Minutes January 2020

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2020/01

MINUTES

DEFFORD & BESFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of Defford & Besford Parish Council held on Wednesday 22nd January 2020 at 7.15pm in Defford Village Hall

PRESENT: Chairman J Clarke Vice Chairman R Davis (also in capacity as District Cllr) Cllr A Spiers Cllr C Wicksteed Cllr L Revell Cllr S Res

Cllr J Harrington Cllr S Harris Clerk L Yapp

2 Parishioners

  1. APOLOGIES – None received
  2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None declared
  3. Cllrs are reminded of the need to update their register of interests
  4. To declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in items on the agenda and their nature
  5. To declare Other Disclosable Interests in items on the agenda and their nature
  6. Written requests for the council to grant a dispensation (S33 of the Localism Act 2011) are to be with the clerk at least 4 clear days prior to a meeting.

Cllrs who have declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, or Other Disclosable Interest which falls within the terms of paragraph 12(4) of the code of conduct, must leave the room for the relevant items

The clerk was asked to check with Wychavon District Council if all Cllrs had sent in their Register of Interests forms

  1. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME – Nothing was raised but parishioners were invited to in interact throughout the meeting
  2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES from meeting dated 19th November 2019 – Acceptance proposed Cllr Davis, seconded Cllr Wicksteed – all in favour
  3. REPORTS:
  4. County Cllr Report – nothing to report.
  5. District Cllr Report – District Cllr Davis reported that WDC were in a position of healthy finances and a recommendation had been made for a 0% increase in council tax. Jack Hegarty (Joint Chief Executive/Managing Director for WDC) is retiring in July
  6. West Mercia Policing Team – nothing to report
  7. Lengthsman – it was reported that it is evident a number of grips / channels had been dug in verges to allow surface water to escape the highways
  8. FINANCE
  9. Payments for approval / made since the last meeting – a copy of the full accounts had been forwarded to Cllrs and a hard copy given to new Cllrs at the meeting:

2020/02

Payments were accepted and approved, proposed Cllr Davis, seconded Cllr Wicksteed. The clerk

Advised that she would check the remaining funds from the LM budget paid by WCC

  1. Account balances (less unpresented cheques):

Current Account: £18,691.66

Deposit Account: £4,084.27

  1. Budget – the clerk presented a budget for consideration and approval. Due to the healthy financial situation, it was agreed on a 0% increase on the council tax paid by parishioners. The clerk advised that because of the healthy account balances, we should allocate some of this to ‘reserves’. It was agreed that reserves be set aside for: an election (if ever there was a need) and there are remaining funds from the NHB application for the village hall car park of £1,418.

Further discussion took place regarding the condition of the church wall. An initial estimate had been received for approx. £30,000 – this is to include works at the entrance to the church yard and would include the whole of the wall. It was agreed that this is something we need to prepare for and a further reserve of £10,000 was allocated to the repair of the wall. Cllr Davis advised of grant funding that may be available – the clerk would make enquiries. It was agreed that this is not going to be something that would happen during this financial year but would be a project to work towards

The budget and allocation of reserves proposed were agreed by all, proposed Cllr Davis, seconded Cllr Rees.

  1. HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS
  2. Signage:
  • Village Hall Sign – This had been attended to previously by Cllr Hornsey but reported that it was again pointing the wrong way. Cllr Harrington advised he would look at this
  • Defford Road Sign – this had been reported to WCC but as yet, not attended to
  1. Footpaths / Rights of Way – Cllr Wicksteed was not aware of the facility to report problems with footpaths i.e. finger post marking, broken stiles. The clerk offered to assist.
  2. Street Lighting – failed light had been attended to
  3. Flooding – Just before Christmas, Cllrs Clarke and Spiers met with officers from WCC and WDC to look at problem areas which had been high lighted as a result of the heavy rainfall: Harpley Road, Defford Bridge, Bluebell Lane, Bourne Road and Salters Lane. Sub-contractors have been advised of the issues where necessary but WCC have said there is a backlog. The lengthsman had also contributed with grips where necessary
  4. Cllr Revell reported that cars were parking near the entrance to the playground, causing a problem with access and mud making entry hazardous. Since the meeting Cllr Davis has been in touch with the owner of the vehicle and the parish council comments were taken on board.
  5. PLANNING:

a) Home Farm Housing Survey – nothing further to report, but Cllr Clarke advised that the views of residents would be taken back to landowners

b) Wychavon District Council – Housing Needs Survey – it is understood that this survey has been sent out to parishioners

2020/03

c) 19/00758 – Broad Hill Farm Broad Hill Defford – Demolition of existing dwelling, agricultural and equestrian buildings and re-modelling of farmstead – awaiting decision by WDC

d) 19/02371 – Oakwood House, Rebecca Road, Besford – 2-storey side extension, new roof and loft conversion, Variation of Condition 4 to planning approval reference 12/02345/PP to amend the design of the roof, amend design of front porch, omit french doors to rear, addition of balcony to rear and substitute french doors to window, addition of 2 ground floor windows to front elevation and minor internal changes – awaiting decision by WDC

e) 19/02632 – Defford Aerodrome – solar farm, associated works and ancillary infrastructure – it was reported that historically, an offer of £100,000 had been offered to the parish council. The clerk to look through old minutes, but there were no objections to this application

f) 19/02742/GPDQ – Broad Hill Farm, Defford – change pf use of agricultural buildings to 2 x dwellings – no objections

g) 19/00863 – Jubilee Cottage, Woodmancote – dropped kerb at existing vehicular access – no objections

h) Scheme of Delegation – Planning Decisions – It was formally agreed that all planning applications would be circulated to Cllrs and comments fed back to the clerk. Cllr Rees and the clerk would agree on a satisfactory response to WDC. In the case of an application which is considered controversial, this would be discussed by full council, and parishioners if need be would be consulted.

  1. OPEN SPACES
  2. Millennium Green – Cllr Spiers reported that regular safety checks were carried out but Cllr Revell agreed to take on this role as he is a regular user of the facilities. The clerk was asked to investigate how much quarterly checks would cost.
  3. PROJECTS
  4. Village Hall Car Park – A request has been received from Network Rail for use of the car park over two weekends in March, with an offer of £300 to the parish council. Discussion took place regarding the suitability of the car park surface for anything other than cars. It was agreed that the clerk go back to NR advising there was no problem with them using the car park, but the barrier would be left down restricting vehicles of more than 6’ in height. The clerk had checked with the Village Hall and this would not conflict with any bookings. A further request had been received from Churcham Homes. Again, this was discussed but questions raised as to how this would be managed, and a similar restriction on larger vehicles. Cllr Clarke would speak to CH
  5. Electric Car Charging Points – Cllr Revell questioned how this would be maintained financially and made the point that suppliers need to be ‘uniformed’ on their payment options.
  6. Repair to Church Wall – Covered under Finance.
  7. Defibrillator – Discussion place as to whether there was any need for an additional defibrillator. It was agreed that there was no need for a third unit at the moment
  8. Phone Boxes – It was agreed that the phone box in Deffrod would benefit from a re-furbishment – a coat of paint and replace the glass. It was agreed that a budget be set of £300 to cover this
  9. CODE OF CONDUCT – The clerk presented to Cllrs the revised Code of Conduct from Wychavon District Council for consideration and adoption. This was approved by the parish council in its entirety, proposed Cllr Clarke, seconded Cllr Davis

It was agreed that Cllrs take ‘ownership / responsibility ‘ for specific areas. This was agreed and allocated as follows:

2020/04

  • Cllr Spiers – Car park
  • Cllr Revell – Millennium Green
  • Cllr Wicksteed – Footpaths / Rights of Way
  • Cllr Rees – Planning
  • Cllr Harrington – Finance
  • Cllr Harris – Projects
  • Cllr Hornsey – to be defined
  1. CORRESPONDENCE / EMAILS had been circulated to Cllrs
  2. OTHER MATTERS FOR INFORMATION / FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
  • Cllr Spiers had been asked if the road across the aerodrome could be re-opened. The clerk would make enquiries as to who owns it and whether it is used by anyone (there was a thought that the police use it)
  • Village Email List – the clerk asked if there was a requirement to create a ‘Defford and Besford Information’ email address and hold an email list of parishioners who would like to be advised of emergency road closures, contentious planning applications etc. It was emphasised that this would only be used as a way of informing residents of important issues not as a ‘main point of communication’ – this would continue to be carried out via the existing email address. We would need to consider GDPR regulations and in the first instance the clerk would put a notice in the village magazine to gauge interest
  • WDC Parish Games – the clerk had been contact by the chairman of WDC Parish Games to see if there was any interest the Games – a popular event through the parishes to enter a wide range of activities / sports – these include crib, darts, cross-country, football and bell-boating. Again, this would be included in the village magazine
  1. DATE OF NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS – Dates for the next meeting – Wednesday 18th March at 7.15 in Defford