Background Report for the Parish Council meeting August 2014

78.14 Reports

b. Flood Action Group – see item 79.14

c. Pitton Village Hall Management Committee – nothing to report. Next trustees’ meeting is on 3rd September.

d. Farley Village Hall Management Committee – Cllr Latham will give a verbal report.

e. Parish website representative – Mr Bossom has nothing to report concerning the website, but wishes to bring the following to the Council’s attention:

You might want to draw the attention of the PC to the unexpectedly early arrival of a 4G mobile signal into the Parish, from Vodafone. We first picked this up at Stockbottom 10 days ago, but it has now appeared on the Vodafone online coverage checker at I am attaching screenshots of the Pitton and Farley areas.(Attached)
As you can see, this appears to benefit properties on the outskirts of both villages (and not those centrally located) and therefore might fit quite well with BT's promised improvement to the landline broadband provision, which will inevitably work best for those near the exchange or cabinet.

4G is a significant step up from 3G (which we could not receive from Vodafone, in any case) and should deliver both increased speeds - in the same ballpark as the promised BT upgrade - and better indoor coverage for those with a strong signal.
At the time of writing, Vodafone are selling a 4G dongle which will allow users to connect their PCs at 4G speeds to the internet for £30 per month, with a data cap of 10Gb per month, assuming that they live in one of the purple-shaded areas.
For those (such as ourselves) who will remain without any landline broadband provision after the BT upgrade, this is certainly an option to consider. Other mobile providers may bring 4G to the area in due course.

g. Parish Clerk’s report

  • I have attended the Spatial Planning meeting on Settlement Boundaries with cllr Lilley, the initial Area Board Parish Collaboration meeting with Cllr Lilley and will attend the Flood Operations meeting at Amesbury.
  • As a result of the Collaboration meeting, I am holding a coffee morning for Clerks on 27th August to explore this further.
  • Community First is holding its AGM on Wednesday 24th September in Devizes town Hall at 5.30pm onwards.
  • Parish & Town council meetings can now be reported in real time on line by different forms of social media without the Council’s prior consent, but with its prior knowledge. (Except where there are issues with mobile phone and broadband provision, of course…….).
  • Wiltshire Council will be consulting on its car parking charging scheme in the autumn.
  • Wiltshire Council is still consulting on the future of the green bin waste collection service, and has also started a consultation on the future of the county’s fire service.

h. Southern Wiltshire Area Board – I was unable to attend the last Board meeting on 31st July, but topics covered included Supporting Vulnerable People, developing Youth Activities in the wake of Wiltshire Council’s changes to the delivery of this service, footpaths, Parish Collaboration and hearing from the Board’s rep to the UK Youth Parliament. A Health Fair is to be held in October, date, time and venue t.b.c. and the next meeting is on Thursday 4th December at 7.00pm in Alderbury Village Hall.

80.14 Planning

Pitton Settlement Boundary – go to:

Please note that the settlement boundary for Farley is to be abolished. Cllr Lilley will advise the Council of the implications for both villages.

81.14 Finance

c. Balance of current account as at 31st July 2014 - £11,156.56

e. Quotes for new noticeboards:

  • GP Signs - A1 size aluminium wood effect lockable board for the Parish Council in the bus shelter £119.00 plus £9.95 delivery charge, total £128.95.
  • Acorn Workshop -open oak noticeboard with 100cm x 80cm display area £250.00, plus posts £100,plus optional engraved headboard £100, plus delivery £40, total £490.00

f. Quotes for replacement 2 seated swing

i. Broxap/Hand Made Places

Option 1:

BX/HMP 100036 Double Flat Swing - £985

Delivery - £210Installation into an existing bark pit area - £1,585

Grand Total - £2,780 (ex.VAT)

Option 2:

BX/HMP 100926 Nest Swing - £1,595

Delivery - £210Installation into an existing bark pit area - £1,585

Grand Total - £3,390 (ex.VAT)

Installation prices are subject to survey and do not allow for the removal/disposal of the existing swings.

ii. Wicksteed Leisure

1 x LSW24F 2.4M Log Swing with Flat Seats @ £1141 each to supply

Installation @ £551 Delivery @ £57.05 Total £1749.05

1 x LSW24BN 2.4M Log Swing with Birds Nest Seat @ £2,561 each to supply

Installation @ £579 Delivery @ £128.05 total £3268.05

82.14 Emergency Incident Planning

This has been revived as an item for consideration, as reps from Pitton VH were invited to an event by Community First concerning the role of village halls in emergency planning. This has coincided with a Farley village resident offering one of his vintage tractors as a means of pulling a salt/grit spreader around the parish in snowy weather.

An Emergency Incident Plan has three main elements covering what a community can do in the event of i. an incident (eg plane crashes into some houses, livestock lorry careers out of control down Pitton Hill and explodes at the bottom. Singed chickens all over the place……). ii. Flooding, and iii. Snowy/icy weather.

Pitton already has a flood plan, and with Wiltshire Council’s advice and support, the Parish Council can develop the other two relatively quickly.

If the Council wishes to proceed, I will find out if Wilts Council is to hold its Emergency Event training in real time again this autumn. I will also research the cost of a salt spreader and possible funding, and a Snow Warden will need to be appointed. The Council will also need to identify a secure and dry area to store the salt & grit.

83.14 Highways Issues/Footpath matters

a. Update on Area Board issues

3057 – Clearing of silted ditches on the Pitton/Winterslow road – on programme, and will be undertaken when resources are available.

3428 – Gravel accumulations at Houndwood – resolved (although they have reappeared)

3429 – Flooding at Farley, culvert required – drainage engineers has been asked to look at this, but as the road is not high speed, and adjacent properties aren’t flooded, this will not be a high priority.

3363 – Signage at Glebe Close – referred to the Housing Manager to look at.

3395 – Sight Lines at Dunstable Cross Roads – to be looked at by the Transport officer for onward referral to CATG (This site is technically in Winterslow CP. The Clerk has been advised.)

I have also raised the “No Through Road” sign at Farley as an Area Board issue. So far, this has just been acknowledged.

b. Footpaths co-ordinator – the Area Board is progressing with its footpath project generally, and has appointed its own volunteer Footpath Co-Ordinator, Abby Sullivan for two days per week for 18 months to November 2015. The parish needs to appoint its own contact/co-ordinator to liaise with Abby, and to get involved with organising help to maintain the footpaths.

84.14 Ongoing matters

a. Parish map – Cllr Lilley has circulated his design separately. Please look at it, and make any comments/observations/recommendations. Once the design and size is agreed, I can obtain quotes for installation to consider at the next meeting – the Parish Council still needs to decide where these two maps are to be located in the villages.

b. Collaborating with other parishes – Cllr Latham and I attended the initial Area Board instigated meeting of Chairman and Clerks, and I have offered to host a separate subsequent meeting of the Clerks to have a preliminary discussion on the desirability and feasibility of interparish action on the joint hiring of a youth worker, producing a directory of recommended suppliers of goods and services to Parish Councils, verge cutting, producing a community wide sports and leisure clubs directory, and shared transport provision. This will take place on August 27th. Andrew Ferguson, the Grimstead PC chairman offered to arrange a similar meeting of the chairmen – I’m not sure if this has happened yet.

The Area Board meeting of Chairmen and Clerks will meet again in January 2015.