MINUTES of a Meeting of Sutton Mandeville Parish Council held on 16th May 2019 in Sutton Mandeville Parish Church at 7.30pm - subject to later approval by Councillors
PRESENT: Cllr. H. Collins, Cllr. T. Green, Cllr. Mrs. P. Thatcher, Cllr. Mrs K. Billing
IN ATTENDANCE: Mrs. J. Childs, Parish Clerk
One resident was present.
1. APOLOGIES: Cllr. A. Firth. One resident had also sent apologies.
Cllr. Mrs. J. Green, WC, who was attending a meeting in Trowbridge.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS: Cllr. Mrs. P. Thatcher declared an interest in agenda item 8a.
3. PUBLIC QUESTIONS: The Chairman asked for an update about defibrillators. Mr. D. Childs, representative on the Community Safety Group, confirmed that The Compasses would be happy to provide a location for a parish defibrillator, on an outside wall. Protective casing would be required - a stainless steel cover would cost about £400. The British Heart Foundation and St John's Ambulance had quoted a price from £1400 per machine. Financial assistance was available from the BHF. In addition there would be maintenance costs. Batteries had a life of about 4 years. Any First Responder would rely on recorded voice instructions. Speed was vital in the event of a heart attack. A 10 minute delay would result in only a small chance of resuscitation; 3 - 5 minutes would be a safer maximum.
The Chairman thanked Mr Childs for his research. It would now be necessary to gauge support within the parish for the purchase of a defibrillator together with some assessment of the extent of its usefulness within the parish with its widely spread population.
4.MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 21st JANUARY 2019: These were agreed and signed as an accurate record.
5. MATTERS ARISING: The Chairman referred to the maintenance of notice boards and agreed to get an estimate for the refurbishment of that at The Compasses. He undertook to remove it for the purpose. Councillors authorised a spend of up to £150.
Following a request for financial support for the Three Towers Fete made at the Annual Parish Meeting Councillors agreed a donation of £50.
6. ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Cllr. Collins agreed to serve as Chairman, proposed by Cllr.Mrs. Billing and seconded by Cllr.Green. Cllr. Firth, in his absence, was proposed as Vice Chair by Cllr. Collins and unanimously seconded. The Chairman thanked Councillors for their support and for their work throughout the year. He was pleased to be able to assist the Parish Council and the community but regretted the limits on time available for parish business.
The Chairman agreed to continue to coordinate planning meetings and to take responsibility for managing the upkeep of finger posts and correspondence.
Cllr. Green agreed to lead on Highways and the parish website.
Cllr. Mrs. Thatcher agreed to lead on Rights of Way and to assist with Highways
Cllr. Firth would lead on financial oversight and Budget.
Cllr. Mrs Billing would continue to assist with the parish website and would follow up suggestions from the Annual Parish Meeting re communications within the parish as well as overseeing data protection procedures, compliance with Transparency Code and Code of Conduct.
7. FINANCE: a) 4 cheques were signed totalling £305.26 of which £17.38 was VAT
b) the Statement of Governance was completed by Councillors and would be displayed on notice boards and on the parish website in due course
c) the Certificate of Exemption was signed by the Chairman
d) the Annual Return was signed by Councillors who thanked Mrs. Sue Ponsford for her work in completing the internal audit.
e) the insurance schedule would be approved by Councillors in the near future and payment made.
8.NOMINATED ITEMS:
a) Highway matters: Speed of traffic on A30 Sutton Mandeville/Swallowcliffe. The matter had been discussed at the recent CATG meeting. The Principal Highways Officer had informed the Clerk that in order to progress a 50MPH speed limit, unless a significant change had occurred since the highway was last surveyed in 2009, the Parish Council would be required to part fund a feasibility study, the full cost of which would be £2500. There would also be a considerable delay - the application would have to go through CATG. After conferring with Councillors the Chairman suggested that the Parish Council accept the CATG offer of 50% funding of the horse warning signs. Cllr. Mrs Thatcher had secured some promises of donations towards the cost and the Chairman would seek a contribution from Swallowcliffe Parish Council. The Clerk would report to CATG at the next meeting in July.
b) ROW's: No problems had been reported. Councillors expressed gratitude for all the work completed by volunteers in improving ROWs within the parish.
c) The Chairman thanked Cllr. Mrs. Billing for collecting litter picking equipment from Devizes. It was hoped that volunteers within different parts of the parish would contact the Clerk if there were difficulties eg fly tipping, unusual quantities of regular litter, safety.
9. ASSET REGISTER: All Councillors had received a copy by e mail. It was agreed that it would be signed at the next Parish Council meeting.
10. RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT: as above
11. PLANNING: There had been 4 planning meetings since the last full meeting of the Parish Council in January.
12. CORRESPONDENCE: The Clerk reminded Councillors of 2 surveys issued by WC which required completion.
13. ANY OTHER BUSINESS: No matters were raised.
14. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING: The meeting closed at 9.10pm.
The next meeting of the Parish Council would take place on Monday September 9th 2019 at 7.30pm in All Saints Church, Sutton Mandeville. All would be welcome
Comments