Minutes November 2019

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MINUTES

DEFFORD & BESFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of Defford & Besford Parish Council held on Tuesday 19th November 2019 at 7.45pm in Defford Village Hall

PRESENT: Cllr J Clarke Cllr A Spiers Cllr C Wicksteed

Cllr R Davis (also in capacity as District Cllr) Clerk – L Yapp

3 Parishioners

Sue Rees, James Harrington, Lee Revell, Simon Harris and Stanley Hornsey – candidates for for the 5 vacant seats on the parish council

  1. APOLOGIES – None received
  2. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN – following the resignation of Gary Cheetham (previous Chair) nominations were asked for the role of Chairman. Cllr Davis proposed Cllr Clarke, seconded by Cllr Wicksteed – all in favour. Cllr Spiers proposed Cllr Davis for the role as Vice Chairman, seconded by Cllr Clarke – all in favour
  3. CO-OPTION – Cllr Clarke invited all five candidates to introduce themselves and to say a few words as to why they wanted to become a Cllr. All five candidates were accepted and voted en bloc, proposed Cllr Wicksteed, seconded Cllr Davis – all in favour. They signed their Acceptance of Office forms and joined the Council. Cllrs Rees, Harrington, Revell and Hornsey would represent Defford, with Cllr Harris representing Besford.

Thanks were paid to parishioners who had helped in delivering of leaflets to the village asking for interest to fill the vacancies

  1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None declared
  2. Cllrs are reminded of the need to update their register of interests
  3. To declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in items on the agenda and their nature
  4. To declare Other Disclosable Interests in items on the agenda and their nature
  5. 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

Cllr Wicksteed declared an interest in any discussion regarding Home Farm

  1. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME – points raised by parishioners:
  • Harpley Road – ongoing issues with mud being drawn off the Churcham Homes site. The clerk had raised this with enforcements and some activity from cleaning vehicles had been seen in the vicinity. Concerns were raised over the mud being washed into drives and drains during the extremely heavy rainfall
  • 30mph sign, currently sited opposite the graveyard – it was considered that this could be better sited at the entrance to Harpley Road – the clerk would raise this with WCC

The clerk reported that she was trying to organise a site meeting with WCC / WDC Land Drainage

With a view to addressing flooding and drainage issues. The clerk to chase for a date

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  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES from meeting dated 17th September 2019 – points raised from the last Minutes:
  • Harpley Road Odour – this seemed to have improved and no further complaints received
  • Dog Waste Bins – a meeting with WDC to agree location had been cancelled from the previous week because of the heavy rain but had been re-scheduled for 22nd November. Cllr Spiers would be attending with village resident

Cllr Spiers proposed acceptance of the Minutes, seconded Cllr Wicksteed – all in favour

  1. REPORTS:
  2. County Cllr Report – nothing to report. Comments were raised regarding the lack of County Cllrs attendance to meetings. Whilst the parish council fully appreciated how busy he was, it was agreed that a report would be greatly appreciated in his absence. The clerk would pass on these comments to Cllr Hardman
  3. District Cllr Report – District Cllr Davis welcomed the new Cllrs and gave a brief resume of his background in Defford. He went on to report:

SWDP Review – Defford has been upgraded from a Category 3 village to a Category 2. The only development to come out of the Options Report was for 6 or 7 houses at the Defford Motors site. The site had previously been approved for development, but time lapsed, and the application was no longer valid.

Cllrs Clarke and Wicksteed would speak to Fisher German with regard any proposed development at Home Farm with a questionnaire to be sent out to residents in Besford for their thoughts

  1. West Mercia Policing Team – nothing to report
  2. Lengthsman – covered above under Finance
  3. FINANCE
  4. 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:

Payments were accepted and approved, proposed Cllr Clarke, seconded Cllr Wicksteed

  1. Account balances (less unpresented cheques):

Current Account: £20,302.74

Deposit Account: £4,054.27

  1. VAT – the clerk reported that she had re-claimed just over £2,700 VAT (parish councils are able to claim VAT back on any expenditure). Thanks were paid to the clerk by Cllr Clarke for her efforts on this

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  1. Lengthsman – Contracts had now been sorted out between the parish council and WCC and monies were now being reimbursed for LM expenditure. The clerk advised the council and those present of the role of the lengthsman and the involvement of WCC with regard payments. Cllr Harrington was keen to work with the LM with a view to ensuring that problem areas are dealt with. The clerk would send to Cllr Harrington the contract which details works that should be carried out
  2. Reserves – the clerk had calculated the remaining balance on the NHB funds for the improvements to the village hall car park to be £1,418. This was confirmed by Cllr Spiers
  3. Community Infrastructure Levy Grant – the clerk reported that we had been allocated two payments, one for £5,110.80 and one for £276 which would be paid to the parish council in April 2020. There is strict criteria on how this could be spent and would be considered once funds had been received. One option is possibly improvements to the street lighting.
  4. s106 Monies – the parish council has access to s106 monies which has been allocated to the Millenium Green. Now that we have a full complement of Cllrs, consideration can be given to the most effective use of the funds
  5. HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS
  6. Signage:
  • Village Hall Sign – it was reported that this had been hit and just needed adjusting back into correct position. Cllr Hornsey offered to look at this
  • Defford Road Sign – this had been damaged and discussions with County Cllr Hardman had previously taken place. The clerk would look into this further
  1. Footpaths / Rights of Way – Cllr Wicksteed asked if there was access to a plan that he could print off. The clerk said she could look into this for him
  2. Street Lighting – the clerk had reported a failed light in Harpley Road. The clerk would chase this up with Prysmian
  3. Flooding – Site visit with WDC / WCC to be arranged
  4. PLANNING:

a) Home Farm Housing Survey – nothing further to report but in hand with Cllr Clarke

b) 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

c) 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 – discussion took place and there were no objections to this application. The clerk would comment to WDC

d) SWDP Preferred Options – Already covered in District Cllrs report

  1. OPEN SPACES
  2. Millennium Green – Cllr Spiers reported that regular safety checks were carried out/ He raised concerns that it was being used for car parking and asked whether the gate should be closed. It was agreed to monitor the situation for time being with a view that it would be a temporary problem

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  1. PROJECTS
  2. Village Hall Car Park – Cllr Spiers reported that drainage gullies still needed to be addressed
  3. Electric Car Charging Points – an application form had been received from Western Power for points at the village hall car park. Cllr Clarke would follow this up. A previous suggestion had been received for the street lighting columns to be fitted with points, but after a conversation with Prysmian the clerk was advised that there have been issues in the past with regard health and safety with trailing cables and this would have an impact on insurance
  4. Repair to Church Wall – Cllr Clarke had a contact who may be able to attend to the wall. Whilst it was pointed out that the wall had been leaning for some 20 years, it was considered that this should be looked at as a matter of urgency. Cllrs Clarke, Morris and Hornsey were of the opinion that a full risk assessment should be carried out and to assess fully the work required to make good, with a view to report back in January. The clerk was asked to contact the Parochial Church Council to establish of their own insurance covered any possible incidents.
  5. Defibrillator – This has now been moved to the village hall, but a suggestion made that one should be located in the phone box in Defford. The clerk would investigate availability of free defibrillators or cost if none available.
  6. Phone Boxes – Unless there was some specific use for the phone box in Defford it was suggested that it could be sold (apparently, they are sold for several hundred pounds). Cllr Clarke reported that the Besford phone box is being restored by a resident of Besford.
  7. POLICIES – the clerk reminded Cllrs that the Financial Regulations and Standing Orders needed to be reviewed and this would be covered in the January meeting.
  8. CORRESPONDENCE / EMAILS had been circulated to Cllrs
  9. OTHER MATTERS FOR INFORMATION / FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
  • Cllr Rees reported that there was a need for a Cllr on the Board of Governors at the school. She was already a Governor. Cllr Harrington advised that he would be happy to do this if a second Cllr was needed
  1. DATE OF NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS – Dates for the next 12 months were agreed at the meeting, however since then the clerk found that Defford Village Hall is already booked on Tuesday nights. Further dates had been put to Cllrs, and the following dates agreed:

Wednesday 22nd January in Defford

Wednesday 18th March in Defford

Tuesday 19th May in Besford

Wednesday 22nd July in Defford

Tuesday 15th September in Besford

Wednesday 18th November in Defford

All to start at 7:15pm