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The Chairwoman opened the Meeting at 7.30 pm.
2. Declaration of Members’ Interests
None on known agenda items.
3. Public Participation
The Chairwoman invited Mr Colin Young, Chairman of the Trustees of Redhill Village Hall, to address the meeting. Mr Young explained that the Trust owns the main hall and the skittle alley, and the bar is rented out.
The grant from the Parish Council is spent on various items, for example in 2007/08 the money was used towards the purchase of a new boiler and a new door for the skittle alley. In the current year, the fence for the recreation field needs renewing and the roof over the toilets is to be replaced. As the village is very small, often events are not well supported, so it becomes difficult to raise funds for essential work such as redecorating. Cllr Bigg suggested various sources where decorating materials might be obtained for free, and other councillors suggested ways of promoting events.
The Chairwoman thanked Mr Young for his presentation, and he left the meeting at this point.
4. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 15th October 2008 were reviewed. Cllr Dunn Morua asked that under item 10 ‘Village Green – future management of trees’ a point should be added that the black walnut can inhibit the growth of other plants and neighbouring trees. Also under item 12 Open Form she had drawn attention to the amount of dog mess on Old Hill and it had been agreed to include an item on this in the Journal. With these amendments, the minutes were signed as a true record.
6. a. Police Report
This item was taken next. PC Tacchi reported that both Hallowe’en and 5th November had been reasonably quiet. He now has the equipment to carry out speed checks on roads around the parish, and when necessary fixed penalty notices can be issued. This initiative was welcomed by members. It was noted that once again there had been incidents at the Airport Tavern which required police intervention. PC Tacchi was thanked for his report, and he then left the meeting.
5. Correspondence
a. Local Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund: letter received from NSC confirming that a grant of £3,760 has been awarded for the project ‘Paths to discover the Parish’. This will involve the production of a map of the parish, to include details of the all the footpaths and features of interest. Cllr Glynn said that he had already made a start on some of the work that would be required for the project, which must be completed by 31st March 2009.
b. Wrington Dickensian Fayre Committee: letter requesting the Parish Council to make a grant of £60 to cover the cost of the Christmas tree. This was agreed. It was pointed out that at present it is not possible to prune any of the trees on the village green, as this requires permission from NSC. If necessary, the tree container can be moved further out to make room.
c. Wrington Friendship Club: letter thanking the Parish Council for a donation of £60 towards Christmas activities.
d. Avon Local Councils Association: reminder of the re-convened AGM to be held on Saturday 29th November in Long Ashton. The Clerk and at least two Councillors will attend.
e. School Travel Awards: invitation from NSC to attend the award ceremony on 21st November.
f. Knightstone Housing Association: details of Nightstop Scheme, providing temporary accommodation.
g. Alcohol requests were received from the Mendip Morris Men and the Gardening Club – these were agreed.
6. Reports
b. Clerk’s Report and Financial Report: these had been circulated in advance of the meeting, with the accounts for the month of October. The following payments were approved:
Mazars – external audit £470.00
Cyber Room – photocopies 2nd quarter £26.50
Avon Youth Association – 3rd quarter £1,000.00
S Arrowsmith - village orderly - October £108.00
Connaught Environmental - dog bins Sept £51.70
RBS Software – Clerk’s training £150.00
Prism – stationery £52.76
Society of Local Council Clerks – conference £52.88
British Telecom – quarterly account £106.36
M F Clark & Son – annual account £2185.50
Clerk’s salary November – to be calculated
It was proposed by Cllr Thorn and seconded by Cllr Yamanaka that the payments be approved.
Tree removal and cutting: the Clerk gave details of a quotation from Mr Dick Shepherd of £300 to carry out tree work at the Church Walk play area as detailed in the recent application to North Somerset Council. It was agreed that this work should now go ahead.
c. Working Groups
i. Finance – Cllr Gallop reported that no meeting had been necessary in the past month, but a meeting would be convened to consider the budget proposals for 2009/10, which would be presented at the December meeting. Cllr Matthews outlined a plan to repay the bank loan currently held by the Memorial Hall Committee. He proposed that the Parish Council should repay the loan, which it had sufficient funds to do. The Memorial Hall Committee could then repay the Parish Council at a lower rate of interest, eg: 0.5% over bank base rate. This was agreed in principle, subject to the detailed figures being acceptable. The Clerk is also to check with ALCA whether there would be any legal reasons why the Parish Council should not settled the loan.
ii. Highways – Cllr Matthews had circulated the final on GBSTS report prior to the meeting, which now incorporates all comments made by other members. He explained that the prime target for the report would be NSC and other interested parties such as Government of the South West. Cllr Matthews was thanked for the enormous amount of work that he had put into the production of this document. Cllr Thorn proposed that an item should be included in the February issue of the Journal to explain that the report is now complete and that residents may have a copy, and that the report should also be put on the website. This was agreed. Cllr Berkley proposed and Cllr Thorn seconded that the report should now be submitted, and all were in favour (Cllr Yamanaka abstained due to her role as District Councillor).
Shared space: Cllr Matthews reported that he has obtained details of a shared space scheme in Wellow, near Bath, designed by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, a landscape architect. He suggested that the Parish Council should ask Mr Hamilton-Baillie to make a presentation, with a view to inviting him to quote for designing a scheme in Wrington. It was felt that a separate meeting would be needed to do justice to this.
Road maintenance: several suggestions of road requiring resurfacing in the 2009/10 financial year have been made, including: School Road, Orchard Close, Kings Road.
iii. Airport: the Clerk reported that a letter had been received from Mr Robert Sinclair, the new Chief Executive at BIA, suggesting a meeting to discuss the planning application due to be submitted in 2009. It was agreed an early evening timing would be appropriate, and a date will now be arranged. In addition, there is a general invitation to Parish Councils in the area to attend an open evening at the airport, on either 2nd or 8th December. It was agreed that several members will attend on 8th December.
iv. Environment: Cllr Bigg reported that she and Cllr Irving had now almost finalised the copy for the Parish Plan. Quotes for printing are now being obtained. Cllr Bigg will circulate the Action Plan section before the next meeting.
v. Emergency Planning: Cllr Thorn reported that there have been four responses from people willing to be on the ‘duty officer’ roster. Another item will also be included in the next Journal issue.
d. District Councillor’s report
A written report had been circulated previously by Cllr Yamanaka, and this was received. Nothing definite is yet known about a new building for Wrington School – North Somerset Council has to submit a list by March 2009.
7. Flooding
A letter from Mr David Turner, Director of Development & Environment at NSC, was read out, explaining the current position regarding a survey of the causes of flooding in the area. Mr Turner explained that the scope of the risk assessment is to be broadened, and the intention is to appoint a new consultant as soon as possible. In the short term, a system of inspection and checking of screens will be implemented in response to severe weather warnings. A newsletter has now been distributed to residents in the affected areas and this will be updated as and when progress is made.
Cllr Glynn mentioned the work that had been done recently at the weir near Iwood Manor. NSC had been notified of this but had not investigated what effect this might have. Cllr Glynn said that the water level would increase by four inches, and this could cause problems in the future. The new structure will require retrospective planning permission.
ll. Co-option of new Parish Council member
The Chairwoman suggested that this item be taken next, as Mrs Christine Turton had been present throughout the meeting, with a view to becoming a member of the Council. Mrs Turton spoke briefly about her background and interests. She has been living at Downside Road for ten years and is a part-time teacher. She has previously been the clerk to the governors of St Katherine’s School in Felton, and has been involved with a number of local issues such as the poor state of the road surface in Downside Road, which was subsequently resurfaced.
Mrs Turton then left the meeting briefly. Cllr Thorn proposed that Mrs Turton should be co-opted onto the Parish Council to serve as a member for the North East Ward. This was agreed unanimously. Mrs Turton then re-joined the meeting, and the Chairwoman, Cllr Irving, officially welcomed her as a member of the Council. It was agreed that the necessary paperwork would be completed at the commencement of the December meeting.
8. Village of the Year Competition
Cllr Irving reported that a response had now been received from the organisers, to the effect that Wrington’s entry for 2008 had been considered satisfactory in terms of its community activities, and that the judges only made comments on areas that might be improved. Cllr Irving therefore proposed that Mr Jeremy Birkett should be invited to start preparations for entering the competition in 2009, and this was agreed. Cllr Thorn suggested that a coffee morning be held in the Memorial Hall to publicise the competition and encourage residents to become involved. The Clerk reported that the Wrington Show Committee would be donating £100 towards the cost of floral displays in 2009.
9. Youth Bus – proposal for presentation
Cllr Thorn explained that he had approached the leader of the Youth Bus, Ian Anderson, to invite some of the young people to meet with the Bishop of Bath & Wells when he visits the village next year. Mr Anderson had suggested that Parish Council might like to have a presentation on their recent visit to the USA. It was agreed to invite them to the January meeting.
10. Parish Council land holdings – registration with the Land Registry
The Clerk explained that a leaflet had been received from the Land Registry with information about registering land holdings. It was agreed that this should be looked into in more detail and the Clerk will report back at a future meeting.
12. Open Forum
· Cllr Ledbury commented that Havyatt Road currently has a lot of mud on it, and it was confirmed that this should be cleared up by the individual or company who had caused the problem.
· Cllr Thorn said that he attends meeting of the Primary Care Trust Rural Group, along with Cllr Bigg. This group now has stakeholder status and will therefore be aware of forthcoming plans by PCT.
· Parish Boundary Review - Cllr Yamanaka said that residents of Downside Road who are currently within Backwell Parish will be consulted on the proposal to change the parish boundary so that all of Downside Road is included in Wrington.
There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 10.30 pm. |
Echo Irving
Chair
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