Apologies for Absence
Mr D Andrewartha (County Councillor)

The Chairman opened the Meeting by welcoming all the Councillors present and congratulating them on their reelection.

1-Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman
Mrs Wannell proposed and Mrs Shaw seconded the motion that Mr Brown be reelected as Chairman. Mr Brown having expressed his willingness to take up the position for a further year he was reelected unanimously. (90/06)

Mr Brown then proposed and Mrs Wannell seconded the motion that Mrs Shaw be reelected as Vic-Chairman. This was accepted unanimously. (91/06)

2-Signature of Declarations of Acceptance of Office
These were signed in the presence of the Clerk by the three Councillors. (92/06)

3-Cooption of Councillors
Agreement had been received from the SDC Electoral Officer that it would not be necessary to advertise the vacancies in view of the closeness to the 4^th May Parish Council Elections when all qualifying Residents had been given the opportunity to submit themselves for Election.

In the event Messrs Bartlam and Mr Sant had expressed their willingness to serve as Councillors .

Mrs Wannell then proposed and Mrs Shaw seconded the motion that Mr Bartlam be appointed as Parish Councillor. This was agreed unanimously. (93/06)

Mrs Shaw then proposed and Mr Brown seconded the motion that Mr Sant be appointed as Parish Councillor. This was agreed unanimously. Clerk was asked to notify Mr Sant formally. (94/06) Action-Clerk

4-Confirmation of Appointment
Snow and Flood Warden-As Mr Holloway had expressed his willingness to remain Snow and Flood Warden his appointment was confirmed. Mr Sheldon remains the Snow Plough Operator. (95/06)
Tree Warden-Mr Connel’s appointment was confirmed. (96/06)
Trustee to Stinchcombe Hill Recreational Ground Trust-Mrs Shaw’s appointment was confirmed. (97/06)
Trustee to Stinchcombe United Charities-Mr Holloway’s appointment was confirmed. (98/06)
Trustee to Dursley United Charities-Mr Holloway’s appointment was confirmed. (99/06)
Trustee to Stinchcombe Village Hall Trust-Mrs Wannell’s appointment was confirmed. (100/06)
Representative on Berkeley Site Stakeholder Group-Mr Bartlam’s appointment was confirmed.(101/06)
Internal Auditor-Mr Iain Sinclair’s appointment was confirmed. (102/06)

5-Financial Matters
Budget 2006/7- The Budgetary proposals which had been presented and discussed at the previous Meeting have been updated to include the costs of support of the Parish plan, the Website and the Newsletter. Mrs Shaw proposed and Mr Brown seconded the motion that the Budget as presented in note fin 219 and appended to these Minutes be adopted. This was agreed unanimously. (103/06)
Financial Accounts for Year ended 31^st March 2006-As the Internal Auditor’s Report will not be available until 22^nd June the matter was deferred to the next Meeting. (104/06)
Approval of Donations-As the list of Appeals received since the last AGM was not available the matter was deferred to the next Meeting. (105/06)
Chairman’s Allowance-Chairman stated that he was willing to forego the Allowance. However the view of the majority of Councillors was that the Allowance should be renewed. Mrs Shaw therefore proposed and Mrs Wannell seconded the motion that the Chairman’s Allowance of £40 should be renewed for this Financial Year. This was agreed unanimously. (106/06)
Parish Council Insurance-Clerk noted that the insurance cover for the bus shelter on the Street may be insufficient.. The matter will be considered as part of the risk assessment process in the course of the approval of the Financial Accounts. (107/06)
Confirmation of Clerk’s Salary-Clerk noted that an annual pay award of 2.95% had been agreed nationally. Chairman suggested that a 3.5% award to recognise the special attention paid by the Clerk to Council affairs would be appropriate. After a short discussion this was agreed by Councillors. Chairman then proposed and Mrs Shaw seconded the motion that Clerk’s Salary be increased by 3.5% starting from 1^st April 2006. This was unanimously agreed. Clerk’s annual salary will therefore be increased from £677.30 to £701 ie £175.25 quarterly. (108/06)

Statement of Receipts Payments and Authorisations-The current Statement as appended to these Minutes was approved and the Building Society Account verified.(109/06)

Clerk asked for clarification of the due dates for the payments towards the support of the Website and the preparation of the Newsletter These had been agreed at the last Meeting. (Items 83/06 and 84/06)

It was agreed that the payment of £80 towards the costs of the Newsletter would be made quarterly starting on 1^st April 2006 and that the payment of £100 towards the support of the Website would be made annually starting on 1^st April 2005. (110/06)

6-Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on 11^th April 2006
The Minutes which had been previously circulated were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman, (111/06)

7-Matters arising from Minutes
Speed Limit on Taits Hill Road-In the absence of the County Councillor no further information was available on this issue. (112/06) Continuing Action-Mr Andrewartha
Neighbourhood Watch-As this item is likely to be taken up in the Parish Plan it was agreed to delete the Action from the Minutes. (113/06)
Land adjacent to Whitehouse Farm-The site Meeting of Members of the SDC Development Control Committee took place on 18^th April and was attended by Mr Holloway. The matter will now be considered at the DCC Meeting of 13^th June next. District Councillor was of the opinion that the proposed Enforcement Order is likely to be accepted without alteration. (114/06)

No further progress has been reported on the repairs to Wick Lane. (115/06)

Footpaths and Rights of Way-The ownership of the trailer parked at the foot of the Old London Road remains unclear and it does not appear to belong to occupants of adjacent properties. (116/06) Continuing Action-Mr Brown
Highways-SDC have arranged a collection of litter deposited along Highways not covered by the Annual Springclean. (117/06)
Financial Matters-The formal request for funding of the activities of the preparation of the Parish Plan has now been received from the Steering Group. Clerk requires to be informed of the Title of the account so that the payment can be made. (118/06)Action-Mrs Shaw

The other Actions have been completed. (119/06)

8-Planning Matters
Current Applications were reviewed. Clerk noted that the Application for an Agricultural Access at the Stragglers Field had been approved with conditions for the layout of the access to The Street and for the resiting of the Junior Swings. Concern was felt that the costs for replacing the safety surface had not been fully taken on board by DRFC and that the existing access to the swings from the Village Hall Car Park might be lost making it necessary for children to walk along the Highway. (120/06)

9-Footpaths and Rights of Way
Mrs Shaw noted that work was ongoing at the Old London Road to modify an existing field access. (121/06)

10-Highways
Mr Holloway and Clerk had attended the recent Gloucestershire Highways Area Parish Council Meeting at Kingshill House. Notes have been circulated. (122/06)

11-Facilities
Clerk noted that despite telephone calls to Mr McAllister the refurbishment of the Fountain had not yet been started. A further approach will be made. (123/06) Action-Clerk

12-Parish Plan
Chairman reported that three Action Groups had been set up and have determined the way forward. The activity is now well underway.

District Councillor asked that he be given a copy of the Questionnaire which is in course of preparation and will be circulated to all Parishioners. (124/06) Action-Chairman

13-Correspondence
The current Schedule of Correspondence received is appended to these Minutes. All items of interest have been or are about to be circulated (125/06)

14-Community Safety
Clerk noted that the Neighbourhood Warden Patrols were continuing on a regular basis . The monthly Report will be circulated to Councillors.(126/06) Action-Clerk

The latest Crime Statistics have been circulated. (127/06)

15-Reports by Councillors
District Councillor reported that the SDC AGM would be taking place on Thursday 18^th May. Mr Wride was asked for an updated report to the Annual Parish Meeting. (128/06) Action-Mr Wride

Other Councillors had nothing further to report.

16-Dates of Next Parish Council Meetings
Wednesday 24^th May2006 at 7 30PM Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting
Wednesday 28^th June 2006 at 7 30PM
Wednesday 26^th July 2006 at 7 30PM
Wednesday 6^th September 2006 at 7 30PM

The Meeting was closed at 9 20PM

J Larroucau (Clerk)
min 192