Peasedown St John Parish Council
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
Cllrs RWG Butt *, J
Rich#, J Bolwell, Mrs M Button,
Mrs P Dixon, D Edler,
M Gregory, Mrs M Kennedy, J
Goring, R Formby, F Day, Mrs K Thomas, Mrs R Rich, G Matthews, A Spiller, C
Rich.
Also Present Mr P Provest, Lay
Member
Public Session -
None
1.
Apologies -
None
2.
Minutes of the Full Council
held on the 23 July 2007
These minutes, which had
been previously circulated were taken as read, agreed as a true record.
3.
Clerk’s Report
I
have contacted Lee Dickinson of Squashed Apple Tree Carving at the request of
some councillors to enquire about having a sculpture carved into the dead elm in
the recreation field when it is felled.
Mr
Dickinson has a website on www.squashedappletreecarving.co.uk
Some of his work may be viewed
outside
The
price would depend on the height of the tree pole left. Anything over 4 – 5 feet would require
scaffolding and would be more expensive.
He
suggested that there may be a subject dear to the heart of Peasedown St
A
minimum cost could be £1000.00. It
may be that various businesses in the village may wish to contribute and they
may come up with an idea to reflect their businesses.
Mr
Dickinson is familiar with Peasedown St
Elm
is a very durable wood.
The
tree surgeon is coming to fell the elm on 20 September 2007, so I would need to
know what size pole you would like to be left.
I
have already asked him to leave a pole there to provide habitat for
invertebrates etc.,
It was agreed to leave a 10 – 15 foot
pole.
I
have been asked to bring the Training evening to the attention of all
councillors. The first session will
take place on Monday 29 October at 7.00 pm.
Maybe a speaker from the SW Strategic Review body may be
interesting. If anyone has any
ideas as to whom they would like to come and speak please contact either Cllr
Mrs Thomas or myself.
The
second part of the meeting is intended to be open to the public. For further
details please see Cllr Mrs Thomas.
I
have today received the external auditor’s report for the year 2006 / 2007. There are no comments to be brought to
the attention of the council, and the accounts are in accord with Audit
Commission’s requirements. Thanks were expressed for
all the work Mr P Provest our internal auditor has done
4.
Correspondence
Ø
Ø
South West Regional Authority – Public consultation
review of pitch requirements for Gypsies & Travellers in the South West –
Cllr R Butt commented that he had heard about this issue from at the Parish
Liason Meeting and that is was possible that 24 sites were needed within
B&NES maybe one will be sited at Peasedown St
Ø
Email from Sam Grange re her relocating to
Ø
Avon & Somerset Police - Two letters received, one stating up
to date facts and the other bringing ‘Scamwise’ to the attention of the
councillors. This is a show in the
Forum explaining what to look for when people come to the door and ask for
private information etc.
Ø
NALC Conference is to be held in
5.
Accounts.
To agree Payment to Accounts (to be
tabled)
Cllr R Formby asked why the parish council were paying
B&NES for a school crossing patrol.
Cllr Butt explained that this was due to the fact that when B&NES had
downgraded the A367 when the bypass was built, they had withdrawn cover. In order to safeguard not only children
but other residents of the village it was decided that the Parish Council would
pay for this facility. The Clerk
was asked to look into whether the person employed was covered by insurance. It
was also suggested that B&NES be approached with reference to the cost of
the school patrol being returned to them.
A
recorded vote was taken and the payments were agreed by all
present
The
chair of finance explained that he had devised a form for each committee which
would aid the planning for the precept.
The committees would come up with a wish list and this would then be
pared down to those projects which were able to be taken
forward.
The
list would be checked during the year to ensure that agreed spending took place
and along with a second form would show clearly how much had been spent and what
was left to spend.
All
forms used by the parish council will now be numbered together with an issue
number, to ensure up to date forms are being used.
It
was also noted that there seems to be an underspend this year, the clerk
commented that invoices are still awaited from B&NES for the Mercedes
roundabout planting and from Mr J Coles for work on the
allotments.
It
was also put forward that the committees would each meet solely to discuss their
ideas for the projects to take forward in 2008 / 2009.
7.
Road Sweeper Scheme
Cllr R Butt commented that the village looked untidy and
whilst we have a mechanical sweeper come to the village every day it did not
address completely the problems of litter within the village. A litter picker
also visits the village regularly, but due to the amount of litter left makes
little impression.
The
alternative is to follow other villages such as Paulton and take the
responsibility from B&NES and deal with litter ourselves. B&NES pays Paulton Parish Council a
certain amount each year and they in turn employ two persons with brushes and
containers to deal with rubbish in the village. Paulton Parish Council adds to
the amount they receive from the unitary authority in order to pay for the hours
required to do the job properly.
Other factors to take into account would be clothing required, equipment
in the first instance, and health and safely issues. It was agreed that Cllrs J Rich and M
Gregory would investigate and report back to the council with their
findings.
8.
Beacon Hall
Mr
Derek Kennedy, Secretary of the Beacon Hall, spoke to the Council regarding
talks that have been taking place between the chair of council, the trustees of
Beacon Hall and various other bodies about the possibility of providing a civic
centre for the community. It is felt that as the village is set to grow even
more, a facility such as this would benefit all areas of the community. The only problem would be the lease of
the building which runs out in 2020 and it would then revert back to B&NES.
There is legislation going through parliament at present which would mean that
authorities would have to hand over community amenities to the community. At the present time
9.
To receive the minutes of Planning Committee Meetings
held on 3 September 2007
The
chair of planning reported that B&NES had unanimously voted against the
lighting gantry that Tesco’s had applied for but had agreed to the fascia and
ATM lighting. An application is
being expected for one large and six small houses on the land opposite Red
Post. A point was raised that this
application could have problems as
the Red Post is a listed building.
10.
Minutes of Environment
Committee Meetings 10 September 2007
These minutes were received
with no comment
11.
Minutes of Amenities
Committee Meetings 10 September 2007
Cllr R Formby suggested that
the council does not install Christmas lights through the village as it could be
seen to favour some religions, may upset those living near, and also light
pollution could be a problem. This
proposal was not agreed by other councillors. The clerk said that
environmentally friendly lights would be used and actual lights did not flash
and would be quite small.
12.
Minutes of Finance Committee
Meeting 2 July 2007
The chair of finance
informed the council that he had been into the office and looked through all the
paperwork to do with the lease for the football club. He had been appalled by the costs
incurred. Welton Football club had
been down the same path, spent thousands with no result. Cllr Gregory suggested that we get
together with the football club and agree terms for a lease and move
forward. This subject was referred
back to the Finance Committee.
The lack of a bus shelter at
Red Post was questioned along with a previous proposal that this council should
go ahead and install one, pay for it and then ask B&NES for the money. This
was not considered to be a good idea as we may not have the monies repaid to
us. Cllr R Butt suggested that no
action is taken at the moment. Cllr
Mrs Thomas asked that the remains of the previous shelter be removed and this
was agreed.
Cllr Gregory brought before
the council the application for a grant of £600.00 received from the Community Association for a new
computer. He said that he had
queried whether a new computer constituted ‘running costs’. It was agreed that is did not and it was
agreed to award £600.00 to the Peasedown St
Community Play Rangers have
expressed surprise that they were not to receive £3000.00 towards their costs as
they had been under the impression that the council had agreed to fund that
amount to them. It has been pointed
out to them that the council agreed in principle with their request for money,
but for how much and when was a matter to be further discussed.
13.
Reports
Chairman’s
report
– The Chairman informed the council that he had attended the farewell service
for Revd. Ruth Farrant, the funeral of Mr ‘Flan’ Spiller also meetings on double
taxation and the parish plan. He
reminded all councillors that there was to be an open day on 29 September at
Beacon Hall to show the village what had been achieved so far, and asked that
they all attend. He is unable to attend to PACT meeting on 18
September.
Cllr Matthews asked why
several businesses now had double yellow lines on road outside and Cllr Spiller
commented that he had contacted a Ward Councillor to enquire why the ‘Keep
Clear’ signs had been removed from the road alongside their forecourt –
apparently this was a mistake.
A letter had appeared in the
paper stating that all councillors had been co-opted. This is not the case and Cllr Mrs
Kennedy said that she had written to the paper to refute this and the letter
should appear this week.
A BMX track has not been
proposed and the council could only discuss this if they were paying for it and
it was to be placed on Parish owned land.
Cllr R Butt is to set up a
working party to look at all council owned land in order to consider future use
of the land.
Cllr Bolwell asked if the
council was going to co-opt a councillor as it was still one short. Cllr R Butt replied that the vacancy has
to be advertised and in the event of more that one person applying, interviews
would then take place.
Police Parish Liaison
Meeting – None
CSAG/PACT
Cllr M Gregory reminded all
present that there was a PACT Meeting on 18 September at the
Parish Liaison
Meeting
– None
ALCA
Cllr Butt spoke about double
taxation and commented that South Gloucestershire repay over £1m to its parishes
and North Somerset repay app £.5m.
Malcolm Hannay who is responsible for resources was very positive but
they had been told that for 2008/9 and 2009/10 they were being asked to cut 5 –
7.5% from the budget as opposed to 3% this year.
14.
Items for a future
agenda
Cllr D Edler asked that the
subject of a BMX track be put on a future agenda. Cllr R Formby seconded the proposal. Cllr
Edler was told that most councillors were not against a BMX track, just where it
should be placed.
Cllr Mrs K Thomas asked that
remuneration for councillors should appear, and also felt that upgrading the
street lights should be speeded up to hand over to B&NES more
quickly.
Cllr R Formby handed a
petition to the council that he had received from residents of Carlingcott to
have the notice board removed from Parish owned land in
Carlingcott.
This is to be referred to
the Policy Committee and they will bring their deliberations to the next full
council meeting in November.
Dates of next meetings:
1 October 2007
–
Planning and other committees as required
22 October 2007
– Other
committees as required
29 October 2007
-
Training Meeting
5 November 2007 -
Planning and other committees as required
19 November 2007 -
Other committees as required
26 November 2007 -
Full Council Meeting
The meeting closed at
21.15