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parish_council:pcdec09

14th December 2009

Page 321

Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council, which took place on Monday 14 December 2009.

PRESENT

Cllrs Humphreys (Chair), Cripps, England, Hawkins, Rowswell, Wakely, Walshe, Messrs P Robathan & K Ronaldson (District Councillors), Mrs A Larpent (County Councillor), Rev G Wade and one parishioner.

APOLOGIES

Cllrs Hallett & Sarker

MINUTES

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed and signed.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Cllr Rowswell declared an interest, as applicant, in a planning application at Ferndale, Buttle Lane.

DC REPORT

Mr Robathan advised that the Community Information Centre and Police Post in South Petherton has now been opened by David Laws, MP, and is manned by a team of volunteers. To cut costs, the District Council will be reducing the number of its staff over the next four years and the Council is looking at merging some of the staff at officer level with East Devon District Council.

Mr Ronaldson said it had been decided that bollards would not be necessary at the Love Lane junction to protect ‘Bobbins’, as the recent accident had been caused by a lorry mounting the pavement and toppling over onto the house. Mr Ronaldson will ask for the streets to be cleaned.

Cllr Hawkins asked the District Councillors to convey his thanks to Charlotte Jones for the excellent service provided to the village at recent meetings concerning housing needs.

CC REPORT

Mrs Larpent was surprised that Shepton Beauchamp is not on a salting route in the winter maintenance programme and will ask if the village could be included. Cllr England wondered if a sign could be erected stating that Littlefields Lane is unsuitable for heavy vehicles. Drains in Washcross Lane have not been cleaned out and the ones in Great Lane are full of leaves. Potholes in Shells Lane will be reported.

Mrs Larpent will report that street lights at Buttle Close are not working. South Petherton Parish Council had a presentation by a designer of streetscapes and he will be coming again to look at villages and Mrs Larpent would be interested to hear of any areas which may need redesigning.

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ALLOTMENTS

It was confirmed that the four damaged posts have now been replaced.

ACCOUNTS

It was decided that the 2010/11 Precept would be £10,258. This will allow the following grants to be made.

Recreation Committee£1,500
PCC for churchyard maintenance£1,000
Village Hall£500

£2,000 will be set aside for future projects and again £500 will go towards future maintenance of the MUGA (making £3,000 held for this purpose). The Parish Council is also holding £2,209.84 for the Cowleaze Meadow Project.

Cheques were drawn for:

Shepton Beauchamp PCC – grant£1,000.00
Shepton Beauchamp Village Hall – grant£500.00

The £1,500 grant to the Recreation Committee was subtracted from the debt owed to the Parish Council for playground and pavilion repairs, leaving a balance outstanding of £2,609.65.

It was agreed to increase the Clerk’s salary to £1,825 per annum.

PLANNING

Cllr Rowswell declared an interest and left the room while the Councillors considered the Reserved Matters for the application to convert and extend pair of cottages to form single dwelling and erect dwelling and two garages at Ferndale, Buttle Lane, to which there were no objections. There were also no objections to the Reserved Matters for the erection of a dwellinghouse on land adjacent to Brimgrove Cottage. Permission has been granted for part demolition of existing buildings and conversion of existing building into two flats and the erection of four dwellings at Hawkins Bakery, North Street. The Clerk was asked to contact the owner of the building site in Love Lane due to its untidy appearance.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Cllr Hawkins circulated copies of the draft report based on the results of the recent Village Housing and Employment Survey. In the New Year, following the findings of this survey and the review of the Parish Plan, a village event will take place to find the views of the parishioners on requirements for new facilities and the placing of such, which will encompass all aspects of village life.

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PARISH PLAN

The Christmas Market organised by the Events Team was a great success.

LENGTHMAN

The Councillors heard that David Muir will be retiring from this post in the Spring and they will be sorry to lose him.

HIGHWAYS

It was noted that some of the pavement edging stones are becoming loose.

FOOTPATHS

The Rights of Way Department of the County Council have studied past Parish Council Minutes in an attempt to ascertain ownership of the path running from Piece Lane alongside the Allotments.

TREES OPPOSITE BELMONT TERRACE

The Tree Warden had been informed that Western Power would like the poplar trees opposite Belmont Terrace removed so that they will not interfere with a low voltage cable to a street light. Mr Robathan suggested the Tree Warden contacts Phil Poulton, the District Council Arborist, for advice.

The meeting closed at 9.45 pm.

parish_council/pcdec09.txt · Last modified: 2022/11/01 08:10 by 127.0.0.1