "The Informer" newsletter and arrange a suitable entry in the Guardian newspaper.

4. Sub station fence at Kiveton Lane
Clerk had attempted to ask Transco to provide a new boundary fence to the gas sub-station on Kiveton Lane but was finding difficulty in locating an appropriate contact.
White had a contact at Transco and would try to pass on the request for this and general tidying of the site.

5. Submission of Personal Interest Forms
Clerk had received six completed forms and reminded members that everyone must submit these to him as soon as possible to enable him to copy them to RMBC.

6. The Informer
Kettell was in the process of preparing the next edition of The Informer and encouraged members to send him any items for inclusion.

7. Village Plan
White had been studying the plan. He had found that several requests had been implemented and the timing might now be appropriate to mention some of these in the Informer. At the same time there were other items of great interest to the village that had not been progressed and which now might be re-visited.
Pantry explained that funding and assisting with managing of the village hall improvement/refurbishment had been the highest priority. Since that involvement would shortly be concluded it was perhaps now a good time to undertake a review of the Village Plan.
Kettell would include something in The Informer.

The Meeting Closed at 9.50 p.m.

The next monthly Council Meeting will be in Todwick Village Hall at
7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 25th September 2007.