PEASEDOWN ST.JOHN -- VILLAGE PLAN -- SUMMARY NOTES OF INTRODUCTORY MEETING

Saturday 22^nd October 2005 -- at Beacon Hall, Peasedown St.John

Present :

R.W.G.Butt, Vice-Chair, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

C.Rich, Councillor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

Mrs R.Rich, Councillor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

J.P.Rich, Councillor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

J.S.Bolwell, Councillor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

Mrs E.V.Latchem, Councillor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

M.Roy, Councillor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

Gail Coleshill, B&NES Councillor for Peasedown St.John

M.J.Gregory, ‘Community Safety Action Group’

D.Kennedy, Company Secretary, Beacon Hall/PSJ Community Association

N.W.McInnes, Avon Local Councils Association

D.Hopes, ‘FAST’ Community Group

Bridie Marshall, Youth and Community interests

P.R.Provest, Internal Auditor, Peasedown St.John Parish Council

A.Henon, representing ‘nesa’

V.O’Brien, representing St.Joseph’s Church

I.Biggerstaff, representing PSJ Dental Practice

Helena Wilcox, representing PSJ Dental Practice

P.Dixon, resident, Hillcrest

D.Manders, representing Dunkerton Parish Council

Cllr. R.W.G.Butt explained the meeting had been called to introduce the concept of a comprehensive ‘Village Plan’ to be developed for Peasedown St.John. This would geographically cover the area covered by PSJ Parish Council and the
PSJ Ward of B&NES. Involvment would extend to all groups operating within that area and representing interests of every kind. Existing groups such as ‘FAST’, ‘POP’, Somer, Parish Council, sports organisations and educational facilities at all levels would automatically be included. Local representation of wider service organisations such as Police, NHS, would also be invited

The objective would be to involve -everyone- in devising the type of community they wished PSJ to be, timescale of the Plan to extend from now to Year 2015. In an earlier exercise we had prepared a ‘Village Design Statement’ which had dealt with detailed physical characteristics of the village, but this new Plan would be more concerned with the functioning of the community and the desired ‘shape’ of the community itself.

There followed a number of points raised in discussion by those present, including the following :

B&NES Cllr Gail Coleshill said the earlier Design Statement had proved useful in guiding B&NES policies, and this new Village Plan, if similarly representing properly co-ordinated desires, could prove to be a useful lever in making bids which required securing of funds. To do this it needed to be demonstrable that it represented views of "the grass roots upward" rather than something imposed from "the top downwards".

D.Manders, representing Dunkerton Parish Council, said any major change envisaged by Peasedown St.John in their Village Plan could have a substantial ‘knock-on’ effect on the Dunkerton community, as had already happened following construction of the PSJ by-pass. However he would expect Dunkerton, along with Camerton, to keep a watching brief on the development of the PSJ Village Plan, and there was scope for co-operation.

Cllr. R.W.G.Butt, summarising, thanked those attending for generally endorsing their support for the production of a PSJ ‘Village Plan’. He was encouraged to move this forward to the next stage, formation of a Steering Committee, along with drafting of Constitution, Terms of Reference, and pursuing the means of funding.

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Text of letter sent out by Cllr R.W.G.Butt after the 22^nd October Introductory meeting :

Cllr Robert Butt, 1 Filer Close, Peasedown St.John, Bath, BA2 8DQ

November 2005

The Village Plan

Dear Committee member,

I am sorry to have taken such a long time in writing to you to give you an update on the Village Plan but as with the general rule of things, our computer has had a fit and has refused to work, even when being threatened with the re-cycling bin.

However, it is now back to normal, temperamental but functioning.

Last week I finally managed to finish the copious paper work, which will determine whether we get a Government Grantor not and I am pleased to report that the official at Community Action stated that we have a "very, very good chance" of receiving something in the order of £4k, that is about 75 per cent of what will be required. I shall be asking the Parish Council to put in another £500. The Parish Council will also undertake to do all the necessary accounting and banking, in accordance with the regulations laid down by the Government.

As a result I feel optimistic about the venture and was particularly pleased that all present at the introductory meeting at the Beacon Hall were in favour of proceeding.

We now have to elect various officers for the Steering Committee --a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and decide how we are going to go about things from now on and what rules and regulations we need to follow. I admit this could be a bit boring but as we shall be spending public money from the taxpayer ( or us, in fact ), we have to make sure that everything is being done correctly. The official at Community Action agreed that this whole exercise should only take about a year, despite some of the "gloom and doom" that some were warning about. If we want to take that amount of time, rather than longer, then we should be able to do it !

I am therefore calling another meeting at the Cricket Club on Saturday 26^th November at 10.30am and I hope that you or someone from your organisation will be able to attend Yours sincerely Robert Butt

1. The management, production and distribution of the Peasedown St.John Village Plan is vested totally in the Village Plan Steering Group, which will act as a Committee throughout the lifetime of the production of the Plan.

2. The Steering Group will consist of between eight and twenty members but cannot meet without a quorum of six members, plus one officer.

3. The Steering Group will consist of members resident in Peasedown St.John. Visitors, invited by a simple majority of the Group, may attend the Group’s meetings but without the right of voting.

4. The Steering Group members will be volunteers representing all the various groups and interests in the Parish, across all age groups.

5. The various age and interest groups in the village will seek volunteers to sit on the Steering Group.

6. The Steering Group will, by resolution, ask the Peasedown St.John Parish Council to act as its Banker for the duration of the Production and Distribution of the Village Plan. The Group will ask the Parish Council’s representative to put this request to the Finance Committee and the Full Council at their next meeting.

7. The Steering Group will also ask that the Group’s accounts shall be put in the care and under the scrutiny of the Parish Council’s Internal Auditor ( this paragraph subject to modification, see Note.5 of 26 Nov 2005 Steering Group meeting )

8. The Steering Group will at all times follow the guidelines of conduct and procedure as laid down by ‘Community Action’ on behalf of the Countryside Commission and DEFRA.

9. Terms of Reference of the Steering Group will be published, amended as necessary and adopted by a quorate meeting of the Steering Group.

10. At the completion of the Village Plan, the Steering Group will disband and the final Village Plan document will be placed in the safekeeping of Peasedown St.John Parish Council.

11. The Steering Group may from time to time, by resolution with a simple majority and within financial constraints, call in paid experts to assist in either the compilation and/or the presentation of the Village Plan.

12. This Constitution, when adopted, may be modified or changed by resolution with a simple majority by either a quorate ordinary meeting of the Steering Group or under special circumstances by an extraordinary meeting, if called by at least six Group members.

13. This draft Constitution was presented for approval of the Steering Group at its meeting on Saturday 26^th November 2005.

14. The Terms of Reference, as described in 9. above, was also presented at that meeting for approval.

1. The Steering Group and its constituent Working Parties will conduct their business under the same protocols of procedure that apply to Elected Authorities :

1 (a). that is, that all debate will be through the Chair.

1 (b). that members may only address the committee or working party when invited so to do by the Chair.

1 (c). that any personal interest should be declared in advance of a debate.

1 (d). that a simple majority shall be sufficient.

1 (e). that the Chair can suspend the meeting, as a result of extraordinary circumstances.

2. The date, timing and location of the Steering Group meetings shall be determined by the Officers and that members shall be notified at least five days in advance of any meeting.

3. Minutes shall be taken of any quorate meeting and the Minutes shall be presented to every member of the Steering Group at least five days in advance of any further meetings.

4. Members of the Steering Group shall be entitled to invite guests to any meeting, who will not have voting rights, so long as the number of guests does not exceed three.

5. The Agenda for any Steering Group meeting shall be sent, either by post or by e-mail, to all members of the group and shall be compiled by the group, under the final direction of the Chair. Members are entitled to place any relevant matter on the agenda, so long as the matter is in the hands of the Secretary at least ten days before the date of the next meeting.

6. Terms of Reference can be altered or amended by resolution and a simple majority, with prior notice as detailed in 5. above, at any meeting of the Steering Group.

7. The normal term for any Steering Group meeting shall be ninety minutes. Any member may suggest the suspension of these terms of reference should additional time be needed. A simple majority of the meeting will suffice.

8. The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be expected to give an oral report to the meeting on each occasion that it meets and their report, although in most cases given orally, will be detailed in the minutes of the meeting.

9. Where Working Parties are set up, these Working Parties will each elect its own Chair, either for the duration of the life of the Working Party or on an ‘ad hoc’ basis on each occasion that the Working Party meets. The Chair of each Working Party will be expected to give a report of the Working Party’s deliberations at each Steering Group meeting.

10. As far as possible, there should be no inclusion on the agenda for the Working Party for "any other business".

However, any item for discussion that is immediately important could be included as an agenda item by the Chair.