A Remote Meeting of Dorstone Parish Council was held on Wednesday July 8th 24th 2020 at 7-30pm Present: Councillor T Usher, Chairman, Councillor M Hession, Councillor B James Councillor D Phillips, Councillor Aubrey-Cosslett & Mr C Hendy Parish Council Clerk. Also present; Ward Councillor Jenny Hewitt, part of the meeting, and three parishioners, part of the meeting. Apologies received, Councillor T Arnott, family commitment, Councillor A Phillips, work commitment Due to the Covid 19 crisis the Parish Council were meeting remotely. The displayed agenda indicated that any resident wishing to attend should contact the Clerk (clerkdorstonepc@aol.com) who will arrange for an electronic invitation to the meeting to be made. Declaration of Interest; Councillor Usher had developed the new website The minutes of meeting June 24th 2020 were approved Planning: The application is available on Herefordshire Council website Application No & site address; Planning Consultation-201637-Land adjacent to Sycamore House Dorstone HR3 6BE Description; Application for approval of reserved matters following outline approval 192619 (Construction of a 3-4 bedroom detached dwelling with garage) Copy of Highway Engineers reports circulated. Application had been passed to Councillor Usher, no letters of support or objection received. Application was discussed, noted the plans indicated three bedrooms in the main house with an additional bedroom above the garage in an annex which included a bathroom/living area. Policy DNP H2 Housing Design Criteria was considered. Mr S Goodwin indicated the accommodation could be used for an elderly relative or Tourism in line with the Neighbourhood Plan. Councillors resolved by a majority to support the application, it was noted there were three bedrooms in the main house & one bedroom above garage in an annex; this included a bathroom/living area. There was no supporting information in the application for the annex. Policy DNP H2 Housing Design Criteria To be supported housing proposals must; Include a maximum of 3 bedrooms, unless the latest assessment of housing needs of in the parish demonstrates such homes are no longer required. Otherwise proposals for new homes with more than 3 bedrooms will only exceptionally be supported to meet particular housing needs of local residents, for example, to enable their caring for dependent or elderly relatives, or to cater for a large family Reports Ward Councillor Report; Ward Report & Herefordshire Council Chief Executive report circulated, Councillor Hewitt gave a brief update.Councillor Hewitt left the meeting. Golden Valley Police & Peterchurch Fire Station reports circulated Video conferencing facilities; whilst the free Webex account is still active, from the 1st July meetings are now limited to 50 minutes. It is possible to upgrade this free version to paid subscription and a 12 month contract with Webex will cost £135 (+VAT). Application has been made through Herefordshire Council to Fastershire for a grant; this has been accepted, for a maximum £75 Webex appear to be the best video conferencing for the PC, the cost would be neutral, ie 4 months small room hire & one large room =£61. Councillors resolved to take out the twelve month contract. Finance Councillors considered the annual internal audit report 2019/2020 Councillors considered, approved the Annual Governance Statement 2019/2020, and made arrangements for this to be signed Councillors approved the accounting statement 2019/2020 and made arrangements for this to be signed Councillors resolved that Dorstone Parish Council is an exempt authority, the certificate of exemption 2019/2020 was completed and arrangements made for signature Clerks salary June £125 Invoice from Herefordshire Council 2019 parish election expenses £1046.23 Annual subscription to the information commissioner £40 Internal auditor invoice £48 All payments authorised Highways Update on B4348 application for road resurfacing. Letter circulated from Department of Transport, this indicated 100 applications received, seeking funds of £300 million, only £93 million available, and the application by Herefordshire Council was unsuccessful. There is funding of £100 million 2020/2021 & Department of Transport will advise on the procedure. Councillor D Phillips requested obtaining feedback on the reasons why the bid was unsuccessful and enquiring what support the parish councillors/members of the public could give in a new application. Proposed new website, the current website is 8 years old, needs updating to meet changes in accessibility legislation coming into force in September. A proposed new site had been circulated which met the requirements of the legislation except for PDF documents. Councillors were very pleased with the new website and accessibility and resolved the new website should be used from 1st August 2020.The clerk to clarify how documents the in PDF could be viewed on the new website. Golden Valley Web design were thanked for the work involved in developing the new website Report on the joint Golden Valley Parish Council virtual meeting, Councillor Aubrey-Cosslett & Councillor Hession reported the meeting was most useful, representatives from the Ward Councils, except Cusop, criticism made that information from Herefordshire Council on Coronavirus had not been circulated, the clerk was thanked for circulating the information he had received. Thank you also to Karen Usher on the newsletters produced regarding coronavirus & Councillor D Phillips for updating information on Facebook. Herefordshire Association Local Councils, information circulated. Carbon footprint tool Councillor Aubrey-Cosslett had received information on the Development of a Carbon Footprinting Tool for Parish Councils and recruiting parish councils to take part in the initial stakeholder workshop, which will be held virtually towards the end of July. The clerk had tried unsuccessfully to obtain further information Herefordshire Council, invitation received to a virtual parish council meeting 23rd July. Councillor usher agreed to attend. To note information circulated during Coronavirus restrictions Road closures Letter from HM Lord Lieutenant T14 bus timetable Rural Crime June newsletter Date of next meeting, September 9th 2020 No further business the chairman thanked those who had attended & closed the meeting at 09-15.