JRW/406

TODWICK PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting held in Todwick Village Hall
at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 28th July 2015

Present

Councillor Carter
Councillor Ferris
Councillor Greer-Waring
Councillor Gregory – Chairman
Councillor Newbold
Councillor White
J R Walker – Clerk & Financial Officer
Borough Councillor Watson
Rev. Vicky Camber
Alan Turner
Peter Beevers

Borough Councillor Watson gave a précis of Rotherham Borough Council related matters including:

The very successful “Views of Rotherham Roadshow” recently held in the village. One of twenty-one such events held across the Borough it had been the most positive with excellent contributions by those attending. The Borough Council’s Web Site gave the opportunity for parishioners to express their opinions about services.

He and Councillor Beck had met with the Borough Council’s Planners to further discuss the Local Plan. They were opposed to any proposals to build on the land on the west side of Kiveton Lane, south of The Meadows. The latest version of the Plan would be unveiled on the 16th September and there would then be six weeks of further consultation. He urged the Parish Council and Parishioners to express their opinions during this time.

Government funding to Rotherham was being cut by some £41m over the next three years, £19.5m of which would be in the first year.

The Government had set targets for the selling off of council housing stock and this was likely to affect the south of the Borough most. He was unsure what effect would be had on the sale of housing association properties.

He was the Deputy Leader of the Borough Council and recently had been made responsible for Children’s’ Services.

He would be conducting his monthly surgery in the village in August as usual.

White had previously reported some dissatisfaction with the portion sizes of cooked dinners at the village school.

Borough Councillor Watson had made enquiries about this. The meals were provided under a contract with a private company. The portion sizes were set and could not be changed.

15/41 APOLOGIES

An apology had been received from Councillor Jeffrey.

15/42 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Ordinary Meeting 30th June 2015

15/37(2)

The word intending to be replaced by attending.

The minute to read:

Gregory had attended the Area Assembly Meeting on the 22 June at Woodsetts. Borough Councillor Wysall was now the Chairperson and had expressed her intention to utilise a variety of meeting venues, retain the traffic group and help parish councils to deal with issues specific to their area but without interfering in any way. She had expressed concern that constituents were not presently engaging with local councils as she would wish and her intention was to try to improve this. He would be attending future meetings.

15/43 MATTERS ARISING

14/41

Greer-Waring would prefer that the poppies remain at the memorial for longer than the prescribed six weeks following Remembrance Day. She had received negative feedback from parishioners one of whom suggested Easter may be more appropriate.

Gregory thought the six weeks to be appropriate. By then poppies were losing colour and becoming unattractive. Poppies or other tributes could be placed by individuals at any time of year.

White had observed some damage to the stonework if left in position for too long, due to the wreaths rubbing against the wall in the wind.

There was no amendment necessary.

Gregory had received positive feedback and it was intended that the format of Remembrance Day celebrations for last year be repeated. This would mean that attendees at the Church service would re-assemble at the war memorial to complete the service.
15/34

Greer-Waring/Gregory confirmed that the Christmas Fayre would be held on Saturday 28th November and not the 19th December.
15/37(10)

Gregory had discussed the engraved plaque with Sheila Pantry. He was to have the plaque fixed to a suitable stone and re-positioned in the millennium/memorial garden.
15/37(12)

Carter reported on the sale of the storage container for £1100. 10% had been deducted because of advertising on E-bay and £990 deposited in the Council’s account. She thanked Councillor White for his help in meeting with the purchaser and arranging its removal.

15/44 DECLARATION OF MEMBER’S INTERESTS

Carter has an interest in land recommended for development potential by RMBC and also owns a property on Rayls Rise.

Greer-Waring is Vice-chairman of the Village Hall management Committee.

15/45 URGENT ITEMS FOR LATER CONSIDERATION

Temporary Fencing at The Pastures
Pavements on Kiveton Lane
Farewell Party

15/46 CLERK’S REPORT

Clerk had undertaken all the duties placed on him at the last meeting

15/47 FINANCIAL OFFICER’S REPORT

Clerk reported that

The External Auditor had required some amendment to the asset register and this would be explained in full when the formal response was received.

Monies received
	£
1. Mr. S Jones – Sale of Steel Storage Container	990.00
2. British Gas – Feed-in Tariff (Village Hall)	741.21
Un-presented cheques
1. Rotherham MBC – Grounds Maintenance	44.33
2. Brian White – Materials for Seat Repair	29.33
3. Robert Ireton – 1st Prize Best Front Garden	50.00
4. Ann Drury – 2nd Prize Best Front Garden	30.00
5. Mavis and William Rogers – 3rd Prize Best Front Garden	20.00
6. Brian Summerhayes – Best Scarecrow Prize	30.00
Payments made since last meeting
1. Todwick Village Hall – Rent	16.50
2. Yorkshire Water – Water Supply	10.69
3. Todwick Parish Rec. Grd.– Grounds Maintenance	963.48
4. Rotherham MBC – Grounds Maintenance	44.33
5. HMRC – July Tax/NI	332.24
6. Brian White – Materials for Seat Repair	29.33
7. Robert Ireton – 1st Prize Best Front Garden	50.00
8. Ann Drury – 2nd Prize Best Front Garden	30.00
9. Mavis and William Rogers – 3rd Prize Best Front Garden	20.00
10. Brian Summerhayes – Best Scarecrow Prize	30.00
Payments to be made
1. J R Walker – June Salary/Expenses	558.59
2. Mark Archer – Village Maintenance	257.77

Bank statement balances
Business Saver (Gratuity)	Business Saver (Cheque Feeder)	Community (Cheque)
£5,263.54	£9,332.91	£1.00
Bank balances after all payments completed
Business Saver (Gratuity)	Business Saver (Cheque Feeder)	Community (Cheque)
£5,263.54	£9,054.10	£1.00

15/48 CORRESPONDENCE

Written correspondence received and passed to Members:

The Pensions Regulator – Workplace Pensions

Gregory had studied the legislation and implications for the Council and the Clerk in detail and would be preparing a report for the September meeting.

Correspondence had also been received via E-mail and forwarded by the Clerk to Members on their receipt. The Clerk had replied where appropriate.

Various Councillors – Meeting Minutes
Voluntary Action Rotherham – Various Email Bulletins
Rural Action Yorkshire – Various Email Bulletins
RMBC – Various Planning Lists
RMBC – Parish Councillor Confirmation
Councillor White – FIT Reading For 30 Mar 2015: FIT 00600581
RMBC – Report of Damage To A Footpath Or Road
Norman Anderson and Various Councillors – Neighbourhood Watch
Various Councillors – Farewell At The Tea Rooms
YLCA – South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Newsletter Issue One
Chesterfield Canal Trust – E Newsletter Number 80
Various Councillors – Field LDF 0545 / RMBC Strategic Plan
Various Councillors – Fencing On The Pastures
RMBC and Various Councillors – RoMPI Forms
Various Councillors – Annual Declaration Form
Various Councillors – Sale Of Container
Various RMBC – Invitation To Attend The Commissioners Road-show
Councillor White – Feed-in Tariff Reading
SYPTE – Combined Authority To Drive Transport Agenda
RMBC – RVS Area Assembly Now On Twitter
Various Councillors – Meeting Minutes
Various Councillors – Strategic Review Meeting
Councillor Gregory – Pension
Eon Energy and Councillor White – EON FIT Account FIT00600581 Update
Director, RMBC Legal and Democratic Services – Leaving The Council
RMBC – Twitter Account
Various Councillors – Local Plan Drop In
RMBC – Footway Damage on Goosecarr Lane/Provision of Additional Dog Waste Bin
SYPTE – Bus Service Changes – September 2015
Councillor Gregory – Pension
Sheila Pantry – Cheques For Todwick Best Gardens and Scarecrow 2015
Norman Anderson – South Yorkshire Police Crime Stats. and ASB
Rural Action Yorkshire – Rural Solutions For Living Well With Disability
YLCA – Travellers En-route to and from Appleby Fair, Cumbria
Aviva – Pension Enquiry
Councillor White – Drain Grates
Marie Dabell and Councillors Ferris and Greer-Waring – Buses Through Todwick
YLCA – Grants and Funding Special Bulletin

15/49 PLANNING APPLICATIONS

RB2015/0924

Demolition of existing conservatory at 8 Todwick Court, Kiveton Lane for Mr D Hydes.

Resolved to offer no objection.
RB2015/0936

Listed building consent for demolition of existing conservatory to be replaced with side extension at 8 Todwick Court, Kiveton Lane for Mr D Hydes.

Resolved to offer no objection.
Gregory advised that the planning appeal for the alterations to the property on Manor Way had been rejected. He understood that the applicant was to submit a revised application.

15/50 COMMITTEES

Allotments

Ferris reported that the Pest Control Officer would be visiting the following week but there appeared to be little rodent activity. Brenda Waller had kindly presented the Les Waller Cup to Jim and Janet Tompkin the winners of the best allotment competition. Allotment holders were delighted that she had done this. She had also presented the prizes for Best Front Gardens and Scarecrow.

Ferris and Carter would inspect to ascertain whether there was any ragwort on the site and if so what action might be appropriate.

Village Hall Management

Greer-Waring reported that a new notice board was to be sited on the Kiveton Lane frontage of the hall close to and at the same height as the Parish Council notice board. The new board would have a lockable cover and would be installed in approximately two weeks time. Consideration was being given to installing a sound system in Hall 1 of the village hall.

Recreation

Gregory reported that all the users had paid their subscriptions. The Todwick Model Flying Club had signed an agreement as a registered user. The ground was a nationally recognized pigeon release site. He had received an enquiry from a parent and child cycle club but had heard nothing since. The first batch of attendance figures had been sent off to Sport England and these included those from the fun-day. He had provided copies of the recreation ground accounts since 2009 to the Clerk. The Manager of the Station Hotel had donated two picnic benches and these would be re-sited to the children’s play area.

Gregory / White / Ferris / Barry Northall / Gary Greer-Waring would meet to move the benches at 10.00 a.m. on 31 July.

15/51 CO-OPTION OF FURTHER MEMBER

Two vacancies remained but no further applications had been received.

15/52 STRATEGIC PLAN

Gregory reported that the sub-group had met and four key areas identified:

Growth of the Village – All members would contribute
Village safety – Greer-Waring would be leading this
Vulnerable Adults – Ferris would be leading this.
Budget Restrictions – This would be reviewed annually as in the past.

He would administer them all.

White reminded members that there was no council meeting in August and since the consultation on the Local Development Plan would begin in September it was important that all the facts be placed before the villagers and their views sought on alternative proposals. A public meeting might be considered and he would prepare a PowerPoint presentation if this was seen to be appropriate.

Greer-Waring would be placing an article in “The Informer”.

15/53 MEMBER’S ACTIVITY REPORTS

Gregory had attended the Parochial Church Council meeting some two weeks earlier.

Rev Vicky Camber was present and Councillor Gregory invited her, Alan Turner and Peter Beevers to speak to members.

Rev. Vicky Camber advised that the Archbishop of York was bringing a team of 21 bishops across the Sheffield Diocese on the 10th to 13th September as part of a four day mission called the Crossroads Mission. The Laughton Deanery would have Bishop Paul Bayes from Liverpool and Bishop Alison White from Hull attending, also accompanied by Canon Linda White, Director of Church Growth in Liverpool.

A series of local events was to be organised for the visit.

These would commence with a service in Sheffield on the 10th September and end with a service in Rotherham on the 13th September.

Todwick events could include offering tours of the Church and possibly some sporting activities in the church yard. Other suggestions would be welcomed.

Greer-Waring, Alan Turner and the Historical Society have researched the history of several families from the village and would contribute to the information available of some of the individuals buried in the Church Yard

Peter Beevers, the Church Warden, gave further information including the intention to tidy up the church yard and the car park on the coming weekend and asked for volunteers to assist with this.
Ferris reported on the AgeUK Rotherham sponsored coffee afternoons and the next phase which was to link those in the village in need of help with those who had volunteered to give it. Articles would be placed in “Todwick News” and “The Informer”.
Greer-Waring had attended the RMBC Drop in Session and also the Meet the Commissioners event.
Greer-Waring would be attending a talk on ancient woodland on the 12th August by Professor Ian Rotherham from Sheffield University. She was hopeful that this would assist with the aim to register the bluebell wood on Kiveton Lane as ancient woodland. She was also trying to find old maps and searching as many documents as she could, to provide supporting evidence. If the woodland can be traced back to 1600 it can be designated as ‘Ancient Woodland’. Once designated, site 730 and any site within 250m would have an ‘amber’ rating against it by way of helping to protect any ancient woodland. The ‘Lord Conyers Morris-men’ who use the woodland twice a year are also keen to help protect the woodland in any way they can. She would seek approval from the nearby Farm Manager for a walk through the woodland. She had spoken with a parishioner who was an archaeologist and she would look into whether the University could undertake a field walk on Windmill Hill (site 730) to identify the site of the ancient windmill and any other interesting features. This would be easier to arrange now that the crops have been harvested.
Greer-Waring referred to the condition of Osborne House on Kiveton Lane. This was a Grade 2 listed building which had no roof and was being allowed to deteriorate to an unacceptable condition. There were various elements of the building which created a potential threat to public safety. Sections of displaced gutter were a potential danger to those walking on the public footway.

Clerk would report this to RMBC.
Greer-Waring was about to prepare the next edition of “The Informer” by the end of the week and asked for any articles to be sent to her as soon as possible. She would include an item on the temporary diversion of bus services through the village owing to the closure of roads in South Anston.
Greer-Waring and Carter were the nominated administrators of the Council’s Facebook page.

Newbold had read an item placed by Councillor Greer-Waring on Facebook and found this to be misleading.

Greer-Waring had placed this on a different web site and expressed a personal opinion rather than one in her capacity as a member of the parish council.
White had attended the “Road-show”.
White had carried out repairs to a vandalised picnic table at the recreation ground.
White had reported displaced gully grates and these had been re-fitted in position by the RMBC Streetpride Standby Team.
White had had problems in finalising the registration of the Pavilion PV panels with E-on but had finally managed to do so. He estimated some £230 being received from the first Feed-In-Tariff claim.
Carter asked whether the girl on Kiveton Lane, who had expressed an interest in joining a Todwick Youth Council, should be approached again since she had not made further contact.

White was wary about pressuring the girl and suggested the parents be quietly consulted first to seek their views. He would do this.
Ferris and Jim Tompkin were to meet with Richard Pett and Steven Shaw at RMBC on the 4th August to finalise the Todwick Circular Walk Leaflet.

The Rambler’s Association was encouraging people to walk all public footpaths and report back on their condition.

Newbold reported that the way marker had been pulled out on the footpath at the end of Rayls Rise and also at Mill Close.

Ferris would ask RMBC to check on these.
Newbold had proposed that one of the dog waste bins be re-positioned.

Resolved that the Clerk request that the double bin presently sited on Goosecarr Lane fronting the recreation ground be moved and re-sited to the end of Rayls Rise close to the public footpath. He was also instructed to request the provision of a new waste bin at the wayside seat on Kiveton Lane opposite the “Red Lion”.

15/54 VILLAGE MAINTENANCE

Ferris gave details of the report given by the maintenance contractor, Mark Archer:

Dog excrement had been removed from the war memorial and CCTV footage was to be viewed to see if the offender could be identified. All the poppies had been removed from the war memorial and the litter picks had been carried out as usual.

15/55 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION MATTERS

Greer-Waring was to arrange a meeting with Andrew Lee at RMBC to see if a 20 speed limit could be introduced around the school at opening/closing times as in other areas. Road closures at South Anston running from 3 August to 28 August would mean X5 buses would be diverted through Todwick and this would give the opportunity to demonstrate that this should be introduced as a matter of routine. She was placing notices on the notice board and would place an article in “The Informer” to encourage as many people as possible to use the X5 whilst it ran through the village. At the time of the meeting it was unclear whether the diversion would be in place from 8 am to 4 pm or the whole of the day, she was awaiting a reply from First Buses to confirm this.

15/56 NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Norman Anderson had reported numerous thefts from gardens.

14/57 URGENT ITEMS

Temporary Fencing at The Pastures

Greer-Waring had received complaints that temporary Heras fencing had been erected at The Pastures preventing public access that had been established over many years.

Ferris would make enquiries with Richard Pett as to the Public Right of Way issue.
Pavements on Kiveton Lane

White referred to the footway works presently underway on Kiveton Lane. There were several potential trip hazards and were taking an inordinate amount of time.

Clerk would ascertain when these might be completed.
Farewell Party

Ferris had arranged the party at the Tea Rooms and asked for confirmation of who was to attend. The cost would be paid for by those members attending and the Clerk.

The Meeting Closed at 9.15 p.m.

The next Council Meeting will be in Todwick Village Hall at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 29th September 2015.

Parish Council

Minutes of the meeting held in Todwick Village Hall at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 28th July 2015