WEST CLANDON PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman: Mr Terence Patrick , Stoney Royd, Woodstock, West Clandon, Guildford, GU4 7UJ

Clerk: Mr John Stone, Hunters End, Lime Grove, West Clandon, Guildford GU4 7UT

01483 385187: westclandon@talktalk.net : www.westclandon.org.uk

Minutes of the meeting held Wednesday 8^th May 2019 at 8.00pm

Present: Terence Patrick (Chairman), Chris Dean, Jenny Wicks, Jonathan Murphy, Stephen Meredith, Paul Edwards and John Stone (Clerk)

Councillors Keith Taylor, Tim Anderson and Chris Barrass were in attendance with 5 residents and Keith Meldrum of the Merrow Residents Association.

1. Election of Chair and Vice-Chair.

The Clerk called for nominations for the post of Chairman. Terence Patrick was nominated by Chris Dean and seconded by Steve Meredith. There being no other nominations Terence Patrick was elected unanimously.

Terence Patrick took the Chair and proposed Jonathan Murphy as Vice-Chairman. This was agreed unanimously.

2. Apologies for Absence.

Apologies were received from Eric Palmer,
Councillor Catherine Young was unable to be in attendance.

3. Declaration of Interests.

Terence Patrick declared that he was an honorary alderman in the Borough of Guildford and member of the Village Hall Management Committee. Jonathan Murphy declared that he was an associate governor at Clandon School and Trustee of the Friends of West Clandon Church. Chris Dean declared that he was a member of the Village Hall Management Committee and a neighbour of Willow Pond House which was the subject of a planning application on the agenda of the meeting.

4. Confirmation of the Minutes of the April meeting.

The minutes were agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

5. Matters arising from those minutes.

4.4.8 The Clerk reported that contributions from the Village Hall and the Royal British Legion for Car Park repairs had not been received.
7. Keith Taylor undertook to email details of a contact at Surrey to discuss issues with the trees on the Recreation Ground boundary with The Street. (KT)
9. Following reports of further accidents at the junction of the station approach with The Street it was agreed to consider whether problems could be addressed within the Neighbourhood Plan. (JS)
12. The Clerk reported on problems encountered with National Westminster Bank in setting up a Notice Account. Counsellors approved and signed a letter to the Bank in an attempt to resolve the issues. (JS)

6. Local Plan Update.

Chris Dean reported that the Guildford Local Plan was approved on 25^th April and was now in force. All three Clandon and Horsley Councillors voted against.
The Local Borough Elections had resulted in a Council with no overall control. The Lib Dems were the largest party but it was not yet clear what shape any new administration would take.
With the Local Plan in force attention would now move to supplementary planning documents. There was still a chance that the Plan would be overturned through judicial review but this would be difficult and expensive.

For Gosden Hill there would now be a master plan which should be consulted on.
It was reported that there was concern in Merrow over suggestions that an early phase of some 2-300 houses would be built in advance of the infrastructure being in place. A resident of the Merrow Residents Association invited the Council to consult with representatives of Burpham and Merrow over the development.

7. Neighbourhood Plan Report.

Jonathan Murphy reported on the activities of the Neighbourhood Planning Group. The Questionnaire had attracted over 270 responses which had been considered by the Group. This had been used to brainstorm a number of possible themes and a vision for the Plan. These were now being written up for consideration by the Group at a meeting in June.

8. Recreation Ground, Playground and Car Park.

In Eric Palmer’s absence the Clerk reported on the ongoing inspection of the playground and the trees surrounding the recreation ground. Residents commented that both gates to the play area were not secure and needed urgent attention (EP). Chris Dean also expressed concern over the state of some of the trees on the boundary with The Street. (EP).
A resident also commented that the grass was too long for children’s football. Although it was explained that this was cut monthly it was suggested that Eric Palmer should monitor the situation and authorise additional cuts if necessary. (EP)

9. Footpaths.

Paul Edwards updated members on work to maintain the Parish’s footpaths. These were due to be cut in a 2-3 weeks time. Footpaths 82 and 83 may need doing later this year. Paul was authorised to progress this within the overall footpaths budget. (PE)

He was asked to check the overhanging vegetation on 69A. (PE)
On 568 a tree had fallen over. Remedial work had been undertaken.
Footpath 75 was still closed awaiting bridge works.

Footpath 69 towards Ripley was now partially open following clearance work.,

10. A247 Matters.

Terence Patrick undertook to talk to Surrey Highways about adding a 30 mph sign to the new ‘gates’. He would discuss the 2 drain covers between the school and Clandon Regis with Keith Taylor. (TP)

11. Planning Matters.

Jonathan Murphy updated members on the planning applications included with the papers for the meeting and a late application (19/P/00763) for a proposal at Willow Pond House. Councillors agreed with the recommendation that no comment be made.
It was noted that the appeal against a refusal to allow development at the Stables north of Lime Grove had been refused.

12. Council Correspondence sent and received.

Councillors noted correspondence listed in the papers for the meeting. They agreed to a request from the Clandon School PTFA who wished to organise an event at the Recreation Ground. (JS)
Comments over parking at the shared Recreation Ground Car Park were noted. The Chairman undertook to raise these with the Legion. (TP)
Counsellors noted a Surrey County Council consultation on their Revised Statement of Community Involvement and asked for more information to be circulated in advance of the next meeting. (JS)

13. Financial Matters and Approvals.

Councillors resolved that we should renew membership of the CPRE for a further year. (JS)
Paul Edwards undertook to investigate the value of renewing membership of the Open Spaces Society.(PE)
The following financial transactions approved during he month were noted:

Date	Beneficiary	Ref	VAT reclaimed	£
02/04/2019	NJM	19.1	144	864
11/04/2019	Bourne Sport	19.3	4196.60	25179.6
11/04/2019	1st Surface	19.4	100	600
11/04/2019	Gavin Jones	19.5	44.93	269.59
11/04/2019	Eric Palmer	19.6		15.4
11/04/2019	HMRC	19.7		208.4
11/04/2019	MJStone	19.8		380.39
29/04/2019	Clandon School	19.12		1000
04/05/2019	NJM	19.13	7	42

14. Annual Governance Statement.

Members considered and approved the Annual Governance Statement included in the papers of the meeting. (JS)

15. 2017/18 Accounts.

Members noted the report of the recent internal audit of the Council’s 2018/19 accounts and considered and approved the Accounting Statement. (JS)

16. Office and Administration.

Councillors considered the quote from Zurich Insurance for the Council’s insurance cover and noting the market testing exercise which had taken place last year agreed to renew on this basis. (JS)

The Clerk was authorised to register with the Information Commissioner should a new self-assessment indicate this is necessary. (JS)
The Clerk was authorised to dispose of a redundant filing cabinet using Freecyle/Nextdoor as appropriate. (JS)

17. Questions from the Public.

Comments were received on the following:
Blocked drains on Clandon Rd which required jet washing (KT)
The lack of Street Lighting in West Clandon although it was reported that this had proved controversial in the past as it was perceived as urbanising the village.

Keith Taylor reported that the increase in demand for places was putting pressure on the system particularly in secondary schools.
New Borough Counsellors attending the meeting for the first time in this capacity thanked the people of West Clandon for their support and undertook to do all they could to support the village.

18. Date of Next Meeting- Wednesday 12^th June 2019 at 8.00pm.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 10.05pm