Ruscombe Parish Council
Minutes of The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council
Held in the William Penn Room, Loddon Hall, Twyford
On Wednesday 1st May 2019 at 7:30pm
Councillors Present: Mr J May, Mrs C Bulman, Mr C Bell, Mr G Howe, Mr A Wrigley, Mrs K Robson, Mr M Evans and Mr P Cassidy.
Twyford Parish Councillor: Mrs L Jarvis
Public in attendance: Three residents from Church Lane
Clerk in attendance: Mrs R Reid
Mr May opened the meeting at 7:30pm.
58/19 Election of the Chairman: Mr May was proposed as chairman by Mrs Robson, seconded by Mr Wrigley and approved unanimously.
59/19 Election of:
Vice Chairman: Mr Evans was proposed as vice chairman by Mr May, seconded by Mrs K Robson and approved unanimously.
Planning Chairman: Mr Evans was proposed as planning chairman by Mr May, seconded by Mr Cassidy and approved unanimously.
Planning Vice Chairman: Mr Bell was proposed as planning vice chairman by Mr Evans, seconded by Mr Wrigley and approved unanimously.
60/19 Apologies for Absence: None
61/19 Declaration of interest: Mr May, Mr Evans and Mr Bell declared that they are directors for the Campaign to Protect Rural Wokingham (CPRW).
62/19 Minutes: Minutes for 3rd April 2019 circulated. Proposed by Mr Bell, seconded by Mrs Bulman, approved unanimously.
63/19 Public Forum: The residents from Church Lane expressed their support for the cows in the field behind Church Lane, they wished to state this because they were aware of a complaint against the smell the cows produced. Mr May updated that he has spoken to the farmer and the farmer has agreed to move the feeding station further into the field. Hoping this will be a successful resolution for all residents.
64/19 Update from Twyford Parish Councillor: Mrs Jarvis reported that most of the TPC councillors are up to election on 2nd May 2019. They are progressing with their Neighbourhood Plan and are planning a public meeting for the 26th June. In the Future they will be dealing with any unauthorised encampments by common law enforcement and using bailiffs to remove the groups, this will make it quicker and cheaper for TPC than going through the courts. The village fete committee are planning the fete for the 17th August, it will include a dog and duck show amongst other things. They have held their Annual Parish Meeting and Wayne Smith reported about Homes for the future. Homes for the Future have held 9 events across the borough and have had 1500 responses to their questionnaire, one third from the RG10 area. There are 8160 homes with planning permission waiting to be built in the Wokingham Borough, therefore they expect to have a freeze on building until 2022.
65/19 Update from Wokingham Borough Councillor: Mr Howe reported that previously 30% of waste in the WBC blur bags was food waste, with the introduction of food waste recycling they hope this will be cut to 15%. WBC collected 65tons of food waste in the first week of food recycling scheme. The scheme aims to use the methane produced to make energy. The Starworks plans appear to not be progressing further. Mr Howe reported that the original restrictions placed on Hare Hatch Sheeplands are still in place, but the court has decided the owner will not be prosecuted for previously breaking those restrictions. Mr Howe is not aware that WBC have purchased the land opposite St James church yet, Mr May will write to WBC to express RPC’s interest in the land.
66/19 Neighbourhood Plan Update: Mr Evans reported that the response to the questionnaire was about 33% of residents. Responses were largely expected although the emphasis on certain topics were unexpected. A large percentage of people are concerned about the quantity of traffic and parking within the area, but only a small number of residents report having a problem parking at their houses, this indicates people are unhappy with cars parking in Ruscombe to use Twyford Train Station. The majority of Ruscombe residents do not want building on the green belt and any new houses that are to be built should be in keeping with the surrounding houses. Neighbourhood plan volunteers are working hard and have written documents that will be used in the plan. The next steps will be to divide the project plan up and allocate people to certain sections to work on.
67/19 CCB Loneliness Project: Mrs Reid reported that she has spoken with Tim Parry at CCB, they require £2,404 before they can start the project. Mrs Reid will communicate back that RPC are willing to contribute to the project and that re remainder of the money required could be applied for from Polehampton Charities or Lady Elizabeth Godsall’s charity. Mrs Reid will write to the churches to make them aware that there is reportedly lonely people within the area to see if they could support.
The three residents left the meeting.
68/19 Approval of the Annual Return for year ending 31st March 2019: Mrs Reid shared a spreadsheet for the full year’s accounts, these were discussed. Mrs Reid reported that Mr Cedric Gilson completed the internal audit on Monday 29th April 2019, he reviewed various items within RPC’s paperwork, including financial processes, VAT, standing orders, use of council money and reporting systems. The AGAR was proposed by Mr Evans, seconded by Mrs Robson, approved unanimously. Mrs Reid will post it and the requested documents.
69/19 CIL: Pennfields parking: No further opinions expressed from residents about the parking plans. Mrs Reid will produce a leaflet to be delivered to all houses on both sides of Pennfields next to the grass. If anyone in the area could take photos at various points of the day to show how the cars are currently parking. Mrs Reid will ask on the Twyford facebook site for opinions. In June’s council meeting councillors will consider all CIL ideas, Mrs Reid and Mr May will create a list of all that have been put forwards as an idea and costs associated with them.
70/19 Annual Parish Meeting: It is on Wednesday 8th May 2019 in Twyford Room, Loddon Hall. Guest speakers are John Halsall WBC Councillor for Waste and Recycling and John Jarvis for The Twyford Community Hub. Stephen Lloyd has also offered to speak about the Ruscombe Ponds, all agreed this was a good idea. Adverts given to the RG10 magazine, newspapers and RPC facebook age. Mrs Reid will post to Twyford facebook page.
71/19 Planning Applications: None
72/19 Finance:
Information Commissioner: £40 cheque #390
Ruth Reid wages and expenses: £586.14 cheque #391
Nest: £48.33 Direct Debit
These payments were all proposed by Mr Bell, seconded by Mr Wrigley, approved unanimously.
Mrs Reid left the room
The council agreed to raise Mrs Reid’s (clerk to the council) annual salary in line with the standard pay settlement and further, given the outstanding work provided during the year, agree to raise Mrs Reid’s by one spinal point on the pay scale. In addition, Mrs Reid’s office allowance is to be raised by £200 per annum to the sun of £1,200. This is proposed by Mr May, seconded by Mrs Bulman and approved unanimously. Minutes taken by Mr May.
Mrs Reid entered the room.
72/19 Reports for Liaison reps:
TPC: Mrs Reid will request that TPC email agenda to Mr Cassidy instead of Mrs Bulman.
Loddon Hall: They are organising a community day on 7th July and RPC are invited to hold a stall if desired. Mrs Reid suggested that it could be useful to have a Parish Council and Neighbourhood Plan stall, all agreed this was a good idea.
73/19 Any other business: Mrs Reid shared a letter from Ruscombe and Twyford PCC to thank RPC for the £3,000 for St James Church fences.
Mr May closed the meeting at 9:47pm