Draft Minutes

VOWCHURCH & DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL
Michaelchurch Escley, Newton, St Margarets, Turnastone, Vowchurch.
Minutes of the Vowchurch & District Group Parish Council meeting on
Thursday 21st November 2024 in Vowchurch & Turnastone Memorial Hall

PRESENT – Councillors E May (Chair), S Craddock, A Picton, G Deas, R Lloyd, J Andrews, E Williams, and A Mason.

  1. ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Councillors I Chadwick, D Cross, and the police.
  2. RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST & CONSIDER ANY WRITTEN APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION – There were no declarations of interest or written request for dispensation.
  3. ADOPT MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL – 17th October 2024 – The minutes were signed as a true and accurate record.
  4. OPEN DISCUSSION – No members of the public attended the meeting therefore no specific points were raised.
  5. REPORTS
    5.1 Local Police – The local police were unable to attend the meeting. PCSO Andrzejewska had reported via email that there had been no crime in the area since the last meeting in October.
    5.2 Ward Councillor – Ward Councillor Engel’s report include: –
    There are currently only six Locality Stewards covering Herefordshire and they are occasionally deployed to work in areas that need urgent attention. BBLP are in the process of recruiting but it will be next Spring before training is completed. It is thought they will be taken ‘in-house’ under the new regime.
    Labour plans for devolution – still on the cards but is not discussed much locally.
    Parish Charter – Ward Councillor Engel had met with Councillor Deas and Councillor Cooke form Longtown PC. Ward Councillor Engel currently thought that the charter would probably not achieve much but it can do no harm as far as the Parish Council are concerned. Councillor Deas does have huge issues with the charter in its current state.
    Highways have asked how flooding last month affected the area. It was noted that the only route of access to the area was via Ewyas Harold/Rowlestone as many roads were impassable due to surface flooding. As always ditch clearance is an issue and more drainage is needed to remove surface water quickly.
    Ward Councillor Engel left the meeting.
    5.3 Lengthsman – The lengthsman was unable to attend the meeting. His monthly reports had been forwarded to Councillors prior to the meeting.
  6. CLERKS UPDATE – The Clerks update included: –
    The adoption of the telephone box in Newton St Margarets has now been completed.
    The Locality Steward has advised that continually reporting defects on the B4348 would be the only way to pass this on to the asset management team requesting the road be re-surfaced. Unfortunately, the Locality Steward cannot attend evening meetings but would be happy to arrange a meeting in the day to discuss any issues, time allowing.
    The Clerk has chased the highways team regarding the Traffic Regulation Order at Vowchurch, this is currently waiting for internal approval before forwarding to the Parish Council.
    The caravans at Mountain View Farm are now classed as permitted development until the barn is completed by November 2028. Planning would then be required for residential use to allow caravans to remain.
    Councillor Williams confirmed he still has four bags of salt stored locally for parish use.
  7. PLANNING
    7.1 PLANNING CONSULTATION
    Site: National Grid Electricity Distribution, Bonnylands Radio Station, The Tower, Dorstone, Herefordshire.
    Description: Application for prior notification of proposed development by telecommunications code systems operators for the installation of a new mast with antennas and dishes, cable gantry and support poles and ancillary development thereto.
    Application No: 242617 Grid Ref: 328795:239700
    SUPPORT – The Parish Council agreed to support the proposed development of telecommunication in the area.
    7.2 PLANNING PERMISSION REFUSED
    Site: Land at Chanstone Court Farm, Vowchurch, Herefordshire. HR2 0QE.
    Description: The proposal is for the siting of 1 timber-built fully accessible treehouse, which is a cabin built on pile foundations plus associated landscaping and parking. The unit would provide accommodation for 6-8 guests, year-round.
    Application No: 240836 Grid Ref: 336391:235653
    7.3 PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED
    Site: Quarry House, Michaelchurch Escley, Herefordshire. HR2 0JW
    Description: Proposed front porch to north west elevation, two cat slide dormer windows to north west elevation to match existing, conservation roof lights to north west elevation single storey roof. Increase size of ground floor window opening to North West elevation and additional cat slide dormer window to south east elevation to match existing.
    Application No: 242380 Grid Ref: 331754:234104
  8. FINANCE
    8.1 Confirmation of bank balance – £17,861.66 dated 31st October 2024.
    To include £5.40 bank charges
    Receipts – £1398.00 Lengthsman claim
    8.2 Payment to Mrs Linda Cowles for November 2024 (including back pay) and December 2024 Clerk’s hours, £1.55 postage, Printer at £39.98 gross (VAT £6.66), Ink cartridge at £28.98 gross (VAT £4.83), Laptop at £449.00 gross (VAT £74.84), Computer mouse at £13.99 gross (VAT £2.33) and Microsoft Office at £119.99 gross (VAT £20.00) – The Clerk advised that the Microsoft Office package was no longer needed as the current license has been transferred from the previous computer, payment was therefore agreed less £119.99.
    8.3 Payment to Mr T Griffiths invoice no. TGC2939 roads account October 2024 (1) of £559.20 gross (VAT £93.20) – Payment agreed.
    8.4 Payment to St Johns church parish room of £30.00 for meeting room hire – Payment agreed.
    8.5 Donations – It was agreed to donate £200 to Dore Community Transport. Donation requests for the rest of the financial year will be agreed on a case-by-case basis.
    8.6 Budget 2025/26 – The 2025/26 budget was considered and approved.
  9. PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY NEW SCHEME AND GRANT FUNDING – The Clerk advised that written permission from the landowner would be needed before any works can take place. Landowner details have been requested from Herefordshire Council. Councillor Deas has agreed to try to find landowner details in his area. Councillors May and Deas have met with the Clerk to discuss the necessary work on replacing fingerposts as these are on verges and not anybody’s land. Herefordshire Council have also agreed to fund the cost of £100.00 to install 4 x new finger posts. It was agreed to go ahead and order the remaining materials so as to not lose the funding. The Lengthsman has agreed to store these.
  10. DRAINAGE GRANT FUNDING – The Clerk has only recently become aware that Herefordshire Council will only fund a maximum of £25,000 between the Lengthsman funding, PROW funding and the latest drainage grant funding. The Parish Council have therefore been awarded £9199.00 for the drainage grant. The Clerk is trying to establish if the total figure of Lengthsman funding can be used between each section other than PROW which is separate. If so, most of the areas that need work should be completed under the total lengthsman/drainage fund. The Clerk will advise in due course.
  11. HEREFORDSHIRE AND PARISH AND TOWN COUNCIL CHARTER – The Parish Council have some concerns regarding the charter, its legality and its purpose. Councillors are volunteers and some things in the charter should not be the responsibility of the Parish Council. Herefordshire Council have asked how this should be authorised and put into effect – It was agreed to favour Proposal B – the charter is put out to each Council to approve and once all have approved, it is put into force.
  12. PRE-ORDER CONSULTATION HIGHWAY ACT 1980 SECTION 119, PROPOSED PUBLIC PATH DIVERSION ORDER SM14/SM15 – It was agreed that the current official footpath route does run through the homeowner’s house. The Parish Council would be in favour of the suggested alternative.
  13. WOODLAND MANAGEMENT PLAN AT WHITE HOUSE WOOD – The management plan currently states that the fire risk is low. It was agreed that this may not be the case. The parish council would like some provision for possible fire breaks, development of ponds or fire hydrants.
  14. NOTICEBOARDS – The Escley Sports Federation have agreed that a notice board can be placed near the entrance to the cricket pavilion. Councillor Picton has obtained a quote for of £1530.00, this was cheaper than equivalent quotes obtained by the Clerk. It was agreed to go ahead with the quote from The Village Carpenter. It was also agreed to investigate costs of refurbishing the existing noticeboard in Michaelchurch and moving to Newton St Margarets near the soon to be refurbished telephone kiosk.
  15. HOLIDAY LET ACCOMMODATION – Councillor May suggested that it would be a good idea to know how much holiday accommodation is available in the area. This does fluctuate and there are many different forms of accommodation. It may be a possibility to provide a leaflet reminding visitors of the countryside code. It was agreed to defer to the January meeting to enable Councillors to come up with a list in their area.
  16. MEETING DATES 2025 – It was agreed to continue meeting on the 3rd Thursday of the month except for August and December alternating between Vowchurch & Turnastone Memorial Hall, Michaelchurch Pavilion and Newton Church Room. Due to the Clerks annual leave the date of the April and May meetings will be brought forward by one week. It was agreed to discuss the Annual Parish meeting again at the January meeting.
  17. NEWSLETTER – Local businesses links on the Parish Council website, Stiles available to landowners, local salt supplies and defect reporting via Herefordshire Council website.
  18. NOTE THE CORRESPONDENCE SHEET – The correspondence sheet was noted.
  19. RAISE MATTERS FOR THE NEXT ORDINARY MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL – Thursday 16th January 2025 at 7.30pm at Vowchurch & Turnastone Memorial Hall – Holiday accommodation, Annual meeting.

A RESOLUTION WAS PASSED TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC & PRESS DUE TO EMPLOYMENT MATTERS

  1. PARISH CLERK ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND SALARY REVIEW – It was agreed to increase the Clerks salary by 63p per hour as per the agreed NALC 2024/25 national salary award, backdated to April and increase the salary to SCP 25 from 1st December 2024.
    With an increase in work load it was agreed that the Clerk would monitor hours worked to establish if the current six hours per week were enough to complete weekly tasks.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 9.30pm.

Signed……………………………………………………………………….
Dated………………………………………………………………………..


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