Tim Prater

20
Nov
2023
Parish Council Meeting Agenda 27-11-2023

Parish Council Meeting Agenda 27-11-2023

The agenda for the Sandgate Parish Council Full Parish Council meeting, to held on Monday 27th November 2023, in Sandgate Library at 6.30pm.

Agenda-council-meeting-27-11-23

The Council meeting is open to press and public. If you would like to attend this meeting, please notify clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk in advance. Letting us know allows us to make sure we have sufficient seats for you and allow reasonable spacing.

We keep a full list of previous Sandgate Parish Council Meeting Agenda and Minutes on this website. We publish those agendas a few days before each meeting, and will also post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.

Most of our meetings are broadcast live on our Facebook page. We’ll then leave those recordings on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so you can watch them back later.

Minimum Notice

We issue agenda’s at least three clear days before a meeting. We display them on the noticeboard in the library, Parish noticeboards on the Village Green and by Enbrook Valley shops, and on our website.

The minimum three clear days for notice of a meeting does not include:

  • the day of issue of the agenda, or;
  • the day of the meeting, or;
  • a Sunday, or;
  • a day of the Christmas break, or;
  • a day of the Easter break, or;
  • of a bank holiday, or;
  • a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.

Meeting in Public

All meetings of our Council are open to the public, except in limited defined circumstances. We can only decide, by resolution, to meet in private when discussing confidential business or for other special reasons where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest.

Those reasons might include, for example, discussing the conduct of employees, negotiations of contracts or terms of tender, or the early stages of a legal dispute.

Posted by Tim Prater in Agenda, Council
18
Nov
2023
PWLB Loan Reserve Report October 2023

PWLB Loan Reserve Report October 2023

Updated PWLB Loan Reserve report for Sandgate Parish Council to October 2023.

Loan Reserve Report

PWLB-tracker-2018-23-15-08-23

We have previously issued PWLB Reports quarterly alongside committee reports. We will aim to do so from now using this standalone format.

The PWLB loan reserve was formed following our receipt of a loan of £500,000 from the Public Works Loan Board in August 2018 for the purchase of land which then fell through. Despite lobbying Government, the PWLB (a branch of the Treasury) refused to cancel the loan and take the money back from us without requiring a six figure penalty fee. They did, however, confirm the money could be retained and invested by the Council.

The Council has committed that the costs of the loan will not fall on taxpayers through increased Council Tax without a consultation on doing so. We have held no such consultation to date.

As such, we placed the full loan amount in a defined PWLB Loan Reserve.

  • All payments for that loan (capital repayments, interest payments) come out of that reserve.
  • All income from that loan (currently interest payments on the loan amount) we put into that reserve. The value of the reserve is published regularly (quarterly).

At this time, while the costs of the loan exceed the income (due to historically low interest rates), the value of our PWLB Loan Reserve is dropping. Although we seek investments with the best return, we want security for the money (so it is all currently in accounts backed by guarantee up to £85,000 per account) and some investments are not open to local authorities, so there are limits on what we can do.

Financial Reporting

Previous Sandgate Parish Council Resources Committee Agendas, Minutes and Financial Reports.

Sandgate Parish Council uses (the excellent) Scribe Accounts to manage our Council accounts and generate reports.

Sandgate Parish Council’s finances are governed by our Financial Regulations and Standing Orders. Every Town and Parish Council has similar rules. Because those rules govern our financial management, we can only amend or vary them by a Council resolution.

Our Council’s Standing Orders require quarterly reporting of receipts, payments and balances. For instance, they say at 17.c:

The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply to each councillor as soon as practicable after 30 June, 30 September and 31 December in each year a statement to summarise:

i. the council’s receipts and payments for each quarter;

ii. the council’s aggregate receipts and payments for the year to date;

iii. the balances held at the end of the quarter being reported

and which includes a comparison with the budget for the financial year and highlights any actual or potential overspends.

Posted by Tim Prater in Agenda, Resources
18
Nov
2023
Financial Reports October 2023

Financial Reports October 2023

Updated financial reports for Sandgate Parish Council for October 2023, and the financial year 2023-24 to date.

Payment and Receipts Summary

Summary-payments-and-receipts-Oct-23

Receipts in Month

Receipts-list-Oct-23

Payments in Month

Payments-list-Oct-23

Reserve Balances

Reserves-list-Oct-23

Bank Reconciliation

ReconcileAll-banks-Oct-23

VAT Summary

VATSummary-Oct-23

Previous Sandgate Parish Council Resources Committee Agendas, Minutes and Financial Reports.

Sandgate Parish Council uses (the excellent) Scribe Accounts to manage our Council accounts and generate reports.

Sandgate Parish Council’s finances are governed by our Financial Regulations and Standing Orders. Every Town and Parish Council has similar rules. Those rules govern our financial management, and we can only amend or vary them by a Council resolution.

The Council’s Standing Orders require that we report quarterly on receipts, payments and balances. For instance, they say at 17.c:

The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply to each councillor as soon as practicable after 30 June, 30 September and 31 December in each year a statement to summarise:

i. the council’s receipts and payments for each quarter;

ii. the council’s aggregate receipts and payments for the year to date;

iii. the balances held at the end of the quarter being reported

and which includes a comparison with the budget for the financial year and highlights any actual or potential overspends.

We are now publishing our reports monthly to exceed that requirement. We then consider those reports at the next Parish Council Resources Committee meeting.

Posted by Tim Prater in Agenda, Resources
17
Nov
2023
Library Committee Minutes 13-11-2023

Library Committee Minutes 13-11-2023

The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council Library Committee meeting, held on 13th November 2023, in Sandgate Library.

Library-minutes-13-11-23

You can find previous Sandgate Parish Library Committee Agendas and Minutes on this website. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. The Clerk then posts draft minutes in the week after a meeting.

We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page. Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!

The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.

The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.

Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.

Posted by Tim Prater in Library, Minutes
15
Nov
2023
Environment Committee Minutes 13-11-2023

Environment Committee Minutes 13-11-2023

The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council Environment Committee meeting, held on 13th September 2023, in Sandgate Library.

Env-Minutes-13.11.23

2023-07 Env Committee ActionsDownload

You can find previous Sandgate Parish Environment Committee Agendas and Minutes on this website. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. The Clerk then posts draft minutes in the week after a meeting.

We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page. Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!

The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.

The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.

Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.

Posted by Tim Prater in Environment, Minutes
14
Nov
2023
Planning Committee Agenda 20-11-2023

Planning Committee Agenda 20-11-2023

The agenda for the Sandgate Parish Council Planning Committee meeting, to held on 20th November 2023 at 7.00pm or at the fall of the Finance Committee Meeting whichever is later.

Planning-Agenda-20-11-24

The Planning Committee meeting is open to press and public. If any member of the public wishes to attend, please can they notify clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk in advance. This allows us to ensure we have sufficient seats and allow reasonable spacing.

Previous Sandgate Parish Council Planning Committee Agenda and Minutes. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. We then post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.

Most of our meetings will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. Recordings of the meetings will be left on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so they can be watched back later. Comments left on Facebook broadcasts during the meeting are not be monitored and are not a way of feeding back to the Council.

Minimum Notice

We issue agendas at least three clear days before a meeting. We display them on the noticeboard in the library, Parish noticeboards on the Village Green and by Enbrook Valley shops, and on our website.

The minimum three clear days for notice of a meeting does not include:

  • the day of issue of the agenda, or;
  • the day of the meeting, or;
  • a Sunday, or;
  • a day of the Christmas break, or;
  • a day of the Easter break, or;
  • of a bank holiday, or;
  • a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.

Meeting in Public

All meetings of our Council are open to the public, except in limited defined circumstances. We can only decide, by resolution, to meet in private when discussing confidential business or for other special reasons where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest.

Those reasons might include, for example, discussing the conduct of employees, negotiations of contracts or terms of tender, or the early stages of a legal dispute.

Posted by Tim Prater in Agenda, Planning
13
Nov
2023
Finance Committee Agenda 20-11-2023

Finance Committee Agenda 20-11-2023

The agenda of Sandgate’s Parish Council Finance Committee meeting. We will hold the meeting on 20th November 2023 at 6:30pm. It will be held in Sandgate Library.

Finance Committee Agenda

Finance-Agenda-20-11-23

Summary of Financial Performance – Sept 23Download
Sandgate Parish Council Draft Budget 2025-25 v5 {Excel]Download
Sandgate-PC-Budget-2024-25-v5 Expenditure [PDF]Download
Sandgate-PC-Budget-2024-25-v5 Income [PDF]Download

Our Finance Committee meeting is open to press and public. Please could any member of the public who wants to attend notify us via clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk in advance. This allows us to ensure we have sufficient seats and allow reasonable spacing.

We publish our financial reporting on the “in-running” budget monthly. So at this meeting we will consider the reports since the last meeting.

Previous Sandgate Parish Council Finance Committee Agendas, Minutes and Financial Reports.

We use (the excellent) Scribe Accounts to manage our Council accounts and generate reports.

Sandgate Parish Council’s finances are governed by our Financial Regulations and Standing Orders, and every Town and Parish Council has similar rules. Because those rules govern our financial management, we can only amend or vary them by a Council resolution.

The Council’s Standing Orders require quarterly reporting of receipts, payments and balances. For instance, they say at 17.c:

The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply to each councillor as soon as practicable after 30 June, 30 September and 31 December in each year a statement to summarise:

i. the council’s receipts and payments for each quarter;

ii. the council’s aggregate receipts and payments for the year to date;

iii. the balances held at the end of the quarter being reported

and which includes a comparison with the budget for the financial year and highlights any actual or potential overspends.

We’re now publishing our reports monthly, exceeding that requirement. Consequently we will consider the reports at the next Parish Council Resources Committee meeting.

Posted by Tim Prater in Agenda, Resources
13
Nov
2023

Sandgate Community Garden: Update 12 November 2023

Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 12th November: A full pond and shredded banana tree.

The rainy season continues, and nothing got done on the Wednesday morning session due to persistent rain, again!  We were due to go on a compost run that day too, which means co-ordinating the hire of a drop side truck, volunteers to help unload, as well as help from the composting farm to load us up with compost.  In spite of the weather it was decided to forge ahead, however, having taken the hired truck out of the yard it was soon clear there was something seriously wrong with it, making it impossible to drive safely, and it had to be returned.  Undoubtedly it was a case that compost collection was not meant to be happening that day.  We have rescheduled for the following Monday in the hope that the weather will be kind to us, although currently it is not looking too brilliant and it could turn into a massive mud bath.

Thank goodness Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, and we were able to get on with many tasks.  The broad beans were well and truly ready to go into the ground and so became the main priority for the morning, especially as the coming week is also promising yet more rain.  Other tasks included the collecting of fallen leaves and storm debris, harvesting the last of the winter radishes, the Jerusalem artichokes, and quite a few more broccoli side shoots.

Disappointing harvests are the Celeriac, leeks and Chinese cabbages.  We have been hoping for the celeriac and the leeks to be more than just spectacular leaves, and for the Chinese cabbages to have fewer holes and to have ‘hearted up’ by now, but alas, it seems the garden may possibly be too dry for them and they may not be suited to the site.  It is always a gamble when it comes to growing vegetables, but we have never succeeded with celeriac on this site so far!  Luckily, the leaves and stems can be harvested and eaten and so it seems we shall have to make the best of those instead. 

The banana tree had to have a good trim as it was battered by the recent winds, and the poor leaves were shredded to ribbons.  Happily it is continuing to thrive, and has many new stems growing at the base, which if they survive the winter, will be taken out and grown elsewhere, or brought on for our next plant sale.

Many thanks go out to two of our gardeners’ partners – to Stan for fixing new handles on our sad and sorry looking trugs, and to Peter for making some delicious marmalade and cherry jam and bringing some spare jars up to the garden to share.

On a positive note, the fact we have had so much rain, has totally refilled our dwindling pond, there is no need to water, and at Pent Farm the water is being harvested from all the building roof tops to be stored in large tanks in readiness to be used over the next spring and summer – Happy days!

What’s next?

  • Repot the cuttings of sage and rosemary
  • Get some compost up to the garden
  • Raise the fleece up over the broad beans with hoops
  • Cut back unruly shrubs
Planting out the broad beans
Shredded banana tree
New handles on the trugs
A full pond

This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.

Posted by Tim Prater in Sandgate Community Garden
10
Nov
2023

Sandgate Library Games Morning: Tuesdays starting 21st November

Sandgate Library is introducing a games morning every Tuesday morning 10 – 12 starting 21st November.

Come into our ‘Warm Space’ and enjoy playing a variety of games with friends old and new. 

We have a selection of games available in the Library including Cards, Pictionary, Chess etc but you are also welcome to bring along any of your favourite games from home.

Please note no gambling is allowed in the Library,

Sandgate Library, James Morris Court, Sandgate High Street, Sandgate, Folkestone CT20 3RR.

Posted by Tim Prater in News