PEASEDOWN ST JOHN PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of an Environment Committee meeting held on Monday 6th December 2004 at 7.55 p.m. in the Cricket Clubhouse
Present: Cllr. R W G Butt (Chairman)
Cllrs. Mrs. F M Butt, F J Day, Mrs. M Kennedy, Mrs. E V Latchem and A A Spiller. Also present: - Cllrs. J P Rich and Mrs. R M Rich and one member of the public.
An apology was received from Cllr. Mrs. K M Thomas.
Public Session
There were no questions or comments.
These minutes, which had been previously circulated were taken as read, agreed a true record and signed by the Chairman. There were no matters arising.
B&NES - Public Entertainment Licence
A copy of an application from the Beacon Hall was reviewed and no objections raised.
Clerk had circulated with the agenda an up to date and costed Action Plan for 2005/2006. Initially members were a little taken aback by the sums involved but after the Chairman took each item separately the prices seemed more sensible as several members agreed that there was a need to keep up the present standards so favourably commented upon each year.
Item 1 was agreed as it was felt that the price gave value for money.
Item 2 was agreed except the Clerk was asked to look into the idea of planting permanent trees instead of erecting cut trees. This would save the price of the trees, their transport to site and erection into the pipes. Clerk was asked to look at prices for very mature trees that could be used immediately and smaller trees, which could be planted now and used when big enough. Clerk thought that any permanent tree would be subject to vandalism 12 months of the year and being on open sites would suffer more from the weather than trees cut from managed plantations.
Item 3 was agreed as it was noticed that, as this year had been a trial year incorporating extra beds and the fact that the work could not be exactly estimated a year ago, prices had not reached the estimated level. Next year's prices seemed reasonable for a repeat of the marvellous display witnessed last summer. Chairman said that he knew a business, which is interested in sponsoring the planting on a roundabout and asked if it would start the ball rolling if the Clerk looked into planning permission for small adverts on all the areas administered by this Council. Agreed.
Item 4 was agreed in principle but the Clerk was asked to obtain further quotations, some for a like treatment, i.e. with the grass left, and others for a mow and pick up scheme. If better prices could be obtained the bid could be reduced before the precept-making meeting.
Item 5 was accepted and agreed as prudent as it covered fair wear to seats, notice boards and litterbins.
The programme costed out at £6290.
The Clerk had also circulated with the agenda an Action Plan for Ecewiche Green. It detailed all the items agreed on the site meeting together with estimates of costs obtained from contractors.
Item 1 was agreed as it was felt that the present contractor had carried out the job as required to give different grass lengths for interest and to encourage flora in the right places. The price was only 1.75% more than this year!
Item 2 was debated for some considerable time as it is still not known if all hedges should receive the same treatment as some did allow a great deal of sound insulation against road noises. It was eventually agreed that 50 yards of the intermediate hedge should be fully laid to enable the committee to assess the effect on the site as a whole. It was pointed out that to fully lay all the hedges on the Green could take years if only 50 yards were done each year!
Item 3 was debated fully and the Chairman restated the urgent need for this work, as the lower path was now very messy and adults and children alike now use the bank as a route to the top of the bank.
It was agreed that the work should be done as it would attract no revenue implications and it was recommended that the scheme should be treated as a special project to be funded from Council balances.
Item 5 is to be left at this stage.
The Clerk, who was finding it very difficult to find a specialist contractor to quote for the job without a full specification reported upon Item 6. He said that the committee would have to specify the size of the stone, the material used for the display and the exact wording before a price could be given - it was a specialist job which local firms could well do better. He said that the Chairman of Council was investigating the same sort of thing for another occasion. Agreed to leave until later in the year.
The programme costed out at £2848.
It was agreed that the Finance Committee is asked to precept for £9138 to fund the two Action Plans.
It was further agreed that the Council is asked to fund the steps and fencing at Ecewiche Green, which will cost £2289, treating it as a special project using monies from general funds.
Chairman asked if the Clerk would request Somer Housing to look into the lack of parking in Hillcrest as through passage was now sometimes impossible.
Meeting closed at 8.55 p.m.