May 2019 Minutes of a Joint Meeting
Joint meeting of Normanby by Spital and Owmby by Spital Parish Council
28th May 2019
Present:
Keith Hanson (Chair CPC), Chris Brooke (OPC), Ken Green (NPC), John Fox (NPC), Sara Carter (OPC), Barbara Moulson (NP & CPC), Tracey Firth (NPC), Danny Mellor (OPC), John Moulson (CPC), Roy Bellamy (Chair-NPC), Angela Hanson (NPC), Linda Houtby (NPC), Graham Crompton-Howe (OPC), Isabelle Brooke (CPC & NP), Charlotte Wright (Clerk)
1) Election of Chair- Roy Bellamy to Chair
2) Apologies for absence Denise Leah and Nadine Fox
3) Community Park Committee:
(a) Report of progress to date- Keith Hanson presented his report to the meeting which had been circuited prior to the meeting.
(b) Confirmation of Committee Members:-
Resolved: Current committee members to remain on the committee- K Hanson, I Brooke, D Leah, S Carter, D Mellor, J Moulson and B Moulson. Jamie Marshall has expressed an interest in joining the committee. Prop: Roy, Seconded: Graham Crompton-Howe all agreed. If anyone would like to join the committee please contact K Hanson, Chair as more volunteers are welcome.
(c) Confirmation of the Terms of Reference: - Keith Hanson reported he is finding it difficult to set a budget as per current terms of reference. C Brooke suggested an action plan may help. I Brooke suggested that a budget may also be dependent upon any grants which may be received for example a grant has already been received which can only be used to purchase play equipment.
Resolved: Terms of reference to be amended to reflect priorities rather than budget and recirculated dated and with a version numbers.
Proposed: RB Seconded: LH
(d) Financial Advice From LALCJ
Fox stated that he was not happy with the financial report that has been circulated. A Hanson also not happy and suggested that the accounting statement does not balance by 16p. Requested more transparency. John Fox happy to assist D Leah with how she should lay out the balance sheet. Income and expenditure account needed. C Wright provided figures held Owmby PC reserve account for the CPC Confirmation of the terms of reference:
Discussions regarding a working budget for the CPC. Cash float of £200 to be held by KH.
Discussions regarding the CPC bank account: LALC’s advice was that the money held/raised for the CPC should be held in a parish council bank account as the CPC is not a charitable trust. The councils, by agreement, can set a budget for the CPC and they have delegated
spending power up to that amount. As the CPC is a committee of the two Parish Councils, all funding applications are on behalf of the Parish Councils , which means it should only apply for funding that is appropriate.] As this committee is a council, all grant funding needs to be applied for via the councils which means they can only apply for funding that is appropriate. VAT can be reclaimed. Gift aid cannot.
Discussions regarding using the Village Hall Trust to raise money- LALC’s advice was money raised should be put into the bank account for the purpose it was raised. If it was put in to a charitable trust account for the purpose of gift aid and then taken from that account to put into another account for the original purpose HMRC and the charities commission would not look upon it favourably. Money put in to any charitable trust should be put in to it for that charities purpose.
CW suggested some committee members visit LALC to discuss the financial implications as members did not seem happy with the advice given.
(e) Business plan and financial report- I Brooke Circulate a copy of the business plan and financial report. Prepared partly due to advice from Andrew Scrace-Currently in draft format. Finalised version to be circulated to parish councils before their next meetings to be formally resolved upon. Document to be sent via email to track changes.
(f) Ownership of facilities: Questions raised regarding ownership and maintaining the maintenance of the equipment. Confirmed that the facilities/equipment would be owned by the Parish Council. Insurance- CW to investigate increasing insurance for the day/weekend of the fete.
(g) Maintenance costs- KH queried who is responsible to pay for the maintenance costs e.g. hedge/ grass cutting. Approx. cost for cutting fortnightly will be approx. £1700 per year. RB suggested purchase of a mower may be a cheaper option however there would be maintenance and insurance issues with this. LH suggested that there are alternatives e.g. volunteers. JF suggested Parish Councils underwrite the costs rather than committing to covering the costs. It was felt that this would limit the CPC as funds raised would then be swallowed up for maintenance costs rather than allowing them to move forward with plans and make capital investments. [Also fund raising is needed to be able to apply for any matched fund grants] Resolved: support maintenance going forward. Agreed to fund maintenance for the next 5 years.
(H) Insurance- CW reported that the field is covered by Owmby’s Public Liability insurance.
Play equipment up to £10,000 is covered as long as it is ROSPA checked and subject to regular checks by the CPC. Events such as fetes are covered, currently up to 100 people.
Cover can be increased beyond that but there would be an additional const. CW to check with insurance company if fund raising events not held on the field would be covered and also if cover could be increased for a single even such as a fete in the summer.
(i) Results of consultation with residents – KH reported the CPC continue to work in consultation. Consultation which has already taken place indicated that people wanted most: Gazebo, Zip wire. School have offered a table at their school fete for an opportunity to consult further.
(J) Planned utilisation- IB- Play area, Village green, dog walking track around the outside of the field, wild life area, community garden, adult fitness equipment. Plan will be placed on a notice board and should appear soon.
(k) Programme for the future- Plan as j – all dependent of funding. KH to reapply to village hall trust.
RB offered thank to Keith Hanson, chair of the CPC who has worked very hard moving things along. GC-H and KH suggested that a vote of thanks be offered to all the committee members who have also helped.
4) Neighbourhood Plan Group-
(a) Financial report - Barbara Moulson presented a financial report. Current the NP group have no funds as the underspent grant has been returned to the awarding body- the NP group have not applied for further grant money at present but this will be done following advice from consultants.
(b) To receive a report from the NP committee-Isabelle Brooke reported that following advice from WLDC the NP group have employed a consultant, Open plan who have worked with a number of local councils undertaking similar projects. The group are currently approximately halfway through the process. Currently undertaking a character assessment. Consultation event has been held with children. Adult walkabout to follow. Open plan will tabulate the feedback. Intention is to continue using the consultant.
(c) To discuss and review the Neighbourhood Plan Terms of Reference- Owmby PC ratified the Terms of Reference in May 2018. Normanby have had copies of the terms of reference. NPC minutes stated that they were sent to LALC for advice. Tof R were initially supplied by WLDC. AH requested version number to be added to ensure they are controlled copies. IB to make suggested changes and recirculate. RB questioned Owmby is listed as the Primary council. It was suggested that this may be because Owmby hold the funds in their bank account and also because initially NPC were not sure if they wanted to be part of the Neighbourhood Plan. NPC and OPC to formally discuss any amendments to the terms of reference at their next meetings.
5) Cemetery Issues:
Complaints have been received regarding rabbits causing damage and desecrating graves - particularly in the old grave yard. Ways in which to prevent this were discussed. LH suggested contacting the green burial site how they deal with rabbits there. Resolved 2 people from each parish council to form a working party- LH + 1 other from NPC, CB + 1 other form OPC. The hedge has now been cut and work will begin on the footpath shortly.
6) Communication:
Both Parish Councils have expressed their concerns regarding communication between the two councils. CW stated that if there are any issues she can be contacted by phone or email.