VOWCHURCH & DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL
Michaelchurch Escley, Newton, St Margarets, Turnastone, Vowchurch.
Minutes of the Vowchurch & District Group Parish Council meeting held on
Thursday 15th October 2026 at 7.30pm in Vowchurch & Turnastone memorial Hall
PRESENT – Councillors E May (Chair), E Williams, A Picton, K Price, T Smith, R Lloyd, J Kernahan and D Cross.
IN ATTENDANCE – Ward Councillor M Engel and Mrs L Cowles (Clerk)
- ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Councillors S Craddock, A Mason, Jamie Probert (Lengthsman) and the police.
- RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST & CONSIDER ANY WRITTEN APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION – Councillor R Lloyd declared a non-disclosable pecuniary interest in agenda item 10; the declarations book was signed accordingly. There were no written requests for dispensation.
- ADOPT MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING – 3rd September 2026 – The minutes were signed as a true and accurate record.
- OPEN DISCUSSION – No members of the public attended the meeting; therefore, no specific points were raised.
- REPORTS
5.1 Local Police – The local police were unable to attend the meeting but reported via the Clerk;
In terms of an update there are a few incidents to relay to councillors that have occurred since your last meeting on 3 September. At some point between the 10th and 13th September a handbag was stolen from a caravan in Michaelchurch Escley. Also, in the early hours of 15th September a Nissan Navara was stolen from a property adjoining the B4348 between Vowchurch and Bacho Hill, with the keys having been retrieved from inside the house which was insecure at the time. The stolen vehicle was subsequently stopped by police in south Wales two days later and 2 occupants arrested. Both have since been released on police bail whilst enquiries continue. Finally, at approximately 5am on 12th October a member of the public reported seeing a male run from the garden of a house between Turnastone and Bob’s Shop and dive head first into the rear of a waiting vehicle, which then sped off at speed. Enquiries made with the house owner suggest that nothing was stolen so it is likely that the offenders were disturbed by the passing motorist before they could steal anything. The vehicle that sped off is described as a light blue Audi A3 with a partial registration of PX59.
Could you also please make councillors aware that we have seen a marked increase in poaching reports across the Golden Valley patch over the past couple of weeks, although none for the Vowchurch area as far as I can see – just for their information.
5.2 Lengthsman – The Lengthsman was unable to attend the meeting but reported via the Clerk;
I have had one maintenance day and plan another this week. I also hope to do the ditching work off the C1206 at Lower House Common. The plan to start the drainage work on C1206 at the end of the month/beginning of November then carry on through to do the work on the U74202 in Newton St Margarets. It was noted by councillors that it was nice to see works completed by the lengthsman and a request was made to inform a local resident when works were due to start on U74202.
5.3 Ward Councillor – Councillor Engel’s main concern were the changes to the National Planning Framework and the power being taken away from Councillors and giving planning officers more say. This is likely to have an impact on the ability to preserve what we have in the local area. - CLERKS UPDATE – The Clerk has spoken to the Locality Steward regarding the signage on U74202 to restrict HGV’s this is being reported via Herefordshire Council website and will update when any further information becomes available. Lara Edwards has been appointed as the new PROW Inspector for the area. Correspondence has been received from a local resident regarding the hedge damage opposite Cothill, the clerk has advised that if this has been reported to the police and Welsh water there is very little the parish council can do. The parish council has been awarded £4680 for PROW works, although landowner permission needs to be agreed. Councillor R Lloyd kindly offered to store PROW materials.
- CONSIDER PLANNING
7.1 PLANNING CONSULTATION/LISTED BUILDING CONSENT
Site: Glibes Farmhouse, Michaelchurch Escley. Herefordshire. HR2 0JZ
Description: Changes of use, restoration and upgrading of Grade II* Listed Buildings. New bat house and garage in the curtilage of listed buildings. All of the rooms in the main farmhouse and barns, including the ‘Cow House’ and ‘South Barn’ are for ancillary residential use to main house. 4 no. holiday cabins and access track in adjacent land. Solar panel ground mounted array. Biodiversity Net Gain compensation planting areas. Temporary caravan siting.
Application No: 262311/262312 Grid Ref: 330185:237437
SUPPORT – The Parish Council welcomes the proposed renovation of this historic building and is pleased to see it being brought back into use.
The Council wishes to highlight the importance of ensuring that any external lighting associated with both the main dwelling and the proposed holiday cabins is carefully designed and controlled to minimise light pollution and visual impact on the surrounding area. Lighting should be kept to the minimum, be unobtrusive and in accordance with Policy 10 of the adopted Neighbourhood Development Plan. The Parish Council also recommends that appropriate care is taken when using fire pits at the holiday cabins, with due consideration given to the safety and amenity of neighbouring properties and the surrounding environment.
7.2 PLANNING PERMSSION GRANTED
Site: Graig farm Barn, Newton St Margarets. HR2 0QY
Description: Enlargement of domestic curtilage and proposed garages (part retrospective).
Application No: 261322 Grid Ref: 334407:233812
7.3 PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED
Site: Gigfran Farm, Michaelchurch Escley, Herefordshire. HR2 0JT
Description: Change of use of building and associated land to a residential planning unit.
Application No: 253625 Grid Ref: 332194:234971
Ward Councillor Engel joined the meeting. - FINANCE
8.1 Confirmation of bank balance – £28,725.77 dated 30th September 2026
Receipts – £9504.03 Pt2 Precept 2026-27
To include £7.00 bank charges.
8.2 Payment to Mrs Linda Cowles for October 2026 Clerk’s hours – Payment agreed.
8.3 Payment to Cloud Next invoice no. 276696 for Home Hosting (vowchurchgroup-pc.gov.uk) of £59.98 gross (VAT £9.99) and invoice no. 277361 for .gov.uk domain of £60.00 gross (VAT £10.00) – Payment agreed.
8.4 Payment to Succeed Online invoice no. 1375 for update on website to be WCAG 2.2 AA compliant and investigate issue with weekly backups not working of £445.00. (no VAT) – Payment agreed.
8.5 Payment to PKF invoice no. SB20261975 for limited assurance review of Annual Governance & Accountability Return for year-end 31st March 2026. (External Audit) of £252.00 gross (VAT£42.00) Payment agreed.
8.6 Payment to HMRC of £339.80 for PAYE and £100.92 NI July – September 2026 – Payment agreed.
8.7 Finance Working Group – The latest quarterly reports were distributed to councillors prior to the meeting. The finance working group confirmed spreadsheets, invoices and PAYE had been checked and all were in order. The budget has been reviewed to be agreed at November meeting.
9. EXTERNAL AUDIT 2025/26 – Section 3 of the External Auditor report was noted. The Notice of Conclusion of Audit has been displayed on noticeboards from 29th September – 12th October.
10. VOWCHURCH & TURNASTONE MEMORIAL HALL – The hall committee would like to change the status of the hall into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and to do so they need to find the deeds. The Clerk advised that Woodland Davies Solicitors have no details regarding the hall deeds or anything in relation to the parish council. After some research a reference number for the hall deeds has been found logged with HARC. Councillor Lloyd advised that he had visited HARC and no details were found when reviewing that file or any reference of the hall deeds in historical parish council minutes although a document has been found dated in 2003 which has been signed by councillors. Further research is on-going. It was agreed not to give authority to the hall committee to approach the solicitor again on the parish council’s behalf at this time.
11. WELSH WATER – The response from Jesse Norman MP was noted. Councillor Price continues to monitor any outage. Following the request for members of Welsh water to attend a parish council meeting Head of Public Affairs at Welsh water has advised that he is currently liaising with the team that worked across the area and asked them to put together information that will support an update for the council. He has asked for information on specific issues, questions, or locations that the parish council would like to discuss or find out more about. It was agreed that Councillor Price would liaise with the clerk to send a response.
12. WILDFIRE READY – Councillors had received details from the recent Wildfire Ready event prior to the meeting. Councillor E Williams gave a brief presentation with recommendations from the fire service. It was agreed that Councillors I Chadwick and E Williams would draft a Parish Wildfire plan to sit alongside the Resilience Plan. It was suggested that a water tanker could be purchased by the parish.
13. WATER LEAK AT SHOBDON BARN – Whilst nothing official has been heard from the homeowners at Shobdon Barn, it is understood that the water leak was not caused by the Lengthsman or the parish council. It was agreed that the Clerk would write to Terry Griffiths with an update.
14. TELEPHONE KIOSK AT NEWTON ST MARGARETS – Councillor Kernahan advised that the glass panels have been removed ready to be replaced and painting to due to begin shortly. The frame that holds the ‘bookbox’ window may need to be replaced, once watertight the shelving will be installed. Any help with the refurbishment would be appreciated. Councillor Kernahan asked whether the layby close by could be cleared and the concrete plinth adjacent to telephone box repaired. It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the Locality Steward in the first instance to enquire if this is possible as this is adjacent to a highway.
15. BRIDGES – It was reported that dressing stone on the down side of the bridge on Dore Bridge has been washed away and capping stones over the bridge near Sunny Bank Farm are either missing or loose, it was agreed the Clerk would report.
16. FLOODING ON C1206 AT TURNASTONE CULVERT – Councillors Picton and Lloyd have met with the Principal Flood risk Officer at Herefordshire Council regarding flooding last winter on C1206 through Turnastone which was caused by a blocked culvert. The original plan had been to request installation of a grill to prevent the culvert flooding. Following the visit it had been suggested that a flood defence be placed further upstream. This has been agreed by the landowners; therefore, it is hoped that the scheme will proceed.
17. CLERKS MOBILE PHONE – Following advice from HALC, data protection and freedom of information laws It was agreed that the clerk could purchase a mobile phone up to £150.00, for it to be used for council business rather than the clerk’s personal landline
18. NEWSLETTER – Police update, cut hedges, wildfire resilience, bonfire night.
19. NOTE THE CORRESPONDENCE SHEET – The correspondence sheet was noted.
20. RAISE MATTERS FOR THE NEXT ORDINARY MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL – Thursday 19th November 2026 at 7.30pm in Vowchurch & Turnastone Memorial Hall – Resilience plan, road signage on B4348 through Vowchurch.
The Chair declared the meeting closed at 9.05pm.
Signed…………………………………………………………………..