BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY PARISH MEETING HELD
MONDAY 6th JULY 2020 AT 7:30pm
VIA REMOTE MEANS DUE TO COVID19
Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.
Present: Cllr M Falder (Chairman), Cllr Toone, Cllr Meyrick, Cllr G Corner, Cllr Bridges
In Attendance: Mrs J Storer – Clerk, District Cllr Haines (to 7:56pm), Cllr Churchill (to 7:56pm)
20/687 Apologies
Apologies were noted from Cllr Bridges, Cllr S Betteridge-Sorby, Cllr K Kemp. As a quorum was established, the Chairman commenced and welcomed everyone to the meeting.
20/688 Variation of Order of Business
There was no alteration to the variation of the order of business.
20/689 Declaration of Interests:
Cllrs considered their obligations relating to declaration of interests; Cllr Meyrick declared a prejudicial interest in application DMOT/2020/0457 as he is the applicant, however planning permission has now been granted and the matter will not be discussed.
20/690 Public Speaking
a) Members of the Public and Council to comment on any matter
No matters were raised.
County Council and District Council members to raise any relevant matter
SDDC only just moved to holding virtual meetings last week and there is no indication as to when physical meetings will resume.
There has been some flytipping on pfp 34 which SDDC will be seeking the landowner to clear it. On Watery Lane a lot of the drains have been cleared and the areas should be in a better position for the winter wet weather.
Flytipping has increased over the CV-19 era and investigations about the culprits will increase following the relaxation of some of the CV-19 regulations.
A new Head of Planning at SDDC has started today – Stefan Saunders. Some of the larger and difficult planning applications have had to wait until the Planning Committee could meet and whilst the number of planning applications reduced over the CV-19 and some staff at the Planning Dept have been off with illness, a backlog did occurred; however this backlog appears to be reducing following the planning meeting.
A lot of funding has been distributed by SDDC to the community during the CV-19 period, with some being funds from central government being dispersed by SDDC; there have been enormous additional costs incurred by SDDC during CV-19, such as additional staffing costs to maintain the bin collection and for taking the homeless off the streets. SDDC finances remain excellent and the council is in surplus funds. During CV-19, a lot of the services have continued.
Rubbish has accumulated in the carpark opposite the Stanhope and efforts have been made to locate the organisation with responsibility for clearing the site, efforts to contact the Environmental Health Dept about this matter have been unsuccessful. Cllr Haines will pursue this matter.
The application to convert the bungalow on Bretby Lane into a care home has been dropped and it will instead be let as a private residence.
The public footpath at the top of Bretby Lane which goes to Mount Bank is becoming overgrown and the vegetation requires cutting back. The signposts need to be replaced. Cllr Toone agreed to report this matter to the Footpaths Officer.
7:56pm Cllr Hanes and Churchill left the meeting.
c) Parish Council Members declaring an interest other than Disclosable Pecuniary Interest wishing to make representation
No representations were made.
20/691 To confirm the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 4th May 2020
These were circulated, read, approved and signed as a correct record by Cllr Falder.
20/692 To determine which items if any, should be taken with the public excluded.
No items were deemed necessary to be taken with the public excluded.
20/693 To receive the Chairman’s Announcements
The Clerk advised that whilst it is possible to have face to face meetings there are other considerations to take account of before the Council can resume physical meetings; examples were provided such as ongoing concerns about the virus, differing households meeting up and what the regulations maybe at that time and how to comply with them. The Clerk recommended that the Council awaits further information from DALC on this matter.
Cllr Meyrick explained the differences between posting information on Facebook and on the Council website, particularly as legislation about accessibility requirements do not apply to social media postings.
Bretby Lane held a street party on VE Day, with residents sitting in their own front garden and observing social distancing; this together with the weekly Clap for Carers has brought the community closer together.
20/694 To receive the Report of the Clerk
The Clerk’s report as previously circulated was accepted with no further comments.
20/695 Governance
a) Risk Register update
There are no recommended changes to the risk register.
RESOLVED to make no changes to the risk register.
b) General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
The Clerk reported that there is no further information, no actions were recommended and there were no incidents to report.
c) To consider information about the former Bretby Castle and how to display the information – Min 19/599
The owners have requested that no attention is drawn to the private area; no further action will be taken on this matter.
d) Bretby in Bloom project
This will be deferred to 2021 due to Covid19.
e) Business Continuity Plan
The Business Continuity Plan was previously circulated to all Cllrs.
RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the Business Continuity Plan with no amendments.
20/696 Drainage issues
There has been little rainfall of late to test the drainage system and currently there are no known issues which arisen.
Work on the main sewer pipe which crosses the Mount and then go onto the pumping station will be undertaken shortly but no confirmation has been received if this will be a replacement pipe or merely a repair.
20/697 Correspondence
- DALC – Various circulars and information about Covid19
- SDC – information, guidance and update on Coronavirus
- DCC – information, guidance and update on Coronavirus
- NALC – information and updates on Covid19
- British Gas – notification on 2nd June 2020 that fly tipping had occurred at their unit on Geary Lane and efforts were being made to clear the site as a matter of urgency
All Cllrs have been circulated with the information prior to the meeting
20/698 Finance
(a) Accounts for Payment
| BACS | HMRC – Clerk’s tax (May) | £ XX |
| BACS | DCC – Pension contribution (May) | £ XX |
| BACS | HMRC – Clerk’s tax (June) | £ XX |
| BACS | DCC – Pension contribution (June) | £ XX |
| s/o | Mrs J Storer – Clerk fee for May 20 | £ XX |
| s/o | Mrs J Storer – Clerk fee for June 20 | £ XX |
| DALC | Subs for 20/21 | £ 402.88 |
| Came & Co | Insurance for 20/21 | £ 218.00 |
| BACS | Mrs J Storer – use of home (Apr – June 20) | £ 81.00 |
| BACS | Mrs J Storer – expenses | £ deferred to the next meeting |
(b) Money Received
| HMRC – VAT 19/20 refund | £ 81.60 |
| Interest May | £ 0.13 |
| Interest June | £ 0.12 |
Balance at bank 24.06.20
| Deposit account | £ 3,010.72 |
| Current account | £ 4,295.00 |
(c) Requests for funding via S137
No requests for funding have been received.
20/699 To consider Planning Applications
DMOT/2020/0457- The pruning of trees at The Green, Bretby, Burton On Trent, DE15 0RE
Cllr Meyrick declared a prejudicial interest in this application as he is the applicant.
RESOLVED: this application has already been considered by SDDC and was not considered at the meeting.
20/700 Consultations
- Licensing Act 2003 Statement of Licensing Policy Review – deadline for responses 28th August 2020.
This had been circulated to all Cllrs.
RESOLVED as there were no major changes to the existing licencing policy, no recommendations were made by the Parish Council. - SDDC – Questionnaire on allotment provision within the parish
There have been no requests received nor demands made to provide any allotments within the parish either pre or during the CV-19 era. The Clerk will make the recommendation to SDDC that no allotment provision is provided in the immediate future for the parish.
20/701 Items for information only
(a) To receive reports from Meetings attended
No meetings have been attended.
(b) Notification of Forthcoming meetings
None known due to CV-19.
(c) Training Sessions – See DALC circulars which have been provided to all Cllrs
Training is being provided remotely via Zoom. The Clerk will be attending the DALC online training session on 7th September 2020, the topic being planning.
20/702 Date of next meeting
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on MONDAY 14th SEPTEMBER 2020 at 7.30pm; this will be a remote meeting unless there are significant changes to regulations.
There being no further business, the Chairman thanked everyone for attending, wished everyone to be well and safe and closed the meeting at 8: 17pm.