Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 31, 03.16
in the Village Hall, Castle Combe
Present:
Cllr’s: F. Winup (Chairman).
A. Bishop (Vice Chairman).
Mrs. J. Halliday.
J. Prior.
D. Ryall (Clerk)
Unitary Cllr. Mrs J. Scott
2 Parishioners.
1. Apologies for absence:
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs. J Mackelden, G. Ruggles and G. Thorn.
2. Declarations of interest:
There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes of the meetings held on 21.01.16
These were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
4. Matters Arising:
4A. Area Board Meeting and Parish Forum
Area Board
Cllrs. J. Halliday and G. Thorn attended the area board meeting on 29.02.16. They reported that:
The Chippenham sites allocation plan had been suspended with the applications for 42K houses needing more work before the Council reports back to the Inspector in June.
Wilts Council has achieved 40% of the funding required for the proposed slip road improvements at the M4 junction 17.
Some £45- 50 was allocated to local causes.
Parish Forum.
The Chairman said that no one had attended the last meeting and that he was concerned that this previously excellent meeting was starting to become bureaucratic.
4B.Parking Review
New signs re parking and cyclists
The Chairman said that the draft plan of new signage did not cover all requirements and he would arrange a site meeting with Wilts Council to review their proposals.
The revised white lines outside the Castle Inn are still on the ‘implementation list ‘but will not be done before the end of the Balfour Beatty contract but promised when the new system has settled down.
Parking Statistics.
Cllr Winup said that no statistics had been provided since the last meeting.
4C. Footpath School Lane to Whitegates & Village
The Chairman said the footpath was still a quagmire and that he was expecting a delivery of a further 5 tons to be laid at the School Lane end.
4D. Village Flooding
The Chairman said the revised Bybrook modelling report had again been delayed and being progressed by Mr Roberts. He confirmed that this would be reviewed with Nettleton Council who are investigating possible water holding areas.
4E. Defibrillator.
Cllr Winup said that this and First Aid training continues to be deferred until the village cross repair costs are known.
4F. Market Cross
The Chairman said Historic England had originally agreed a grant of £10600 towards the initial estimated survey costs of £13250. The actual quotes were under £10000 and the structural monitoring (£2420) was deferred. The target date of 11th March was met and a grant of £6801 has been received to the actual cost of £7113 including VAT.
Cllr Winup said he was contacting David Newton to understand the next stage of the procedure.
4H. Queen’s 90th Birthday 12th June
The Chairman said the Church event was still ongoing and that a street party was being organised at Whitegates. Cllr Halliday agreed to give a copy of the Wilts Council ‘organising a street party’ to those involved
5. Finance- £
Income
CC Colts insurance (2015-6) and rent (2016) 157.35
CC Village Hall – electricity supply 300.00
Expenditure
The Councillors checked and reviewed and approved the following invoices:
J.H. Wright- village hall radiators 155.00
Victim Support – donation 20.00
Cllr Winup – newsletter printing 28.80
Southern Electric – bill 78.04
Cllr Winup – present to Mr Hare for help with scaffolding 53.94
Cllr Winup – Chairman’s expenses 125.00
BWBSL – water bill 79.41
D.Ryall – petty cash 40.00
Cllr Winup – safety cones & tape 34.98
D.Ryall- salary 264.05
HMRC – tax 141.20
Slate & Stone – Village Cross roof survey 1705.20
Brookman & Son – scaffolding – village cross 465.60
CC Village Hall – room rent 45.00
Jane Root – Village Cross history 1451.10
David Newton Ass. – Village Cross survey co ordinate 1997.60
Grantham Coates – Village Cross structure survey 1494.00
Lloyds Bank account @ 15.02.16 36234.68
Deposit account 20000.00
5A. Cheque Signatories
The Clerk asked the Council for permission to remove retired Councillors Elaine Clegg and Peter Dowell as cheque signatories. He said the other existing signatories were Cllr Bishop, Cllr Winup and himself and that a further signatory who was easily accessible would be advantageous. Cllr Halliday said she would be willing to become a signatory and the meeting agreed unanimously that she was added and the retirees deleted.
The Shawbrook signing authority would also be updated.
6. Correspondence.
A. CPRE – Best Kept Village Competition.
The Meeting agreed not to enter the competition this year but to organise a village tidy weekend as part of the Tidy for the Queen. This to be discussed further at the Parishioners meeting on19th May
7. Planning applications
P.C. Approved:
Old Stables, The Gib – Change of use
49, Whitegates – 2 storey extension etc.
2, Fairfields UCC – remove section 106.
Riverside house – tree surgery
P.C. Under Consideration:
Corbetts Cottage – replace rear window with door.
Bybrook Lodge – single & 2 storey extension.
The Bridge House – cut down plum tree.
P.C. Rejected.
Nil
Unitary Council Granted:
4, Old Dairy Drive – enlarge rear doors, condition that width reduced and light grained UPVC used.
Upper Manor House – tree surgery.
11, Westway Close – tree surgery
The Old Stables – change use to holiday let
The Weavers House – tree surgery.
St Andrews Church – tree surgery
Park Lane Cottage – underground extension etc – condition re drainage.
Riverside House – replace fireplace etc.
Riverside House – tree surgery.
Unitary Council under Consideration:
Upper Combe Farm – cow buildings
49 Whitegates – 2 storey extension.
2, Fairfields UCC – remove section 106.
8. Unitary Councillor
Cllr. Jane Scott said the toilets in the village were still under consideration but the out come was likely to be positive.
The parking situation at Circuit Motors is still a concern.
9. Playing Field & CC Circuit
Circuit.
Cllr Mackelden reported that a liaison meeting had taken place and the following discussed:
The Circuit might inherit an emergency vehicle show from Hullavington. It’s a charity event run by the emergency services and attracts about 8000 attendees.
The Japday is expected to be half the size of Japfest and they are working on traffic etc. The Circuit said advance booking does not work even with a significant discount.
Plans are being drawn up to move the main entrance onto the B4039 near Yatton Keynell with multiple entrance lanes.
Weekend calls go to a call centre and then put through to circuit staff.
Cllr Mackelden complained about early morning traffic noise, roads blocked with queuing traffic and no marshalling at the events held on 14. 03.15, 25.04.15 and 6.06.15. The circuit said they would review this and noted that there should be no overnight camping near Westway Close on 2 day events.
The next meetings are planned for 13.06.16 and 10.10.16
Playing Fields.
Cllr Mackelden reported that CC Colts had been in discussion with Mr & Mrs Constable and the rubbish bin issue should now be resolved.
10. Play Areas
Cllr Prior said that as soon as the weather was drier he would apply moss killer to the area at Whitegates. He said the paintwork was looking tired and faded. The Chairman said this was another item to be reviewed once the Village Cross costs are understood.
11. Highways
The Chairman said the finger post is nearly finished with the lettering now being applied and spelling mistakes corrected. He reminded Unitary Councillor Scott that Wilts Council had agreed to pay the remaining 50% of the cost.
Cllr Halliday said the recent B4039 road repairs had been very disappointing and not addressed the main problems. She has photographed these and agreed to send copies to Cllr Scott.
The wall alongside the Bybrook still has not been repaired and bollards installed. Cllr Scott said she would also discuss this with Highways.
Cllr Halliday thanked Cllr Scott for the support in getting the drains jetted and sweeping the hill during last weeks heavy rainfall.
She said that the trees on Westway close and at the side of the B4039 and Eel’s field have been passed to Wilts Council with no response to date.
She confirmed that the repairs to the Lady well will take place later in the year when it is drier.
The Clerk said the recent e mail from Wilts Cllr Whitehead states the contact for problems is now the village steward and through My Wiltshire and not Richard Dobson. He has been rebadged technician and responsible for giving a statutory reactive service to highways and amenities!
12. Village Environment
Cllr Ruggles reported that there had been no response to his request to Wilts Council for additional rubbish bins in the car park and he would continue to monitor the situation.
The bus turning circle at Whitegates continues to deteriorate.
The Clerk said he would speak to the police again about cars doing ‘donuts’ at night in the car park.
Cllr Bishop said a new flag was required which the meeting unanimously authorised.
The Chairman said Mr. Roberts had requested that a presentation be given to the Council by a traffic calming consultant about possible measures which could be taken in the lower village. The Council agreed this could take place as long as it was free.
13.Whitegates
Cllr Thorn to ask Wilts Council to investigate hedge cutting at Whitegates. Cllr Prior said a post was missing from the turning area fence. Cllr Halliday said this was on the work list.
14. TV. Committee.
Cllr Winup said there have been no further outages and the annual subscription will remain discounted but at £30.00 instead of £20.00
15.Village Hall
The Chairman said all of the quarterly checks have been carried out successfully. He is waiting responses from other painters as the first two quotations were exorbitant.
16. Date of next meeting.
This was confirmed as Thursday 19th May 2016 at 7.00 p.m. in the Village Hall for the Annual Parish Meeting followed by the Parish Council A.G.M.