June 23 2021 - Minutes
FULL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Nocton Hub, Nocton
23 June 2021
MINUTES
Present:
Councillors: Cllr. M. Clarke (Acting Council Chair), Cllr. G. McDonnell, Cllr. N. Faulkner
Clerk and RFO: Mr S Baxter
Members of the public: Seven plus Cllr Neil Byatt (Councillor from NKDC)
Meeting commenced at 7.30pm
AGENDA ITEMS AND DISCUSSIONS
1. The Chair’s welcome to all Councillors and any members of the public sitting in observation and opening remarks.
The Chair welcomed all persons present, including the District Councillor from the NKDC. He reminded all the attendees the meeting is being recorded (with the recording kept for 12 months) and also the social distancing requirements for the Nocton Hub.
The Chair stated that he had received an email from the previous Clerk who had requested that the email was read out at the next meeting which the Chair had agreed. The Chair read out the email and stated the email was in regard to concerns the previous Clerk had with some comments made and accepted in regard to records of the Council under her guardianship of these. The Chair stated that he took note of the contents and was aware of the details provided by the current clerk. He stated he does not wish to make any further comment or statement at the current time about the details.
2. Apologies for absence from Councillors – to agree the reasons for absence (if any)
There were no apologies as all Councillors were in attendance.
3. Declarations of interest – for the Council to note including dispensations presented to the Clerk
The Clerk confirmed that no declarations had been received from the Councillors.
4. Motion to exclude members of press and public from participation but able to view the meeting
The Chair stated would under his discretion still allow comments from attendees when it was felt it would be helpful to the meeting.
? Motion to exclude the members of the public and press from participation but allow them to view the meeting was proposed by Cllr. McDonnell, seconded by the Chair and agreed unanimously. Motion carried.
For the following agenda points members of the public will be asked to remain silent but will able to remain to watch.
5. Minutes of Clerk Advisory Council Meeting (08 June 2021) – to agree and vote as accurate record
The Clerk confirmed that the copy of the minutes had been sent to the Councillors for their review. They all agreed that the minutes were accurate.
The Chair permitted a member of the public to ask a question about two elements that were discussed at the Clerk Advisory Meeting but not included in the minutes: the report from a District Councillor that was allegedly emailed to the Council and the explanation from District Cllr Byatt about the Nocton Hall redevelopment.
The Clerk stated that he would ensure that the report from the District Councillor would be updated to the website.
In regard to the detail given by Cllr Byatt – the Clerk stated that this was an omission and the record of the update would be added as an addendum to the minutes and would be published on the website in the next week.
The Chair accepted the issues and agreed that the report and the update will be made available to the community with the minutes.
? Motion to agree the accuracy of the minutes of the Clerk Advisory Meeting was proposed by Cllr. McDonnell, seconded by the Chair and agreed unanimously. Motion carried. The minutes would actually be signed by the Clerk.
Action: The Clerk to ensure that the District Councillor and the update from Cllr Byatt to be published on the Council website.
6. Snagging List and work remaining from Maher Millard – update from Cllr Faulkner and the Clerk
Cllr Faulkner confirmed that he had met with Mr Millard of Maher Millard Construction in regard to the snagging list, the outstanding work left as well as the money owed to the Council. He stated that Mr Millard was very keen to ensure that the work outstanding and the snagging list was completed but that due to current materials issues, he was struggling to get all the necessary supplies and resources. Cllr Faulkner also stated that Mr Millard had detailed he thought there was some uncertainty of some work had discussed not being included in the contract. Overall Cllr Faulkner stated that he would be meeting with Mr Millard in the next few weeks to ensure progression was made.
The Chair allowed a request from Mr Goldworthy (a previous Chair of the Council) to update the Council – he stated that he was concerned that Mr Millard was now saying that some of the items on the snagging list and outstanding work were not included in the contract. He stated he was specifically involved in the management of the building and knew specifically what was and not paid for. He offered his help which the Chair agreed would be very beneficial to ensure that Mr Millard was kept to the contract and complete the work as agreed. He thanked Mr Goldworthy for his help.
Cllr Faulkner stated he would update the Council at the next meeting after progression had been made with Mr Millard.
7. Councillor vacancies update
The Chair asked the Clerk to update the Council. The Clerk stated that the Council had received notification from the Election Team at NKDC that they had received a letter signed by 10 electors of the community formally requesting an election for the three councillor vacancies following the three resignations. NKDC would release the details of the poll in due course as well as details of how people could stand for election.
The Clerk confirmed that the Councillor vacancy for Mr Duff’s former place will now formally advertised for cooption. The Clerk would publish the details of the website as well as on the village noticeboard on how people can apply to be co-opted.
Once the Council is made aware of the Poll, this would be released on the website and Facebook page.
8. Service Level Agreement with the Ripon Arms – update and recommendation from the Clerk to formally agree
The Chair stated that he had been made aware that the detail of the SLA between the Council and the Ripon Arms had been informally agreed and that thanks should be given to all parties for their determination to get the SLA fully agreed.
* Motion to agree Service Level Agreement between the Council and the Ripon Arms proposed by Cllr. McDonnell, seconded by Cllr Faulkner and agreed unanimously. Motion carried.
Action: The Clerk arranged the physical signing of the SLA document between the RA and the Council after the meeting. Both the RA and the Council have an original copy.
9. AGAR documents – recommendation and agreement on the formal submission of the AGAR documents
The Chair asked the Clerk to go through the details of the documents. The Clerk stated that the Annual Governance Annual Return (AGAR) documents detailed the overall statement of council operational governance as well as detailed information on the financial end of year figures. These documents would be published on the Council’s website. As the turnover was over £25k, the Council could not declare exemption and thus the documents would be submitted to the External Auditor by the 30 June 2021.
The Clerk stated that Annual Governance Statement and the Accounting Statements would need formally approving.
The Clerk also confirmed that the Notice of Inspection of AGAR and financial records would be published by the end of June 2021.
* Motion to agree the full AGAR (Annual Governance Statement and the Accounting Statements), as well as the Notice of Inspection of Documents was proposed by the Chair, seconded by Cllr Faulkner and agreed unanimously. Motion carried.
Action: The Clerk to ensure that the documents was published on the website including the Notice of Inspection – as well as on the Village noticeboard.
10. Welcome Pack for the Community – Council to discuss and agree (if they deem) to recommence the provision
The Chair stated that he was aware that there had been a lot of movement on the Welcome Pack and that the Clerk had been in regular contact with the Community Team. It was thought that there were just a few bits of information that was needed before the completed Welcome Pack was ready; the Community Team would be providing this to the Clerk in due course. The Chair agreed the initiative was a great idea and would bring the community together, it would also be good idea to have a copy on the Village Noticeboard.
The Clerk confirmed they were awaiting to hear from the Community Team to see what help the School could provide in printing the various documents. It was hoped that the packs would be ready for August 2021.
* Motion to agree that the Council participate in the Welcome Pack initiative and to work with the Community Team to manage the data was proposed by the Chair, seconded by Cllr McDonnell and agreed unanimously. Motion carried
Action: The Clerk to await the final pieces of information from the Community group as well as confirmation that the school would manage the printing. Once these are confirmed, then to publish the final Welcome Pack main sheet and pass to the Community Group.
11. Hub Management Group – agreement for the Terms of Reference
The Chair stated that the Clerk had distributed to agreed Terms of Reference of the HMG to the Councillors for their agreement. The Clerk stated that the main points were that the Ripon Arms would have a representative on the HMG, as well as the Hub Manager – both of whom would have full voting rights. The Council’s representative on the HMG would automatically be the HMG Chair.
The Chair allowed a comment from the attendees of the meeting. It was stated that the current members of the HMG had not been consulted on the ToR and that they were not aware of the actual ToR details.
The Chair apologised for this, he and the Clerk were under the impression that the initial ToR had been discussed by previous Councillors and that is why no further consultation had been made.
Cllr McDonnell stated that he had agreed to be the Council’s representative on the HMG (and thus the Chair of the HMG) – he apologised on behalf of the Council and confirmed he would meet all the former and proposed members of the HMG to ensure all views were taken into consideration before the formal ToR were agreed by the Council.
The Chair stated that he wished the agenda point to be moved to the next meeting to allow for the proper consultation of all relevant people.
Action: The Clerk to ensure that the proposed ToR was emailed to all relevant persons for their perusal and discussion. The formal agreement on the ToR would be on the next meeting.
12. Next Council meeting – to consider recommendation for next meeting
The Chair stated that as this meeting was being held a few weeks before it was normally scheduled, there would no meeting in July 2021 and the next meeting would be held in August but the Clerk would publish the date of the meeting on the website, village noticeboard and the Facebook page hopefully.
13. Questions from the Community – any questions are at the Chair’s discretion and limited to three minutes each
1) There was a question asked about how the letter signed by 10 electors has an effect on the members of the community wanting to join the Council?
The Clerk stated that if a Councillor resigns, passes away or their Councillorship is vacated from the Council, the process of how the seat is filled is proceeded either through a village poll election or by the co-option of an eligible person from the community. For there to be an election, there has to be a letter signed by 10 electors of the community sent to the Returning Officer of the District Council. If no letter is sent, then the Parish Council is allowed permission to advertise for appointment by co-option.
As a letter signed by 10 electors of the village of Nocton had been sent to the Returning Officer of NKDC, there would be a poll election for the three of the four vacant councillorships of the Parish Council. NKDC would provide the details of how eligible people can stand for the poll and how the poll will be managed in due course. The fourth Councillorship will be filled by co-option as permission was given by NKDC.
2) A question was asked about the update of the Parish Council seeking to install a Nocton Hub noticeboard?
The Clerk stated that the Council had recently received a very encouraging email from Dyson Farming in regard to the Council’s request for commercial help to fund the noticeboard. The Council wishes to thank Dyson Farming for their very generous offer of help from the Managing Director of Dyson Farming in that he would arrange the joinery team at his business to look to design and build the Hub noticeboard. The Council will update the community in due course once the design has been formulated and details of the build of the noticeboard.
The Chair reiterated that the Nocton Hub noticeboard would be for all hirers to promote their gatherings and events. It would also ensure that the Ripon Arms could advertise their functions.
Overall it was acknowledged that it had been a bumpy road in regard to the Hub opening due to Covid but the Council felt that it was moving forward well and bookings were increasing.
3) A question was asked to Cllr Byatt of NKDC – could NKDC confirm if Dyson Farming was still interested in the Nocton Hall development?
The Chair asked Cllr Byatt to update the Community.
Cllr Byatt stated that he was aware that Dyson Farming was interested in Nocton Hall and he believed they had presented commercial proposals in the past. He was not sure if they were still interested but that he would speak to the Planning Team at NKDC to ascertain if there was any update he could give to the community.
He reiterated that the NKDC was very pleased that the current owners of the Nocton Hall had now engaged with the Planning Team in regard to how to manage the development of the Nocton Hall, specifically the proper cost analysis of the renovation.
MEETING WAS CLOSED BY THE CHAIR AT 6.45PM
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After the Full Council Meeting, the Chair of the Ripon Arms (Mr Cunningham) and the Acting Chair of the Council (Cllr Clarke) signed the Service Legal Agreement between the Council and the Ripon Arms. They both agreed it was the re-emergence of a historical relationship between the organisations both of whom are committed to serving the community of Nocton.
Mr Cunningham (left) and Cllr Clarke (right)
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NOCTON PARISH COUNCIL
Clerk to the Parish: Mr S R Baxter JP MIFA ADPS ADIP Email: clerk@noctonparishcouncil.gov.uk Tel: 0781 444 3058