Minutes of the Quarley Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 1^st March 2022 in the Quarley Village Hall at 6.30pm.

 Present: Cllr Mrs J Ferguson - Chairman

             Cllr Mr T Shelley

             Cllr Mr N Constable

             Cllr Mrs S Leech

             Richard Waterman – Parish Clerk

             Borough Councillor Mrs M Flood

             County Councillor Mr C Donnelly

             Member of the Public – Mandy Dobson  

Apologies: Borough Councillor Mr D Coole

WELCOME.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting  

DECLARATION OF INTEREST.

Cllr Mrs J Ferguson declared an interest in Quarley Church.

PARISH COUNCIL VACANCY.

The Clerk reported that TVBC have informed him that the Parish Council can co-opt to fill the vacancy.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING.

The Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record.

STREETLIGHTS – It was mentioned that one of the streetlights is covered in ivy. The Clerk will report this to Street Lighting Maintenance but thought that it was probably a job for the Lengthsman as the streetlights are owned by the Parish Council.

SOLAR FARM – Mr N Constable gave the Parish Council an up-date on negotiations regarding a Community Grant from the proposed extension to the Solar Farm. A further meeting is to be held to discuss the Deed for the Community Development, it has been indicated that monies will be paid to the Community within 10 days of the start of construction, Cllr Mr N Constable thought this may be early Spring. When all details have been confirmed the information will be made available to the residents of Quarley.

FINANCE.

Financial Position 1^st March 2022

                                                          £

Opening Balance 1^st April 2021    =  14,520.56

INCOME.

Precept                                      =    3,100.00

                                                 = 17,620.56

EXPENDITURE.

Street Lighting                           =       182.69

Audit                                         =       145.00

Clerks Wages                             =       670.00

Village Maintenance                    =       275.00

Insurance                                  =       587.60

Administration                           =         97.80

                                                =   1,958.09

Brought forward and income       = £17,620.56

Less Expenditure                        = £   1,958.09

                                                = £15,662.47

Money in Bank 22/2/2022

£15,662.47

The Parish Council discussed the Clerks Administration Fee and agreed to increase the payment from £720 a year to £900 a Year to recognise his 21 Years of service. Proposed by Cllr Tim Shelley and Seconded by Cllr Joanna Ferguson. All agreed.

PLANNING.

There were no new Planning Applications to discuss.

BOROUGH COUNCILLOR MRS M FLOOD.

TVBC Full Council (25 February) approved its Budget for 2022/2023

Council Tax charge will increase by £5 a year per Band D property i.e. £148.91 to £151.91: equivalent to 3.4% but is more than 2% less than the current rate of CPI. 

TVBC will make £150 payments early in the new financial year to those in Council Tax A-D bands, which comprise two thirds of Test Valley properties, with discretionary funding for those lower income households in higher Council Tax Bands. TVBC’s 7-8% share of the council tax is more than £40 lower than the average for the rest of England. 

TVBC Cabinet - 23^rd Feb 2022 - funding for charity and voluntary sector

Charities and voluntary organisations will benefit from £1.2M over the next three years in the latest cycle of the Council’s Revenue Funding Programme - awards ranging from £2,500 to almost £270,000 per year to organisations delivering a range of services, including mental health support, activities for older people, Shopmobility, advice on debt, benefits and housing, youth provision and core support for voluntary groups across the borough.

COUNTY COUNCILLOR MR C DONNELLY

Cllr Mr C Donnelly reported that the Hampshire County Council part of the Council Tax bill is to increase by 2.9%. HCC have put an additional £12 Million into Highways Maintenance.

PARISH COUNCILLOR’S REPORTS.

CLLR MRS J FERGUSON – Reported that the two benches purchased some time ago have been erected and now need placing on the Village Green. A suitable site will be agreed, and the benches installed by the next meeting.

WEBSITE.

Mr David Preston who has been the Webmaster for the Web Site for many years has indicated that he would like to retire.

Mandy Hobson has offered to put together a new Website for Quarley and take over as Webmaster. The parish Council thought this excellent news and it was agreed that a budget of £150 would be made available towards the cost.

COMMUNITY RELILENCE PLAN

Concerns were raised on the number of times there is Power Outage in the village. Having a Generator to power the Village Hall if there is an extended Power Outage to provide light and cooking was thought a good idea and will be investigated. The Village Hall Trustees will be contacted to gauge their thoughts. There are grants available from SSE.  The next Community Resilience Meeting is to be held on the 5^th May 2022

MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC.

Mandy Dobson asked if the Solar Farm Works Traffic would come through the village? Cllr Mr N Constable confirmed that all the Solar Farm Works Traffic would entre the site through Lains Farm and would not come through the village or use Bush Lane.

Mandy Dobson asked if the there were any plans to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee?

This was discussed and it was suggested that issue of a celebration be sent out to the village to gauge interest and to also ask for suggestions on how to celebrate the Jubilee.

It was suggested that a tree is planted to mark the Platinum Jubilee.

CLOSE OF THE MEETING.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

17^th May 2022 at 6pm