 STINCHCOMBE
PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY
12TH
DECEMBER 2006 STARTING AT 7PM IN THE VILLAGE HALL
Present
Mr
G Brown (Chairman)
Mrs
M Shaw (Vice Chairman)
Mr
R Bartlam
Mr
J Sant
Mrs
M Wannell
Mr
J Larroucau (Clerk)
In
Attendance
Mr
D Wride (District Clr)
Apologies
for Absence
Mr
D Andrewartha (County Clr)
1-Presentation
by Mr R Belliss of GAPTC on Village Agent Scheme
The
objective of the Scheme as indicated on the appended leaflet is to
assist qualifying Residents in claiming benefits where available,
helping them to remain in their own homes, recommending organisations
to carry out minor maintenance and repairs, introducing them to
friends and leisure activities.
A
two year pilot scheme is underway covering a limited number of
Counties in England and a limited number of Parishes in
Gloucestershire with an elderly population. Fifty Village Agents are
in place in the County.
Mr
Belliss has been nominated as Village Agent for Stinchcombe and
adjoining Parishes and will act as the intermediary between Residents
and Service Providers.
The
Parish Council will act as a Contact Point between the Agent and the
Parish and will help the launch by publicising the Scheme on
Noticeboards, the Newsletter and the Website. (201/06)
Chairman
thanked Mr Belliss for his presentation and assured him of the full
cooperation of the Parish Council.
At
this point Chairman opened the formal part of the Meeting and
welcomed Mr Wride (District Councillor)
2-Approval
of Minutes of Meeting held on 11th October 2006
The
Minutes as circulated were found to be a true record of the Meeting
and were then signed by the Chairman. (202/06)
3-Matters
arising from Minutes
-Trailer
on Old London Road-No progress has been made on the removal of
the trailer. Clerk has again approached SDC who claim not to have
received the E mail giving details of the keeper of the vehicle.
Clerk undertook to retransmit the information. (203/06)
Clerk
could not foresee a satisfactory outcome to the approach as SDC do
not possess equipment suitable for the removal of such a vehicle,
the vehicle still appears to be in occasional use and it is doubtful
whether the relevant legislation is applicable to trailers. It is
therefore very much a case of relying on the goodwill of the keeper
of the vehicle to remove it to a les obtrusive location. (204/06)
Continuing Action-Clerk
-Letter
from Bristol and Avon to County Councillor-Copy of the letter has
been circulated to Councillors. Clerk has made representations in
support of the County Councillor to SDC on behalf of the Parish
Council. Responses from the Acting Head of Legal Services and from
the Head of Planning at SDC have been promised but not received.
Clerk was asked to follow this up at the Meeting of Councils with the
Chief Executive. (205/06) Action-Clerk
-Highways-Clerk
reported on the visit by Mr Roberts of Gloucestershire Highways to
view the state of the Highways in the Parish. Following this visit
Clerk has sent a letter itemising the various points covered during
the visit.(206/06)
(Post
Meeting Note-Letters have now been received from Mr Roberts and Mrs
Harris)
Chairman
noted that the Parish Plan will address such issues as Speeding,
Traffic Management and will give an opportunity to take these matters
forward. (206a/06)
-Crest
Nicholson Signs-Following further discussions between SDC
Planning Department and Messrs Crest Nicholson an Application for
approval of the signs under The Control of Advertisement Regulations
1992 is awaited and will be circulated to the Parish Council for
comments. (207/06)
-The
Highways Management Seminar was attended by Mr Sant. The Notes
are to be forwarded to Clerk for circulation to Councillors.
(207a/06) Action-Clerk
-Visits
by Neighbourhood Wardens-Copies of the Weekly Reports are being
received and are being circulated by Clerk. (207b/06)
4-Report
by District Councillor
Mr
Wride’s Report is appended to the Minutes. (208/06)
5-Planning
Clerk
noted that the Planning Application for the redevelopment of “Quarry
House” on Taits Hill Road (S06/2328) had been withdrawn. Further
to recent correspondence with SDC Planners on the procedures for
notifying Neighbours of Properties which are the subject of Planning
Applications, Clerk was asked to establish what procedures were in
place to inform these residents of the eventual Planning decision.
(209/06) Action-Clerk
“The
Palisades” Wick Lane-Clerk then reported that SDC Planners had
received a letter from the owners stating their intentions for the
completion of the bund and of the gallops.
They
intend to carry out final shaping of the bund ahead of grass seeding
in April 2007.
Construction
of the gallops will be a low key undertaking with the import of
finishing materials spread over two years. Contractors now estimate
that 600 lorry loads will be required. Councillors noted that this
figure exceeded the quantity given in the side letter to the original
Planning Application (515 lorry loads) and should therefore be
contested.
Clerk
was therefore asked to approach SDC on the matter. Concurrently Clerk
will ask for an update on the removal of the floodlights from the
site which had been the subject of earlier Enforcement Action.
(210/06)Action-Clerk
The
letter further states that the temporary access track will need to be
improved as part of the work.
SDC
Planners are arranging a Meeting with the owners in January 2007 at
which these plans will be reviewed. (211/06)
6-Footpaths
and Rights of Way
-Clerk
has been unable to attend the recent Public Inquiry into the
diversion and dedication of footpaths on Stinchcombe Hill. He has
subsequently been informed by the Cotswold Trail Officer that the
Inquiry Inspector had communicated his preliminary approval of the
proposals and that as a result a start had been made on the
preparatory work to implement the diversions and upgrade the section
of the Cotswold Trail running across the hill to the national
standard. (212/06)
-Mrs
Shaw noted that a post and rail fence had been erected across Public
Footpath CST19 in the fields behind the Village Hall so that free
use of the footpath was seriously impeded. Clerk was asked to
approach the Rights of Way Officer and ask for the provision of a
proper stile. (213/06) Action-Clerk
7-Highways
Mr
Sant noted that Gloucestershire Highways had been clearing ditches on
Wick Lane but that the Residents were unhappy with the damage caused
to hedges .The lane was still subject to flooding. Clerk noted that
the culvert cleaner would be attending within the coming fortnight to
clear any obstructions. Any deep maintenance that may be required to
mend crushed culverts will have to wait for the resolution of the GCC
claim on Messrs Bristol and Avon. (214/06)
The
tarmac strip at the Church steps has been laid. (215/06)
8-Community
Safety
Clerk
attended the recent Meeting of the Dursley Cluster of Parishes at
Kingshill House. Items raised included motorcycling in the woods on
Stinchcombe Hill and speeding on country lanes. The absence of Police
representatives was deplored. No Crime statistics were therefore
available and this lack impeded meaningful discussion. The matter is
to be raised by the Community Safety Officer. (216/06)
9-Correspondence
The
current Schedule was circulated. No specific points were raised.
(217/06)
10-Financial
Matters
-The
Statement of Receipts Payments and Authorisations was approved
and the Building Society Balance verified. The signed Statement is
appended to these Minutes. (218/06)
-Precept
2007/2008-Budgetary proposals had been submitted to Councillors
ahead of the Meeting. These are appended to these Minutes. The
proposals show that the Financial reserve has been significantly run
down in the course of the current financial year and that a
significant increase in the Precept will be necessary to cover the
increased commitments such as the Neighbourhood Wardens, the
preparation of the Newsletter, the maintenance of the Website and the
support of the Parish Plan in addition to above inflation rises of
such items as the cost of Insurance. It was noted that the Precept
had been kept unchanged for a number of years.
After
some discussion Chairman proposed and Mr Sant seconded the motion
that the Precept for 2007/2008 be set at £2550 an increase of
£300 over the amount for 2006/2007)
This
was agreed by four votes in favour and one vote against. (219/06)
After
further discussion Mr Bartlam proposed and Chairman seconded the
motion that the Precept for 2007/2008 should be raised by 15% above
its amount for 2006/2007.
This
motion was defeated by three votes against and two votes in favour.
(220/06)
11-Reports
by Councillors
-Mrs
Shaw reported that she had attended the recent Meeting of the
Trustees of the Stinchcombe Hill Recreational Ground Trust. She noted
that an Application for registration of Stinchcombe Green as a
Village Green is to be submitted. Clerk noted that an earlier
Application (VG1) had been withdrawn and that the Green had been
registered as Common Land as part of the registration of Stinchcombe
Hill (CL136) Mrs Shaw stated that this was now viewed to have been
mistaken. Clerk noted that the closing date for new Applications was
2026. (221/06)
Mrs
Shaw also raised the matter of obstructive parking of cars at the
Taits Hill Road Oldhill Lane Junction during Rugby matches. Chairman
then added his concerns on the parking of cars along the Street and
undertook to contact the Rural Beat Officer. (222/06) Action-Chairman
Clerk
also undertook to submit the photographic evidence to the Rural Beat
Officer. (223/06) Action-Clerk
-
Chairman
noted that he had received an approach from Mr Jones of Clingre Farm
to inform the Parish Council of further development proposals at
Clingre Farm. (224/06)
-The
remaining Councillors had nothing further to report. (225/06)
12-Dates
of Next Meetings
-Thursday
25th January 2007 at 7 30PM
-Tuesday
13th March 2007 at 7 30PM
The
Meeting was closed at 9 55PM.
J
Larroucau
Clek
to the Council
min 197
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