Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 17th May 2012
in the Village Hall.
Cllr F. Winup (Chairman)
A. Bishop
J. Halliday
J. Mackelden
G. Ruggles
D. Ryall (Clerk)
Unitary Cllr. Mrs J. Scott
8 Parishioners
WPC. Claire. Hannan, WPC. Elizabeth Holland (part time)
1. Apologies for absence –
Apology for absence was received from Cllr B.Harvey
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. F. Winup
Seconded by: Cllr. Mrs. J. Halliday.
There were no other nominations and Cllr’s Winup & Bishop were unanimously elected to serve as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for 2012-13.
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 15th March 2012
The minutes were unanimously accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
6. Matters Arising –
A. Area Committee Meeting
The Chairman said that no one attended as there was nothing affecting the Parish on the agenda. He and Cllr Ruggles will attend the Parish Forum meeting at 7.30pm in Biddestone Village Hall on 23rd May.
B. Traffic Calming and Speed Checks
Cllr Winup said the Council and many local residents had objected to the elimination of the 40mph speed limit which is removed when the 30mph limit is introduced. The proposal brings the 50mph limit closer to the bad bend on the B4039 in Upper Combe by removing the existing 40mph sign and replacing it with a 30 mph sign some 80 metres closer to the bend. The Council considers this extremely dangerous as the traffic has a smaller slow down area and requests a buffer 40mph zone is created by retaining the 40mph sign in its present position. Cllr.Scott asked for a plan of the Council’s request.
C. Parking Review
Cllr Winup said the number of bookings had been minimal over the past two months and Cllr Scott said she would ask for more warden visits in the evening and the weekend.
D. Neighbourhood policing.
The meeting was attended by WPC’s Hannan and Holland who said there was little to report other than cannabis being grown in the upper village.
G. Waste Collection
The Chairman said the Council had agreed to review the position after two months and to date had not received any adverse comments. Cllr Bishop said it was totally unacceptable that Wiltshire Council should stop issuing recycling sacks to households where bins are impractical. Cllr Scott said she had heard about this and would get it reversed.
H. Village Electricity Supply
The Clerk said he had again contacted Southern Electric Engineering after the recent spate of three failures and consequent holes in the road. He was told that these were due to the two dry years and the recent spell of dry weather. The cable joints are susceptible to movement in extreme weather conditions. The Castle Combe supply had been good until recently and a complete replacement of the system would require a further six failures in the next 12 months. This would totally disrupt the village for a period of time.
I. Queen’s Jubilee Events
The meeting agreed to donate £300 to the Whitegate’s event and £100 towards the Social Club’s event in the lower village.
K. Localism Act
This is retained on the agenda waiting for clarification by Wiltshire Council of the likely implications
6A.) Best Kept Village Competition.
The Chairman said that before fixing a date for the ‘village tidy’ he asked each Councillor to tell him the area of the village for which they wished to be responsible for tidying. He said he would also contact Flourish & Bloom and ask them to assist and what date they thought best.
6B.) Highways & Street Scene meeting, 26.03.12
This was attended by Cllr Bishop and the Clerk. They both thought it was a vey disappointing meeting and not very well run. The presentation vu graphs have been circulated showing the team responsible for Castle Combe and the neighbouring villages. To date there has been no success in contacting the team leader by phone or e mail. Cllr Scott said the best course of action was to contact Bill Parkes who is the manager of the local teams.
7. Finance –
Income £
Precept – full year 4250.00
HMRC VAT repayment 762.35
Expenditure
The Councillors checked and approved the following invoices:
Cllr Winup- Chairman’s expenses 125.00
Flourish & Bloom – maintenance 32.00
D. Ryall – petty cash 30.00
Cllr Halliday – plants 8.00
Village Hall – room hire 60.00
Marie Curie – donation 20.00
Dorothy House – donation 50.00
St John’s Ambulance – donation 20.00
Cllr Winup – newsletter printing 28.00
M.Turner – sign painting 60.00
Cllr Halliday – weed killer & spray 18.97
7A 2011-12 Year End
The Chairman said that the Council had not increased the precept due to the film donations previously received. However expenditure had exceeded the budget and income by £697 and £1043 respectively and the gap is likely to widen this year which could result in the precept being raised in the years ahead. The Clerk will be arranging a meeting in late June to discuss the budget in detail and approve the 2011-12 accounts.
7B Internal Auditor
The Chairman reported that Mrs. Hermina. Fleming had again agreed to act as the Council’s internal auditor for the 2011-12 accounts.
8. Correspondence –
A. AON – Insurance Renewal (£1613.15) – The Clerk said he had obtained quotations from other insurance companies. The best was the Zurich offering the same terms with a 3 year long term agreement cost of £887 per annum. The meeting agreed unanimously agreed to accept this quotation. The Chairman thanked the Clerk for his efforts in achieving this substantial saving.
B. WALC – membership renewal
The meeting agreed to renew membership
C. Southern Electric – quarterly bill – the meeting noted the significant reduction in cost over previous years following the investment in double glazing and roof insulation.
D. Carer Support Wiltshire – request for a donation – the meeting agreed to donate £20
9. Planning applications –
P.C. Approved:
Gable Cottage UCC – alterations to outbuilding
Nettleton Mill – revised position of garage etc.
P.C. – Under Consideration:
Nil
P.C. – Rejected:
Nil
NWDC – Granted:
The Old Post Office – new door
Meadowside –UCC – fell 9 leylandii
N.W.D.C. Rejected
Nil
Outstanding
No 1 Whitegates – extension
CC Circuit – allow 10 additional days
10. UnitaryCouncillor
Cllr Scott said the Unitary Council was still under extreme financial pressure from the Government but just managing to cope. The Queens Jubilee and the Olympic Torch route were requiring a considerable security presence with the Queen’s visit to Salisbury being very successful but tough work. She thought it disappointing that Wiltshire people were not carrying the torch right through the County however a number of celebrities were with David Hemery and Jensen Button.
11. Playing field and C.C. Circuit Reports
Cllr. Mackelden said with regard to the playing field he had covered most things in his report to the Parishioners’ meeting. However at the Colts AGM the maintenance of the fences and hedges was discussed. He said he had told them that the responsibility lay with the Colts and not the Council and that the proposals should be submitted to the Council who might consider a donation. The Chairman indicated that in practice the Unitary Council Area Board would seem to be an ideal body for the Colts to approach in due course since funding was available for organisations such as this.
Cllr Mackelden said the JAPFEST had again been chaotic with roads in the area grid locked for most of the morning and the usual irresponsible driving. At the request of the Chairman he has compiled a list of the complaints received which will be presented at the follow up meeting being organised by Wiltshire Council. Cllr Scott said Wiltshire Council would recommend to the organisers that they obtain advice from the Badminton Horse trial organisers whose event is much larger and causes far fewer problems.
12. Play Area Report.
Cllr Halliday reported that she had received a quotation of £195 +VAT for repairing the slide in the lower village play area. She explained that the slide needed dismantling to enable the faulty piece to be replaced with new wood. The meeting agreed that this should be progressed. At the previous meeting Mr. Middleton had indicated he would be no longer able to mow the play area because of work commitments. The Chairman said he would check if this was still the case and if so he would ask Mr. Meakin if he would be happy to take over. Fortunately the mower has not needed to be replaced as was thought likely.
Highways
Cllr Bishop reported that the entrance to White gates had again been resurfaced as have all of the roads on the estate. It was reported that this appears to have been done to a poor standard as the surface is already breaking up in places.
Cllr Halliday said a very large pothole had appeared in the road near the Lady well. Cllr Bishop was asked to speak to Highways about this.
14. Village Environment
Cllr. Ruggles said he had received estimates for repairing the stone walls at the pound and the pump of £180 and £300 respectively. The meeting agreed that this work should proceed. The trough in the car park has also been damaged by frost and the Clerk was asked to contact the suppliers, Farmington Quarries, and obtain advice.
Cllr Halliday said the fridge dumped near Shrub Farm had not been removed.
15. Whitegates
The Chairman said the footpaths have been swept as requested.
16. Village Hall – to review minutes etc.
Cllr Winup said he had nothing to add to the report given to the Parishioners’ Meeting.
17. Standing Orders
Thee Chairman said there were no changes and the Council unanimously accepted the standing orders as written.
18. Council Vacancy.
The Clerk said there had been no nominations and therefore the Council could co opt.
Cllr Winup said it would be preferable for a Whitegates resident could be co opted. The meeting agreed to consider possible interested people on the estate.
19. Date of next meeting –
This was confirmed as Thursday 19th July 2012 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.