RPC Minutes 5th September 2018

Ruscombe Parish Council

Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council

Held in the William Penn Room, Loddon Hall, Twyford

On Wednesday 5^th September 2018 at 7:30pm

Councillors Present: Mr J May (in the chair), Mrs K Robson, Mr P Cassidy and Mr C Bell.

Borough Councillor Present: Mr J Halsall.

Clerk in attendance: Mrs R Reid.

276 Apologies for absence: Mrs C Bulman, Mr M Evans, Mr A Wrigley and Mr G Howe.

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

278 Update from Wokingham Borough Councillors: Mr Halsall updated that there has been a lot of change within WBC, the WBC local plan has been delayed, therefore Mr Halsall will be requesting that the CPRW petition (planned for 20^th September) should be postponed. Mr Halsall also updated us that the Waste and Minerals plan has identified more waste that will need disposing off, waste services are proposing to use the Star Works site in Knowl Hill to manage this, this could bring more waste traffic through Ruscombe.

Mr Halsall then left the meeting

279 To receive the minutes from 4^th July and 1st August: Proposed by Mr Bell, seconded by Mr Cassidy, approved unanimously.

280 Matters Arising: None.

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

282 Vacancy Update: Mr Howe was not in attendance, but RPC have confirmation that he would like to join Ruscombe Parish Council, co-option was proposed by Mr May and seconded by Mrs Robson, approved unanimously. Mr Howe is welcomed to RPC.

283 Neighbourhood Plan: RPC held the first Neighbourhood Plan meeting on 1^st August, it was well attended, with approximately 60 residents in attendance and 19 volunteers signed up to help. Two further meeting are planned,

• 12^th September with volunteers who have questionnaire experience
• 19^th September with all volunteers.

The aim of these meeting is to produce a questionnaire to gain residents opinions of any future development.

284 Update from Twyford Parish Councillor: No report

285 Items to discuss:

• Litter picking: RPC may look into something like “Adopt a Street”, in the future.
• Willow Tree over handing the corner of Northbury Ave: Mrs Reid will investigate ways to get it trimmed, currently it makes using the pathway very difficult.
• Crime report: There has been a report of drug use, Mrs Reid will report to the local police. The residents that have made the report are advised to photograph anything they find.
• St James Church: RPC may consider helping with the cost of replacing the church fence and consider working with the church to develop of plan to build a toilet agreeable to residents and the church.
• Communication Strategy: RPC want to be able to communicate with residents, hand delivering information has proven to work well, but it is time consuming for one person, possibility of having someone allocate for each road or area would help. This will be discussed again with a fuller council meeting.

286 Clerk Contract: Amended by Mr May, includes pay increment points, increase in August 2018, November 2018 and then April /May annually. Proposed by Mr May, seconded by Mr Cassidy, approved unanimously, and signed by Mrs Reid.

287 Planning applications: None. During August, a “no comment” has been entered for 182193.

288 Community Infrastructure Levy: Mrs Reid will arrange for a quote to be given to build car parking spaces on the green outside Pennfields.

289 Finance:

• CPRW £5988: Mr Bell shared the finances for CPRW, the payment was proposed by Mr Cassidy and seconded by Mrs Robson, however Mrs Reid will provide all councillors not in attendance the opportunity to review this. Chq #362
• Citizens Advice Wokingham: Request from Citizens Advice for £218, RPC have agreed to pay £150. Chq #361
• The wildlife Trust: Membership renewal is £46, RPC have agreed to round this up to £50. Chq #364
• Clerk wages: Chq #360