Minutes of the Council Meeting held on the 15th December 2014
Birdham Parish Council
Minutes of the
Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 15th December 2014
at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
Present: Cllr Barker, Cllr Hamilton (Vice Chairman), Cllr Pocock (Chairman), Cllr Churchill and Cllr Brooks.
Apologies: Cllr Cobbold, Cllr Ayton, Cllr Finch and Cllr Marshall (CDC).
In attendance: The Clerk, Cllr Montyn (WSCC & CDC), and 12 members of the public.
Absent: Nil
87-14 Public Question time in accordance with Standing Orders 1d -1l:
There were no questions.
88-14 Declaration of Interests:
There were no declarations of interest given.
89-14 Approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on the 17th November 2014.
It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the 17th November 2014 as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
90-14 Matters arising from the minutes of the 19th November 2012:
Minute 89-12 - Land Bequest. The Clerk said he had nothing to report at this stage.
91-14 Clerks’ Report:
i) WSCC – There was nothing to report.
ii) CDC – The Clerk reported that he had received notification from CDC of the submitted Neighbourhood Plan which had now gone for publication. The period for submission of representations will now run from 11th December 2014 until the 12th February 2015. The Plan is available to view on www.np4birdham.co.uk, www.chichester.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplan and https://birdham.org.uk/neighbourhood-planning-documents-submitted-to-chichester-district-council
iii) Reports from Members of WSCC/CDC – Cllr Montyn (WSCC) said that he had heard that day that the two applications for Op Watershed funding had been granted but would need to go through the mandatory seven day consultation period prior to raising the cheques.
iv) Other related matters – There was nothing to report.
92-14 Finance and Corporate:
i) To receive and approve the financial report.
The Clerk presented the financial reports for the month of December (shown at annex a). The current balances are as follows;
| Balances held at Bank | £49120.79 |
| Designated Funds | £29654.17 |
| Available Funds | £19466.62 |
| Creditors | £ 2083.69 |
The Clerk offered to answer any questions that Councillors may have.
It was resolved to adopt the Financial Report.
ii) To consider and approve the Councils Budget for 2015/16 and the Precept request.
The Chairman outlined the amount of work that had gone into producing the budget at a difficult time. On the one hand trying to keep to a budget that was not increasing but at the same time dealing with rising costs which were beyond the Councils control and maintaining the standards the Village had become used to.
One of the largest areas highlighted by the Chairman concerned the fencing of the Adams bequest. The requirement was to ensure that fencing was erected within three months of the ownership of the land being passed to the Council.
In summation the Chairman said that the proposed budget of £42489.22 was the best that could be achieved in the circumstances, which equated to a Band D property increase of £2.31 per year over the 2014/15 budget.
It was resolved that the Clerk be authorised to request from Chichester District Council a Precept of £42489.22.
93-14 Planning matters including applications and CDC delegated decisions:
i) Planning Applications to be Decided:
BI/14/04049/FUL - Parnell Homes Ltd Ayton Main Road Birdham
Construction of 3 no. dwellings & associated works including new vehicular access & landscaping.
Prior to passing this to Councillors for a decision the Chairman asked if there were any comments from the floor and if so would they wish to speak.
A representative on behalf of the developer spoke in favour of the application explaining what they were trying to achieve and saying that the original application was for five units. On advice from the planning authority the number of units had been reduced to four and subsequently to the current three units.
One resident spoke at length concerning the design layout, access to and from the site on an extremely dangerous road and questioned the need for the demolition of the existing well build bungalow that was on the site.
There was considerable amount of support for the previous speaker concerning the access to and from the site plus concerns about flooding.
Councillors spoke to the application and generally felt that the overall design was good however, they were concerned about the vehicle access to unit 1 which was considered to be dangerous and should be stopped up. Flooding issues are a concern to those living in Birdham and its was felt that hard standing in the front garden of unit 1 was detrimental to flood prevention and was unnecessary as sufficient parking had been allocated to the rear of the property. With those concerns in mind Birdham Parish Council Objects to this application.
BI/14/04109/DOM - The Old Bird & Ham, Main Road, Birdham
Detached timber framed garage, entrance porch, boundary and garden walls and brick infill to kitchen door opening.
Birdham Parish Council raises No Objection to this application.
BI/14/04106/LBC - The Old Bird & Ham, Main Road, Birdham
Detached timber framed garage, entrance porch, boundary and garden walls and brick infill to kitchen door opening.
Birdham Parish Council raises No Objection to this application.
It was resolved to authorise the Clerk to notify Councils decision to DC Planning.
ii) Delegated Decisions to be noted.
BI/14/03008/DOM Mr & Mrs N Von Schirnding Hammonds Farm Westlands Lane Birdham Proposed 2 no. dormer windows and 1 no. roof light in connection with a loft conversion. PERMIT
BI/14/03009/LBC Mr & Mrs N Von Schirnding Hammonds Farm Westlands Lane Birdham
Proposed 2 no. dormer windows and 1 no. roof light in connection with a loft conversion. PERMIT
BI/14/03186/DOM Mr & Mrs N Von Schirnding Hammonds Farm Westlands Lane Birdham
Proposed demolition of existing conservatory and small single storey extension. Single storey rear extension and closing up of existing pedestrian access into Westlands Lane. REFUSE
BI/14/03187/LBC Mr & Mrs N Von Schirnding Hammonds Farm Westlands Lane Birdham
Proposed demolition of existing conservatory and small single storey extension. Single storey extension to rear. REFUSE
BI/14/03054/FUL Premier Marinas Limited Chichester Marina Birdham
Erection of 8No. Wifi masts and associated equipment. PERMIT
BI/14/03135/DOM Mr G Morgan-Watson Field Cottage Westlands Estate Birdham
Demolition of existing conservatory and porch. Single storey extensions: amendments to windows: conversion of garage to living accommodation with pitch roof. Change of colour to external walls. Addition to external walls of cladding (LAP) overlap - finish grey. PERMIT
BI/14/03706/TPA Mr S Apted Pict Fenn Court Barn Lane Birdham
Fell 3 no. Holm Oak trees (T9, T10 and T11) and crown reduce by 6m on western sector on 1 no. Horse Chestnut tree (T12). All trees subject to BI/01/00040/TPO. PERMIT
The delegated decisions were noted.
94-14 Correspondence – Not previously circulated:
There was none.
95-14 Reports:
i) Play Area and Playing Field. – Nothing to report at this time.
ii) Village Green and Pond. – The Clerk reminded Members that he had written to Church Field Ltd concerning the possibility of obtaining a small amount of land from them, both to enlarge the pond and to make it a destination asset. He went on to say that he had now heard from Church Field Ltd with broad outlines of their requirements to facilitate the pond expansion. The Clerk felt that they were rather more than could be covered properly in just one meeting and suggested that this would require considerable research probably best left until the new Council were in place from May 2015.
It was resolved that any decision concerning the pond should be left until after the election.
However it was also resolved that the Clerk should arrange for the pond area to be tidied up.
Cllr Hamilton suggested that it would be nice if the grass could be kept longer to allow wild flowers to grow. The Chairman felt that this should be brought to the Council at the next meeting in January.
iii) Condition of Village Ditch/Drain Network. – Mr Barrington updated the Council and residents on the situation concerning drainage throughout the village. He went on to say that it was now three months since the inspection had taken place in Walwyn Close and costings to carry out temporary culvert work to numbers 19 & 20 were likely to be in the region of £8k. There was a possibility that Op Watershed monies may be available but who would be the claimant’s? The Parish Council or the Birdham Flood Prevention Group? He also asked if Cllr Montyn (WSCC) could intervene with Landbuild and chase up the quotation.
Moving onto the Causeway Mr Barrington reported that a multi-agency meeting at taken place at which it was confirmed that divers had been to examine the sluice gate, it had been hoped that they would also have been able to resolve the problems however, this proved not to be the case and a coffer dam would need to be built to carry out the work. This was likely to be in the order of £16k with possibly some funding available from Op Watershed.
The ditches in the area were starting to be cleared out with riparian owners taking responsibility for their own ditches. Considerable work had been carried out to ditches in Westlands Lane with considerable improvement to the water clearance rate. The ditches from the stores to Farne Lane and from Cherry Lane would be completed shortly by the Summit Ltd, whilst the ditches along Farne Lane and from Farne Lane north to Birdham Straight House would be dealt with by AMS Contracting. In both cases funded by Op Watershed. WSCC have said that they would clear the culverts once the ditches have been dealt with.
Further work needed to be done but it has become extremely difficult to determine who actually owns the land.
iv) Police and Neighbourhood Watch – There was nothing to report.
v) Communication Working Groups – Cllr Finch had asked for any information or comments to be passed to her for publication.
vi) Other - Nothing to report.
96-14 Reports of meetings attended by Councillors;
The Chairman said that he had attended the Peninsula Forum Meeting
Cllr Churchill said that he had attended, along with some 200 other attendees, a public meeting on the NHS and Public Health at which the MSK Contract had been raised. It appeared that some who had been part of the decision making process had done so without the proper credentials. A further discussion would take place in March 2015.
97-14 Items for inclusion on the next agenda:
Grass cutting on the Village Green.
Civic wreath for Remembrance Sunday
98-14 Date of Next Meeting:
19th January 2015 at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
There being no further business to discuss the meeting was declared closed at 8.35pm
Signed ___________________________ Dated ____________________
Chairman
Annex A
| Birdham Parish Council | ||||||
| Financial Statement as at 15th December 2014 | ||||||
|
£ |
||||||
| Bank Accounts as at 31st March 2014 |
21689.56 |
|||||
| Receipts to date |
53033.45 |
|||||
| Expenditure to date |
25602.22 |
|||||
| Balance |
49120.79 |
|||||
| Represented by; | ||||||
| Current Account (Barclays Community A/c) |
16653.52 |
|||||
| Deposit Account (Barclays Premium Business A/c) |
25707.16 |
|||||
| National Savings |
6760.11 |
|||||
| Total |
49120.79 |
|||||
| Less | ||||||
| Reserve @ 50% of Precept |
21063.13 |
|||||
| Loan Reserve for half year |
8591.04 |
|||||
| Outstanding Cheque/s - | ||||||
| Total |
29654.17 |
|||||
| Available Funds |
19466.62 |
|||||
Signed Clerk to the Council 15th December 2014 Payments to be considered B Geary (Litter Picking)
70.00
Clerks Expenses (Postage/Telephone etc.)
40.18
Village Hall Trust (Nplan meeting)
88.80
A Dover (Village Green grass)
190.00
Earnley Parish Council (Rule 6 Expenses/Traffic Report)
1694.71
Total
2083.69