Wellow Parish Council
Clerk
Geoff White
Myrtle
Cottage, Wellow, BA2 8QS
Tel: 01225 830159
Minutes of a meeting of the Parish
Council held on Monday, February 11th2013 at 8pm in the Village
Hall.
Present:
Cllrs Andrews, Betts, Caudle, Doman, Karthauser, Prentice and White along with
ten members of the public. District Cllr Butters also attended
Agenda:
13.013 To
accept apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Cllrs
Clarkson and Wheeler.
13.014 Declarations of interest in any
matters on the agenda or in November minutes
There were no declarations of
interest.
13.015 To confirm minutes of meeting
held on December 10th2012.
Cllr White asked that the reference
to the school’s support of Wellow Sports in the January minutes should be
removed as this was not attributable to the school itself but to one of the
parents.
Cllr White said that, although she
had regretfully declined to be a part of the management team because of family
commitments, this had not been recorded in the minutes of February 7th
2013.
It was agreed to amend the minutes
in both cases and so, subject to this being done, the minutes were approved. GW
13.016 To
report matters arising from the minutes and not on the agenda.
Cllr Doman said that we were not in
a position to address the drainage issues connected with the field until we
knew more about WSG’s intentions. He
also pointed out that we had experienced unusual weather and that no firm
decisions should be made until we knew whether or not these problems were a
permanent feature.
District Cllr Butters, in reply to a
query from Cllr Caudle, said that a final decision regarding the planning
application at Bubblers Dytche would be made at the end of February. He asked Cllr Caudle to send him an email
asking him to refer the application to committee. PC
13.017 Village Hall driveway
As the directors of Crozier and Co,
the company building the new property at West End Cottages, were present the
Chairman asked them to address the Council on matters pertaining to the
driveway.
They explained that they were
anxious to have access to the property via the driveway by any means, either
outright purchase or through a lease. A
lease would mean that the driveway would still be owned by the Parish
Council. They also said that they would
alleviate the drainage problems as far as was possible.
Cllr Caudle said that she would
prefer the granting of a licence. Cllr Andrews suggested a sale of a right of
way would give the PC some cash and asked what the annual income from a lease
would be and expressed concern that the Parish Council would have to receive
annual payments which might be a problem in the long term. Crozier and Co explained that, whatever
method was chosen, it would still involve an up-front payment of around
£20,000. There would be no annual
payments.
Cllr Karthauser asked about the gate
at the start of the driveway and the Chairman explained that it was intended
that a gate would be fitted after the right of way entered the garden of West
End Cottages. It might also have a
pedestrian gate incorporated into the vehicular one.
The Chairman proposed that we grant
a lease to Crozier and Co enabling them to access the property via the village
hall driveway and that Cllrs Caudle, Doman and Prentice would form a
sub-committee to work out the details.
This was passed unanimously.
Crozier and Co agreed to ask their solicitors to draw up the lease.
PC/PD/HP
13.018 Neighbourhood Plan Survey
The Chairman said that some more
data from paper-based responses still had to be entered into the system and
that he would be able to give a full analysis of the results at the March
meeting. He will also announce the prizewinners of the draw. HP
13.019 Planning
New applications
13/00499/TCA: Summerfield. Fell and remove one Cupressus Glabra.
Cllr White said that she had looked
at the tree in question and felt that it had grown too large for its plot. It was surrounded by other trees and there
would be gap if it was felled. It was
probably taking light away from the property and she proposed that the Parish
Council support the application. This
was agreed to unanimously. JW
Decisions
Cllr White reported that the tree
application relating to Hillscroft had been approved by B&NES but that she
wanted to check that the Parish Council’s recommendation, that the tree in
question be removed completely and that a more suitable tree be planted in its
place, was part of the decision. She
would contact Jane Brewer at B&NES regarding this. JW
13.020 Finance
The financial statement for February
was approved although the Clerk pointed out that there was a discrepancy of
some £15 which he would need to correct.
The payments as listed on the agenda
were approved.
The Parish Council discussed the
application from Midsomer Norton Dial-a-Ride for a grant payment of £15 towards
their running costs. This was approved
unanimously.
The Chairman explained how he, along
with Richard Holland and the Clerk, had calculated this year’s precept
request. He confirmed that we would ask
for the same amount as in previous years and pointed out that, although it
would make no difference in practice, part of the precept would in the form of
a grant for £770 from the Dept for Communities and Local Government. The precept suggestion was supported
unanimously.
13.021 Jubilee
and Millennium Funds
Despite apologies having been
received from Cllr Clarkson, some discussion still took place regarding the siting
of a bench at the ford.
Cllr Andrews suggested that more
than one bench could be installed in different locations including by the ford
and on the playing field.
From the floor, Stewart Cole
suggested a bench at the top of Mill Hill outside the school as well as in the
car park.
The Chairman referred to a document
he had received from Mari Bartholomew regarding the suitability of the ford as
a site because of the variable nature of the area depending on rainfall.
Cllr Andrews also referred back to earlier
plans for village signs.
The Chairman proposed that Cllrs
Andrews and Clarkson look into these matters fully and to present their
findings as firm proposals, with costings, at the next meeting if at all
possible bearing in mind that Cllr Clarkson was away. This was approved
unanimously. HA/DC
13.022 Burial Board
Cllr Andrews said that the Clerk to
the Burial Board had resigned but that a replacement had been appointed. She suggested that a meeting with the Burial
Board be arranged at the earliest opportunity to discuss costs. HA/HP
13.023 Car Park
Cllr Andrews said that there was some concern
over the state of the car park, especially the lane which was heavily
potholed. There was also concern that
people were using the car park to park overnight and that B&NES might
decide to designate the car park as a travellers’ site. The car park is also
listed on a ‘wild camping’ website. She suggested that the Parish Council
should take over the management of the car park from B&NES. Horse riding
was taking place in the car park by a few local riders and Cllr Caudle said she
would have a word with them because the hooves were cutting up the grass in
this wet weather and B&NES may then refuse to cut it. Cllr Doman said that
as the car park is on the site of a former railway siding there was the
possibility of ground contamination.
PC
Alex Martin, former Chairman of
Wellow Parish Council, said that we should negotiate with B&NES to purchase
the car park from them, something which they might welcome. He suggested that we could ask Alistair
Colston to value the car park with a view to making an offer. This was agreed
unanimously. HP
13.024 Christmas carol singing
Cllr Andrews said that a total of
£156 had been raised and that a cheque for that amount had been sent to Dorothy
House.
She also confirmed the Salvation
Army would like to play at this year’s carol singing and it was agreed to set
the date as Friday, December 20th 2013. HA
13.025 Shop next door to the Fox and Badger
The Chairman referred to earlier
plans for using the shop as a library.
District Cllr Butters said that Combe Hay were due to open their library
in the church at Combe Hay shortly. Cllr
White offered to liaise with June Brassington and others at B&NES to move
Wellow’s plans forward. JW
13.026 Broadband
Cllr Karthauser gave an update
regarding progress made by the Devon and Cornwall initiative.
He also said that he had met with
representatives from Claverton, Englishcombe, Dunkerton and Monckton Combe in
connection with the proposed Wansdyke Broadband.
He agreed to forward any
documentation for the Parish Council to consider. JK
13.027 Playing Field deed
Cllr Caudle reported that the Dept
for Communities and Local Government had no record of the deed and suggested
that we should consult a barrister. The
Chairman asked her to document her research thus far and suggested that, once
this was done, we should consult a barrister at a cost of between £250 and
£500. The Chairman suggested that
Alexandra Whittaker at Stone King could be approach: Cllr Caudle also has the name of a barrister
provided by the ALCA solicitor.
This was agreed unanimously. PC/HP
13.028 Any other reports
Cllr Karthauser said that B&NES
had renovated the drains at Hassage but that the work appeared to be
incomplete. District Cllr Butters asked
him to send him full details so that he (District Cllr Butters) could follow it
up. JK
Reports regarding village wear and
tear were dealt with here. Stewart Cole
said that the litter bin by the cemetery was missing and that there was a
build-up of rubbish. Cllr Andrews said she would look into it. HA
He also said that there appeared to
be a water leak on Mill Hill. Cllr Doman
said that this was a matter for Bristol Water and that he would contact them. PD
13.028 Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting was confirmed as
8pm on Monday, March 11th 2013 at 8pm in the Village Hall. The meeting closed at 9.35pm.
Geoffrey White
Parish Clerk
February 16th 2013