BARKHAM PARISH COUNCIL
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Minutes of meeting of the Barkham Parish Council held on 9th January 2018
in Barkham Village Hall at 8.00 p.m.
Present: MrsP.Stubbs (in the Chair), MrF.A. Scott, Mr L. Heath, Mr. D. Oxbrough,Mr. C. Heyliger,
Mr K. Lane, Mr R. Rowe, Mr G. Dexter, Mr J. Kaiser (Borough Councillor) and the Clerk.
Also Present: Ms A Ward Clerk for Arborfield and Newlands Parish
Apologies: Mr A. Crook,
Declarations of Interests
None Received
18/832Minutes of meeting held on 13th December 2017 were approved and signed as a true record.
Meeting adjourned in order that any members of the public could address the Council on any matters or concerns relating to Barkham
BPC was addressed by Mr R King. He wished to ask for the support of the Council regarding the Drainage at Barkham Bridge. He had spoken to Francesca Hoskins at WBC regarding plans for works on the bridge. He was informed that there were plans to work on the Eastern side of the bridge, but none currently for the Western side that has the issue. There is a planned programme of replacement of inoperative drains between the Bridge and Scarlett’s Folly, where there is little risk of flooding, but none for the problem area. His questions as to why no plans for work on the western side were in place have yet to be answered, so he is seeking help and support for the Parish Council.
Mr Oxbrough responded that he was frustrated with ongoing drainage issues at WBC. There have been jet washers used to clear drains, including any tree roots from Bailiffs Cottage to The Bull Public House, but these have not helped. There are concerns over flooding freezing as any salt put down gets washed away. There are ongoing discussions, but due to SGN working on a gas pipe, nothing can be done until February.
An email has been received from Francesca to say she is visiting the site this week with a contractor and to meet with a resident, the date is yet to be confirmed. Mr Oxbrough wishes to attend this site visit.
Mr Oxbrough has arranged to meet with Mr King on 10/01/2018 at 2pm to discuss this further.
Mrs Stubbs suggested that maybe WBC could use the same holes as SGN. Mr King said that the ditch could be cleared on the southern side, to take excess water which would help a little, but as it currently stood it has not been cleaned for years and needs this doing. Could suggest to WBC.
Mr King left and Meeting reconvened.
18/833 Planning
Mr Heath to to contact Mr David Lee regarding the Letwin Enquiry. Mr Lee is meeting Mr Letwin on 16/01/2018. As a letter to Mr Letwin has already been prepared, it would be most helpful if Mr Lee could pass this directly to Mr Letwin.
18/834Highways
Biggs Lane temporary roundabout dangerous. There is very poor signage and if you do not know the area, you could quite easily go the wrong way round the roundabout.
BPC met with WBC Traffic to follow on from the meeting held in Feb 2017 – draft notes of the meeting have been circulated and few additions made which have been agreed by WBC. Mrs Stubbs confirmed that the last input from BPC – exact location of speeding concerns in Barkham Road – had been provided. Mr Dexter will confirm timing of next stages with WBC.
18/835Litter
The Badger has been removed.
Piles of bottles and other litter in passing places on Commonfield Lane by Highbarn Farm needs to be reported.
18/836Finance and to agree the precept for 2018/19
BALC – General Data Protection Course for Clerk290£48.00 (£40.00 exc VAT)
ISS Facility Services – empty bin at The Coombes for December291£26.52 (£22.10 exc VAT)
Barkham Village Hall – rent for Sept, October & November292£86.25
Groundwork UK – unused Neighbourhood Plan grant293£191.38
J. Neuhofer – expenses and stamps 1.4.17 – 9.1.18294£155.43
Standing Order for Clerk’s salary for January£742.80
Standing Order to Royal Bor. Windsor – Pension Fund for Clerk£197.41
For month of January (Employee & employer contribution)
Cheques were signed by Mrs Stubbs and Mr Heath
Precept
Mr Rowe had items to propose for the precept for agreement.
1. Accounting software:
Mr Rowe had looked at several accounting packages that the council could adopt the use of. These are:
RBS Software Rialtus Alpha Finance package (an option suggested by the internal auditor)
Replaces home grown spreadsheets, and those used by other parishes, with a scalable tailor made local government solution that should help our new Clerk and expand with new parish needs as they arise Alternative is SAGE 50 package that’s more expensive at c.£500 and more complex than we require.
Cost quote is £639 year one (plus install mileage of c. £45) making c. £684.
Three year overall contract cost adds c. £238 (2 years maintenance/support) – subject to review (5% over inflation breakpoint), totalling c. £877.
The RBS Package is designed specifically for Parish Councils. Mr Rowe suggested we could speak with other councils who use the software to see if they found it worthwhile.
Mr Rowe proposed to seek purchase approval in principal at this meeting, subject to demo participant’s final agreement for the RBS Rialtus Alpha Finance Package
Vote: All agreed in Principle subject to satisfaction with the demo.
The online demo and Q&A session will be attended by Mr Rowe, Mrs Stubbs, Mr Lane And Mrs Tims (Clerk) and will take place at Mr Lanes address.
2. Equipment Write-down Proposal
Retiring Clerk Mrs Neuhofer’s home office has a HP 7520 printer that’s expensive to run (£350 of ink so far this year) – purchase cost £134, zero write down value.
LG Monitor screen W1943SI that’s small and at least 7 years old – purchased in bundle so cost unknown – estimate £100, zero write down value.
Logitech Wireless Keyboard / Mouse worn out and probably acquired in same package as screen – estimate £40, zero write down value.
Mr Rowe proposed to seek approval to write-down these assets, remove from asset register and donate to Mrs Neuhofer
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Vote: All agreed
3. Replacement Office Equipment
Replace above printer (ink cost efficient), monitor screen & keyboard/mouse – estimate £300
Back-up storage device (cloud? + drive/stick) – estimate £100
Adjustable screen stand (existing foot rest at office) to meet H&S, plus USB peripheral hub – estimate £75
Cross-Cut shredder – estimate £50
Mr Rowe proposed to seek approval to acquire above and add to asset register.
Vote: All agreed
4. Replacement MS Office Licence
Existing licences tied to Mrs Neuhofer’s personal account, propose to buy MS Office 365 software-as-a-service at £7.95 per month (OPEX) registered to a new BPC account.
Mr Rowe proposed to seek approval to acquire above under OPEX, no asset register entry
Vote: All agreed
5. Proposal to open a new on-line bank account to allow alternatives to cheques while maintaining multiple approvals.
a/ Unity Trust Bank commonly used by parishes (Arborfield, Finchampstead etc.) at £6 per month fee
b/ FSCS coverage (£85k) recently extended to local authorities so two new savings accounts should be sought by the Clerk
Mr Rowe proposed to seek approval for Clerk to proceed with above accounts
Vote: All agreed
6. Parish Web Site Access
Mrs Neuhofer still has single access admin logon to administer Barkham Village Hall calendar bookings.
While possible to ‘share’ this access it’s preferable that they should be separate logons with Mrs Neuhofer’s being to the calendar only.
Mr Rowe proposed to seek approval for Clerk to pursue this with site service provider and if not possible / cost effective then all changes should only be made by Clerk
Vote: All agreed
Mr Rowe then ran through all the precept changes for the year 17/18 and the precept for the coming year 18/19. The precept for year 18/19 will be £31.56 and increase of 3.98% on Band D Equivalent on year 17/18.
Mr Rowe will ask WBC for their calculations regarding the Band D equivalence figure supplied given the number appears to underestimate the amount of houses projected to be built through to 2019 and the increase over the last year as derived from the Electoral Roll.
Mr Rowe proposed to put forward this as per current numbers for adoption by the committee.
Vote: All agreed
18/837To Discuss the Parish Office at the Community Centre
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There has been contact from Lauren Baker with regards to the phone line at the office. Crest Nicholson are writing off the cost of the year’s phone line rental and this needs to transfer to BPC. Mr Rowe has spoken to BT regarding this and is currently looking into the best deal for the package at the Parish office. He will email out options for this in due course.
10pm – All agreed to continue with the meeting
A request to Crest Nicholson for a post box was made last year and granted, however the post box has not yet arrived. Clerk to liaise with Linda at Crest Nicolson to resolve this.
Signage at the community centre to promote that the Parish Council office is there is very poor. There is lots of signage by Crest Nicholson for Arborfield Green, but none promoting the office. Clerk to liaise with Mr Lane regarding obtaining some signage for the office.
A draft contract has been given to the Clerk, it just needs to be finalised and signed by both parties.
Office opening times are likely to be 10am – 12pm on a Monday and Wednesday, these also need to be finalised.
18/837 To Discuss the future working with Thames Valley Police
Mr Rowe and Mr Heyliger have been interviewed, their application is still ongoing. Mr Dexter has sent in an application and is awaiting to hear.
18/838 Local Plan Update – Mr Heath
It is not clear whether the Local Plan Update has made much progress as major decisions re Grazeley and Ruscombe have not been resolved. The future of Barkham Square remains a major concern: Mr Heath willcontact Ian Bellinger.
18/839 Neighbourhood Plan – Mr Heath
The plan is being redrafted. We are still expecting to have the Neighbourhood Plan completed before the Local Plan Update is completed.
Landscape assessment is becoming a significant issue: The current WBC landscape assessment is farily old (2004). Funds could be sought from Localiy for a review: if we do this, an early application is needed as there is a cut off for applications at the end of January. At some point we also need to commission a “Health Check”.
18/840 Borough Councillor's Report – Mr Kaiser
Arborfield Bypass has 1 objection by a resident. Gary Cowan will be speaking in favour. The line on the plan is the actual line. It will have a green bridge and cycle lane. The junction at Swallowfield Road will be a staggered junction. The bypass is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Planning applications – It would be beneficial to have expert opinions on objection submissions as this will open up a discussion for the planning committee. He urges the Parish to consider this as if there are 2 opposing views then a debate can be had on the proposal, and it will give stronger grounds to refuse an application.
This may be a possibility with Oakwood View as a first step. A consultant would need to be found. First steps would be to contact Paul Townsend. Alison mentions Bell Cornwell in Basingstoke provides this service. It was agreed to investigate further.
18/841Correspondence
No Correspondance
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18/842Councillors Forum
Mr Heath, we need to discuss the magazine. BPC is looking into doing their own magazine alongside the BVRA newsletter editions.
The BVRA currently produces a newsletter four times a year and it is subscribed to by half of the village for a fee. The BPC magazinewould be funded from advertising, 6 times a year, free of charge and delivered to the whole village. A letter also needs to be drafted and sent to the BVRA responding to their request for funding as a separate matter.
The initial funding for the BPC magazine is to be allocated from Parish Office Services reserves.
An action plan is needed for the newsletter. Mr Rowe and Mr Lane are to speak with the new Chairperson of BVRA prior to the action plan to explain the Parish Councils reasons for creating their own magazine and identify anyissues arising.
Mr Lane – Mrs Neuhofer’s Retirement. We need to decide what form of recognition we are giving to Mrs Neuhofer for her outstanding service over the last 20 years. This will be discussed at a later date. Mr Dexter proposed a memorial donation to be made to the British Heart Foundation from the council for in memory of Mrs Neuhofers husband, Keith. It was agreed by all councillors that a donation of £100 would be made to the British Heart Foundation.
Mr Dexter - The Cratus/Crest Nicholson District Centre minutes had been received and Mrs Stubbs has acknowledged this indicating that BPC may wish to make some specific comments. It was agreed that Mr Dexter should follow up by referring to the location of the new Community Centre and how it would be better located adjacent to the open areas.
There is to be a public consultation on the 18th January 2018. It is believed to be between 4 and 7 pm. The location is not yet known. Mr Heath will contact Nick Chancellor.
Mr Heyliger with regards to Mrs Neuhofer’s retirement, he is away from 16th January until 5th March, so could arrangements be made for after these dates.
Meeting closed at 10.50 p.m.
Next meeting of full Council will be held on 13th February at 8.00 p.m.
Next meeting of Planning Committee will be held on 23rd January 2018 at 7.30 p.m.