News: CPC Annual Parish Meeting 2026

At the Annual Parish Meeting, Chilbolton Parish Council reviews its policies and procedures, confirms terms of reference for its committees and appoints Councillors to them.

As first order of business, Cllr David Hall was re-elected as Chair, and Cllr Neil Connor was elected as Vice Chair.

The Parish Council then agreed the text of the following policies:

  • Standing Orders
  • Code of Conduct
  • Scheme of Delegation
  • Data Protection

They agreed membership of their committees and also agreed Lead Councillors:

  • Village Hall - Cllr Sue Larcombe
  • CNDP revision working group - Cllr Martin Watson
  • Resilience - Cllr Debbie Collis

They confirmed that the Highways and Safety Group would be “stood down”, but a record of the projects they were working on would be kept on the CPC website.

Planning matters

Councillors reviewed their recent trial of discussing Planning Matters as part of the Parish Council meeting, rather than having a separate Planning Committee meeting.

Cllr Sue Larcombe said that she was concerned at the workload that it placed on the Interim Clerk, Cllr Debbie Collis. Writing an appeal could take as long as ten hours.

Cllr David Hall said that a “good blend” would be to continue to discuss planning matters at Parish Council meetings, but to have a Councillor as lead. He asked Cllr Larcombe if she was happy to take on the role, and she agreed.

It was agreed Cllr Larcombe would draft comments on planning applications. They would be agreed by the Parish Council and sent to TVBC by the Interim Clerk.

Finance

Cllr Hall said that the Internal Auditor, Mr Patrick Coates, had reviewed the accounts. He thanked Mr Coates for his work.

Cllr Hall said that the Annual Governance and Accountability Return should be circulated by the end of the week. It would be approved at the Parish Council meeting on 1 Jun 2026. It would be available for public scrutiny from 16 Jun 2026 to 27 Jul 2026.

The AGAR is a set of documents and financial statements that local councils are required to prepare and submit each year. It is an essential part of the external audit and covers accountability, compliance, transparency, external audit and financial assurance

Parish Council Elections

Cllr Debbie Collis drew the meeting’s attention to the fact that Parish Councillors would face elections in May 2027. To fit in with the upcoming local government reorganisation, Councillors would be elected at that time for a five year term.

From 2032 onwards, it would revert to a four-year cycle.

Gravel Hill

Cllr David Hall reported that he had sent an email to the Chilbolton Parochial Church Council asking for their help in applying for a grant to support the drawing up of initial plans for the Gravel Hill site.

He said that he had not had any reply from them, as yet.

Questions from the public

A member of the public asked whether the Parish Council had data protection in place for the Community Welfare List.

Cllr Debbie Collis confirmed that the list is held by the Interim Clerk and the Resilience Lead. There is a privacy notice aimed at the Welfare List on the Parish Council website.

Cllr David Drew

Cllr David Hall said that he had been made aware that Hampshire County Councillor David Drew had been in attendance at the meeting, and had then left.

Cllr Hall said “We didn’t put David Drew on the agenda, and we should have done. We missed the opportunity to congratulate him on his re-election. I will write to him and apologize.”