Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 21.03.13
in the Village Hall, Castle Combe
Cllr’s: F. Winup (Chairman)
A. Bishop (Vice Chairman)
Mrs J. Halliday
J. Mackelden
G. Ruggles
D. Ryall (Clerk)
Unitary Cllr Mrs J. Scott
The meeting was preceded by a short presentation given by Jenny Plummer about the ‘Wiltshire Good Neighbours’ organisation and her role as the area coordinator.
1. Apologies for absence:
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs. B. Harvey and L. Weir.
2. Declarations of interest:
There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 17.01.13
These were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
4. Matters Arising:
A. Area Board Meeting
The Chairman said that he and Cllr Bishop had attended the meeting on 4th March at which there was a very interesting presentation about drug awareness which inferred that drug usage was beginning to decline. He proposed that an attendance rota be arranged for the meetings on 1st July, 2nd September & 4th November in order to spread the involvement around the Council. He asked for Councillors to consider the dates and inform the Clerk which they can attend. Cllr Halliday said she would attend the November 4th meeting
B. Traffic Calming and Speed Checks
The Chairman said the 30mph limit on the B4039 had now been installed with signs and road markings.
C. Parking Review
The Chairman said that the traffic wardens were continuing to visit and that he has now asked the police to put stickers on cars parked obstructing the highway on double yellow lines. Cllr Bishop said the workman’s vans outside the Courthouse were causing a hazard by parking next to the scaffolding. The Clerk was asked to discuss the problem with Highways and find out if additional warning signs should be displayed.
D. Neighbourhood Policing
The Clerk said the police report had been circulated and the replacement of the vandalised signs discussed with Wiltshire Highways. The problem with the sign at the top of the hill was replacing the letters as one of the ‘fingers’ to Ford had disappeared. If these could not be obtained Cllr Bishop said a wooden replacement with carved letters was obtainable at a cost from Wiltshire Council. The Clerk was asked to discuss this and the other 4 damaged signs with Kristian Price.
E. Footpath/pavement – B4039 Whitegates to car park
The Chairman said that Wiltshire Council had held a preliminary site meeting and not invited the Parish Council. The proposal did not appear feasible as the cost of the path would be approximately £30K. Cllr Bishop agreed to discuss with Mr Lysley the alternative idea of a footpath across his land.
F. TV Committee.
The Chairman said it was planned to discuss with BT the possibility of bringing Super Fast Broadband into the village which would provide an alternative to the existing TV system. The Clerk reported the Mr Boucher and Mr Knights were now entered on the Wiltshire Council Register of Interests and therefore able to vote at committee meetings.
G. Village Flooding
Cllr Bishop said the report from the consultants was an expensive statement of what was already known. The Chairman reported that the Environmental Agency were planning to install a small device near the bridge which will provide information of the river level over a period of time and how it is influenced by occurrences elsewhere. Cllr Scott said the responsibility for identifying and proposing a solution lay with the Agency who will be reporting shortly after Easter. Unfortunately there was little money available for Wiltshire as the problems in Somerset & Gloucs are much greater.
H. Town & Parish Involvement evening 31.01.13
This was attended by Cllrs Jane. Halliday and Les. Weir who were both very disappointed with the way in which the meeting was run as on occasions it was out of control and therefore did not cover the subject matter adequately. Cllr Scott said she would discuss this with the Chairman of the meeting. The notes from the meeting will be circulated to the Council
5. Finance- £
Income
CC Colts – rent & insurance 105.47
Expenditure
The Councillors checked and reviewed and approved the following invoices:
B. Senneck – tree surgery 40.00
Cllr Winup – Xmas lights 30.00
Southern Electric – quarterly bill 75.94
Cllr Winup – newsletter printing 17.80
CPL Petroleum- heating oil 450.08
CC Village Hall – room hire 60.00
Edenvale Young Associates – flooding report 477.00
Douglas Tonks – Payroll costs & Clerks salary 421.48
BWBSL – half year water charges 78.04
Mrs Le Coz – plants War Memorial 20.56
F. Winup – Chairman’s expenses 125.00
5A Clerks Salary & Chairman’s Expenses
It was agreed that these would remain unchanged for the next financial year.
6. Correspondence.
A. Best Kept Village Competition
The meeting agreed that the village would not enter this year but a village tidy would still be organised and discussed at the Annual Parishioners Meeting.
B .CC Circuit – Solar Farm
The meeting noted the proposed solar farm and would review it in more depth when the planning application was submitted. It was agreed to discuss the allocation of the next October’s car boot proceeds at the Annual Parishioners Meeting.
C. Marie Curie – Badminton Walk
The meeting agreed to place an article in the village newsletter and posters in the notice boards
D. WALC – Cllrs Pack – memory stick
The meeting asked the Clerk to find out if this information is available on line.
7. Planning applications
P.C. Approved:
Combe House – tree surgery
April Cottage – fell Ash tree
Old Rectory Cottage – pollard Willow tree
Upper Come Lodge – tree surgery 13 Sycamores & 1 Ash
CC Circuit – install new vehicular access off B4039 for JAPFEST parking
P.C. Under Consideration: Nil
P.C. Rejected: Nil
Unitary Council Granted:
Combe House – tree surgery
April Cottage – fell Ash
Old Rectory Cottage – pollard Willow tree
Upper Combe Lodge – tree surgery 13 Sycamore & 1 Ash
Wilts Council Rejected: Nil
8. Unitary Councillor
Cllr Scott said she had discussed the problems of the Wilts Flood Working Group with its Chairman Cllr Seed.
9. Playing Field & CC Circuit
Cllr Mackelden reported that CC Colts intended to repair the playing field fence/ hedge alongside the B4039 and that they were fund raising to obtain a heart defibulator. Cllr Winup said that donations were available from the British Heart Foundation.
Cllr Mackelden said there had not been a Circuit meeting recently but the forth coming JAPFAST was the main concern. The Chairman said the new entrance & parking proposals looked better and he thought would work well with the Police being much more involved than previously.
10. Play Areas
The Chairman said the slit in the surface of the upper area had not been repaired and he would again progress the original contractors. It has been reported that a lot of moss and leaves had accumulated in the upper play area making the surface slippery. The Chairman said he would speak to Cllr Weir about a possible working party from Whitegates to clean the area.
The Chairman said the proposed fence at Whitegates to divide the bus turning circle from the play area has not been installed. Cllr Scott offered to follow this up.
11. Highways.
The meeting agreed that most of the roads in the Parish were badly pot holed. It was recommended by Cllr Scott that a list is made of the bad holes and sent to Highways. The Chairman asked the Councillors to send the holes’ road location to the Clerk who would collate the information and pass it to Wiltshire Highways.
12, Village Environment
The Clerk reported that all of the identified fly tipping had been removed which was confirmed by Cllr Ruggles. The Chairman said the problem of land encroachment by Circuit Motors was now being handled by Paul Harris, Wiltshire Highways. Cllr Scott offered her support and will speak to Mr Harris.
The Clerk confirmed he had contacted all of the landowners on the Hill and asked them to check their trees for dangerous branches.
The Clerk was asked to speak to Wiltshire Planning about the acceptability or otherwise of the shed with the silver roof recently erected at the Gables, Upper Castle Combe
Cllr Bishop said the entrance to the estate yard was a mess and the old gate should be removed and the bushes cut back. Cllr Mackelden said he would remove the gate.
13 Whitegates
Cllr Weir has been asked by the Whitegate’s residents if the pavements on the estate could be cleaned as they are slippery. Cllr Winup said he had asked Kristian Price, Highways, to arrange for this to be carried out.
14.Village Hall
Cllr Winup said he had again progressed Mr Brookman for an installation date for the new kitchen windows. The work must be completed by the end of June to obtain the agreed Wiltshire Council grant.
15 Parish & Unitary Council Elections 2nd May 2013.
The Clerk distributed nomination and consent forms to the Councillors present and said the closing date for nominations to be submitted is noon on Friday 5th April 2013. The Chairman said he would take the nomination documents to Cllrs. Harvey and Weir for completion.
16. Date of next meeting.
This was confirmed as Thursday 16th May 2013 at 7.00 p.m in the Village Hall for the Annual Parish Meeting followed by the Parish Council A.G.M