Hoe and Worthing Villages: Norfolk
Parish Meeting
Draft minutes of meeting held on 25 August 2020
Hoe and Worthing Parish Meeting
DRAFT
- Attendance
James Keith (Chairman), Carl and Glenys Watling, John and Jenny Tuckwell, Dick Malt, Mike and Sally Mullins, Celia Daniel, Harry and Jane Whitcher (Treasurer), James Sayer, Roger Atterwill, Simon Brock and Alan Hughes.
Apologies were received from Margaret Barrett, Sue Malt and David Knights.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting which was being held outdoors, at Hoe Hall Yard, to adhere to the social distancing guidelines surrounding Covid-19. In view of the weather conditions, the Chairman advised that he would keep the meeting as brief as possible.
- Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 31 October 2019, displayed on the village website, were proposed for adoption.
Harry Whitcher proposed that the minutes were a true record of the meeting, seconded by Celia Daniel. The minutes were adopted.
- Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer presented her report for the 12 months to 31 March 2020, to the meeting.
It was noted that much of the income for this period has been generated by events held at the hall; in particular the two Repair Café events, the Christmas Quiz and hire of the hall to Breckland Council for elections. The major expense during this period was for the repairs to the roof, for which the parish had received 50:50 match funded grant from Breckland District Council.
Other points of note were that the Treasurer has not only switched electricity provider but has also managed to secure a lower tariff to give a saving of £180 over the year.
It was noted that since the Covid-19 lockdown, it has not been possible to hire the hall. It was agreed that the necessity of completing full risk assessment each time would far outweigh any benefits of hiring the hall.
The Treasurer confirmed that she had completed the accounting Annual Return and arranged for a formal audit to be carried out by an independent auditor. She was pleased to confirm that no discrepancies had been highlighted.
- Internal Audit Report
- Annual Internal Audit Report
- Annual Governance Statement (Section 1)
This required approval from the meeting. Proposed by Harry Whitcher and seconded by Mike Mullins.
- Accounting Statements (Section 2)
Proposed by Harry Whitcher and seconded by Mike Mullins.
- Certificate of Exemption
To confirm that the Parish Meeting is exempt from auditor review since the income is under £25,000. Proposed by Harry Whitcher and seconded by Mike Mullins.
The Chairman thanked the Treasurer for her thorough report.
It was agreed that the accounts would be available to the public for 30 days via the Hoe and Worthing website.
- Planning Review
The Chairman took the opportunity to reiterate the role of the Planning Sub Committees for Hoe and Worthing. He explained that each time there was a new planning application, he would be alerted and would subsequently forward the information to the Planning Sub Committees for either Hoe or Worthing, as relevant. The Planning Sub Committees would then canvas local opinion and report back to the Chairman who would formulate a response.
The Chairman drew the meetings’ attention to the Breckland Council Planning website where all information could be viewed regarding current planning applications.
Celia Daniel asked if there was any more information regarding the proposed barn conversion in Worthing. Again, the Chairman urged her to look at the website, but he confirmed that the planning application is approved but he believed that detailed plans of the conversion would be available for comment in due course.
- Chairman’s Report
The Chairman began by praising the community spirit that has been shown by so many during the difficult months of lockdown. He said that he has been very proud of the way the community has been so pro-active in supporting each other. He also thanked Breckland council for the way that they had stepped up local support during these extraordinary times.
With a view to improving communications within the local community, the Chairman suggested that it may be useful to have email addresses for all residents so that information can be sent electronically. The Chairman will request this information from Hoe residents and he asked that Mike Mullins do the same for Worthing residents.
The Chairman advised that there is a match-funded County Council grant available for road improvement and that it had been suggested it could be used for a footpath between Gorgate Road and Beetley. In the first instance the Chairman will contact the Highways department to request that an engineer visits the site to give an estimate of the cost involved.
- Charitable Donations
The Chairman has again received a letter from the Citizens Advice Bureau, requesting a donation. He asked if anyone would propose this donation, but nobody did so no gift will be made to the CAB this year.
Celia Daniel proposed a donation to St Margaret’s church in Worthing. Last year the donation was £325. The proposal was seconded by John Tuckwell. There were 3 votes for and 4 votes against so the motion was not carried.
St Andrew’s church in Hoe did not receive a donation last year. However, John Tuckwell proposed that the church should receive a donation this year. This was seconded by Harry Whitcher. There were 3 votes for and 4 votes against so the motion was not carried.
- Local Groups
There were no reports from local groups due to the circumstances surrounding Covid-19.
- Election of Officers
James Keith offered to stand as Chairman again, unless there were any other candidates. This was proposed by Harry Whitcher and seconded by Mike Mullins. Unanimous.
The re-election of Jane Whitcher as Treasurer was unanimous.
Sally Mullins agreed to continue to take minutes of meetings.
The re-election of the Planning Sub Committees were unanimously agreed.
These are:-
Worthing: Mike Mullins
Alan Hughes, Celia Daniel, Danny Danson
Hoe: James Keith, James Sayer, Margaret Barrett, Harry Whitcher
The Chairman took the opportunity of thanking Roger Atterwill for his invaluable support and guidance during the last year.
- Any Other Business
Roger Atterwill took the opportunity to share his feelings of unease on the ‘Local Plan’ as adopted by Breckland council last year. He advised the meeting that there will be much housing development in the area but that all plans are being discussed and agreed by a closed working group.
Date of next meeting
To be advised.