HINTON CHARTERHOUSE PARISH COUNCIL – BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET
DRAFTHINTON CHARTERHOUSE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of The ordinaryMeetingof the Parish Council
held on Tuesday 16th July 2013
in the Memorial Hall, High Street, Hinton Charterhouse,
commencing at 8.00pm
Present:Cllr.C.Clemence - Chairman
Cllrs:C.Elsey, F.Robertson, P. Martin, R.Coles
Dist.Cllr. N.Butters after Minute No.44
Cllr.Penny Williamson after Minute No.39.
Mr Geoffrey Parkes (Parish Clerk).
Two members of the public
Apologies:None.
- Introduction
Cllr Clemenceexplained the fire regulations to the member of the public. He welcomed Penny Williamson to the Council; and stated that Mr Nick Helps had withdrawn his application to become a Councillor. The Chairman also announced the sad news that Mr Geoff Rogers – a former Parish Councillor – had died recently in Devon.
The Chairman wished to have recorded the Council’s congratulations to the Fete Committee for a successful event on 7th July.
- Apologies for Absence
None.
- Declarations of Interest
The Chairman and Clerk reminded Councillors of their duty to declare any interests in any items on the agenda.
Cllr. P.Martin declared an interest as a Trustee of the Millennium Green Committee and Chairman of the Memorial Hall Committee.
Cllrs. C.Clemence and F.Robertson declared interests as the company currently supplying email services.
- Co-option of New Councillor
The Clerk explained that due to a procedural error the two co-options of Councillors at the previous meeting were ‘void’. The Clerk had discussed the matter with the B&NES Electoral Services team and the recommendation was to co-opt one new Councillor at this meeting, and to advertise the vacancy for the second position. Mr Nick Helps had withdrawn his application on the 8th July, therefore the Council could go ahead with co-opting Mrs Penny Williamson. Meanwhile a notice for 28 days, advertising the second vacancy had been put up on the notice board. It was anticipated that the Council could expect to be able to co-opt a new Councillor at the September meeting.
It was proposed by Cllr Clemence and seconded by Cllr Elsey that Mrs Penny Williamson be co-opted as Councillor. All present agreed.
Resolved:That Mrs Penny Williamson be co-opted as Councillor.
Cllr. P.Williamson signed the Declaration of acceptance of office. Cllr. Williamson also handed over a completed Register of Interests form to the Clerk.
- Presentation by Wansdyke Telecom
The Chairman adjourned the meeting and welcomed Mr David Bland of Wansdyke Telecom who then gave a 15 minute slide presentation, in the adjacent room, on the outline of a neighbourhood fibre-optic broadband company. This was followed by a questions session when Councillors gained more information. The Chairman thanked Mr Bland and said that the Council would consider the matter further.
Mr Bland then left the meeting which was reconvened.
- Minutes of The Ordinary Meeting of The Parish Council 18th June 2013
The Council considered the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of The Parish Council held on18th June 2013.
It was proposed by Cllr Coles and seconded by Cllr Martin that the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of The Parish Council 18th June 2013 besigned and adopted as a correct record. All present agreed.
Resolved:That the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of The Parish Council held on 18th June 2013be signed and adopted as a correct record.
(The Chairman then signed the minutes)
- Financial Reports.
The Clerk presented to the Council the Financial Statement for 1stJuly 2013, complete with the requests for retrospective and advance authority for payments.
It was proposed by Cllr. Elsey and seconded by Cllr. Robertson that this Financial Statement, and requests for authority be accepted. All agreed.
ResolvedThat the Financial Statement for 1stJuly 2013 be signed and adopted by the Council, and authority given for retrospective and advance payments.
(The Chairman signed the Financial Statement)
The Clerk had already circulated a report of current expenditure against budgets.
- Internal and External Audits – and The Annual Return
The Clerk had submitted submit the Annual Return to the External Auditors and would wait for the signed Annual Return to come back;he would then place it on the village notice board for the required period.
Mr Peter Duppa-Miller had expressed his wish to present the findings of his Internal Audit and it had been agreed to do this at the Council’s 17th September meeting.
- Planning
For information only – not for discussion:
(i)12/04835/FUL – Lower Tytherley barn – Supported – Permitted
(ii)13/02251/FUL – Freshford Tennis Club – Resubmission – Alterations to Clubhouse – Supported
For discussion:
(iii)13/02434/LBA – The Mill, Midford – Move bathrooms – The Council agreed to support this retrospective application.
(iv)Mobile Phone Mast proposal from Vodaphone. The Council had received a letter from Savills acting for Vodaphone and Iford Manor Estates. This is a consultation exercise in advance of a formal planning application about a new mobile phone base station and mast at Farleigh Plain. This station is proposed as a replacement for the mast currently mounted on the electricity pylons in that area. The pylons were now redundant and are due to be removed. The Council discussed the plan and agreed to write to Savills with ‘no comment at this time’.
(v)B&NES Response on the relative status of Placemaking, Neighbourhood Plans and the Core Strategy. The Chairman had received a reply from the Planning Department in response to questions he had raised. The feeling was that the Council should press ahead with a ‘village design statement’ that could be a ‘material consideration’ in the interim. The Chairman asked the Clerk to put this on the agenda for the September meeting.
The Clerk alerted the Council to the fact that the owner of Rock Cottage, Rosemary Lane, had built a new stone wall across his garden. There was concern from Freshford Parish Council that the owner was preparing to sell the holiday unit as a separate property.
Cllr.Elsey informed the Council about recent reports of excessive party noise from Homewood Park.
Dist.Cllr. Neil Butters arrived at the meeting.
- Highways & Footpaths
(i)A36 VMS sign. The Chairman gave a full report on the visit by the new Cabinet Minister for Transport – Caroline Roberts –on the 4th July. She had been met by members of the Council and shown the site of the recent tragic accident at the Iford Lane junction. A tractor driven by Cllr. Coles give a demonstration of the practical difficulties and dangers of negotiating the Green Lane junction adjacent to the proposed sign. The group also looked at alternative sites on the A36. Subsequently Caroline Roberts had replied to say that they may try to move the proposed sign to the Viaduct or cancel it entirely – providing this doesn’t have a negative impact on the overall funding provided for the Bath Transport Package.
Meanwhile, there had been further messages from residents and business owners, who use these junctions, expressing their fears over the proliferation of road signs, the overgrown vegetation and the dangers of negotiating these junctions. The Chairman had forwarded these to B&NES.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting and invited Mrs Fenella Dyson (Farleigh Plain) to speak about the Iford Lane crossing of the A36.
Mrs Dyson thanked the Council and explained that she and her children used the A36 – Iford Lane junction every day. She said that so many people have had accidents there and that the whole stretch of the A36 is dangerous. There are blind bends and dips in the road; there is a proliferation of road signs that obscure safe vision; and at this time of year a large over growth of vegetation. Some contractors had removed small areas of grass and weed growth, but this by no means cleared all the obstructions around the lanes joining the A36.
The Chairman thanked Mrs Dyson for her contribution and said he would forward them to the Valley Parishes Alliance. It did appear that there are no more major safety projects planned within the next five years on that stretch of the A36. However, the Council would do its best to bring problems to the Highways Agency’s notice.
The Chairman reconvened the meeting, and Mrs Dyson left.
It was agreed that the Clerk complete a Highways Agency ‘Watchman Report’ with details of the poor visibility due to obstructive road signs at the Iford Lane junction with the A36, with recommendations that the signs be reduced, or rationalised.
(ii)Overgrown Vegetation. Road verges and poor visibility. This matter had been raised by residents, and Cllr. Elsey, and it was agreed that the Clerk also complete and submit a Highways Agency ‘Watchman Report’ for this problem as well.
- Millennium Green
Cllr Elsey reported that the deed documents had been signed and were expected from the Fields in Trust organisation, and Natural England, and that the Clerk should expect to receive them soon. The Chairman had approached Mr Derwent Campbell of ‘Mogers’ and he hoped to have a response soon.
- Village Facilities
(i)Website/Email lists. Cllr. Robertson would continue to search for a suitable website supplier.
(ii)Post Office. The Council had written to the Post Office organisation about the potentially serious impact that the proposed new post office facility at Norton St Philip might have. This had been copied to the neighbouring villages of Wellow and Freshford.
- Police Report
Cllr Martin gave a summary of the large number of ‘Ringmaster’ emails recently received indicating a higher level of crime around the village than before. This included; door to door confidence tricksters and thefts of fuel and batteries from agricultural vehicles. He had also received a consultation email from the PCC - Sue Mountstevens - on Police powers of stop and search.
The Clerk had met the PCSOs at the Stag Beat Surgery the previous week. During the meeting the two officers were called away to deal with a bus that had broken down on the A36 just next to the Iford Lane junction. Subsequently it appeared that there had been yet another accident at this spot.
- Correspondence
The Clerk placed the following correspondence on the table for Councillors to consult. Posters attached to this correspondence would be placed on the notice board. Any discussions about correspondence are noted below.
(i)There would be a visit to the district by the B&NES Strategic Director of Place – Louise Fradd – on the morning of 5th August. The Chairman would see if he could arrange to meet her and Neil Butters at some point.
(ii)Avon & Somerset Police. Awards schemes.
- Date of Next Meeting & Specific Items for the Agenda
The next meeting would be on Tuesday the 17thSeptember 2013 at 8pm. Specific Items for the agenda should be submitted to the Clerk by Thursday the 12th September. Summons to the meeting, and agendas, would be issued three days before the meeting.
The Meeting Finished at 9.30pm
Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 17thSeptember 2013 at 8pmin the Memorial Hall, High Street, Hinton Charterhouse
Ordinary Meeting of The Parish Council
Tuesday 16th July 2013Page1