MINUTES OF THE HILTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 04-08 HELD ON MONDAY 12 May 2008 IN THE VILLAGE HALL

Present:  Cllrs, Halford,  Robinson, Randall, Shardlow, Stott and Ward.

In Attendance:   Mr Thomas, Clerk to the Parish Council, and five parishioners. 

1.         To Elect  a Chairman

None of the elected Councilors wished to undertake the duties of chairman for the coming year.  Cllr Ward said he might consider the position at a later date and only then if the long-standing problems with the cricket club had been resolved.  Cllr Robinson added his concerns about the impact of the ongoing disagreement with the cricket club regarding parking on the Green on the Council and urged that the Council needed to move on.  Cllr Robinson offered himself as Chairman for this one meeting.  Approved unanimously.  It was noted that a chairman would be required for the June meeting.

The appointment of Mrs Dunn to the Council was brought forward from agenda item 10 to enable her to take part in the meeting.

2.         To Elect a Vice Chairman

Councillor Stott offered himself as Vice Chairman for the coming year.  Approved unanimously. 

3.         To Elect Officers 

The officers of the Council and members of specialist roles were agreed and details are at Annex A.  Cllr Randall said that he would only be prepared to undertake the role of tree officer as part of the environmental plan, yet to be agreed.  The Clerk was to invite Mr Barradell to run the fireworks for the coming year.

4.         To note Apologies for Absence. 

None

5.         Declarations of Interest. 

Cllrs Halford and Shardlow advised personal interests in Agenda Item 11 as both were members of the Hilton Action on Traffic (HAT) Group.  Noted.

6.         To Approve the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 7 April 2008 and the Planning Meetings of 26 March and April 2008

Approved unanimously

7.         Parishioners Open Session (10 minutes).

None

8.            To Authorise the Payment of Accounts.

a.    £12.00           Shardlow  Key Cutting Notice Board
b.    £42.50           Grass Cutting Cricket Club
c.    £30.50           B Ashby Handyman's Wages
d.    £100.00         J A Thomas
                                   ex gracia payment from Norwich Union.
e.    £26.57           J A Thomas reimbursement stationery costs.
f.     £580.00         JCS Services Grass Cutting April
g.     £126.90             Multisign No Fishing Sign (paid)
h.     £600.00             New Farm Cabinet Makers final payment for
                                   notice board (paid)
i.      £28.00               CPRE Annual Subscription
j.      £1845.83           Allianz  Annual Insurance

Payment of the above accounts was proposed by Cllr Randall, seconded by Cllr Stott and approved unanimously.  The Council noted that the £100 payment for the Clerk came from Norwich Union and was in consideration of the additional work caused by their error on encashment of the wrong account.  The cheque from Norwich Union had been paid into the Council's bank account despite being made out incorrectly.

9.            Review of A14 Consultation Process. 

The Clerk advised that a meeting had been held on 29 April with representatives from the Highways Agency, Costain Swanska, Atkins and representatives from 7 other villages.  The meeting had given all parties the opportunity for a good exchange of views but it was disappointing that the Highways Agency could give few guarantees that the concerns of the villages would be satisfactorily resolved.  The Agency had advised some key project dates.   Design freeze was expected at the end of 2008, Draft Orders would follow in Spring 2009 with the expected Public enquiry in late 2009 leading to construction start in late 2010.  It had been agreed that a second meeting with the Agency was needed to finalise the discussion on the outstanding concerns but that a pre meeting involving just the villages had been recommended.  In addition, the A14 Action Group would seek an individual meeting with the Highways Agency to discuss Hilton only issues.

10.       Recruitment Parish Clerk and Councilors. 

At Item No 1, Mrs Katie Dunn was introduced to the Council and accepted as a Councilor.  The Clerk advised that Mr Martin Hird had also applied to be a Councilor and would be inducted at a future meeting.  The Clerk advised that a resident had applied for the upcoming vacancy as Clerk and a date for an interview was arranged.  Cllrs Robinson and Stott were to interview the applicant and were authorized to make a decision on the appointment.  The Council agreed to undertake a review of the Clerk's salary and allowances.

11.       Hilton Action on Traffic (HAT) Funding Request. 

The Chairman closed the meeting to enable Mr Fleming to address the Council.

Mr Fleming stated that the traffic group had been set up some two years ago to look at issues of traffic through the village.  The group had met three times but had made limited progress.  However, support for the Group had increased significantly over recent months and more progress was being made.  He asked the Parish Council to set aside up to £250 to meet administration costs such as hire of halls and the cost of "flyers".  Cllr Ward proposed, Cllr Randall seconded and the meeting agreed unanimously to provide up to £250 to the HAT group when required.

The Chairman reopened the meeting

12.       Annual Audit. 

The Clerk asked that discussion on this matter be postponed until the June meeting.

13.       Clerk's Report on Parish Matters. 

The meeting thanked Mr Barradell for his offer to remove and store the posts and rope from Wraggs Row and the Clerk was to advise that he might begin the work as soon as practical.

14.       Councillors' Items

a.            Repairs to the Ford.  Cllr Shardlow reminded the meeting that the Ford was scheduled to be repaired using an experimental surface.  She explained that the recent experimental surface in Rutland Green was less than successful and wanted to ensure similar mistakes were not made at the Ford. The Clerk was to inform the Highways Division of this view.

b.            Insurance Claims by Cricket Club.  Cllr Ward said that following the discussion at the Annual Village Meeting, the Town Trust had agreed to underwrite the additional insurance costs resulting from injury or damage caused by cricket balls.  The Trust had limited the number of claims it would support to three per year.

c.             Annual Plan.  Cllr Halford suggested that the Council would benefit from an annual management plan outlining the milestones for the year.  This was noted for discussion at the next F&GPWG.

C Robinson        
Chairman of the Parish Council                                                                    2 June 2008

ANNEX to
Minutes 04-08