PARISH COUNCIL OF NEWLANDS
MINUTES OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 2 JULY 2020 VIA A
ZOOM TELECONFERENCE COMMENCING AT 7.30 pm
Members: Cllr F Tingle (Chair) (P) Cllr O Barneveld (P)
Cllr A Berry Cllr A Carden (P)
Cllr D Crichton (P) Cllr A Kirby (P)
Cllr J Parry (P) Cllr L Price (P)
Cllr M Read (P)
Also present was Tony Daniells, Clerk to the Council..
010/21F Apologies: No apologies were received.
011/21F Declarations of Interest: There were no Declarations of Interest made at this time.
012/21F Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes from the Finance Committee Meeting dated 7 May 2020 were received. It was
unanimously RESOLVED that the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting be accepted as
an accurate record and were duly signed by the Chair.
013/21F Public Participation: There was no requirement for a public session.
014/21F Correspondence: There was no correspondence to receive.
015/21F Finance
a) Orders for Payment: It was unanimously RESOLVED that the payments detailed on the Orders
for Payment (list 04) should be APPROVED in the sum of £183.64 including VAT and that NIL
receipts are noted. Further payments of £496.33 (including VAT) made since the last orders of
payment were RATIFIED.
b) Accounts: The accounts to 30 June 2020 had been previously circulated. A grant payment of £1,000
had been made to the Waterlooville Food Bank and the telephone budget would overspend due to the
use of Zoom for virtual meetings. NOTED.
c) Annual Return: It was unanimously RESOLVED to request an extension for submission of the
Annual return to the External Auditor until 13 November 2020 to allow the Internal Auditor
to complete a review.
d) General Account: Committee consider the risk of fraud and where to hold the card. It was
unanimously RESOLVED to operate the General Account with Lloyds with a debit card and
the card would be held by the Clerk until current restrictions were lifted.
016/21F Open Space
a) Committee considered the financial implications and the need for a business plan to support any
decision on adoption of open spaces.
In the discussions, Councillors covered
• A call from the WCC Implementation Officer who advised that WCC do not manage open spaces
outside of Winchester. As such WCC would hand over maintenance to a management company
and pass on the cost through the Council Tax
• WCC currently maintain open spaces at Newlands but wanted to offer this to the Parish Council
for adoption.
• A meeting with WCC was suggested as a way of moving this forward with Parish and Ward
Councillors and WCC Officers..
• Confidential discussions on costs and adoptions should be Exempt until agreed. The need to keep
residents informed was considered. Matters of Policy could be discussed in open session.
• New diversity requirements would make open spaces different and involve different management
policies. Costs for maintenance may change as a result.
• Consideration needed to be given to spaces that were within both Havant BC and WCC
boundaries. There was a need to interlock with HBC to ensure consistency.
• Possible users of the Town Park and Pavilion should be sounded out.
• The Finance Committee should focus on the financial aspects of open spaces and not encroach
onto the responsibilities of the Amenities Committee. The final decision on adoptions would be
the of the full Council.
• The bed of water courses should be maintained by the Environment Agency but the banks would
be maintained by the riparian owner.
• The Parish Council had little experience in managing open spaces. The variety of spaces to be
adopted would need support from WCC Landscape Architects to help prepare invitations to
tender.
• Commuted sums for maintenance were designed to cover 20 years of costs. A fund should be
built up over the years to fund maintenance.
• The maintenance schedule should be understood to fully understand the management obligations
and hence the costs.
• It was suggested that the next steps should be a meeting with WCC Officers prior to consideration
by the Amenities Committee and then the Finance Committee.
The Chair summarised the discussions.
It was unanimously RESOLVED that the Clerk would organise a meeting with WCC Officers
and this would be attended by members of the Amenities Committee.
017/21F Other reports: There were no other matters Councillors wished to be considered for the next agenda..
The meeting closed at 8.19 pm. The next Finance Committee meeting will be held on Thursday 3
September 2020.
