Parish Council News

Parish Council Meetings

Meetings will be held on the following dates - all Tuesdays
27 January 2009
31 March 2009
12 May 2009
19 May 2009 - Parish Assembly
These meetings commence at 7.30pm and are held in Darnhall Village Hall.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DARNHALL PARISH COUNCIL
HELD IN DARNHALL VILLAGE HALL
Tuesday 25th November 2008

Present Councillors:
L Jinks
E Edwards
S Gee
J Hignett
D Tomlinson
H Walker
R H D Wood
VRBC G Fairhurst

Apologies VRBC D Joyce
CCC B Roberts

Declaration of Interests.
Councillors declared that there had been no changes to their interests.

Chairman's opening remarks
The Chairman thanked the Councillors for attending. The Chairman had attended the funeral of Mr John Heaton who had helped with the initial plans etc. for the Village Hall improvements and during his time of ill health had continued to take an interest in the developments. He had an environmentally friendly cremation and his ashes are now in the new Burial Ground on Swanlow Lane close to home. The Chairman had received a letter from his family. Crime in this once quiet rural area is on the increase with more break-ins at the Raven and lead stolen from Weaver Chapel, together with cannabis being grown in redundant farm buildings

Minutes
The minutes of the last meeting have been circulated and these were passed as correct.
Proposed Councillor Gee
Seconded Councillor Walker

Matters Arising

161/2001 The Village Hall Support Group
Councillor Wood gave an update on the progress on the Village Hall, the work on the main hall and porch will commence on 4th January 2009 and should be complete by March, the builder has given an undertaking that the hall will be useable during this time. Funding for the Car Park is still being resourced. However the lighting is now installed and this has improved the facility. Councillor Jinks will make arrangements for the remaining timber to be moved from the Car Parking area.

12/2007 Village Hall Fund Raising Group
Councillor Gee gave a report on the fund raising Music Event featuring "Generation Gap" held on 15th November. In spite of 300 flyers being distributed the number of attendees was poor, however it was good to see some new residents coming along and a profit of £150 was made. It is hoped to organise monthly events from March 2009. A number of Councillors and residents had attended a Cheshire Community Action meeting at the Jessie Hughes Institute at Eaton and learnt a little more about funding and running Village Halls. It had been good to look how they organised things and who uses the hall regularly. The group are looking for new ideas for fund raising and users.

30/2007 Parish Assembly
The date for this meeting is to be the 19th May 2009, and the AGM will take place the Tuesday previous. The clerk will contact the users of the hall and other organisations in the parish early, and ask them to speak about their events etc. and make inquiries about a short talk on First Aid with the possibility of organising First Aid classes in the hall.

12/20008 Planning Applications
APPLICATION NO: 08-1872-FUL
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT: -Detached Triple Garage.
LOCATION: - Weaver Hall Weaver Hall Lane Darnhall Winsford
CW7 4EB
APPLICANT: - Mr James Admason.
The Chairman had checked with local residents and the application was returned without comment.
VRBC G Fairhurst told the meeting that the Planning Department were
currently looking into this application in more detail.
This as now been refused, but a new application will be made in due course.

16/2008 External Meetings
Councillor Jinks had attended the Police Forum in Tarporley on 1st October and gave an interesting report. He also made some useful contacts. Crime in rural areas is on the increase with changes in the economic climate and Christmas.

Councillor Jinks, Woods, Gee and Walker had all attended a meeting of Cheshire Community Action (Village Hall) and had heard about general problems relating to Village Halls and Community Pride competitions.

Unfortunately Councillors Edwards and Walker had been unable to attend a meeting about Gypsy & Travellers Sites in VRBC however judging by reports in the local paper this may be on going for sometime.

14/2008 Community Speed Watch
The clerk had emailed the Clerk of Church Minshull Parish Council stating that Darnhall, after much discussion. had agreed that this was currently unnecessary on the B5074 in Darnhall.

15/2008 Pictures for Hall
Councillor Gee had managed to obtain a picture of Darnhall Hall and will have this suitably framed in due course and will contact the local history society for more pictures etc.

16/2008 Clerk's Comments
The clerk stated that it was very nice to see all the Councillors attending the meeting, especially since the budget and precept will be discussed.

17/2008 Telephone Box
Councillor Gee had looked into the matter of the removal of the Telephone Box outside the Village Hall, currently this one is not due to be removed. However should this Box be under threat the Council would need to pay £500.00 in order to retain it. The area around the Village Hall i.e. Beauty/Smithy Bank is in a poor reception area for mobile telephone
communication.

18/2008 Payments
Village Hall Project Group £1000.00
Cheque Number 221
Proposed Councillor Tomlinson
Seconded Councillor Hignett
Audit Commission for Audit fee £58.75
Cheque Number 222
Proposed Councillor Jinks
Seconded Councillor Wood
Clerks' payment. £75.00
Cheque Number 223
Proposed Councillor Jinks
Seconded Councillor Wood

Payments under S137
Darnhall Brownies £50.00
Cheque Number 224
Darnhall Guides £50.00
Cheque Number 225
The Mother and Toddler Group no longer meet regularly in the Village Hall, but Darnhall Dancers meet weekly and this is a group of between 20 – 30 young people between the ages of 5 and 16 and is seen at various venues promoting Darnhall, it was therefore agreed to give them £50.00 instead of the Mother and Toddler Group.
Darnhall Dancers £50.00
Cheque Number 226
Proposed Councillor Tomlinson
Seconded Councillor Edwards
The reclaimed VAT amounted to £97.37

After much discussion it was agreed that the Parish Council would not
help towards the cost of Cross Country Parishes Church Magazine, and Councillor Hignett would inform them of the Council's decision.

19/2008 Precept and Budget
The clerk had prepared at Budget for the Council showing this year's expenditure to date and the budget for the year together with a proposed budget for 2009/2010.
A number of years ago the Council had looked into the matter of renovating the Roll of Honour, Mr P Willis agreed to quote for the work but since this will need removing for the refurbishment of the hall now will be a good time to do this. Councillor Gee will obtain quotes and research whether grants are available for the work.
Proposed Councillor Walker
Seconded Councillor Gee
Providing directional signage for the Village Hall had been quoted at between £200 and £400 and the clerk would contact the VRBC Strategic Partnerships regarding this.
Proposed Councillor Walker
Seconded Councillor Gee
The precept had remained the same for three years and after much discussion it was agreed to increase it to three thousand pounds.
The councillors vote was 6 for and 1 against.

20/2008 Auditors Report
The Chairman and Clerk would study this following the meeting.

21/2008 Vale Royal Playscheme Association.
Had contacted the council by letter regarding running a playscheme week in the parish next summer, however it was felt that this would be too costly.

Any Other Business
Councillors had no other matters to discuss.

Correspondence
Relevant correspondence was be passed round

Meeting Closed at 9.30 hours
Next Meeting: The date of the next meeting will be the 27th January 2009