M I D D L E T O N PA R I S H C O U N C I L

= &nb= sp; MIDDLETON PARISH COUNCIL =

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The Meeting of the Parish Council was held on Wednesda= y 19^th March 2008 at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall Annexe, Cottingham.

Present: = Cllrs Phillipson (Chair), Dickens, Alvey, Ainge, Claypole, Cole, Rob= ertson, CBC Rural Pride Ms Suzanne Preston, Mrs Medwell (Parish Clerk) and one memb= er of the public.

1. Apologies for Absence:     None

2. Declaration of Interest:      Cllr Philli= pson declared a non-prejudicial interest the Middleton Village Hall Project.         =         &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;

3. Minutes of 20^th February 2008:

The minutes were duly approved and signed.

               =   Proposed Cllr Ainge

   &nb= sp;            =    Seconded Cllr Cole

4. Ma= tters Arising:

The Clerk informed the Council of the insurance excess= on items on asset register. Cllr Phillipson requested that a more competitive = rate be sought.

5. Meeting Open for Public Participation:

Mr Keith Allsop informed of CBC plans to identify area= s of high littering in the Borough which would hopefully provide a system of attacking the problem. It was also suggested that the Parish consider a vil= lage ‘litter pick’.

Attention was drawn to a problem with overhanging tree= s on the old A427, Cllr Phillipson requested that if details of location etc. could be sent by letter/email to the council, the matter would be raised with Highways.

(Meeting closed to the public).        =                =

6. Cottingham and Middleton New Village Hall Projec= t:

Ms Preston reported that Nigel Crammer (CBC Legal Dept= ) was still waiting for the go ahead from adoptions engineer re ownership of water connections. Cllr Phillipson asked that other 106 monies from Darescroft and 25 Main Street developments be chased up as a mat= ter of urgency.

The Council a= greed to accept Mr Keith Allsop’s offer to assi= st with technical and design aspects of the project to the planning application stage.

The Council formally agreed to lease the land from the borough and resolved to use Mr Andrew Boddy as its solicitor for this project.

The council agreed that Cllrs Cole and Phillipson be given the council’s authority to carry out the necessary negotiations with the Borough in the matter of the land lease.

Proposed Cllr Phillipson        =             &nb= sp;             Seconded Cllr Ainge

7. Highways:

School Hill <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Bend – = No sign of repairs done. Cllr Phillipson meeting with Ian Tattersall on 27^{th
March. (subsequently changed to 31^st =
March)}

1 School Hill= – Cllr Phillipson to write to Highways (action DP).

Community Spe= ed Watch Programme – Next programme to start on 5^th April, shar= ing one week on / off with Cottingham.

Attention was drawn to the possibly dangerous parking = of the Citroen outside 18 Main St= reet (DP to Telephone)

8. Internal Audit: TERMS OF REFERENCE:

Cllr Ainge had revi= ewed the effectiveness of the Internal Audit System and advised the Council that= all was in order. The Terms of Reference were then duly signed and the date of = next review given as March 2011.

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9. Village Matters:

The Clerk reported that at present CBC could not fund = the purchase of Dog Fouling Bins but would consider a request to finance their emptying. The Council agreed to write to Peter Neale and on agreement of a commitment to empty would purcha= se its own bins (action JM).

Complaints had been received by a number of residents regarding the antisocial noise and time of fireworks let off by a resident = of Main Street= on 1^st March. The Council agreed to w= rite to resident concerned (action DP/JM= ).

Cllr Phillipson said that he had looked at the Elder t= ree on Ashley road and would write to Highways re its removal. However the Council felt that the wall may be being damaged by the ivy growing over it and agreed to write to the resident responsible (action JM).

10. Planning:

08/00118/DPA   &nbs= p; 6 Lightfoot Lane    Extension to front and rear Dormer Windows    Council had no comment to make on t= his application.

11. VHMC (School Hall Annexe):

Cllr Phillips= on had received a letter from the VHMC stating that their impending court case rem= ains sub judice until later in the year and that all= VHMC representatives were indeed trustees. On that basis, Cllr Alvey wished to resign her position as Middleton Parish VHMC representative. Chairman of VHMC would be advised (action DP)

12. Finance:

a)   The following cheques were presented for signature and agreed:

100999  &nbs= p;         Cottingham Parish Council     = ;            &n= bsp;            = ; 406.98

101000  &nbs= p;         Fund Transfer      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;               40,0= 00.00

101001  &nbs= p;         VHMC        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;         =      20.00

b) SUMMA= RY OF BALANCES                =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =

National Savings =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =                  53,136.69

Business Reserve =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =                    161.66

Community Account = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;           =           &= nbsp;              3.958.70

Less Allocation for Village Hall            =                       53,000.00

Total:  &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;                   =                4,257.05

=

The council discus= sed interest earning accounts and agreed it would be worthwhile enquiring with the bank about getting the highest possible return for the village hall money now deposited with the parish. (Action JM)

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13. Correspondence:

Amongst other correspondence were the following items:=

Minutes – Cottingham, Weldon, Stanion, East Carlton and Gr= etton PC’s

Northants Police – Monthly Crime Report

Clerks and Councils Direct

ACRE – Village Viewpoint / Monitoring and Good practice Review

CPRE – Fieldwork

Standards Board – Town and Country Standard

Letters – NCC Re Minerals and Waste Discussion P= aper

14. A= ny Other Business:

Cllrs Robertson and Alvey = expressed an interest in attending the NALC course for new councillors.

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There being no further bu= siness the meeting closed at 9.30pm =

Minutes to be ratified at the next= meeting on the 16^th April 2008.

Signed…………………= ;………….Chairman        =       Date………………………&= #8230;…

Clerk:     Mrs J Medwell    3 Main Street, Middleton, Market Harborough LE16 8YU        =          Tel: 01536 771234   &= nbsp;