Minutes 3rd January 2018
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 3rd January 2018 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton(Chairman), Cllr A Birmingham, Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr R Tillett, Cllr J Gibson and Cllr G Carden
Apologies: Cllr M Merrett (Sick)
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr R Bloxham (DCC), Cllr S Randall-Johnson and Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) and six members of the public
1/18 Apologies
Cllr M Merrett (sick). Resolved to accept this apology
2/18 Declarations of interest
None at this stage of the meeting
3/18 Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 1st November 2017
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 1st November 2017 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by Chair
4/18 Democratic period
No questions were raised by members of the public at this stage of the meeting.
Representatives from the Brampford Toddler Group, BSPCC and BSVHT were invited to give further details of their community grant applications. Councillors were able to ask further questions and the representative were informed that a decision would be made at the end of the meeting and they would be informed of the outcome by the Clerk.
5/18 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall –
• Cllr Tillett explained that the next item on the BSVHT agenda would be to seek quotations for roof repairs.
• The chairman of the BSVHT said they were committed to keeping the hall accessible to the toddler group
2: Footpaths & Verges -
• Cllr Luxton said he would he would look at the broken stile and would put down some additional hard-core at Lake Bridge
• The Council discussed and agreed that for 2017-2018 contractors should be employed by the Council to keep the footpath’s strimmed and cleared to compliment the works done by volunteers. The Clerk was authorised to seek additional P3 funding through DCC to cover the works
• Councillors agreed that there were not currently enough trained volunteers in the village to keep the footpaths strimmed. Councillors agreed to attend a strimming course to help with the numbers of people able to carry out the works and the Clerk was tasked with sourcing a suitable training course
• Cllr Hollingsworth requested that Station Hill be cleared of mud and debris (she declared an interest at this point as she lived at the bottom of the Hill). Council were unsure at this point who was responsible for keeping the highway clear but Cllr R Bloxham (DCC) advised that he would contact DCC highways to see if they were responsible for keeping the highways clear and clean. In the meantime Cllr Luxton advised that he would have a look at the path and see if he could clear the mud away by using some farm equipment
• Cllr Luxton advised that local farmers (including himself) had been maintaining verges and gully’s around the village to minimise the flooding risks. There was a vote of thanks to Cllr Luxton and other farmers for the vital voluntary works which they continue to do around the village
3: Trees –
• Cllr Hollingsworth advised that the WW1 trees were doing well and that she had noted that a recent planning application to fell an ash tree was not granted by EDDC planning department
• The tree is in village was to be removed by a local resident as it was leaning badly. The hole will be made good when the tree is removed. A decision would be made at the next meeting as to the timeframes of removing the existing tree and making good the highway. The village group had so far not decided what they wanted to replace the tree with but DCC Highways had previously advised that it could not be sited in another location on the highway.
• Cllr R Bloxham advised that whatever the village group decided that they would need to seek permission from DCC Highways and he would get confirmation from them to see what type of scheme would be acceptable
• Cllr Grundy said he had looked into a residents issue with cypress pines being planted on the boundary of his property but the PC decided that this was not a PC issue and they would not make any further comment on the dispute between two residents
4: Highways –
• Cllr Tillett would approach Upton Pyne on a joint venture to deal with small potholes. He stated that the sticking point in getting volunteers to com forward was the two day chapter 8 training required by DCC highways. Without the training the council’s insurance would not cover anyone carrying out the repairs. Cllr S Randall-Johnson advised that she was chapter 8 trained and is more than willing to oversee any repairs which the village wanted to undertake
• Cllr Birmingham put forward a proposal that two days a year the PC put a team together and with Cllr S Randall-Johnsons help go out and deal with small potholes in the village. This was welcomed by the Council and the Clerk was asked to remind council in spring to organise the first ‘pot hole’ day
• Cllr Tillett pointed out that DCC highways were quick to respond to pothole reports when they were reported through the on line portal. Cllr S Randall-Johnson pointed out that if there were a cluster of potholes then each one had to be reported separately
5: Traffic Management -
• Cllr G Carden advised that getting another speed survey completed was a low priority as a majority of the cars were within the limit. She would, however, request that a second survey be completed as the PC felt that the speed traps initially installed were at the wrong end of the village
6: Communications -
No update
6/18 EDDC
Cllr Grundy explained the following issues he could help the PC with:
• Getting your share from the Parishes Together Fund
• Budgeting and setting the precept
• Verges and potholes
• Recycling
• Planning applications
Cllr Grundy advised he would speak to environmental health about the problem of dog fouling in certain parts of the village.
He would also speak to the recycling team after a complaint from a member of the public about the mess left behind by the recycling teams. The PC explained that it had previously written to the recycling team at EDDC about the issue but had never received a response.
7/18 DCC Matters
Cllr R Bloxham explained that he and Cllr S Randall-Johnson has provided the preschool with funding through the Locality Budget. They both stated that they were happy to fund the BSVHT request to purchase trollies for tables and chairs. This would remove the need to fund this through the limited Community Grant Fund and would mean that the PC could then fully support the other two applications from the Toddler group and the BSPCC.
Cllr S Randall-Johnson explained the new ‘NHS Quicker’ app which advises users of the current wait at local A&E departments in real time
8/18 Planning
• None
9/18 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Cheques were approved for:
• The Clerk
• HMRC
Budget 2018-2019
• Cllr A Birmingham presented the Budget for 2018-2019
• PC agreed to increase the precept request from £6408 in 2017-2018 to £7000 in 2018-2019
10/18 Community Grant Fund
The following grants were approved and agreed:
• Brampford Toddler Group - £400 towards art equipment and equipment storage costs
• BSPCC - £500 towards a replacement organ and cushions
The application from BSVHT was now to be funded through the DCC Locality budget and a contribution from the Parish Council was not required
Accounting Statements December 2017
11/18 Speke Up
Cllr Tillett would include the following subjects:
• Community Grant deadlines
• Precept demand
• Thorverton Bridge repairs
12/18 Other information/Correspondence
• The PC decided not to pursue the Community bus as no interest had been shown around the village
• Cllr Carden requested that the problems with the river experienced during last summer needed to be discussed at the February meeting to decide if there was any action the PC could or wanted to take to alleviate any future problems (provision of signage etc)
13/18 Next meeting
The meeting closed at 9.35pm.
The next meeting would be Wednesday 7th February 2018 7.30pm, Village Hall