Parish Council AGM May 2018 Draft Minutes

Parish Council AGM May 2018 Draft Minutes

May 18th, 2018

Minutes of the Parish Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on:  17^th May 2018
Present:

Cllr Phil James (PJ – Chair)
Cllr Carol Berry (CB)
Cllr Geoff Carter (GC)
Cllr Martin Delaney (MD)

Clerk:  Mike Ainsworth (MA)

Members of the Public:  None

Apologies:  Cllr Chris Houghton (CH); Cllr Alan Lingard (AL); Wyre Cllr Susan Catterall; LCC Cllr Matthew Salter

cc:  Parish Councillors; Joanne Porter (Wyre Council); Wyre Cllr Susan Catterall; Wyre Cllr Sue Pimbley; LCC Cllr Matthew Salter

Meeting opened:            20:00
Meeting closed:               20:05

Agenda

1. Minutes of the AGM held on Thursday 18^th May 2017
2. Matters Arising from the minutes of the 2017 AGM
3. Chairman’s Report
4. Election of Officers
5. Financial Report
6. Wyre Council Report
7. Any Other Business

Next AGM Scheduled for:  Thursday 16^th May 2019 at 8pm

Status:  DRAFT

1. Minutes of the AGM held on Thursday 18^th May 2017

The elected members agreed that the minutes of the AGM of 18^th May 2017 were a true record and were countersigned by the Clerk on behalf of the Chair Cllr. Phil James.

2. Matters Arising from the minutes of the 2017 AGM – none.

3. Chairman’s Report

INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY PARISH COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018

I’ve been a member of this Council since 1983, that’s quite a long time, 35 years to save anyone doing the maths, and I can remember many of the issues that we have faced over the years.

What I can’t remember is, that in all that time, there being any municipal year to come remotely close to the kind of year we’ve just experienced. The issues that the Parish Council faced during 2017-18 made for the most difficult, time-consuming, stressful, 12 months of Parish Council business that I can recall and we go forward into 2018-19 with most of those still issues unfinished.

Not many weeks back we had the Public Inquiry into the proposed Fracking site at Roseacre Wood and we’re currently in the midst of the inquiry into Wyre Borough Council’s Draft Local Plan. Those two issues alone threaten to destroy the village we know and love. Some long-standings residents have already moved to new pastures in fear of what will come, more are likely to follow if one or more of these hideous schemes gets government approval.

We, as a Parish Council do our very best to protect the village interests. Sadly, we have little power, and even more sadly some of those who should be offering us a degree of protection provide little. It’s a great pity many at Wyre Borough Council (and that’s not a dig at our elected Wyre representatives) don’t give us the same level of support that Ben Wallace, our Member of Parliament, provides then we might not be in the situation we find ourselves in.

I should also like to take this opportunity to say how refreshing it is to have a County Councilor who takes such an interest in our affairs, every credit to Matthew Salter, I hope he continues as he’s started!

I’ll now revert to my colleagues around this table and thank those, who have made any, for their input and especially our Clerk, Mike Ainsworth, for taking on a mountain of extra work without complaint. Also, a big thank-you to Andrew Maxfield, our lengthsman, for his sterling efforts in getting the village look it’s best in time for the visits from the Wyre in Bloom and Best Kept Village judges.

Finally, I’ll go back to where I started. There remains, many issues unresolved as we move into 2018-19 and undoubtedly more will arise as the year progresses. We are but a small Council in numbers, six being our total, but rarely are we able to count on all six to do their bit. That situation is unacceptable as it is grossly unfair on those that do. I therefore urge any member who cannot, for whatever reason, give the requisite level of commitment to this Council, to do the honorable thing and make way for someone who can.

Thank you

Phil James
Chairman, Inskip-with-Sowerby Parish Council.                                                        May 2018

4. Election of Officers

Cllr. Martin Delaney proposed that Cllr. Phil James should be elected to the position of Chairman of the Parish Council to server until the AGM in 2016. The proposal was seconded by Cllr. Carol Berry and was agreed unanimously. Cllr. Phil James elected to serve as the Parish Council Chair for the year 2018/19.

Cllr. Phil James proposed that Cllr. Martin Delaney be elected to the position of Vice Chair; the proposal was seconded by Cllr. Geoff Carter and was agreed unanimously. Cllr. Martin Delaney elected to serve as Vice Chair to the Parish Council for the year 2018/19.

5. Financial Report

5.1.    In line with previous years the Parish Clerk reported that the income, expenditure, and year-end balances for the previous 4 years were:

5.2.    In addition to the report in previous years, and in line with the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities, MA also reported:

• Details of public land and building assets owned by the Parish Council:

o   Carr House Green Common, an area of open land at Carrs Green, Inskip covering 60.37 acres, purchased in 1955 for the sum of £5. A number of commoners have rights to graze this land;

• Details of all items of expenditure over £100 – appended;

• It was also confirmed that the Annual Governance Statement, end of year accounts, and audit reports would also be published on the website in due course.

6. Wyre Council Report – none.

7. Any Other Business – none.

Details of all Items of Expenditure over £100