Wellow Parish Council
Clerk
Geoff White
Myrtle
Cottage, Wellow, BA2 8QS
Tel: 01225 830159
Minutes of a meeting of the Parish
Council on Monday 13th June 2011 at 7pm in the Village Hall.
Present:
Cllrs Andrews, Betts, Caudle, Clarkson, Dolman, Prentice, White and Witty.
District Cllr Butters also attended.
Six members
of the public in attendance.
Agenda:
11.076 To accept apologies for absence.
Apologies had been
received from Cllr Wheeler. Cllr Witty
and District Cllr Butters had indicated that they would be arriving later.
11.077 Declarations of interest in any
matters on the agenda or in May 2011 minutes
Cllr. Andrews expressed
some interest in respect of Item 11.081 (b) since the tree in question was
visible from her property but it was felt that it would be unnecessary for her
to withdraw.
11.078 To confirm minutes of meeting
held on February 14th 2011.
The minutes of the Annual
Parish Meeting, the Annual General Meeting and the Parish Council Meeting held
on May 9th were approved unanimously and duly signed by the
Chairman.
11.079 To report matters arising from the minutes and not
on the agenda.
It
was pointed out that, while there were two councillors representing each of the
various council
responsibilities, in the case of St Julian’s School there was only one, Cllr
Wheeler.
Cllr Clarkson said that
there were actually three people overseeing planning and so, after some
discussion, it was agreed that Cllr White would relinquish her position with
respect to planning and oversee school matters along with Cllr Wheeler.
11.080 Village Wear and Tear
a.
Diseased tree on Bull’s Hill
Cllr White reported that
she had been approached by a resident who was concerned that there appeared to
be a diseased tree at the village end of Bull’s Hill. It was not clear who owned it.
She said
that she had been in contact with Stefan Chivers and Jane Brewer at B&NES
who is the planning officer responsible for trees. Jane has looked at the tree but cannot tell
whether it is actually diseased or not and so has passed the details on to the
Highways Dept.
Cllr Caudle
asked whether the tree was in the grounds of the allotments near the church and
Cllr White replied that it wasn’t.
B&NES have confirmed that Wellow Parish Council do not need to do
any more in connection with the tree.
b.
Damaged wall at 1 West End Cottages
Cllr Witty drew attention
to the cracked wall at 1 West End Cottages. Cllr Betts asked whether the
tenants there were aware of the fact that they should not park in the garden of
the property as there was no right of way up the Village Hall driveway.
The Chairman said she
would email the owner in respect of both matters. HA
c.
Other items
Stuart Cole, from the
floor, said that the drain outside the school at the top of Mill Lane was still
ineffective. Cllr White said that she
had already been in touch with Stefan Chivers about it and he has promised to
add it to his list of things to do. To date, nothing has been done but, as Cllr
Betts observed, B&NES tend to be a bit slow in these matters.
Cllr Betts mentioned that
there is a similar problem at Hopes Lane where there is a broken manhole
cover. She also said that Hinton Hill is
problematic despite the earlier works there as there are signs that the road
surface is coming up. Cllr Caudle remarked that it hadn’t been done properly in the first place.
11.081 Planning
1.
New applications
a. 11/01959/FUL: 4 West
End Cottages High Street Wellow
Description of Proposal: Erection
of a rear lean-to following demolition of flat roofed rear extension and loft
conversion including rear dormer.
Cllr Clarkson said that
she couldn’t see any problem with the proposal and Cllr Caudle agreed. It was agreed unanimously to support the
application.
b. 11/02341/TCA:
Oak End 1 Station Road Wellow
Description of Proposal: Crown
thin by approx 20%, reshape crown by 10-15% where needed only of Oak tree.
Clllr
Betts said that there was a preservation order on the tree and so it cannot be
removed completely. Richard Holland,
from the floor, explained that the proposed 20% cut was the maximum amount
allowed as any further pruning would distress the tree.
It
was agreed unanimously to support the proposal. HA
2.
Decisions received
11/01133/LBA: Midford
Mill. Demolition of garage, provision of street entrance,
replacement of pantiles and reinstatement of water mill with electricity
generating functions.
B&NES
had advised that the application would be permitted. The Clerk pointed out that we had received this
notification as Wellow is an adjoining parish.
3.
Appointment of Councillor to send Council planning decisions
to B&NES
This
role had been undertaken by the previous Chairman, Alex Martin. The Chairman said that she would continue and
this was agreed.
11.082 Finance
The
financial report for May was approved as were the outstanding payments.
Cllr Betts asked about
the contract we had with B&NES regarding the maintenance of the playing
fields. The Clerk thanked her for
bringing this up as we had received a contract for some £500 last summer but we
had never paid it. The reason for this
was that, although we had received a contract, we had never been sent an
invoice. The Clerk had suggested that we
pay the bill anyway but the previous Chairman had ruled that we would not do so
until we received the bill. B&NES
had indicated that they were behind with all this but that we should receive
the invoice by the end of 2010 but this has never materialised. The Clerk said he would raise the matter with
B&NES. GW
Cllr Prentice asked whether he could see the contract and the
Clerk said he would arrange it. (Note that it is currently in Richard Holland’s
possession as part of our annual audit) GW
11.083 Parish Plan
a.
Traffic Calming
Following a speed survey
we have been informed that the average speed through the village is 24mph. Cllr
Betts felt that the current traffic calming is ineffective and that we should
have speed humps.
Cllr Doman wanted to know
whether enough was made of the village entrances. The Chairman suggested that
we ask District Cllr Butters to attend the Parish Council meeting in July at
which time the question of traffic calming would be addressed and we would
enlist his help.
Cllr Prentice asked
whether there was any money left in the traffic calming fund. It was explained that the money had come from
the businesses at Bath Business Park situated at the end of the road between
Wellow and the main road at Peasdown St John.
B&NES had control of
the funds and the drawing up of contracts.
We will ask District Cllr Butters to look into it. HA
Cllr Betts said that we
should have a greater presence of police officers and that, rather than holding
their regular surgeries in the pub they should be more visible along the road.
b.
Official notification of
mandatory nature of 20mph speed limit
The
document received and circulated was noted.
c.
Wellow signs
Cllr White reported that
she had been in touch with Stefan Chivers regarding the signs at the bottom of
Mill Hill which, at the moment are orientated incorrectly and cannot properly
be seen from the road. He will look into it.
The Chairman said that
she would invite Mark Watson to the next meeting to give a full update. HA
d.
Millenium Fund
The Clerk said that he
had unearthed the relevant bank statements which stopped in early 2009. He explained that Sue Wordsworth’s address
was used for receipt of the statements but that he had spoken with her and she
knew nothing about signatories and did not possess any documentation.
As a result, the bank
were making further enquiries but, at this stage it would appear that the
accounts, amounting to some £2300, had been closed and the money transferred to
NatWest’s dormant accounts. The bank was undertaking further enquiries and we
should hear from them very soon, possibly by the end of the week.
GW
e.
School Survey
Cllr Betts said she would
follow up the comments contained in this report, previously received and
circulated, in respect of the play area. SB
11.084 Speeding in
Manor Close
Cllr Clarkson said that she had
spoken with Sally Jackson at Somer Housing.
Although one of the residents, Ms Sturmer, had indicated that she would
like to see relevant signs warning of elderly people and speed humps, Ms Jackson
had advised that this was a matter for the Highways Dept at B&NES. Stefan
Chivers, though, has said that there is no funding.
Cllr Caudle said that she had
emailed the Community Police Officer to ask whether he could make door to door
calls in Manor Close and distribute leaflets warning about speeding but that
she yet to receive a reply.
It was suggested that an article be
placed in the next Parish Newsletter and Cllr Clarkson said that she would be
happy to write it. We should also
mention that the 20mph speed limit was now mandatory and not advisory. DC
11.085 Shop adjacent to Fox and Badger
Cllr Witty asked whether we could
lease the shop which would be used as an office and also as a repository for
parish records. Cllr Caudle said that the
owners would require the Parish Council to renovate the property before a lease
could be granted.
Cllr Betts wondered whether the
state of dereliction of the shop posed any threat to Tony Green’s property next
door.
Cllr Doman confirmed that the owners
expected any potential lessees to do it up themselves.
The Chairman said she would
follow-up on the latest exchange of emails. HA
11.086 Playing Field Grant
Cllr Witty drew attention to the
availability of grant funding for leveling the playing field. Jean Horler, from the floor, pointed out the
need for adequate drainage and Cllr Doman agreed.
It was suggested that Cllr Witty
might be assisted in taking this further and Cllr Prentice agreed to help. MW/HP
11.087 Wellow and Shoscombe Burial Board
The Chairman drew everyone’s
attention to the accounts and said that a meeting of the Burial Board was
scheduled for June 30th.
11.088 Any other reports
It was agreed that the sum of £50 be
set aside to pay for a present for Alex Martin, recently retired as Chairman,
in recognition of his excellent work over many years. It was suggested that a
garden centre voucher would be appropriate. HA
Pauline Priddy, Church Warden, had
suggested that a committee be formed to plan for next year’s Diamond Jubilee.
Cllr Caudle asked whether we could
ask B&NES to delay cutting the verges around Wellow until after the wild
asparagus in the area had finished flowering.
Cllr Caudle agreed to follow this up. PC
11.089 Date of next meeting
The date of the next
meeting was confirmed as Monday July 11th at 8pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 8.30
following which Councillors were intending to walk around the village to see at
first hand some of the issues raised and pending.
Geoffrey
White
Parish
Clerk
June 19th
2011