Minutes of a Meeting of Wrington Parish Council held in the John Locke room on
Wednesday, 24th February, 2010
Present:
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1. Apologies: |
Mrs .J Gallop, Chair
Mrs G. J. Bigg
Mr D. W. Glynn
Mrs P. Ledbury
Mrs G. Moss
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Mrs C. A. Phillips
Mr P. Robinson to 7.45pm
Mrs D. J. Yamanaka from 8.05pm
Mrs G. Wilson, Clerk |
Mr M. Berkley
Ms E. P. Irving,
Mrs C. Turton
Mr M MacGregor (Parish Liaison Officer)
PC Kim Tacchi |
In attendance: |
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2. Declaration of Members’ Interests
None on known agenda items.
3. Public Participation
No members of the public were present.
4. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 27th January were reviewed and signed as a true record.
Cllr Gallop asked members if they were willing to bring forward agenda item 6(e) – WVMP Consultation report – as Cllr Robinson needed to leave the meeting early. This was agreed.
6. e. Cllr Robinson reported that due to illness he had been unable to attend the first meeting of the new Project Board which has been set up to take forward the next stage of the consultation. He presented a draft of the comments for the Parish Council’s submission to the PCT, and asked that members should read this and send him their views and suggested amendments as soon as possible, as the deadline for submission is 12th March. It was agreed that members would make comments by 3rd March. The document will then be revised and circulated prior to a meeting to finalise the comments.
Cllr Robinson then gave his apologies and left the meeting.
5. Correspondence
a. NSC – invitation to attend a briefing on the ‘Recycling Revolution’ on 9th March.
b. Letter from Nicholas Brain, Solicitor at NSC, providing feedback on the two Local Standards events held in 2009.
c. Letter from Mr Michael Bury, offering to provide an item of public art for the Broad Street bus stop. It was agreed to take up his offer to produce an example of the suggested painting.
d. Alcohol request from Mrs Rowena Keane for a private party to be held in the Memorial Hall on 12th March. There were no objections.
6. Reports
a. Police report: a brief report provided by PC Tacchi was circulated and reviewed.
b. Clerk’s Report (circulated previously): included items on road repairs, statement presented to the Health and Overview Scrutiny Panel on 18th February, and the Community Governance Review, which is recommending changes to the boundary between Wrington and Backwell Parishes. On the question of road repairs, Councillors commented on the new pavements in Congresbury which seemed unnecessary, and it was agreed that a letter should be sent to NSC asking that more pressing repairs should be prioritised. It was also noted that the verge in the vicinity of Bakers Lane was still in a bad state following the road works in Langford.
Financial Report (circulated previously): the request for a precept of £76,300 had been submitted to NSC and an acknowledgement received. The following accounts for payment were approved:
Scott Arrowsmith – village orderly – February £96.00
Prism – stationery £74.59
CPRE – annual subscription £29.00
BT – quarterly account £111.78
Clerk’s salary February – to be calculated
c. District Councillor’s Report: Cllr Yamanaka had circulated a report prior to the meeting. This included information on the new recycling and waste collections – all residents will receive letters in March to let them know the arrangements for the new collections; the NSC budget for 2010/11 has been increased by 2%; the rear pedestrian access to the Primary School is now being installed.
7. Working Groups
a. Finance: a report by Cllr Gallop had been circulated prior to the meeting.
Street lights: as the cost of aluminium columns was not significantly more than the galvanised steel ones, it was agreed to adopt 5 metre high aluminium posts with 36 watt Aresa lamps at a cost of £717.26 ex VAT as a standard replacement for the old concrete street lights. The aluminium posts have a longer life and require no maintenance. The cost of approximately five new lights will be covered in the current financial year, with the remaining eleven requiring urgent replacement being covered out of next year’s budget.
Grit bins: following requests from residents during the recent snow and ice, the Finance Group recommended the purchase of three bins to be located in Orchard Close/School Road, Chapel Hill/Ropers Lane and the junction of Cowslip Green/A38. This was agreed. The yellow colour is still considered unattractive, and it was agreed to request green bins, some members having seen these in national parks.
Stationery costs for Councillors: this had again been discussed by the Finance Group, and a recommendation was made that Councillors should be provided with one ream (500 sheets) of A4 paper per annum, plus the cost of one black ink cartridge. As the price of the cartridges varies with the make of printer, it was agreed that Councillors should provide a receipt, and a maximum of £15 will be reimbursed. This was agreed.
b. Environment: Cllr Bigg gave a verbal report, following a meeting with John Inman, NSC Principal Drainage Engineer, on 8th February. John Inman is due to report back on several issues raised, but as yet Cllr Bigg has not heard from him. Cllr Yamanaka reported that a meeting has been held with Progression Homes (Rickyard Road development) at which John Inman was present and it has been agreed that the outlet from the holding pond will be connected to the pipe under Silver Street.
b. Highways: Cllr Glynn referred to a transport appraisal commissioned by Barrow Gurney Parish Council in connection with the proposed BIA expansion. The Parish Councils Airport Association made a contribution of £500 towards the cost of this. He is disappointed that the report makes very little mention of Wrington issues, and he feels it would have been more helpful if a draft had been circulated prior to final publication. It was agreed that a letter should be sent to the PCAA expressing disappointment that there is so little reference to the problems of the Downside Road/A38 junction.
8. Consultations
North Somerset Housing Stronger Communities Strategy: the consultation document had been circulated prior to the meeting. It was agreed that the Parish Council did not wish to make any comments, and the Clerk was directed to write to NSH to express the Council’s support for the document.
9. Rocque Maps Restoration
The Clerk provided an update on this project. It was now confirmed that the Mendip Society had contributed an initial grant of £200, with a further £200 from the Langford History Group and £50 from an individual. It was proposed by Cllr Ledbury and seconded by Cllr Bigg that Wrington Parish Council should make a contribution of £200, and this was agreed.
10. Local Hedgerow Surveys
Details of potential grants available from Defra and Natural England for hedgerow surveys were read out by the Clerk. Cllr Glynn explained that very detailed and time-consuming work was required to carry out such surveys, and although the Wildlife Wardens had approached NSC about this, no support had been offered. He felt that professional (paid) support would be required, and it was therefore agreed to take no further action.
11. Bus Shelter – Broad Street
The Clerk presented information on wooden shelters provided by ‘Queensbury’, a company which NSC deals with. However, after discussion, it was felt that the ‘Hassocks’ design from Littlethorpe of Leicester was less intrusive, as some members were concerned that a shelter with a pitched or gabled roof would be too dominant in Broad Street. The Clerk will now take this forward with NSC.
12. Annual Newsletter
Councillors were reminded that copy for the Annual Newsletter was needed as soon as possible. It was suggested that articles should be sent to the Clerk in the first instance.
13. Annual Parish Meeting
In addition to the formal business, presentations from other individuals and organisations were discussed. It was agreed that these should include: the new Police Sergeant responsible for this area; John Inman for an update on drainage issues; members of the Youth Bus; Alex Kolombos on the Rocque map restoration project; an update on the Wrington Vale Medical Practice consultation.
14. Open Forum
There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 9.40 pm.
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Echo Irving
Chair
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