Minutes of the Meeting of Quorn Parish Council held on Tuesday 2 nd October 2012 at 7:00pm in the Council Chamber at Quorn Village Hall PRESENT Cllr Ivan Bexon - Chair Cllr Gary Hughes Cllr Tim Tyler Cllr Jim Orr Cllr Phil Child Cllr Peter Lenthall Cllr David Cawdell Cllr Ken Brown Cllr Lynn Smith Cllr David Rennie Christina Gibbs - In attendance for part of the meeting were Borough Councillor David Slater and County Councillor Tony Kershaw. 12/159 Public Participation The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited the one member of the public present to speak. Mr Terry Stirling thanked the Chair and said that he wanted to raise the matter of the overgrown condition of the footpath between Mansfield Street, Castledine Avenue and Love Lane. He said that action was long overdue to deal with Sycamore saplings that are infringing on the footpath. He also pointed out that lighting on Love Lane was being obscured by tree foliage. He finished by commenting on minute 12/157 of the last meeting where it was recorded that Cllr Rennie had stated that he was concerned about S106 monies being diverted away from community facilities at Rawlins. He pointed out that the monies were not a general grant for Rawlins College and that it was specifically for the swimming pool. He added that, as this was not going forward, the money goes back into community. He was also concerned that there had been no declaration of interest with the councillor being a member of the school staff and that David Slater, as a Director of the Academy, had also not declared an interest. The Chair responded to say that both the subjects raised were on the agenda for the next Parish Council s liaison meeting with Rawlins and that Cllr Rennie s remark was a single opinion and not that of the Council. Cllr Rennie explained that he was not a member of staff at Rawlins and received an apology. The Chair opened the meeting by clarifying its purpose. He said that the committees, with delegated powers, drive the routine business of the Council and that the monthly meeting of all members was to allow interaction with other authorities and outside bodies. He added that he intended to keep the meeting focussed but invited members to intervene if they felt that their point of view hadn t been heard. 12/160 Apologies Apologies had been received from Cllr Elizabeth Harrison and Borough Councillor Richard Shepherd. Quorn Parish Council Minutes Tuesday 2 nd October 2012 Page 1
12/161 Declarations of interest The Chair asked members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in the items on the agenda whilst reminding them that the Council was working to the new NALC Code of Conduct which was adopted at the last meeting. 12/162 Minutes of the last meeting Cllr Child proposed that the minutes be signed as a true account of the meeting. The motion was seconded by Cllr Lenthall and carried unanimously. 12/163 s Report 12/137 - Wrights Mill - out of hours parking on the new School Lane car park. The reported that she had not received a reply to her letter. She agreed to write again and ask for a date when Cllrs Child and Cawdell could meet with Mr Wright. 12/164 Policing Matters The Chair welcomed PC Orton to the meeting. PC Orton reported changes to the Police service where a recommendation had come forward that the Village CSO come to the Council meetings instead of himself. He confirmed that changes will be implemented in January 2013 and that he will no longer be based in the village. The confirmed that she had received an invitation for members to meet at Police Headquarters to hear about the changes. She agreed to circulate to members. 12/164a Vandalism in Stafford Orchard - PC Orton reported that there had been complications in identifying the culprit responsible for the damage to the bench and that the other offences were being investigated. 12/164b High Street CCTV transfer - PC Orton was asked whether the changes within the police force will make a difference to whether the CCTV equipment should be moved to Rawlins. PC Orton said that he thought not. 12/165 Borough Council Matters 12/165a Removal of Borough Council Notices - Cllr Child asked if there had been any progress. BCllr Slater confirmed that the out of date notices are to be taken down more promptly. Cllr Cawdell called for a leniency in the matter and that the two authorities work together. 12/165b Station Road Car Park - grass cutting - in hand. 12/165c Churchyard - grass cutting/maintenance. The Chair asked about the untidy state of the Churchyard after grass cutting. BCllr Slater confirmed that the contractor employed by the Borough Council would not be required to take the grass cuttings away. It was confirmed that the had requested that the Parish Council be allowed to take over the maintenance of the area but had received no reply as yet. BCllr Slater The Chair referred members to the Zero Waste Strategy that had been recently issued and asked that they bring comments back to the next meeting. BCllr Slater encouraged the approach. Quorn Parish Council Minutes Tuesday 2 nd October 2012 Page 2
BCllr Slater reported that the Borough Council s Cabinet had chosen the direction for growth as the West of Shepshed option which will now be tested to see how it works with highways and, if all falls into place, that will be the area for growth. The Chair asked if the decision would dissuade developers from submitting speculative applications like the one on land South of Loughborough and Beacon View Farm. BCllr Slater thought not. 12/166 Committees 12/166a Environment Committee - 18 th September 2012 - no comments. 12/167 Amendment to Standing Orders 12/168 Reports 12/167a Voting on Appointments The Chair explained that the reason for the proposed amendment to Standing Orders was to avoid the problems experienced at the AGM around voting on appointments. Cllr Cawdell questioned whether it might be helpful to everyone if they knew who was to be nominated to stand for Chairman prior to the AGM and asked if there is a way that those interested in standing could be notified to members at the previous meeting. The Chair said that Council cannot force members to make their intention known beforehand but that this could be done informally. Cllr Child proposed that Council agreed to the change to Standing Orders. Cllr Brown seconded and the motion was carried with two abstentions. 12/168a Allotment Application complaint - Cllr Cawdell proposed that the letter drafted by Cllr Orr and circulated with the agenda be sent to the Local Government Ombudsman with item 3 modified to remove the individual s name. The motion was seconded by Cllr Lenthall and carried unanimously. The Chair confirmed that he had had a response from the Secretary of State in reply to the Council s earlier complaint. The agreed to circulate to members. 12/168b Land to the rear of Poulteney Drive - Cllr Child reported that the Parish Council had acquired 5 acres of land to the rear of Poulteney Drive for 25k which was within the value put on the land by the District Valuer. He added that a benefactor within the village had donated 10k towards the purchase. Cllr Child said that there was now a decision to be made about what to do with the land. The Chair reported that the is about to circulate some draft terms of reference for a working group to turn part of it into allotments. Cllr Child proposed that Council set up a working group with terms of reference as agreed at the November meeting. The motion was seconded by Cllr Cawdell and carried unanimously. Quorn Parish Council Minutes Tuesday 2 nd October 2012 Page 3
12/169 County Council Matters The Chair said the benefactor wished to preserve the land as public open space or garden and had asked that a condition be put into place to protect the land in the future. The Council s solicitor had come up suggestions about how to do that and the Chair proposed that the following resolution be passed to satisfy the benefactor s wish: Council resolves to accept a gift of 10,000 from a local benefactor as a contribution towards the cost of purchasing land to the rear of Poulteney Drive. In return, Council agrees to put in place legal safeguards to prevent the land being developed for any purpose other than public open space, allotments, or a community garden, and that no structures are erected on the land other than temporary ones consistent with those purposes. Cllr Lenthall seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously. The Chair welcomed CCllr Kershaw to the meeting and invited him to update members on the matters raised under the agenda. CCllr Kershaw gave the following report: 12/169a Fenny Copse Land Sale - No news. 12/169b Startrax Hub - tripping hazard - Awaiting news from E.on. The said that she had contacted E.on who had confirmed that it is Western Power who is undertaking the disconnection work on the hub. She had reported the tripping hazard to them and they had agreed to expedite the works to allow the hub to be removed. 12/169c Flood Plain Meeting - about to contact the officer again. 12/169d Churchyard Paths - resurfacing - to be done as soon as possible. 12/169e Slabs - work to start on Monday 23 rd October. 12/169f Granite wall around Barrow Town Football Club - damage. The County Council will progress the repair. 12/169g Quorn Hall - on 31 st December 2012 the property will come onto the open market and the County hope to dispose of it in this financial year. 12/169h SSSI - There was little progress reported at a recent meeting with Natural England. Main concern is that no legal action has been taken by anybody. There is a contradiction between Natural England and the Borough Council about whether there should be any caravans on the site. Natural England had reported that they were not given time to comment on an application to permit the siting of caravans on the site. 12/169i Cllr Child drew CCllr Kershaw s attention to the out of date County Notices around the village that refer to the Olympic Torch relay. 12/170 Quorn Old School 12/170a Monthly progress report - Members noted the contents of the latest Schoolines newsletter. There were no comments. Quorn Parish Council Minutes Tuesday 2 nd October 2012 Page 4
12/171 Christmas 2012 12/172 Planning 12/171a Events Working Group - Cllr Cawdell proposed that the Parish Council provide the village lights and accept the proposal from the Village Events Group to run the remainder of the event. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Lenthall and carried with three abstentions. 12/172a Proposed Development at Beacon View Farm - The Chair questioned whether the recent public event at the Village Hall was an efficient consultation exercise. BCllr Slater confirmed that he had written to the developer to say that it was not. He had also visited the consultation event and spoke to those villagers who had attended. All were against the scheme. The Chair proposed that the Council write to the organisers to say that it does not accept that there has been sufficient consultation within the village to satisfy the requirement for pre-application public consultation. 12/173 Finances 12/172b Applications considered at meeting - none. 12/173a Payments list sign off - Cllr Child proposed that the list be signed off. Cllr Cawdell seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously. 12/173b Statement of Account - The Chair pointed out that the cost of the Poulteney Drive land will reduce the general reserve. 12/174 Any other business The Chair clarified that the purpose of this item on the agenda was to allow urgent matters or trivial items for information to be brought to members attention. He pointed out that ordinarily, items requiring a decision should not be brought to Council without members having had the statutory three clear days to consider it. Cllr Hughes pointed out that it is important to have any other business for anything urgent that comes along. The Chair agreed. The Chair closed by saying that it is almost time to start thinking about budgets and that consideration will need to be given to recommending a policy on the precept at the next meeting. 12/175 Date of next meeting Tuesday 6 th November 2012. Meeting closed at 9:35pm Quorn Parish Council Minutes Tuesday 2 nd October 2012 Page 5