Minutes of Annual Meeting held in Stert House on 7th September 2020
Present:
- Clive Boyes (CB), Chairman
- Chris Lawrence (CL), Councillor
- Ann Harris (AH), Councillor
- Lucy Barker (LB), Councillor/Treasurer
- William Howkins (WH), Councillor/Clerk
The meeting was held in Stert House with councillors observing social distancing.
- Apologies for absence
Alick Edwards sent his apologies.
- Declaration of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
- Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 13th July 2020, were approved (proposed by LB and seconded by CL) and signed by the Chairman.
- Treasurer’s Report
LB reported that there had been one item of expenditure since the last meeting: £59.94, the usual gift (6 bottles of wine) for our internal auditor, Neville Burrell. This amount is slightly over our budgeted figure. The account had received interest of £1.39 and a £25 donation for use of the village marquee.
The balance stands at £3,543.98, confirmed by WH in the pass book.
It’s the time of the year when the PC thanks Alick Edwards for the maintenance work he does around the village, cutting the verges, trimming hedges etc. It was agreed to pay him £350, an increase on the £300 we’ve been paying for nearly 10 years. This amount will increase to £400 in the year 2021/2. The PC sees no need to seek alternative quotes as the PC has always felt that AE gives very good value for money and there are many advantages in having maintenance done by a village resident who is able to respond very quickly, if necessary.
At the next PC meeting in December we will need to agree the precept for 2021/2, for which the treasurer needs to prepare a budget. It would be helpful if councillors could advise the treasurer in advance of any possible extraordinary expenses in both this and the next financial year.
- Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman
The PC unanimously thanked CB for his service as Chairman during the past year. WH proposed and CL seconded that he be asked to stand again as Chairman for the coming year, to which he agreed. He was duly elected. CB said that he had received confirmation that Alick Edwards was happy to continue as Vice Chairman. His tenure for the coming year was proposed by LB and seconded by AH and he was duly elected.
- Stert Website
WH reported that on 4th August he had sent an email to all Stert residents on the mailing list asking them whether they thought it was justified hiring specialist IT help to make our website conform to the new government accessibility regulations or whether they considered this to be “disproportionate burden” for our small community. He had received replies from 25 residents all of whom opposed making any changes to the current website. WH had therefore prepared the required accessibility statement claiming disproportionate burden and had posted this on the website. He had emailed NALC’s Katie Fielding asking her to confirm that this would satisfy government regulations. and, in her reply, she appeared to do so.
The PC offered a special vote of thanks to WH for his work on this.
- A342 Speed limit
CB reported that he had spoken earlier that day to Wiltshire Councillor Philip Whitehead (PW) about implementation of the speed limit. He said that if CB could confirm that the PC would pay £500 towards the cost of implementation, then he would advise Richard Gamble, Chairman of Devizes CATG, to recommend its approval. CB had sent PW an email to confirm that the PC was ready to make this final payment in addition to the £500 it had already paid for the speed survey. AH said that residents of the Clock Inn Park read the PC’s minutes posted on their notice board and noted the references made to progress with the speed limit.
- Closure of the Church
CB said that the congregation was not in favour of opening the church under the present government regulations. However, they hoped to be able to open the church by mid October in time to celebrate harvest festival. He thanked LB for her initiative with her roadside plant sale which had now raised almost £600.
- Lockdown review
AH said that Clock Inn residents were still staying at home. Col. Bob Fram of Valley View had very kindly been collecting prescriptions for residents since the beginning of lock-down. She reported that one resident, Gary Speck, had regretfully died recently of respiratory problems, possibly infected by Covid 19.
- AOB
10.1 LB, Philip Normington and two volunteers from Urchfont had cleared the bramble growth over the footpath to Urchfont over the railway embankment. She suggested that walkers to take a pair a secateurs with them on their walks to snip off encroaching growth.
10.2. The PC’s Christmas party was set for Friday 18th December.
- Next Meeting
The next PC meeting is scheduled to be held in Stert House on Monday 14th December 2020, at 6.30 pm.
Stert Parish 