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, May 13th 2013 at 8pm in the Village Hall.
Present:
Cllrs Andrews, Betts, Caudle, Clarkson, Doman, Karthauser, Prentice, Wheeler
and White along with eight members of the public. District Cllr Neil Butters
also attended.
Agenda:
13.063 To accept apologies for absence
None
13.064 Declarations of interest in any
matters on the agenda or in March minutes
There were no declarations of
interest.
13.065 To confirm Minutes of meeting
held on April 8th 2013.
The Minutes were approved
unanimously.
13.066 To report matters arising from
the Minutes and not on the agenda.
The Chairman will arrange a meeting
in connection with the Neighbourhood Plan. HP
Cllr Caudle will provide an update
on West End Cottages as soon as she is in a position to do so. PC
Cllr White agreed to provide an
update on the shop next to the Fox and Badger and on the proposed library
before the next meeting in June. JW
13.067 Tree maintenance
Scott Watson of Wildwood provided
and update regarding tree work carried out so far.
He said that the lime tree on the
Village hall driveway would need thinning and that ivy would need to be
stripped from the trees near the compost heaps in the Car Park. The Council
agreed to put this work in place and also to seek approval for the removal of
an ash tree in the play area. It would subsequently be tested for die-back.
Approval has been received for the
removal of tree roots at the entrance to the Village Hall driveway. Cllrs Doman and White will be present when
the work is done.
13.068 St
Julian’s School
The Council considered a request
from the school for a donation towards the cost of their planned visit to
Cologne. After considerable discussion
it was felt that the Council did not have sufficient information to be able to
make a decision and so the issue was deferred until the next meeting when it
was hoped that a representative from the school would be in attendance. JW
13.069 Planning
There were no new applications.
The decisions received from
B&NES regarding Manor Barn Farm (approved), Parcel 6722 at Dunkerton Hill
(approved) and Hillscroft (refused) were noted.
It was also noted that the
application regarding Bubblers Dytche had been deferred to the next planning
meeting.
13.070 Insurance
renewal
It was agreed unanimously to renew
our insurance policy with Aon. The Clerk
was asked to act accordingly. GW
13.071 Finance
The financial report was approved unanimously.
The following payments
were approved:
Payman (payroll services) £102.00
Street cleaner £213.51
Clerk’s salary £172.79
ALCA (course fee) £ 75.00
Aon (insurance) £392.87
G White (purchase of
stamps) £ 13.20
CPRE (subs) £ 29.00
Wildwood (tree
maintenance) £ 25.00
Wildwood (tree
maintenance) £395.00
13.072 Village Hall trustees
Cllr Betts asked that this item be deferred
to the June meeting as she now had additional documentation relating to it.
This was approved unanimously.
13.073 Millennium Fund
It was unanimously
agreed to defer this item until the June meeting.
13.074 Car Park
Following the circulation of
additional correspondence received from residents the Parish Council reversed
their earlier decision to re-instate the barrier at the entrance to the car
park by a majority of 8 to 1. The Clerk was asked to inform B&NES
accordingly. GW
13.075 Landfill Sites
The Chairman provided an
update.
The Chairman proposed that the
Parish Council support Wellow Sports in their application and that the Parish
Council refrain from applying for any funding until the outcome of Wellow
Sports’ application is known. The
proposal was approved by seven votes to nil with two abstentions.
13.076 Wellow Ford
Cllr Wheeler showed photographs of
the signage proposed by B&NES at Wellow Ford. The signs would read “Ford”
until changed to read “No entry”. B&NES are no longer proposing gates.
The Council was unanimous in not
wanting to appoint a flood warden with responsibility for changing the sign
from “Ford” to “No entry”. The Council
agreed that the existing signs could be moved higher up the hill so they could
be seen earlier, but it does not want more signs. The Council does not believe
that the “Ford/No entry” sign will change drivers’ behavior. The Council is
concerned that, in the event a car was washed away and the sign had not been
changed to “No entry” then the driver could make a claim on the basis that
there was permission to cross the ford. It was agreed not to support the signs
proposed by B&NES by 8 votes to 1. Cllr Wheeler was
asked to respond to B&NES accordingly.
13.077 Any other reports
Stuart Cole, from the floor,
expressed some concern over speeding bicycles.
Cllr Clarkson raised the possibility
of a village walk and village tidying day.
Cllr Caudle said that she expected
to hear from our barrister shortly concerning the playing field Deed.
The Chairman referred to the rules
about the process of decision making at Parish Council meetings. For a Parish
Council to make a decision, Councillors must have had sufficient information before the meeting. This means that all
the information necessary to make a decision must be distributed 3 days prior
to the Parish Council meeting. Thus, Councillors should email the Clerk with
the proposal and relevant documents in time for the Clerk to distribute them to
all Councillors, with the meeting agenda, by the Wednesday before the Monday
Parish Council meeting.
This timing has implications for how
the Council considers contributions from the public. Rather than the current
rather ad-hoc arrangement, if anyone would like to address the Parish Council,
they will be invited to do so at the beginning of the meeting. In order for the
Parish Council to make a decision on a matter, Councillors must have the
information on which to base their decision at least three days beforehand.
Thus, if members of the public want the Parish Council to consider the content
of their address at the meeting, the content of their address must be submitted
to the Parish Clerk at least three days before the Parish Council meeting (ie
by the Wednesday before the Monday meeting), in order for the Clerk to
distribute it in time.
The Clerk was asked to contact Peter
Duppa-Miller regarding Frank Shellard’s field at Combe Hay.
13.078 Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting was confirmed as
being on Monday, June 10th 2013 at 8pm in the Village Hall.
The meeting closed at 9.35pm.
Geoffrey White
Parish Clerk
June 2nd 2013