Idmiston Annual Parish Meeting 14 th May 2018 Page 1 Page 1
Agenda Review of Main Activities and Achievements Challenges and Council Daily Operations Finances, Grants and Standing Orders Planning Committee and Neighbourhood Plan Emergency Planning, River Clearance and Flood Planning Defibrillators Memorial Hall Update CATG Coming Up Village Fete Village Clean-up CIL Community Infrastructure Levy Public Q and A Page 2
Challenges (Cllr Humphries) Online presence Website continues to be heavily used. Introduction of Facebook page has been welcomed and seems reasonably balanced between information sharing, helpful comments and critique of the IPC. Newsletter Continued to produce this need help to maintain future production. Newsletter quality maintained with diversity of articles & dissemination of local information. Reduced support by advertisers & their associated revenue. Maintained circulation delivered by volunteers to all households, incl. offerings to Porton Down & Boscombe Down. Speedwatch Speedwatch scheme set up and handed over to parishioner team to execute. Bourne Cemetery Remaining work completed New bench to replace one previously vandalised. New Bourne Cemetery Sign. Handover of Cemetery Manager role to Clerk. Issue (on agenda later) Sewage pipe discovered running through cemetery after it was damaged. Pipe permanently sealed and confirmation from Wessex Water that no damage to existing interments. Application made to have pipe re-routed. Investigation ongoing as to how this happened. Page 3
Council Daily Operations (Parish Clerk) Responding to requests, questions and comments from the public Typically over 30 emails each week Examples include newsletter and cemetery enquiries, requests for repairs and maintenance, tree and grass cutting requests, reports of vandalism, Review and respond to over 40 planning applications From carports and bathrooms to larger developments Parish Maintenance Cutting, fixing, trimming, clearing, cleaning all over Idmiston on IPC-owned land Maintenance of Jubilee path, Bourne Cemetery Weekly inspection of playgrounds Escalations to Wiltshire Council as required Maintenance of IPC financials record keeping, making payments, arranging audits (see next slide for improvements made this year) Setting of parish Precept Management of Bourne Cemetery Installation of new signage 7 burials, 2 advance purchases, 1 scattering of ashes Writing, editing and distribution of 3 newsletters a year Winter planning Purchase and installation of 4 new grit bins Filling of 23 grit bins Page 4
Finances (Parish Clerk) We have made a lot of improvements over the last year: Changed bank account from Lloyds to Unity Trust who specialise in supporting local councils Switching to online banking instead of cheques: Suppliers receive their payments quicker Parish Clerk enters the minuted and authorised payments online Two members who are signatories then login separately to authorise the payments online A third member who is not a signatory is also able to view the bank accounts at any time Started using accounting software Scribe 2000 instead of Excel. This is software written for local councils and produces all the year end data for the External Audit Employed a professional Internal Auditor who completed their audit on 11 April, and was able to sign off the accounts and provide an Action Plan with recommended improvements This has enabled the Annual Return to be produced much earlier for sign-off by members at the Annual Meeting, that follows this meeting. Page 5
Grants (Cllr Gillick) IPC adopted its Grant Policy on 11 December 2017 and we are now able to offer small grants to local organisations. A grant is any payment made by the Council to be used by an organisation for a specific purpose that will benefit the Parish, or residents of the Parish, and which is not directly controlled or administered by the Council. The Council awards grants, at its discretion, to Parish organisations which can demonstrate a clear need for financial support to benefit the Parish by: Providing a service Enhancing the quality of life Improving the environment Promoting Idmiston Parish (Idmiston, Porton and Gomeldon) in a positive way For 2018/19 only, we will accept applications between January and August 2018. For 2019/20 expressions of interest must be made by 30 September 2018. For further information and an application form see the website: https://www.idmistonpc.org/news/ under Grants Now Available Forms are also available this evening from the Parish Clerk Page 6
IPC Standing Orders (Cllr Bradley) Why They Matter Standing Orders = Written rules of a local council. Confirm IPC s organisation, admin, procurement and meeting procedures. Standing Orders required for contractual procurement. Standing Orders confirm statutory requirements for IPC Officers meetings. What Has Been Updated Or Added Existing Standing Orders outdated and need revision. NALC Model compliant Standing Orders produced reflecting current practice. Annexes revised, added or deleted as appropriate. Standing Orders and Annexes reviewed/approved by IPC. What Remains To Be Done Ongoing amendment to Standing Orders to reflect business change. Updating of IT Protocols annex to reflect current IT practice. Incorporate IPC policy on information handling, security and the DPA. Page 7
Planning Committee We formed the IPC planning committee last year with a view towards refining our planning scrutiny, and arranging a dedicated time and place to discuss and review applications We agreed that all councillors could attend and vote at planning committee, but that it would be built around a core team: Cllr Nabil Najjar (Chair) Cllr Valerie Creswell (Vice Chair) Cllr Wayne Maher Cllr Mark Jones Cllr Anne Appleyard Cllr Ken Bradley Since formation, the role of the committee has evolved. We have placed the spirit of the neighbourhood plan at the heart of our decision-making an this was reflected in recent amendments to our standing orders We seek to take a balanced view on applications, putting the opinions of parishioners first. Whilst we don t seek to prevent development, we work to ensure that it is done in a way that is considerate, in keeping with our community and our area, and in line with the principles of the neighbourhood plan. Page 8
Neighbourhood Plan Made in April 2017, the Neighbourhood Plan has controlled development to within areas designated and supported by parishioners voting within, and for, the Plan From the sites selected during the making of the Neighbourhood Plan, Planning Applications have been submitted for the following: G1 in Gomeldon. For a single dwelling house P7A and P7B. The two sites together could potentially have been the subject of applications for 20 dwellings. Instead the application was for 5 Affordable homes, 4 committed homes for elderly residents to enable them to downsize and remain in the Parish. There will be 7 homes for the open market. Each dwelling will have off-road parking. An additional 18 off-road public parking spaces will be provided for use by the nearby primary school and for the residents of Horefield. Outline consent was granted to this application at the Southern Area Planning Committee A pre-planning application meeting was recently held in the Parish for plans for Plots P1A (for 10 Affordable homes) and P1B (for 10 Self Build homes). No application has yet been made. In line with IPC policy the developer was encouraged to hold a public consultation in the Memorial Hall. The Neighbourhood Plan is designed to remain current until 2026. We do not expect to update it before then unless there is a material consideration or change in the Wiltshire Council core development plan or in the Parish. The NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) is currently consulting on additional development sites - but there are none in our Parish. The Wiltshire Council core plan now has a requirement for an additional 20,000 houses (up from 44,000) by 2026. This consideration may increase the Parish minimum housing target from 32 to 47 (roughly calculated) and within the Plan we have more than sufficient capacity for this in the sites identified in the Neighbourhood Plan South Wiltshire has a requirement from the NPPF to keep a 5 year land bank provision ours has 5.5 years. Page 9
Emergency Planning Page 10
River Clearance and Flood Action (Cllr Gould) Last manual river clearance by volunteers was on 11 September. Thanks to all our volunteers and to Mr Bradbury for allowing any waste vegetation to be dumped on his land Environment Agency cleared the river at Idmiston 23 November Flood Warden meeting 21 February: Environment Agency agree that the river could be dredged at Idmiston with limitations: Need to know who the contractor is and what machinery they are using Only vegetable oil can be used in the hydraulics The river bed has to be dry We have had one quote and are looking for 2 more We registered with Wiltshire Council PEAS (Parish Emergency Assistance Scheme) 2017/18 in November and as a result: Have 100 empty sandbags Have Flood and Snow warden tabards Got the grit bins refilled and spare salt (now used up) PEAS has opened earlier this year and we can request what we need for Winter 18/19 now Page 11
Defibrillators (Cllr Oliver) 2017 Annual Parish Meeting agreed as #1 Priority Installed in the redundant BT phone boxes in each of the 3 villages across the Parish Explanation of benefits and usage provided Parish Meeting Via the Idmiston Parish Magazine Great branding of the BT phone boxes to aid visibility
Village Hall (Cllr Oliver on behalf of IPMH) New committee from September 2016 Chair: David Creswell, Treasurer: Rebecca Adams, Secretary: Steven Cocking, Bookings Secretary: Katherine Wilford Committee members are Trustees of the IPMH All meetings are now open to the public Joined the Wiltshire Village Halls Association via Community First Plans are underway for long-term hall improvements - local architects have been approached for renovation/improvement ideas Active marketing on Facebook (including the P.I.G Forum) and ongoing consideration for an independent website with online booking capability New lunchtime session introduced to run from 12pm-2pm with Zumba & Pilates classes on a Friday Fundraising events Village Quiz on 12 th May, Open Gardens on 10 th June. ibuy2give membership We are working with the hall users to create a positive and inclusive environment, aiming to continue to provide a vibrant parish asset
CATG (Community Area Transport Group) (Cllr Cocking) WHAT IS IT? A group of unitary, town & parish councillors from the Amesbury area & specialist unitary council officers. WHAT DOES IT DO? Meets 4 times per year to discuss & approve minor projects intended to improve Transport / Traffic in the area. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO Anything to do with highway maintenance; Major highways projects. WHAT IS THE CATG BUDGET? Hard to tell. For 2017/18 Total available to spend was 57k. Amount actually committed was 47k. WHAT HAS CATG DONE FOR IPC? Very little it seems. The only project that I can find for the last 2 financial years is a street Name Plate in Idmiston. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE Idmiston PC believes there are a number of problems concerning the roads around our villages e.g. School drop-off & collection, excess speeding. We will lobby strongly with the CATG to get maximum financial help to resolve them. Page 14
Coming Up Page 15
Village Fete (Cllr Maher) What has been organised Scouts have been contacted and planning to do various games & food. Support Ops are sorting tents, lighting, health and safety and also food. Inflatables organised. Music and PA organised Need to organise Funding Temporary event notice WC rooms, dependant on funding Flyers Notice boards around villages Advertise on Spire FM Page 16
Parish Clean-up (Cllr Oliver) The WI regularly litter pick around the Parish We are looking for more volunteers for a Parish Clean-up Litter picking Identify areas that need improving e.g. strimming / cutting back There will be a presence at the Parish Fete asking for ideas and volunteers
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) (Cllr Oliver) The Community Infrastructure Levy is a planning charge, introduced by the Planning Act 2008 as a tool for local authorities in England and Wales to help deliver infrastructure to support the development of their area Most new development which creates net additional floor space of +100 square metres, or creates a new dwelling, is potentially liable for the levy With the Idmiston Parish having a made Neighbourhood Plan, the Parish is entitled to 25% of the Parish CIL monies raised (vs. a capped 15% without) Funds must be used to support the development of the local area by funding The provision, improvement, replacement or maintenance of infrastructure: or Anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on an area Ideas for investment consideration to-date: Memorial Hall refurbishment, upgraded play equipment, footpath between Porton and Idmiston, Bourne Cemetery drainage improvements We are looking for Parishioners proposals for infrastructure investment within the Parish and their prioritisation
Q and A Limited time, so if we run out please send your questions to the Parish Clerk. Page 20