Parish Governance

Parish Meeting Minutes & Accounts

In line with the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities, minutes of every parish meeting, annual accounts and financial information are published here for all residents.

Meeting Minutes

Minutes of every parish meeting are published here as a matter of public record. Earlier minutes are available on request from the Parish Clerk via the contact form.

Parish Meeting Minutes

Tuesday 5 May 2026

Held in St Oswald’s Church, Farnham — the Chair welcomed everyone and declared the Meeting quorate.

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Apologies. Received from Phil and Emma Roebuck, and Malcolm and Kay Staveley.

Declarations of interest. None.

Minutes of 4 November 2025. Unanimously approved as a true record.

Matters arising. All follow-up items covered in the agenda items below.

Treasurer’s Report & Accounts

As in prior years, the Meeting followed a designated order of approval for governance and accounts matters.

1. Internal audit. Jonathan Wilkinson’s internal audit report — no matters of concern — was accepted. Proposed by Simon Theakston, seconded by Stacey Adams. Passed unanimously.
2. Governance & internal controls. Key risks, systems and contract procedures unchanged from the previous year. Revised wording of the contract procedures and the annual governance statement formally approved. Proposed by Sat Gidda, seconded by Andy Day. Passed unanimously.
3. Accounting Statements 2025/26. The Treasurer outlined the reasons for any changes from the previous year, and the statements were approved. Proposed by Ben Galaud, seconded by Stacey Adams. Passed unanimously. The full accounts are set out further down this page.
4. External audit exemption. Confirmed not required, as both income and expenditure are below the £25,000 threshold; the Meeting will continue to make documents available for public inspection. The Chairman was authorised to sign the exemption form. Proposed by Michael Taylor, seconded by Sat Gidda. Passed unanimously.

Election of Officers & Internal Auditor

All existing officers expressed a willingness to continue in their present roles. Proposed by Ian Thornton, seconded by Andy Day, and appointed unanimously.

Chairman: Anne Wylie
Treasurer & Secretary: Pam Taylor
Water, drainage & public transport: Phil Roebuck
Planning: Michael Taylor
Road safety: Sam Green
Signatories: Anne Wylie · Pam Taylor · Phil Roebuck
Internal auditor: Jonathan Wilkinson
Website maintenance: in abeyance at the meeting

Since the Meeting, the Chairman has accepted an offer by Sat Gidda to update and maintain the village website.

Planning, Solar Farm & Battery Storage

Reported by Michael Taylor.

Ford Cottage. Amended application for a single-storey extension — approved.
The Old Cottage. Application to remove part of the boundary wall to create a driveway — Conservation Officer objected; the applicants withdrew the application.
Field at the top of Shaw Lane. Application by Steve Parkin for outline permission for nine houses. Various individual objections; the Highways Agency, Yorkshire Water, the Landscape Officer and the Housing Officer all raised concerns. Application withdrawn.
Orchard adjoining Manor Cottage. Application for a self-build dwelling, with slightly amended plans for house design and position. Objections from the Conservation Officer and the tree expert. The Planning Officer’s detailed refusal cited the planning inspector’s ruling on the previous appeal: the amendments were slight and did not provide grounds to overturn the earlier refusal. Application refused.
Solar farm and BESS applications. Numerous objections were lodged against all three applications. Michael Taylor noted that the Farnham Lake BESS has attracted the lowest number of objections and may find favour with planners. All three decisions will be made at Planning Committee level, not officer level; the Planning Officer hopes to put at least two applications before a Committee meeting in June. Michael Taylor has requested permission to attend and make oral representations on behalf of Farnham Parish Meeting.

Road Safety, Drainage & Public Transport

Nothing to report.

Church Matters

Stacey Adams gave a presentation on the key issues affecting the Church.

Funds. Following the recent appeal for donations, there has been a large increase in the funds raised.

A pressing need for volunteers. There has been no response to requests for volunteers to help edit The Link or to run Church events. Personal commitments mean the present Church volunteer team is unable to plan future events without further help. As the Church serves as the social hub of the village, this will have a real impact on residents as well as on the Church, and a solution needs to be found. One possibility discussed: residents might offer to arrange individual events rather than commit to a longer-term role.

Any Other Business

Waste disposal. Use of the recycling centre now has to be pre-registered. The Secretary will circulate the registration details by email.

Previous meetings

Click any heading to expand the full minutes — or use the PDF link to download a copy.

Parish Meeting Minutes

Tuesday 4 November 2025

Held at St Oswald’s Church, Farnham

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Apologies. None received.

Declarations of interest. None.

Minutes of 28 May 2025. Unanimously approved as a true record.

Matters arising. Items covered in agenda below, except: the village defibrillator has now been supplied and set up in the telephone box. The Meeting thanked Richard Hall for all his work in arranging this.

Treasury Matters

1. Parish Precept for 2026/27. The Treasurer recommended an increase to £2,050 (from £1,870) — allowing for a 5% rise in recurring costs and providing margin for one-off bills, including the possibility of assisting the church. Proposed by Phil Roebuck, seconded by Michael Taylor. Passed unanimously.
2. Renewal of contracts. Grass cutting: 2026 and 2027 quotes from Farm & Land not yet received. Insurance: Zurich’s contract renews in April; the Meeting authorised acceptance of any quote within 10% of the present rate. Proposed by Richard Hall, seconded by Stacey Adams. Passed unanimously.

Planning Matters

Reported by Michael Taylor.

Ford Cottage. Planning application for a large front extension. Because of the scale and location of the proposed extension, this would disrupt light to and closely overlook adjoining properties and would affect the character of the terrace of attractive Victorian cottages. It would also affect views from the Grade I-listed church. Deadline for responses: 23 November.
Farnham BESS and Scotton solar farm + BESS. Public consultations have now closed on the planning applications. A substantial period is expected before any response.
Harmony Energy Lingerfield BESS. Michael Taylor had just attended a pre-application public meeting in Scotton by Harmony Energy, supposedly to answer questions on their proposal for a huge BESS storage facility at Lingerfield, but none of the Harmony representatives there seemed to have the knowledge to respond to questions raised. The proposal would involve hundreds of huge vehicles travelling through Farnham throughout the day for a 20-month construction period. Harmony appears to have no proposal for how these vehicles will negotiate the three sharp blind bends in the village, beyond assuming traffic lights will be used. Application expected to be submitted in November or December.

Road Safety

Shaw Lane parking. A meeting had been held with an NYC manager to discuss action to stop vehicles blocking Shaw Lane. She later suggested trialling the use of white lines along most of the side of the road. A lengthy discussion ensued on the risk of displacing vehicles to other parts of the village if the lines were not shortened to include only the narrowest part. Greg Proctor agreed to follow this up with NYC.

Drainage & Public Transport

Drainage. Phil Roebuck reported no issues at present, though these tend to occur in the winter months.

Public transport. Nothing to report.

Church Matters

Church finances. Stacey Adams gave a presentation on the current state of church finances, which has caused the need to ask for gift aid donations or covenants from villagers. The building capital maintenance reserve of around £100,000 is already earmarked to cover identified works required over the next 4–5 years. In addition, there is a need to cover a projected £16,000 annual income deficit. She thanked those who had already made donations and asked everyone else to consider doing so, as the church is not just a historic religious building at the heart of the village but also its community hub. A suggestion was made that a measure of progress against target be circulated regularly to encourage contributions.

Church clock service. Claire Hall proposed that an annual service agreement be used for the church clock, as in Scotton. This would cost the Parish Meeting (which pays the clock maintenance) £316 per year plus the cost of some spare parts, compared with a recent average annual cost of £150 for ad-hoc servicing — though the present ad-hoc basis might not best preserve the working life of the clock. Agreed that when the clock is next serviced, the full cost of all work the engineer thought necessary be assessed and compared with the total cost under a service agreement.

Appendix — Church Funds: fuller detail ›

Current position

Financial summary. The church holds approximately £100,000 in cash reserves and requires £16,000–£17,000 per year to remain operational.
Reduction in regular giving. Over the past two years, regular giving has declined by around 80%, largely due to parishioners moving away or passing on.
Maintenance costs and future risks. The recent quinquennial inspection identified essential maintenance works required over the next three years. These are expected to significantly deplete the church’s reserves, leaving it financially vulnerable and potentially at risk of closure.
Loss of investment income. The Fabric Fund and cash reserves generated £3,200 in investment income last year. Depleting reserves would also lose this annual income.
Expenditure exceeding income. 2024 was the first year in which expenditure exceeded income — even without any major maintenance or construction costs.
Recent positive developments. Since letters were distributed to village households, there have been a number of encouraging responses and an increase in regular giving. A full update on donations will be circulated to the village by the end of the month.

Ways to help

Set up a regular donation. Complete the donation form circulated with the recent letter to establish a standing order or regular gift to the church.
Corporate donations. The church is a recognised UK charity, so UK-registered companies can donate and deduct the value from their taxable profits, reducing their Corporation Tax bill. Donations must be made to a UK-registered charity or Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) to qualify.
Join the 100 Club. The Benefice 100 Club is the local lottery supporting all five churches in the benefice.
Attend church events. Recent fundraising events have raised £2,500–£3,000 annually — a substantial increase on the previous average of £1,000 (2016–2021).
Join us for services. A small but welcoming congregation, with tea, cake and biscuits after every service. Even if you simply wish to drop in for a chat afterwards, everyone is warmly welcome.

Potential impact of church closure

Loss of a community hub. The church is the only public gathering space in the village — a vital centre for social interaction and community life.
Decline in worship attendance. A recent survey found nearly one-third of local worshippers would cease attending church altogether if the local church closed — particularly affecting older residents.
Erosion of heritage and identity. St Oswald’s is both an architectural and historical cornerstone of the village; its closure would represent a loss of shared heritage and identity for residents of all faiths and none.
Loneliness and isolation. The church provides an important social support network, particularly for older residents; loss could lead to greater isolation in the community.
Property and local environment. Church closures can indirectly affect property values and the appearance of the village, particularly if the building falls into disrepair.

Village Events

The Farnham carol service will be at 6 pm on 24 December. A full list of events will be circulated shortly.

Any Other Business

None.

The next Parish Meeting will be held in Spring, probably in April.

Parish Meeting Minutes

Wednesday 28 May 2025

Held at St Oswald’s Church, Farnham

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Apologies. Received from Ian Thornton and Stacey Adams.

Declarations of interest. None.

Minutes of 12 November 2024. Unanimously approved as a true record.

Matters arising. The Chair reported that the insurance contract had been renewed for one year, the quote being within the 10% previously approved.

Treasurer’s Report & Accounts

The Meeting followed the designated order of approval for governance and accounts matters.

1. Internal audit. Jonathan Wilkinson’s internal audit report — no matters of concern — was accepted. Proposed by Anne Wylie, seconded by Simon Theakston. Passed unanimously.
2. Governance & internal controls. Key risks, systems and contract procedures unchanged from the previous year. Revised wording of contract procedures and the annual governance statement formally approved. Proposed by Phil Roebuck, seconded by Richard Hall. Passed unanimously.
3. Accounting Statements 2024/25. The Treasurer outlined the reasons for any changes from the previous year. Proposed by Shirley Hooper, seconded by Anne Wylie. Passed unanimously.
4. External audit exemption. Not required — both income and expenditure below £25,000. The Chairman was authorised to sign the exemption form. Proposed by Sat Gidda, seconded by Simon Theakston. Passed unanimously.

Election of Officers & Internal Auditor

John Hooper would retire as Chair on 30 June (moving house). Anne Wylie was willing to take on the role from 1 July for a maximum of two years; no further nominations received. Proposed by Michael Taylor, seconded by Jonathan Wilkinson. Passed unanimously.

Karen Robinson stepped down as website maintainer for work reasons; the role remained vacant. The Chair confirmed the village website domain would be retained until someone was appointed to review the need for, or future format of, the website.

Pamela Taylor continued as Treasurer and Secretary. Proposed by Richard Hall and Sat Gidda. Passed unanimously. Signatories agreed as John Hooper, Anne Wylie, Pamela Taylor and Phil Roebuck. Proposed by Claire Hall, seconded by Simon Theakston. Passed unanimously.

Chairman (from 1 July): Anne Wylie
Treasurer & Secretary: Pamela Taylor
Water, drainage & public transport: Phil Roebuck
Planning: Michael Taylor
Road safety: Sam Green
Signatories: John Hooper · Anne Wylie · Pamela Taylor · Phil Roebuck
Internal auditor: Jonathan Wilkinson
Website maintenance: in abeyance

Remaining officer roles proposed by Claire Hall and seconded by Simon Theakston; all appointed unanimously.

Planning, Solar Farm & Battery Storage

Reported by Michael Taylor.

Village planning. Little to report; the declined planning application is still awaiting the appeal decision. The field for sale in the middle of the village has been offered with planning possibilities in the medium to long term.

Solar farm and battery storage projects. The main issues discussed were the proposed planning applications for two solar farms and two battery storage sites — intended to provide a total of 400 megawatts of electricity from 84 shipping containers of batteries. Richard Tallis and Steve McDonald from Scotton gave a presentation on the details and impact of these four potential projects.

They informed the Meeting that there is no direct connection between the ABEI proposal for battery storage and the proposed solar energy farm at Scotton. BESS installations are designed to stabilise the energy supply by storing power from the grid (not necessarily from green energy installations) at times when electricity is cheaper, and selling it back at periods of higher demand. Significantly, there was no mention of the solar energy farm proposal for Scotton in the information leaflet sent to the village by ABEI — though there may be confusion between the two projects by recipients of the leaflet. There appear to be no national guidelines or regulations governing the siting and operation of such installations.

Public safety concerns identified:

Battery storage sites have had serious fires and even explosions in the US and elsewhere, involving evacuation over a 5-mile radius (though technical development is said to have reduced risks since).
The proposed Lingerfield site is beside a road and very close to both a nursery and a school — a serious risk to children and traffic in the event of incident or leakage.
The proposed Farnham Parish site (ABEI, under pre-planning application public consultation) is beside the sailing lakes and a nature reserve — similar risks to wildlife (particularly birds) and to members of the sailing club.
The Farnham site is also at the end of a very narrow rural lane with poor access.

It was agreed that the Parish would raise objections to ABEI in the public consultation, with details put on the village email and WhatsApp groups so residents could make their own personal representations (not direct copies of the Meeting’s objection) before the consultation deadline of 13 June. The main scope for objections, however, will be later — when the planning application has been made and a public response can be made to the planning department of NYC.

Road Safety, Drainage & Public Transport

Nothing to report.

Defibrillator

Richard Hall made a detailed report on the process of deciding which type of defibrillator was needed for the telephone kiosk, how to acquire the box, and obtaining quotes for purchase, installation and future maintenance.

The Meeting authorised the Chair to sign the contract for acquisition of the kiosk and approved the purchase of a fully automatic defibrillator to be kept in an unlocked box.

Costs. £1,680 purchase, £295 installation, £80–£100 per year for batteries and parts.

Agreed: the Meeting would pay the costs initially and recover part from planned fundraising and private donations. A request for donations will go on the village email with bank account details. Claire Hall suggested the Church key holder be asked to check the phone box and defibrillator weekly.

Any Other Business

The new rector had started work. Six volunteers are helping with church matters in various roles; further offers of help would be appreciated.

Substantial tree maintenance had been carried out in the church graveyard by Bartletts at a cost of £1,056. After discussion the Meeting agreed to make a contribution of half this cost, subject to the Church Treasurer providing a copy of Bartletts’ invoice. A request for personal contributions will also be passed on via village email.

Parish Meeting Minutes

Tuesday 12 November 2024

Held at St Oswald’s Church, Farnham

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Apologies. Read out by the Chairman.

Declarations of interest. None.

Minutes of 23 April 2024. Unanimously approved as a true record.

Matters arising. All covered in agenda items below.

Treasury Matters

1. Parish Precept for 2025/26. The Treasurer recommended the precept remain at £1,870 for 2025/26 as no substantial changes in costs were anticipated. Proposed by Phil Roebuck, seconded by Anne Wylie. Passed unanimously.
2. Renewal of contracts.
- Grass cutting. The quote received from Farm & Land last year (£56 + VAT per cut) covered a 2-year period. Farm & Land had agreed to change the strimming method to make it neater. The church grass is to be cut shorter again after a trial of letting it grow longer.
- Insurance. Zurich’s contract renews in April; no quote yet received. As last year, the Meeting authorised acceptance of any quote within 10% of the present rate.

Planning Matters

Michael Taylor reported that there had been no new planning applications and summarised the outcome of prior applications.

Richard Hall noted that a planning application had been made for the trimming of churchyard trees.

Road Safety

The Meeting noted that the 30 mph sign on the Ferensby Road had eventually been moved further up the hill. Helen Frankland said the 30 mph sign at the Stang Lane entrance to the village also needed moving back, but it was explained that this had been requested numerous times and always refused by the council. Flashing 30 mph signs were also discussed again.

Drainage

Phil Roebuck reported he was still trying to get a response to his representations on the overflow problems from the top end of the village. Andy Day mentioned that Yorkshire Water had put a new sewer level monitor in his garden.

Public Transport

Nothing to report.

Church Matters

Shirley Hooper reported that they were in discussion with a potential replacement vicar.

She also thanked Kate Robinson for her work for the church over the past four years. The Chairman endorsed those thanks and said that the Meeting recognised Kate’s work both for the church and in organising village social events, from which she is now stepping down. Future social events will be led by individual members of the events working group.

Village Events

Kate summarised recent village events and the proceeds from fundraising, and informed the Meeting that in future separate people would each be responsible for organising one event each in the village, to spread the workload involved.

Any Other Business

1. Rock Cottage commuted sums. The Treasurer reported the receipt of approximately £7,000 of commuted sums in respect of the Rock Cottage development, allocated to the Parish and to be spent by 2032 on the SINC site and Farnham Lane verges. As these verges are quite narrow, suitable projects may be difficult to find. Benches opposite the SINC site, and machinery or other contributions to the charity maintaining the SINC site, were possibilities discussed. Michael Taylor said he would review the options and report back.
2. Meeting times. Helen Frankland suggested changing Parish Meeting times to daylight hours to make it easier for older residents to attend. The Chairman thought this a good idea and suggested trialling a Saturday morning meeting to see if attendance improved.
3. New chairman needed. The Chairman told the Meeting he would move early next year, so the Spring Meeting would need to appoint a new Chairman. He asked anyone willing to accept the post, or to propose someone else, to contact him.

The next Parish Meeting will be held in Spring, probably in April.

Annual Accounts

Annual financial statements and audit reports for the parish are published below. Earlier years are available on request from the Parish Clerk via the contact form.

2025 / 26 Annual Accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2026

Subject to formal approval by resolution of the Parish Meeting.

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Opening balance

£7,564

at 1 April 2025

Closing balance

£6,238

at 31 March 2026

Receipts

Annual precept: £1,870
Grass cutting grant (NYC): £94
Interest: £14
Defibrillator contributions: £1,317
Total receipts: £3,295

Payments

Insurance: £494
Grass cutting: £1,436
YLCA subscription: £75
INCA website: £84
Church clock service: £588
Graveyard and tree work: £528
Defibrillator (cost & wiring): £1,415
Phone box: £1
Total payments: £4,621

Bank position at 31 March 2026

Bank current account: £5,076
National Savings account: £1,162
Total balances and reserves: £6,238

Notes on the accounts

Grass cutting. Payments during the year included Church grass cutting invoices for 2024/25 of £396 received in the current year, and Church and village grass cutting costs of £637 and £403 respectively for 2025/26.

Defibrillator. Parish residents contributed £1,317 towards the £1,415 cost of buying and fitting a defibrillator in the village phone box.

Church grounds. In addition to the Church clock service of £588 during the year, the Parish Meeting contributed £528 to Church graveyard and tree work.

Reserves. Reserves are maintained for future clock services, potential increases in grass cutting cost, costs that may arise in advance of related grants, bills paid after the year-end, contributions towards the defibrillator, and a reserve for traffic-calming measures that may be adopted in future.

Next year’s precept. At its last meeting the Parish approved a request for a precept of £2,050 for 2026/27.