Supporting information for Bletsoe PC – 26 June meeting
Item 3 – minutes –circulated via email
Item 6 – Lady Smockers – verbal report
Item 7 – Grass cutting – Orchard
Parish council need to consider arrangements for cutting of the Orchard now that Mick O’Conner is moving away from the village. We have not made any provision in the budget for this area to be cut.
Item 8 – Bedford Borough Council Capital Highways Scheme 2018-2021
Highways Maintenance Schemes 2018 – 2022 – copy of email already distributed from Bedford Borough Council
We are seeking your input to help us finalise a programme for the next four year's highway capital structural maintenance schemes. Works are funded by a combination of grant funding received from the Department for Transport and the Council's own capital budgets. We anticipate, based on current spending levels, to invest over £15 million over the next four years on schemes. The majority of the budget will be spent on roads and footway resurfacing schemes, but we also expect to invest in making improvements to other highway assets like highways drainage and traffic signal upgrades across the Borough. This programme does not include highways improvement schemes such as road safety measures, signing works or traffic calming, or more localised small works such as pothole repairs etc.
Compiling a four year programme of works enables us to achieve greater efficiencies and cost savings. It allows time to properly design schemes to ensure that the right solutions are being provided, to coordinate works with utility companies and to offer packages of schemes to local contractors to reduce costs and provide better value for money.
In line with national guidance and codes of practice on Highways Asset Management and as per our own Transport Asset Management Plan policy, a number of strategic schemes will be pre-selected for the programme based upon our own Highways Inspections and analysing the results of condition surveys. However, we are keen to retain an element of community input into the programme - particularly in determining the parts of the programme that focus on more local and residential roads and other highway assets.
Over the past few years we have sought your suggestions and recommendations on roads and footways that require attention and this has helped us to develop the works programme. Please could you let me have details of any roads or footways that you think should be included in the programme. It would then be helpful if you could identify from within this list the top three schemes for your area. This will assist us when preparing the programme. Please bear in mind that this is the programme for capital works i.e. major schemes above about £20,000 in value. Costs of individual schemes do of course vary, but as an example £20,000 would normally resurface about 90m of road (e.g. about the same length as the north side of St Pauls Square) or repair about 170m of standard width footway (e.g. about the same as the distance between the entrance to Borough Hall and the entrance to Bedford College)
If you have comments about smaller value routine (revenue funded) maintenance issues please let us know. These will be prioritised as part of the day to day maintenance operations but will not form part of this capital programme.
A reply by the end of June 2017 would be helpful to enable us to fully prepare for delivery of the programme. If this is not possible due to Parish Council meeting dates etc then please do advise when you may be able to provide feedback to help with our programme development. Current programmes of work are available on the Councils website (
Once finalised and agreed with the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport, our programme of works till 2022 will similarly be published on the website.
Item 9 – Planning – written report circulated
1 new application – this will be decided by officers under delegated powers and is a change of use from an agricultural building to a dwelling (Use Class C3). Full details are on the borough website
We have not been issued any paperwork – full details in planning report
Item 10 – Report on NDP
Verbal report from Ann Gibbons
Item 11 - Financial Matters
(i) Accounts for payment – written report emailed
(ii) Spend against budget – written report emailed
Item 12 - Clerk’s Report
Children’s play area - Play inspection will be carried out (Friday 23rd June) – once I have received this I shall circulate to everyone by email. The new toddler swings will also be installed and a risk assessment carried out of the pond.
Grass cutting has been undertaken by Greg Lawrence - we may need to allow for a further 2 cuts per year (total 12) which would mean an additional spend of £60.00 – I would like your agreement in principle for this and I shall liaise with Greg.
Fireworks will take place on Sat 4th November on the village playing fields and not at the Falcon Inn.
Goalposts have been ordered and the cost to the parish council will be £285.00 plus installation. I expect they will be installed during the summer holidays.
No other matters for consideration.
Item 14 – Clerk’s salary review
Ann will circulate information regarding this item.
Item 15 – Date of next meeting – Monday 4th September 7:30pm
As always highways issues i.e.potholes, should be reported online via the Borough website rather than waiting for the next parish council meeting. You could also use the mobile phone app called Cleanmystreet. If you see a problem, take a photo and send a message via this app – this is sent to the Borough and it also gives a map reference making it easy to locate the problem. for full details.
If you wish to report a problem with streetlightingplease let me know via email as the parish council are responsible for the street lights (except Memorial Lane). I will need the column lamp number and the location – I will then contact EoN who look after our streetlights.
A Southern
22 June 2017