RPC Minutes 5th December 2018

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Ruscombe Parish Council

Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council

Held in the William Penn Room, Loddon Hall, Twyford

On Wednesday 5th December 2018 at 7:30pm

Councillors Present: Mr J May (chairman), Mr M Evans, Mr C Bell, Mrs C Bulman and Mr P Cassidy.

Twyford Parish Councillor Present: Mrs L Jarvis.

Clerk in attendance: Mrs R Reid.

Mr May opened the meeting at 7:35pm.

320 Apologies for absence: Mrs K Robson, Mr G Howe and Mr A Wrigley.

321 Declaration of Interests: Mr May, Mr Evans and Mr Bell declared that they are directors of the Campaign to Protect Rural Wokingham (CPRW).

322 Minutes: Minutes from 7^th November 2018 circulated. Mr May has made an amendment to point 316 to add that Mr Bell will help with Planning work, but he is unable to start that until 2019. Proposed by Mr Bell, seconded by Mr Evans, approved unanimously.

323 Public Forum: No members of the public were in attendance.

324 Update from Twyford Parish Councillor: Mrs Jarvis reported that WBC had requested TPC’s three most important priorities. They decided

Impact of development
Affordable housing
Congestion within the village

TPC have produced a flyer that will be going out to all residents in Twyford about their neighbourhood plan. The twinning exchange for Remembrance Day worked out very well. TPC are considering a new website which they have been told would cost approximately £3,000. Mrs Bulman asked if Mrs Jarvis knew the reason why TPC had not awarded grants to the Twyford Snooker club and Keep Mobile. Mrs Jarvis confirmed they had not donated but was unsure of the exact reason why not.

325 Update from Wokingham Borough Councillor: Although no one was in attendance, Mr Bell updated that he knew WBC were still undergoing a lot of change within their executive committee. Mr Howe has emailed through a document about StarWorks written by Mr Halsall and himself. RPC will endorse this document, Mr Evans will email it and write about RPC being a neighbouring parish and that any development of StarWorks will affect Ruscombe too.

326 Neighbourhood Plan: All residents in Ruscombe have been delivered a leaflet about the Neighbourhood Plan. Nine volunteers volunteered to help with the distribution of these leaflets, which really helped. Mrs Reid has received some feedback, mostly to communicate that people agree that they want the Green belt land protected. The next step of the Neighbourhood Plan is to produce a Questionnaire. Mrs Reid will edit the current one and distribute for comments. It is expected most questions will be ‘prioritise the following’ type questions. The last question will be ‘Have we missed anything that you feel is important?’, to make sure we are really representing people’s opinions.

327 CIL: RPC are due to pay for the Topographical Survey for Pennfields today. Mrs Reid is unsure of exactly when the survey is being carried out, but once the results are received, they will be circulated.

Other ideas for CIL include

Glebeland opposite St James Church – Mrs Reid will email the Diocese of Oxford and ask if they would consider selling it.
Fences around the church – Mrs Reid will email Angie Gibson to ask if that would be a suitable CIL purchase.
Crossing at Piggott end of Wargrave Road – this is outside of Ruscombe area, but lots of Ruscombe school children do need to do that walk and cross the Wargrave Road.
Boundary signs
Loddon Hall doors
Light up speed signs

328 Planning Applications:

183226 – This application is a follow up application which covers a soil survey that concludes the land is now in a condition that is safe for residential development to take place. Mrs Reid will submit ‘No comment’.

329 Budget setting for 2019/20: See attached sheet. The precept will reduce by 5%. This budget and precept are proposed by Mr Bell and seconded by Mr Evans, approved unanimously.

330 Finance

Payments to approve

Clerk wages and expenses £674.97. Cheque #375

November 2018
General Council		Neighbourhood Plan work
Hours	35	Hours	14
Hourly rate	£11.24	Rate	£11.24
Total	£393.40	Total	£157.36
Additions
Office allowance	£83.33
Deductions
Pension 5%	£23.84	Pension 5%	£7.87
Total general council	£452.89	Total N Plan	£149.49

Expenses
120 miles x .45p Basingstoke x 2	£54.00
Envelopes	£2.50
Stamps	£16.08
Total	£72.58
		Total payable	£674.97

Hampshire Association of Local Councils £126. Mrs Reid to attend a training course. Cheque #374

WBC Topographical survey £540. Cheque #373

Purco Printing £75. Cheque #372

Adopt a street – Chocolates for volunteers. Mrs Reid will purchase and claim on expenses next month, £5 maximum per box.

Namesco – RPC have been invoiced for £26.39 for the website domain name. Mrs Reid will purchase and claim back next month.

Bulbs – Mrs Reid received a request for RPC to purchase some bulbs to plant along Castle End Road. Mrs Reid will ask the resident what they would like purchased up to £100 and claim back next month.

All these payments are proposed by Mrs Bulman, seconded by Mr Bell and approved unanimously.

Banking update: NatWest have got RPC’s PO Box number wrong, so Mrs Reid has not received any bank statements for 2 months. Mrs Reid had resubmitted a bank mandate to change the address and request statements, but nothing has been received yet. Mrs Reid will provide Mr Cassidy with the account details and dates statements are required for, and Mr Cassidy, as signatory of the account, will go to NatWest and request. Once Mrs Reid can reconcile, Mrs Reid will complete a VAT claim.

Clerk Pension: Mrs Reid investigated ways to pay Nest. Cheques are not allowed but they have a direct debit scheme that once instigated will take money direct from RPC’s account but, if not instigated, will not automatically take money. Signing up to this was proposed by Mr May, seconded by Mr Cassidy and approved unanimously.

331 Reports from reps: Mrs Bulman requested if Mr Cassidy could continue to represent RPC at TPC meeting. Mr Cassidy agreed that if he was able to attend, he would.

332 Correspondence: Mrs Reid has received and distributed an email from WBC highways. They declined RPC’s idea of a weight limit along Ruscombe Lane because a weight limit is very hard to police, and because a weight limit could be inconvenient for residents. RPC will continue monitoring. Ruscombe will also continue to monitor parking within the Ruscombe area, especially since the Elizabeth Line into Twyford train station is within walking distance of Ruscombe.

333 Any other business: In January, Mr May and Mr Evans will be meeting with Jude Whyte and Mark Redfearn from WBC to discuss the localities blueprint. During January’s council meeting, councillors will discuss priorities for RPC.

RPC may investigate a new website. The existing website is functional but a new one could improve communication with residents.

Mrs Reid will request Wokingham Housing to tidy up the garages around Pennfields.

Mrs Reid will ask TPC if they require the £200 repairs budget RPC have allocated in 2018/19 budget.

Mrs Reid will ask WBC if they would replace the boundary sign along Castle End Road.

Mrs Reid will make contact with Twyford Snooker Club.

Mr May closed the meeting at 9:40pm.