Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Maresfield Parish Council held on

 Tuesday 17 May 2005 in Maresfield Village Hall

Present:  Cllr W King, Cllr T Sparrow, Cllr G Hardy, Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr R Street,

Cllr R Tester, Cllr H Fry, Cllr C Stephens, Cllr Ms M Thomas, Cllr S Leaney, Cllr A Wallace,

DCllr Mrs P Kennedy, DCllr F Brown, Clerk: Tony Allen and Assistant Clerk Mrs Claire Goossens.

1.         Apologies for absence - DCllr N Buck, Cllr P Tester, Cllr K Ogden and

Cllr Mrs S Weekes.

2.         Election of a Chairman for the ensuing year –There being no other nominations for Chairman, Cllr King stated that he was willing to continue as Chairman for the next year. Cllr King was nominated for Chairman by Cllr Sparrow, seconded by Cllr Gutteridge and agreed unanimously with a vote of thanks.

3.         Chairman's Declaration of Acceptance of Office and opening remarks –

• Cllr King signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
• Cllr King stated that he felt the Parish Council had achieved an enormous amount in the past year and that a good relationship has been forged between the Parish Council and both County and District Council.

(Cllr Ms M Thomas joins the meeting)

• Cllr King reminded Councillors that in the past the Parish Council has failed to spend all of the allocated budget and having obtained the precept from Parishioners, it is vital that the Chairmen of each committee get to grips with earmarking funds for projects by no later than June of this year. 
• Cllr King said that he regretted the problems relating to affordable housing in Hillmead especially with regards to the relationship between the Parish Council and the Nutley Conservation Group, although he reported that better relations had recently been forged.

Cllr Ms M Thomas proposed a vote of thanks to Cllr King for his hard work as Chairman over the past year, which was unanimously supported.

4.         Election of a Vice-Chairman –There being no other nominations for Vice-Chairman, Cllr King stated that Cllr P Tester had said he was willing to continue as Vice-Chairman for the next year. Cllr P Tester was nominated for Vice-Chairman by Cllr Sparrow, seconded by Cllr Street and agreed unanimously with a vote of thanks.

5.         To agree the number of Councillors to serve on Committees (Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Council serve on Committees ex-officio) – Cllr King reported that NALC had advised that, for best practice,  a quorum of more than 2 Councillors should be ensured.  It was agreed to revisit this matter after Item 6 on the Agenda.

6.         Select Councillors to serve on Committees:

            6.1       Civil Protection – Councillors Gutteridge, Street and Mrs S Weekes were elected.

            6.2       Environment & Maintenance – Councillors Wallace, R Tester, P Tester and Hardy were elected.

            6.3       Finance & Administration – Councillors Street, Sparrow Gutteridge and Ogden were elected.

            6.4       Planning – Councillors Ogden, Leaney, Hardy, Stephens, Gutteridge, Wallace and Ms M Thomas were elected.

6.5               Policy – Cllr Ms Thomas expressed concern that this committee had not dealt

with any of the bigger issues e.g. LDF and the SE Plan.  Cllr Ms Thomas stated that she also felt a review of the remit of the Committee should be undertaken.  Further considerations include whether there is any need for a regular Policy Committee meeting or should meetings be called on an ad-hoc basis?  Alternatively, the Policy Committee could be merged with Strategy. 

ACTION:  Clerk to circulate remit information and add to Agenda for next Council Meeting. It was agreed that for the purposes of the AGM the existing members of the Policy committee should be re-elected en bloc.

6.6              Parklands Play Area S/C – Cllr Gutteridge stated that it had always been expected that once the Parklands Play Area had been completed, this specific Sub-Committee could be disbanded and the day to day issues could be dealt with by E&M.  All Councillors are aware of the existing problems with regard to screening issues at the Parklands Play Area but these do not necessitate the existence of a Sub-Committee to deal with them.  This was Agreed.

6.7              Strategy S/C – Councillors Fry, Gutteridge, Sparrow & Wallace were elected.  Cllr Street highlighted the need for a review with regard to the spending powers of the Strategy S/C.  Cllr Sparrow agreed that in the longer term this issue did need to be looked at although it hadn’t been a problem to date as items of expenditure have been processed via the relevant Committees.  ACTION:  Chairman of Strategy to make suggestions to the Finance & Administration Committee and/or Council.

6.8              Business Park Development S/C – Cllr King reported that Cllr P Tester regards this Sub-Committee as being fine in its current format and that it meets as and when required.  DCllr Mrs Kennedy stated that the WDC Cabinet has agreed to Summerthorne purchasing the land currently owned by WDC.  The agreement is subject to a clause stating that the land must not be sold on by Summerthorne for development purposes.  This would prevent a future sale, e.g.  to Onyx for a waste site. Councillors P Tester, J Gutteridge, R Street, R Tester, K Ogden and Ms M Thomas were elected.

 

The meeting returned to Item 5 on the Agenda.

Cllr Leaney said that he felt there was rather a large number of Councillors concentrated on two Committees, namely Planning and the Business Park Development S/C and that these could be trimmed.  Cllr King stated that this was a matter that could be looked into over the coming month.  Cllr King reflected that perhaps the Standing Orders should be changed to state that a minimum of three Councillors is required for a meeting to proceed to overcome the problem of having a quorum of only 2 Councillors.

7.         To consider if any councillor(s) be deputed to work on the Council’s communications – It was Agreed that the Chairman together with Councillors Fry and Wallace should have overall responsibility for communications, working in liaison with the Clerk’s Office.

8.       To appoint representatives of Council on outside bodies –

            8.1     Maresfield Recreation Ground – Cllrs R Tester & Mrs S Weekes.

            8.2     Fords Green Recreation Ground - Cllr R Tester and/or Cllr P Tester.

8.3           Wealden District Association of Local Councils – Cllr Sparrow, although it was noted that meetings are open to any Councillor who wishes to attend.    

8.4     Maresfield Conservation Group – It was noted that Cllr Gutteridge and Cllr Ogden were on the Committee of MCG, and agreed that no specific allocation of a Councillor to this Group was necessary..

9.      To appoint Council representatives as follows - The following appointments were agreed:-

            9.1     Tree Wardens – Agreed to defer this and refer to the Planning Committee.

9.2     Press Officer – Chairman & Clerk jointly. ACTION: Communications Team to review.

            9.3     Maresfield Recreation Ground Patrol – It was Agreed to refer this item to the Environment and Maintenance Committee.

            9.4     Fords Green Patrol – It was Agreed to refer this item to the Environment and Maintenance Committee.

            9.5     Civil Protection Officer – It was Agreed to refer this item to the Civil Protection Committee.

10.       To appoint an additional holder of the Definitive Map – It was Agreed that Councillor R Tester should continue his role in this capacity.

11.       To appoint signatories of cheques – It was noted that this is covered in the new Financial Regulations, i.e. that the three signatories should be Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Council plus Chairman of the Finance & Administration Committee. It was agreed that Cllrs King, P Tester and Street should remain the signatories prior to the next F&A Committee meeting.

Cllr King proposed a discussion regarding “ Portfolios” be deferred until the next Full Council Meeting.  ACTION:  Clerk to add this as an Agenda item.

The business of the AGM being concluded at 20:45, the Chairman formally opened the monthly Parish Council Meeting