Ruscombe Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council
Held in the William Penn Room, Loddon Hall, Twyford
On Wednesday 6th March 2019 at 7:30pm
Councillors Present: Mr M Evans, Mr P Cassidy, Mr A Wrigley, Mrs C Bulman and Mr C Bell
Clerk in attendance: Mrs R Reid.
Mr Evans opened the meeting at 7:30pm.
26/19 Apologies for absence: Mr J May, Mrs K Robson, Mr G Howe and Mrs L Jarvis (Twyford PC).
27/19 Declaration of Interests: Mr Bell and Mr Evans declared that they are directors of the Campaign to Protect Rural Wokingham (CPRW). Mr Wrigley declared that he is a trustee of The Twyford and Ruscombe community Association – Loddon Hall.
Mrs Bulman joined the meeting as 28/19 started.
28/19 Minutes: Minutes from 6th February 2019 circulated. Mr Bell asked if it was £3,000 that had been proposed to pay for the church fences, he recalled from previous conversations that RPC were going to pay half. This item will be deferred until the April council meeting. Councillors also want to relook at Pennfields parking ideas, it is agreed that Mrs Reid will advertise the proposed ideas onto the noticeboards and website to see if resident’s think it is a good idea. Mr Bell will talk to WBC about contributing to the cost because WBC have taken away parking and garages form Middlefields to build 2 houses. Mr Cassidy informed that the old allotments (Pennfields) were causing arguments amongst residents. RPC councillors thought it would be nice to use the land for a fruit orchard, Mr Cassidy will talk to Treetops about how much it would cost to buy, plant and annual maintenance.
Minutes proposed by Mr Cassidy, seconded by Mr Wrigley, approved unanimously.
29/19 Public Forum: No members of the public were in attendance.
30/19 Update from Twyford Parish Councillor: No one in attendance but Mrs Reid has received minutes from Twyford Parish Council, they are planning various road resurfacing over the next year.
31/19 Update from Wokingham Borough Councillors: No one in attendance but Mr Bell has spoken to Mr Howe and updated that everyone should have received the WBC blue waste bags and the food bins are coming very soon if not already received. The land opposite St James Church is about to be sold to WBC for use as cemetery use. Mr Halsall and Mr Howe (WBC Environment) are confident that they can stop the development of Starworks. Mr Bell has been told by Mr Howe that the focus has moved away from Ruscombe being used for a large housing development but no final decision is made yet.
32/19 Cow field: Mr May has been contacted by a resident of church Lane with concerns over a slurry pit that is in the cow field behind Church Lane. The resident is in poor health and he is concerned the slurry pit will add to his health problems. Councillors felt more information would be needed before RPC could consider the resident’s concerns. When the location is known, Mrs Reid will talk to WBC enforcement as to whether there are any rules about locations of slurry pits.
33/12 CIL money: As stated earlier, this item is deferred until April’s council meeting. RPC would like the full costs for the church fences before paying towards them.
34/19 Annual Parish Meeting: APM will be either the 8th or 22nd of May in Twyford Room, Loddon Hall. Date to be confirmed at next months council meeting. Mr Bell will ask Mr Howe and Mr Halsall if someone from WBC would be able to come and talk about recycling and food waste.
35/19 Planning applications: 190305 – Milton Way. Councillors had no comment although they did wonder if it was over development of the site.
There is a house in Milton way (unrelated to the above application) that has a very overgrown garden which neighbours are concerned about. Mr Bell will talk to the neighbour about if anyone live in the house with the over grown garden, the RPC can consider the best action.
36/19 Finance:
Church fences: will be discussed next month
Loddon Hall: CCTV £3,000 paid cheque #382
Purco Print: (NP survey printing) £285 paid cheque #379
Clerk Wages, Expenses and Pension: Paid cheque #380 £853.62 and #381 £31.74. Nest Pension paid Direct debit. 23 hours of annual leave claimed, half of the 46 hours due for Mrs Reid’s employment between May 2018 and the end of the financial year in March 2019.
| General Council | N Plan work | |||
| Hours | 35 | Hours | 0 | |
| Annual leave hours | 23 | |||
| Hourly rate | £11.24 | Rate | £11.24 | |
| total | £651.92 | total | £0.00 | |
| Total before deductions | £651.92 | |||
| Additions | ||||
| Office allowance | £83.33 | |||
| Deductions | ||||
| Pension 5% | £32.60 | 5.0% | Pension 5% | £0.00 |
| Total general council | £702.65 | Total N Plan | £0.00 | |
| Expenses | ||||
| Printer ink | £55.98 | |||
| Office 365 | £59.99 | |||
| Survey Monkey | £35.00 | |||
| NP Survey bags | £31.74 | |||
| Total | £182.71 | |||
| Total payable | £885.36 | |||
| Nest From Ruth | £32.60 | |||
| Nest from RPC | £32.60 | |||
| Total Nest | £65.19 | |||