None on known agenda items.

3. Public Participation

None

4. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 21st January 2009 were reviewed and signed as a true record.

6. a. Police Report: This item was taken next, as PC Tacchi was present. Copies of his report were circulated, and the contents reviewed, and PC Tacchi explained the background to some of the incidents and the actions he was taking. The question of speeding traffic on approach roads to Wrington was raised, as this had been discussed at the previous meeting. PC Tacchi was asked to contact the resident who had written to the Parish Council, and he also agreed to monitor speeds in the Nates Lane/Cox’s Green area.

5. Correspondence

a. The Clerk read out a letter from the Avon & Somerset Police Authority stating that the Parish Council’s nomination of PCSO Yvette Jordan for a Community Policing Award had been successful, and this was felt to be a pleasing result.

b. A request had been received from Wrington & Redhill Neighbourhood Watch requesting some financial support in the form of a grant. It was noted that a grant of £40 had been made previously in 2006. It was proposed by Cllr Yamanaka and seconded by Cllr Thorn that a grant of £50 should be made. This was agreed.

c. Letter from ALCA in response to Wrington Parish Council’s letter requesting that the newsletter should be sent out by email, and also asking for information about representation on outside bodies and the process for providing feedback. It was felt that the response received was not very helpful in relation to the second point. It was agreed that a letter should be written to ask for further clarification, and the item would be put on the agenda for the next meeting.

d. Community Governance Review of parish boundaries: the Clerk reported that the decision due to be made in February had been deferred until 22nd April.

e. Langford Safety Scheme: a safety scheme to improve access to and from the A38 at Langford was briefly discussed. It was noted that residents adjacent to the area had not been consulted about this, and were not in favour of it.

6. Reports

b. Clerk’s Report, Financial Report and accounts for the month of January: these had been circulated in advance of the meeting. It was noted that the issue of undercharging for street lighting electricity had finally been resolved. The following payments were approved:

S Arrowsmith - village orderly – January                       £120.00
Avon Youth Association – 4th quarter                        £1,000.00
Dick Shepherd (trees – play area)                               £300.00
EDF Energy (street lighting) – underpayment 2007/08 £132.53
- 3rd quarter invoice                                                      £910.32
SLCC – purchase of ‘Local Council Administration’        £52.00
RBS Software – Year End accounts training                 £172.50
Connaught – dog bins November & December            £126.50
British Telecom – quarterly account                                £99.17
Clerk’s salary February – to be calculated

Payments on behalf of Memorial Hall – to be set against grant:
Uphill Building Contractors                                            £104.65

c. Working Groups

i. Finance – a report of the meeting held on 27th January had been provided by Cllr Gallop and this was reviewed. The main items discussed were: the possibility of reducing electricity costs for street lighting by installing new photocells that would turn the lights off from 12 midnight until 5.00 am; also further consideration of repaying the bank loan on behalf of the Memorial Hall.

In the light of the most up to date cashflow forecast, this could be achieved whilst retaining the normal reserve of six months’ operating costs of about £35,000, and the Finance Group therefore recommended that the Council repay the loan. The Memorial Hall would partially reimburse the Parish Council by making payments of £3,000 per annum for four years. This was agreed unanimously.

ii. Highways – Cllr Irving explained that she had received an email from Cllr Glynn, who had expressed concerns about the content of an article on ‘shared space’ which had been submitted for the March edition of the Wrington Journal. It was generally felt that as the article had been circulated to councillors for their comments, and these had been incorporated, reasonable steps had been taken to ensure a consensus. It was also felt that the article did not commit to any specific actions, but that it had been felt necessary to provide an update on the issue, following a query posed by the editor in a previous edition.

Cllr Irving also reported that Cllr Glynn had highlighted the need to following the procedures laid down in Standing Orders in relation to entering into contracts in excess of £5,000. Before that stage was reached, however, the Council needed to spend time formulating a brief to be given to Mr Hamilton-Baillie and other potential contractors.

She suggested that members should make a point of visiting Freshford, near Bath, where a scheme has been put in place, as this village appears to have many features in common with Wrington.

iii. Airport - Cllr Yamanaka had previously circulated a report on the recent Parish Councils Airport Association meeting. Cllr Turton said that residents of Downside Road close to the airport were unhappy about the height of the proposed multi-storey car park and the associated lighting, and it seemed that this might be reviewed.

iv. Environment: Cllr Bigg reported that she had submitted a response to the Green Infrastructure questionnaire, and this had also been circulated to members. She had also looked at the information on the Rural Services Network, but did not yet have enough information to recommend whether the Council should become a member – she will hope to do this in time for the next meeting.

With regard to the Parish Plan, the proof from the printers is expected imminently, and members will then have an opportunity to peruse this before it is signed off for printing.

d. District Councillor’s report

A written report had been circulated previously by Cllr Yamanaka, and this was received. It was noted that a new bus route to Nailsea via Redhill and Wrington is due to start in April.

e. ALCA/NSC liaison meeting, 30th January. This had been covered under the Clerk’s report.

f. ALCA North Somerset Group meeting, 11th February. Cllr Bigg reported that an interesting presentation had been given by Avon Wildlife Trust. There had been a discussion about the exclusion of ALCA from the board of the North Somerset Partnership following restructuring, and members had been unhappy about this. It had been agreed that ALCA should make a protest and request that an additional place on the board should be made available.

7. Cleaner Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005

The Clerk read out a letter from North Somerset Council Environmental Health Officer, enquiring whether the Parish Council wished to consider additional orders to control dogs on areas of land within the Parish. It was pointed out that any such orders would need notices to draw attention to them, and there would need to be a reasonable chance of enforcement. After discussion, it was decided that adequate controls were already in place, and that enforcement of the existing controls was the main difficulty.

8. Annual Newsletter

The procedure for producing this was reviewed. The main sections will be: introduction by the Chairwoman; Clerk’s report; reports by the four working groups; Planning; Memorial Hall committee. The number of words for each section is to be similar to last year. The Chairwoman and the Clerk should finalise the copy.

9. Annual Parish Meeting – 29th April

The format for this was discussed. It was agreed that the ‘social’ part of the meeting with light refreshments and an opportunity to talk informally with Council members should be included again. In addition to the formal agenda, it was agreed that the following items should be included: an update on the flooding investigation by Sophie Jones and Paul Croft; a Police report; and an item on the Village of the Year Competition by Jeremy Birkett.

The opportunity would also be taken to seek the views of residents on the possibility of reducing the time that street lights are on, to save power and reduce carbon footprint, and also to receive feedback on the Parish Plan, which would have been delivered prior to the meeting.

10. Consultations

a. Code of recommended practice on local authority publicity

It was generally felt by members that much of the code is not relevant to small Parish Councils. However, after discussion, it was agreed that the Council should respond to Question 2 of the consultation, to express the view that different codes are required for different types of authority.

b. West of England Partnership: Joint Waste Core Strategy

Cllr Yamanaka pointed out that the benefit of having a strategy would be to provide a yardstick for planning applications such as the forthcoming proposal for a ‘composter’ in Brockley woods. It was agreed that the Council should submit comments. Members were asked to send their thoughts to Cllr Bigg for collation.

10. NSC 2009/10 Budget consultation: discussed under the District Councillor’s report.

11. Open Forum

· Redhill Village Hall: The Clerk and Cllr Turton reported on a meeting the previous evening at Redhill Village Hall, which had been held to discuss the financial position, as expenses are now exceeding receipts by some margin. Residents were being asked to help promote the activities of the hall and encourage more local support. As the Parish Council supports the hall with an annual grant, it was felt that a meeting should be arranged with the Trustees and the managing committee to discuss the situation and determine how the Parish Council may be able to help. The Clerk is to organise this.

· Patient-Practice Partnership: a report had been submitted by Cllr Thorn and this was noted.

· Cllr Turton said that she is now submitting a regular article in the St Katherine’s magazine, which is circulated widely in the Downside Road area, to publicise the Parish Council’s activities and the concerns of residents in that area. Cllr Turton asked if members would like her to provide a short report on north-east ward issues for each Parish Council meeting, and it was agreed that this would be helpful.

There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 10.15 pm.