Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council, which took place on Monday 8 November 2010.

Cllrs Humphreys (Chair), Cripps, England, Rowswell, Sarker, Wakely, Walshe, Messrs P Robathan & K Ronaldson (District Councillors), Mrs A Larpent (County Councillor) and PCSO Rachel Napper.

Cllrs Hallett, Hawkins.

Rachel Napper, the PCSO, was welcomed to the meeting and said that during the last month there had been a theft from a motor vehicle and two reports of unsociable behaviour in the village. She was asked to monitor the parking of vehicles close to road junctions.

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed and signed.

No interests were declared.

Mr Robathan spoke of concerns about the possible loss of services in the area, such as buses and the library at South Petherton, due to cuts in County Council funding.
He said the District Council Finance Officer has been asked to produce a list of services which the District will be providing and those which it cannot and it was agreed to hold the Precept over until the January meeting, when this information will be available.
Mr Robathan confirmed that the building site at Pendower, Shells Lane, is inspected regularly by Building Control to ensure that the work is within the planning guidelines.
Mr Ronaldson said the Street Scene Department will be carrying out a performance monitoring inspection of the village.

The Joint Integration Committee (South Somerset and East Devon) is to look at staffing to see where cuts can be made.

The young volunteers who run the Friday Fun Night in South Petherton received an award at the Gold Star Awards for Volunteers.

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Mrs Larpent spoke of staffing changes at County Hall and the withdrawal of funding for the Arts to cut costs. She said that Lambrook Road will be closed on 1 December for resurfacing to be carried out.

Cheques were drawn for:

Thanks were expressed to all who helped with or sponsored the recent Bonfire Night celebrations, which were a huge success.

Cllr Cripps reported that tree planting is planned at Cowleaze next month. He said the School is to have an allotment there and the children will design posters warning of the dangers of dog fouling. Cllr Sarker added that Forest School is now part of the school timetable and Cowleaze would be an ideal environment for this.

Cllr Walshe was pleased to report that, following a District Council grant and a very generous donation from Branstons, funding is now available for the first phase of the Recreation Field improvements.

Cllr Cripps said the Lengthsman wondered where salt could be stored and Cllr Walshe offered to put it behind the shop.

The purchase of a communal mower costing £1,200 is being considered for the use of the Lengthsman, for which Shepton Beauchamp’s contribution would be £120, and the Councillors were all in favour of this.

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Following the application to modify the Definitive Map by the addition of a footpath along Piece Lane from Lambrook Road to path CH23/12, the County Council sent a copy of the Investigating Officer’s Report, on which the Parish Council was invited to comment. A vote was taken and the result was that one parish councillor supported the application but the other five councillors did not feel there was a need to change the current situation.
The meeting closed at 9.45 pm.