Minutes Of The Parish Council Meeting - 12th March 2018

Minutes

Public Recess

Mr D Pearse asked about the 2018/19 precept and council tax bill, showing a 47% rise in the PC precept from last year.
His query was on whether the precept should be affordable and not what is on the Parish Council “Wish list”.

Mr D Hawkins would like to see the accounts for the Parish Council. The Chair advised they are on the council’s website.

Mrs A Dudman commented that the precept is 3rd highest in the borough. She wants to know why as she feels no work is carried out in Badbury. She doesn’t see any litter picking. She would like her replies in writing. She also didn’t think Butts Road needed re-surfacing.

The Clerk has an action to make sure any interested residents get a copy of Cllr Matt Harris’s precept communication letter and follow up on Facebook. Mrs Dudman confirmed she had received the letter but wasn’t on the internet so did not see social media.

All interested residents were asked to provide their addresses to the Clerk so that replies could be sent to them.

Cllr Matt Harris provided info – The increase on the precept is actually 28%, however as some houses within the parish were lost due to the boundary changes in 2017 there are less properties to spread the precept across. There was 1044, and is now 996.

The PC has to cover the lower level of funding received this year from SBC for parishing work.

The Clerks salary and associated pensions costs increased to bring the Clerk up to market salary rate.

The precept hadn’t increased in the past 10 years when most other parishes did every year.

Cllr Brady advised that the PC is listening to the results of the Parish survey done in 2017 which listed items the residents felt were important – speeding, litter etc

The PC needs to look to the future and not just the current situation. The PC is trying to lengthen the life of the Rec Hall so that in the future a new multi use facility can be provided to benefit all and generate income so that funds are not reliant on the precept as much. This is the same rationale for improving the football pitches.

Cllr Costigan commented that in previous years the PC’s outgoings were smaller and the PC was also using reserves held in the bank account. This money was spent in order to keep the precept figure static for 10 years.

Once these reserves were gone, the precept had to rise.

Cllr Brady advised that the upgrading of the Castle View Play area was in response to parent requests, which is also the case for the cleanliness of the surrounding villages.

All accounts are on the website and are transparent in terms of income and expenditure.

The Clerk has an action to load the precept budget figures for 2018/19 to the website via the hosting company.

Cllr Matt Harris advised that precept work starts in Sept each year and concludes with a vote in the January full council meeting. Sub committees are asked what projects to include and some projects are rejected.

It was noted that Nottingham Council have issued an Section 114 notice, to only allow essential spending.

Cllr Jefferies confirmed that from 2018, sponsorship would be sought for the Xmas tree on New Road.

Cllr Hill commented that Parishing is good for the area as it means we can control bin emptying, grass cutting etc and that our contractor do a good job.

Cllr Matt Harris commented that one way of decreasing the precept is to have more housing stock in the parish. He urged residents to think carefully about extra housing in the right areas of the parish.

17/140 Declarations of interest

Cllr M Clarke is a member of the football club

17/141 Approval of minutes from 12th February 2018

No amendments

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

Cllr Hill thanked Cllr Sunners for taking the minutes in Clerks absence.

17/142 Matters arising and Action points

Matters arising

Cllr Hill advised that Thames Water had contacted him to confirm that they have added the local bus routes to their list so that if they do any roadworks the bus companies can be advised.

Action Points

Clerk:

17/76. Ask Ward Cllrs to chase cutting back trees obscuring sign on A346 Plough Hill. ONGOING, WAITING FOR HIGHWAYS
17/127. Invite PC Sophia Best to March full council meeting and hold it at Chiseldon House Hotel. Include elements of the tea party event. WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION could not attend.
17/139. Write to Thames Water expressing concern over road closure without notice resulting in bus changes. DONE

Cllr Jefferies:

17/102. Talk to Spar and Patroits Arms about new sitting of defibrillators. Cllr Walton is to talk to Patriots Arms. Won’t be at Spar. Memorial Hall having one. Asking Hairdressers in High street now. – Cllr Jefferies

Ward Cllr Shaw:

17/97. To ask Nigel Hale on the progress of moving the bus stop sign from the hedge at Draycott Foliat, ONGOING, WAITING FOR BUS COMPANY. Due Monday 5th March – Ongoing due to snow causing delays in work.
17/97. With Ward Cllr Foley – chase up SBC planning enforcement visit to Esso Station ref advertising signs blocking traffic views. ONGOING. CLLR BRADY REQUESTS PLANNING ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATE PLACEMENT OF SIGNS ON SITE AS NO APPLICATION APPROVED.
17/133. Cllr Shaw to update PC on response from Robert Buckland over Firs legal issues. DONE
17/133. Provide PC with further information of traffic flows at the Burderop Park development. DONE
17/133. Investigate why vehicles are parked on verges at New road layby.
17/133. Request information from SBC on what constitutes a breach of safety specific to Highways

Cllr Sunners:

17/133. Keep PC updated on J15 M4 developments. DONE – in agenda
17/137. Progress shops/pubs becoming safe places for dementia sufferers. Waiting to hear from SBC on safe place locations.

17/143 Ward Councillors reports

Cllr Shaw reported:

Chiseldon Firs update – SBC are trying to get the law changed so that the police can be involved quicker in illegal access to sites. Ward Cllr Shaw wrote to Robert Buckland MP about this and received a reply. He has contacted the relevant minister about this and they will welcome SBC views on this as part of a consultation.
This will be a national consultation but has not started yet. Ward Cllr Shaw has asked that Chiseldon PC be involved in this consultation also.

It was confirmed that SBC paid back the funds to Chiseldon PC for the cleanup of the pathways.

The work at the bus stop at Draycott Foliat was delayed due to the snow. This has to be a joint effort between Nigel Hale from SBC and the bus company. Ward Cllr Shaw will ask Nigel Hale for an update with a specific date for the work to be carried out.

Cllr Hill commented that bus timetables at stops were often changed by Streetsmart and not the bus company. Ward Cllr Shaw will check on this and report back to the Clerk.

Ward Cllr Shaw believes the narrow section of Butts Road should have the foliage cut back by SBC. The SBC officer disagrees as its private land. Ward Cllr Shaw believes that SBC should write to the homeowner asking them to cut back the trees.
It was noted that the High Street road sign was replaced but not moved to a safer location.

SBC will look at the “No entry” signs” for Butts Road as they are not in the right place. They need to be more visible.

Verge parking by vehicles has been raised by a number of people. The Cabinet minister at SBC will be looking at a number of ways to stop this.

Cllr Brady asked if the Parish Council can talk to SBC Highways in regards to plans to help reduce local parking problems.

Slipper Lane development – Ward Cllr Shaw advised that this is due to be finished by Easter. He is asking the police to monitor the roads to ensure the extra work vehicles are not creating dangerous road conditions. There is a need to make sure the developer makes good the damage to the pavement and road in Slipper Lane.

Ward Cllr Shaw confirmed that a surrounding area road assessment was not carried out before the work started, so SBC would need to resurface surrounding roads where damage occurred.

Ward Cllr Shaw is concerned over speeding traffic on the approach to Burderop. The right hand turn out of the new development will be dangerous. He will monitor this. The developers and SBC are talking about S106 payments at the moment.

The major outstanding issues for Ward Cllr Shaw at the moment is J15 M4. There is no dedicated slip lane going towards Bristol. The J16 work is due to finish in July. It was confirmed that Ward Cllr Sumner would be the best contact for J15 work.

Ward Cllr Shaw would like to see a 20mph limit in Hodson with S106 funds covering this work. It has already been changed from 50mph to 40mph.

Empty grit bins to be reported to the Clerk who can pass this on to Ward Cllr Shaw.

Cllr Hill commented on frustrated residents who didn’t get their green bins emptied due to the snow. Some residents are not going to renew their subscription. They want to know if they will get a refund for missed collections.

Ward Cllr Shaw advised that the service received is better than a lot of other areas.

Cllr Brady thanked Ward Cllr Shaw for his hard work and dedication to the Parish over the years before his retirement in May 2018.

Ward Cllr Gary Sumner reported:

The SHELAA is to be delayed to June 18. (Strategic Housing & Economic Land Availability Assessment)

All pothole reports have been submitted to SBC.

In regards to larger planning applications, the Parish Council can insist on certain items on the plan which developers must follow.

It was confirmed there is only 1 SBC Planning enforcement officer at the moment.

Information from Rob Rossiter at SBC is that modelling for J15 work is still going ahead. There is more traffic on Plough Hill than they first thought. Ward Cllr Sumner has made it clear that until Commonhead roundabout is sorted out then there is no point doing a J15 plan.

The bridge across DayHouse Lane may need extending also. Badbury Park is still growing and the residents have a concern over DayHouse Lane. The inspector didn’t make any decisions at the time about DayHouse Lane.

Not sure if the area designated for the Science Park will get developed or whether 300 more homes will be built there. If it’s more homes then Badbury residents need a decision on what happens. Badbury Park residents would prefer that traffic went through DayHouse Lane.

Ward Cllr Sumner is going to arrange a community meeting in Liddington Hall to discuss this.

There also needs to be a bridge going over the canal.

Ward Cllr Sumner will keep the Parish Council updated on this.

The leader of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty visited SBC. The AONB feeds into planning applications such as Burderop Park. The AONB will be re-visiting their comments on this application.

The Community Speed Watch are doing a good job recording speeding vehicles. Even though this doesn’t result in a prosecution it is all good data to have. SBC can these use this data to prevent speeding. Can’t act without having the data.

If a driver goes over 50% of the speed limit then the police do contact them. This does need to be recorded 4 times however.

17/144 Vote on electrician tender to install defibrillator at Memorial Hall

3 quotes received from STORM, KT Electrical and Sam Clegg.

The KT Electrical quote was cheapest and the company has been used before by the Parish Council.

Cllr Walton proposed that KT electrical be used for installing the defibrillator at a cost of £105.10 plus VAT. Cllr Bates seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

17/145 Vote on changing the Financial Regulations to allow only 2 signatories for authorizing payments

It was explained that currently the council only write cheques with 3 signatories. We cannot do electronic BACS transfers with 3 signatures. Would need to be 2.

Cllr Costigan proposed that the Financial Regulation be changed to require only 2 signatories to approve payments. This was seconded by Cllr Matt Harris. All Cllrs were in favour.

The Clerk will update the Financial Regulations document.

17/146 Review and vote on change contractor for the cemetery, play area and Recreation Ground grass cutting.

The Finance Committee had already reviewed the 2 tenders from Allbuild and Countrywide and proposed that the contract be awarded to Allbuild.

Cllr Rawlings requested this first be discussed by the EGPA committee as they hadn’t discussed this yet.

Cllr Brady confirmed that the Finance committee are responsible for contracts as per the Terms of Reference documents for committees. Once Finance approve a contract change then full council ratify it.

It was noted that Countrywide have increased their monthly fee with us and that we have reviewed their levels of service to us over the past 6 months. The work Allbuild do has also been reviewed over the past 6 months.

Cllrs were reminded that if there are any issues with any contractor then this must be raised to the Clerk for investigation and not saved up and brought to a meeting to be discussed.

Cllr Matt Harris commented on whether a third quote would be off assistance. It was agreed to obtain a third quote if possible and discuss at the next relevant meeting. The Clerk is to confirm which one.

Cllr Sunners commented that Allbuild had always been quick to respond to issues and Cllr Brady advised that the recent litter pick assistance was provided free of charge from Allbuild.

Cllr Bates sought confirmation on whether the EGPA committee still dealt with contracts. Cllr Brady deferred this to the April full council meeting as this was voted on in 2017.

The Clerk is to send out all TOR’s again for reference and add this to the April agenda.

17/147 Planning Committee only. Discussion and vote on application S/18/0313

The original plans in 2017 for this application were supported by Chiseldon PC but rejected by SBC. There is a slight change to the new plans.

The committee was in agreement that the response back to SBC on these new plans was that the PC were still in support of the application and had no objections.

The Clerk to report back to SBC.

17/148 New General Data Protection Regulations – Information only

Cllr Henderson provided an update on what this means for companies. There are 6 principles to follow. He will provide documentation with more information on this for all Cllrs.

The Clerk advised that there is some confusion over who can be a data controller. Even if not compliant fully by May 2018, you need to have a 6 month plan in place to show how you plan to be compliant.

There may be a need for the Parish council to bring in a consultant who understand the procedures to follow.

The Clerk to ask other parishes for information on how they are handling this.

17/149 SAC representative from Parish Council needed

The Swindon Area Committee of NALC (National Association of Local Clerks) requires 2 volunteers to attend from each Parish Council. The Clerk is attending already.

Cllr Ian Henderson volunteered for this role.

17/150 Community Safety

Cllr Sunners provided an update on the new and improved Wiltshire Police website.

You can now draw crime stats for your area. In South Swindon there were 1008 crimes reported for Jan 18. 23 were reported for the Chiseldon area in this time. 19 of which were for people not paying for fuel at the Esso Station.

Of the 4 remaining:

2 violent crime
2 Anti Social crime

Cllr Andrew McDonald is going to attend the Community Crime meeting on 13th March that Cllr Sunners cannot attend. The next local Neighbourhood Watch meeting is 26th March.

17/151 Review of Committee minutes and documents

Finance

Cllr Matt Harris advised that a Tennis Club rep attended the meeting to advise on the clubs finances. The Parish Council are following this to ensure they have the ability to meet the terms of their lease.

The Parish Council have accepted a grant of behalf of the Football Club which enables us to purchase a new club mower to gift to them, whilst claiming back the VAT which the club can then also use as extra funds. It was checked with our accountant that this is allowed.

The February finance figures had been presented for approval.

Cllr Rawlings had 2 questions:

Payment to Countrywide for maintenance services in Jan – the Clerk advised the payments are split into 12 equal payments.

“Hedge” removal from Road after storm by Allbuild – the Clerk advised that this needed to be done as a road safety issue and that this fell within the parishing remit of work the council need to do.

For the February finance figures, Cllr Brady proposed acceptance of these figure as accurate. Cllr Costigan seconded. All Cllrs in agreement.

Environment, General Purpose and Amenities (EGPA)

Cllr Rawlings reported that the litter pick went well and that Allbuild collected all rubbish that was picked up.

The specialist removable sports flooring for the Rec Hall is too costly, so waiting to hear back from the Table Tennis Club on how their matches are going. We can only have carpet in this space due to the movement of the floor. Laminate or tiles would crack and split.

Still waiting to decide on football pitch improvement work.

For the Castle View play area there are now 3 quarterly inspections, as well as the annual inspection.

Transport report from Cllr Hill

The Thamesdown transport new services started on the 11th March providing an increased service.
Stagecoach are also investing in new services.

Cllr Hill has talked to the Stagecoach manager about services during snow. They have agreed the 81 service will go from the hospital to Chiseldon during the snow.

Planning, Transport Development and Highways

Cllr Brady reported that the Parish Council received some training from Andy Brown and Liz Gibbon Smith from SBC on conservation matters. The Clerk is to circulate the presentation to all Cllrs.

There is no new information on possible developments within the parish.

The minutes of the Strategy meeting will be circulated.

The Clerk will add an item to the April agenda to discuss items agreed upon at the Strategy meeting.

17/152 Any Other Business

Cllr Sunners thanks Cllr Matt Harris and Cllr Brady for their excellent responses to the public during the precept discussion.

Cllr Hill enquired whether the Chiseldon Firs site is now clear? Cllr Brady confirmed the site is clear and the barriers re-inforced. It was commented that the gates were still open and unlocked. The broken toilet block is still on site.

The Clerk is to email Mike Ash at SBC for an update report. The Clerk will circulate the reply to all Cllrs.

Cllr Clarke wanted to second Cllr Sunners comments on the precept discussion.

Cllr Bates commented that if possible 2 meetings should not be run one after the other to ensure enough time between each one.

Meeting closed at 21.37pm

Summary Of Action Points

All actions to be completed by the next full Committee meeting unless otherwise specified.