PITSTONE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 28 March 2019 
in the Millennium Room at the Memorial Hall, starting at 7.35pm and 
concluding at 10.05pm

376/18	ATTENDANCE AND APOLOGIES

Council present:  Cllr Nicholls (Chair), Cllr Saintey (Vice Chair), Cllr Mrs Crutchfield, 
Cllr Hawkins, Cllr Mrs Arney, Cllr Dr Frearson, Cllr Blunt and Cllr Mrs Stoddart plus the clerk: Mrs Eagling.    

Others present:  Two members of the public (throughout), District Councillor Sandra Jenkins and County Councillor Anne Wight.

Apologies:  It was RESOLVED to accept apologies from Cllr Weber and Cllr Mitra plus 
District Councillor D Town.

377/18	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND DISPENSATION REQUESTS
It was noted that all councillors have standing declarations of interest as the council, as a corporate body, is trustee of the Recreation Ground Charity and Pitstone Parish Charity.   
Cllr Crutchfield declared an interest as an allotment tenant/member of PAA and as a trustee to Pitstone Memorial Hall charity.
Cllr Saintey declared an interest as an allotment plot holder and member of National Trust Estates Committee.
Cllr Arney declared an interest as a member of the Friends of Pitstone Church committee.
No other interests were declared.

378/18	QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC/PRESS
1)	It was RESOLVED to accept comments from a resident regarding Vicarage Road footpath at the appropriate point on the agenda.  No other comments were tabled by members of the public.
2)	No councillors with declared interests wished to speak about those matters during the public session.

379/18	RECEIVE UPDATES FROM COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS 
1)	County Cllr Wight provided an update on the TTRO for Brownlow Bridge, the new Right of Way online reporting tool, the EU settlement scheme, the Paralympic Heritage Trust and the Wheelpower charity cycle ride.  It was RESOLVED to publish details of the cycle ride electronically.
2)	District Councillor Jenkins provided an update on the Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, the Economy & Business Development Scrutiny Committee, the Environment and Living Scrutiny Committee, Unitary progress and VALP progress.

380/18	MINUTES OF THE MEETING held on 28/2/19

It was RESOLVED that the draft minutes of the Pitstone Parish Council Meeting held on 
28 February 2019 were a true and accurate record.  The Chairman was duly authorised to sign them on behalf of the council.

381/18	CLERK’S REPORT

The following updates to matters arising were noted but not discussed in detail, and are replicated below to aid members of the public:

Where third parties are responsible:

1)	Castlemead Issues: Last dwelling occupied spring 2014.  Taylor Wimpey advise that the remedial works for Westfield Road now likely to take place in Spring.  Some residential road remedial works, starting with phases 2 & 3, then 1 & 4, commenced during March.  Suggested timescale 6-8 months from commencement.
2)	Castlemead Lighting:  PPC advised BCC and TW that they would be willing to adopt any LED lighting if other conditions also met.  Unable to adopt non-LED lighting & associated £43k liability to upgrade due to SOX/SON being discontinued.  Waiting for response from TW as to which may have LED.
3)	Castlemead Public Open Space Phase III: being negotiated by AVDC and TW.  Taylor Wimpey advise that there are still Land Registry issues which their solicitor is investigating.  Remedial works started February and TW had hoped to transfer to AVDC by the end of March.
4)	Rushendon Furlong Street Lighting: the parish council has agreed with Croudace to adopt the street lighting and illuminated bollards within the proposed new development on provision that the stipulated conditions and contributions are met.  BCC to adopt highways prior to PPC adopting 
5)	Vicarage Road Open Space: PPC has agreed to adopt the open space within Vicarage Road post completion certificate being issued by AVDC & 2-year maintenance period by developer.  S106 also provides for maintenance monies (£tbc).
6)	Vicarage Road Development Street Lighting: the parish council has resolved that it would be willing to adopt the street lighting along Vicarage Road and within the development upon conclusion of the development.  BCC to adopt highways prior to PCC adopting lighting.
7)	Vicarage Road footpath (Bellway site entrance to Marsworth Road bus stop):  PPC asked if possible, to relocate crossing point near roundabout but Bellway advise that no safe alternative point could be identified.   Scope of works being agreed between BCC/Bellway.  No implementation date available at present.  
8)	PDA: £58,800 per hectare open space land; £74k towards enhancing local bus services; £216,584 sports & leisure contribution and £37k contribution to Pitstone Safety Scheme.
9)	Land off Westfield Road/’The Mounds’: awaiting details from Taylor Wimpey’s legal department.  TW installing fencing between industrial units and “the mounds” to further deter motorbikes.
10)	Community Governance Review/Review of parish councillor numbers:  Increase to 11 members approved by AVDC full council on 12/12/18.  Reorganisation order now needs to be laid (probably during January).  Won’t take effect until next full election (May 2020).
11)	Parking on Pavements:  Trying to arrange multi-party site visit to Yardley Avenue to review difficulties re parking on pavements following AVDC/BCC initiative.  
12)	VAHT 66-76 lighting:  only 1 resident attended the further meeting arranged by VAHT.  As there is no agreement between the 6 residents affected, no further action will be taken by VAHT.

Within the scope of the parish council:

1)	Tennis/Netball/5-aside floodlit court: No action can be taken by the parish council at this point.  Unable to progress until the landowner can negotiate.
2)	Village web site: (1) Cllr Nicholls creating a planning section & reviewing architecture of attachments (2) Cllr Nicholls creating Whistle Blowing/Safeguarding page.   
3)	Potential path from railway bridge to college lake: initial investigations being considered by Cllr Weber
4)	The Pightle Open Space: Cllr Weber investigating land ownership
5)	Public Sector Bodies (websites and mobile applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018: Accessibility Statement with link to Enforcement Procedure needs to be based on standard template which is being issued by central Government in early 2019.  Draft to therefore be issued once available.  Checked 22/3/19 not yet released.
6)	125-year commemoration:  Cllrs Arney and Crutchfield working on exhibition for Annual Assembly in May and an article in winter PPP (anniversary 31/12/19).
7)	Dog bin investigations: All bins move to twice weekly emptying in April.  AVDC approved relocation of Windsor Road bin.  TW response “I do not see the point of relocating the bin. However, as the land is to be offered to the PC, if your happy with the new location then and would like it there upon adoption, then I will not oppose.”  Plus, additional dog bins and any relocations, due for consideration again in April once AVDC issue updated SLA terms and ahead of AVDC June deadline.
8)	Allotments:  Raised beds installed.   PAA have now supplied some information about their proposed track, which will be investigated over the course of the coming month and full information will be supplied in time for the April parish council meeting.
9)	HMRC Making Tax Digital: HMRC advise not currently eligible to join BETA trial of MTD.  Gov delayed Parish Council commencement date until October 2019.  May be possible to join the BETA trail after April 2019.  HMRC will write to companies as become eligible.
10)	Glebe Close & Woodz Pizza Noticeboard renovation:  commissioned
11)	Online Pitstone Guide:  being reviewed/undertaken by Cllrs Stoddard, Arney and Nicholls
12)	CasePak Recycling Plant Visit: AVDC advised recycling carried out by CasePak in Leicester.  Tour date set for Wed 22/5/19, approx. 11.00-13.00pm.  

382/18	CORRESPONDENCE

	The list of correspondence received during the month was noted.   With the following matters considered in more detail:

1)	The correspondence from Thames Valley Police was noted.  It was RESOLVED to arrange for remedial works to fencing in the hedge-line between the Recreation Ground and Marsworth Road (although it was anticipated that it would get broken down again in due course).
2)	The presentation slides from the BCC Parish Liaison meeting were noted, including the advisory information from BCC/TfB that all roads would be receiving curb side weed treatment this financial year.  Therefore, it would not be necessary for PPC to commission local works.
3)	The AVDC dog bin emptying prices for 2019/20 were noted.  This would appear on the April agenda.
4)	It was noted that the WI had celebrated their 90th birthday in 2007 by planting a tree on the recreation ground but had failed to supply the accompanying plaque at the time and now wished to rectify this.  It was RESOLVED to install the plaque in May 2019.

Committee Matters:

383/18	PLANNING COMMITTEE – CLLR CRUTCHFIELD, CHAIR OF COMMITTEE
	Cllr Crutchfield provided feedback from the Planning Committee meeting held earlier on 28/3/19.

384/18	SPORTS AND LEISURE COMMITTEE – CLLR SAINTEY, CHAIR OF COMMITTEE

1)	It was noted that no committee meeting had taken place during the month and therefore no report was due. 
2)	Pavilion Improvements, Phase II:  It was noted that AVDC had requested a further extension of time to determine the planning application from 8/3/19 to 25/3/19 (originally 4/1/19) but no response had been received to date.  District Councillor Sandra Jenkins to query with AVDC Planning.  It was also noted that the search for grant funding continued, some applications could not be submitted until planning had been granted.
3)	Pavilion, Phase III:  It was noted that Hanson had advised that no liabilities would arise if no commercial or residential elements were included.  Site meeting to be arranged with 1st Ivinghoe & Pitstone Scouts.
4)	Leisure Development on the Recreation Ground:  
a.	It was RESOLVED to instruct Horwood & James to prepare draft documents for the purchase of the leisure land from Pitstone Parish Council at an estimated cost of £800 + VAT (for which S106 funding has already been secured).
b.	It was recognised that this was more premature than desired but given the extremely tight timescales remaining, it was deemed appropriate to try and have the papers ready for implementation as soon as the Parish Charity was able to proceed.
c.	It was RESOLVED to (a) extend the fence line to enclose the new play space area (b) remove the youth shelter and base (and place shelter into temporary storage) (c) install a concrete footpath to provide disabled access along the play space area (d) remove the kicking goal (will be replaced with full multi-use ball games court in PDA.  Works to commence on site before 26/4/19 planning deadline.  Quotations to be urgently sought and approved during the month.  S106 & PPC contributions already secured for play space redevelopment.
5)	Allotments: It was noted that the raised beds had now been installed.   Progress with tenancy renewals was noted. It was RESOLVED to approve the transfer of PAA subscriptions collected on their behalf alongside the PPC tenancy fees.
6)	Pavilion Ball Stop Netting:  It was noted that a section of ball stop netting had come lose when a retaining bar had come off.  Alpha Fence had confirmed that they would return to site w/c 1/4/19 to fix under guarantee.

385/18	STAFFING COMMITTEE – CLLR NICHOLLS IN CLLR BLUNT’S ABSENCE

1)	Parish Assistant:  Confidential discussion to take place at end of meeting.  See later minute.
2)	Payroll Year-End:  It was noted that the payroll year end actions had been completed.

386/18	PITSTONE PARISH CHARITY
1)	It was noted that a Parish Charity meeting was scheduled for later 28/3/19 and therefore no report was due.
2)	No official response had been received from the charity re the council’s application to purchase the leisure land.

387/18	PITSTONE RECREATION GROUND CHARITY:
1)	It was noted that no charity meeting had taken place during the month and therefore no report was due.
2)	Charity Commission application: The charity is still waiting for a response from the Charity Commission.

Matters Raised by the Working Groups:

388/18	YOUTH CAFÉ 
1)	Action4Youth Membership:  It was RESOLVED to renew annual membership at a cost of £100 and the Chairman was granted authority to sign on behalf of the council.
2)	Aylesbury Youth Action/LAF funded project:  Had taken place 13/3/19-27/3/19.  
Cllrs Saintey and Nicholls both provided positive feedback.  Resulting video would be supplied in due course.  It was noted that the youngsters had been pleased to hear of the proposed play space and skate park.  It was RESOLVED to add to the April agenda matters that the youths had raised during the interview ie (a) extra litter picking for open areas eg quarry (b) any other ways to help address dog fouling and (c) issues around unauthorised access to the quarry.

389/18	HIGHWAYS AND PATHS
1)	Pitstone & Ivinghoe Safety Scheme:   TfB update meeting scheduled for 24/4/19.  Report estimated July 2019.  The sad passing of Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who had greatly assisted the parish with our initial proposals, was noted.
2)	Cycle-path to Tring: HCC awaiting meeting date from West Midlands Trains/Tring Town Council.  HCC still to cut back vegetation.
3)	HGVs/Freight:  Cllr Saintey provided feedback from the BCC HGV Liaison meeting held on 25/3/19 which had been chaired by Paul Irwin.  BCC has a new Freight Strategy Office now in place.  BCC and Canals & Rivers Trust co-operating re the weight restriction CRT wish to impose on Brownlow Bridge and the impact this will have on freight movements.

390/18	PITSTONE DEVELOPMENT AREA
NKH still not in a position to liaise with the parish council regarding the MUGA and car parking as their purchase negotiations with the landowners have not concluded.

District Councillor Jenkins and County Councillor Wight departed the meeting.

391/18	COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT
1)	Community Bus Transport Survey: Revised draft to be produced and circulated.  
2)	Investigating bus to Tring station:  West Midlands Trains (WMT) provided Station Travel Planning literature.  Parish Council awaiting meeting date.  
3)	Community Car Scheme: 
a.	See Parish Assistant information in later minute, as this person will be fulfilling the co-ordinator role.
b.	4 volunteers now signed up and DBS checks are in progress.  Others remain outstanding.
c.	Further posters erected at both surgeries and around business units.
4)	Working party membership:
Cllr Frearson arranging inception meeting.

Other Matters:

392/18	DEVOLVED SERVICES
1)	Contract:  Signed contract now returned by BCC for the 2019/20 financial year.
2)	It was RESOLVED to instruct the contractor to commence verge grass cutting (leaving the daffodil beds until later in the year).  
3)	Banner requests: Permits that had been issued were noted.  Following further consideration, it was RESOLVED not to grant a permit to the Mentmore Arts Festival as (a) Pitstone was not ‘in the immediate vicinity of the event’ and (b) the parish needed to support its own event the same weekend.

393/18	POLICY/DOCUMENT REVIEW
1)	Member Details:  Consideration was given to new guidelines.  It was RESOLVED to only publicise parish council email addresses and telephone numbers for members and remove publication of home addresses.
2)	Grant Policy:  The review was undertaken.  It was RESOLVED to approve the amended text and the Chairman was authorised to sign on behalf of the council.
3)	Information Policy:   It was RESOLVED to convert to the latest draft policy wording provided by BALC.  Document to be drawn up for consideration at the April meeting.
4)	Signage for Local Wildlife Site:  It was agreed that Cllr Arney and Cllr Stoddart would review the draft signage and provide an update to the April council meeting.

394/18	ANNUAL PARISH ASSEMBLY 14 MAY 2019
It was RESOLVED to continue seeking an available guest speaker, but if no-one could be located to proceed without a guest presentation on this occasion.  It was RESOLVED that the Chairman could sign the agenda at the appropriate time.

395/18	BEST KEPT VILLAGE COMPETION
It was RESOLVED not to enter the competition this year.

396/18	PPP
1)	It was RESOLVED to approve the PPP submissions for the next edition of the magazine.
2)	It was RESOLVED that PPP must remain as a hard copy magazine (rather than moving to online, subscription or opt-out).
3)	After considering PPP financial projections, it was RESOLVED to:
a.	Review print costs for magazines in the current format
b.	Review the cost to print the magazine if all advertising was removed (and therefore pagination was reduced)
c.	Review the cost of printing the magazine if it changed format to A4 sheets with smaller ads around the edges
d.	That Cllr Stoddart would act as a Roving Reporter to provide extra editorial coverage about the people and things that are happening within the village eg prize winning allotment products, special celebrations etc. 

397/18	REQUESTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
1)	Great British Spring Clean
It was RESOLVED that if residents were signing up to the Terms and Conditions on the Keep Britain Tidy website and submitted a copy of their risk assessment, that the parish could may be able to supply up to 3 litter pickers.  It was believed that these may exist between councillors, but council would purchase up to 3 at £10 per litter picker if necessary.

2)	Glebe Close Highway Surface
The response from BCC TfB, that resurfacing is not included in the 2019/20 budget but has been provisionally added to the 2020/21 budget (which would be confirmed, in liaison with the County Councillor, closer to the date) was noted.

3)	Vicarage Road footpath (section from Church Road to Tun Furlong)
a.	It was RESOLVED to accept comments from a member of the public, that the footpath really needed resurfacing rather than siding out.  The parish council agreed that this was the case for a section of the path.
b.	BCC TfB advised that the section between 120 and Tun Furlong “could do with being reconstructed, however it would make sense to include any work here as part of a larger capital footway scheme up to Church Road.  Cllr Wight and myself with attend a meeting with TfB Asset Management Team in December 2019/January 2020 where we could discuss”.
c.	Given the delay to reconstruct, it was RESOLVED to seek a quotation from the Devolved Service contractor, to side-out the section from Church Road to 120 Vicarage Road.
d.	It was further RESOLVED that the contractor should test to see if any tarmac remained beneath the grass verges on the section between 120 Vicarage Road and Tun Furlong, and if so, to quote for siding out.

4)	Rowland Close Highway Mirror
It was noted that BCC could not grant permission for a highway mirror at this location as it would be “deemed an obstruction under the Highways Act 1980 (due to issues with condensation, dazzle, distortion, difficulty in estimating distances or speed & over-reliance which can lead to complacency)”.  It was further noted that BCC would instruct any such mirror that was erected to be removed.

Financial Matters: 

398/18	CHAIRMAN’S EXPENSES  
It was noted that the Chairman had elected not to submit an expense claim for the financial year 2018/19.  Council thanked the Chairman.

399/18	FINANCIAL POSITION AND PAYMENTS 
The council noted the bank reconciliation, income, expenditure, debtors and creditors’ information plus the monthly budget summary.  It was RESOLVED to make the payments and transfers outlined in the monthly financial summary.  Two councillors authorised the transactions for BACS transfer and initialled the corresponding paperwork.   The chairman was duly authorised to sign the monthly summaries. 

400/18	Internal Controls
The regular internal controls had been conducted with no amendments requested or issues arising.

Reports and Reminders:

401/18	OTHER REPORTS
1)	Cllr Frearson provided feedback from the “Moving Towards Unitary” BALC presentations held 7/3/19 (Cllr Mitra) and 21/3/19 (Cllr Frearson).  It was RESOLVED to provide the following concerns as part of the materials they are compiling for the new unitary body: how communication process will work, how hubs will work & where they’ll be located, if S106 monies will be protected, whether devolved services will continue, that we don’t know what possibilities/options may exist for parish councils, how planning will be smoothly transitioned, representation for our area.
2)	Cllr Saintey provided feedback from the AVALC meeting on 19/3/19.
3)	Cllr Saintey provided feedback from the BCC Parish Liaison meeting on 27/3/19, and presentation slides had been circulated electronically.
4)	Clerk had circulated all training materials from SLCC Managing Local Council Elections webinar training on 20/3/19.
5)	It was noted that there were no significant clusters of bee orchids along Westfield Road this year that should be protected.
6)	The other reports were noted.

402/18	THE FOLLOWING REMINDERS WERE NOTED

•	Parish Council meetings: 25/4/19 (pack to be distributed Mon 15/4/19), 23/5/19, 27/6/19, 18/7/19, 5/9/19, 26/9/19, 31/10/19, 28/11/19 & 2/1/2020.  Provisional dates for 2020: 30/1/20, 27/2/20, 26/3/20
•	Sports and Leisure Committee meetings: 4/4/19, 9/5/19, 13/6/19, 11/7/19, 8/8/19 tbc (potentially no August meeting), 12/9/19, 10/10/19, 14/11/19, 12/12/19.   Provisional dates for 2020: 9/1/20, 13/2/20, 12/3/20
•	Provisional date for volunteer event 2020: 16/1/20
•	Annual parish assembly: 14/5/19
•	PPP Publication dates: January, April (deadline 5/4/19), July (deadline 5/7/19) and October.
•	Play around the Parishes 2019 – booked for 10-12am on Fri 2/8/19 and 2-4pm on Fri 16/8/19 (was 15/8/19 but AVDC double booked themselves)
•	Workplace pension contribution increases become effective 6/4/19.  NJC salary scales and grade increase effective 1/4/19.  New National Living Wage effective 1/4/19.
•	Unitary “Buckinghamshire Council” established 1/4/2020 with elections (Unitary and Parish) 7/5/2020.  Unitary elections May 2020, then 2025, then every 4 years.
•	BCC/BMKALC Parish Liaison meetings 19/6/19.
•	Next LAF’s 10/6/19 and 9/9/19.
•	Provisional date for PIE Summer Festival 14-16 June 2019.
•	Parish Council 125 years old on 31/12/19.
•	TfB conference 26/6/19 at The Gateway.
•	AVALC meetings 11/6/19, 10/9/19, 2/11/19 (AGM) – Cllr Saintey to attend.
•	IAC Internal Audit date to be confirmed.
•	Court Tour arranged for 8/4/19 – 9 people attending.
•	London Luton Airport Noise Monitoring program in Pitstone Oct & Nov 2019.  Report available online once data analysed.
•	Luton Airport Expansion, submitting Development Consent Order to Secretary of State, next consultation late 2019, further statutory consultation early 2020.  Increase passenger numbers from 18m to 32m.
•	Pitstone & Ivinghoe Safety Scheme meeting 11am 24/4/19 at The Hub (Lawn open for parking) – Cllrs Saintey, Nicholls, Crutchfield, Mitra, Hawkins & Frearson potentially attending.
•	1st Ivinghoe & Pitstone Scouts hosting District St George’s Day Parade from Pitstone Recreation Ground to Ivinghoe Lawn 5/5/19 – Cllr Nicholls attending.
•	CasePak Recycling Plant tour being arranged for 22-5-19.

403/18	DATE OF NEXT MEETING: The next meeting of the Parish Council will be 25/4/19.  It was noted that the following would appear on the agenda:

•	Year-end bank reconciliations & transfers for S106 and Reserve accounts
•	Year-end financial position (pre internal audit)
•	Draft annual report for residents
•	Draft annual return & accounts
•	Draft Trustee annual returns plus report & accounts for both charities
•	Quarterly review of council info on website
•	Quarterly VAT return
•	Quarterly grant considerations
•	Annual review of all youth café policies
•	Annual membership of Action 4 Youth due
•	SLCC annual membership renewal
•	BALC/NALC annual membership renewal
•	Staffing – quarterly review of hours (to staffing committee)
•	Note increase in dog waste contract and determine response to AVDC re new bins 
•	CIB Community Building annual membership renewal

No further agenda items were requested.

The two members of the public departed.

In accordance with the The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/…) and The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/2089) the public and press were excluded from the following section of the meeting due to the confidential/sensitive nature of the business to be transacted.

404/18	PARISH ASSISTANT VACANCY:  The staffing committee had been pleased at the level and quality of applications received.  The committee provided information on the recruitment process, shortlisting, interviews and candidates.  Following consideration, it was RESOLVED to offer the position to candidate B.  It was RESOLVED to thank the other candidates for their interest.  Council has previously passed resolutions relating to associated salary and equipment costs.

405/18	CLOSURE OF MEETING:  There being no further business to be transacted, the Chairman closed the meeting at 10.05 pm.

Signed:			Date:	25 April 2019
	 Chairman