PARISH COUNCIL OF NEWLANDS
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 AT THE
WELLINGTON VALE, DARNEL ROAD, WATERLOOVILLE COMMENCING AT 7.30 pm
Members: Cllr D Crichton (Chairman) (P) Cllr O Barneveld (P)
Cllr A Berry (P) Cllr A Carden (P)
Cllr A Kirby (P) Cllr J Parry (P)
Cllr L Price (P) Cllr M Read (P)
Cllr F Tingle (P)
Also present D/Cllrs N Cutler, C Brook and M Read, Tony Daniells, Clerk to the Council, and three
members of the public.
072/20C Apologies: There were no apologies for absence.
073/20C Declarations of Interest: There were no declarations of interest made at this time.
074/20C Minutes
The minutes from the Council Meeting dated 12 September 2019 were received. Cllr A
Berry raised an objection as Council had not researched detail of the Vine Group who were
the preferred service supplier to the proposed new medical centre. It was RESOLVED by
a majority that the minutes of the council meeting be accepted as an accurate record
and were duly signed by the Chairman.
075/20C Public Participation
The meeting was adjourned at 7.37 pm to allow comments from the public. The meeting
reconvened at 7.55 pm.
076/20C County and District Councillors Reports
a) Apologies for absence were receive from C/Cllr P Stallard. There was no report to receive.
b) Apologies were received from D/Cllrs A Clear, J Clementson and T Evans.
D/Cllr N Cutler spoke of the budget simulator which gave residents the opportunity to set a
budget for Winchester City Council and also gave the Council an understanding of priorities.
He encouraged residents to give it a try. He was to attend a meeting with Aquind and asked
for any concerns to be passed to him. Cllr Crichton referred to a meeting he had attended to
consider alternative routing. D/C N Cutler found an exploratory meeting with Haven
Healthcare to be useful. He then referred to the frustration of delays to the opening of the
community space in Newlands and WCC would consider taking it on if not soon opened for
use.
D/Cllr C Brook advised that Haven Healthcare were due to submit a case for a new health
centre in the Parish to the NHS but this was now delayed until November. Taylor Wimpey
were working to finish the roads but she was aware that they had not advised residents of
raised ironworks etc. She would follow up on incidences of ASB in the open spaces with
the WCC Neighbourhood Officers.
D/Cllr M Read referred to a two page article in The News on the Aquind Interconnector
Project.
077/20C Vacancy on the Council
Mr Andrew Kirby, the only applicant, introduced himself. In answer to a question, he
confirmed that he could commit the time needed to serve on the Parish Council. It was
unanimously RESOLVED that Mr Andrew Kirby was co-opted to the Parish Council
to fill the one remaining place after the May uncontested election. He would also be a
member of the Planning and Finance Committees.
Cllr Kirby signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
078/20C Parish Matters
a) There was no report to receive from the WCC Implementation Officer. The Chairman
advised that roads in the Taylor Wimpey development were being prepared for final
surfacing and that an outline planning application from Grainger for Phase 6 could be
submitted by the end of the year. This phase would also include a Community Centre.
Councillors also identified areas where the pavements had sunk and these would be advised
to Grainger.
b) Cllr A Berry referred to vehicles parking on pavements and causing obstruction and
preventing mobility scooter or pushchair access. It was also difficult to give access to
emergency vehicles in some residential areas due to inconsiderate parking. The link road
between the two halves of the development was a critical access route and needs to be a safe
access to the school. A large lorry had parked and restricted sight lines which had resulted
in an accident. Police were unable to act.
It was unanimously RESOLVED that Cllr Berry would draft a letter and the Clerk
would send this to the Developers and the owners of Proxima Park with copies to HBC,
HCC Highways and WCC
c) The Chairman considered that welcome street signs should be installed on the boundary of
the Parish to identify where the boundary was. It was unanimously AGREED that the
Chairman should raise this as a suggestion at the next Arts Panel meeting.
079/20C Communications
a) i. An invitation to the launch of a Transport Strategy for the South East was NOTED.
ii. A letter of thanks from Winchester Citizens Advice for a grant from the parish
Council was NOTED.
b) Website: Cllr J Parry read out a statement debunking any connection with VOXIT who were
the preferred supplier of website services to the Council.
He had received answers to the 16 questions put to VOXIT and he verbally summarised
these answers.
In the ensuing discussion, it was considered that the maintenance cost of a website had not
been budgeted for, but the need for a more professional and flexible website was needed. It
was AGREED that Cllr J Parry would write up a summary of his report for
consideration at the October meeting of the Council.
c) FaceBook and Twitter accounts had now been setup. It was suggested that Cllrs Crichton
and Tingle and the Clerk were added as administrators. Council had previously agreed a
Social Media Policy [min ref:030/20C d] but should agree what content was posted. Cllr M
Read suggested that this was discussed internally prior to the next meeting. NOTED.
d) The cost of a virtual landline was acceptable and included in the budget. Council had
previously agreed to purchase a virtual landline. 02393 09 numbers were available. It was
unanimously RESOLVED to proceed with the purchase of a virtual landline.
080/20C Southern Parishes
The next meeting of the Southern Parishes Group would be held on 23 September 2019.
NOTED.
081/20C Liaison with Outside Bodies
i. The Chairman reported that HBC had refused to provide a litter bin outside of the
Premier Store so he had contacted HBC Councillors directly to request their
intervention.
ii. He had contacted the body coordinating relocating service personnel into the Parish
and was awaiting a reply
iii. It was unanimously RESOLVED to write to Radian to ask them to resolve
issues with overflowing litter bins.
082/20C Financial Matters
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 £876.05 including
VAT and that receipts of £5,683.07 are noted. Further payments of £2,408.50
(including VAT) made since the last orders of payment were RATIFIED.
b) Bank Statement: The August bank statement had been previously circulated. The statement
was reviewed and the balance as at 30 August 2019 was agreed. The statement was signed
at the meeting by the Chairman. NOTED.
c) Accounts: The accounts to 30 August 2019 had been previously circulated. NOTED.
d) Christmas Tree: The cost of a modern tree was given. Council discussed the type of tree
desired, the logistics of delivery and installation and subsequent storage. Cllr A Berry
suggested a sub-committee to consider this and Cllrs F Tingle and A Kirby would join him.
It was RESOLVED by a majority to delegate authority to the sub-committee with a
spend limit of £500.
e) VAT: It was AGREED that VAT should be reclaimed and that the Clerk did this by
following the procedure outlined in the VAT126 notice.
f) Internal Auditor: It was unanimously RESOLVED to adopt the Internal Auditor Policy
and that the Clerk would circulate details of the resident who had offered to perform
this role for the Council.
g) External Auditor: It was unanimously RESOLVED that Council accept the
recommendation from SAAA that PFK Littlejohn were appointed as External
Auditors.
083/20C Other Reports
There were no other reports.
084/20C Exempt Business
It was RESOLVED that in accordance with the Public Bodies (admission to meetings)
Act 1960 to exclude the public and press for discussions regarding personnel matters
where publicity might be prejudicial to the special nature of the business.
The meeting closed at 10.08 pm
The next meeting will be held on 10 October 2019
Please note minutes of meetings are published as soon as possible on the website to help residents.
However, they do not become the formal record of the meeting until agreed or otherwise at the next
meeting. Therefore, you should always check to see whether any amendments have been made.
Parish Council of Newlands
Parish Council Meeting held on 12 September 2019
A member of the public raised the following points
i. Alleged there were conflicts of interest regarding the Health Centre and website supplier. In reply,
both Councillors identified with an alleged interest robustly refuted the allegations.
ii. In the last set of minutes, not all Councillors had agreed to send a letter of support for the Health
Centre. The Chair replied that all Councillors present at the last meeting had agreed to a letter
being sent and a councillor who had objected previously was not present when the matter was put
to a vote.
iii. There was no report from the WCC Implementation Officer and drainage issues needed to be
addressed before further development was permitted. Councillors replied tha the drainage issue
was well away from the site location of a planning application and if issues were relevant to
planning, then they should be raised at Planning meetings.
iv. The detail of future planning applications needed to be made available
v. Why was a grant made to Citizens Advice. In reply, the resident was informed that the grant was
made to the Winchester Citizens Advice as they provided a service to residents in Newlands
Parish.
vi. When open space was adopted would NPC maintain HBC areas. The Chair replied that no
decision had been made but was something to consider. When WCC open space was adopted, the
Council would approach HBC and offer to maintain their space within the development if they
were prepared to transfer the commuted sums for maintenance so that the areas were maintained
consistently.
vii. The cost of a new website was not worth it just for an increase in speed and the cost of a virtual
landline was not value for money. The Clerk replied that the current website was limited on space
and other Councillors considered a more professional looking website was needed.
viii. The Residents Association would meet again in October. The Chair replied that unless it was
incorporated, it would have no legal status. However, that would only allow it to deal with
Management Companies but would not give any right to direct local authorities.