Gerrans Parish Council
MINUTES of the Meeting of Gerrans Parish Council
held on Tuesday 3rd February 2015
in the Memorial Hall Annexe
NEXT MEETING – Tuesday 3rd March 2015 at 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall Annexe
Present:
Cllrs Case, German, Hatwood, Hetherington, Iddison, Meek, Morse, Symons, Taffinder ( Chairman);
CC J German, S Skull (Clerk)
2 members of the public attended.
021501
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
The Chairman read out a statement in respect of the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 reminding those in attendance and participating in the meeting that they were liable to be filmed, recorded, photographed or otherwise recorded.
021502
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllrs Edwards and Greenslade
021503
DECLARATION OF INTERESTS IN ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
Cllr Case declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in item 16 on the agenda in that he had worked on the Portscatho public convenience refurbishment on behalf of the tenant, whose payment was to be discussed.
021504
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mr Howard Emmett reported having seen a person riding a motor scooter skidding and falling off as a result of icy conditions on an un-gritted road in the Parish. He suggested Cornwall Council’s gritters should at least treat the circular bus route through Gerrans and Portscatho, or the PC might purchase a towable spinner for the purpose.
CC German said that Cornwall Council would only treat the main road through to St Mawes due to lack of resources. Cllr Case suggested the PC could purchase the service, and CC German said he would look into this.
After discussion the clerk was asked to arrange for a dumpy bag of road salt to be placed in the Memorial Hall car park for public use. Action clerk
Mr Jon Smith, Chairman of the Roseland Neighbourhood Development Plan (RNDP) Steering Group (SG), handed out copies of the RNDP project plan for the first half of 2015 and explained the 7 key stages contained therein. He also said the SG had co-opted Cllr Hetherington to be part of their implementation group and suggested the PC might propose him as an “alternate” to stand in on the SG on behalf of the Parish if and when necessary due to absence of a regular member at a meeting. Cllr German proposed this, seconded by Cllr Taffinder and the proposal was agreed unanimously.
021505
CHANGES TO PRECEDENT
The clerk presented a revised version of the PC’s standing orders to include a new paragraph requiring members to leave the room at a meeting during discussion of a matter in which they have declared an interest. Cllr German proposed (seconded by Cllr Hetherington) that the revised standing orders be adopted. This was agreed unanimously.
Cllr Symons said he thought that the restrictions on members expressing their opinions during meetings were becoming excessive, and people would become increasingly reluctant to put themselves forward to serve as Councillors. Cllr Hetherington considered it was a matter of judgement and balance.
021506
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The Council accepted the draft minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 6th January 2015 as being a true record. The Chairman signed the minutes.
021507
REVIEW OF MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING – MATTERS ARISING
Cllr Hetherington said he had reviewed the criteria circulated by the clerk for setting local speed limits and had come to the conclusion that Trewithian village did not meet any of the criteria for reducing the 40mph limit, so the matter could not be taken any further.
Cllr Taffinder asked if there had been any contact with the National Trust (NT) re the complaints about overgrown trees in the field below New Road car park. The clerk said he was in correspondence with the NT’s local management on the subject.
021508
CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED
The clerk reported there was no correspondence which did not relate to matters already on the agenda.
021509
PLANNING MATTERS
APPLICATIONS
The PC had received 1 new application. This is outlined below and comments are noted in the Planning Register.
| Application | Description | PC decision |
| PA15/00195 | Raised roof, internal alterations and extension incorporating a balcony at 7 Wellington Terrace. | Majority object on the grounds on compromised privacy due to close proximity of proposed balcony to neighbour’s bedroom. |
Cllrs Symons and Iddison abstained from voting on this application
On applications ref PA15/11940 and 11941 re proposed new signage at NT car parks, to which the PC objected in January, Cllr Iddison proposed (seconded by Cllr German) that in response to an enquiry from the Case Officer, the PC should stand by it’s decision and request that the applications be taken to the Planning Committee of Cornwall Council. On a vote 4 Councillors were in favour, 1 against and 4 abstained. The clerk was asked to inform the Case Officer. Action clerk.
DECISIONS
PA14/11395 (PC: support) – Approved
ENFORCEMENT MATTERS
Nothing to report
021510
COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS
Cllr German said the Charities Committee had not yet met, and the Committee agreed to arrange to meet before the next PC meeting and report then.
Cllr Hetherington reported that at the January meeting of the Network Community Panel, Cornwall Council portfolio holder Edwina Hannaford had attended and spoken enthusiastically in favour of recent localism initiatives. She had said there was an appetite for partnership and Cornwall Council was keen to see the adoption of Neighbourhood Plans.
Cllr Hetherington added a reminder that the March meeting of the Panel would be in Feock and suggested Councillors might take the opportunity of attending, with a view perhaps to hosting a Panel meeting in Gerrans Parish in the future.
021511
LOCALISM
The clerk read out a previously circulated list of the steps required in applying to have a local asset listed officially as a “Community Asset”. It was clear that each application would require considerable research in completing the application form, and, there being no time limit, the clerk said he would begin the process of completing one application per month. Action clerk.
021512
CHURCH CLOSE OPEN SPACE LAND
Cllr Taffinder thanked Cllr Hatwood for preparing and circulating the minutes of the open meeting held on 29th January in the Memorial Hall. During discussions which followed, the feeling was that those present were generally of the opinion that they were happy for the PC to manage the development and upkeep of the land. Cllr Meek commented that there had been a disappointing turnout, and in particular no parents of young children had attended, so the PC should go ahead with its own plans to create a multi-functional open space for all the community, to include a suitable safe space for children to play. Referring to his previously circulated assessment document he proposed (seconded by Cllr Taffinder) that the PC should work out a specification of initial works to secure the boundaries of the site, with a view to getting quotes from local contractors, and to develop an ongoing maintenance plan. This was agreed unanimously. Action Committee and clerk.
The clerk referred to a response he had received from the agent of the Enys Estate to his enquiry about taking a “Garden Lease” on the adjacent parcel of land (informally known as “Brian’s garden”) which is not subject to the S106 agreement. The agent had set out a range of options in this regard. After discussion the clerk was asked to inform the Estate that the PC’s preferred option would be to take a 99 year lease on the land on similar terms to the lease already agreed on the main site. Action clerk
021513
PARKING RESTRICTIONS
The clerk reported on a meeting with two representatives of Cormac attended by himself and Cllrs Taffinder and Iddison to discuss the quotation of £11,000 (as referred to in January minute 011515) for putting the Parish parking restrictions into an enforceable condition in time for the season. At the meeting the restrictions were reviewed street by street to decided the minimum works required in order to make the lines and signage accord with the restrictions as currently documented on central computer records. Areas were identified where costs could be reduced by the PC doing some of the work, and it was agreed that the design and survey element of £3,700 could probably be reduced. The clerk was awaiting a revised quotation following on from the meeting and would maintain the correspondence with Cormac in the mean time.
New Road car park charges were also discussed and the clerk was asked to prepare a list of suggested options for the agenda at the next meeting to include possible changes to both charging periods and hourly rates. Action clerk.
021514
WEED SPRAYING
The clerk presented three quotes for treating the pavements in the Parish in 2015. All three quotes were for two treatments – one in Spring and one in late Summer. Cllr Hatwood proposed (seconded by Cllr Symons that the quote from Complete Weed Control of £480 plus VAT be accepted. This was unanimously agreed. Action clerk to implement.
021515
PLAYGROUND AND CAR PARK REPAIRS
The clerk presented a quote for £360 from Jonty Green to effect the necessary repairs to rotting timbers in the children’s playground and also to repair the Roseland information board in the car park.
It was unanimously agreed to accept the quote. Action clerk to implement.
021516
FINANCIAL MATTERS
(Cllr Case left the room during discussion of this item)
ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT
The clerk presented outstanding invoices totalling £7953.63 (including VAT of £246.79) be paid. A schedule of these payments is available from the clerk. After discussion it was agreed that all the invoices be paid immediately, with the exception of one. This was an invoice totalling £4,942.13 in respect of the final costs of the Portscatho toilets refurbishment. Cllr Hatwood said that in his opinion, given the quality of the refurbishment and the short time in which it was accomplished, the invoice should be paid immediately, but on a vote it was decided that payment would be paid only on receipt of 2 further confirmations from the tenant’s contractors. Action clerk to inform tenant.
BANK RECONCILIATION
The reconciled bank balance as at 25th December was £57,409.42
021517
OTHER PARISH MATTERS
Cllr German asked for the PC to consider giving its support to a grant application on behalf of the Cricket Club, and for this to be an agenda item next month. This was agreed. Action clerk
Cllr Hetherington said that the condition of the pavements on the Lugger was very poor. CC Julian German said this was a Cornwall Council responsibility, and that he would take the matter up with the appropriate officer.
Cllr Symons agreed to carry out the necessary hedge trimming work at Ferndown.
Cllr Iddison asked when the church clock would be repaired. The clerk said the engineer had already made one visit on January 29th and had been made aware that the clock was still showing the wrong time. A date for a return visit was still awaited but the clerk would keep the matter in hand. Action clerk.
The meeting closed at 9.48 pm