Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council, which took place on Monday 9 November 2009.

Cllrs Humphreys (Chair), Cripps, England, Hawkins, Sarker, Wakely, Walshe, Mr K Ronaldson (District Councillor), Mrs A Larpent (County Councillor), Mr L Collett (Community Development Officer, SSDC).

Cllr Hallett, Mr P Robathan (District Councillor)

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed and signed.

No interests were declared.

Mr Ronaldson spoke of funding which the Street Scene Service has available to carry out enhancement work in parishes, but Shepton Beauchamp would only qualify for daffodil bulbs as the District Council already puts money into the Lengthman Scheme. Charlotte Jones is pleased with the response to the Housing Needs Survey, 30% having been returned so far. Mr Ronaldson will follow up the situation regarding collection of refuse from the Pavilion and Les Collett asked to be kept informed.

Mrs Larpent presented cheques for £500 each to the Cowleaze Meadow Project and the Youth Group. She spoke of cuts in the County Council budget, which will affect libraries and education. A warning was given about a scam involving bogus telephone calls asking people to set up direct debits for insurance cover for satellite dishes. Shepton Beauchamp is not on a gritting route in the winter maintenance programme and Mrs Larpent will take this matter up. The new Park & Ride site on the outskirts of Taunton will open on 16 November.

Cllr Humphreys had met the PCSO at the Firework Display and asked if she could patrol the village on foot more often. She will also be holding surgeries on set dates on the Mobile Library.

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Les Collett was welcomed to the meeting to talk about community development. He suggested the Parish Council thinks about the future of the village and any projects which might take place at a later date, towards which the Parish Council may need to provide a percentage of the funding. He said the first step would be to increase the Parish Precept by a substantial amount to build up a reserve. As an example, the current parish charge on the Council Tax for a Band D property is 52p per week per household. An extra £5,000 on the Precept would increase this to 82p.

The District Council sent details of a briefing to take place at Haynes Motor Museum on 16 November and a cluster meeting at The Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster on 26 November and these will be attended by Ian Hawkins and Roger Cripps.

The County Council requested a copy of the Parish Plan for use in shaping future transport plans. The Clerk will reply that a copy has already been lodged with the County Council.

The Parish Councillors were asked to complete survey forms in respect of the Code of Conduct.

The Bonfire on 7 November was a great success and the weather was dry. The Events Team have had a very successful year and their work is greatly appreciated by the whole village. Their final event of the year will be the Christmas Market.

The Recreation Committee will be holding a table top sale in the Village Hall in December. Consultation has taken place on future ideas for the Recreation Field and the full report is awaited.

The Lengthman Scheme is a great success and parishioners are reminded of the box at the Post Office for suggested jobs he can carry out.

Cllr England had noticed that an edging stone had been knocked out of place on the pavement in Middle Street. Mr Ronaldson will report potholes which have appeared in Lambrook Road.

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The application to add a path from Lambrook Road to footpath CH23/13 was discussed again. The County Council has consulted owners of land abutting the path but are unable to give any feedback until the report becomes public. The Parish Council will reply that there is no documentary evidence stating that this is public footpath but it has been used for many years for access to the Allotments and the Councillors have seen copy of a petition signed by people who have walked the path for a number of years.

The meeting closed at 9.25 pm.