Present: Cllr Mrs M.A.Wrighton. Cllrs. P.J.Lathey, G Stansfield, T. Gruit, M. Norris. Mr Adam Georgiou Playground Supervisor. And 3 members of the public. The Clerk Mrs C V Stansfield took the minutes.
1. Apologies were received from District Councillor A. Alford, R. Muir Magna Officer, and Cathy Harvey Ancients Monuments Officer.
2. Declarations of Members Interests
Cllr Stansfield declared an interest in items 6[i.a.] and 11
3. The Chairman asked councillors if they had read the minutes of the last meeting, and, if they were a true record of that meeting. ALL AGREED The Chairman signed and dated the minute book.
4. Matters Arising
Neither Council nor Cathy Harvey had heard anything from Claire Pinder Senior Archaeologist for Dorset County Council. Council decided this was not acceptable and asked if a letter of complaint could go to Both the Leader of D.C.C. and the Chief Executive Officer about this. [2] The Affordable Housing Survey letters and forms would be here Thursday at 5pm and were to be collected at 9am next morning; volunteers were required please to help collate and put them into envelopes. C.G.Fry’s had written giving details of the board they are prepared to provide for us and the place it is to go in situ. Councillors looked at this picture and map and agreed. Clerk to notify Fry’s we would like to accept. Still heard nothing re the allotment situation. A member of the public who has the allotments said he was prepared to pay for his allotment. Lights at Simene Close. The Lights had been installed and the residents were very pleased with them and sent their thanks. A letter to go to Lighting Dept. to express our thanks on behalf of the residents of Simene close.
5. New Councillor
Chairman told Councillors that the clerk had once again written an ode to a retiring councillor who unfortunately could not be here due to ill health. The ode was read out, the card was signed and together with Cllr Wrighton’s name plaque they were presented to Mrs Wrighton. Co-option of new councillor. Mr David Hitt had already expressed an interest in becoming Councillor. Mr Hitt was asked to read out the Declaration of Acceptance to the assembled Council. After doing this he then signed the form before taking his place at the council table. The Clerk gave him the form to fill in later for his interests.
6. Finance
[a] the clerk read out the amount in the bank accounts. £5552.66p in the play area account and £845.97 in the ordinary account. The precept first half instalment is due end of April. The clerk asked how much of the precept were they allocating to the play area this half year? After some discussion it was agreed to transfer £1,000, for this half year. The half year’s precept will be £4,250.000.
[b] The clerk reminded council that they still had the other half of her expenses for home working to be paid. This came to £105. It was agreed to write the cheque for this amount. Cllr Wrighton proposed it is paid and Cllr Norris seconded the proposal. Cllrs Lathey and Wrighton signed the cheque.
[c] The auditor has sent out the new list of charges for this year. It amounts to £141.00 as opposed to £58.75 per year for the past 2years. The increase is due to our higher precept band. However we can claim back £21.00. All councillors had received the internal auditors report and Councillor Lathey signed the copy for the records. We are still waiting to hear from the Insurance regarding insuring the clerk for death etc., arising from duty and also for insuring the seat at Simene and Pymore. However, if the woodland Trust insists upon £10 million pounds public liability instead of the £5 million we have at present, this will have the effect of raising the Insurance premiums higher. Our insurance is due in June 2004.
7. Affordable Housing Survey
The letter accompanying the survey and the update on Flaxhayes Paddock was discussed. The survey forms and letters are being delivered on Thursday at 5pm and help was needed to get them ready for collected by Andy Lloyd at 9am next day. One or two members said they would help.
8. Planning
[a] We still had not heard about our planning application for Coopers Wood. This is at present being discussed by West Dorset District Council.
[b] We had received a lengthy complaint from a Pymore resident regarding the height of the new development at Pymore, the rivers which were apparently being diverted and other complaints regarding the site. The Chairman went immediately to look at the building in question, he reported back that the building was as per plans 3 storeys on top of garages and that when it was complete it would not be much higher than the cottages at Pymore Terrace. The rivers were running clear and had not been diverted. This is the second complaint from this resident. The clerk had written to the resident in question telling her of the chairman’s findings, inviting her to the meeting. The resident did as the clerk had asked and put the notice for meetings on the telegraph pole whilst we are waiting for the notice board to be erected by Gladedale Properties. There was a member of Pymore village in the body of the meeting and the Chairman asked him several questions regarding the footpath to Pymore Village. It was not council were told illuminated.
[c] A discussion ensued regarding the planning for the former North Allington Stores, which whilst in Bridport Town Councils area was adjacent to our parish. The council had voiced our concern over passing of these plans because of the speed of traffic in both directions, the fact that the position of the car parking for the houses would entail the cars/vans coming out/going into these spaces on a blind bend. Although cars parked along North Allington do at the point near “The Boot Inn2 slow down the traffic that does nothing to help our concern. On a good day the speed is 25-30 M.P.H. but it can get up to 40 M.P.H. plus. Letter to go to Weller Scaffolding following a complaint by member of the public. This firm’s Lorries repeatedly come at speed down the lane and have on numerous occasions caused this lady to be pinned against the wall. Safety of elderly residents and children are paramount. Council very concerned about this Letter to Dorset County Council to see if we can have a speed restriction on this stretch of the road.
Michael Parker Homes Signs. The clerk informed council that she had contacted Michael Parker homes regarding 15-19 West Mead following a serious incident when an ambulance could not find the way into these properties as there was no number on door. Michael Parker Homes Representative told the clerk none of their developments have house numbers, it was, up to the purchaser to do this as most people like to give their homes names. They were unable to help further. It was agreed after discussion to contact District and County councils on this subject. The main concern was if it had been an out of town crew it could have had different consequences.
The Chairman read out the letter from West Dorset District Council regarding the numbering of the 4 new properties fronting Houndsell Way Bridport. They are to be known as 2,4,6 & 8 Houndsell Way
9. Cherry Tree play area
The Chairman once again asked Mr Georgiou to submit an account for any items he had purchased for the play area. Mr Georgiou agreed to do this. The play area has had some top soil put down but children had strewn it all over. The pedestrian gates needed rising slightly. The council were in the throes of applying for funding for this play area and were waiting for another quote for extra equipment. The clerk reminded council and Mr Georgiou that the ROSPA inspection would take place sometime in May 2004.
10.Woodland Trust play area To date nothing whatsoever had been heard back. This was despite being over 4 weeks since the lease was returned. Emails had had no response other than 1 line which stated “refer to email 31st March” Council suggested another email to the Woodland Trust. A question was asked as to whether the Woodland Trust had got insurance if anyone was injured on their part of the Hill? The Vice Chairman replied there were as far as he knew no disclaimer notices on any board.
11. Clerk’s contract Cllr Stansfield declared an interest in this item and took no part whatsoever. The Chairman read out the entire contract applicable to the Clerk. Council were all in agreement with this contract. Chairman and Clerk signed it in front of Council. The council are aware that any future clerk will require payment. A question from the body of the meeting was who pays for the clerk’s wages? The answer given was that it comes out of the precept and a clerk with the necessary qualifications would cost the precept in excess of £5,000per annum at today’s rate.
12. Correspondence
The Chairman read out the various pamphlets and leaflets and reminded councillors and members of the public of the books that are always on the council table for their perusal.
13.The next meeting would be the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council on May 4th at 7.30pm.
14.Several questions were raised before the closure of the meeting regarding the state of the footpath towards Simene Close. The footpath is eroding out onto the homes. Now there is only room with difficulty for someone with a single pushchair. Council asked if a letter could go to the County Council to cut it back to widen the pavement, thus making access easier. A question was asked regarding the ownership of the strip of land between the Woodland Trusts ‘hedge’ and the edge of the kerb on Hospital Road. This requires cutting. Letter to Woodland Trust on this subject.
The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting. The meeting closed at 9. 45p.m.
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