MINUTES OF MEETING 14 MAY 2007


Minutes of the Annual Meeting of
CHIRTON PARISH COUNCIL
held in the Church at
7:30 p.m. on 14 May 2007

Present

Jeremy Cross, Anthony Mather, Stewart Neale, Jonathan Oliphant (Clerk) and Stephanie Robertson. Apologies were received from David Baker.

Election of Chairman and Deputy Chairman

Jonathan Oliphant proposed Anthony Mather for chairman, seconded by Stephanie Robertson. Anthony Mather proposed Stephanie Robertson for deputy chairman, seconded by Stewart Neale. Both were elected nem. con.

Appointment of Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer

The chairman asked Jonathan Oliphant if he was willing to take on both roles and he accepted.

Declarations of Acceptance of Office

All those present signed their acceptance forms whereupon they officially became councillors for Chirton Parish.

Registers of Members Interest for Completion

These were handed out for completion and return to The Retuning Officer KDC.

Minutes of the meeting on 16 April 2007

These having been issued previously were signed by the chairman.

Matters Arising

There were none.

Finance

  • The Clerk presented the accounts for the year to 31 March 2007. They had been inspected by the Internal Auditor, Mrs Stewart-Cox, and passed nem. con.
  • The council is required by The Audit Commission to carry out an annual review of the internal audit under the headings of 'Meeting the Standards' and 'Characteristics of Effectiveness'. In doing so it was evident that, while there was no doubt about the thoroughness of the audit, more thought should go into preparing the council's terms of reference to cover future internal audits.
  • Ratification of Payments — Council's insurance for 2007/08 via Wiltshire Association of Local Councils (WALC). £205.95.
  • Bank Signatories — The chairman and the clerk are already signatories and it was agreed to add Stephanie Robertson as a third signatory.
  • Clerk's Annual Expenses — For the past four years the council had agreed to pay £50 pa towards the clerk's out of pocket expenses. Following a discussion it was agreed to raise this to £75 pa from 2007.

Adoption of The Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) Order 2007 (SI No.1159)

This order came into effect on 3 May 2007. It can be viewed at www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si-2007-index.htm and is designed to be a much clearer, simpler and more proportionate code. The council is obliged to formally accept this code and this was agreed nem con.

WCC's Application for Unitary Authority status

There has been widespread opposition to this application within the county and KDC in particular and the contrasting views have been fully aired in the public domain. The Clerk, David Baker and Stewart Neale attended a briefing meeting given by Mr George Batten of WCC and were not convinced by his arguments. A discussion followed and it was agreed that the clerk would draft a reply for consideration by the council

Best Kept Village Competition

The chairman reminded everyone that the judging would take place shortly and asked them to encourage members of the parish to do their best to keep the village tidy.

Correspondence

The clerk presented various letters and articles for information, none of which required any action.

Meeting Dates for 2007-2008

The following dates were agreed:

  • Council Meetings (Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. in the Church ) — 11 Sep, 11 Dec, 11 Mar 2008
  • Annual Parish Meeting (in the Village Hall) — Tuesday 15 April 2008
  • Annual Parish Council Meeting (in Church) — Tuesday 13 May 2008

There being no further business the meeting closed at 2030hrs.