19/63

To elect a Chairman & receive the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Cllr Stevenson then signed the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

19/64

Receive/accept apologies and welcome to the Public

19/65

Questions from registered electors

• Changing the equipment to encourage older unsupervised children could result in noise disturbance later into the evenings. The fact that Lorkin Daniell Field cannot be closed off to the public means that there will be no control on how late into the evenings older children can congregate there thus bringing disturbance to local residents. 
• Similar playgrounds are generally located in wide open spaces well away from residents’ homes. Examples of these are Eight Ash Green and Marks Tey.
• There are a number of cases that can be easily found on the internet where the council have stepped in and forced closure due to complaints made by local residents of the noise disturbance. The resident urged the Parish Council and Trustees to seriously consider the placement of larger play equipment in such close proximity to people’s homes as this could result in closure and therefore be a complete waste of the time and money invested in the project.
• For the purposes of applying and obtaining the Community Initiatives Fund (CIF) he questioned how it was established that the project had “full” community support when, at that stage, there had not been appropriate consultation.

However, it was also noted that Parish Council minutes are not intended to be a verbatim record of every word uttered merely a summary of the discussions had and more importantly a record of the resolutions agreed. The resident’s points were also raised at the Annual Parish Meeting and the council understands the issues attached to a possible change of activities on the site.

These comments have been passed on to the Playground Advisory Group and the resident has been reminded that the online survey was also available at present to record his concerns.

19/66

Declarations of Interest

19/67

Minutes

19/68

Report from Colchester Borough Councillors

19/69

Finance

a)

To approve Section 1 of the 2018-19 Annual Return – Annual Governance Statement

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to approve Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement 2018-19 of the Annual Return. Cllr Short seconded. All in favour.

Section 1 was then signed by Cllr Stevenson, as Chairman of the meeting, and the Clerk.

b)

To approve Section 2 of the 2018-19 Annual Return – the Accounting Statements

Section 2 was then signed by Cllr Savage, as RFO, and Cllr Stevenson, as Chairman.

The Exercise of Public Rights Notice will be put up on the notice boards on Monday 17th June until Friday 26th July 2019.

19/70

Constitution

a)

To elect Vice Chair(s) and a Responsible Finance Officer

RESOLVED – Vice Chairs

Cllr Stone was proposed as Vice Chair by Cllr Short, seconded by Cllr Church. All in favour. Cllr Stone was elected as Vice Chair to West Bergholt Parish Council.

Cllr Butcher was proposed as Vice Chair by Cllr Savage, seconded by Cllr Spencer. All in favour. Cllr Butcher was elected as Vice Chair to West Bergholt Parish Council.

RESOLVED – Responsible Finance Officer (RFO)

Cllr Savage was proposed as RFO by Cllr Stone, seconded by Cllr Church. All in favour. Cllr Savage was elected as Responsible Finance Officer to West Bergholt Parish Council.

The Responsible Finance Officer’s duties include preparation of the annual budgets, monitoring of the council’s accounts and ensuring the Council’s internal controls are robust and up to date. He also ensures that the financial accounting of the council complies with its Financial Regulations and has a statutory obligation to sign the Annual Return (AGAR).

b)

To appoint members to the Council’s standing committees and related sub-committees i.e. Planning, Environment, Premises, Staffing Sub-Committee, Village Bulletin (individual reps will be appointed at Committee meetings)

RESOLVED – Members appointed to Committees as follows:

Planning Committee: Cllr Butcher, Cllr Harlow, Cllr Savage, Cllr Smith, Cllr Tyrrell

Environment Committee: Cllr Church, Cllr Gili-Ross, Cllr Short, Cllr Smith, Cllr Spencer, Cllr Stone

Premises Committee: Cllr Butcher, Cllr Church, Cllr Harlow, Cllr Stone, Cllr Tyrrell

Individual representatives for Footpaths and Transport will be decided at the forthcoming Committee meetings.

Finance Committee (Advisory): will automatically include the RFO, Chairman, Vice Chairs & Chairs of Committees once elected. The Staffing Sub Committee will also be agreed in the coming Finance meeting.

Village Bulletin Committee: Cllr Harlow & Cllr Spencer will represent WBPC at the Bulletin meetings.

c)

To note receipt of Councillors Declaration of Acceptance of Office Forms and Consent to Receive the Council Summons & Agenda Electronically

Both sets of forms were received from Councillors and signed by the Clerk (Proper Officer).

d)

Reminder for Councillors to complete their latest Register of Members’ Interests

Councillors were reminded to submit their Reg of Mem Interests to the Clerk as soon as possible.

e)

To review and ratify West Bergholt Parish Council’s Standing Orders

RESOLVED – Cllr Church proposed to approve the current WBPC Standing Orders, Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour.

f)

To review and ratify West Bergholt Parish Council’s Financial Regulations

The WBPC Financial Regulations were read through with all possible choices agreed by the full council.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to approve the amended WBPC Financial Regulations, Cllr Stone seconded. All in favour.

ACTION – Clerk to recirculate the amended Financial Regulations prior to publication on the website.

g)

To review and ratify West Bergholt Parish Council’s Committees Terms of Reference

Due to findings of the internal audit the WBPC Terms of References for its Committees will require amendments. This item will be revisited at a future Council meeting.

h)

To review and ratify West Bergholt Parish Council’s Code of Conduct

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to approve the WBPC Code of Conduct, Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour.

i)

To review and ratify all documents linked to West Bergholt Parish Council’s Information & Data Protection Policy including the CCTV and WiFi Policies

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to approve the Data Protection documents listed below, Cllr Spencer seconded. All in favour.

Last four documents no longer required as covered by published Privacy Notice. The Hall Hirers Privacy Notice will become a Trust policy.

CCTV and WiFi Policies:

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to approve the current CCTV & WIFI Policies, Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour.

19/71

General Power of Competence

To reaffirm the council’s resolution that its eligibility remains in place to adopt the General Power of Competence, following the local council elections

It was noted that all 11 Councillors have been recently elected and the Clerk remains qualified, therefore West Bergholt Parish Council can retain the General Power of Competence.

19/72

Training

• CIF Briefing – 03/05/19 – Cllr Stone

Cllr Stone updated the Council on the recent CIF Briefing which he attended. There will be £300,000 a year available for the next two years, with an emphasis on health & well-being. In regard to our previous CIF grant, it is essential that we feed back the outcomes and that any new applications are fundamentally different from the first. Although, the initial grant was for “Phase 1” so the panel are already aware that there will be a Phase 2 and/or Phase 3. Preliminary interest in the grant must be expressed by 31st May.

19/73

Items to Note

1. Clerks & Councils Direct – Issue 123 – May 2019
2. LCR – NALC Magazine – Spring 2019
3. EALC – Certificate of Membership – 2019/2020

19/74

In Committee

To progress interest in the potential acquisition of the Methodist Church & Hall and continued discussions with the agent.

Document A was given to Council members for discussion, several amendments were made to it which the Clerk & Chairman will complete. The document will then be re-circulated to the full council for comment.

RESOLVED – When the changes are approved it was agreed that the letter be sent to express the Council’s potential interest in the site.

RESOLVED – It was agreed that any public consultation should be undertaken as a joint approach with St Mary’s Church and that the Council should continue the ongoing discussions with them.

19/75

Date of Next Meeting