East Knoyle Parish Council - Minutes

11th March 2008

Minutes of a meeting of the Council on Tuesday 11th March 2008 at East Knoyle Village Hall

Present

Cllr Haworth-Booth (Chairman), Cllrs Garrett, Coffin, Dawson, Drake, Southerden, Webster, Wharton Wilson,

Also Present Cllr Wayman (WCC)

1. PUBLIC OPEN FORUM - Information and Questions from the Public.  None present

2. Apologies for Absence.  Cllrs Campbell, Hyde

3. Notices of Interest.  None

4. Minutes of meeting held on 8^th January 2008  Approved and signed off.

Matters arising  - 10 souls attended the clear-up day in the new woodland and a great deal was achieved.  Tim Fletcher from Garrett and Fletcher was to donate some timber for benches at the viewpoint at the crest of the ridge within the woodland.  There were still problems with cardboard collection caused by different drivers not familiar with the routes. 

5. Chairman's Report.  Chairman attended Western Area Committee on Thursday 6^th March to hear a presentation by WCC about delegation of responsibilities.  Richard Munro, the WCC representative did not turn up apparently because he had received a turbulent reception at another location and was not prepared to repeat the same without better briefing.  The Clerk attended the SDC town and parish council liaison meeting on Monday 10^th march where  Richard Munroe of WCC was to deal with the same issue.  He again did not turn up.  The Clerk has emailed Bridget Wayman asking what is going on.

The SDC meeting dealt with a number of important issues.  Those concerning One Council for Wiltshire were dealt with later on the agenda.  There is a boundary review going on which will report before April next year and the results will define the new council election wards.  SDC made it clear there were no plans for the new city council to absorb parishes outside the old city boundaries.  The Clerk raised the old issue of fairness in SDC budget so that the rural areas did not pay for city services.  The deputy leader of SDC insisted the rural were not paying for city services.  That was followed shortly afterwards by the leader conceding that the 5 rivers centre might be paid for by the city in future.  It is clear there is no will amongst SDC politicians for dealing with this matter.  The Clerk is to write to SDC Chief Executive. 

Wheelie bins will be rolled out in the near future and separate plastic collection as well.  We have been asked to identify which houses will have problems with wheelie bins.  SDC have a list but because of data protection they would not share it with us and expect us to repeat the exercise.  The Clerk asked what will happen if large families’ rubbish exceeds the volume of the wheelie bin.  SDC stated that residents should leave the extra in plastic bags beside the wheelie bins and it would be removed.  It was important, however, that the bin lids were closed.  The assisted collection scheme for those with difficulty moving the bins will continue. The wheelie bins are to be bar coded but not chipped.  The only plastic to be collected will be that stamped 1,2 or 3 on its base.  SDC have again circulated a letter for the compactor vehicle.  We declined this last year because the compactor has to leave by 10.30am as the WCC offload  site closes at noon.  The Clerk asked if the timing could be varied, other parishes agreed this was a problem, however the site is only licensed until noon and this cannot be put back.  This service is in doubt anyway because of the increasing number of items deemed contaminated, including electrical and white goods.

A problem occurred concerning woodland at the rear of Clouds Farm Cottage, Milton.  A year ago a tree had fallen from the woodland into the garden.  The Clerk understood it was part of the parish owned woodland and arranged for the tree to be removed.  The Council paid and the occupier donated the cost.  There was a need to take another tree down and the occupier approached the Clerk who arranged for the Chairman to visit and examined  the tree.  The Chairman agreed it should be removed and the occupier undertook this at his own cost.  It has transpired that this piece of woodland is in fact owned by the Hyde partnership and that the contractor had been told by Richard Hyde that it belonged to them, prior to it being removed.  The Chairman has apologised to Richard Hyde, this being an error by the Council made in good faith.  It is unfortunate the ownership was not drawn to the Council’s attention after the first tree was dealt with. 

Recent storms brought down a tree at the top of Wise Lane blocking the road.  Brian Maitland removed the tree and has been thanked by the Clerk.  A second tree came down near Windmill Crossroads and the Chairman arranged its removal.

6. Committee Reports from respective Chairmen of:

• Planning Committee.  Since the last meeting the Committee had met three times and considered nine applications.  The Committee supported eight applications and objected to one – a timber garage at The Paddocks. This was a re-submission of a previous application with  smaller dimensions but still in timber.

• Common Lands, Highways and Rights-of-Way Committee.  Cllr Campbell not present.  He had a  meeting with David Button and gave a list of potholes which required attention including Sutton bottom, Martha’s Lane and Brickyard Hill.  There had been an issue from parishioners about the need for Martha’s Lane to be done and some confusion about its status.  The metalled part was WCC Highways responsibility and the potholes were so bad that the postman was threatening to refuse to go down it.  He had discussed the regretful  painting out of the garage with grey paint on brown tourist signs and this was to be remedied.  The Clerk is to write to David Button asking for a traffic survey on Brickyard Hill with as much of the following information as possible:  speed, times, volume and ideally weight.

• Finance Committee.  The accounts were in a healthy state and the Finance Committee was recommending setting up a project  team to examine how best to spend the surplus created by shop income and in particular the refurbishment of Knoyle House Ground.

7. Other Reports from Councillors with Special Responsibilities for:

• Wiltshire County Council (County Cllr. Wayman).  She was aware of the problem with Richard Munroe’s non-attendance, It had been decided he was too inexperienced to attend and deal with complex issues requiring background knowledge.  It was acknowledged that his cancellation should have been notified   earlier.  She had been in correspondence with WCC Highways about the non surfacing of Brickyard Hill and the    work on Holloway Lane.  There had been insufficient budget to deal with Brickyard Hill because the priority for the county was non-slip road surfaces.  Brickyard Hill would be offered again as a priority in the next financial year.  David Button had done everything he could within his restricted budget. There is to be a review of speed     limits including the A350 and this should be completed by 2011.  The safety survey for the B3089 / A303 was now complete.

• Salisbury District Council (District Cllr. Fowler).  Cllr Fowler was not present but sent a report.  Office Protect -  as was to be expected, the promise by the Lib Dems and Labour to cancel this project was a lie that anybody with the slightest knowledge of contracts would have known. We now have a smaller building but the cost has gone from £16.5K fixed contract to an open ended £18.9K contract with cancellation fees of approximately  £625.000. The smaller building means that Wyndham Road and Penny Farthing Street cannot be sold and as    their sale price was part of the original contract, who knows what. the final bill will be.  parking - Park and   Ride (P&R) is to increase to £2-50 but the up-to-2hrs in the Mailings will remain at £2 We think this will affect the P&R usage Sunday parking will increase to £2. It is of note that Paul Sample called this a tax on religion    when he was in Opposition.  Petersfinger P&R - we proposed cancellation as we consider the current site is outdated due to increased traffic  and should be sited at the eastern end of the Alderbury By-Pass, but Government has  said the grant will only be available up to 2009 so the project, although likely to be a white elephant  goes ahead, An example of how public funds and works cannot respond to changing circumstances. Council Tax - increased by 4.5% but based on past Lib Dems actions in the 90s, they have had to have  regard to  Government capping.

                The local charges at band "D" are:-

	East Knoyle	Sedgehill & Semley
P.C. Precept	22.53	12.94
SDC	128.52	128.52
CC	1020.59	1020.59
Police	145.34	145.34
Fire	57.74	57.74
	£1374.52	£1364.93

Unitary - this is decided and we now need to get on and make it work for our benefit  The Boundary Commission have told us the 98 Councillors are calculated by dividing the Wilts electorate by 3 700 and this is the bench mark with plus or minus 10% but distance for rural divisions will not be accepted as an argument for amending boundaries. PC/TC boundaries will not be affected.  Dr Robinson CEO County, came to the February Western Area Committee (WAC) and we expressed out fears re local input into Planning Applications. If the Community . Area Boards have 4 to 5 Unitary Councillors as suggested and one is ill and one is absent, will the remaining 2 or  3 be a quorum. We fear that to overcome this, the Boards will have to be combined - in our case possibly with Warminster  - and then how will local people get to the Planning Meetings  At the WAC there was a contentious  planning application and the village hall was packed with  residents. We hope that Dr Robinson took this on board.

• Village Hall Management Committee  Had not met – the hearing loop due in January should be installed by April

• East Knoyle Community Shop Association The future of the Post Office was now assured.  The shop had taken £40,000 since Christmas.  A Quarter is fresh meat/ dairy, fruit and veg.  Wastage is down.  We hope to have the  AGM earlier this year.  We are working to eliminate plastic bags and charge a voluntary sum if still required.  The Shop was supporting the First Responder team.  7 were partly trained.  There was a raffle to assist the purchase of a Resusi-annie.   Te Shop had funded a full alcohol licence for the village hall. Moviola was going well. 

• Mere Community Safety Partnership Met last night.  The B3089/A303 and Maiden Bradley traffic calming  were discussed.  Traffic was as bad as ever with lorries from trading estates in Frome being the main problem. 

Work was progressing to rejuvenate the Neighbourhood Watch scheme.  Cllr Haworth-Booth anticipated being  the Co-ordinator for East Knoyle with an assistant in Milton and two in the main village all working with Michael Tryhorn, the CSO. 

• Connect2wiltshire and Link schemes.  Connect2Wiltshire was now a private contract and our support was no longer necessary.  It was agreed to remove this item from future agenda. Link still needed more drivers.

• East Knoyle Parish Planning Group.  Questionnaires had been circulated and we await results.

• Youth Group  There had been a meeting with video games and sweet making.  Mores Valley was on 29^th June  and preparations for the activity weeks were under way.  It was important to encourage East Knoyle Youth to attend.

8. To approve the establishment of a small sub-committee to prepare a project plan for refurbishment of the play area in Knoyle House Ground.  Approve - Cllrs Haworth-Booth, Wharton, Garrett and Dawson.

9. Speakers for Parish Assembly on Tuesday 8^th April 2008 and Councillor contributions  Paul Knocker would be the external speaker on emerging findings from the Parish Plan questionnaires.

10. Salisbury Core Strategy – Meeting at Mere 31^st March 2008.  Cllrs Haworth-Booth and Garrett to attend if possible.

11. One Council for Wiltshire – Delegated responsibilities.  The menu of delegated tasks was still unavailable.

12. Correspondence.  – Concern express by a resident over the priorities for road repairs following work in Martha’s Lane (See Highways above) – concern expressed by residents regarding polytunnels at Underhill.  The SDC enforcement officer had been contacted by residents and the result of his visit was awaited.  Cllr Haworth-Booth had spoken to the occupant and he had assured they would be camouflaged and fast growing leylandiis planted.

13. Any Other Business.  Wren’s Shop would be holding a fun day in Knoyle House Ground on Sunday 13^th July.  AONB would also attend this with their exhibition trailer.  A resident had complained about the state of the war memorial path.  This was not part of the grass cutting contract.  (Clerk’s Note – Mike Waterhouse had agreed the British Legion would attend to this).  The trees in front of the Windmill were obstructing the views and needed attention.  It was noted that Cllr Campbell had not been able to find the time to attend the chainsaw course and Cllrs Wilson and Wharton both offered to attend.