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Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council, which took place on Monday 15 December 2008.

PRESENT Cllrs Walshe (Chair), Cripps, England, Hallett, Hawkins, Wakely, Messrs P Robathan & K Ronaldson (District Councillors) and one parishioner.

APOLOGIES Cllrs A Humphreys, P Sarker.

MINUTES The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed and signed.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No interests were declared.

DC REPORT

Mr Ronaldson had inquired about salting of the roads and was told that the village is on a secondary route, whereby salting is carried out in severe conditions. Branstons had written to the Highway Authority on this subject following a recent accident on the ice near their depot. The Joint Area Committees, with both District and County Councilors in attendance, will begin on 28 January.

Mr Robathan spoke of the success of both the David Hall, South Petherton, and the Somerset Waterways Development Trust’s solar boat at Taunton, in their bids for lottery funding.

PLANNING

Permission has been granted for: Internal alterations, conversion of loft space, replacement roof and installation of two rooflights to rear elevation of Duke of York Cottage, North Street. Demolition of conservatory, alterations to include removal of two fireplaces, replacement of windows, removal of wall and provision of new door at St Gabriels, North Street. Conversion and change of use of former chapel from office and storage/distribution to dwelling house at Old Chapel, Middle Street.

The application to erect living/workspace dwelling to replace existing store building and oil storage tank at Hawkins Bakery, North Street, has been withdrawn.

PARISH PLAN

The Christmas Market was a great success.

LENGTHMAN

Cllr England wondered if the Lengthman could repair a sign in Washcross Lane.
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He will also be asked to clear leaves from the grating in the Silver Street culvert.

HIGHWAYS

The recent flooding, caused by an excessive amount of rain in a short time, was discussed and an E mail had been received from a parishioner whose home had been affected. It was felt that letterbox drains would be more effective in some areas. Mr M Hallett said he had asked for new filter fencing but had been told that there was no funding available.

Cllr England asked if a sign stating ‘Unsuitable for Heavy Vehicles’ could be requested for Littlefields Lane as lorries are being directed there by Satellite Navigation Systems. Mr Robathan said that such signs are no longer available but the County Council is working with Satellite Companies to prevent such occurrences.

ACCOUNTS

It was decided that the 2009/10 Precept would be £8,258 (an increase of 5% on last year’s figure). This will allow the following grants to be made: Recreation Committee £1,500
PCC for Churchyard maintenance £1,000
Village Hall £500
Again £500 will be set aside for future maintenance of the MUGA (making £2,500 held for this purpose).
The Parish Council is also holding £2,709.84 for the Cowleaze Meadow Project (Dist. Council £350, County Councillor £500, Gardening Society £159.84, SCC Area Working Panel £2,000 less £200 working float and £100 grass cutting).
A cheque for £2,000 was received from the County Councillor’s budget and this was split equally between the Youth Group and the Recreation Field. Cheques were drawn for:
Shepton Beauchamp PCC towards Churchyard maintenance £725.00
Shepton Beauchamp Youth Group (half of the County Cllr’s grant) £1,000.00
The other £1,000, which is earmarked for the Recreation Committee, will be subtracted from the £5,109.65 owed to the Parish Council for playground and pavilion repairs.

It was decided to move ACCOUNTS to Item 6 on future agendas.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

As the Clerk will be away on 26 January, it was agreed to hold the next meeting on 19 January.

The meeting closed at 9.10 pm.