Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllr Fairclough.

To receive from members, in respect of any items included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any disclosable pecuniary or other interests, or of any gifts and hospitality, in line with the Town Council’s Code of Conduct.

NOTES:

(i)              The following councillors have made a general non-pecuniary interest declaration in relation to being councillors of Waverley Borough Council: Cllrs David Beaman, George Murray, Tony Fairclough, George Hesse, Andrew Laughton, Mark Merryweather, Kika Mirylees,          John Ward, and Graham White.

(iii)        The following councillor has made a general non-pecuniary interest declaration in relation to being a councillor of Surrey County Council: Cllr Michaela Martin;

(iv)        Members are requested to make any declarations of interest, on the form attached, to be returned to customer.services@farnham.gov.uk by 5pm on the day before the meeting.

Members are reminded that if they declare a pecuniary interest they must leave before any debate starts unless dispensation has been obtained.

Cllr Merryweather declared an Interest as Portfolio holder for Assets and Finance at Waverley Borough Council.

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the Farnham Town Council meeting held on 20^th March 2025 at Appendix A.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20^th March were agreed as a correct record for signing by the Mayor.

In accordance with Standing Order 10.1, the Town Mayor will invite members of the public present to ask questions or make statements.

At the discretion of the Town Mayor, those members of the public, residing or working within the Council’s boundary, will be invited to make representations or ask questions in respect of the business on the agenda, or other matters not on the agenda, for a maximum of 3 minutes per person or 20 minutes overall.

Cllr Peter Clark (of Waverley Borough Council) and a resident of Farnham, made a Statement in relation to an item on the agenda about Local Government Reorganisation and the anticipated proposal by Surrey County Council to select four parts of Surrey for pilot area arrangements ahead of decisions on the future of the unitary council structure.

Cllr Clark advised the Government had said that local government reorganisation was the first step to devolution but no power was filtering down to the local level, it seemed to be more centralising.

Surrey County Council was no longer an elected body and was proposing 6 councillors for Farnham in its new unitary; the districts and boroughs would propose 9 councillors in a three unitary structure favoured by eight of the councils.

As Surrey was not fully parished this was tricky. The Government had promised a white paper but this has been shelved, and the county has proposed in its submission community boards where everyone attending has an equal voice and is planning to pilot it before a decision is known.  It is not the county Council’s role to do this said Cllr Clark but the new Shadow unitary authorities.  He urged Farnham Town Council to be cautious and not fall into a trap. 

Cllr Clark understood there was a lack of information and participating in a pilot might provide some of the detail but he suggested the town council should defer making a decision on participating in something that could appear to give legitimacy to something that was premature.

The Mayor thanked Cllr Clark for his contribution.

To receive the Town Mayor’s announcements.

The Mayor advised that since the last meeting he had had an interesting range of events to attend.  The Installation of the High Sheriff of Surrey Peter Cluff on 21 March was a lovely tradition and Farnham looked forward to welcoming him to Farnham for the VE Day event on 8^th May.

The Mayor attended  TS Swiftsure Sea Cadets  for the opening of the refurbished ‘heads’, and also met the head of East Hants District Council’s at her Civic Day at Butser Ancient Farm.

The Mayor said it was an honour to be a Judge at the Children’s Business Fair and the young entrepreneurs were an inspiration.  He was also a judge at the  ‘Brightwells Win a Shop’ presentations and wished the two winners every success. 

Farnham Beerex is always a notable event on the Farnham calendar and the Mayor enjoyed pouring one of the first pints at the Lions Club’s 48^th event.  The same weekend was the Classic Car event in Central Car Park in aid of the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice.  The Mayor extended congratulations to the Farnham Round Table who invited him to celebrate their 90^th year of serving the community.

The Mayor ended his announcements on the amazing celebration for both the Farnham Town Football Club and the Farnham Rugby Club with an open top bus tour of the town following them winning their respective leagues.  This had been an amazing achievement and he was very proud of them and of Cllr Fairclough and Cllr Powell who worked behind the scenes with a small team to make the celebration go so well.

As this was the Mayor’s last Council full Council meeting  he took the opportunity to thank councillors and everyone for their support during his Mayoral year.

To consider any questions from councillors in accordance with Standing Order 9.

There were no questions by Members in accordance with Standing Order 9.

1) To receive the notes and any recommendations of the following Working Groups:

i) Community & Culture held 16th April 2025 at  Appendix B

ii) Strategy and Resources held on 23rd April 2025 at Appendix C

2) To receive a verbal update on any relevant matters from the Environment Working Group.

1            Community & Culture Working Group

1.1        Cllr Mirylees presented the report of the Community Working Group held on 16^th April at Appendix B to the agenda.  She reported that it had been a very successful year and the Working Group had reviewed recent events including the very successful Literary Festival with over 50 events in 11 venues plus a schools’ programme. 24 of the events had been run by FTC.

1.2        The Working Group has also considered future events including the 80^th commemoration of VE-Day on 8^th May and the summer programme.  Cllr Mirylees also reported on progress on the new film festival which was still under discussion and was hoped to take place over a weekend in early 2026.

1.3        Cllr Murray advised that the Business Improvement District was recruiting after the resignation of Cat Mitton, and that the new Town Rangers had begun work and were providing both a security presence for businesss and a welcome for visitors.

2      Strategy & Resources

Cllr White introduced the Notes of the Strategy & Resources meeting held on 23rd April, at Appendix C to the agenda.

2.1   Finance

The main item from the meeting, the end of year finance report, was a separate item on the Council agenda at Appendix D.  Council also noted that the list of Standing Orders and Direct Debits for 2025/26 had been reviewed and agreed.

2.2   Farnham Infrastructure Programme

       Cllr Beaman updated Council on progress on the Farnham Infrastructure Programme being implemented by Surrey County Council.  Council noted that, after some teething problems, the implementation phase was working better than expected and the right turn from Castle Street was working very well.  He advised that discussions had taken place on the rain gardens and ironstones, and it appeared that the Surrey team was prepared to be flexible in response to the representations made by Farnham Town Council and others.

Cllr Martin raised the issue of the problems businesses were facing with the roadworks and proposed that the Council write in support of Farnham businesses to the Valuation Office to suggest a revaluation would be appropriate for the duration of the works due to the significant disruption being faced by businesses.  On a proposal by Cllr Martin, seconded by Cllr Dickson:

It was RESOLVED unanimously that the Town Clerk write to the District Valuer in support of local businesses during the implementation phase of the Farnham Infrastructure Programme in view of the disruption being caused.

            Double-hatted councillors were asked to ensure that Waverley Borough Council, perhaps through the Economic Development Team, also writes in support.  Cllr Martin would speak with Surrey Officers as well.

2.3  Website Update

       Council welcomed the progress on the new website. Councillors had been impressed with the presentation on the new style and layout.  It was noted there would be another presentation to councillors in June after officers had reviewed the content pages.

2.4  Working Groups and Timetable of Meetings                                                                                                         

       The Leader introduced the proposal from Strategy & Resources to streamline the Working  ...  view the full minutes text for item C112/24

The following papers are to be read in conjunction with the minutes of the Strategy and Resources Working Group held on 23rd April 2025 and are for formal approval by the Council prior for submission to the External Auditor. These documents were previously circulated to all councillors ahead of the Strategy & Resources Working Group.

i) To receive a report on the 2024/24 Outturn Appendix D

ii) To receive the 2024/24 Income and Expenditure Outturn Appendix E

iii) To consider the final Internal Auditor’s Report for the Year Ended 31 March 2025 and accept the issues raised Appendix F

iv) To receive and agree the draft Report and Financial Statements for 2024/25 and earmarked reserves at 31st March 2025 Appendix G

v) To approve the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1 of Annual Governance and Accountability Return) at Appendix H

vi) To approve the variances between 2023/24 and 2024/24 Annual Returns Appendix Hi.

vii) To approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return for the Year Ended 31st March 2025 for signature and submission for External Audit at Appendix H

Cllr White introduced the report on the 2024-25 accounts at Appendix D highlighting the End of Year Finance papers for audit and the discussion at Strategy & Resources.  The overall income position was £2,396,408 (against a budget of £1,784,568) whilst expenditure was £1,825,681 (against a budget of £1,806,950).  The higher than anticipated income was primarily due to Section 106 and CIL receipts, along with significantly higher interest as a result.  After the planned transfers for Christmas lights and elections were and the earmarked CIL and section106 allocations allocated to reserves. there was a positive surplus of £81,831 of income over expenditure. 

1.       Council welcomed the Internal Auditor’s letter and recommendations at Appendix F following the end of year audit and received the draft Report and Financial Statements at Appendix G which included the detail of earmarked reserves and grants distributed during the year.The General Reserve was agreed as £602,597 (2023/24: £505,765)   The precept for the year ahead was £1,535,300 and the budget £1,964,500, so the earmarked reserve represents 31% (2023/24: 28%) of operating expenditure or 39% of precept (2023/24 37%). This is a prudent level for Farnham Town Council given the level of earmarked reserves in addition.

2.       The Governance Statement at Appendix H was endorsed;

3.       The details of the updated Assets Register at 31-3-25 were received;

4.       The detail on the variances between the 2023/24 Annual Return and the 2024/25 Annual Return were noted alongside the more detailed explanations in the report at Appendices E1 and H1, the latter relating specifically to the AGAR (Annual Accountancy and Governance Return).

5.       Council noted the level of CIL received that was included in earmarked reserves and that end of year adjustments meant that all of the CIL receipts had been committed to specific infrastructure projects.

6.       Council agreed the dates for the exercise of public rights to inspect the accounts as being between 3rd June and 14th July 2025.

It was RESOLVED unanimously that

1)      The report on the 2024-25 finances be adopted;

2)      the 2024-25 Outturn be welcomed;

3)      the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return, page 4) be approved;

4)      The Internal Auditor’s report be welcomed and the recommendations agreed;

5)      The updated Asset Register be approved;

6)      The Report and Financial Statements including the general and earmarked reserves for 2024-25 be adopted for signature;

7)      The variances list for the Annual Return be agreed;

8)      The Annual Governance and Accountability Return and associated papers be approved for signature and submission to the External Auditor.

To receive the minutes of the Planning & Licensing Consultative Group meetings held on 23rd March, and 7^th April at Appendices I, J & K.

Cllr Laughton introduced the Minutes of the Planning & Licensing Consultative Group meetings on 24 March, and 7^th and 28^th April at Appendices I, J and K.

There were five key matters Cllr Laughton drew attention 2.  The first, an application to increase seating in the outdoor customer area as part of J D Wetherspoon plans to redevelop what was Slug & Lettuce. FTC had asked that the developer mitigate noise for local residents.

FTC had objected to the County Council’s proposed monolith double sided digital signboard application on Highways land at Hickleys Court as it is against policy FNP4. Digital signage conflicts with the historic market town, distracts motorists and is unnecessary.  WBC Planning had indicated it intended to approve the application but it had been called in to committee. 

FTC had raised concerns over a number of issues for the erection of 162 dwellings at Centrum Business Parkwhich contradicted the FNP and LPP1 policy (including height at six storeys, air pollution, traffic congestion, cycle connectivity, lack of affordable housing, SANG provision).  Further clarification from WBC had been sought and provision for a commuted sum if affordable housing were not to be delivered on site. 

FTC had maintained its objections to the Mcdonald’s application, Blackwater Valley Road, as it will impact on Tice’s Meadow Nature reserve and in addition noted new evidence regarding the presence of water voles in the area. 

FTC was objecting to one of the street names (currently Siskin Road) since it would be a no through road and therefore contrary to WBC street naming policy and beyond the powers of the street naming team whose argument was they were future proofing the area.

The Street Naming Team had refused to accept an alternate name of Siskin Close, and so on a proposal by Cllr Laughton, Seconded by Cllr Merryweather it was RESOLVED unanimously to put in a formal objection to Siskin Road.  All other street names were OK.  

Cllr Beaman indicated he would also object as a WBC councillor.

The reports were approved.

To elect Working Groups, Panels and Task Groups in accordance with Standing Orders 15 at Appendix L.

Councillors had suggested their preferences for the Working Groups, Panels and Task Groups they wished to be part of in 2025/26 as set out at Appendix L.  Provisional allocations had been made based on Standing Orders 15 and appointments confirmed by Council as set out below.

The Mayorproposed andit wasagreed nemcon, that Councilbe adjourned inorder that eachWorking Groupappoint itsLead Memberto confirmthe compositionof the Strategy& Resources Working Group.

Meetings of eachWorking Group wereheld inturn.

i)     Community and Well-being Working Group

On a nomination by Cllr Brown, seconded by Cllr Mauluka, and with no other nominations, itwas agreedthat CllrEarwaker beappointed asLead Member

ii)   Culture and Business Working Group

On a nomination by Cllr Martin, seconded by Cllr Earwaker and with no other nominations, itwas agreedthat CllrMirylees be appointedas LeadMember

iii)  Environment WorkingGroup

     On a nomination by Cllr Earwaker, seconded by Cllr Jackman and with no other nominations, itwas agreedthat CllrBrown beappointed asLead Member.

It was noted that theLeader ofCouncil andLead Member ofStrategy &Resources would be appointed at the Annual Meeting of Council, and that  thePlanning &Licensing ConsultativeGroup andPanels andTask Groups would appoint their Lead Members at the first meeting.

To appoint representatives (and reserves where appropriate) who will act as the liaison between Farnham Town Council and external bodies and report back to the Council on matters of interest at Appendix L.

A reporton preferences to be the Council’sRepresentatives onOutside Bodies which would report back to the relevant Working Group Group, Task Group or Council was attached at Appendix L. After discussion, thefollowing appointmentswere agreed:

Culture & Business Liaison councillors

Community & Wellbeing Liaison councillors

Environment  Liaison councillors

Recreation Ground Committee Liaison Councillors

To receive details of any actions taken under the scheme of delegation not already reported.

There were no additional items reported.

To receive from Councillors any updates on matters affecting Farnham from Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.

There were no reports from other councils.

To receive from Members any verbal reports on Outside Bodies where they represent Farnham Town Council.

There were no reports from outside bodies.

To agree the date of the next meeting as 15th May 2025 which will be the Annual Meeting of Council with Mayor Making.

The date of the next meeting was agreed as the Annual Meeting of Council at 6pm on Thursday 15^th May.

TO PASS A RESOLUTION to exclude members of the public and press from the meeting at Part 3 of the agenda (if required) in view of any confidential items under discussion. These will usually relate to exempt staffing matters or contractual matters which may be commercially sensitive.

The Mayor proposed, and it was RESOLVED unanimously that the press & public be excluded in view of the confidential items under discussion.

1)     HR Panel held on 29^th April at Exempt Appendix M (Deferred).

2)     Other Working Groups

3)     Recipients of the Services to Farnham Awards 2025 at Exempt Appendix N.

1)     The minutes of the HR Panel held on 29^th April were deferred.

2)     The list of nominations for the 2025 Services to Farnham Awards was welcomed.