Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 16th May 2013
in the Village Hall.
Cllr F. Winup (Chairman)
A. Bishop
J. Halliday
B. Harvey
G. Ruggles
D. Ryall (Clerk)
Unitary Cllr. Mrs J. Scott
6 Parishioners
1. Apologies for absence –
Apologies for absence was received from Cllr J Mackelden & Cllr L. Weir
2. Election of Chairman & Vice- Chairman –
Chairman: Cllr. F. Winup – Proposed by: Cllr. A. Bishop
Seconded by: Cllr. Mrs J Halliday
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 2013-14.
3. Acceptance of Office–
Cllrs Bishop and Winup duly signed Acceptance of Office documents.
The other Councillors present also signed Acceptance of Office documents as required after the recent elections.
4. Declarations of interest –
Cllr Harvey declared an interest in item 9, planning application for the Cottage, UCC
5. Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd March 2013
The minutes were unanimously accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
6. Matters Arising –
A. Area Board Meeting
The attendance at future meetings was agreed as
July 1st Cllr Bishop and the Clerk
Sept 2nd Cllr Ruggles
Nov 4th Cllr Halliday
B. Traffic Calming and Speed Checks
As the 30mph speed limit has been implemented on the B4039 it was agreed to delete this item from the agenda.
C. Parking Review
Cllr Winup said there had only been one booking in the past four weeks.
D. Neighbourhood policing.
The Chairman said he thought the proposal to hold a neighbourhood police meeting every 3 months for the local councils was a good idea. He would attend the September meeting but asked the Clerk to inform them that the 2nd Sept clashed with the Area Board meeting.
E. Footpath/Pavement – Whitegates
The Chairman said Wiltshire Council is costing a cheaper alternative which follows the road and cuts onto the field behind to miss the telegraph pole. This would mean negotiating with Mr Lysley to cross his land.
F. TV Association
The Clerk said that he had included the assets of the TV Association into the combined Parish Council accounts as from the end of the 2012-13 financial year.
G Village Flooding
Mr Roberts said the flood working party is waiting for a problem identification report and the grade level for the recent flooding from the Environmental Agency. He said Wiltshire Council is also assessing the cost of installing a culvert alongside the bridge at Brook House. A request has also been made to Wilts Council to provide sandbag training and how & where to build flood barriers.
Cllr Winup said he had attended the Operational Flood Working Group meeting yesterday and found it to be well run and knowledgeable. A sandbag training programme was to take place but he was concerned about the number of bags needed (80 bags required for one metre of wall) The alternative reusable ‘Aqua dam’ appeared to be a better solution as these were 30metres long and easy to store but £2700 each.. He said the meeting Chairman, Cllr Seed, was supportive of this approach and indicated that grants might be available from the Area Board..
Cllr Winup said the river modelling report might be available earlier than previously thought and that the records listed previous flooding in 1925, 1960 and 1968 with few houses affected.
H. CC Circuit Solar Farm
The Clerk reported he had received no further information.
I. WALC – memory stick for Cllr’s pack.
The Chairman said this was unnecessary as the Cllr’s Tool Kit on the Internet was very good
7. Finance –
Income £
Precept – full year 4500.00
HMRC VAT repayment 277.11
Expenditure
The Councillors checked and approved the following invoices:
Cllr Winup- newsletter printing 29.70
D. Ryall – petty cash 40.00
Southern electric – quarterly bill 127.39
Cllr Winup – purchase mower 350.00
Flourish & Bloom – maintenance 32.00
7A. 2011-12 Year End
The Chairman said that the Council had increased the precept by £250 for 2013/14. However expenditure continued to significantly exceed income. The Clerk will be arranging meeting in late June (June 27th) to discuss the budget in detail and approve the 2012-13 accounts.
7B. Internal Auditor
The Chairman reported that Mrs. Hermina. Fleming had again agreed to act as the Council’s internal auditor for the 2012-13 accounts.
8. Correspondence –
A. Zurich Municipal – Insurance Renewal (£1008.24) – The Clerk said this now includes the insurance of the sports pavilion giving a total saving of over £1000 per annum..
B. WALC – membership renewal
The meeting agreed to renew membership but asked the Clerk to ask WALC for a summary of the advantages of being a member.
C. Southern Electric – quarterly bill (£127.39). The Clerk said the annual electricity bill was slightly less than the previous year which was good considering the severe winter.
D.Wiltshire Council – Street scene workshop on 5th June at 6pm at Monkton Park.
The Chairman and Clerk agreed to attend.
9. Planning applications –
P.C. Approved:
54 Whitegates – erect garage & workshop
Land adjacent School Lane – tree surgery
P.C. – Under Consideration:
Court Cottage – change of use ground floor
The Cottage – single storey extension and 2 storey infill. (Site meeting to be arranged)
P.C. – Rejected: Nil
Unitary Council – Granted:
Combe House – tree surgery
April Cottage – fell ash
Old Rectory Cottage – pollard willow
Upper Combe lodge – tree surgery
Land adjacent B4039 – vehicular access
Unitary Council Rejected – Nil
Outstanding
CC Circuit – allow 10 additional days
10. UnitaryCouncillor
The Chairman congratulated Cllr Scott on being re elected as Leader of Wiltshire Unitary Council for the next 4 years. Cllr Scott thanked the Chairman and said she looked forward to working with the Parish Council during that time. She said the Unitary Council had to find savings of £27M this year and a further 37% over the next 3 years. She recognised that the state of the roads was a major concern and was looking at the best ways of fixing the problem.
11. Playing field and C.C. Circuit Reports
The Clerk said this had been covered in Cllr. Mackelden’s report to the Parishioners’ meeting.
The Chairman said there the improvements to traffic management at the Japfest had worked well and he would feed back to the next Japfest meeting the problems which had occurred.
12. Play Area Report.
Cllr Harvey said a significant amount of wood chip was required to replenish the surface of the lower play area and he was looking for a supplier who would supply in bulk.
The Chairman said the small tear in the Whitegates play surface had still not been repaired and that he intended to contact the supplier, Lee Cross, and point out that they are liable under their 5 year guarantee and on health & safety grounds as per the ROSPA report.
13. Highways Report.
Cllr Bishop said he and the Clerk had met Richard Dobson, Wiltshire Council, and discussed the items outstanding on the list sent to ‘Highways and Street scene’. The Clerk toured the Parish with Mr Dobson and showed him all of the areas of concern. These were:
Grass cutting urgently required throughout the village.
Foot paths at Whitegates need cleaning as they are a H& S hazard
Gutter need sweeping and grass removing particularly in the lower village and on the hill.
Drains need clearing on the hill.
Fencing to be erected at Whitegates to prevent cars etc driving on the play areas
Bad pot holes in the road near the Lady well.
,, ,, outside Palm cottage
Badly eroded road surface on the B4039 near Upper Combe Farm and near Gib cottages
Sign post on the B 4039 in Upper Combe missing letters to be replaced.
Vandalised sign post to be replaced with a wooden one dependent upon cost.
Rubbish bin at the lay by on the Ford road to be replaced.
White diagonal lines on the B4039 bend need replacing
Illegal sign, Wiltshire Wood Recycling, to be removed.
Damaged grit bin on Dunns lane to be replaced
14. The Village Environment Report
Cllr Ruggles said the village was remarkably litter free at present. He expressed concern about the footpath across the golf course which was in poor condition. The Chairman said he would discuss with the golf course management. Cllr Ruggles was asked to obtain a quotation for repairing the Butter Cross stone work
The Clerk said Wiltshire Council planning was considering the shed with the shiny roof erected at the Gables.
The date for the village tidy was agreed as the weekend of 1st & 2nd June. Cllr Bishop said he would include it in the newsletter.
15, Whitegates
Cllr Weir was unfortunately unable to attend due to his wife’s illness.
16. Village Hall
The Chairman said double glazing has now been installed in the kitchen at a slightly higher price than quoted and he was now applying for the grant from Wilts Council.
He reported the locks on the outside doors had both been damaged and that he had managed to repair the one on the main door. The other was superfluous.
17. Standing Orders
The Clerk reported that there were no changes required and they were unanimously approved as written.
19. Date of next meeting –
This was confirmed as Thursday 18th July 2013 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.