Minutes of Longbridge Deverill and Crockerton Parish Council Meeting Held at the Village Hall on November 2nd. 2009
Present Councillors K.Manfield, (Chairman) P.Withey (Vice Chairman) G.Read, T.Minter, B.Hurd, Mrs.E.Pidgeon In Attendance, Mrs H Few Clerk.
County Councillor.Fleur de Rhe-Philipe Mr. M.Mounde Mr G.Dopheide, Chair Crockerton School Governors
Apologies. Councilors B.Marshall and J.Algar
682 Mr. G.Dopheide gave a short report on the new mobile at the school and the School Development Plan for the coming years. This included a 'free flow access play area' and purchase of a 'Floorbot' for each class. Councillor Manfield thanked Mr. Dopheide for his attendance and following his departure the Clerk was asked to request further information in writing so that a contribution may possibly be made towards their plans.
683 Mr.M.Mounde explained the reasons for having a Parish Plan and suggested that it could be worthwhile joining forces with Upper Deverills Parish Council and producing a whole Deverills and Crockerton Plan. It was decided to circulate the plan from Maiden Bradley which has already been produced and discuss again at the next meeting.
684 Councillor Hurd declared his interest in Application W/09/03043/FUL Mill Farm Hill Deverill
685 Minutes of the meeting held September 7th. 2009 were confirmed and signed, with one amendment.
686 Matters Arising not covered elsewhere.
686-1 The abandoned car has now been removed following a friendly visit from P.C. Vicky Pegrum
687 Planning Matters.
Planning has been approved for the new windows in Foxholes House.
Discussion on Mill Farm was moved to the end of the agenda to allow Cllr. Hurd to leave.
688 Parish Budget and Payments made.
688-1 The Current Account stands at £1467.38 It was proposed by Cllr. Manfield and seconded by Cllr.Pidgeon that Clerk's expenses and fees of £184.76 be paid for September and October. The Deposit Account stands at £10470.14 £2000 having been transferred to defray expenses
688-2 Outstanding invoices still include one for cutting the Green. Mark Gunther will send in his invoice at the end of the season and it should be approx.£300. Proposed by Cllr.Manfield and seconded by Cllr. Minter that this should be paid on receipt.
688-3 Other cheques raised over the last two months are:- PCC Deverills £250, Dave Wilkinson £75 (Grass Cutting) K.Holton £159 (Noticeboard) Mazars Audit £57.50 These had all been agreed previously.
688-4 The Mazars Audit report has now been received. There were several queries which need to be addressed.
- Amount of money being held by the Council. Following a 'phone call Clerk explained that a certain amount was held in case of problems with Village Hall. This was accepted , but the auditor commented that our precept should be looked at closely for next year and our reserves would be monitored. To this end the Chair and Clerk are hoping to attend a presentation by Wiltshire Council on the Precept in November.
- Audit forms need to be signed, dated and Minuted by the Chairman and Clerk after the local auditor has signed and dated his section. We will have to ensure that Edward Barrett is available to do the audit before the May meeting so that the forms can be remitted in time.
- A Full Risk Assesment needs to be undertaken and Mazars need to see a copy of it and its adoption in the Council Minutes.
689 Councillors Reports.
689-1 Parish Hall. Cllr. Manfield read a letter received from the J.Read , Chair of the Village Hall Committee regarding help to repair buttresses which are letting in rain. Councillors were in agreement to help but asked for more information regarding figures and grants. As this work is urgent it was unanimously agreed to circulate the Councillors when the information was provided and make a decision in this manner.
689-2 Tourism Nothing to report
689-3 Recreation Nothing to Report
689-4 Planning Exhibition on Planning for Wiltshire's Future 10th. November, Warminster Assembly Rooms. Details of this also circulated, comments to Clerk by 31st. December.
689-5 Police The Clerk attended the NTG meeting on 29th. September. Speeding appeared to be the main issue. Next Meeting, Upper Deverills Village Hall January 11th.
Email received from P.C. Vicky Pegrum regarding wheelie bin stickers, now cost £1.56. Proposed by Cllr. Mrs. Pidgeon and seconded by Cllr. Minter that we still go ahead with the 100. P.C.Pgrum has also asked if a letter could be sent and signed by Horningsham, Maiden Bradley and Longbridge Deverill Parish Councils to Highways regarding the clearway at Shearwater. It was hoped that a joint letter would add weight to the cause. The letter written by Sara Jefferies, the Clerk of Horningsham and Maiden Bradley was discussed and agreed upon with a few alterations.
689-6 Utilities. Cllr. Withey gave an update on the flooding situation. He has been in contact with all main Agencies and John Hurd at the watercress beds. There has been some work done to alleviate the problem and is still on-going. It was not felt that a public meeting was needed at the moment and the Clerk was asked to draft a reply to the Chair of Upper Deverills Parish Council expressing this view.
689-7 Highways and Parish Steward. All jobs requested have been completed apart from the potholes in Sand Hill Lane. This appeared to have been started 3 weeks ago but was not done. The steward will be asked to concentrate on tidying the verge between the road and the pavement outside the old peoples home in Church Street this month. The Clerk will also contact Highways about Sand Hill Lane.
Cllr. Minter asked on behalf of the Crockerton Forum if the grit bin opposite the Bath Arms could be repositioned. This was agreed unanimously by all Councillors and the Clerk was asked to write to the Highways department. They will also be asked again to site a bin in Sand Hill Lane and refill the other bins in Crockerton.
Cllr. Manfield reported that the rubber strips had been placed in Clay Street to record speeding, but we were still awaiting a reply from Andrew Murrison MP regarding a site meeting with Highways. Several reports have been made to councillors regarding the tightness of the strips, but it was felt that as they would probably not be there much longer, this would resolve itself.
We have asked to be included in the Area Board and Police Scheme for hand held speed cameras and await more information.
690 Clerk's Report and Correspondence Received.
All correspondence has been circulated when necessary,
The notice board in Crockerton has been renovated, and the Clerk has attempted to clean the one in Hill Deverill.
The Clerk has attended both the Area Board Meeting and NTG meeting, speeding being the main item of interest to the Parish Council. A letter received from Andrew Murrison MP regarding speeding has been received and responded to, and a letter from Wiltshire Council regarding Horse warning signs has also been received from Highways.
Letters have also been received regarding an Emergency Planning Volunteer and Flood Wardens. If any Councillor knows of anyone who could fill either of these rolls please contact the Clerk. Eric Argent is also stepping down as Neighborhood Watch Co-ordinator for Longbridge, so again any ideas or volunteers please let the Clerk know.
The Clerk advised the Council that she had prepared a draft Risk Assessment which would need to be agreed and signed at the next meeting. This would be circulated along with some information on Date Protection and Standing Orders which should also be discussed and acted upon. Please could any comments or amendments be forwarded to the Clerk so that they could be added to the agenda for January.
The Clerk also asked for permission to buy three books which should be in the Councils possession to enable the Council to run lawfully. Proposed by Cllr.Manfield, seconded by Cllr.Withey and unanimously agreed that Clerk should purchase the necessary publications.
691 Items for Parish Magazine. With the anniversary of last year's flood approaching, the Clerk was asked to write and remind people with land adjoining the river to keep their stretch clear.
692 Any Other Business.
None
Date of next Meeting. Monday 4th. January.
Dates of Meetings for 2010 March 1st. Tuesday 4th. May 5th. July 6th. September 1st. November
At this point Cllr. Hurd left the meeting.
693 Planning Application W/09/03043/FUL Mill Farm
This application has become necessary as Longbridge Deverill is now inside a NVZ( Nitrate Vulnerable Zone) and farmers have to comply with certain regulations. After a long discussion, Councillors were sympathetic to the problems, but felt that possibly some alterations could be made to the design to reduce the impact on the area. The overall height of the building was felt to be a particular problem, especially for nearby housing. Councillors queried why the longest span, with the highest pitch, had to face the road and if this could be altered. Councillors also felt that the colour of the covered yard should blend in with other farm buildings.
The overall height of the proposed building was some 7.5m in height it was felt that by spanning the roof pitch across the shortest span i.e side to side this would reduce the height to about 5.5m. Thus minimizing the impact of the proposal on the surrounding properties.
We therefore do not support the application in its present form.
It was agreed that these comments would be forwarded to the Planning Officer concerned.
Meeting Closed at 9.45
ChairmanClerk
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