Minutes of the Meeting of Freshford Parish Council

held on Monday January 5^th 2009

Present; Hugh Delap, Chairman

Stuart Campbell, Mandy Knowles, Guy Ritchie, Mary Stanhope, Rowena Wood, Nick Stevens, Claudia Towner, Ray Benfield and Stephanie Jenkins, Clerk.

Also present, two members of the public.

1. Apologies for Absence; none

2. Declarations of Interest; RW as neighbour in Ranikhet Farm planning discussions (item 6). SC as member of Shop Committee (item 10). It was noted that various other Councillors had made or promised donations to the shop project.

3. Minutes ; the minutes of the meeting of December 1^st 2008 were agreed to be an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

4. Finance

Payments needing to be made in January

Ian Croker, Street Cleaning, £203.78

Bath Preservation Trust, Annual Membership, £15

SEC, Routine Maintenance of Street Lighting, £177.49

Hetreed Ross, photocopying Freshford Mill plans, £20

Receipts

B&NES, Street Cleaning funding, £292.91

Friends of Freshford, Contribution to work on War Memorial, £500. Councillors asked the Clerk to write expressing their thanks for this generous donation.

Grass Cutting/Maint. Contract

The four quotations received were discussed and it was agreed that the Clerk should contact Countrywide Grounds Maintenance, to establish a firm price, with the provision that the agreement would be for one year only.

Annual Precept Budget

The Clerk stated that she would be preparing this, with the help of the Chairman, for presentation and approval at the February meeting.

Street Lighting

The Clerk reported that she was still awaiting prices for the complex photocells which would enable lamps to be switched off from 1am.

She had only just been alerted to the fact that one of the street lights, at the junction of Pipehouse and the A36, had been demolished by a car on December 29th. This would necessitate an insurance claim and she had begun collecting the information required. 5. Correspondence

CPRE, Fieldwork Magazine

B&NES Transport, Newsletter

Somer Community Housing Trust, Newsletter

NALC, Legal Briefings

Mr Dewings, letter of thanks for retirement present.

B&NES Heritage Services; events leaflets

6. Planning Matters

New Applications; 3 The Orchard (08/04444/FUL); after some discussion the PC agreed a “Comments Only” response which listed a detailed series of seven concerns. These focussed on the effects of the increased volume of the proposed building on the architecturally cohesive nature of The Orchard development. The proviso was made that, should it prove that the overall volume increase would exceed the permitted limit, the Parish Council response would then be to “Object”.

On-going Items

Freshford Mill, Variation of Condition 32 (provision of bat house) 08/01778/VAR; decision still awaited.
Parking at The Inn/ internal alterations/outdoor marquee; no reply from case officer, John Dando.
Tennis Club Lighting; RW reported a reply from the enforcement team. As the work on the courts had been re-surfacing, not connected to the lighting plans, there had been no obligation to submit planting proposals. RW had informed officers that ducts had been laid under the courts and this had been part of the application for the lighting, but had received no response to this information.
Ranikhet Pond; Responding to complaints from two parishioners, HD had followed up the apparent disregard of the Condition attached to the application regarding the replacement of turf removed during excavations. The owners had assured him that the turf had in fact been replaced as required, but had been covered with topsoil to protect it from heavy machinery. It would be a question of waiting to see what grew back. Councillors expressed concern about the apparent lack of interest shown by the planners and AONB officials over the matter. SC was asked to investigate, through Natural England, the processes by which a field could be declared an SSI.

General Items

Gas Pipe/ Dark Lane; RW to follow up with Ian Lund (B&NES Planning Dept.)
Meeting with Planners; still to be arranged (RW)
Signage; SC reported that he had contacted the owners of Downside Nursery and established that they would be keen to have one of the “heritage-style” brown signs at the main A36 junction into Freshford. Councillors discussed the issues of signage at some length; the main concern being the setting of precedents and the proliferation of ugly signage NS agreed to explore, with B&NES, exactly what the rules are for signs. SC would then go back to Downside to explain the PC’s views that there would be no objection to a small sign.

7. Freshford Mill

Drawings; RW reported that she had received the copies of the drawings from Ann Ross at a cost of £20. Councillors expressed their thanks to Ann for her help in this.

Ongoing Matters; still to be arranged, a meeting with Nick Jeanes about site access. No progress yet with the awaited verge-cutting or with a response from the ecology officer about the bats.

Meeting with YRD; the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Clerk had been given a site tour just before Christmas. YRD had stated that, despite the current difficult financial situation, they were still confident of completing the scheme by mid-2010.

8. Affordable Housing

Apart from the fact that Louise Davidson of English Rural Housing Association would be addressing the next meeting of Limpley Stoke Parish Council, NS had no progress to report.

9. Parish Plan Implementation

Shared Space; RB reported that further discussions had been held with the school over the plans proposed by B&NES Highways to improve safety at the crossroads. The school would be keen to create a safe footpath along the Freshford Lane field boundary to where the school bus might park in the existing lay-by and to provide a link for children walking down from cars parked at the Memorial Hall. The Shared Space Group and the school are to meet Highways Officers on January 20^th. Involvement with the Bradford on Avon “Taming the Traffic” scheme continues. Working groups are to be set up. RB also reported that the police have agreed that the narrow pavement space opposite the school on Freshford Lane presents a hazard and have joined with the school in sending letters to the residents involved asking that the hedge be cut back.
Railing Renovation; HD reported that work is due to begin within ten days. The total costs will be £3562. Bridget Baker has raised over £1500, by the sale of her Freshford calendars, cards and wire animals, and the Friends of Freshford have agreed to make a donation of £1000, now that the railings are in the ownership of the Parish Council. These amounts will be paid to the Parish Council from where payments to the Blacksmith can be made with the VAT element recoverable. The final stretch opposite the pub requires completely new railings, costing the remaining £1100 and this work can be postponed until additional funds are available. Councillors expressed their gratitude to Bridget Baker for her excellent fundraising and to the Friends of Freshford for their unfailingly generous response.
Getting About; RW reported that a bus survey on the 95 route had an average of 5 passengers per journey. She is to follow up the matter of the possible provision of low-level buses on the 94 route. The number and possible sites for the proposed cycle stands at the Memorial Hall and the Surgery is still under debate.
Communications; NS reported that an application for a grant to replace/install three notice boards had been made for the Parish Council via the Friends of Freshford. A decision is awaited. GR reported on the progress within the Communications Group of plans for a village magazine. Rather than introduce a third publication (after the Church’s Parish Magazine and the Parish Council’s Bulletin) they felt the best option might be to join forces with The Bulletin contributing a wider range of content, but leaving final editorial control in the hands of the PC Chairman. Councillors felt that this would be a distinct possibility.
Neighbourhood Watch; RB reported that there had been no volunteers in response to the Bulletin article. Councillors agreed to his suggestion that the Bath Co-ordinator of Neighbourhood Watch be invited to speak at the Annual Parish Meeting in April.
Pre-School Plans; CT reported that the decoration of the Hall Committee room had been finished, along with the storage cupboards for toys and equipment. An Ofsted inspection is expected in March. As yet, a Playschool Leader has not been appointed.
Playground Improvements; CT reported that work on this should start at the end of February.
Use of Brown’s Field; HD reported that no further progress had been made on exploring the potential of Brown’s Field for improving facilities for teenagers. He hoped to set up a meeting with Alan Gwynn and Ken Birleson to discuss this. It was also important to note that the field lies outside the parish.

10. Village Shop

SC reported that the contracts had been signed and the contractors, Biggs, should be starting work in early February with completion expected by mid-summer.

11. Footpaths, Walls and Trees

Fingerposts; MS reported that she had contacted B&NES Nic Sperring about the delay in the promised renovation work. He had assured her that he would be reviewing the situation and stated that he was aware that the contractors, Atkins, were behind with their schedule.

Tree Order; for work at Hermitage Cottage. MS could see no reason for the PC to object. B&NES had notified the Parish Council about this work, but there is still some uncertainty about the criteria for notification. MS to monitor. 12 Street Cleaning and Dog Matters

Leaf hazard; Following an accident in which a resident had been injured (not within the Parish), Councillors agreed on the need to be aware that a build-up of fallen leaves can make pavement areas very slippery. They were asked to report any problems to MK so that Ian Croker can deal with them. RB noted that the pavement along Freshford Lane had been cleared very effectively.

MK reported that the B&NES Dog Warden is to visit in January. She will bring examples of the new signage on offer.

13. HighwaysThere had been complaints about the delay in dealing with the dangerous condition of the railings on the bridge by Freshford Mill and SC agreed to contact Highways with photographs to ask for prompt action.

RB stated that he had provided Highways with full details of lanes too narrow for lorries for them to pass on to GPS manufacturers.

He noted that the work at Park Corner, scheduled for last November, had not yet begun. He would approach Tassos Papaloucas about this. 14. RailwaysRW stated that she had not yet had a response to her most recent request to Network Rail for extra parking space at the station. She was intending to follow up the matter of the additional cycle stands with First Great Western. 15. Planning Policy Meeting

SC told Councillors that B&NES Planning Policy Officers had requested a meeting with Freshford Parish Council. Under the demands of the soon-to-be-published Regional Spatial Strategy, B&NES are examining policies which would affect rural settlements and Freshford is one of the first parishes to be considered. A new policy, Development Policy C, would strengthen designated communities by supporting economic activity, extending services and meeting identified housing needs. SC reminded Councillors that, under the year-old Local Plan, Freshford’s status is that of an R3 village, a designation that provides the highest level of protection against unsuitable development. Whilst the new Development Policy C had obvious attractions, it would be wise to consider what the disadvantages in being re-designated might be.

Councillors discussed the possible implications for the future of Freshford at considerable length, but it was agreed that, until the views of the Planning Officers had been revealed, it was not possible to formulate any kind of response. HD and SC were asked to keep the views expressed through the Parish Plan clearly in mind at the meeting on January 22^nd and to report back accordingly.

16. AOBJoining forces with the six other Parish Councils in the Limpley Stoke Valley

HD reported on a meeting with Adrian Kennedy, former Chairman of Limpley Stoke PC and a current Councillor. They had discussed the possibility of Freshford PC joining the other parish councils in the Limpley Stoke valley with a view to promoting its strengths and potential. The loose group that exists at the moment- led by Claverton and Batheaston PCs is concerned with a perceived renewed threat of an A46/A36 link. But the concept of thePCs, and potentially others, forming a Development Trust (see http://www.dta.org.uk) is seen as an approach which has a greater likelihood of preserving and promoting all that is best about the valley.

HD sought the approval of the council to explore the possibilities with the other councils with a view to coming back with a recommendation to join. He remarked that, in becoming involved in this, the potential of FLiSCA to promote joint Freshford and Limpley Stoke activities would not be forgotten.

Councillors gave their approval.

17. Date of next meeting; Monday February 2^nd 2009

Freshford Village Website (PC Minutes 5th January 2009)