Draft Minutes

VOWCHURCH & DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL
Michaelchurch Escley, Newton, St Margarets, Turnastone, Vowchurch.
Minutes of the Vowchurch & District Group Parish Council meeting held on
Thursday 19th June 2025 at 7.30pm in Escley Sports Pavilion, Michaelchurch Escley

PRESENT – Councillors E May (Chair), I Chadwick, E Williams, S Craddock, R Lloyd, J Kernahan, D Cross, and A Picton.
IN ATTENDANCE – Ward Councillor M Engel, Mr T Griffiths (Lengthsman), Mrs L Cowles (Clerk) and one member of the public.

  1. ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Councillor A Mason and the police.
  2. RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST & CONSIDER ANY WRITTEN APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION – There were no declarations of interest or written requests for dispensation.
  3. ADOPT MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL – 15th May 2025 – The minutes were signed as a true and accurate record.
  4. OPEN DISCUSSION – The member of the public present had come to meet Councillors and observe the meeting. No specific points were raised.
  5. REPORTS
    5.1 Local Police – The local police were unable to attend the meeting. They reported via the Clerk that since the last meeting on 15th May 2025 there have been no reports of thefts or burglaries in the parish.
    5.2 Ward Councillor – Ward Councillor Engel’s report included: –
    Herefordshire Council is currently consulting on it’s Local Transport Plan for 2025 – 2041, they are looking for responses by the end of June. There is no mention of the Golden Valley in the plan.
    Transport – Central government are emphasizing they want growth in areas that have good public transport facilities. For the Pontrilas station to go ahead there would need to be considerably more houses built.
    Planning – There is currently a call for sites. Herefordshire will need to build approximately 11,000 additional homes.
    There is currently a plague affecting crayfish in our local rivers.
    5.3 Footpath Officer – Councillor May’s report had been circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting.
    5.4 Lengthsman report – Mr Griffiths reported that all drainage grant works for 2024/25 have been completed. The weather has been kind for this financial year and the regular visits are progressing. There is one outstanding job for the regular lengthsman funding 2024/25 which is due to be completed shortly. He asked for details of the landowner either side of C1206 in Michaelchurch Escley to enable him to contact them re disposal of soil. It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the Locality Steward to see if any of the large verges in the area belonged to highways as Michaelchurch Estate was currently on the market and ownership was unknown. Terry was asked to carry on with these works as much as he can at present. Moving forward to drainage grant funding for 2025/26 the Parish Council will need to agree where funding should be spent, with larger vehicles using roads and impacting the verges do the Council want to consider installing piping in ditches? The Clerk confirmed she had not yet had details of the drainage grant funding for 2025/26.
    Mr T Griffiths left the meeting.
  6. CLERKS UPDATE – No election has been called for the Councillor vacancies in Vowchurch and St Margarets therefore the Parish Council will now able to co-opt and fill these vacancies.
    Reminder of the Balfour Beatty/Herefordshire Council quarterly stakeholder session via Teams on Wednesday 25th June at 2.00pm.
    The Clerk has chased for an update on the Traffic Regulation Order on the C1206 through Vowchurch and was advised that Herefordshire Council were still waiting for a quote to complete works but the Traffic Management Officer would chase this up.
  7. CONSIDER PLANNING
    7.1 PLANNING CONSULTATION
    Site: Cwm Clyd, Newton St Margarets, Herefordshire. HR2 0QN
    Description: Proposed replacement single storey side and front extension and extensions of outbuilding to link with house.
    Application No: 251373 Grid Ref: 334321:233244
    SUPPORT – The Parish Council supports this application as it represents a positive improvement to the building, aligning it with the requirements of modern-day living. Given the significant use of glass in the design, the Council requests that appropriate measures be implemented to control light spillage, to minimise both light pollution and unnecessary energy consumption. A condition should be imposed to prohibit the installation of external lighting as per policy 10 of the adopted Neighbourhood Development Plan.
    7.2 PLANNING CONSULTATION
    Site: Little Edwards, Newton St Margarets, Herefordshire. HR2 0QG
    Description: Proposed extension of residential planning unit and erection of self-build, self-contained annex accommodation in replacement of existing shed at Little Edwards.
    Application No: 251652 Grid Ref: 333096:234596
    SUPPORT – The Parish Council supports this application and acknowledges the reasons for the storage shed now being redundant. The Council requests that the mobile home be removed upon completion of the building works, and that the existing hedge be retained to preserve the character and screening of the site. A condition should be imposed to prohibit the installation of external lighting as per policy 10 of the adopted Neighbourhood Development Plan.
    Ward Councillor M Engel left the meeting.
  8. FINANCE
    8.1 Confirmation of bank balance – £14,370.11 issued 31st May 2025.
    Receipts – £4700 Lengthsman claim
    8.2 Payment to Mrs Linda Cowles for June 2025 Clerk’s hours and £4.00 expenses for thank you cards – Payment agreed.
    8.3 Payment to Parish & Town Auditing Services, invoice no. IA/0129/25 of £150.00 for 2024/25 internal audit – Payment agreed.
    8.4 INTERNAL AUDITORS REPORT 2024/25 – The Internal Auditors report was received and comments noted.
    8.5 CONSIDER AND APPROVE ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2024/25 – The Annual Governance Statement was approved and signed by the Clerk and Chair.
    8.6 CONSIDER AND APPROVE ACCOUNTING STATEMENT 2024/25 – The Accounting Statement was certified by the RFO prior to being approved and signed by the Chair.
    8.7 NOTICE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS AND PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN – The dates of public rights to view the accounts were noted as Tuesday 24th June 2025 – Monday 4th August 2025.
  9. NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN REVIEW – It was agreed that whilst Herefordshire Council are still to confirm their local plan the Parish Council would set up a working group to review the current Neighbourhood Development Plan. Councillors Craddock, Chadwick, Kernahan, and Cross agreed to be part of the group. Councillor Craddock to organise the first meeting and the Clerk would investigate any available funding.
  10. TELEPHONE BOX AT NEWTON ST MARGARETS – It was agreed to rename the telephone box ‘Book Box’ with the idea of having books, puzzles, and games etc. to borrow and donate along with any local information. The box has been derelict for some time and does need an overhaul. It was agreed that Councillor Kernahan would present costs for repairs at the July meeting to consider funding. The Clerk would check if the electric was still connected.
  11. PROW FUNDING 2025/26 – Details of the PROW funding have now been released. The maximum total funding the Parish Council can claim is £25,000 which includes the regular lengthsman funding, drainage grant funding and public rights of way funding. Herefordshire Council will fund some of the installation costs in the 2025/26 scheme. Details of the drainage grant scheme have not yet been released. The public footpath officers spent some time last year identifying materials which needed repair but the main stumbling blocks have been funding the installation and obtaining landowners permission. It is hoped to move forward with this in the coming year.
  12. NEWSLETTER – Parish Councillor vacancies and new noticeboards.
  13. NOTE THE CORRESPONDENCE SHEET – There was no additional correspondence.
  14. RAISE MATTERS FOR THE NEXT ORDINARY MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL – Thursday 17th July 2025 at 7.30pm at Vowchurch & Turnastone Memorial Hall. Phone box, co-option, drainage grant.

A RESOLUTION WAS PASSED TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC AND PRESS DUE TO EMPLOYMENT MATTERS

  1. Councillors May and Chadwick had met with the Clerk to discuss a pension scheme and the clerks’ eligibility. The Clerk had sent a full report to all Councillors prior to the meeting. In conclusion: The current Clerk falls below the £10,000 trigger at which the Parish Council would be legally required to automatically enrol the Clerk into a pension scheme, although the Clerk can request to opt in to a scheme. The Clerk confirmed that she does not want to be enrolled in a scheme at this time and was given a letter to confirm how any pension requirement would affect her. The Clerk advised that is was important that the Parish Council is aware that any future Clerk, or other eligible employee, earning over the lower threshold may request to opt in to a pension scheme. If so, the Council must enrol that employee and make employer contributions accordingly. In addition, the Parish Council is required to complete a Declaration of Compliance with The Pensions Regulator every three years, regardless of whether any employees are enrolled in a scheme. The next declaration for Vowchurch Parish Council is due in July 2026.
    It was agreed to increase the Clerks hours to 7 hours per week as per the recommendation by Herefordshire Association of Local Councils relevant to the size of this Parish Council.

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.50pm.

Signed……………………………………………………………………………
Dated…………………………………………………………………………….


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