Nov 2015

Quarley Parish Council Minutes - 17th November 2015

Minutes of the Quarley Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 17th November 2015 at Quarley Village Hall at 7.30 pm.

Present :	Cllr Mrs J Ferguson - Chairman Cllr Mr W Marshall - Vice Chairman Cllr Mrs A Thorne Cllr Mr R Whiting Richard Waterman - Parish Clerk Member of the Public - Mrs J Venables
Apologies:	County Councillor Mrs Z Brooks, Borough Councillor Mr Ben Few Brown

WELCOME.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

DECLARATION OF OFFICE
Cllr Mr Richard Whiting signed the Declaration of Office.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Cllr Mrs J Ferguson declared an interest in Quarley Church.

PARISH COUNCIL VACANCY
The Chairman confirmed that the Parish Council can co-opt to fill the vacancy. Posters will be put on the notice boards. Candidates will be interviewed by the Parish Council prior to the vacancy being filled.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING.
A minor alteration was made to the July minutes. The Chairman then signed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record. Matters arising from those minutes:-

VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT – Nothing to report.

HIGHWAYS – The Chairman reported that she has taken photographs of the pot holes to send to Hampshire Highways. The Chairman stated that it has been difficult to capture the height of the gravel bank on the Grateley Road with a photograph. Mrs J Venables suggested parking a small car on the bank as a reference, The Chairman thought this a good idea and thanked Mrs J Venables for her suggestion.

The blocked Drain at the bottom of Park Lane was discussed and a blocked gully opposite Truepenny Cottage was discussed and noted. These issues will be added to the report being sent to Highways.

PLANNING
There were no new planning applications to discuss.

SOLAR FARM – It was thought that work has started on the Solar Farm, equipment has been seen on the site. Cllr Mr R Whiting reported that he still has concerns about the Solar Farm and that he has written to Kit Malthouse MP. Cllr Mr R Whiting spoke at length about his concerns.

The Chairman stated that all the concerns regarding the site and the operation had been raised at the Planning meeting and the officers voted to give planning permission. The Chairman did not feel that anything further could be done now except monitor the site to make sure that permissions are adhered to.

FINANCE AND 2016/2017 PRECEPT
The Clerk produced the following financial report showing the estimated results for the year 2015/16 (left) and the budget for the year 2016/17 (right). The Parish Council are aware that with future cuts in both the Borough and County Councils budgets the Parish Council may need to take on some additional maintenance work in the future.

The Parish Council agreed that the Clerks wages should be increased to £600 a year as he has not had a pay increase for 4 years. There has been no increase in the precept since 2009. The Precept will be increased to £2600 Proposed by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice Chairman. All agreed.

INCOME	2015/2016 £	2016/2017 £
Balance Brought Forward 1/4/2015	978.10	700.00
Plus precept	2,250.00	2,600.00
TVBC Grant War Memorial	500.00
	£3,728.10	£3,300.00
EXPENDITURE
Wages	500.00	600.00
Administration	229.80	250.00
Audit	100.00	100.00
Street Lighting	Nil	200.00
Hire of Hall	125.00	70.00
Web Site	37.92	40.00
Grass Cutting and Ditch Clearing	280.00	300.00
Village Maintenance	100.00	100.00
Insurance	475.99	500.00
PCC	100.00	100.00
Share Lap Top	50.00
TVBC Election Expenses	24.10
War Memorial	1000.00
	£3022.81	£2,260.00
Bank Account Balance	£705.29	£1040.00
	£3,728.10	£3,300.00

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Mrs J Venables provided the following report:

NHW REPORT

Crime in the local area continues to be focussed around non-dwelling burglary, i.e. sheds, outbuildings, and theft of motor vehicles, e.g. agricultural machinery. There were 2 significant thefts in Quarley during the last quarter: despite the fact that the owner had hidden it well a lawnmower was stolen from the churchyard whilst the owner was taking a short break; and a cattle truck was stolen from Home Farm – this was recovered by the police in another part of the county and returned to the owner.

Mrs Venables reminded the meeting about Hampshire Alert and encouraged all those present to sign up to receive alerts. Not only because of the timely nature of the information they contain but also because, as NHW co-ordinator, she was assuming that folk were signed up and she was not therefore sending out regular updates by email.

PARISH COUNCILLORS REPORTS.
CLLR MR R WHITING – Reported that he will be submitting a pre-planning application to TVBC for his property.

CLLR MRS J FERGUSON – Reported that Footpath No1 from Bush Lane to the Drum is blocked in places. Part of this Footpath is in the Parish of Amport and suggested that Amport Parish Council are asked if they would join Quarley in a joint venture to clear the footpath. The Footpath marker signs in the village will be looked to note any that are missing so Rights of way can be contacted about replacements.

CLOSE OF THE MEETING
The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

DATES OF THE 2016 MEETINGS
19^th January
12^th April
20^th September
22^nd November