Minutes for Full Council meeting - 13th November 2017

Public Recess

Cllr Brady advised the residents that they may address the chair with their issue. No decisions will be made at the meeting but the issue will be addressed by the relevant committee.

Michelle Harris from Windmill Piece addressed the chair on behalf of the residents of Windmill Piece.

On the 1st November SBC officers visited the residents of Windmill Piece and advised residents that there will be no new parking areas created, and that parking on the grass areas will be prevented by placing boulters on the grass.

The view of the residents is that placing boulders on the grass areas will cause further parking issues.

Ms Harris had excerpts from past parish council meetings where Ward Cllrs had action points to take away but there appeared to be no resolution from them.

Ms Harris also noted that the state of the road surface and the damage to the verges is on the PC’s outstanding works list.

SBC have placed a quantity of fresh soil on the verges but no evidence of new turf or seed is to be seen.

Blue Badge holders also do not have proper parking spaces.

Mill Close, off of Windmill Piece are also affected by this as they are flats with no parking area of their own.

Rob Anscombe from SBC was then invited to offer information to the discussion. He advised that the door to door visit was in fact a survey due to the number of complaints that had been received about vehicles parking on the grass verges. They are aware of the issue with the rutted verges. No decision has been made about boulders or bollards blocking vehicle access to the verges.

The land in question belongs to SBC housing department so they will make the decisions. The tenant’s agreements for social housing states there will be no parking on grass verges.

He also advised that at this point no extra parking will be created. Money for this would have to come from the “Housing Revenue Account” which is money paid from tenant’s for rent so any decision has to benefit the tenants.

He commented that based on the survey, some residents would object to boulders but some would welcome them.

A decision will be made in the next 2 weeks and all residents will have hand delivered letters advising them of the outcome.

He is happy to talk individually with any residents and also help blue badge holders with their needs.

Another resident commented that if parking is reduced in Windmill Piece that this will only move the problem to nearby streets. Castle View Road has a school on it so more road parking is not ideal.

Rob Anscombe confirmed that the whole area would be considered.

Cllr Brady asked Rob Anscombe if the PC can continue to talk to him via our Ward Cllrs to progress this and other parking/transport issues. He was in agreement to this.

Ward Cllr Shaw commented that it is very difficult to make changes to housing land. Highways matters are simpler.

Ms Harris noted that the person who did the survey, didn’t actually mention that it was a survey which complicated matters. Rob will take this back to SBC and follow up.

Mr Herron a resident of Windmill Piece commented that often driveways and garages were so full of rubbish that people cannot park on them anyway.

The residents relating to Windmill Piece then left the meeting along with Rob Anscombe.

Mr John Martin of Home Close addressed the council with regards to his planning application for a change of use of land which had been rejected by SBC. He has been in discussion with SBC for 18 months and SBC had no objection to the sale of the land to him as long as the application was successful.

Mr Martin advised that the Conservations officers had no issue with the application.

Mr Martin would like CPC’s support in going back to SBC to challenge this decision. He has already written to the SBC planning team and spoken to someone via phone.

He believes he hasn’t had a fair hearing from SBC and didn’t get consulted to be able to adjust the plans.

Ward Cllr Shaw has already talked to Mr Martin and visited the site and they will continue to discuss to resolve this.

Mr Martin will bring his query to the next Parish Planning, Highways and Transport Development (PHTD) Committee meeting.

17/94 Declarations of interests

None

17/95 Approval of minutes from 9th October 2017

No amendments

A proposal was made by Cllr Hill that these minutes be therefore accepted; Cllr Mills seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

17/96 Matters arising and action points

Matters arising

Page 1 Butts Road re-surfacing. Cllr Hill asked why are SBC now involved with the verge clearing. Cllr Brady explained that due to the volume of soil and leaf debris, it makes sense for SBC to remove this prior to them re-surfacing the road, this way they can re-lay the road as wide as possible on the bend of Butts Road.

Page 2 New Road Build Out. Ward Cllr G Sumner queried the current state of this as residents had asked him. Cllr Brady confirmed that Jason Humms statement at the time stating that SBC will not remove the build out had been circulated to the public and all parish Cllrs. Cllr Brady confirmed that its part of the wider transport issue that the PHTD committee are looking at.

Page 2 – Cllr Hill thanked the Ward Cllrs for getting the zebra crossing on New Road re-painted.

Page 3 – Grit bin at Draycott Foliat. Cllr Hill commented that the area near the bus stop would be ideal.

Action Points

Clerk:

17/67. Clerk to provide a summary document of changes to committees. DONE
17/67. Clerk to provide new meeting dates going to April 2018. DONE
17/75. Ask Ward Cllrs to chase up zebra crossing lines on New Road DONE
17/76. Ask Ward Cllrs to chase cutting back of trees obscuring sign on A346 Plough Hill. Have chased this up but not yet completed. There is another sign further down the hill. To be carried forward
17/79. Move Tea Party discussion to Nov full council meeting. DONE. Moved to 2018
17/80. Reply to SBC with comments from consultation document changes. DONE
17/83. Schedule Transport Concerns action group to update Full Council in Jan 18. DONE
17/84. Ask Cllr Shaw to attend Nov Full Council meeting and provide information on CIL procedures. DON, however Sarah Screen is attending PHTD meeting in Jan
17/84. Investigate procedures for CIL spending. DONE – see above
17/84. Ask Cllr Foley for update on rat reports at Primary School. DONE. Cllr Foley met with school and is awaiting their rat catchers report. To be carried forward
17/84. Contact SBC and Landowners ref hedge cutting on Hodson Road leading to Hodson Village. DONE. Langton Estate have already cut their hedges. Tops of the hedges to be cut in Feb/Mar 2018

17/97 Ward Councillors reports

Ward Cllr Shaw reported:

The whole of Butts Road will not be re-surfaced. The start date has been delayed as SBC have to wait for a specialist contractor to re-lay the non-standard surface. Cllr Shaw will provide a map to the Clerk. Update – resurfacing is now going to cover the whole of Butts Road – Map received

Rob Core from Streetsmart will assist with the clearance work. Highways will make sure residents and the Clerk get a letter when the work is due to start.

Plough Hill Road sign obscured by a tree-If the road has a speed limit of 30mph or greater then Highways have to be involved in the cutting back of the tree. Need to wait for Highways to be able to ensure safety before work is done. Ward Cllr Shaw will advise the Clerk of any updates.

Ward Cllr Shaw has thanked Nigel Hale for the work at the Draycott Road bus stop. The grit bin is on the list of requests. As soon as more is known about the moving of the bus stop pole he will let us know. Cllr Hill asked if the moving of the sign lost in the overgrown hedge can be dealt with, Ward Cllr Shaw will ask after this.

Ward Cllr Shaw advised that all requests are submitted to SBC and then go on a central list to be prioritized.

Cllr Brady asked if New Road residents are aware that the layby is not allocated parking. Ward Cllr Shaw and Foley will have to check with Rob Anscombe. All verge damage will be made good.

The gas board contractors have damaged the verge near Home Close. Ward Cllr Shaw has asked that the verges be repaired and the grips be cleared out.

Cllr Brady reminded Ward Cllrs that the Esso Station on New Road does need the planning enforcement team from SBC to visit due to their advertising boards being moved to create an obstruction of view to the A346. Ward Cllrs will chase this up.

Ward Cllr Foley advised she will send the primary school rat report over from the rat catcher when she receives it. There is a sewer pipe in the vicinity which may be attracting rats to the area and also providing them with a home.

Cllr Hill asked Ward Cllr Foley why the school has animals in it. Ward Cllr Foley advised that many children do not recognize animals apart from domestic pets so having animals in school is educational and they learn more about different types of animals. The school are following the procedures in place for keeping animals.

Cllr Sunners asked about the recent press information about council redundancies – are there any planned at SBC? This could mean that more work is devolved down to Parish level. Cllr Sunners will pass on this information to the Clerk.

Cllr Sunners also advised that Wat Tyler House only had 1 receptionist on duty when he visited and there were long queues and also problems with language barriers. Ward Cllr Foley has asked for the details so she can investigate. SBC are trying to make their on-line services as efficient as possible to encourage people to use them.

Ward Cllr Sumner reported:

There was a meeting for Badbury residents at Liddington village hall with regards to their concerns over rat runs once J15 work starts. Attended by 15-20 residents. They discussed the J15 impact of Badbury now, and when the work starts.

An affordable, and easily implemented solution needs to be found for the duration of the 12-18 month project. A no right turn from A346 Marlborough direction into Badbury was proposed. School bus routes will pose an issue with this plan. Ward Cllr Sumner will talk to Nigel Hale at SBC about this.

There is no suggestion of closing any roads. The nursing home road is single track so it is not ideal for traffic to cut through this road

They will look at getting more 30mph signs for the village to re-inforce the required speed limit.

A traffic count in Sept 2017 showed 200 approx vehicles travelling through the village during 5.00pm rush hour.

Once the work at J15 is completed, the models predict that the flow of traffic will be eased.

Cllr Brady advised that the PC are also looking at the traffic issues with J15. If traffic can’t turn right to Badbury it will then turn left into Chiseldon, so all areas need looking at.

Ward Cllr Sumner will chase up the re-booking of the meeting with MP Robert Buckland.

Ward Cllrs left the meeting at 20.37

17/98 Updating Standing Orders

The Cllrs had previously been sent the updated SO’s detailing the changes with regards to the TOR’s and responsibilities of Committees.

Cllr Harris proposed that the Council accept this document as the working version of Standing Orders. Cllr Walton seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

17/99 Out of Hours Contacts for SBC with emergency £500 expenditure limit for make a situation safe

The Clerk explained that if there was an out of hours emergency there needs to be approved contacts who can authorize the expenditure of funds to stop a situation from deteriorating until normal business hours.

Cllr Brady advised that for major instances such as building collapse, our insurance covered us. This is to employ emergency methods to stop a leak or secure a building that had been broken into etc.

Cllr Walton proposed that the Clerk, Chair and VC of the Council be the nominated contacts with an approved expenditure of a max. of £500 to deal with a situation. Cllr Rawlings seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

17/100 Community Safety

The Clerk read out the current crime report from the police which was:

“I have completed a full check for Chiseldon for the period 01/09/17- today and crime rates remain very low.

There were two dwelling burglaries and one shed/garage of which two were left insecure.

For the same period there were four vehicles that were interfered with and all four of these had been left insecure.

A lot of crime results because people fail to lock doors and windows to their homes and cars and this is taken advantage of by opportunist offenders. If you are able to remind people of the importance of securing their property and include this in your newsletter and FB page that would be much appreciated.”

Cllr Brady reported that if a vehicle has keyless entry and ignition then there now the ability for thieves to clone this signal, access your vehicle and drive away. The message is to keep keys away from doors and windows where the signal can be cloned.

Cllr Sunners reported back on a recent meeting he attended with Cllr Jefferies, organised by a parish council, attended by police representatives and 19 parish councils.

Cllr Sunners talked to the other councils about having “Community Safety” on their agendas, and many agreed this was a good idea.

Cllr Hill wanted to thank Cllr Sunners for his work on behalf of the residents for the erection of the new NHW signs. The Parish Council thank Cllr Sunners also.
There are a number of phone scams around at the moment targeting the elderly. Need to remind people not to give out personal or bank details over the phone.

17/101 Review of Committee minutes and documents

Finance:
Cllr Harris advised that costs for the Rec Hall painting and floor have been approved as well as costs for the Xmas tree on New Road.

Plans have begun for 2018/19 budget with committees to submit their requests ASAP.

The STORM contract is with our solicitors to iron out a few queries. STORM have our letter of intent.

Cllr Harris advised that the October Finance figures needed approving.
There were no questions on the figures and so Cllr Henderson proposed the figures be accepted as accurate. Cllr Brady seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

Cllr Hill asked about the Data Protection policy. Cllr Henderson is working on this for the Finance Committee. Cllrs have been asked to send Cllr Henderson any info they may have to assist him.

In May 2018 the laws on data protection are changing. The requirements on how data is stored will be stricter.

Cllr Henderson will send the new data protection rules to all Cllrs so that everyone is aware.

Environment, General Purpose and Amenities (EGPA):
Cllr Rawlings reported that in January 2018 the SBC Dementia Friendly Committee will be holding a session in Chiseldon to raise awareness.

The allotment renewal letters have been distributed. The Rec Hall is being painted on the 7th Dec, and new carpet laid on the 15th.

Budgets for 2018/19 will be finalised on Monday 20th at the next committee meeting.

Transport report from Cllr Hill:

All local bus companies now take contactless payment.

Cllrs Hill and Martin went to the North Wessex Downs AONB forum on 18th Oct. The organisation is very well run and offers useful information. The Clerk has been given a copy of their annual report.

The Planning Inspectorate in Bristol do pay attention to their views on planning matters.

Cllr Hill thinks that someone from the PC should attend each year.

Cllrs were advised to claim back the £10 cost of their ticket on expenses if they wished to.

Planning, Transport Development and Highways:

The first item was a vote on the SBC application to change speed limit at Hodson/Broome Manor Lane to 30mph from 60mph.

Cllr Rawlings proposed the committee is in favour of these changes. Cllr Hill seconded this proposal and all Cllrs were in favour.

The Clerk will also add a recommendation for further speed reductions in this area.

The second item was a vote on planning application S/17/1703 and S/LBC/17/1703 both for West Farm, Badbury.

Cllr Harris concurred with the planning officers recommendation that external finishes using lime mortar to match the original structure should be upheld.

Cllr Rawlings expressed a preference that the new structure should be thatched the same as the original but other cllrs were happy with the proposed slate roof.

Cllr Rawlings advised that the proposed method of drainage which was a soakaway was not adequate as it is near a public footpath and the footpath has already slipped due to excess water. Adequate drainage is required.

It was confirmed that this is a listed building.

The proposal put forward is that the planning committee submit the following:

‘The Parish Council approve the proposal plans with the conditions that the appropriate mortar be used externally to match the existing building, windows of the same appearance be used for any replacement windows, slate used for the roof be in keeping with surrounding buildings and the age of the building and proper drainage is required’.

This was proposed by Cllr Harris, and seconded by Cllr Costigan. 5 Cllrs were in favour, 3 were against and 1 Cllr abstained from voting.

The Clerk will report this back to SBC planning.

17/102 AOB

Cllr Brady advised of 3 consultations with SBC that the PC need to submit to.

SBC are reviewing their protocols and procedures and require feedback. Cllr Walton has agreed to review these with Cllr Brady and they will report back at Dec full council for a decision back to SBC.

The SBC Local Plan 2036 document is being created and needs reviewing with comments going back to SBC. SBC are holding an event at STEAM on 16th Nov which Cllr Brady and other Cllrs are attending. The Planning, Highways and Transport Development Committee will review this document at their November meeting and report back at Dec full council meeting for a vote on how to reply to SBC.

The SBC Transport Requirements for Development document is also being updated and needs reviewing with comments going back to SBC. Cllr Hill and Rawlings attended a briefing session on this. This will be scheduled at the next PHTD meeting for review with a vote on the comments to go back to SBC. Cllr Costigan has volunteered the resize the council logo for documents so that documents are quicker to download.

Cllr Hill would like the probation team thanked for the work they did clearing the green at Canney Close. Cllr Walton will pass this on, and also commented on how well the team are doing at the moment.

The Clerk asked that if any work is spotted that the probation team could do, to please report it to her so she can request this.

Cllr Hill commented on some figures he has seen that state that Wiltshire Council has a very good track record for taking fly tippers to court. SBC have a much lower rate.

Cllr Hill would like us to ask SBC why they are not prosecuting more people. Cllr Brady advised that this has been asked and that SBC are waiting for a new bylaw to come into force that will allow more powers.

It was commented that fly tippers may be coming over from the Wiltshire border due to this.

It was commented that the Meadow Stores had not been open for business today.

Cllr Walton asked after the defibrillators. The Clerk advised that the Sports and Social Club location had an issue with the electricity supply and the Doctors surgery needed to be open for several hours on a Saturday morning.

An option was raised to move the locations to the Spar and Patriots Arms – the Clerk is to approach these businesses to ask.

Meeting closed at 21.37

Summary of Action Points