2024-06-25 Agreed Mins Jn V1

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BRADFORD ON TONE PARISH COUNCIL
Clerk: Joy Norris
Email: hello@bradfordontone-pc.gov.uk
Minutes of a meeting of Bradford On Tone Parish Council held on 25th June 2024, commencing
at 7.30pm in Bradford on Tone Village Hall, Bradford On Tone.
Present
Chair: D Smith
Councillors: L Sidhu and D Venn
In Attendance:
Miss J Norris (Clerk)
Somerset Councillor G Wrenn
2 Members of the public attended the meeting.

68/2024
Chair’s Announcements
As Councillor Robarts was unable to attend the meeting, as Vice-Chairman Councillor
Smith would be chairing the meeting.

69/2024
Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Leaney and Robarts.
70/2024
Declarations of Interest/Dispensations
No declarations of interests were made at this stage of the meeting.
71/2024
Minutes
Consideration was given to the draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 11 June
2024
RESOLVED that subject to adding the words “within of the curtilage of the property” to the
Resolution recorded in Minute 65/2024 the draft minutes of the Parish Council
meeting held on 11 June 2024 be confirmed a s a correct record.
72/2024
Public Participation
This agenda item enables members of the public present at the meeting to raise matters
which are relevant to Bradford on Tone and / or the work of the Council.
Speaker 1
The hedges between Heatherton Park and the main road are so overgrown that people
with pushchairs can’t get by on the tarmac path and have to use the grass verge.
Speaker 2
The footpath adjacent to the main road from Heatherton Park to 3 Bridges
is very narrow and users are further hampered by the overgrown
vegetation.

Chair’s Initials

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Speaker 3 – Somerset Councillor Gwil Wrenn
Firstly the Councillor gave his apologies for missing the last Parish Council meeting.
The Councillor reported that Somerset Council is still in a very tricky financial situation and
in order to lower the staffing costs are currently reviewing the staffing structure with a
view to reducing the management layers, it is hoped to have new structure in place by
November this year. Applications for voluntary redundancy have now closed and 200
requests have been agreed.
Ther is a systemic problem with local government finance and in Somerset 40% properties
are in Band A or B which is one of the highest proportions in the country; this means that
income from council tax is lower than in other areas.
The Local Community Network (LCN) had a slow start but it now has 2 working groups –
highways and transport – and it is hoped that these working groups will be able to help
prioritise road issues.
The removal of the hedge at the Hele turning seems to have been a miscommunication all
round and there are lessons to be learnt about the interpretation and inclusion of
consultee responses and the accuracy of planning conditions.
73/2024
Internal Audit Report
Consideration was given to the report of the Internal Auditor.
RESOLVED to accept the report of the internal auditor and implement the
recommendations.
74/2024
2023/2024 Annual Governance Statement
Consideration was given to the Parish Council’s response to the assertions on the
2023/2024 Annual Governance Statement.
RESOLVED that the response to all the assertions (boxes 1-8) on the Annual Governance
Statement 2023/2024 is “yes” and that the Chair and Parish Clerk complete and
sign the document accordingly.
The Annual Governance Statement was signed.
75/2024
2023/20243 Annual Accounting Statement
Consideration was given to the 2023/2024 Annual Accounting Statement.
RESOLVED
(i)
to approve the 2023/2024 accounting statement
(ii) to approve the completion and submission of the Certificate of Exemption
The Accounting Statement was signed and the Exemption Certificate completed
Chair’s Initials
76/2024
Notice of Elector Rights
Consideration was given to the timetable for the notice of elector rights.
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RESOLVED The timetable for the Notice of Elector rights was considered.
RESOLVED that the timetable be as follows:
• Date of announcement: 27 June 2024
• Documents available commencing on Friday 28 June 2024 and ending on
Thursday 8 August 2024
Note: for practical reasons the Notice was issued on 28 June with the dates of the
documents being available for inspection given as commencing on Monday 1 July 2024
and ending on Friday 9 August 2024

The meeting closed at 20:30hrs
Chair’s Signature & Date

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