Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 15th May 2014
in the Village Hall.
Cllr F. Winup (Chairman)
A. Bishop
J. Halliday
B. Harvey
J. Mackelden
J. Prior
G. Ruggles
D. Ryall (Clerk)
Unitary Cllr. Mrs J. Scott
4 Parishioners
1. Apologies for absence –
There were no apologies for absence
2. Election of Chairman & Vice- Chairman –
Chairman: Cllr. F. Winup – Proposed by: Cllr. A. Bishop.
Seconded by: Cllr. G. Ruggles.
Vice-Chairman: Cllr. A. Bishop – Proposed by: Cllr. Mrs J. Halliday.
Seconded by: Cllr. Mr. F.Winup.
There were no other nominations and Cllr’s Winup & Bishop were unanimously elected to serve as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for 2014-15.
3. Acceptance of Office–
Cllrs Bishop and Winup duly signed Acceptance of Office documents.
4. Declarations of interest –
There were no declarations of interest.
5. Minutes of the meeting held on 20th May 2013.
The minutes were unanimously accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
6. Matters Arising –
A. Area Board Meeting
Cllr Ruggles reported that there was nothing discussed at the meeting on 28th April affecting the village and the highways representative did not appear to be present before the meeting.
The attendance at future meetings was agreed as
June 30th 6.30 p.m. Kington Langley VH – Cllr. F. Winup
Sept 8th ,, Abbeyfield School – Cllr J. Prior.
Nov 10th ,, Neeld Hall – Cllr Mrs.J. Halliday
B. Parking Review.
Cllr Winup said the village was now being patrolled on Fridays and a number of cars had been ticketed due to double line parking and out of date tax discs. He said that Mr. Bollen, Wilts Council, was investigating what action can be taken to remove A boards and cones. Cllr Scott said she had asked Mr Rose, Wilts Council, to determine what can be done to prevent tour coaches entering the lower village. Cllr. Harvey asked if the Parish Council could appoint their own traffic warden as parking offences were now decriminalised. The Chairman said that this had been considered previously and not appeared to be possible. Cllr Scott said she would check this again.
C. Neighbourhood policing.
The Chairman said he had progressed the police for the date of the next meeting and for a start date for placing warning notices on cars bur received no reply. He said there had been some evidence of radar checks being carried out.
D. Footpath/Pavement – Whitegates
The Chairman said that he had informed Wiltshire Council that the footpaths from School Lane to Whitegates and the Lower Village appear to be on land owned by the golf course and therefore their responsibility for maintenance. He said he would ask Wiltshire Council to arrange a meeting with the golf course management.
E. Village Flooding
Cllr Winup reported that the river modelling report should be available shortly. He said Wessex Water had checked the sewage pipes around the village and cleared out a large fat blockage and numerous tree roots. They intend to check and clear the whole system down to the sewerage plant. Cllr Scott said the water companies are under pressure at Government Minister level as this had occurred in many villages.
F. Street scene and Highways
The Clerk reported that some progress had been made around the village but there were still items that had been outstanding for over a year. He said he regularly circulated the outstanding work list and asked the Council to inform him of any new problems. The Chairman said he had submitted a design for the vandalised finger post to Wilts Council for approval.
G. Defibrillator and first Aid Training.
Cllr. Winup said that the majority at the Parishioners’ meeting supported the acquisition of three defibrillators for the lower & upper village and Whitegates. The meeting agreed to proceed and see if grants are available, raise money in the community and use some of the Council’s contingency fund. Cllr. Mackelden suggested that the proceeds from the next car boot sale could be allocated to this project. This was agreed by the meeting subject to agreement by the village organisers nearer the event.
Cllr Winup said that at the defibrillator meeting he had been offered first aid training. free of charge which the meeting agreed he should arrange.
H .Best Kept Village Competition
The Chairman confirmed that the village would take part this year and the meeting agreed that the village tidy would take place on 31st May.
I. Revised Bus Timetable
Cllr Bishop said that although the Corsham bus had been stopped the Chippenham one now went via Morrisons which although taking longer was very useful.
7. Finance –
Income £
Precept – full year 4588.61
Precept grant 161.09
HMRC VAT repayment 503.97
Congregational Church car park rent 5.00
Expenditure
The Councillors checked and approved the following invoices:
None domestic rates – village hall 00.00
Cllr Winup – newsletter printing 29.70
D. Ryall – petty cash 40.00
Cllr Winup – Chairman’s expenses 125.00
Southern Electric – quarterly bill 118.29
Zurich Municipal – insurance 974.27
Cllr Winup – newsletter printing 27.00
7A. 2013-14 Year End & draft Budget 2014-15
The Clerk said expenditure for the past year was £7397 against a budget of £7413 and that income was in excess of the budgeted £5105 due to donations from film companies of £4600. He said a meeting would be arranged for mid June to discuss the budget in detail and approve the 2013-14 accounts.
7B. Internal Auditor
The Chairman reported that Mrs. Hermina. Fleming had again agreed to act as the Council’s internal auditor for the 2013-14 accounts.
8. Correspondence –
A. Zurich – insurance renewal
The Clerk said he had negotiated a £40 reduction off the original quote
B. WALC – Membership renewal.
The meeting agreed unanimously to renew membership
C. Southern Electric – Village Hall quarterly bill.
The Clerk confirmed this had been paid.
D. Wilts Council – Chippenham area resilience exercise.
The Chairman said that he thought the Village emergency plan had worked well in the simulation exercise and during the flooding. He therefore saw no reason for attending this exercise, the meeting agreed.
E. Wilts Council – Highways workshop 19.05.14
Cllrs. J. Halliday and A Bishop agreed to attend.
F.Wilts Council – Application to divert footpath No. 7 at Long Dean.
Cllr Bishop said this was an improvement and was the route used by most people. The Council had no objections.
G. NSPCC- Request for a donation.
The Clerk said the Council had never previously donated to this organisation. The meeting agreed to donate £20.
H. RUH – Caring for you Event @ RUH on 20.05.14
The Clerk was asked to circulate the information.
9. Planning applications –
P.C. Approved:
The Old Smithy – rear extension.
61 Whitegates – single storey side extension.
P.C. – Under Consideration:
Colham Mill – extensive tree surgery
Upper Come Farm – Agricultural building –slurry separator.
P.C. – Rejected: Nil
Unitary Council – Granted:
The Old Smithy – rear extension.
The Cottage UCC – fell Ash tree.
Unitary Council Rejected – Nil
10. UnitaryCouncillor
Cllr Scott said the Unitary Council faced considerable challenges in the next year with increased demand for services, less government money and the impact of the bad weather. She said that £52 M would be spent on highway maintenance over the next six years targeted at the major & minor roads in the worst condition with priorities set by each community area. Flooding had been a major priority and the Councils flood alleviation strategy had worked well.
She said the problem with Circuit Motors who now operated three businesses on Council land was continuing to be investigated with a decision on the best course of action to be taken at the end of June. Cllr Winup said a waiting time restriction on the lay-by would be a good first step.
11. Playing field and C.C. Circuit Reports
Cllr Mackelden said The Colts were concerned with dog walkers allowing dogs to foul the pitches causing hygiene issues and damaging the hedges to gain entry. He noted Mr. Dowell’s comments and would check the access for villagers with the lease.
He said the tournament this year is June 27th – 29th
Cllr Mackelden said the Circuit liaison meetings had lapsed and promises to reschedule them had not been met. He said at a recent club meeting there had been excessive noise from cars, loud music and other anti social behaviour. The circuit phones were unanswered and parishioners then contacted the Wilts Council environmental health officer. A subsequent e mail to the circuit requesting comments on the issues remains unanswered and it would appear that the circuit is distancing itself from the community.
12. Play Area Report.
The Chairman said he had now received three quotations for replacing the lower play area equipment. These are
Bigwood – £11690 – 10 year guarantee.
Playscale – £17568 – 15 ,, ,,
Outdoor play – £11051 – 10 ,, ,,
The meeting unanimously agreed to accept the Outdoor play quotation of £11051
13. Highways Report.
Cllr Bishop said there was nothing additional to report.
14. The Village Environment Report
Cllr Ruggles said he had not been able to remove the ivy on the bus shelter at the top of the hill and a regular application of a strong weed killer was suggested. The Chairman said it was appropriate to get quotations for the work being carried out by Flourish & Bloom and asked Cllr Ruggles if he would get alternatives with the man being used by Yatton Keynell as one possibility. Cllr Ruggles agreed and asked the Clerk to provide him with the existing prices etc. He said he had replanted the two troughs and was concerned about dogs being exercised in School lane and the church yard. The Chairman asked Cllr Bishop for a note about this to be put in the village newsletter.
15, Whitegates
The Chairman asked Cllr Prior if he would please take over the responsibility for Whitegates and that area of Upper Combe. Cllr Prior agreed.
16. Village Hall
The Chairman proposed that Wiltshire Recycling be asked for a quotation to produce containers, similar to the compost ones, for storing the flood prevention sand bags. The meeting agreed unanimously.
17. TV Committee
Cllr Winup said there was nothing to report in addition to the report to the Parishioners meeting.
18. Review of Standing Orders and Financial regulations
The Chairman said that he and the Clerk had reviewed the standing orders and altered them as appropriate in line with the NALC recommendations. The draft had been issued to the Council for consideration. There were no comments and they were unanimously approved by the Council.
19. Date of next meeting –
This was confirmed as Thursday 24th July 2014 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.