A Remote Meeting of Dorstone Parish Council was held on Wednesday January 13th at 7-30pm Present: Councillor T Usher, Chairman, Councillor M Hession, Councillor T Arnott, Councillor B James, Councillor D Phillips, & Mr C Hendy Parish Council Clerk. Councillor L Aubrey-Cosslett joined the meeting at 07-40pm Apologies; Ward Councillor J Hewitt would be unable to join until 08.00pm, Golden Valley Police were unable to join, no audio on their computers. Due to the Covid 19 crisis the Parish Council were meeting remotely. The displayed agenda indicated the link to the meeting. No declaration of Interest from members on any item to be discussed made. No public present The minutes of meeting December 9th 2020 which had been circulated were approved. Planning: Planning consultation 203862 Site address: Cooks Barn, Dorstone, Hereford. Herefordshire HR3 6AT Description; Proposed erection of 3 bay timber framed carport/workshop for residential use A site plan had been obtained and circulated, Councillor James had informed neighbouring properties, no letters support/objection received. Reports; Ward Councillor; a) Ward Councillor; Councillor Hewitt did not join the meeting a) Police/Fire, January report circulated Finance a) To pay the clerks salary December £128.47 b) To pay increase for clerk salary April to November £27.65 Both payments authorised c) Herefordshire Council On line budget consultation. Closing date January 10th individual response Highways; a) Councillor Arnott reported the replacement map had been installed. Attempts would continue for a new map. b) Rights of Way Steward , Balfour Beatty are seeking to appoint a Rights Of Way Steward and reduce the locality stewards by one. c) B4348, replies from Clive Hall, (Herefordshire Council), Balfour Beatty & the Locality Steward had been received thanking the council for their comments on the recent resurfacing/drainage carried out. Fastershire Broadband grant, the clerk gave a brief update on the grant. There were so far 60 applications, closing date end of January, the proposed area could be split into two, tenders sought for individual areas or combined, Herefordshire Council would arrange the contract, those registered were encouraged to enquire with landowners about way leaves, keen not to pay any charges, information sought on how current service is connected to property, local representatives sought for each area. Slide presentation on the grant to be circulated to councillors. Herefordshire Association Local Councils, latest training programme circulated Consultations, a) Herefordshire Council, The future of rubbish and recycling in Herefordshire, Closing date February 7th Residents & Business b) Department of Transport, Future of Mobility: Rural Strategy- Call for Evidence consultation. Closing date is February 16th. Individual response Local Electricity Bill Webinar Mr Mclean had attended, his report circulated. The Bill is solely about getting OFGEM to change their rules to allow Local Community Energy Schemes to sell electricity to local customers. In 2014 the Government set a target to get Local Schemes producing 3000 megawatts by 2020. This has failed miserably and the total currently is 280 megawatts! There are approximately 500 local schemes operating at the moment, but they either use all the power produced or sell any surplus to the Grid. At the moment there are 233 MP’s who have agreed to support the bill, which is encouraging, but more are needed. It is estimated that it will take between 12 – 18 Months to get the Bill passed into law (or not!) and probably a further 6 months for OFGEM to implement it. if the Bill was passed it is hoped that a “Smart Grid” would be put in place which would take electricity directly and taken out via “Smart Meters” . Councillor Aubrey Cosslett indicated until a decision on the bill was made applications for a grant would not be made Information circulated from Herefordshire Council during Coronavirus restrictions a) Weekly Talk Community updates Agreed date of next meeting 10th February 2021 No further business the chairman thanked those who had attended & closed the meeting at 08.10pm Signed……………………………….. Councillor T Usher February 10th 2021