Minutes – 31st March 2020

NORTHINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL

Date:  Tuesday, 31st March 2020
Venue:  Via a Video Conferencing facility

John Mitchell – Chairman
Dennis Nye
Bill Wykeham
Yvonne White
Melissa Jennings
Cllr Margot Power
Cllr Jackie Porter
2 members of the public

Wendy Simson – Clerk

Apologies:  None

Time: 7:00pm

 

Public Forum

The Chairman welcomed all present to the webchat and introduced Lou Walker and Elaine Capp to the meeting, both had joined the meeting to give an update on the actions to support all member of the community during the Covid19 crisis. The actions to date have been:

  • A WhatsApp group foe the extended NPC group with Lou and Elaine has been established. A further group has been established to coordinate the efforts of about 30 volunteers – Lou said that while this was working for some people, it was not a communication method that everyone used.
  • The community is in the process of being divided up into small groups with one person responsible for coordinating activity in each group– some leaders may find it more difficult than others to get messages out to all their group.A fruit/veg delivery service has been set up – the first delivery took place on 31st March with mostly success, there were a few teething problems but in general feedback had been very positive. Evans ‘s Butchers of Alresford is willing to deliver to Northington.
  • There has been a large volume of communication on the two Coronvirus related WhatsApp groups Some of the content has been fun and light-hearted but after some discussion, it was agreed that this was not to be discouraged at this stage, but would need possible restriction as serious calls for help start to be received.
  • The WhatsApp volunteer group has started to provide shopping coordination – ensuring that if someone was visiting the doctors or pharmacy that they collect supplies for others where possible.Councillor Nye updated the group with the stats to date, it appears that 8 households have been self-isolating, some are reaching the end of the 14-day period. There have been 10 new contacts

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added to the distribution list from the flyer and information distributed and there have been 12 “thank you” from the community.
Councillor Porter explained that under the GDPR regulations that anyone included on the database of residents should formally agree to be included. The Chairman asked if the agreement needed to be formalised and Councillor Porter confirmed that this should be the case but that all other Parish Councils were working on the same basis as Northington in that they had asked to join the group. Lou and Elaine hoped that Councillor Wykeham would return to the WhatsApp group as his input had been very valuable, particularly with the coordination of workloads.

Note: If the database is to be continued for use after the Covid19 crisis then formal agreement is required.

1. Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes for the meeting on 21st January 2020 were signed as a true representation of the meeting. The Chairman had some minor corrections which he suggested he would forward to the Clerk and a final hard copy be signed when the Councillors were able to meet later in the year. Councillor Nye said that some omissions.

Action: Chairman to sign off minutes and allow circulation so any items missed can been included. 2. Matters arising

The testing of the defibrillator at the village hall – The Clerk apologised for not sending out the instructions for testing the equipment but sent through to Councillor Wykeham during the meeting and asked that a photograph be taken of the unit so new batteries and pads could be ordered as a matter of urgency. The system requires a monthly test, and this is recorded with the

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system, so that if an ambulance is called for a heart attack that the location and code for a working

Action: Councillor Wykeham to send a photograph to the Clerk

Webnos

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defibrillator can be given.

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Action: Clerk to order battery and pads

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Action: Clerk to ensure defibrillator is working again and set up login for recording monthly tests. A

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councillor to volunteer to do the monthly check.

CCTV & fly tipping – Following the last meeting it was identified that this had not been an incident of

fly tipping. The costs of implementing a CCTV system and having it regularly monitored were

prohibitively expensive, this along with the security implications for running a system it was agreed

that it would not be pursued at this time.

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Smart water Pens – The Clerk has access to stocks of Smart water pens to allow residents to mark up

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their property particularly in garages, sheds, and outbuildings so there is a possibility of it being

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traced if stolen

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Action: Clerk to bring to next face to face meeting.

3. Planning Applications

There have been no planning applications since the last meeting.

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4. Litter Pick

The Chairman congratulated Councillor Wykeham for the successful event, noting how well organised and the equipment drop, and collections had been. The Chairman mooted a follow up pick in the Autumn, but it was agreed that grass length would be an obstacle.

5. Water pipeline

Parts of the water pipeline have been laid but this project has been put on hold due to the Covid19 Crisis.

6. Food Festival

The Chairman and Councillor Wykeham had attended the licence hearing at the Guildhall in Winchester on Monday 20th January 2020. The Chairman had the opportunity to speak and was able to convey the concerns of the community, in particular with the traffic management of the event. It appears that a traffic management plan was not required, as part of the licensing hearing but one would need to be presented to the city’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG).

Brand Events were invited to a follow up meeting on 24th March in Totford, to coincide with a site visit to the Grange. The Covid19 Crisis meant that the site visit did not take place but the meeting of local residents (Stakeholders) went ahead. The minutes of this meeting were recorded and circulated by the Stakeholders Group Chairman. One of the key points to emerge is that this is year 1 of the 2 year initial permissions allowing 12,000 people to attend, however the event has been cancelled for 2020 and so 2021 will be year 2 when up to 20,000 people could arrive.

2020 will be a very challenging year for companies like Brand Events. NPC expects to see a review of any plans for 2021 later in the year.

7. Clerk’s statement

The Clerk has completed the form to change the administration rights from the previous Clerk to herself has been passed onto Councillor White for signing, before passing to the Chairman and sending to the bank. The only payment due was the Clerk’s salary for the 4th quarter of 2019/20, which would be actioned once the account has been transferred.

The Nationwide account requires the 2 signatories Councillor White and the previous Clerk, Rhona, to visit the bank and close the account. The Clerk suggested that the funds be transferred into a savings account attached to the current account at NatWest. This was agreed.

8. Flooding

The Chairman informed the Council that there was just one property (Northington Farm) at risk of flooding in the village. The owners had attended a meeting in Preston Candover to create a plan for ensuring appropriate action is taken throughout the year. The Clerk explained that she had taken part in this meeting and would keep Northington Parish Council in the loop about any flood work done. Such work may affect Northington, because the water may move faster as it travels through the valley.

9. Lengthsman duties

Councillor Wykeham the lead on Lengthsman work, noted that the dates for 2020/21 are:

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a. b. c. d. e.

6th May
15th July
29th September 8th December 3rd March

It was agreed
Councillor Wykeham will meet the Lengthsman on his first visit and walk through the work to be done.

There had been feedback that not all the work carried out had been to a high quality. The Clerk asked that if there were any issues that they be reported back, and she would speak to the manager to ensure follow up visits were made.

10. Any other business

Councillor Porter confirmed that she was attending a meeting on 1st April and would pass on information about GDPR.

There is food for vulnerable people stockpile in Winchester so if there are any residents who needs stocks please let Councillor Porter know. Any issues or ideas can be passed on to the “Command Meeting”.

The meeting adopted the Clerk’s suggestion of an additional PC meeting to catch up predominantly about the Covid19 Crisis. The meeting concurred and an additional date was agreed, see below.

11. Date of the next meeting

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 21st April and Tuesday 26th May at 7pm

that Councillor Wykeham would ask all residents by email for a list of work required.

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