Minutes of an Extraordinary Meeting of Clehonger Parish Council held on 12th September 2022 at 7.30pm at the Clehonger Village Hall
Present: Cllrs A Davies, J Jones, J Whittal, C Protherough, W Watkins, K Langdon, N Rider and S Savory
In attendance: Mrs A Wright (Clerk) and 8 members of the public.
1. Welcome by the Chairman and introduction
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. There was a minutes silence held in remembrance of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
2. To accept apologies for absence
Apologies had been received from Ward Cllr David Hitchiner.
3. To note declarations of interest
There were declarations of interest made by Cllrs Jones and Watkins in relation to the Clehonger Village Hall.
4. To discuss ideas and suggestions for possible uses of 106 funds from the Persimmon housing development
There was a resume of the playing field development to the date of the meeting. This included describing the raising of funds and placing of equipment on the field in 2015. The objectivity of the 106 funding had been detailed in a letter from Mrs Y Coleman, Planning Obligations Manager at Herefordshire Council, in her letter dated 7 October 2021. The amount of the award was £114,159.00 and this was in the agreement as designated “for off-site play facilities on the adjacent field that may include formal play for toddlers, children or teenage groups.” The letter also stated “Councillor Hitchiner has asked whether the monies could be spent on wider play facilities in the village and I (Y Coleman) have written to Persimmon Homes to ask whether this would be acceptable to them. This would require a deed of variation which will need to be funded through the 106 monies”.
There was a discussion about the existing equipment and some suggestions about additional items which may be desirable such as an area of shelter/shade, fencing, zoned areas and possible tree planting. Concerns were voiced regarding the full value of the funding being realised for the playing field and it was explained that if there was not enough scope for all of the available funds to be used on the actual playing field, then other play related projects, within the village, could be explored under the deed of variation. In order for any progress to be made on a wish list the first step was to collect the residents’ ideas and suggestions. This was discussed at item 5.
5. To discuss possible questionnaire content, and any other methods, to collect resident “wish list” data to add to ideas
Those present discussed options for the collection of data via a questionnaire. A sample questionnaire had been circulated to the council members and copies were available to view at the meeting. The ideas for distribution were discussed and it was felt that each household should receive a paper copy of a data capture questionnaire which would not pre-empt suggestions, but would allow each person completing it to say what they would like to see provided, where possible and practicable. The questionnaire would seek to capture what improvements and new facilities would be thought desirable. The school would be involved too. A hand delivery method was thought preferable, but not a revisit to collect. The completed questionnaires would be returned to an established address or collection point. The questionnaire would include an opportunity to enter the responses on an online survey form as an alternative to the paper copy. It was agreed to ask the shop if copies could be obtained and collected back there too. There would be one paper copy per household. There was still work to do on the progression of the questionnaire and it was agreed that the template would be tweaked as appropriate. It was also agreed that the Q1 wording would be changed to read “residents of all ages” instead of “parishioners”.
6. Confirmation of date of next Parish Council Meeting
The next Meeting of the Parish Council would be held on Wednesday 19th October 2022, at the Clehonger Village Hall, from 7.30pm. There would be no meeting in September 2022 following the death of Her Majesty the Queen and the publication of agenda restrictions relating to the public mourning period.
The Meeting closed at 8.58 pm