18th  September 2007

Dear Parish Councillor Bantoft

PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES

Further to the Parish Council meeting of 17th September 2007 I am writing to point out some inaccuracies in the minutes signed on the night.  I did try and raise this at the meeting before you signed the minutes but as I am sure you will recall, you did not allow me to speak.

Extra Ordinary Parish Council minutes of 27th July 2007

I assume that an accurate head count was not taken of the members of the public present at the meeting. The reason I ask is because your minutes said approx 55 but I have spoken to a number of people who attended the meeting and they all counted between 85 and 90 members of the public.  This is very different to your figure.

The minutes also state that your election as Chairman was unanimous.  Actually I do not remember Councillor Woollner voting for you.

Playing Field Committee Meeting of 16th July

I am sure that you are well aware that I have been concerned about the apparently contradictory statements made by the council in respect of the PL insurance and general use of the playing field.  This was brought to a head at the Playing Field Committee meeting of 16th July when the minutes of the previous meeting were contradicted during the meeting.  I did raise this at the time and wrote to you on 26th July 2007 requesting clarification of the matter with accompanying backup documentation.  As I (and a number of other people that I have spoken to who attended the meeting) remember, it was agreed that Mrs Sawyer would clarify the situation after checking the insurance documents (indeed you said in your letter of 15th August that you would ensure that it is properly checked out if I write to you again). This was because she did not have the relevant paperwork and could not therefore give a definitive answer.  However I notice that the minutes that you signed last night say that Mrs Sawyer stated that the Company would not stretch cover to include fund raising events organised by all and sundry.  There is clearly a serious discrepancy between the actual conversation and what was minuted!

Parish Council Minutes of 16th July

There are two points that I would like to raise about these minutes the first being under the item listed Letter from Mr P Wagg regarding funding for FLAT.  I feel that it is incorrect  to list this item as funding for FLAT.  The letter that Mr & Mrs Wagg raised (and actually read out at the meeting) did in fact relate to a complaint regarding two Parish Councillors who had not passed on a request for an item to be placed on the agenda.  I have enclosed a copy of this letter to refresh your memory but I think you will see that the minutes are not a true reflection of what was actually discussed.

The second point that I wish to raise is the record of the exchange between Borough Councillor Markinson and Mrs Smalley.  I find it very strange that the exchange was minuted in such a way as nothing else seems to have been minuted in such detail! I am left wondering why it has been minuted like this!  However the irony of the situation is that despite going into such detail, the minutes are still not an accurate record of the confrontational (and rude) manner that Mrs Smalley addressed Councillor Markinson.  It does not mention the statement “that is typical of you – you don’t want the turbines built but you are happy to build on our playing field”.  It also does not record that she repeated the fact that she did not want to listen to him on more than one occasion.  I am sure that Councillor Markinson will recall the exchange very clearly and may be able to give you a more accurate transcript of the conversation.

As a final point I would like to state that I am very concerned that whenever either FLAT (directly or indirectly) or the wind turbines are discussed at Parish Council meetings, the minutes do not show a true record of the proceedings.

I look forward to this being rectified in the near future.

Yours sincerely

Lyndon Mason
FLAT Chairman and local parishioner