Parish Council AGM 2021 – meeting minutes
May 22nd, 2021
Minutes of the Parish Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on: 6th May 2021
Present:
Cllr Phil James (PJ – Chair)
Cllr Carol Berry (CB)
Cllr Geoff Carter (GC)
Cllr Martin Delaney (MD)
Cllr Chris Houghton (CH)
Cllr Alan Lingard (AL)
Clerk: Mike Ainsworth (MA)
Members of the Public: none
Apologies: none
Meeting opened: 20:00
Meeting closed: 20:17
Agenda
1. Election of Officers
2. Minutes of the AGM held on Thursday 16th May 2019
3. Chairman’s Report
4. AOB
Next AGM Scheduled for: Thursday 19th May 2022 at 8pm
Status: DRAFT
Chair:
Date:
1. 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 2022. The proposal was seconded by Cllr. Alan Lingard and was agreed unanimously. Cllr. Phil James elected to serve as the Parish Council Chair for the year 2021/22.
Cllr. Phil James proposed that Cllr. Martin Delaney be elected to the position of Vice Chair; the proposal was seconded by Cllr. Carol Berry and was agreed unanimously. Cllr. Martin Delaney elected to serve as Vice Chair to the Parish Council for the year 2021/22.
2. Minutes of the AGM held on Thursday 16th May 2019
The elected members agreed that the minutes of the AGM of 16th May 2019 were a true record and were countersigned by the Parish Clerk on behalf of the Chair Cllr. Phil James.
3. Chairman’s Report
INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY PARISH COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021
It almost goes without saying, the 2020-21 municipal year was like no other in many ways but given the circumstances I think we came through it admirably.
Members maintained a constant dialogue via phone, email, outdoor meetings when permitted within government rules and remote meetings via skype. It wasn’t/isn’t ideal but we hope such enforced arrangements will end sooner, rather than later, to enable a return to ‘normal business’.
One bit of ‘normal business’ we were able to fulfill was the production and distribution of our Parish Council Newsletter. Two such issues were delivered to all homes during the year and I would like to thank those councilors (Berry, Carter, Delaney and Lingard) who assisted me in distributing each edition to around 400 homes within our parish. As more new homes are built and occupied it’s a task that becomes increasingly onerous but from the feedback I hear it is appreciated by the residents, so I make no excuse for giving credit to those councilors for their efforts.
I would also like to thank those same councilors, together with our parish clerk, for the time and effort they have put into the Carrs Green project. Unfortunately that has been made doubly difficult by the covid-19 situation and further hindered by the weather. We must now hope that such circumstances change in our favour to enable us get the project completed during this new municipal year.
Just returning to the issue of new housing the recent lack of support we’ve received from both officers and members of the planning sector at Wyre Council is nothing short of shameful. It has reached the point where we’ve made a formal complaint to them regarding the handling of the application for the houses next to the school. That’s still an ongoing matter but they have just produced a new Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) to replace the current one dated 2010. Coincidence?
In closing I would like to thank those members of the Parish Council who unfailingly give their all for the village and also our clerk Mike Ainsworth and our lengthsman Andrew Maxfield. Thanks also go to our County Councilor Matthew Salter for his continued support.
Thank you
Phil James
Chairman, Inskip-with-Sowerby Parish Council. May 2021
4. Any Other Business
4.1. Cllr. Berry asked about future Parish Council meetings. The Parish Clerk reported that as the government in England had not passed legislation permitting virtual council meetings in the future that meetings would need to be held in real life. It was agreed that the next Parish Council meeting would be held on Thursday 20th May on Carrs Green and that the Parish Clerk would arrange for the June meeting to be held at the Baptist Hall subject to acceptance of booking. The Parish Clerk recommended that the Parish Council draft risk assessment and health and safety documentation prior to holding public meetings indoors but Parish Councillors felt that the Parish Council could rely upon these being supplied by the host organisation.
4.2. Approval of Accounting Statement for 2020/2021 and approval of Certificate of Exemption. The Parish Clerk reported that the Accounts for 2020/21 had been prepared and had been signed off by the Internal Auditor, Mr. George Diaper. As the income and the expenditure of the Parish Council in the last financial year fell below the £25K threshold the Parish Council are only required to complete Part 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR). The Parish Clerk asked the Parish Council to now approve the Accounting Statement for 2020/2021 and to complete the Certificate of Exemption where the Parish Council declares itself to be exempt from the requirement for external audit. The Parish Council resolved to approve the Accounting Statement and to issue the Exemption Certificate. In addition and in line with the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities the Parish Clerk noted 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;
o Bowling Green and Pavilion on land leased from Wyre Council by the Parish Council.