BRADFORD ABBAS PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 6th May 2025 at 7.00pm on Bradford Abbas Village Hall
Attendance: Cllrs. R Legg, P Clark, D Furby, S Jenkins. And the Parish Clerk. There were two members of the public present
- Apologies for Absence: Cllrs J Thomas, D. Coffin, J Barber. Their apologies were agreed and accepted.
- To elect a Chairman of the Council: There was one nomination Cllr Robin Legg, nominated by Cllr Jenkins, seconded Cllr Clark – agreed.
- To receive the Chairman’s declaration of acceptance of office – duly signed.
- To elect a Vice Chairman of the Council: It was agreed to defer this to the next meeting.
6.To appoint representatives to outside bodies:
1.Tree Preservation Officer – Cllr Coffin
2.Pennant and Heritage – Cllr Barber
3. Rights of Way/ Footpaths Officer – Cllr Furby
4. Village Hall Representative – Cllr Jenkins.
5. Community Land Trust – Cllr Clark
7. To appoint Councillors to Working Groups.
1. Playing Field Working Group – Cllrs Clark, Furby and Coffin.
2. Neighbourhood Plan Working Group – Cllr Thomas, Jenkins, Barber.
3.Telephone Box Working Group – Cllr Thomas.
8. To consider the payment of any subscriptions paid annually: Dorset Association of Parish & Town Councils provide Councillor and Clerk training, legal advice and support Proposed Cllr Furby, seconded Cllr Jenkins -agreed.
Society of Local Council Clerks provide the Clerk support and legal advice and updates, cost shared with Thornhackett PC proposed Cllr Clark, seconded Cllr Jenkins – agreed.
ICO (Information Commissioners Office) proposed Cllr Legg, seconded Cllr Jenkins -agreed.
Web site – it was agreed to wait until the new site is available and all costs confirmed.
9. Tor Receive Declarations of Interest – These remain unchanged except for Cllr Legg, a new form will be requested.
10. Public Consultation, a period of up to 15 minutes is allocated: The members of the public present were representing the Play School, that meets in the Village Hall, they gave a presentation on the need for a fence around the play area at the front of the building, it would be gated and available for parking outside play school hours. Questions were raised regarding ownership of the land and the Conservation Area. At this stage it was considered a matter for the Village Hall Committee. The Parish Council would consider any planning application and could not comment at this stage.
11. To approve the minutes of the meeting of 4th March 2025: Their approval was proposed by Cllr Jenkins, seconded Cllr Legg – agreed. The minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting were also agreed.
12. To discuss Dorset Council Planning Applications:
P/TPC/2025/02370 -Coombe Road DT9 6JN, Reduction of crown to Oak tree, sever and remove Ivy – no comments agreed
P/TRC/2025/02368 – Ruskin House, Church Street DT9 6RF Fell crab apple - agreed
P/FUL/2024/07616 - Loscombe House, Old Compton Lane DT9 4FF – Continue use of land for car storage (Class B8) – ongoing, officers were conducting a site visit.
13. Asset Register – this had been updated to include the new laptop and the damaged picnic benches had been removed from the list. The Chairman signed the document.
14. Risk Assessment Policy Review -This had been updated regarding the Insurance provider (Clear Council) and security of Council data and documents, saved on external hard drive and in the cloud – approval was proposed by Cllr Legg, seconded Cllr Furby – agreed.
15. Code of Conduct Review – There had been no changes to the Code of Conduct, the Chairman reaffirmed the Council’s acceptance of the Civility and Respect Agenda.
16. Model Standing Orders Review – There had been no changes.
17. Model Financial Regulations – There had been 3 small changes to these regulations regarding contracts. The amendments had been circulated and Councillors were asked to append them to their copies of the Model Financial Regulations.
18. Finance a) Invoices due for payment these were circulated and agreed. b) End of Year. A draft copy of the Accounting Statement was circulated indicating income for the year of £26,392.00 and expenditure of £23,986.00 and a carry forward of £31,184.00. A new Internal Auditor was also required as our previous Auditor had been taken ill. The Clerk had received 4 quotes, it was recommended to accept Paula Harding of Barker Fox proposed Cllr Legg, seconded Cllr Clark – agreed.
19. Dates of Meetings for the Forthcoming Year: These were circulated. It was stressed the importance of three meeting in particulars, Draft Budget in November, Budget and Precept Setting in January and the Annual Council Meeting in May. The date of the May meeting 2026 was deferred until the next Full Council meeting in July due to its proximity with the Spring Bank Holiday.
Ordinary Council Meeting 1st July 2025
Ordinary Council Meeting 2nd September 2025
Ordinary Council Meeting 4th November 2025 Draft Budget*
Ordinary Council Meeting 6th January 2026 Budget and Precept Setting*
Ordinary Council Meeting 3rd March 2026
Annual Parish Meeting 7th April 2026
All meetings at 7.00pm in the Village Hall. * most important
The meeting closed at 8.15pm
Financial Information for Ordinary Council Meeting 6th May 2025
Current Account
£5827.38 Reported Balance in Current Account as at 24th February 2025
Payments made since that date Direct Debits Paid
£299.80 Salary Month 11 £0.36 AWS EMEA Mar
£375.00 Savills Allotment Rent £0.36 AWS EMEA Apr
£176.17 KM Dike Grass cutting Inv 2199 £0.32 AWS EMEA May
£150.00 Wriggle Bus Grant
£375.00 Savills (Allotments)
£31.81 Fixings for Finger Post
£172.40 HMRC PAYE
£229.80 Salary Month 12
Neighbourhood Plan Payments
£1523.76 Dorset Planning Consultancy (NP)
End of Year Balance £2873.33
£6.25 Service Charge Receipts
£540.00 Hedge Cutting £8797.11 Dorset Council Precept
£300.00 Wriggle Bus Grant
£6000.00 Transferred to deposit
£4647.34 Balance in Current Account as at 29th April 2025
Future Payments Current Account
£229.80 Salary Month 1
£176.17 KM Dike Invoice 2216
£229.80 Salary Month 2 est
£181.45 KM Dike Invoice 2235
£76.79 LCN SSL registration for web site
Total future payments £894.01
Deposit Account
£28287.73 Reported Balance in Deposit Account as at 23rd February 2025
£22.69 Interest March
£23.27 Interest April
£6000.00 Transferred in from Current Account
£34333.69 in Deposit Account as at 29th April 2025
Total in all Accounts £ 38981.03
Neighbourhood Plan Grant held in Deposit Account £8729.00
Expenditure to Date (see above)
£36.00 Hall Hire B A Recreation Club
£1523.76 Dorset Planning Consultancy inc VAT
£76.00 Parish on Line
£1523.76 Dorset Planning Consultancy inc VAT
£153.00 Hall Hire
£168.57 Printing
£16.15 Stationery
£1523.76 Dorset Planning Consultancy inc VAT
£54.00 Hall Hire
Total £5074.50 remaining grant. VAT is reclaimed.
Total amount to be repaid £3882.06 to grant funder.