Public Recess
Cllr Brady welcomed the public to the meeting and asked that if there were common subjects to be raised, if there could be a spokesperson.
A representative from the Badbury Park Residents Association requested a number of actions and confirmations from the Parish Council, including: Do we support Badbury Park in becoming their own Parish Council; Can we provide two notice boards to the community at the East and West access road, and liaise with Persimmon Homes and SBC planning department to get these erected.
B.Cllr Foley advised that Persimmon Homes and Redrow had been approached about notice boards and parking signs and had agreed to consider these requests.
Cllr Brady advised that Cllr Wright, the Parish Councillor for Badbury Park would take these requests on board.
A spokesperson for the parishioners raised the subject of the New Road Build Out traffic calming scheme.
The points raised by him and other parishioners are:
- Residents believe this scheme is dangerous as when turning left out of Canney Close they are facing vehicles on the wrong side of the road that speed up to try to get past the build out first.
- The scheme was supposed to be temporary but looks permanent.
- It’s too close to Canney Close
- Why hasn’t traffic calming been carried out on Hodson Road. This road has seen more accidents in the resident’s opinion.
- Draycott Road also has a perceived speed problem and nothing has been done on this road either.
- There was an objection to comments made about the Speed Watch team, who wished to clarify that their data is not used by SBC, it is reported to Wiltshire Police.
B.Cllr Foley and B.Cllr Shaw offered their knowledge on this situation.
Back in 2012 there was a proposed scheme to make certain areas of the village a 20mph zone, this included New Road and Draycot Road.
When Speed Watch information is received by Wiltshire Police it is analyzed and a target for incident reduction is set. Wiltshire Police have an incident reduction target of 40% for this area by 2020.
This meant Chiseldon was added to the list for a reduction scheme. There have been 3 recorded incidents on New Road in the past 2 years.
Highways Officers therefore recommended this scheme on the basis of the probability of a serious incident on this road.
B.Cllr Foley recommended that we review this scheme over the next few months.
If it proves to be wrongly placed or dangerous she will endeavor to have it changed. If the Highways Officers say someone will be killed on that stretch of road then it is her responsibility to listen to them. It should be noted that 30pmh signs have been erected at the junction of New Road with the A346.
B.Cllr Foley noted that a similar scheme has been put into place in Blunsdon and it has made a positive difference.
A resident then raised the issue of the A346 road travelling down to J15 on the M4, and passing New Road with the associated T junction. The perception is that this junction is far more dangerous than New Road.
B.Cllr Foley replied that an in-depth study was carried out on this junction 3 years ago and it found that a roundabout was not possible. B.Cllr Shaw advised that the cost of a roundabout here would be £90000.00 but they are looking at getting a filter lane added. This project has been tabled for review in 2016/17. There isn’t unfortunately enough room near the Patriot Arms to do a speed watch check on Hodson Road/Draycott Road as they need a mandatory length of road to carry this out. A request can be put through for rumble strips if local residents think they can tolerate the noise levels coming from them.
The Environment committee have an action to discuss the possibility of having rumble strips in this location.
16/1. Declarations of interests.
Cllr McMurray advised he has a planning declaration due to an outstanding planning application he has submitted.
16/2. Approval of minutes.
Page 3 – 16/171 – Add comment that SBC are still responsible for collecting large items that have been fly tipped in the Parish.
Page 3 – 16/171 – Adjust sentence about Rob Core and Cllr Rawlings village walk around to reflect the fact that they did their survey by vehicle for the whole parish.
Page 4 – 16/172 – Amend first and third sentence to “email” rather than “write” for the letters to Wiltshire Council Transport Unit and Nigel Hale and Dale Heenan.
Page 5 – 16/172 – Amend date of the Wroughton library meeting to show Friday 18th March, not April.
Page 5 – 16/172 Action point – Amend wording to read “changes” rather than “cuts”.
Following this the minutes from the meeting held on 14th March 2016 were approved by Cllr Costigan, seconded by Cllr Hill; all those at the meeting in favour.
16/3. Matters arising.
Page 2 – 16/169 – Anti Social Behavior policing team at SBC. B.Cllr Foley emailed Steve Kensington asking that a meeting be arranged with Borough Councillors, Parish Councillors and the Police to discuss what advice and help can be offered.
Cllr Hill also commented on the bus driver having to stop at Mays Lane recently to deal with a large number of youths on the road. The WARP has also seen vandalism and the Spar has had a problem with the recent break in.
Page 3 – 16/171 – Cllr Hill commented on a resident who had contacted him with regards to the Council tax bill increasing of 3.99%. Cllr Hill was advised by B.Cllr Foley to pass the resident on to the SBC Council Tax team who are trained to deal with the queries.
Action points.
B.Cllr Bennett – 16/169 – Cllr Dudman provided B.Cllr Bennett with photographs of recent damage to grass verges in Badbury by lorries. Cllr Hill advised that we are still waiting for lorry size limit signs to be erected in Badbury. B.Cllr Foley has emailed Julian Sadler and Lyndsey Brookfield at SBC to ask after the progress of this.
Cllr Brady has advised that the Environment Committee will discuss this further at their meetings.
Cllr Brady – 16/171 – Action to ask Paul Maycock for Parish Plan information has been carried forward.
Clerk – 16/169 – Memorial Hall update has been carried forward
Cllr Costigan – 16/171 – Present parishing costings to all councilors carried forward
B.Cllr Shaw will email the Clerk with the timeline for the library consultation.
Cllr Hill advised that with regards to action 16/172 a meeting with Cllr Hale Heenan and Nigel Hale has been postponed until after the May elections due to their not being a suitable date beforehand.
All other actions complete
16/4 – Police Update. PC Rob Dentry in attendance.
Cllr Brady started by re-iterating the issues with the Bus driver intimidation, the WARP vandalism and Spar issues and mentioned that the Parish Council were considering looking into CCTV.
PCSO Dentry advised that Wootton Bassett have CCTV which is monitored on a rota until midnight each day and it has proved to be a beneficial scheme.
Swindon Borough Council monitor CCTV from Waterside and it was confirmed that there are no cameras in place in Chiseldon.
Cllr Hill advised that there had been some burglaries in the Butts Road Business Centre. There is CCTV footage available yet Wiltshire Police have not yet viewed this. A large piece of machinery was stolen meaning the business concerned face difficulties in operating fully.
PCSO Dentry is going to take these comments back to PC Draper.
PC Dentry advised that https://www.police.uk/wiltshire/DS/crime/ can be used to look at crime numbers in our area. It was reported that the Esso Station on New Road/A346 junction increases the overall number of crimes in the parish.
It was also reported to PCSO Dentry that an orange recycling box on Turnball was set on fire. The property is near thatched cottages and the elderly resident was very concerned by this. She has received a victim of crime letter.
Cllr Brady asked PCSO Dentry to take back these increases in anti social behavior back to PC Draper for review.
16/5 – Canal Restoration Presentation. Presented by Chris Coyle
The Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal Trust updated the Parish Council on the trusts work. Their aim is to get a working canal running from Semington near Melksham to the River Thames at Abingdon, a 70 mile stretch. They talked about the New Eastern village developments and how these areas have affected their work.
This area has a deficit of canals and they are to be restored for boating, wildlife and as a community asset.
The western end of this development is currently making good progress. They are talking to SBC to see if they can plan a canal route through the middle of Swindon. They are also working at Wichelstowe at the moment.
The proposed canal route will go across the M4, then run parallel to the M4 , going under the A419 close to J15 and then out across the new eastern villages and join up at Acorn Bridge at the A420. This area was once open countryside and is now the largest Greenfield development in the area. They have a feasible engineering route mapped out. They would like local Parish support to see the canal becoming an integral part of the eastern villages. It will be a community asset to benefit the whole area.
The eastern villages are being built on a flood plain and will experience flooding problems. The canal can provide storage for flood water. Attenuation points would be installed which would slowly feed into the canal. The canal is proposed to go through the bottom of Badbury Park and they want to have a discussion with the developer as they believe they can add value to the scheme.
They advised that the canal would run alongside Dayhouse Lane.
They want to see significant progress in the next 10 years. In the short term they are trying to open the whole route as a footpath, using the towpath and rights of way. 50% is done, and they see this taking 5 years to complete.
Their major issue is that they don’t see the overall infrastructure development plan for the eastern villages from SBC.
They would like parishes to support them to be able to look at this as a whole and try to find out what else SBC are doing for an area, other than building houses.
B.Cllr Foley asked what part of the canal route was their priority. They answered that they want to see the whole stretch of canal achieved.
Chris Coyle is to send their presentation over to the Clerk for distribution.
B.Cllr Bennett advised that other parish councils have written letters of support for this but at the moment there is a wait on developers and planners.
Cllr Hill asked if they could come along to the AGM and do a full presentation there. This will be discussed at a later time.
They closed by commenting that no public money is being used for this, and that this is a protected route in the local plan.
16/6 Borough Councillors reports
B.Cllr Shaw advised the meeting that the Castle View Road storage area has now been demolished.
He also advised that money is now available to finish the Chiseldon Primary School safety zone, with more double yellow lines being added. The SBC enforcement team will monitor this on an adhoc basis.
At the recent locality meeting local residents commented that they were concerned about the existing double yellow lines being parked on at weekends. The SBC enforcement team will monitor this.
Cllr Costigan asked B.Cllr Shaw about the planning status of the Esso Garage. The side structure and location of bins has had planning refused. This is now going through the legal procedure as they have 6 months to object. If this goes through they will have to remove the structure and the bins.
Cllr Rawlings reported that vehicles are parking on the dropped kerbs at Well Close. B.Cllr Shaw advised that SBC can’t enforce the parking here. However he does believe the police could charge an offender with causing an obstruction. Residents need to contact 101 if they see this, and if wheelchairs or pushchairs can’t get past and have to pass on the road.
Cllr Wright asked if the bus stop near her house in Badbury Park was being moved. B.Cllr Foley advised that there is a meeting next week to discuss this and that there was also a Badbury Park Residents meeting on the 12th April.
B.Cllr Bennett is going to email the Clerk with the broadband update.
Cllr Brady then commented that as this was possibly B.Cllr Bennett’s last Parish meeting, the council wanted to extend its expression of thanks to him for all his hard work and assistance.
The 3 Borough Councillors then left the meeting along with PCSO Dentry. (20.53)
16/7 Parishing
Cllr Brady has talked to Cllr Walton and the costs for comparison are almost ready for review.
Cllr Rawlings has talked to Rob Core from SBC at length about the list of assurances we need to get from the successful contractor with regards to liability and correct insurance and permits etc. If there are any issues with the work carried out or the staff used, it is our responsibility.
We now have 3 sets of quotes, with Invisage being the 3rd company to quote. Countrywide have indicated they cannot start until July due to staffing levels.
Cllr Costigan commented on the need to not go with the cheapest quote but to go with the company who provide the best service.
Cllr Rawlings confirmed that repairing potholes did not fall under the parishing remit.
Cllr McMurray asked if we had talked to other parishes about sharing services, and Cllr Rawlings advised that other parishes had not expressed an interest in doing this.
Cllr Brady advised that the intention is to present these figures in the May Full Council meeting.
16/8 Committee Reports
Finance:
Cllr Costigan presented the figures to the committee. Cllr Rawlings proposed the vote in favour of approving these figures; Cllr Mills seconded and all those at the meeting in favour.
The Clerk has an action to investigate merging our phone and internet charges with a view to not using Hot Chilli to supply our internet any longer.
Planning:
There are a lot of outstanding applications. Cllr Rawlings will follow up with B.Cllr Shaw.
Environment:
Cllr Rawlings advised there was nothing to add
Recreation and Community:
There will be another Parish walk about in a few weeks time with Paul Maycock to update the Parish Plan.
Cllr Brady will get Peter Eves of the Badbury Park Residents Association to talk to Paul Maycock.
Action for Clerk to get an update from Cllr Sunners on the damaged section of the CVPA with regards to any safety issues.
Cllr Hill reported that in regards to the proposed bus cuts, over 10,000 questionnaires had been received back in so a follow up meeting has been delayed whilst these are processed.
Cllr Hill advised that Dale Heenan and Nigel Hale had been emailed and Cllr Heenan wants a meeting to discuss this further.
The no90 bus to the eastern villages would be completely cut by Wilts Council with SBC looking to provide a smaller circular route. The X5 would run every 2 hours and Cllr Hill believes the no.08 would stop once the transport links in Badbury Park are complete. The no80 would then run 2-3 times a day.
Wiltshire Council need to cut 5.1 million from their budget.
Cllr Hill thanked the Clerk for assisting with the letters to Wiltshire Council, Dale Heenan and Nigel Hale.
Item 11 Memorial Hall update will be carried forward to May meeting
Item 12 Discussion on possible allowances for parishing working by councillors will be carried forward to May meeting.
16/9. AOB
Proposed changes to Library Services Consultation. Cllr Hill advised that SBC need to reduce their budget by 1.1 million in 2020. They have produced a questionnaire to gather information about library usage from the public. Cllr Hill requests that we encourage the questionnaire to be completed by the 29th April deadline. This can also be completed on line. SBC will take the results of these questionnaires and review.
Cllr Hill requests that a planning meeting be held in regards to the recent planning document detailing changes at Badbury Park. Cllr Brady will let Cllr Walton know.
Let the record note that the Attendance book was not present for signing at this meeting.
Cllr Hill advised the council that a hanger at the Science Museum in Wroughton will be a new fire training centre. This may cause more large vehicles to use J15 and J16 of the M4.
Cllr Hill advised the committee that at the recent Southern Locality meeting it was advised that work on J16 of the M4 will commence before any work on J15. There will be extra traffic from Badbury Park going down the A419 and joining the M4 before any update work is carried out.
Cllr Hill discussed the changes needed to roads and roundabouts in the parish. This needs raising with B.Cllr Shaw. Should the Parish Council write a letter to MP Robert Buckland. Cllr Brady confirmed she would write to MP Robert Buckland.
Cllr Mills mentioned building work on Brownfield sites. All recent work seems to be on Greenfield sites. What is happening with regards to using these areas for building work. Cllr Brady to raise this with Paul Maycock for the Parish Plan.
Cllr Brady advised that the May date for the Council meeting will be moved. This is to allow the AGM to take place at the same time as the Council meeting. There needs to be a finance meeting first to finalise parishing costs. It is also confirmed that we will invite the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust to talk again.
The meeting closed at 9.44pm