Minutes May 2023

CROWTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of Crowton Parish Council meeting held on

Tuesday 16th May 2023 at Crowton Village Hall

2023

Present Cllr Ralph Oultram (Chair) RO, Cllr Richard Thorne (Vice Chair) (RT)

Cllr Ross McCrickerd (RM) Cllr Elizabeth Stubbs (ES), Cllr Jennifer Currie (JC),

Cllr Roger Hammond (RH), Cllr Joel Rutter (JR), Ward Cllr Phil Rimmer

Clerk T Whitlow (TW) 1 member of the Public(MOP)

1 Apologies for Absence were received from:

Cllr Robert Stubbs (RS)

Ward Councillor Lynn Stocks

2 Declarations of Members’ Interests –RM – Coronation Event

3 Approve Minutes The minutes of the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday 28

March 2023 were approved & signed by the Chair

4 Public Participation

MOP raised issues of the potholes. RO & TW advised of the number of meetings

the PC has had with CWAC Highways over the past 12 months, and re-iterated

that all villagers are requested to use the CWAC “Report It App”

5 Matters arising from the Minutes of 28th March 2023

(1) Broadband – Factco continue the build work in and around Crowton, Norley &

Kingsley, at this point there is no longer any requirement of any further input from the

Parish Council

(2) Station Road surface- Pot Holes - CWAC now have new contractors in place

since 1st April, but to date no work has been carried out on Station Road, TW to

push this forward again.

(3) SID’s- The posts are now in place, the SID’s will be erected in the coming week,

TW to liaise with BS & TR, TW to purchase the clamps.

(4) Noticeboard Millennium Green – This has now been refurbished, Resolved to

re-imburse the MOP his costs

(5) Crewood Common Road –United Utilities have been back to Crewood

common but can’t carry out the required work due to the amount of mud on the

road. TW to contact Highways to get this cleared.

(6) Kings Coronation Event – (RM – Declaration of Interest) The PC thanked RM

for all his work in hosting a fabulous Coronation Event for the village, where free

refreshments were given to all, it was Resolved to give The Hare & Hounds a £700

donation towards the cost of this event, which equates to less than £2 per villager,

as per the budget.

6 Ward Councillor Report – The PC welcomed Ward Cllr Phil Rimmer, as one of the

newly elected Ward Councillors, as only having done his training course and

picked up his council laptop last week PR had no report to give at this time. The

PC would also like to thank the outgoing – retiring- Ward Councillors Paul Williams

and Charles Fifield for all their hard work and support to Crowton over the past 4

years

7 Millennium Green

(1) External fence – This on-going issue between the PC and Highways in respect of

ownership is still not resolved, although now that volunteers have removed the

trees, the volunteer group think it may be possible to repair the concrete/metal

fence. This will be looked at when they are on site again on 20th June RO to help

with the use of a tractor if required. TW to continue to liaise with Highways over

the ownership of the fencing.

8 To Agree the 2022/23 Accounts – TW advised that the accounts have been

audited and presented the account to the Council. Resolved to agree the

accounts, signed by the chair.

9 Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) – TW read out the AGAR.

The Council agreed all items, signed by the chair.

Certificate of Exemption agreed.

Notice of Rights to be published from 19/06/23 to 28/07/23. To be displayed on

the Notice board and the website on 04/06/23.

TW to complete all paperwork and return to the external auditor.

10 Planning Applications –

No new planning applications have been received this month.

The PC asked TW to follow up on the refusal of planning permission on Norley

Lane to ensure that the previous building and concrete slab are removed.

Also to follow up with enforcement the activities at Little Brook Farm.

11 Correspondence – TW had received a letter from a MOP who is organising a

charity horse ride, requesting to take 30-40 horses through the Millennium Green

to avoid the necessity to ride on Kingsley Road, due to the narrow road and bend

opposite Crewood Common. This was discussed. Resolved not to allow as the

trust and the PC have a no horse policy, including “no horses” signs and this would

give the wrong impression to anyone else in the area.

The PC would like to remind parishioners that the point of contact for the Parish

Council is the clerk, and to email her at clerk@crowtonpc.com , in particular those

who visit RM at his home/work premises to discuss village issues on a regular

basis. The Hare & Hounds is not to be seen as a parish council office.

12 AccountsPayments agreed:

(1) Clerk’s salary April ratified

(2) Clerks salary May

(3) Clerks salary June

(4) Clerks expenses March & April £86.05

(5) Refund JC expenses £24.00

(6) Hare & hounds donation towards the Coronation Event £700

(7) Refund LS expenses on production of receipts

(8) Payment for installation of SID posts upon receipt of invoice, as per quote

TW confirmed the budget figure of £400 for plants for the year, to be refunded

to councillors purchasing plants for the village planters.

13 Items for next agenda –

Highways update

Millennium Green update

Village Fayre update

14 Date for next meeting – Due to elections the next meeting will be Tuesday 11th

July 2023 at 7pm

The meeting closed at 8.45 pm.