Donyatt Parish Council
DONYATT PARISH COUNCIL
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Minutes of the meeting held on 11th November 2016
COUNCILLORS PRESENT: Mortimer (Chair), Grabham, Coles, Porritt and Wood
ALSO PRESENT: Rose Bean representing Yarlington, 2 Members of the public, County & District Councillor Linda Vijeh and the Clerk Heather Bryant.
16/122 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND TO CONSIDER ACCEPTANCE OF THE REASONS
RESOLVED: to approve the apologies from Cllr Wood for the reason given
16/123 TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND APPROVE ANY DISPENSATIONS
None received
16/124 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 12th SEPTMBER 2016
RESOLVED: the approval of these minutes as a true record.
16/125 PLANNING MATTERS
15/04316/OUT Demolition of farm buildings and removal of slurry store. Erection of 5 no dwellings
and extension to existing farm house. Lower Sea Farm, Sea.
Determined under Clerk’s delegated powers as follows:
The Parish Council is concerned that the applicant proposes to build over a ditch by approximately 20 metres between this site and the property of Green Meadows. This could be a flood risk to the property of Green Meadows.
The Council strongly requests that this matter is addressed and the concerns of the neighbour are taken on board before a decision is granted.
16/03684/FUL The erection of an extension to stables for additional loose box and hay storage
Hayloft, Peasmarsh
Determined under Clerk’s delegated powers – supported
The Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow the applicants to speak. The Chairman reconvened
16/04176/FUL Change of use and conversion of part redundant barn to provide 2 No. letting rooms in association with existing holiday business. Shave Farm, Shave Lane.
RESOLVED: to support this application
16/04410/FUL The erection of a garden room. Pottery Farm Whitney Hill
RESOLVED: to support this application
16/126 DONYATT HILL ESTATE
Rose Bean from Yarlington gave an update on the proposal to demolish the flats and replace with housing for the open market. A discussion took place where Rose Bean made the following points:
· Donyatt is not considered as a sustainable village with no local services such as a shop or school
· Their records show that there is a low demand for social housing in Donyatt
· There will be a planning application in due course for a basic remodelling of the flats to house units
· The houses will be sold on the open market
· The funds raised will be put forward for more social housing but may not be reinvested in the same area
· Yarlington are not looking to re-develop the garage block at this stage.
The Chairman thanked Rose Bean for attending this meeting to explain the current proposals and Yarlington’s justification on why they were taking this course of action. However, it was agreed that the Council were very disappointed that the village is losing social housing and how it has been handled.
16/127 PARKING AT DONYATT HILL
Cllr Coles reported on the parking problems at Donyatt Hill Estate. At present there are 19 parking spaces for 24 households and as most families now have 2/3 vehicles, there is insufficient parking provision. Cllr Cole continued that the green is owned by SSDC so part of it could be ‘cut out’ to create additional parking spaces.
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It was agreed that the Clerk, in the first instance, should contact Colin McDonald of SSDC to put forward this suggestion.
16/128 CHAIRMANS ANNOUNCMENTS
The Chairman reported that she represented the Parish Council by attending a service on 26th September for welcoming the new Reverend for the village
16/129 DISTRICT COUNCIL AND COUNTY COUNCIL REPORTS
C.C & D.C. Linda Vijeh had previously sent a written report. She had nothing further to add.
16/130 VISIBILITY SPLAY DONYATT VILLAGE HALL/DONYATT GARAGE
The Chairman reported that this is still progressing
16/131 AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Clerk reported that Broadway had completed an Affordable Housing Survey with the Community Council for Somerset. C.C.S will apply for a grant to undertake a survey. A representative from C.C.S would be willing to attend a Parish Council meeting to give a talk.
It was agreed to defer this until the new year.
16/132 REPORTS
Village Hall
Cllr Porritt reported that the Hall Committee are refurbishing the stage
16/133 CLERK’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE SETTLEMENT CONSULTATION – PROPOSED CAPPING
The Clerk reported that this threat has been with Town/Parish Councils for a few years but now it could be a real threat as all Town/Parish Councils have received a consultation paper ‘Local Government Settlement Consultation’. Principle Authorities are capped at 2% already and the Government proposes to extend this principle to those Town/Parishes which have a higher Band D charge of £75.46 and have at least total precept of £500K. At present this only affects 120 Town/Parishes in the Country. If a Council wants (or needs to) precept more than the 2% or £5 (whichever is the greater) of the Band D figure – then it will have to go to referendum (like an election) for the parish to agree which will have to paid for by the Town/Parish Council
However, the consultation also states the Government is aware that increases in precepts continue to concern local tax payers and is therefore prepared to consider extending referendums to ALL Town/Parish Councils.
The Clerk continued that as a deadline date for a response to this consultation fell between the Council’s meeting, she had submitted a response on behalf of Donyatt Parish Council strongly opposing the move.
FUND RAISING FOR THE REFURBISHMENT OF THE HALT
The Clerk reported that she was contacted by a member of the Fund Raising Group who asked if this group could use the Parish Council’s bank account for funds received and to make payments. The Clerk continued that the advice from SALC is as follows:
It is never a good idea for the PC to hold funds on behalf of other groups as such an arrangement will bring the PC financial regs in to play and will have audit implications – you will still have to account for it. If a group gives money to the PC it immediately ceases to be the group’s money and becomes money “donated” to the PC, meaning that the group cannot simply just access it as and when they please.
It was agreed that the Council could not hold funds on behalf of a third party
16/134 FINANCIAL MATTERS
FINANCIAL REPORTS AND CHEQUES FOR PAYMENT/BUDGET BALANCES
RESOLVED: that this Council approves the schedule of cheques and the Financial Report subject to the requirements of our Risk Assessment Document.
16/135 HIGHWAY ENGLAND INVITATION TO THE PARISH COUNCIL
Highways England would like to invite up to three Donyatt parish councillors to meet with them to
discuss the development of the proposals for the dualling of the A358. The meeting will be held
from 7pm to 9pm on Thursday 24 November at the Conference Room at Monks Yard. Attendees
will include representatives from Highways England, Mott MacDonald and neighbouring parish
councils including Horton, Broadway, Ilminster and Donyatt.
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Cllr Coles and the Clerk agreed to attend and the Clerk will contact Cllr Woods to see if she can attend
16/136 HIGHWAY AND FOOTPATH MATTERS
The following were reported
· The Clerk to contact C.C. Linda Vijeh on the progress of the Small Improvement Scheme for Donyatt
· The leak is back on the footpath. The farmer is clearing the ditch
· There is an approximately 8ft in length of concrete that raises the footpath between the Village Hall and Crow Lane which is a danger to pedestrians walking in the dark. This has been reported previously. The Clerk will chase up
· The potholes in the layby just before the bridge coming from Chard which still have not been filled. The Clerk will chase up
16/137 MATTERS FOR REPORT ONLY – DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
There were no matters to report. The Chairman closed the meeting at 10.00pm
The date of the next scheduled meeting will be held on 9th January 2017