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