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Present: Cllr. J Rich Chairman

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1. No apologies were received

Minutes of a meeting of the Policy and General Purposes Committee held on 20th February 2006

These minutes, which had been previously circulated were taken as read, agreed a true record and signed by the Chairman.

2. Matters arising

Cllr R Butt informed the council that he had had a meeting with Mr Tucker of 39 Underknoll regarding the overhanging tree and the request for a light in Cemetery Lane. Mr Tucker appreciated the council's agreement to having the canopy of the tree raised, and has had second thoughts regarding a new light as both he and his neighbours now think that this could cause youths who do not congregate in the lane at the moment to do so if it is well lit.

The clerk is to contact B& NES again to ask if they would like a representative to join the parish council lighting committee.

Cllr Day asked if the clerk had been successful in logging on to the land registry site to determine where the boundary to 1 Bath Road lay. The clerk replied that unfortunately the land is untitled and no information is available on the internet.

It was decided that the clerk should look at last year's report and amend and add as necessary.

This has to be completed before the 20^th March and has to be distributed to B&NES (via the Hollies)

• Email has been received from Andy Strong of Banes stating that First will no longer run buses through the village after 21.00 due to stone throwing. First are concerned for the safety of their passengers and staff.

This was extensively discussed and it was agreed that a letter should be sent to police to request a stronger police presence.

It must be made clear to all that Peasedown St John belongs to it's residents and not just to a few youths. Cllr RWG Butt also felt that the anti-social behaviour that the village is experiencing at present has nothing to do with there being not enough activities to occupy the young of the village but rather it is to do with hooliganism. It was also felt that there is some organisation behind the vandalism and a member of the council has seen text messages sent in code to a thirteen year old resident.

Identification is paramount and every incident must be reported to the police and only if this is done will Peasedown St John become a high priority area for policing.

The youth club should be contacted to inform the members not to join in with the anti social behaviour so that will not continue, and also the Public Houses, shops and clubs in the area should be made aware that serving alcohol to underage youngsters is an offence.

The clerk is to contact Community Action to enquire about a grant for CCTV in the village - linked to the police stations.

Cllr RWG Butt pointed out that there is cost to all of this as apart from the repairs that have to be undertaken - houses will devalue if the public perception is that Peasedown St John is a rough area

The human cost is also a concern as if residents feel there is a threat they will not attend social functions after dark, and this will be detrimental to their well being.

Cllr RWG Butt proposed that a Village Meeting be held.

This proposal was seconded by Cllr J Bolwell and all councillors were in favour.

The chairman is to take this forward and find an independent person to take the chair.

• NHS Reconfiguration

This letter proposed that the present 12 PCTs be reduced to 7 PCTs and invited any comments

• B&NES Sports and Leisure Team

This team required more information regarding the leisure facilities available within Peasedown St John. It was decided to ask Mike Gregory to take this forward.

Cllr RWG Butt pointed out that the Personnel Committee needs to be reconvened due to the change in both chairman and vice chairman. The suggestion was that Cllr Mrs F Butt; Cllr J Rich;Cllr M Kennedy should make up the committee as from 6 March 2006.

Cllr R Butt also suggested that there should be a committee for Health and Safety and this will be discussed at the next full council meeting on 20^th March.

The clerk followed up the matter of the Telephone Kiosk outside the school being removed, but when speaking to BT was informed that the telephone there is well used. It was decided to monitor this further to determine whether vandalism was still taking place.

The meeting closed at 19.55