MINUTES OF ORDINARY MEETING
MADRON PARISH COUNCIL
HELD AT TRYTHALL CP SCHOOL
THURSDAY 1st DECEMBER 2011 AT 7.30pm
Present:
Cllr S. Pritchard (chairman) Cllr Mrs C. Roberts (vice chairman)
Cllr Mrs A. Jenkin Cllr Miss M. Christopher
Cllr. M. Scoble Cllr D. Westlake
Cllr R. Matthews Cllr C. Bone
Cllr R. Mann Cllr I. Phillips
Cllr V. Peake
Cornwall Cllrs W.Maddern and Miss I. Bailey.
Clerk, Mr W.E. Wilkins, and one member of the public
1.Apologies
Cllr S. Bates, PC Thomas, PCSOs Taylor and Nicholas
2. Acceptance of Minutes
The minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting held at Madron Community Rooms on 3rd November 2011 were unanimously accepted
3. Declarations of Interest
Item 9 Planning – application PA11/08255 at Trengwainton Farm, Cllr Bone as father of the applicant. Cllrs Roberts, Jenkin, and Matthews as tenants of Bolitho Estates in relation to the same item
Item 7 Councillors Questions and Comments in relation to St Maddern School – Cllrs Scoble and Bone as trustees of the school and Cllr Jenkin as a trustee and governor
4. Public Participation
None
5. Police Report
In the absence of police officers, the clerk gave the report. During the month of November there were two reported crimes as opposed to one in November 2010. Overnight 8th/9th November criminal damage was caused to signs relating to a commercial property in Bone Valley and overnight 24th/25th November two wheelie bins were set alight in Madron Road, Madron. There have been several wheelie bin fires recently in the Penzance area and enquiries are continuing into these offences.
6. Chairman’s Comments
Cllr Pritchard reported that he had represented this council at Gulval Feast Church service and Madron Feast Church service. He had also visited Gulval Village Hall where he saw that the grant from this council had been well spent with excellent kitchen facilities. He added that he had now resigned as chairman of the West Cornwall Community Bus after several years in post but remains as a committee member. He informed members that there were four operational buses and five staff and annual, grants are becoming available to the organisation.
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7. Councillors’ Questions and Comments
Cllr Christopher, in her role as clerk to the governors, produced a letter from the governors of Madron School expressing concern that there was no pedestrian walkway over Madron Green and they fear that its absence might have ramifications in contravention of Health and Safety Regulations. They ask if the parish council has any responsibility for this and also who should meet the expense. (Cllrs Bone, Scoble, Jenkin declared interests) . Discussion followed in which the points were made that this area is generally used for car parking and as such any walkway would be driven over mostly by school staff and people connected with the school. However it was acknowledged that the land was owned by this council so if there was a proven need we would have to agree to action. It was agreed that Cllr Jenkin would go back to the governors and seek advice from Cornwall Education Authority and Cornwall Cllr Maddern would check with Highways regarding his angle at the edge of The Green
8. Comments from Cornwall Councillors
Cornwall Cllr Bailey informed members that she had obtained a guarantee that the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Grant will be paid in 2012. She asked the clerk to submit an invoice on behalf of this council to Cornwall Council in order that the money be paid early before the projects take place.Chairman thanked Cllr Bailey for her efforts to ensure that this grant is again available.
9. Planning
Applications
The Planning Advisory Panel met on 14th November and considered the two items at Trengwainton Farm House and Bosulval Farm at New Mill. They agreed to recommend that this meeting supported these two applications.
PA11/08255 – install photovoltaic (PV) on a cattle shed roof with an output of 50kw at Trengwainton Farm House, Trengwainton, Madron (Cllrs Bone, Jenkin, Matthews and Roberets declared interests) – supported
PA1108551 – installation of 3.9kw of photovoltaic solar panels into two agricultural barns at Bosulval Farm, New Mill – supported
A third application on the published agenda has been received since the panel met and this matter has therefore not been considered by these councillors.
PA11/08630 – construction of two storey extension to cottage at Trenent Farm, Great Bosullow – supported
Two more applications have also been registered since the publication of the agenda and so have also not been discussed prior to this meeting.
PA11/08159 – larger ground floor extension to previously approved planning permission PA11/02324 to create a snoezelen room and patio area on a flat roof at Trevaylor Nursing Home, Gulval. Clerk reported that to date the plans for this have not been received so in view of that there was no comment from this council.
PA11/09439 – lifting of condition of W1/02/P/0888 to allow full residential use at Polly’s Cottage, Boskednan Farm, Boskednan, New Mill. The plans for this arrived on 30th November 2011. This was also supported
Results
PA11/08061 – listed building consent for minor extension to Trevaylor Manor Nursing Home, Gulval – approved
Other Planning Matters
PA11/07713 – construction of heliport, etc, at Station Approach/Treloweth Lane, St Erth – withdrawn
Cllr Westlake wished to comment on the national guidelines for planning applications. He felt that the regulations were far too rigid in as much as parish councils have officially only two weeks to respond to an application from the date of registration and the public have three weeks. He asked the meeting to instruct the clerk to write to CALC submitting these concerns as most parish councils meet on a monthly basis and it is likely that most parishes would support these concerns. This was agreed. It was also agreed that in the meantime that the clerk should continue to seek approval for an extension to the response times as he normally does.
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In the event of this extension not being approved a further full council meeting will be held half way through the month if necessary. Clerk was asked to emphasise the localism aspect in his letter and Cllr Pritchard asked Cornwall Cllr Maddern in his capacity as chairman of the West Penwith Town and Community Forum to ask the Head of Cornwall Planning to attend the next forum to discuss this matter with parishes. Cllr Maddern agreed to do this but pointed out that appointments for the forthcoming year may mean that he may no longer being chairman at the next forum but he would endeavour to make the arrangements. Cllr Pritchard took this opportunity to thank Cornwall Cllr Maddern for the manner in which he has chaired the forum.
Clerk reported that he had received a request from the planning officer asking if this council would be happy for PA11/08228 at Bythmoy, New Mill, to be dealt with under delegated powers in spite of objections from local residents and this council. Clerk has spoken with the Chairman and Cllr Westlake as the local member and it had been agreed that this was not acceptable and a request was made for this to be forwarded to the Planning Committee and this was supported by Cornwall Cllr Bailey.
A planning survey had been submitted by Rural Services Network. This had been circulated by email. The Planning Advisory Council had discussed this and recommended that no response was necessary from this council. This was agreed.
10. Public Rights of Way
Clerk reported that the payment due from Cornwall Council for the LMP agreement had been received on 21st November.
Cllr Westlake had nothing to report.
11. Clerk’s Report and Correspondence
Clerk reported that all instructions from the last meeting had been completed.
CALC ‘This Week’ issues 47 and 48 had been circulated by email.
The ‘Hands of our Hospital’ campaign asked for support with a meet at 11am on Saturday 3rd December at St Johns Hall with a march to West Cornwall Hospital – noted.
Cornwall Council (off street parking) Order 2012 has been circulated to councillors for information.
Clerk reported that the new computer has been purchased and was operational. This will be included as an asset owned by Madron Parish Council. Extra security and an external hard drive have also been purchased and installed as has an amendment required to open previous spread sheets for accounts, etc. Payment is included in the finance section of this meeting.
Clerk has ordered a 14 foot Christmas tree from West Country Fruit Sales at Falmouth who supplied the tree last year. The cost will be £84.00 plus VAT and the tree will be delivered to the front of Landithy Hall during the week commencing 5th December.
Clerk has circulated by email a letter from Alec Robertson, Leader of Cornwall Council giving information on various matters including policy in relation to public toilets, a bursary for young people to assist with further education, the new community covenant scheme, and other items. This has been circulated to members.
An invitation has been received today from David Wakfer for members to attend Gulval Village Hall to see the work completed as a result of the grant from this council originating from Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund earlier in this year. A suggestion is that the visit be arranged prior to a full council meeting. Most members pointed out that they had seen the completed work and clerk was instructed to respond to Mr Wakfer thanking him for his invitation but as most members had seen the work there was no need for such attendance.
12. Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Cllr Phillips had asked for the matter of distribution of mugs to be considered at the last meeting but this has been deferred until this meeting due to the numbers of councillors unable to attend the last meeting. The decision to be made was either to purchase mugs for all children in the parish or to children who attend local schools. The mugs cost £4.95 plus reclaimable VAT each and have the council’s name included in the design.
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After considerable discussion it was agreed that mugs be donated to all children aged eleven and under on 31st August 2012 who reside within the parish. The parents of these children should contact their local councillor or clerk before the end of February to register for a mug.
Mugs would be available for other residents at £6.00 each and again the names with cheques for this sum made out to Madron Parish Council should be forwarded to local councillors or clerk, again by the end of February 2012. Details will be included on the website, notice boards and also entries in The Cornishman should be made. These actions were formally proposed by Cllr Roberts, seconded by Cllr Jenkin and unanimously agreed.
Clerk confirmed that this parish was registered for the beacon.
13. Policy in relation to Circulation of Minutes and Other Items to Councillors
Cllr Westlake brought this item up as all but two councillors were able to receive their minutes and any email circulations received by the clerk. He agreed that all councillors were entitled to hard copies of the minutes if they so wished. It was agreed that hard copies of minutes be circulated to Cllrs Mann and Phillips and clerk would also forward copies of any email directly affecting them
14. Madron Parish Council Website
Cllr Westlake reported that the site was running smoothly and there had been 243 hits prior to this meeting, an average of seven per day and the site was fully operational. The Chairman expressed the thanks of the council to Cllr Westlake for the work he had put in to enable this website to exist in a manner showing this council in good light.
15. West Penwith Town and Parish Forum – 24th November 2011 in relation to Code
of Conduct. Also options circulated by CALC requesting views.
Cllr Jenkin was on the panel at the forum as a representative of the Standards Board and Cllrs Pritchard and Scoble attended with the clerk. The Localism Bill is now an Act of Parliament and the final situation regarding the Code of Conduct is yet to be finalised but it seems advisable that there will be one Code for all parishes in Cornwall. There were also discussions about the financing of the Community Bus, Cornwall Council policy in relation to public toilets and other matters concerning Cornwall Council.
16. To Set Madron Parish Council Precept for 2012-2013
Clerk had circulated a budget for the financial year 2012-2013 to members and he pointed out that whilst reserves were building, matters such as the Queen’s Jubilee were not included as a policy had not yet been determined. There were also regular matters such as the cost of computer for example, and other facilities which could not be determined in advance. There was also evidence that more things will be passed to parishes by Cornwall Council and this should also be borne in mind.
After discussion it was proposed by Cllr Mann, seconded by Cllr Scoble and unanimously agreed that the precept should be set at £ 20,000 for the financial year 2012-2013. This is the same figure as the present year.
17. Finance
It was proposed by Cllr Matthews, seconded by Cllr Peake, and unanimously agreed that the following payments be made: W.E. Wilkins, clerk, salary £433.65, office allowance £30.00, mileage £26.00, disbursements £10.97, computer repairs £90.00; HMRC, PAYE for clerk £108.40; MCC Ltd Longrock, purchase of computer and installation (£462.00) internet security and external hard drive (£112.79), installation of configuration (£25.20) £599.99; R. Hibbert for Trythall meeting £10.00.
Clerk reported that he had received a request for a donation from the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal who supplied the wreath for the Remembrance Service at Madron. It was proposed by Cllr Bone, seconded by Cllr Mann and unanimously agreed that the sum of £50.00 be donated. (S.137 Local Government Act 1972)
Clerk advised members that he had received two more letters asking for donations.
The first was from Victim Support Cornwall – it was agreed that this should be deferred until March 2012 with the normal requests.
Clerk reported that he had a letter from ‘Local Works Campaigning to implement the Sustainability Act’, a project from ‘Unlock Democracy’.
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This organisation express a belief that the government is intent in reducing the powers of this act as there are a number of proposals which have not been included, the most relevant one being that there is no mention of Parish and Town Councils being allowed to submit proposals and a watering down of consultation processes and similar matters. They have marked donation boxes on their reply forms showing donations from £25 up to £500. It was agreed that as this was near political a donation was not appropriate.
Clerk informed the meeting that Cllrs Westlake and Roberts are conducting a council audit with him on 6th December 2011.
18. Time and Date of Next Meeting
7.30pm on Thursday 5th January 2012 at Madron Community Rooms. At this point Cornwall Cllrs Bailey and Maddern wished members and clerk a Happy Christmas.