2020 12 14 Extraordinary Minutes

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Drayton Parish Council Minutes

of the Extraordinary Remote Meeting held on 14th December 2020 at 7:30pm.

Drayton Parish Councillors Present: Tamsin Crane (Chairperson), Patricia Athawes (Vice Chairperson), Richard Wade, Shane McAleavey, Garin Schoonhoven, Irma Schoonhoven, Graham Webb, Natasha Brand and Susan Harris.

Drayton Parish Councillors Not Present: Claire Woollard and Pervin Shahin.

In attendance: Lorraine Watling (Clerk and RFO).

Public: 3 members of the public were present.

206/2020 Apologies for Absence. Deputy Clerk.

207/2020 Declarations of Interest, Dispensations or Use of Delegated Powers. None.

208/2020 Public Participation.

Drayton Wildlife Group Juliet Savage and Tracy Jesson explained and answered questions regarding the work they would like to undertake on ‘Native tree, shrub and wild flower planting and aftercare’ to enhance the parish. The aim is to involve youngsters in this project.

209/2020 Councillor Priority Fund.

Possible projects to include in the Cllr Priority Fund application were discussed. The wildlife group had already drafted some text for inclusion in the application to assist the parish council. The Drayton Wildlife Group was urged to write a constitution for the group so that it could submit applications for funding in its own right going forwards. It was also encouraged to compile a long term wildlife plan for the parish.

Following discussion, it was resolved that the funds applied for should be spent on trees, shrubs and native planting; a shed and basic gardening tools; planters to enhance the centre of the village and benches to replace those within the parish that were most in need of replacement. The planters and benches would be made from recycled plastic.

Proposed: Tamsin CraneSeconded: Patricia Athawes Resolved: 8 votes for and 1 abstention

ACTIONS:

  1. The Clerk will source potential recycled plastic furniture, then finalise and submit the parish councils’ application for £3k from Cllr Richard Webbers Councillor Priority Fund for parish enhancements.
  2. If the application is successful a Working Group will be formed to take the project forward as the money must be spent or committed before the end of March 2021.

210/2020 Fees and Charges for the Burial Ground

The Clerk had compiled information about the fees and charges applied by other parishes and towns within Oxfordshire. It was noted that:

  1. The burial ground is not a profit centre
  2. The burial ground is a facility for Drayton residents
  3. Drayton’s current fees are less than those of other local councils
  4. Councils that allowed the interment of non-residents charged significantly higher fees for these
  5. Some councils employ cemetery staff and the cost of these would probably be included in their charges
  6. The fees charged by the councils closest to Drayton were of particular interest
  7. If burial ground income was greater than expenditure, the difference should ear marked for future cemetery improvements/maintenance.
  8. Funerals are expensive

ACTIONS:

  1. Cllr Athawes will analyse the burial cost data before the next PC meeting
  2. Any fees increases will be discussed and agreed at the next PC meeting.
  3. The Clerk will see if ICC has published any recent information about the costs of funerals.

211/2020 Date of the next Meeting. The next Parish Council meeting will be on Tuesday 12th January 2021.

The Chairperson declared the meeting closed at 20:48.

Signed: Date:

Name: