Minutes of the Meeting of Great Marlow Parish Council held at Bovingdon Green Village Hall on Thursday 20 th July 2017 at 7.30 p.m. Present: Councillor Mr K Muller (Chairman) Mr J Ansell Mr N Dunn Mr G. Fletcher Mrs J France Mrs L Parkins Clerk Mr J Holder C. 80/17 APOLOGIES Apologies were received from Cllr. M Pack and Cllr Mark Harris WDC C. 81/17 MINUTES 81.1 The Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting dated 20 July 2017 were proposed by Cllr. Mrs Parkins as a true record, seconded by Cllr. Dunn and duly signed by the Chairman. C.82/17 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None C. 83/17 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION QUESTIONS AND INFORMATION None C. 84/17 MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES 84.1 Footpaths (Minute C.72/7) Whilst it was noted that the footpath by Clay Lane seemed to have had some attention, there were still a significant number of people complaining, as it is a well trodden path. It was hard to push child buggies by and children risk sting nettles. Cllr. Mrs Parkins would provide contact details to the Clerk for him to request attention from Transport for Bucks, such correspondence to be copied to the local County and district councillors. Action : Cllr. Mrs Parkins /The Clerk C. 85/17 REPRESENTATIVES TO OUTSIDE BODIES 85.1 The appointment of Parish Council representatives to outside bodies was agreed as follows: Bovingdon Green Preservation Society Bovingdon Green Village Hall Bucks Association of Local Councils & Wycombe District Association of Local Councils (BALC & WDALC) Buckinghamshire County Council - Devolved Services Forums Claymoor Residents Association High Heaven Liaison Committee Marlow & District Chamber of Trade & Commerce Marlow Society Oxford Lane Almshouses (Brinkhursts) South West Chilterns & Marlow Local Area Forum Wycombe Air Park Joint Consultative Ken Muller Ken Muller Ken Muller & Mike Pack (for both) Lorna Parkins (John Ansell - standing deputy) Jenny France (Nigel Dunn - standing deputy) Mike Pack & Jenny France (Nigel Dunn - standing deputy) Ken Muller & Mike Pack Graham Fletcher (Nigel Dunn - standing deputy) John Ansell Ken Muller & Lorna Parkins (Graham Fletcher - standing deputy) Nigel Dunn (Mike Pack & Jenny France - standing 1
Committee Wycombe District Rural Forum deputy). Lorna Parkins (Jenny France - standing deputy) 85.2 Councillor Mike Pack to continue to operate his schedule of meetings of outside bodies and remind where appropriate members of obligation to attend such. Cllr Ansell had expressed an interest to join the Marlow & District Chamber of Trade & Commerce and this would be looked at next year. The Clerk would advise the Oxford Lane Almshouses of Cllr Ansell s appointment and the LAF in respect of Cllr Fletcher s role as standing deputy with contact details being supplied by Cllr Mrs Parkins; Cllr Fletcher would update the list on the website. Action : a) Cllr. Mrs Parkins /The Clerk ; b) Cllr. Fletcher 85.3 The Chairman said he was prepared to stand as chairman of WDALC and would circulate his recent WDALC letter to members.. Action : Cllr. Muller 85.4 Cllr. Mrs Parkins said there had not been a meeting for Bucks CC Devolved Services Forum. Cllr. Mrs France noted that the Claymoor Residents association had meetings but did not normally issue minutes. 85.5 Cllr Fletcher was congratulated on his appointment to the Executive of the Marlow Society as Honorary Treasurer. C. 86/17 REVIEW OF STANDING ORDERS & FINANCIAL REGULATIONS 86.1 The Clerk had previously circulated a revised copy of the Standing Orders, which had previously been approved by the Council at its meeting on 26 November 2015. The Clerk highlighted all proposed revisions. In the revised form proposed by the Clerk, the Standing Orders were proposed by Cllr. Mrs Parkins, seconded by Cllr. Fletcher and approved by the Council members. 86.2 The Council not previously having Financial Regulations, the Clerk had adapted template ones issued by NALC and had circulated these in advance of the meeting. The Clerk highlighted all variations from the BALC template. In the revised form proposed by the Clerk, the Financial Regulations were proposed by Cllr. Dunn, seconded by Cllr. Mrs France and approved by the Council members. 86.3 Cllr Fletcher would update the Standing Orders and the Financial Regulations on the website. Action Cllr. Fletcher C. 87 17 EMERGENCY PLAN; LOCAL PLAN & PARISH CHARTER 87.1 Emergency Plan In response to the Chairman s query as to whether the Council might have some emergency role, members were clear it did not. The lowest tier with resources was at District Council level and in an emergency, people should call 999, with further contact details on the website. Members voted unanimously against having an Emergency Plan. 87.2 Local Plan The Chairman noted that the potential cost to produce such a Plan could be 17k. Members voted unanimously against producing a Local Plan. 87.3 Parish Charter Members saw no real benefit in this and voted unanimously against seeking a Parish Charter. C. 88/17 ACCOUNTS AND EXPENDITURE 88.1 The Clerk noted that following the recent Annual Return process, he had revised the financial report format issued to the Council, which gave a fuller description of items including the VAT element if any. Members welcomed this. Payments and receipts, as per the cashbook circulated prior to the meeting were approved, with Council approving payment of the following cheques: - 2
CHEQUES ISSUED AT THE MEETING Cheque No. Paid to Nett VAT Gross 002181 SSE Contracting Ltd -for June maintenance 115.75 23.15 138.90 002182 SSE -for April 136.38 24.32 160.70 002183 SSE - for May 139.98 25.10 165.08 002184 SSE - for June 148.73 26.72 175.45 002185 TBS Hygiene - dog waste April-June 32.50 6.50 39.00 002186 Bovingdon Green Village Hall 84.00 0.00 84.00 002187 Buckland Laandscapes Ltd 400.00 80.00 480.00 002188 K Muller -reimburse APM drinks 38.00 0.00 38.00 002189 N Dunn -reimburse keys cut 8.13 1.62 9.75 002190 J Holder -Clerk salary and expenses for July 426.27 0.00 426.27 002191 HMRC - Tax for July for Clerk 78.00 0.00 78.00 002192 J Holder -Clerk salary and expenses for August 353.67 0.00 353.67 002193 HMRC - Tax for August for Clerk 78.00 0.00 78.00 002194 G Fletcher reimburse laminated pouches 16.66 3.33 19.99 002195 Chiltern Society - subscription 30.00 0.00 30.00 Totals 2,086.06 190.73 2,276.79 Online Banking Access 88.2 The Clerk had obtained the forms to acquire viewing status, which were authorised by Cllrs Muller and Fletcher, for the Clerk to return to the bank. CIL Moneys & Other Reserves 88.3 Bovingdon Green Village Pond The central location of the Pond and the changed nature of the overgrowth needing financial support were noted. Following discussion, members expressed interest in making a contribution but before that could be considered, it was necessary that there should be a feasibility study with proper costings worked out together with other local financial commitment obtained. To help progress this, Cllr Mrs Parkins would investigate the approach to its pond by Woodburn Green & Bourne End Parish Council whilst Cllr. Mrs France would speak to Lane End Parish Council. The Chairman said he would re-contact the Chairwoman of Bovingdon Green Preservation Society to discuss the possible options towards progressing with the subject of future requisite repair and maintenance work of the pond. Action: Cllrs K Muller, Mrs Parkins and Mrs France 88.4 LED Street Lighting - Cllr Mrs Parkins noted that considerable energy costs could be made by moving to LED Street Lighting. Number 22 had recently been fitted and it was now necessary to replace number 34 and another one, at a cost of about 1600.Following discussion, it was agreed that :- a) the Clerk should order LED replacement for no. 34 and another (number to be advised by Cllr Mrs Parkins);this should have the same Kelv of 4,000 as no.22; b) the Clerk should request a quote to replace the remaining 13 Clay Hill lights with LED; c) the Clerk should investigate potential energy savings. Action : The Clerk 88.5 Benches & Gates Cllr Fletcher noted the Chiltern Society provided a Donate a Gate scheme at about 250 per gate. Dependent on identifying suitable locations for either stiles/gates and benches, this could be considered further. Action : ALL 3
88.6 Mobile Speed Indicators Following discussion, it was agreed to get a quote for two mobile speed indicators, Cllr Mrs Parkins to give Clerk contact details Action : Cllrs. Mrs Parkins / The Clerk 88.7 Merger Cllr Ansell said that he could not consider anything in the area that he would wish to spend money on. He would rather prefer to give the money back to the taxpayers. Further he could see a cost savings benefit for this Council to merge with other local councils such as Lane End or Marlow Bottom and/or form a Unitary council with Marlow Town. The Chairman said that beyond the reasons for the split some 15 years ago of Marlow Bottom from this Council, he had spoken on these issues more recently both with the chairman of Marlow Bottom Parish Council and with local WDC councillors, from which it was clear that there was no desire for such a merger. Following a proposal to pursue merger discussions, this was defeated by a vote 2 for and 4 against. CIL Moneys 2016-2017 Return 88.8 The Clerk had been requested to provide an annual Return to Wycombe DC on the Community Infrastructure Levy for 2016-2017.In Cllr Pack s absence, he had confirmed with Cllr Mrs Parkins that 3,398.39 CIL moneys had been received and none spent in the year and he would be so reporting. The report would also need to be published on the website. Action : The Clerk / Cllr Fletcher C. 89/17 STREET LIGHTING There was nothing further to the earlier discussion. C.90/17 MODERNISATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 90.1 The Chairman would circulate the WDALC letter. C. 91/17 GMPC STAFFING MATTERS 91.1 Mr Holder had nothing to raise. C.92/17 SPECIFIC ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION and/or DECISION or FURTHER ACTION (a) BCC Tranche 2 Devolution 92.1 The Clerk confirmed that Bucklands Landscapes had confirmed they had completed the work. The Clerk was requested to circulate the instructions issued and Cllr Dunn said he would send a further work request to the Clerk to action. Action : The Clerk / Cllr Dunn (b) Booker Air Park/JCC 92.2 Cllr Dunn noted that there had been much discussion on noise at the meeting. There were 8,500 visitors at the recent Expo with 20m of business.. (c) GMPC Community Speedwatch 92.3 The Chairman said the next speedwatch would be 6.45-7.45pm on Monday 24 July. (d) GMPC Website and Media Communications 92.4 Cllr. Fletcher said that work on upgrading the website was underway. He and Cllr Mrs France (in Cllr Pack s absence) would be seeing Oxford IT next week to discuss some details. The site had been offline recently due to connectivity issues but this had now been resolved. 92.5 Cllr Ansell noted that the website still showed the Google map for the previous Clerk s address. It was noted that Google had been advised of this and was awaiting correction. 92.6 Cllr Dunn said that following the recent flooding of his garage, he could no longer store the Noticeboards. With effect from 1 September, his son Oliver could buy storage for them but it would cost 4
about 25-30 per month. The Clerk was requested to check with the Clerk of Marlow Bottom in respect of the Playing Field sheds whilst all members were also asked to consider alternative storage. Action : The Clerk / ALL (e) High Heavens 92.7 Cllr Mrs France said there would be a meeting next week. She noted a consultation to build the land up and also that there would be an Open Day on 1 August. (f) Bovingdon Green Village Pond 92.8 There was nothing further to the earlier discussion.. C. 93/17 CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS FOR INFORMATION i) Correspondence received The Clerk had forwarded to the Chairman a request from the Mayor of High Wycombe requesting permission that he could wear his chain of office when he visited Booker Gliding Club Flying Competition on 23 July. The Chairman gave his consent. ii) iii) Reports from Councillors from Outside Bodies none Comments by Councillors None C.94/17 QUESTION TIME FOR THE PUBLIC ON MEETING CONTENT There was none. C. 95 /17 NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Full Parish Council Meeting was noted as Thursday 21 September 2017 at the usual time of 7.30pm There being no further business the meeting closed in darkness (the lighting not working) at 9.35 pm. Chairman 5