Monday 21St March 2011 in the Village Hall
Monday 17th February 2014 in the Village Hall
Submissions from members of the public
A resident urged the Council to support the planning application in respect of I Sunnyside, to be discussed during the meeting.
Minutes of the meeting of the Council
Present: Councillors R. Naish (Chairperson), V. Adie, B. Bailey, S. Dagger, J. Fletcher, , D. Phillips and S. Piddock; Cllr. J. Sparks (District Councillor); Mr. S. Barran (Clerk); 4 members of the public.Item / Action
19/14 / Apologies, absences and declarations of interest
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllrs. A. Hillier, P. Mullins, I. Myatt and Veale; Cllr. Starr was absent.
20/14 / The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 20th January 2014 were approved, subject to the following addition: at Item 12/14, ‘The footway alongside the A37 between the Stowey Road junction and the Methodist Chapel is badly overgrown in many places and needs clearing’.
The minutes of the meeting held on Saturday 8th February 2014 were approved.
21/14 / Clerk’s Report, which was tabled, was accepted. The Clerk added that in a meeting with representatives of the user groups at the Leisure Area, it was agreed that most of the recommendations in the Crime reduction officer’s report were not really necessary, that the incidents of vandalism would probably stop in their own time, and that talking to young people is more effective than investment in fences, cameras and other security mechanisms. Discussion also led to the following:
· Notice boards: The Clerk was asked to get prices for notice boards suitable to be put by the school gates and on the wall of the Village Hall; and to place this matter on the agenda for the next meeting for decision
· Planning Enforcement: The Clerk was asked to copy his recent correspondence with David Trigwell to Lisa Bartlett and the planning enforcement team at B&NES.
· Highways: The Clerk was asked to bring to the attention of the Highways maintenance officer the statements of Highways planning staff in connection with planning application no. 13/02163/FUL and remind him of the possible legal consequences if the flooding to Colin Clark’s house is not remedied. / Clerk
Clerk
Clerk
There were no other matters arising from the minutes of the previous meetings
22/14 / Planning Working Group Report
Cllr. Adie reported that the Working Group had discussed the following applications:
13/04680/FUL Windy Ridge Upper Bristol Road Erection of chalet bungalow dwelling. The Working Group recommended that the Council oppose this application, on the grounds that it is an inappropriate development in the Green Belt with no element of special circumstances; and that the vehicle access would be at a location where there is poor visibility, near a corner on the A37 where traffic travels quite fast. The Council agreed that the application should be opposed.
14/00389/FUL 1 Sunnyside Clutton Hill Erection of porch/ boot room following demolition of existing porch. (Resubmission) The Working Group recommended that the Council support this application on the basis that it would be within the footprint of the original dwellings on the site, that if it were in the housing development boundary it would be a permitted development which did not even need planning consent, and that it would do no harm the visual or other amenity of the surrounding area. The Council agreed that the application should be supported.
23/14 / Progress Report on the development of the Neighbourhood Plan
Cllr. Adie reported that
a. the report on the housing needs survey would shortly be on the website
b. the housing needs survey had shown that there is a limited demand for new housing which is likely to be met easily by the housing development consents already granted within the parish
c. five broad themes had been identified from the responses in the survey, and the Steering Group would be creating small working groups to consider how best the Plan might address these themes.
d. The Steering Group has taken advice from B&NES at each stage of the process and although this can slow things down it helps to ensure that the Group is doing the right thing. The process anyway appears to be keeping to the timetable originally agreed.
24/14 / Report from the Recruitment Working Group
The Clerk reported that 14 applications had been received and that the Working Group had shortlisted 4 for interview, of whom two had been interviewed last week and the remaining two would be seen this week. All four shortlisted candidates were strong, so there is a good chance of making a successful appointment.
25/14 / Amendments to the Council’s Standing Orders
The Clerk tabled some draft amendments to the Council’s Standing Orders setting out the steps which should be taken in the event of a casual vacancy, and recommended that discussion of this text should be adjourned to the next meeting of the Council. This was agreed. / Clerk
26/14 / Report from the Communications Working Group
Cllr. Fletcher introduced the reports circulated previously, explaining that the choice for website construction is between security and ease of access, and the Working Group recommended the more secure ‘coded’ option even though this would mean that only the programmer could actually put material on the website. Cllr. Sparks suggested that an ‘easy access’ blog option could be added to this approach, to give an element of both. It was agreed to go for the more secure option, with added blog, and that the Clerk should act as ‘gatekeeper’ for all material to be passed to the programmer. It was agreed that the sum of £200 could be added to the cheques to be signed to enable the contractor to start work as soon as possible. / Clerk
27/14 / Arrangements for the Annual Parish Meeting
The Chairperson proposed that the Council should seek to attract more residents to the Annual Parish Meeting by arranging outside speakers, such as representatives of the bodies to which the Council makes grants, or other bodies; that it should be well publicised; and that perhaps it might be held on a different day to the normal Council meeting. It was agreed that speakers should be invited; that a notice of the meeting should be placed with the editor of the Parish Magazine for each of the editions between now and May; and that the meeting should be held on the same evening as the May Parish Council meeting, but that an hour should be allocated for the Annual Parish Meeting.
28/14 / Oral reports on Highways matters
It was reported that the large pothole at the bottom of Clutton Hill has been logged on the FixMyStreet website for some time, though nothing has been done about it yet.
It was also reported that B&NES is proposing to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed traffic calming measures in Station Road, although the timing is unclear. Cllr. Sparks reported that he has invited Paul Crossley to visit so that he may understand the proposals.
29/14 / Oral reports from representatives of the Council:
Cllr. Bailey reported that the Village Hall committee had discussed and approved the suggestion that the Council should have a notice board erected on an exterior wall of the Hall.
Cllr. Phillips reported that there is further flooding at Bubbins Brake after heavy rain, and that he would monitor the situation, as it seems to be draining away quite quickly at present after each incident.
30/14 / Correspondence
The Clerk reported that he had received a request from the Horticultural Society for the Council to make a grant as it has in the past towards the costs of running the summer Flower Show. He had not yet written to the Society to convey the decisions of the last meeting (Item 16/14), and said that he would take the opportunity to do so in replying to this request.
31/14 / Report from the Ward Councillor
Cllr. Sparks reported that
· he has requested that the two new planning applications for sites near Maynard Terrace be decided by the B&NES Development Control Committee in the event that the officer recommends granting consent;
· he has heard from a resident who reported that she had been verbally abused by other residents when she challenged their behaviour in putting unsightly posters on telegraph poles, etc around the village; and that
· he had made a grant of the remaining (approx. £550) part of the Ward Councillor’s Initiative fund to the Cam Valley Arts Trail.
32/14 / Finance
The Clerk introduced, and the Council approved, the Finance Report, and accepted the Bank Reconciliation and Monitoring report. The Clerk undertook to supply Cllr. Adie with a record of the expenditure so far on the Avenue restoration project. / Clerk
Close: The meeting ended at 8.50 pm
Minutes 200114 Page 2 of 4