18th Jan 2018

CASTLE COMBE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 18.01.18 in the Village Hall, Castle Combe

Present:

  • Cllr’s: F. Winup (Chairman).
  • S. Bettles.
  • Mrs. J. Halliday
  • J. Mackelden.
  • J. Prior.
  • D. Ryall (Clerk)
  • Unitary Cllr. Baroness J. Scott.
  • 11 Parishioners.

1. Apologies for absence:

  • Cllr. B. Blair.

2. Declarations of interest:

  • Cllr Bettles – 4g. estate yard licence.

3. Minutes of the meetings held on 16.11.17

  • These were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

4. Matters Arising:

4A. Area Board Meeting and Parish Forum

  • Area Board
  • The Chairman said at the meeting on 15th January there was an interesting presentation on the proposed development of Chippenham station which could create parking problems. Cllr Bettles confirmed he will attend the 19th March meeting at Monkton Park starting at 7pm which the Chairman might also attend if the Market Cross grant is on the agenda. The meeting on 4th June at Monkton Park will be attended by either Cllr Bettles or Cllr Prior.
  • Parish Forum.
  • The Chairman said he will attend the meeting on 31st January which will include a presentation on cyber crime.

4B. Parking Review.

  • i) Car park charging
  • The Chairman said the consultation produced 100% opposition and following the Parish Council’s comments on the report the Highways Cabinet member, Cllr Wayman, has confirmed the charges will not be implemented.
  • ii) Car park Signage.
  • Cllr. Winup said further discussions will be necessary with Wilts Council about funding the proposed new car park signage.
  • iii) Parking statistics
  • The Chairman said there were zero bookings in September & four in October. Mrs Chapman said illegal parking had been very bad on 31st December with no evidence of any parking wardens. The Chairman said this problem had been reported to Pavis Khansari (Director Highways & Transport)

4C. Footpaths

  • The Chairman said scalpings would not be available for footpaths and the Whitegates turning circle until March /April when significant road resurfacing will recommence. He said to prevent further deterioration alternative sources should be considered and if a Paths Improvement Grant would be available. He said Wick quarry was a possibility and Cllr Bettles said M J Church also sell scalpings.

4D. Village Flooding

  • The Chairman said the Environmental Agency (EA) still has not convened the meeting with affected property owners to explain the procedure for providing financial assistance to install flood prevention measures.

4E. Defibrillators.

  • Cllr Winup said the Area Board had agreed to the Council’s grant request and the project can now move forward after confirmation that the proposed locations are agreed by planning, the lamp option is acceptable to Highways and taking out an unmetered supply consumer agreement with the electricity board. He said after a meeting between himself, the Clerk, Mr Bentham Hill (senior planning officer) and the proprietors of the White Hart he would contact Wadsworths Brewery to confirm their agreement.

4F. Market Cross

  • The Chairman said the Heritage Lottery have advised they are short of funds and could the Council put in more than £20K. He has replied that the Parish has only 270 residents and the amount proposed is four times the annual precept. On the advice of Adrian Bishop he has submitted an application to the Pilgrim Trust for £25Kand should hear within the next four weeks if the Council can move to the next stage. He said the Council could then apply to the Area Board in March for further help which is normally a maximum of £5K or more if funds allow. Another possibility is the Andrew Brownsword Art Foundation.

4G. Estate yard Licence.

  • Cllr Winup said the revised version is now ready for signature.

4I. Village Welcome Pack.

  • Cllr Halliday said distributed a list of the proposed content and needs help in putting it into booklet form and said that she will put the proposal in the newsletter for comments. Cllr Mackelden said he would assist with the booklet.

4J. Community Issue 5335 Speed Limit B4039

  • The Clerk said this awaits a response from CATG.

4K. White Lines – lower village

  • The Chairman reported that CATG had declined the white lines option but Martin Rose (Wilts Council) has suggested setts as an alternative which he will take forward under issue 5660 for discussion in February.(but see 4M below) The estimated cost of £8-10K is in excess of the CATG budget for a standard item but if recommended funding would possibly be available from the ‘substantive fund.’ The Parish would have to find a minimum of 25% of the cost.

4L. Village/ Council Web Site

  • Cllr Winup confirmed that the grant of £459 had been received and Cllr Mackelden said he was now liaising with ‘Parish Council Websites’ about the design and implementation of the new site. He said he would ensure that it will allow for separate e mail addresses for councillors.

4M. Speeding on the hill.

  • The Chairman said Martin Rose (Wilts Council) confirmed that under new Government legislation the installation of a 20mph speed limit though the village was feasible with a cost in excess of £5k of which the parish would provide 25% minimum. The limit would extend from the B4039 to the Ford/Mountain Bower crossroad.
  • The Chairman said the Council had to decide the priority between items 4K, (white lines/setts) and item 4M, (speeding on the hill, 20mph speed limit). He proposed that item 4M was given priority which was seconded by Cllr. Halliday and unanimously agreed by the meeting. He will notify Mr. Rose that a CATG will be raised for this and that issue 5660 held in abeyance for the time being.

4N. Silt clearance & sluice repairs Bybrook.

  • The Chairman said that this should be removed until the application for silt removal etc is received from the Golf Course.

5. Finance- £

  • Income
  • Historic England 39.00
  • WALC – grant transparency fund 459.00
  • Shawbrook Bank – interest 150.00
  • Expenditure
  • The Councillors checked and reviewed and approved the following invoices:
  • WALC – Councillor training 261.06
  • Cllr Winup – hardwood signs 129.78
  • D. Ryall – accounts analysis book 16.94
  • D. Ryall – printer cartridge 23.39
  • Cllr Winup – newsletter printing 52.70
  • Cllr. Winup – gift Cllr Ruggles 47.00
  • Cllr Mackelden – donation village social evening 125.00
  • Cllr Haliday – plants 4.00
  • Lloyds Bank account @ 19.12.17 35386.30
  • Deposit account Shawbrook (William Prior Heritage Fund) 20000.00

6. Correspondence.

  • Shawbrook Bank Statement.
  • The clerk said the interest on William prior Fund for 2017 was £150.

7. Planning applications

  • P.C. Approved:
  • Waterside – fell Prunus.
  • Old Werretts – significant tree surgery etc.
  • P.C. Under Consideration:
  • Meadowside – tree surgery.
  • P.C. Objected.
  • 2 Fairfield – flat roof extension for kitchen etc…
  • Unitary Council Granted:
  • Unicorn Cottage – internal alterations & replace conservatory.
  • Waterside – fell Prunus.
  • Old Werretts – significant tree surgery etc.
  • Unitary Council under Consideration:
  • 2, Fairfield UCC – flat roof extension for kitchen etc.
  • The Coppice – fell sycamore.
  • Meadowside – tree surgery

.

8. Unitary Councillor

  • Cllr Scott’s said the Government had reduced its support Wilts Council by a further £30M and as a result there would have to be an increase in Council tax.

9. Playing Field & CC Circuit

  • Playing Field
  • Cllr Mackelden reported that the playing field continues to be well used and he was unaware of any problems.
  • CC Circuit.
  • Cllr Mackelden said there had been no recent liaison meeting and he would be progressing Mr Marshalsay for a date. Cllr Winup said the village had been allocated the car boot in October and that an organiser was required.

10. Play Areas

  • Cllr Mackelden said there were no problems with the lower play area other than the bench needs painting. Cllr Prior said he had examined the slide and the fault identified in the ROSPA report appears to be a blemish not a crack. He said the White gates area was fine but needed refurbishment when money was available.

11. Highways

  • Cllr Halliday said there had been no response to the replacement of the riverside marker posts and that she would raise a CATG request. The Chairman said it might be cheaper to follow the Biddestone example and obtain them from another source. Cllr Halliday said she had requested via the Wilts APT for the road sweeper and drain tanker to clear the hill but received no response. She had also reported the recent severe flooding on the B4039 between the Circuit competitors’ entrance and Quarry Corner which needs more than the grips recutting. The village steward is in the village next week and she will review the work list with him.

12. Village Environment.

  • The Chairman said a big thank you to Alan Meakins and Bruce Wheeler for clearing the drains on the hill which was a job well done. He said Cllr Prior had agreed to replace Gerald Ruggles on the ‘village environment’ which includes overseeing the general maintenance work carried out by Mr. Bruce Scott.
  • The Church has agreed that a WW1 commemoration tree can be planted in the Churchyard and one has been ordered for planting in Remembrance week.
  • Cllr Halliday said ‘dog poo’ bags were being dumped around the village and suggested that additional bins be obtained. Unitary Cllr Scott said this can now be put in the standard litter bins and Cllr. Halliday agreed to obtain stickers for placement on all the village bins.

13. Whitegates

  • Cllr. Prior said there were no problems and the land along the golf course had been strimmed. He said moss on the pavements was again a problem which Cllr. Halliday said was on the village steward’s list.

14. TV. Committee.

  • The Chairman said there had been no problems and invoices would shortly go out. (about £36)

15. Village Hall

  • The Chairman said the bookings were excellent and no major capital expenditure was envisaged.
  • He confirmed that Cllr Blair agreed to replace Cllr. Ruggles as Chairman…

16. Council Vacancy

  • The Chairman said two very good candidates; Carly Batten and Hayley Reeves have put their names forward each having submitted a resume of why they wanted to join the Council. The Chairman said to avoid influencing others each Councillor would write down the preferred candidate and the Clerk would announce the outcome. The result was that Hayley Reeves was selected with a majority of 3 to 2. The Chairman welcomed Hayley to the Council and thanked Carly for her interest and that she would be considered if another vacancy occurred. He said that Hayley would take over responsibility from Whitegates including the play area from Cllr Prior.

17. Cotswold Wardens

  • The Chairman said the Clerk had been contacted by the Wardens about the state of the footpath beyond the Roman bridge. They have offered to carry out the repairs if the Council can obtain some scalpings. Cllr Winup said he would discuss an additional amount from Wilts Council.

18. Date of next meeting.

  • This was confirmed as Thursday 15th March 2018 at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall.