Minutes of the Meeting of Freshford Parish Council
held on Monday July 20th 2009Present; Hugh Delap, Chairman
Stuart Campbell, Rowena Wood, Nick Stevens, Claudia Towner, Guy Ritchie, Mary Stanhope, Mandy Knowles and Stephanie Jenkins, Clerk.Neil Butters was present for the later part of the meeting.
1. Apologies for Absence; received from John Adler (illness)
2. Declarations of Interest; SC as member of Shop Committee (item 9c). It was noted that various other Councillors had made or promised donations to the shop project. Under Planning (item 6) RW & CT declared an interest in the Ranikhet Farm application and NS in the Greenacre appeal.
3. Minutes ; the minutes of the meeting of June 22nd 2009 were agreed to be an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.
4 Finance
Payments needing to be made in JULY approved
Ian Croker, Street Cleaning, £210.97
Guy Clarkson, Railing Renovation (balance), £1552
Southern Electric, Supply (April-June), £343.33
SEC, Routine Maintenance Street Lighting (April-June), £177.49
SEC, Non-routine maint. Street Lighting, £29.50
SEC, Installation of 15 “part-night” photocells, £1124.70
Hugh Delap, Bulletin Printing Costs (to be reimbursed by Bath Stone) £158.20
Ian Croker, Street Cleaning (no August meeting to approve this), £210.97
Retrospective payment; approved
Claudia Towner, Toner, £23.02
Receipts
B&NES Street Cleaning Funding (June) £303.49
B&NES Street Cleaning Funding (July) £303.49
Scottish Widows Tracker Account, Interest, £215.84 (Reserves stand at £4333)
VAT Claim; The Clerk stated that she had submitted the PC’s annual claim, for £1029.08
Street Lighting; The Clerk told Councillors that improvements from 08-09 budget had been completed and instigated discussion on the choice of improvements for the current financial year.
It was unanimously agreed to investigate the costs of lighting the footpath running down from the top of the cemetery, behind The Glebe gardens, onto Freshford Lane. This would prove a useful route to the Galleries Shop and the Village Hall and would use low-level lights (approx 6, bollard type). The Clerk was asked to set up a meeting with SEC’s Lighting Engineer and obtain costings.
Grass Cutting; three quotes had been received for the annual contract and, of these, James Lock at £2080 was the unanimous choice, both on price and attention to detail The Clerk was asked to contact him, asking him to take on the contract from August 11th on a pro rata basis. At the end of the year both parties will review the contract before agreeing on arrangements for 2010.
Cemetery Water Tap; the Clerk asked Councillors whether, at £116 per annum, the supply of water to the cemetery represented an unnecessary expenditure, as many residents were not aware of the presence of the tap and came with bottles of water of their own. She is to raise the matter in the next edition of the Bulletin to see what public reaction there would be. 5. CorrespondenceB&NES Overview and Scrutiny, Annual Report
Cotswold Conservation Board, appointment of Replacement Parish member
NALC, email, nomination for Local Council Awards
ALCA, newsletter, briefings, Agenda for AGM on Sept 23rd, Minutes of previous and Annual Report.
Community Action, notice of AGM, July 29th
Post Office, public consultation – Service Relocation
Peter Duppa Miller and Geoff Edwards, emails about the proposed changes to The Mobile Library Route
Wilts County Council, notice of adoption of Wilts and Swindon Minerals and Waste Core Strategy.
6. Planning MattersDecisions
Walnut Grove (09/ 00625/FUL) erection of single storey side extension, detached two storey double garage/office and extension to first floor front balcony; PERMITTED, having been reduced in scale.
New Applications
Ranikhet Farm (09/02302/FUL), two-storey extension; after discussion, it was agreed (proposed SC, seconded NS) to respond with “Comment Only”, detailing three points for officer consideration; privacy issues, particularly in respect of the construction of a balcony; materials, using timber boarding when the existing elevations are of stone and volume increase, querying whether the base for this should be the original barn rather than the larger house built as the conversion
Bristol Airport expansion scheme; it was agreed to support the Parish Councils Airport Association approach to the application, asking for passenger numbers to be capped and the expansion to be limited. An additional request was also made, for a regular bus service from Bath to the airport.
Greenacre, Warminster Road (09/00060/RF) notice of appeal; RW told Councillors that the Parish Council’s original objection would be forwarded to the Inspector alongside the officer report. It was agreed that the objection had been strongly worded and needed nothing added to it.
On-going Items
Parking at The Inn/ internal alterations/car park; John Dando, of B&NES enforcement team had stated that a Planning Contravention notice regarding the car park had been authorised and would be served shortly. The enforcement report on the internal alterations had been sent to the Historic and Environment Team leader for consideration.
General Items
Guide to Councillors on background and system for Planning Applications; ongoing.
War Memorial; RW reported that she was awaiting formal notification of listing.
Morris’s Lion; HD had spoken to Sonia Follows and established that, whilst the gate post belongs to her, the lion does not.
7. Emergency PlanningHD reported that, following the last meeting he had established that there is no legal obligation for Parish Councils to prepare an emergency scheme. However B&NES assured him that many PCs had found it a very useful exercise. It was agreed to leave the matter until the revised template for a scheme is issued later in the year.
8. Updatesa. Freshford MillOngoing Matters; RW reported that she and HD would be meeting Phil Desmond of YRD on July 30th to discuss traffic matters. Mr Desmond had notified the Parish Council that YRD would be putting forward an amendment to Block H, following the incorporation of the Bat House. RW had also notified YRD that work on the site had been starting at 7.30am, rather than the permitted 8am and had been assured that this would be addressed.
b. Affordable Housing; NS told Councillors that the Housing Needs Survey had been delivered to every household within the parish and its close environs. It had also been made available at the school, the surgery, the Stone Mine, Rentokil and Homewood Park Hotel. Limpley Stoke had completed distribution within their parish. The results should be available by September.
c. Community Shop; at the latest FLiSCA meeting Peter King had reported that the shop opening was still on target for the end of July/ early August, with an official opening by a local celebrity planned for September. Post Office officialdom has insisted that the temporary Post Office cannot just be transferred into the new building, but the move must be the subject of six weeks of “consultation” with the public.
d. Footpaths, Walls and Trees; MS reported that a number of “overhanging hedge” issues were being dealt with by B&NES Footpaths Officer and that the Cotswold Wardens would shortly be undertaking some major work on the Tyning footpath running down to The Inn. She had followed up a total of five tree orders, none of which had proved controversial.
e. Street Cleaning and Dog Matters
The Pound; MK told Councillors that she was in the process of creating a form for collecting comments and suggestions for improvement/use of the small enclosure. These would be placed in the Galleries Shop. NS suggested holding a competition to create a cow/cows, which could stand in the Pound. If successful as an idea, an annual “sculpture” competition might be an option.
Dog Matters; sites and types of bin for waste collection are still being negotiated. Councillors agreed that the problem of dog fouling had recently increased again and MK was asked to resume “polo” spraying in the problem spots.Garden Refuse Tipping; the Clerk had received a complaint that garden refuse had been dumped on the area of land (currently subject of an ownership dispute) behind the Glebe. MK agreed, as an interim measure, to put up a preventative sign, similar to the one in The Pound.f. Railways; RW stated that she was still actively following up the matters of additional cycle stands, lighting timings and the disappearance of the Freshford information boards with Pete Jobson, Station manager. She told Councillors that NB had pursued the matter of a meeting about the possible extension to the car park with B&NES and First Group and this was likely to take place later in the summer.
Wessex Water had removed their temporary parking barriers at the Station and the works were due to finish, on target, by September.
g. Highways; NS stated that Alan Cunningham had received assurances from NavTeq that Ashe’s Lane and Rosemary Lane would be removed from their routing system; a tribute to his determination!
NS presented Councillors with a draft of “People and Vehicle in Freshford”, a comprehensive document intended to link all the currently outstanding traffic-related problems and suggested solutions. Once the paper has been discussed and added to by Councillors, the SIPV group and possibly individuals involved in the Parish Plan “Getting About” Group, it is intended to take it to the local authority, offering them the opportunity to solve Freshford’s problems using an “integrated” approach, rather than the piecemeal way in which matters have formerly been dealt with. Councillors thanked NS for his hard work in creating the document, which they felt provided a very detailed overview. NB suggested contacting Hinton Charterhouse PC, who have a traffic consultant as a Councillor. SC suggested including maps, plans and pictures in the report. Both he and RW felt that it would be unwise to focus on any one particular scheme, such as Rosemary Lane, as this would detract from the desired holistic approach. NS asked for any further comments and suggestions to reach him within the week. He would then be meeting the SIPV group to canvass opinions before the Parish Council presented the final version of the report to B&NES in September. 10. Parish Plan Implementationsa. Shared Space; HD reported that the SIPV Group had met and had agreed to press for Tasos Papaloucas (B&NES Highways) to produce drawings of the possible footpath from the school to the Village Hall. They were awaiting the meeting with the Parish Council, to discuss the “People and Vehicles in Freshford” report, with interest.b. Railing Renovation; HD reported that the work had been completed, including a ram’s head decoration, commissioned and paid for by Bridget Baker, on one of the railing uprights opposite the pub. Councillors again expressed their thanks to her for the energy and enthusiasm which she had brought to the project. HD and the Clerk to plan a small celebration.
c. Getting About; nothing to report.d. Communications and Funding; GR updated Councillors on sponsorship for the Bulletin. Bath Stone Mine, David Richardson Lettings, Ypres Rose have all agreed to sponsor an issue. Ambius are being approached about the Spring 2010. Councillors congratulated him on this success.
GR stated that, having been alerted by Paddy Fitzgerald to the existence of the Community Builders’ Fund opening in mid-August, he had registered the Parish Council’s interest. The £70 million fund of grants and loans available for “community benefit” could be useful in a number of projects.
e. Police and Neighbourhood Watch; MK reported on issues raised at the Parish Forum Meeting held in Radstock. Concern had been expressed about the criminal opportunities presented by the forthcoming “Digital Go Live” installations. The elderly would be particularly at risk and the police would be eager to support parish councils in making residents aware of this. It was agreed to report on the matter in the next Bulletin and to investigate the possibility of inviting the police to speak at one of the Old Bakery Lunches. MK to liaise with MS on this. MK told Councillors that the structure of PACT meetings is under review. B&NES feel that issues of crime are being overtaken by complaints about issues only tenuously connected, such as road signs and Satnav, and considerable volumes of work are generated.
Neighbourhood Watch; it is believed that Trevor Wilmot, the Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, who spoke at the Annual Parish Meeting, no longer holds that post. MK is to make contact with his replacement with a view to reinstating the system in Freshford. HD to approach Graham Jenkinson, who was involved in Neighbourhood Watch in Norton St Philip and might be persuaded to take responsibility for the High Street.
f. Children and Youth;Pre-School Plans; CT told Councillors that paid staff had been appointed, but there were still vacancies for volunteer helpers and that the committee was keen to attract members of the wider community, rather than just parents. The Pre-School would be opening at the start of the primary school term, September 3rd. An opening “event” with a press photo would be held on September 22nd.
Brown’s Field; MK asked about plans for the site, since the idea of obtaining a grant to build new facilities had not proved feasible. The Parish Plan had highlighted the need for facilities for older teenagers. HD reported on a meeting and exchanges he had had with those involved with the Field (landowners, football club, tennis club and scout hut trustee). These had concentrated on the restoration of the scout hut as a facility for wider use, but a survey and estimate of the costs involved had been off-putting. At the Annual Parish Meeting the feeling seemed to be that resources would be more importantly directed to improving the Village Hall. Whilst the Parish Council could bring the matter to public attention, it did not have the resources or manpower to undertake a scheme, nor did it own the site or the existing buildings. As a further step in generating some public interest, an article in the next Bulletin seemed the best option.
Brownies; CT warned Councillors that there would soon be a need for a new Brown Owl as Elizabeth Chatwin would be retiring. It was agreed that an article about the Brownies and an appeal for a new leader should feature in the Autumn edition of the Bulletin.
g. Natural Environment
Village Ramble; GR reported on the success of the ramble, attended by 75 people. Largely due to the sale of refreshments, it had generated a profit of £25.04 and those present were keen for the event to be repeated, possibly becoming a regular biannual event. Thanks were expressed to Alan Dodge for leading the walk and to Candy Harrison for publicity and Charlie Murray for organising refreshments. 11. A.O.B.Fisherman’s Complaint; SC reported that he had received a complaint from the Angler’s Association. One of their members had remonstrated with dog owners, who claimed to be residents of Freshford and were allowing their dogs into the river, disturbing fish. On pointing out that they were not on a public right of way, he was spoken to rudely and his complaint ignored. It was agreed to include a report of this incident in the next Bulletin (SC) asking residents to observe the footpath routes and to be aware of the intrusion on wildlife posed by their animals. 12.Date of next meeting; MONDAY September 7th