Minutes
Annual General
14th May 2019

Eskdale Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 14 May 2019 – 7.30pm, Village Hall, Eskdale Green

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Present: Cllr A Vickers, Cllr R Brown, Cllr I Kirkby, Cllr M Shaftesley (Chair)
2 member of the public

1/19 Election of Chair

Chair: Cllr M Shaftesley was Proposed by Cllr Kirkby and seconded by Cllr Brown. There being no other nominations Cllr Shaftesley was duly elected.

Vice Chair: Cllr A Vickers was Proposed by Cllr Shaftesley and Seconded by Cllr Kirkby. There being no other nominations Cllr Vickers was duly elected.

2/19 The Councillors duly signed their acceptance of office.

3/19 Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Cllr Ashall (work) and Cllr L Hunt (holiday)

4/19 Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in May 2018

Incomplete minutes were presented to the meeting and were accepted as is and duly signed by the Chair

5/19 Appointment of Councillors to Serve on Outside Bodies

Cllr Hunt to attend 3 tier and Mid Copeland meetings

It was resolved that the Village Hall Committee and the School Governors to be approached to ascertain whether representatives from the Parish Council could be included.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 19.38

Signed Chairman…………………………………………………………………………………………

The Normal Parish Council continued on

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Parish Council Meeting

6/19 Apologies

Cllrs Ashall and Hunt

7/19 Exclusion of Press and Public

There were no items on the Agenda requiring the exclusion of press and public

8/19 Declarations of Interest

There were no Declarations of Interest

9/19 To Approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2019

It was noted that the minutes of the meetings of 13 November 2018 and 8 January 2019 had not been approved because of inaccuracies. No minutes had been produced for the meeting held on 12 March 2019.

Corrections were required on all sets of minutes ie comment made by Clerk re issue with audit of it being sorted was not included.

It was known that some decisions were taken in the March meeting in the Finance section and it was known that the following cheques were signed:

• CBC Lighting £144
• CALC membership renewal £137 for the year 18/19
• Clerks salary and PAYE £229.20
• Sitebuilder, website domain name £19.20

It was resolved that as no true records had been kept as to the meetings, that the minutes of the 19 February 2019 be accepted as is and the above comments re the March meeting be accepted as is, as the previous Clerk was failing to communicate with the Council.

Proposed by Cllr Vickers, Seconded by Cllr Brown

10/19 Police Liaison Report

It was noted that there had been an incident of sheep worrying. The Clerk stated that she would find out the details of the local PCSO and ask for a regular report.

11/19 Progress Reports

None

12/19 Public Participation

A member of the public raised the issue of the Japanese Garden. That 2 years ago that the Forestry Commission was asked that new grips were place on the bridges. It was agreed that this would be discussed at the next meeting and the Forestry Commission be invited.

13/19 County Councillor/District Councillor reports

It was noted that Jed McGrath and Doug Wilson had been elected as District Councillors for the ward. Cllr Shaftesley to contact to invite to next meeting, Cty Cllr Hitchen remains the County Councillor representative.

14/19 Applications for Development

14/19.1 To examine applications for development and submit observations to the Planning Authority

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None received

14/19.2 To ratify the observations submitted by the Clerk under devolved powers since last meeting.

None undertaken

14/19.3 To note the decisions of the statutory planning authority with regards to recent applications

7/2019/4003 Woolpack Farm, Boot, Holmrook
Change of use of land for camping pods including provision of vehicle hard stand
Approved with Conditions

7/2019/4025 Installation of various interpretation (display) panels, signage and wayfinding
Eskdale Mill, Boot, Holmrook,
Listed Building Consent Granted

15/19 FINANCIAL RECORDS

15/19.1 To approve the following payments:

CALC Annual subscription 19/20 £114.62

The payment was approved in principle, but as yet there were no authorised signatories on the Council, payment would be made once these had been approved.

15/19.2 To note the receipt of payments

Precept £5000.00
Tom Smith Eskfest £ 150.00 Donation towards defibrillator box located at the Woolpack
D Pickles £ 229.20 Return of overpayment of salary/PAYE by retiring Clerk

15/19.3 To receive and note the bank reconciliation statements dated

None received The Clerk reported that this would be presented at each meeting when a bank statement was received and was to be signed off by a councillor as being correct.

15/19.4 To consider the Budget Comparison Report as at 30 April 2019 and determine action need to address deviations from the budget

It was noted there were as yet undetermined fines for non-submission of Annual returns and also non-payment of PAYE. It was unclear how quickly monies owed by the outgoing clerk could be recovered. A final figure was still being ascertained and once this figure had been confirmed a letter to be sent requiring payment within 14 days.

Concern was expressed about the ability of the Parish Council to meet its contractual agreement regarding the verge cutting for 2019.

Cllr Vickers to contact Council’s insurers to ascertain if the monies owed to the Parish Council would be covered by the policy.

The Clerk and Cllrs Shaftesley and Vickers to meet to ascertain financial situation.

The Clerk reported that she would produce a budget statement and present at the next meeting.

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15/19.5 Appointment of interim RFO

It was agreed that the Interim Clerk Mrs L Cooper would be the RFO

15/19.6 Bank Account – Change of Signatories and contact details

It was noted that there were problems establishing signatories at Natwest Bank. It was proposed by Cllr Shaftesley and Seconded by Cllr Brown that the account be moved to the Cumberland Building Society.

15/19.7 Review of position regarding PKF Littlejohn daring back to FY 2016/17 and PAYE issues

A meeting had been arranged from Monday 20 May 2019 to discuss the issues and determine the non-compliance.

15/19.8 To approve the Risk Assessment

This was deferred to the next meeting

15/19.9 To approve the Annual Governance Statement for 2018/19

It was agreed that this be deferred until after the Finance sub-committee meeting on 20 May.

16/19 Parish Matters

16/19.1 Appointment of new/Interim Clerk

It was agreed that Mrs L Cooper be appointed as Interim Clerk. A contract of employment to be agreed. Pay would be an hourly rate of £10.50. It was agreed that initially this would be 10 hours per month and a review of pay and hours to be undertaken in 6 months’ time.

Proposed by Cllr Kirkby, Seconded by Cllr Shaftesley

16/19.2 Training for Councillors

Cllrs Shaftesley, Hunt and Ashell had booked onto the Good Councillor Course at a cost of £200. After discussion it was agreed that the other councillors would attend courses, once the financial situation had been secured.

16/19.3 Lead Role for Councillors

1. Website
The clerk reported that it was a requirement that the Parish Council had an accessible website. It was noted that the current website access details were unknown. It was agreed that Cllr Ashell would work with the clerk to set up a new website. It was agreed that Cllr Ashell had permission to spend up to £130 to set up the new website. Any costs above that were to be referred back to the council.

2, Parish Plan
Cllrs Vickers, Hunt and Brown to lead on this

3.Bank Reconciliation
Cllr Kirkby to be responsible for checking the bank reconciliations presented by the Clerk

16/19.4 Feedback from World Heritage Public Consultation

Cllr Vickers reported that he had attended a LDNP World Heritage meeting at Keswick. LDNP are keen to encourage visitors to the park from around the world. It was noted that there was no infrastructure in place, nor monies to build one to encourage visitors away from the main centres.

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There was the possibility of a “visitor tax” to raise funds for infrastructure projects. It was hoped that communities would engage and set up local “visitor centres” to encourage visitors to areas.

It was noted that the World Heritage Status was given because of the sheep on the fells. It was noted that the present policy of “re-wilding” on the fells was upsetting the ecology balance in Ennerdale.

17/19 To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies

None

18/19 Correspondence

To discuss any correspondence received for open discussion
None received

19/19 Councillor Matters

None

20/19 Date of Next Meeting

7.30pm 11 June 2019 at Eskdale Green Village Hall

There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.40pm