Chairman opened the Meeting and welcomed the County and District Councillors.
1-Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on 10h March 2005
The Minutes as circulated were accepted as a true record of the Meeting and signed by the Chairman. (1/05)
2-Matters arising from the Minutes
-Neighbourhood Watch Scheme-
The nomination of a candidate for the Village and for the role of Coordinator remains to be confirmed. (2/05)
Action-Mr Holloway
-Facilities-
The repair to the Playground Safety Surface has been completed.(3/05)
-Legal Services Commission-
Mr Bartlam has contacted the Commission but no response has been received. (4/05)
-Van Parked on Taits Hill Road-
The van has not been parked recently. The action is therefore closed. (5/05)
-Restoration of Fountain near Church-
Chairman and Councillors are continuing to seek quotations from competent stonemasons.(6/05)
Continuing Action-Chairman and Councillors
-Spring Clean-
No further action has resulted from the appeal for specific areas to organise their own Spring Clean. No Spring Clean will therefore take place this year. It is intended to revert to the previous arrangements next year. (7/05)
-Traffic on Wick Lane, Trafalgar Weekend-
These matters are discussed below.
-Footpath Sign on Wick Lane, Damage to Roads and Verges-
Clerk reported that notification to GCC Highways would be deferred until completion of the work at Wick Lane. (8/05)
Continuing Action-Clerk
3-Planning Applications
All current Applications were reviewed.
Mr Bartlam raised the matter of the activities taking place on Land adjacent to the Old London Road and asked whether Permission had been granted for this work. Chairman noted that the SDC Enforcement Officer had visited the site on a previous occasion and reported that the work had been authorised under an Emergency Agricultural Order. (9/05)
The matter of the Extension being built at “Clovergate” at OldHill Lane has been raised by a Resident and in particular whether the work exceeded the scope of the Planning Permission. Clerk confirmed that the Extension had been authorised under Permission S03/0512 and that to his recollection the work accorded with the approved plans. (10/05)
4-Footpaths and Rights of Way
The matter of the Footpaths on Stinchcombe Hill was discussed at the recent Meeting of the Trustees of Stinchcombe Hill Recreational Ground Trust which had been attended by Mrs Shaw. Minutes will be circulated and appended to these Minutes. (11/05)
Action-Clerk
The matter of the obstruction of access to the Melksham Woods was also raised. Clerk noted that these woods had been walked and ridden by Residents for many years . Chairman noted that a nuisance had been caused by motorcyclists riding on the tracks and that the obstructions were probably meant to deter these rather than walkers. Councillors agreed that the matter should be treated as a private and not a Parish Council issue. (12/05)
5-Highways
Chairman noted that the road surfaces and verges had deteriorated as a result of the heavy traffic of earth moving lorries and that this was now a matter of concern. (13/05)
With regard to the works at Land adjacent to Wick Lane Clerk has circulated the SDC notes on their Meeting with Mr Wride District Councillor and a Resident on Wick Lane and the Report by the Surveyors appointed by SDC. He has also circulated Mr Sant’s notes dealing with the Meeting.
The possibility of the Parish Council initiating its own survey on the Wick Lane site was discussed. This was rejected on the grounds that it would be inappropriate to second guess the SDC survey. It is also doubtful whether the Parish Council have the legal powers to carry out a survey on private property.(14/05)
Clerk reported a telephone conversation with Mr Gobey of SDC.
Following receipt of the Surveyor’s report which stated that some 16000 cubic metres of soil had been delivered to the site and that in parts the height of the bund greatly exceeded that shown on the approved drawings and that its location was too close to the Motorway, SDC have instructed the Developer to reprofile the bund to conform to drawings and to increase the clearance to the Motorway Boundary. They intend to conduct another site visit following completion of this work.
They have also concluded that sufficient soil has been brought to the site to complete the work as approved. They have therefore instructed the Developer to suspend the further import of soil to the site. Only the import of materials such as sand and hardcore required to finish the Gallops will be allowed.
This Instruction is being contested by the Agent but at this point SDC are standing firm.
Following completion of the site visit, SDC will determine how much more soil if any may be necessary to complete the Gallops.
Clerk asked to be informed of any resumption of large scale lorry movements so that SDC may be notified without delay. (14a/05)
Action-Councillors
6-Facilities
As reported above the repair of the Safety Surface has now been completed.
The annual Safety Inspection of the Junior Swings is scheduled to take place this month. (15/05)
7-Correspondence
-Rural and Community Investment Scheme-
Chairman noted that the closing date for Applications was 30th June and asked Councillors for possible Applications. These will be considered at the next Meeting. (16/05)
Action-Councillors
A number of Briefing Meetings are being organised by SDC. Councillors wishing to attend were asked to notify SDC. (17/05)
Action-Councillors
-Trafalgar Weekend-
A number of Options such as a Beacon , Village Party or Planting of a Commemorative Tree were considered. Mrs Wannell was asked to discuss the possibility of planting a tree with the Tree Warden. (18/05)
Action-Mrs Wannell
Clerk was asked to place the matter on the Agenda of the Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting so that the views of Parishioners may be obtained. (19/05)
Action-Clerk
8-Community Safety
Clerk was unable to attend the recent Meeting of the Cluster of Dursley Parishes.
Chairman asked whether Neighbourhood Wardens were visiting the Parish and making contact with Residents. Clerk was asked to contact the SDC Community Safety Officer so that a decision may be reached on formalising the arrangement. (20/05)
Action-Clerk
Mrs Shaw noted that Stinchcombe Hill Trustees were asking local Parishes to notify the Police of any unlawful use of footpaths and bridleways on the Hill by motorcyclists. (21/05)
Action-Clerk
9-Financial Matters
-The Statement of Receipts Payments and Authorisations-
Was approved and the Building Society balance verified. (22/05)
-The Draft Accounts for the Year ended 31st March 2005 were circulated. (22/05)
10-Reports by Councillors
-Mr Wheeler reported that the traffic survey being conducted to assess the likely impacts of the Lister Development was to be extended to cover outlying areas. Chairman asked for the Parish to be represented. (23/05)
Action-Mr Wheeler
Clerk noted that at the recent Highway Maintenance Area Meeting at Whitminster Village Hall Mr Dauncey of GCC had reported that the management of Highway Maintenance in the County was to be subcontracted and that contracts would be placed shortly for implementation in Spring 2006. Clerk was concerned that this would upset the close working relationship between the Parish Council and the responsible Officers at GCC Highways. Mr Wheeler was asked to report on the matter at the next Meeting of the Parish Council. (24/05)
Action-Mr Wheeler
-Mr Wride reported that the Housing Programme for SDC was being reviewed following the Inspector’s Report on the Gloucestershire Structure Plan. (25/05)
He further noted that no replacement Rural Beat Officer had been appointed following the transfer of PC Croot and asked the Parish Council to write to the Chief Constable on the matter. (26/05)
Action-Clerk
-Mr Bartlam reported that the Website was being reformatted to render it more flexible. He also noted that the number of hits had increased recently, including one from the USA.
Chairman expressed the gratitude of the Parish Council for Mr Bartlam’s efforts in constructing the new website. (26/05)
-Mrs Wannell reported that movements of gypsies had been noted along Taits Hill Road. There had been unconfirmed reports of a confrontation in the Clingre Farm area. Mr Wride asked that any problems should immediately be brought to the attention of SDC. (27/05)
Action-Clerk
-Mrs Shaw attended the recent Meeting of the Stinchcombe Hill Recreational Ground Trustees. Associated actions have already been dealt with above. (28/05)
attended the recent Meeting of the Stinchcombe Hill Recreational Ground Trustees. Associated actions have already been dealt with above. (28/05)
-Mr Brown reported that he had received a telephone call from a Berkeley Road Resident complaining of the state of the footway between Berkeley Road and Berkeley Heath. This was overgrown and covered in mud following movements of farm vehicles. Clerk was asked to contact SDC. (29/05)
Action-Clerk
He also noted that Townsend Farm had now been vacated. In the matter of the Listing of the Barns he had been advised that a successful application would be unlikely because Planning Permission for Development had already been granted and also because the roof structure and tiling had been replaced and were no longer in their original state Under the circumstances Chairman advised against the submission of a Listing Application. (30/05)
11-Dates of Future Meetings
-Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting Wednesday 4th May 2005 at 7 30PM
-Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council Tuesday 7th June at 7 30PM
The Meeting was closed at 9 25PM
J Larroucau
Clerk to the Council
min 177
