Litton Parish Council AGM Meeting held on 4th May 2016
Litton Parish Council
(Draft) Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting
Wednesday 4th May 2016 at 7pm, at Litton Village Hall
Present
Please see attached list.
The meeting was opened by the Chair, Chris Pointon
Apologies
David Raynes, Sue Fry
Minutes from last Annual Parish Meeting
CP read out the minutes from last year and asked for any comments. None, so minutes signed by CP
Matters Arising
Open to the floor. No comments.
Chair’s Report
It is my pleasure to give you a brief summary of the main issues dealt with by your Parish Council during the year to April 2016
Firstly, the membership of the Parish Council
David Fry stepped down in February after many years as a Councillor. On behalf of us all I would like to thank David for all his good work, including a term as Vice-Chair.
We have had a great response to our appeals for people to join the Council. Our ranks were somewhat depleted, with David Fry and Dave Broadway stepping down, and although the workload is actually limited, we do need an appropriate number of people to share the burden and ensure we are representative and responsive.
Three new Councillors have joined the PC during the past year, all by co-option as there were vacancies to be filled and they were unopposed.
Matthew Wire joined us early in the year and has been a great help, for example in organising the PC’s website.
Sue Fry joined the PC in February. Sue is also a member of the Village Hall Committee, and it is excellent that her energies will be further deployed for Litton.
Last month the PC were also very pleased to welcome Christiana Priscott. She brings the PC up to strength and will be a great addition to the Council.
The Litton PC Website
After a number of enquiries to suppliers and with two proposals received, the PC awarded the contract to manage its website to MJW Consulting, a company owned by Matthew Wire. The Council recognises a potential conflict of interest, but his proposal was clearly superior in terms of cost and scope. The cost is £25 per month for operation (maintenance, uploading etc) with no set-up fee, Competitor costs were significantly higher.
Potholes and Drains.
The condition of the lanes deteriorates every winter and constant pressure is required to ensure Somerset Highways carries out repairs. In the Council’s view the repair standards are deficient as they lead to frequent re-work within 12 months, but those are the standards of the Authority. David Raynes has been particularly diligent in respect of Litt Hill and we have had advice from Somerset Highways that a full re-surfacing is schooled for later this year.
Risk Assessment
The PC is required to maintain a formal risk assessment, detailing potential liabilities. This was first done last year, and is regularly reviewed at PC meetings. As a small Parish which does not own any materially significantassets and which only has one part time employee, our potential public liabilities are limited.
The PC carries public liability insurance with Came & Company, a specialist insurer for public authorities.
The PC also published a list of its general and specific responsibilities. This should now be available via the website.
Footpaths
Nicky Ashley took over this responsibility from Dave Broadway on his retirement from the Council. The main issue recently has been dog fouling. This is particularly bad in the Brimble’s fields on the path beside the Litt behind this hall. We ask everyone to respect the signage and collect and properly dispose of their animal’s mess, as not doing so can spread disease to children and livestock.
Broadband
David Raynes has been the point of contact with BT & Connecting Devon & Somerset. At present Litton is not included in the rollout of faster broadband. CDS are currently tendering the next phase, but it is not certain that Litton will be included in that either. We have been advised that the tender process should be completed by the end of 2016.
If Litton is still not included in the next phase, there is the possibility of negotiating a partly self-funded extension to the Chewton Mendip rollout. We have discussed this in general terms with BT. However, a contractor for the phase 2 rollout will not be appointed until the completion of the CDS tender. As we know neither whether Litton will be included, nor whether BT will be the contractor, the situation remains on hold pending the outcome.
With this in view, however, the PC has accumulated some funds, although additional public fund raising will almost certainly be needed to reach the required contribution.
David Raynes has met with Cllr Tom Killen and James Heappy MP on the issue and both are helpful and supportive of Litton’s being included and we really appreciate his input.
Blue School Bus
The school bus used to turn round in the pub car park. The car park is now a secure site for the building works, and in fact the car park surface was never designed to have heavy vehicles turning on it. SCC and the bus company have agreed on an alternative safe turning site (at Sherbourne), although some drivers started turning at the Litton Lane junction which is not safe. Representations have been made and driver instruction reinforced.
Accounts – year to March 2016
Expenditure for the year was: £3970.55
Income was: £3538.70
£1500 was contributed to major repair works to the village hall, under the ongoing support agreement.
The reserve account balance stands at £4739.94
The precept was held at the 2014/5 level, which should enable an addition to the above reserve account as if there are contributions to the village hall, they are not planned to exceed £500
I would like to record our thanks to Paul Jelley for continuing to act as our independent auditor. His diligence and helpful comments are invaluable
The Litton
The former Kings Arms, now renamed The Litton, was acquired by Sally Billington during the year. She has undertaken extensive repairs and a redesign of the interior. Sally has provided copies of plans which are here on display. Re-opening is now scheduled for mid-summer.
This concluded the Chair’s report, and he opened the floor to questions.
No questions.
DB handed over to guest speaker Harvey Siggs
Guest Speaker – Harvey Siggs
HS thanked the Chair for his report.
Cllr Siggs explained his role as County Councillor, he is in his 2nd term as a cabinet member for SCC, his roles include HR, Highways and nowFinance.
Cllr Siggs gave some details of the work of Somerset County Council’s Children’s Services, in which he has a particular interest. These are:
520 children in SCC care. The services received a poor OFSTED report 2 years ago, which found a number of failings. SCC has made strenuous efforts to tackle the issues raised by OFSTED - more money has been made, despite Central Government cuts available and there was a change of leadership within SCC. In Cllr Sigg’s view this is the most important service SCC provides. He noted that there are no children’s homes in Somerset and thus the emphasis has been on fostering and help beyond the age of 18. SCC has recruited 44 new social workers despite the general nationwide shortage of suitably qualified social workers.
Cllr Siggs continues to liaise with Mendip District Council, and to work with 11 Parishes. This provides him with valuable opportunities to keep contact with local communities
Cllr Siggs noted a number of achievements, including, new pedestrian crossings in Chilcompton, Coxley, Gurney Slade and Draycott. He noted his lobbying for improved train connections with the West & Heathrow and support for several local enterprise projects. His work to improve flood management on the Levels (and obtain funding and project management resources for this) has been widely recognised.
This concluded Cllr Siggs’s presentation. He opened the floor for questions.
No Questions.
The Chair thanked guest speaker Harvey Siggs for his presentation.
The Chair handed over to Village Agent Jacky Smith
Jacky Smith
In the last 12 months the Village Agent project has seen funding put in place for the next 3 years. The Big Lottery has chosen to fund the VA programme for a second time, along with other funders. It now covers around 50% of Somerset. 15 village agents cover 20 clusters of villages and this is set to increase this year. Another Mendip cluster will be advertised shortly with more villages having access to the Village Agent project. Ms Smith noted she had now extended her own coverage to include: Chilcompton, although her time is still limited to10 hours per week.
Ms Smith continued her report as follows:
This year has been another busy one with predominantly older village residents contacting me with a variety od issues, finding care in the home, applications for Blue Badge Parking permits, checking benefits and welfare payments, local village issues, transport problems, setting up home safety checks with the fire service and organising waste collection from the door rather than the curb for those with mobility problems. Some problems I need to visit residents to solve, others can be sign posted or supported on the telephone.
The monthly coffee mornings continue and now have a regular attendance with villagers across the age range joining.
I have now helped set up a similar event in Chewton Mendip on the second Wednesday afternoon of the month.
January to March has proved to be a very busy time. Attending community events, dealing with unwanted cold callers and finding care company capacity on the Mendips are just a few of the issues that have arisen.
I was involved in a Mendip District Council initiative in April for village representatives to research clubs/societies and activities that could be set up in villages to combat loneliness amongst rural residents.
Bus routes continue to be cut leaving more villages and villagers isolated. This means having to rely on the kindness of friends and neighbours even more.
The Chair thanked Jacky Smith for her presentation.
The Chair handed over to Sally Billington, owner of The Litton (formerly The Kings Arms)
Sally Billington
Sally introduced herself and gave a brief career history. She acquired the pub in March 2015
Structural problems imediately became apparent, and the additional work required to make essential restoration to the property had led to successive delays in the projected re-opening. There remained considerable work to be done. She stressed that this was a project based on sympathic restoration.
Her intention is that The Litton will specialise in good food, using local produce. It will have craft beers and ciders, a bar, restaurantand a “whisky bar”. Accommodation will be greatly increased with 12 indivually designed and furnished bedrooms. As much as possible of the original stone and wood will be retained.
Chris Pointon wished Sally Billington success with her project and thanked her for her presentation and bringing along the plans to the AGM.
Matters for Discussion.
The Chair asked the floor if there were any matters.
After no further questions The Chair closed the meeting at 7.50pm and invited visitors to attend the following Parish Council meeting.
LITTON ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
LIST OF ATTENDEES
Chair – Chris Pointon
Vice Chair – Nicola Ashley
Clerk – Debbie Jackson
Councillors – Chris Ake, Christiana Priscott, Matthew Wire, Elizabeth Rugman
Guest Speaker – Harvey Siggs
Visitors – Jacky Smith – Village agent. Harvey Siggs. Sally Billington. Tom Killen. Maggie Beeton. Valerie Booker. Colin Budge. Pauline Budge. Liz Pointon
Page 1 of 6