Minutes of the Meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 12th May 2015 at Perry Lane Pavilion, Sherington, commencing at 7.30pm.
PRESENT: Cllrs I Collinge (Chair), A Thatcher, R Johnstone, A Hughes, Rebecca Constantine, E Caldwell and W Bush.
ALSO ATTENDING: : Hannah Balazs (Clerk) and nine members of the public.
1. RECEIVE AND ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Ward Cllr D Hosking.
2. RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr A Hughes declared an interest in item 16 – for application 15/00109/FUL, Cllr A Thatcher and Cllr W Bush declared an interest in item 7 – the village shop.
3. APPROVE MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 03rd March 2015 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman Cllr I Collinge.
A member of the public advised not seen the minutes from the March meeting and in the past they were seen. Cllr I Collinge advised that the minutes are legally confirmed by the Parish Council before they are then published to the public. Ward Cllr K Mclean advised it is down to the Parish council and minutes are normally delayed by a month due to the council approving the minutes before they are issued.
4. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN
Cllr I Collinge started off by putting himself forward as he has experience as a Cllr and knows what the current issues are within the business, this position is only for a year. Cllr W Bush proposed Cllr I Collinge and Cllr A Hughes confirmed the nomination. Cllr A Thatcher was nominated as vice chairman by Cllr W Bush and Cllr E Cauldwell seconded this.
All Cllr’s then signed the declaration of acceptance of offer and registered any interests. The Clerk Hannah Balazs witnessed the signing of these forms and will send to MKC. Cllr R Johnstone advised he has sent his forms off to MKC. ACTION: Clerk
5. NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
Cllr I Collinge advised that he would like to see more input from the cllr’s on the steering group as it is currently unable to make decisions to move forward, as in the current status it is just an advisory group. Cllr W Bush, R Johnstone, A Thatcher asked if it is possible to have a separate meeting to discuss this as they have just been elected and need to get up to date with all the information. A member of the public then advised about a questionnaire they have made and they want to get distributed to get everyone’s opinions. There is currently 9 members on the steering group and need 3 cllr’s to vote to make the group move forward. Cllr W Bush proposed that all the new cllr’s go along to the next steering group meeting on Tuesday 26th May 2015 to get an idea of the group and to see what the next steps are. Cllr I Collinge advised that the group need to determine the key programme over the next year and as a whole village. ACTION: All Cllr’s
6. PERRY LANE PAVILION AND RECREATIONAL GROUND
The Pavilion management committee has not been meeting for about a year now and the chairman and the sectary resigned. Since then the pavilion has had no management and Cllr I Collinge advised that the council need to take back control. All cllr’s agreed to take control back and that a separate meeting will take place to discuss the future of the Pavilion management. Cllr Collinge also reported the carpark needs resurfacing but MKC owns half of this. Cllr Bush will contact MKC to see what is to be done regarding this. ACTION: Clerk/Cllr W Bush
7. VILLAGE SHOP UPDATE
This is being moved to next month’s meeting (2nd June 15) as no one from Shopco was at the meeting so we could not get an update. The clerk will contact Shopco and invite them to the parish council meeting. Cllr Collinge gave an update to what Shopco have asked the Parish Council so the new cllrs know what is happening and Cllr R Johnstone did not know that Shopco were in the process of passing or wanting to move to the parish council only to transfer shares into cash or as a donation. Cllr Thatcher was on the original committee that was set up to open the village shop so knows more of how the company was set up in the first place.ACTION: Shopco/Clerk
8. VILLAGE HALL PLAY AREA
The consultation of the new village plan came back with a few comments regarding seating in the village hall play area and wanting more seating in the park for parents and grandparents. Cllr Collinge asked if the new council wanted to purchase a new bench for the play area on the preschool side. Cllr Thatcher advised that the cost needs to be researched as the cost is a lot higher when items are in the public domain. It was agreed that this will be researched for costs. The next is the litter bins in the park as they are not emptied enough. There are two concrete bins and they have no lids on. A number of parents and Kay at preschool have to clear the rubbish up otherwise it is flying around and the children play with it etc. MKC have been contacted and advised the bins are empted every 4 weeks by the contractor that checks the play equipment. Cllr Collinge asked if we should purchase recycling bins or purchase new bins. A member of public asked if we could have a litter warden – Cllr Thatcher advised it is not the children littering it is the birds pulling the rubbish out as there is no lids on the bins. Cllr Caldwell advised he will look into this. ACTION: Cllr E Caldwell
9. MKC GRANTS FOR 2015/16
Cllr Collinge advised of an email that was received from Rob Ward at MKC called weekly news. On the email were some grants that are available and they will only provide 50% of the final cost and the council pay the other 50%. The first community parking fund – the sort of thing this can be used for is additional lay-by’s to help parking for the village. The second – play School for new play equipment and finally there is the Parish Partnership Fund – we had a grant from them last year for 10K for improvements to the Pavilion which still needs to be completed. Cllr Collinge asked everyone to think about anything they would like to do.
10. WOODLAND TRUST OFFER OF TREES
Again this was on a email from Rob Ward again and the woodland trust are offering free trees, Cllr Collinge asked if they wanted to put in the application. Cllr A Hughes pointed out there is a gap in the trees at the Village Hall park. All of the cllr’s agreed. ACTION: Cllr Collinge
11. REGISTER OF POTENTIAL PARISH COUNCIL CONTRACTORS
This was mentioned last year and still needs to be actioned. Hannah will place an ad in the Scan Magazine and ask anyone to contact her to be added onto a local list of contractors. Once complete this can be added to the website for everyone to access. ACTION: Clerk
12. ACTIVITIES FOR LOCAL CHILDREN
This has been put on the agenda to just make you all aware that an email was received from a local parent advising there is not enough on in the village for the children. A taster craft group has been arranged to see if this is something that can be set up in the future. Cllr Thatcher advised that the Pavilion lacks storage which is why the baby group was cancelled maybe if there was more storage then more activities could happen.
13. CLERKS REPORT
13.1. Preschool have now had the outside repaired from the raised matting and the root that was left and MKC have done a good job.
13.2. Milton Keynes Play Association have been in touch to see if the Village would like the Play bus to come back on Thursday afternoons, the cllrs agreed so the clerk can now reply advising the council wants to go ahead and arrange a start date. ACTION: Clerk
14. WARD COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
14.1. Cllr K Mclean advised that this is the biggest ward in MK and that all the ward cllr’s are very happy.
14.2. Ousedale School is not going to prioritise musical students over local children within the catchment areas. The number of people that showed up to the meeting shows how wrong they were to suggest this.
14.3. Road Works around the area are taking place to resurface the local roads and it was a good investment with the new equipment.
14.4. There are several items happening and they are site allocations which is due out for round 2 shortly, the neighbourhood plan which is currently happening and is ongoing and Plan MK.
15. FINANCE
15.1 Bank Account balance at 1st April £50,259.70
15.2 Cheques for payment were as follows:
| 07/04/2015 | Martin Jeeves | Perry Lane Caretaker | £100.00 | 102298 |
| 07/04/2015 | N Beal | Perry Lane Cleaner | £42.00 | 102299 |
| 07/04/2015 | Sherington Village Hall | Hall Hire | £41.00 | 102300 |
| 07/04/2015 | AH Contracts | Dog Bins | £189.00 | 102301 |
| 07/04/2015 | Communi Corp | Subscription | £75.00 | 102302 |
| 07/04/2015 | SLCC | Subscription | £177.80 | 102303 |
| 07/04/2015 | Hannah Balazs | Clerk’s Salary | £1192.32 | 102304 |
| 07/04/2015 | Jackie Inskipp | Expenses | £5.39 | 102305 |
| 12/05/2015 | Martin Jeeves | Perry Lane Caretaker | £100.00 | 102306 |
| 12/05/2015 | N Beal | Perry Lane Cleaner | £42.00 | 102307 |
| 12/05/2015 | AH Contracts | Dog Bins | £84.00 | 102308 |
| 12/05/2015 | Sherington Village Hall | Hall Hire | £16.50 | 102309 |
| 12/05/2015 | Hannah Balazs | Clerk’s Salary | £1248.80 | 102310 |
| 12/05/2015 | BALC | Subscription | £144.52 | 102311 |
15.3 It was agreed that the previous Clerk, Wendy Austyn, was authorised to sign cheques on behalf of the PC.
16. PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND DECISIONS
16.1. Ref – 15/00109/FUL 4 leys View, Sherington, Newport Pagnell MK16 9NL – First Floor extension, Juliette balcony and minor elevation amendments – No adverse comments
16.2. Ref -15/01001/FUL : 2 Village Close Sherington Newport Pagnell MK16 9PZ – Erection of new detached single garage on part of the front garden. Conversion of existing integral single garage, internal alterations, and new windows and door positions – No adverse comments
16.3. Ref – 15/00944/NMA: 4 Leys View Sherington Newport Pagnell MK16 9NB – Non material amendment to 15/00109/FUL for amendment from rear/side balcony to rear elevation only – No adverse comments .
16.4. Ref – 15/00842/FUL: 8 High Street Sherington Newport Pagnell MK16 9NB – Erection of a detached summerhouse to rear garden – NO adverse comments.
Decisions. None.
17. EXTERNAL MEETINGS
None.
18. CORRESPONDENCE/NEW CONSULTATIONS
None
19. PUBLIC COMMENTS
19.1 A member of the public mentioned a hedge that is North Side of Water Lane. The trees need maintenance and the curb stone outside of his home is still not been place by MKC. He advised MKC are not helpful and use Google earth instead of sending someone out to view in person.
20. COUNCILLORS ITEMS
None.
21. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 2nd June 2015 at the Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm. There being no further business the meeting ended at 2230hrs