Wellow Parish Council

Clerk

Geoff White

Myrtle Cottage, Wellow, BA2 8QS

Tel:  01225 830159

 

 

Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council on Monday 10th January 2011

at 8.25pm at “Cranbourne”.

 

Present: Cllrs Andrews, Betts, Colston, Halewood, Lewis, Martin (Chairman) and Watson

Six members of the public in attendance.

 

 

Agenda:

 

11.001             To accept apologies for absence.

                        Cllr Witty.

 

11.002             Declarations of interest in any matters on the agenda or in December 2010 minutes

                        Cllr Watson declared an interest in the planning application relating to Springhill House and said he would withdraw during discussions. Cllr Halewood queried whether he should withdraw when the planning application from the Wellow Composting Group was discussed since he was a member.  The Chairman advised that this was a matter for Cllr Halewood to decide.

 

11.003             To confirm minutes of meeting held on December 13th 2010.

The minutes were unanimously agreed to be a true and correct record and were accordingly signed by the Chairman.

 

11.004             To report matters arising from the minutes and not on the agenda.

                        None

 

11.005             Planning

1.      Decisions received:

10/01774/FUL Reprofiling of land at Odd Down.  The Council noted that this application had been approved.

 

2.      New Applications:

                       

                        a. 10/04818/FUL: Springhill House, White Ox Mead Lane. Erection of stable block following removal of existing stable block.

                        Cllr Lewis said that the new building would be slightly larger than the previous one but that he did not feel any concern about it.  The Council agreed unanimously to support the application.

 

                        b. 10/04818/FUL: Wellow Community Composting Project – car park, Station Road Removal of Condition 1 of application07/02400/FUL

                        Cllr Andrews said that bags of compost had been left alongside the composting bins for some months but it was pointed out that there is a constant turnover of bags in that area.  Cllr Halewood said that none of the envisaged problems, e.g. vermin and fly-tipping, had actually arisen.  Cllr Andrews described the compost bins as an eyesore.

                        Cllr Lewis suggested that a member of the Composting Committee should have been present to make a case for the application but it transpired that no-one had been invited.

                        The Chairman asked the Council to focus on the actual application which was the removal of Condition 1 which set a time limit for composting operations rather than the issue of unauthorised additional features. Cllr Halewood said that residents overlooking the site tended to be against it but others were not.

                        Summarising the discussion The Chairman suggested that the Council were seeking to defer any decision for a month and that a member of the Committee should be invited to the February meeting to give an update on progress and other matters and to answer any questions.  This was agreed unanimously. B&NES would need to be informed and an extension sought.

 

11.006             Finance

a. Approval of payments

The Chairman referred to the proposed bonus for Stuart Cole in recognition of the excellent service he provided.

The Council unanimously approved all payments.

b. To approve financial report for the month of December

Unanimously approved.

c. The Clerk reported that he had been informed by B&NES that the grant in respect of street cleaning would remain unchanged. This was duly noted.

d. Precept setting – update from Chairman

The Chairman tabled a proposed budget for 2011/12 which showed the precept remaining at the current level. The shortfall in income over expenditure being funded from reserves. The Council voted unanimously to support the proposal.

           

11.007             Parish Plan

                        To receive updates on:

(a)   Traffic calming – Cllr Watson

Cllr Watson advised members that he did not expect any more money to be forthcoming and Cllr Betts confirmed that Mr. Papalucas had said this to her when she met him recently.

Cllr Watson suggested that a speed hump would be beneficial at the west end but that it would cost between £4,000 and £5,000. He wondered whether the Council could fund it from their own resources. The Chairman questioned the need for a range of other measures as he felt that these would be at variance with the concept of “shared space”.

Cllr Colston felt that we should consolidate what we already have in order to maximise their effect.  Cllr Halewood agreed and said that this should include finishing any signage. We should update B&NES regarding the current situation. Cllr Watson said that the existing system needs finishing properly as per the original specification.

Cllr Betts said that we need to install a traffic counter as part of Wellow's Neighbourhood Speedwatch Scheme.

The possibility of setting up a small sub-group to carry matters forward in respect of traffic calming was discussed and the Chairman agreed to this.  He invited Cllrs Watson, Halewood and Betts to look into all aspects of the traffic calming scheme, identifying the need for future works, and to present a report at the next meeting.                                                                         SB,MW,DH

 

(b)   Play Area – Cllrs Lewis / Betts

Cllr Lewis advised of his meeting with Mr. Goddard from B&NES during which it was agreed that no further equipment would be bought but that any funds would be used for repairs to equipment and fences.  B&NES will provide a quote for new rubber matting.

Cllr Betts said that the playing field had been churned up and that cars were being parked on it.  This situation should be resolved following the proposed works at the Village Hall. In the meantime residents of Hungerford Terrace need to be reminded that the parking of cars on the playing field is not permitted.

 

11.008             Community Minibus

                        Update from Cllr Witty

                        This was deferred to the next meeting as a result of Cllr Witty's absence but                       the Chairman reported that Peter Downey had resigned as the Chairman of the                        Minibus Committee and from the Committee itself.  Rosemary Todd was the                         new Chair in an acting capacity at this stage.  Rosemary and Madeleine                               Waters were sharing the Secretary's role.

           

11.009             1, West End Cottages

                        Update from Cllr Colston

Cllr Colston reported on his difficulties in contacting the owner's solicitor but said that the owner will be here until January 24th by which time he hopes that matters will have been resolved.

 

11.010             Shop adjacent to Fox and Badger

Update from Cllr Colston

Cllr Colston advised members of further costs identified relating to electrical supplies which would need to be included in the works to bring the building up to standard. We await a response from the leasing company.

 

11.011             Works at the Village Hall

                        The Chairman referred to the three requests for quotes which had been sent                        out.  Two of the proposed contractors had replied but one of the quotes                                  was twice that of the other one.  He has asked the third contractor, who                                  initially declined the work, to reconsider and said that he had arranged to meet                     him, along with Richard Holland, on January 11th.   

 

           

 

11.012             Unmaintained buildings

                        The Chairman updated members on exchange of emails regarding empty                            properties advising of an attempt to get B&NES actively involved.

 

11.013             Correspondence                   

                        The Chairman showed the Council a copy of the Core Strategy document                         published by B&NES which outlined plans until 2024. He said he would go               through it with a view to compiling a response.  Cllr Colston said that he could                  provide the Chairman with a synopsis.                                                           AC

                        The Chairman drew attention to the scheme for gaining grants for tree                              planting. He asked whether anyone would like to look into this and take it                forward but nobody was forthcoming.

                        The Chairman referred to a document he had received regarding funding for                     community buildings.  Cllr Betts agreed to follow this up.                                  SB

                        The Chairman referred to the Chairman's Business Awards organised by                         B&NES and said that, should any Councillors wish to nominate an                                       organisation they should do so through the Parish Clerk.

                        The Chairman asked about Wellow’s War Memorial and the Clerk                                    confirmed that he had written to B&NES providing them with the information                       they required.  In response to a request from Cllr Betts he agreed to forward                         to her a copy of the correspondence.                                                            GW

           

11.014             Chairman’s Report

                        The Chairman advised that he had nothing to report.

 

11.015             Any other business

Cllr Andrews reported that the carol singing in The Square had raised £250.

The Chairman expressed his thanks to Cllr Andrews and Richard Holland for their work in arranging the carol singing and to Adrian Knowles who had taken numerous photographs which he had made available free of charge to residents.

                        Cllr Betts expressed concern that the areas surrounding the packhorse bridge                     needed tidying up.  She had spoken to Mari Bartholomew about it but it but                       nothing had been done so far.  The Clerk suggested that the Horticultural                             Society might be able to help and was asked to make enquiries.                    GW

                        Cllr Lewis expressed his thanks to Allied Plant Hire who provided the lights                     for the Christmas tree free of charge.

                        Cllr Colston asked about the original deeds to the Village Hall and its                               surroundings.             

                        The Chairman asked for an indication of which Councillors would be                               standing down and which would be seeking re-election in the spring.  Cllr                             Andrews and Cllr Betts said that she       hadn't made her mind up yet.  The

remaining Councillors indicated that they would be standing down.   The

 

11.016             Date of next meeting

Confirmed as Monday February 14th 2011 at 8pm in the Village Hall.

The meeting closed at 9.55pm.

 

 

GW 12.1.11