BARTON-ON-THE-HEATH PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF AN ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL on 16th March 2012 at 7pm
Present: Councillors: Brigadier J F Rickett (Chairman), Lt Col J B Henderson (Vice- Chairman),
Mrs G Cathie
Clerk: Mrs H Seymour-Smith
Hon. Treasurer: Capt J Castle RN
Mr J Shipton (Internal Auditor)
Public: Mr C Fance, Mr D Poulsom, Mrs J Poulsom, Mr Carl Morris, Mr E Hicks, Ms K France
District Councillor S Gray
1. Apologies: Mrs D Pelczynski & Mrs L Hayman-Joyce
2. The Minutes of the Ordinary General Meeting on the 28th October 2011 were approved, and the Chairman signed them.
Matters arising:
a) BT phone box – the Clerk reported that BT would not allow the removal of the phone box, as there had to be one for emergency use in every village.
b) The Vice-Chairman reported that the road into Camden Close was to be resurfaced on the 19th March
3. Financial matters: The Hon Treasurer reported as follows:
a) INTERIM STATEMENT. The Honorary Treasurer distributed a Second Interim Statement for the financial year. He pointed out that Stratford District Council (SDC) had only reimbursed the village £123.93 for the single grass cutting against the cost of £156.75. This was due to SDC calculating the reimbursement on the area of grass which would otherwise be cut by a contractor at a lower rate. He also pointed out that he had reclaimed £120.41 in VAT which had built up over the last two years. He concluded the report by stating that £838.17 was available to the Council and would probably be the credit balance at the end of the financial year.
The Council noted and accepted the report.
b) GRASS CUTTING. The Treasurer summarised briefly a reply he had received from Mr Tony Perks, Head of Technical Services, SDC, explaining why many villages received as many as 7 cuts per year where they did not manage their own contractor. There were economies of scale and guarantees for the council employed contractor to be busy throughout the year. The implication of the reply was that Barton would need to continue to subsidise grass cutting from the precept so long as the village continued to use its own contractor despite this being a cheaper procedure for SDC because there were few cuts properly carried out under supervision.
The Council noted the situation.
c) LINK SUBSCRIPTION FOR L GRAHAM.
The Council approved that the £7 subscription for Linda Graham to receive the LINK in support of her work in managing the village website, was approved.
d) DEPOSIT ACCOUNT. The Treasurer reported that he had opened a current and deposit account for the Parish Council and had closed the Cheltenham & Gloucester pass book account. He had access to the account on line and overall the new accounts had considerably eased the administrative load in arranging payments. He
intended to transfer £150 to the deposit account plus the money held for the South Warwicksire Neighbourhood Watch in order to start earning interest.
The Council noted the progress on the banking arrangements
4. Any Other Business:
a) Planning: Mr E Hicks reported that he was due a pre-application meeting with Stratford Planning Department the following Tuesday. He said he had taken all village comments into account, and was planning to issue plans to the Parish Council once he had received the pre-application advice from the Planning Department.
b) The Vice Chairman remarked that the pump, the seat and the wheel outside the bus shelter ought to be re-painted, and it was agreed that he would organise this in conjunction with the Treasurer.
c) The Vice Chairman read out a letter he had received from Buckingham Palace in response to his letter of good wishes from Barton to the Queen on her Jubilee.
d) The Hon. Treasurer mentioned the Mac Ride on the 1st April from 9.30-12
e) Councillor Gray reported that Council Tax budgets had been approved. The District Council share was down slightly, and the Police were raising theirs. On Planning, he reported that the new development framework was out for consultation.
f) The Vice Chairman reported the Police Commissioner election, 15th November in Barton.
5. Date of next meeting:
Ordinary General Meeting and Annual General Meeting Friday 1st June 2012
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