MADRON PARISH COUNCIL
Chairman: Councillor Mrs Clare Roberts

Clerk to the Council Corner Barn
W.E.(Wib) Wilkins Higher Trevurvas
Tel: 01736 762874 Ashton
E-mail [email protected] Helston TR13 9TZ

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MINUTES OF ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
MADRON PARISH COUNCIL
HELD AT MADRON COMMUNITY ROOMS
THURSDAY 7th MAY 2015 AT 7.30pm

Present:
Cllr Mrs C. Roberts (chairman) Cllr V. Peake (vice chairman)
Cllr Mrs A. Jenkin Cllr Mrs G. Burlton Cllr S. Pritchard Cllr G. Tanner
Cllr H. Eddy Cllr C. Bone
Cllr R. Matthews Cllr S. Bates
Cllr I. Phillips

Cornwall Cllr R. Mann

Clerk, Mr W.E. Wilkins, and 2 members of the public

1.Apologies
Cllr M. Scoble
2. Acceptance of Minutes
The minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting on 1st May 2014 were unanimously accepted
3. Chairman’s Annual Report – Cllr Mrs Clare Roberts
I have enjoyed my year as Chairman and hope that I have carried out my duties to this Parish Council’s satisfaction.
Thank you to everyone involved in the Trafalgar celebrations and I am very grateful that the sun shone. Unfortunately we were not so lucky on Remembrance Day
Although there are financial restraints to our budget we have still been able to grant donations to charities connected to our Parish.
We have been able to purchase and install two defibrillators, one in each village and are very grateful for the donations towards the costs of these.
We are slowly getting the refurbishments to the fingerposts around New Mill completed.
We have made a change to our website which now gives a more professional impression of our work.
The new play equipment has been installed in the Playing Field and we continue to support the Playing Field in their fund raising.
Poltair Hospital remains a constant issue for us and we will await the plans that may arise from the site.
We were approached by Mont Dol in Brittany in respect of twinning. It was felt that this would be best served by an independent group and we wish the members of the Twinning Committee every success
We have had no changes to our Councillors during the year and I would like to thank you for your support, regular attendance at meetings and hope everyone understands the contributions they make.

22/15

We work well together and have a positive attitude to challenges we face now and in the coming year.
I wish to thank Cllr Vic Peake for his support (as vice chairman), also to our County Councillors Bill Maddern and Roy Mann for their support and advice and finally to our Clerk for his continuing hard work and welcomed advice.
4. Financial Report from Clerk as Responsible Finance Officer.
Clerk reported that all accounts for the financial year 2014-2015 have been completed and audited throughout the year by Auditing Councillors Scoble and Tanner. . After the auditing councillors final audit a further Independent Internal Audit was conducted by Mr Dave Gallie, the ex-Town Clerk for Penzance on 20th April 2015 and he has certified that all records are correct and in good order. This audit mainly deals with financial metters but also covers all aspects of record keeping and use of the correct procedures.
Copies of the final accounts have been circulated to all councillors and will be submitted to the Annual Parish Council Meeting for approval and then forwarded to the Audit Commission representatives for final approval.
This year payments have exceeded income by £586.24 which in these financial times is satisfactory. Income has increased by £1372 from last year which is mainly down to a donation of £1500 from the Young Farmers towards the cost of the new defibrillators. On that subject Cllr Mann also provided a contribution from his Community Chest both of which were gratefully received and reduced the cost to this council towards the defibrillators. The new Government Grant has decreased by £66 but we were able to claim back £2185 from VAT spent in the previous year as opposed to £1286 in the previous financial year. All other incomes are similar to the previous year and the overall figure amounted to £31052.72.
The payments during the year amounted to £31638.96. The administration costs have reduced by £60 as the use of emails has countered the increases in postage whilst mileage to councillors has increased by £83 due to the councillors being more proactive and also being involved in more training away from the area. Similarly the salary, office allowance and mileage of the clerk have increased overall by £782 due to increased travelling and an increase of payment for five hours of work each month and a small national increase in clerk’s salaries. This affected the PAYE and National Insurance and this increased this figure by £233. The increase of £3075 in assets purchased during the year is mainly due to £3600 for the two defibrillators, the last two payments amounting to £7325 for the playing field equipment (the first payments having been paid last year). Due to the assets purchased and other items VAT payments have increased by £397 to £2580.18 and clerk has submitted a claim for refunding to HM Customs and Revenue and this will show in the new financial year’s income.
This council has been conscious of financial restraints but has still provided match funding for the Playing Field Committee amounting to £357 and donations were made to requests from Headway Cornwall, Cornwall Blind Association, Pengarth Day Centre and Cruse Bereavement Care. An additional donation has been made to PAROW who have given great assistance in opening up footpath 24 in this parish. These donations and grants totalled £1052 as opposed to £4807 last year.
The precept has remained at £20000 for the last few years and the same sum will be received this year which means that the Parish Council share of the Council tax in Madron Parish has reduced by 1.9% this year.
Madron Parish Council has brought forward £31639.51 to 2015-2016 financial year. As Responsible Finance Officer I feel sure that this sum will enable the council to operate safely during this year although we now have to spend extra money on items such as weed spraying which Cornwall Council has delegated to parishes. It is likely that shortly we will have to take over the allotments and it seems likely that more services will be passed down to the parish hence the need to retain a safe reserve.
5. Questions and Comments from electors of the Parish
None