Allington Parish Council

Present. Cllrs M.A. Wrighton. D. Hitt, G. Stansfield, I.Gay. Mrs Jane Dibden [Woodland Trust Warden] District Councillor A.Alford, Mr T. Crabtree Bridport Community Property Trust. Plus 3 members of the public.
The meeting began with Vice Chairman Cllr Marion Wrighton in absence of Chairman Cllr Philip Lathey welcoming everyone to the meeting.

1. Apologies. Apologies had been received from Cllr P. Lathey [work commitments] Cllr. K. Hitt who was ill. Cllr. T. Gruitt [unknown reason]

2. Declarations of Member's Interest. Cllr Stansfield declared an interest in item 7[d]

3. Approval of Minutes. The Chairman asked councillors if everyone had both received and read the minutes, If they were a true copy was it their wish he sign and date the minute book as such ALL AGREED. The minute book was duly signed and dated.

4. Matters arising. [I] Cllr Gruitt was to enquire from the boys using the BMX bikes on Allington Hill. Both Cllr Gay and Mrs Dibden told council that the boys had not in recent weeks been on Allington Hill and all was quiet.
[2] The paths had been de-weeded where it was within the remit of West Dorset District Council.
[3] The correct lease still had not to date been received from Magna Housing Association. Clerk to contact them to ascertain why not.
[4] Wicksteed Leisure still has not been to repair the slide whilst under warranty. It was decided by the council that Wicksteed should be made aware of the risk to life and limb and that we would have to close up the slide put security fencing around it and they would have to pay the cost of this. Also to ascertain who would be responsible if the unthinkable happened and a child was seriously injured. A new play area supervisor was now sought for both play areas. Don Mc Allister from Cherry Tree was put forward as possible suggestion.

5. Public Participation. Cllr D. Hitt told the council that he had witnessed on several occasions a resident of the sheltered housing [Mr Albert Issacs of No. 25 Cherry Tree was causing problems by still taking bones and food scraps onto the hill. Also another resident of Cherry Tree was depositing garden refuse in the dog poop bin. The clerk advised that we need photographic evidence if possible. Although Mrs Glenda Furber a Sheltering Housing Officer had seen Mr Issacs go onto the hill with a carrier bag. A resident of Pymore Mr Ian Newitt of No. 10 Morbae Grove told the council of the problems he and other residents are having with model aeroplanes. A club flies these models 7 days a week; some of the models aeroplanes have wingspans of 3ft from around Higher Pymore Farm. He is concerned for the safety of the residents as some of the planes have been known to crash into the houses. Also helicopters, gliders and microlight aircraft all use the area. There is also an alarm on the barn at Lower Pymore Farm that goes off at various intervals throughout the day and night. Last night it went off on 3 occasions for 30 minutes each time. Letter to go to Eugene Barnes of Lower Pymore Farm advising him of this problem.

6.Tim Crabtree. Mr Crabtree spoke to everyone on the affordable housing proposed at Flaxhayes Paddock. He gave various options that could be undertaken and spoke of Bridports incredible rise in house prices to the point that local people can no longer afford them. There were various providers, from owner occupier, shared equity, rented housing. One scenario was the land goes into a trust. The houses would be costing around £80,000 but the owners of the properties would never own the land. The Clerk explained to everyone that Allington Parish Council has been offered Flaxhayes Paddock in the local plan to use for 100%. Houses must be kept affordable. Mr Crabtree suggested that we write to West Dorset District Council and ask for Flaxhayes Paddock to be placed into a trust. I.e. Parish Trust or Bridport Land and Property Trust. If W.D.D.C. can transfer Flaxhayes Paddock to a Trust then, 50 houses could be built for £80,000 per house. The only way to ensure all houses are affordable is to place them in a trust. Pressure from local people from Bridport and Allington. Trusts can apply legal restrictions. We can ring fence this land for low cost housing Mr Crabtree told council. There were several questions raised to Mr Crabtree. Cllr Alford said he would be willing to help the council we need to work together. He explained about the government policy on brown fill areas. Councillors felt we must get it right we are not like the examples Mr Crabtree gave and Clerk told the council that we had agreed on £60,000 ceiling for the houses. Leaflets were put out for the councillors. Mr Crabtree was thanked by The Chair for coming to the meeting. He left meeting at 8 20pm followed by Mrs Jane Dibden. Councillors spoke about the talk he gave and they were not happy with the scenerio’s painted. They would like a further meeting with our Chairman Cllr and Mr Crabtree. Councillors felt it must be 100% affordable maybe some self build.

7. Financial Report.
[a] Account balance in the ordinary account we have £1266.94. In the savings account we have £2811.88. [this includes £1,000 grant money 2nd half of Countryside Agency Grant] giving us a total of £4078.82. End of September we have the precept second half of £4,675.00. The clerk reminded councillors that out of the £1,000 grant we had the cost of producing the plan, the 5 copies of same and all the necessary newsletters for the plan and the cost of the draft plan for anyone to see. No questions were forthcoming for the accounts. As usual the account book and bank statements were there to be viewed if necessary.
[b] At present the councils audit is being undertaken we are now awaiting the signing off certificate. This is the certificate given by the external auditors when audit is correct.
[c] Accounts for payment. Wicksteed Leisure have presented for payment their account for the swing seats and chains. Councillors all agreed that until the work had been completed on the slide we would withhold payment. This comes to £326.11p. We can claim back £47.06 in vat. Xcalibre who host our webmail and webpage service have sent their account £52. 86p £7.87 reclaimed on vat. C.N.Richards grass cutting account for the two play areas. £446.50p of which £66. 50p is vat. Council will have a total of £122.94p to reclaim in vat. This will be in our bank account within 14 days.
[d] As councillors may recall in May when we gave out our donations the Chairman suggested we only gave a small amount now and the people could re-apply in September. The people who received their cheques have now re-applied. Cllr Ian Gay proposed we gave everyone who applied £250 with exception of the air ambulance who should receive £300. This proposal was seconded by Cllr D. Hitt. All councillors agreed. W.R.V.S., BRIDPORT HOUSE CLUB, AXE VALLEY RING AND RIDE, CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU all received £250.00 AIR AMBULANCE received £300. We have now spent our allocated amount. Our cut off date for application for any S137 and 142 donations each year end of December. I.e. for the financial year 2006/7 the cut off date will be December 31st 2005.

8.Budget Proposals. Councillors had before them the budget proposals for 2006/7. This was not the clerk explained the amount we will ask West Dorset District Council for as precept but the minimum we need to function as a council. With a view to the rising cost of everything we needed a larger budget. A breakdown of the proposed budget was explained. We subscribed to three essential publications. S. 137 we can spend £5. 30 per elector. Last year we did not spend the full amount. The S214 grant to St Saviours Churchyard Dottery is £300 and linked to inflation. We have a duty to maintain this churchyard. Our insurance has risen sharply as we now have two play areas not only to insure to to pay for the annual inspection by R.O.S.P.A. Our public liability is £10 million per play area. Magna Housing are now charging rent at around £10 per hour we use the hall. Woodland Trust rent is £100 [whether this is to rise we do not know] We need to save for future play equipment and any future office equipment we may require. At present the clerk uses her own computer. Council owned a multifunction machine. We must put aside something for training of councillors and or a new clerk. Total suggestion budget minimum is £10,097.52p. Councillors discussed proposed budget all agreed. The proposed budget was therefore adopted.

9. Planning.
1/W/05/001426 Higher Pymore Farm. Demolish & rebuild lean to extension carrying out internal alterations. After much discussion and subject to a site visit from Cllrs Hitt & Gay that all concerns were addressed, this application was agreed by all councillors. 1/W/05/000772 Land to North of New Close Farm House Dottery Road Bridport. Erect replacement agricultural building – council had no objection to this application. Proposed Diversion of Bridleway 22 Netherbury at Pymore. Clerk read out the accompanying letter and councillors studied information given.The comments made were that they do not wish the footpath to become too bogey when river rises. Walkers walk adjacent to the footpath. Mr Newitt to go the proposed route and report back to the council.

10. Clerks Report. The Way Ahead Group is almost nearing the stage where the plan is beginning to take shape. A lot of hard work from the members of the public had gone into making this plan. A special newsletter explaining about the plan and asking for comments will be going out before the end of the year. The council newsletter is almost ready to go out. A letter regarding the tree surgery to be carried out at West Mead was read out. Upon clerks return from holiday the seat at Pymore will be sited. Gladedale have now pulled out of maintaining the reed bed and this project has for the moment been shelved. The notice board provided by Gladedale will be in situ in the near future.

11. Woodland Trust Play Area. The grass is being cut regularly and council are still waiting to hear about the netting for the goal posts. Cllr Gruitt to keep council informed.

9. Cherry Tree Play Area/ROSPA Report. The slide which Wicksteed erected in November 04 has failed the EN1176 standard. Clerk contacted them and they inspected the site and agreed under the guarantee to sort this out within the next 2/3 weeks. We have the on going problem of safety surface being vandalised and the erosion of soil at the gate entrances. Council to look into new surfaces.

10.Clerks Report. The Way Ahead Group is almost nearing the stage where the plan is beginning to take shape. A lot of hard work from the members of the public had gone into making this plan. A special newsletter explaining about the plan and asking for comments will be going out before the end of the year. The council newsletter is almost ready to go out. A letter regarding the tree surgery to be carried out at West Mead was read out. Upon clerks return from holiday the seat at Pymore will be sited. Gladedale have now pulled out of maintaining the reed bed and this project has for the moment been shelved. The notice board provided by Gladedale will be in situ in the near future.

11. Woodland Trust Play Area. The grass is being cut regularly and council are still waiting to hear about the netting for the goal posts. Cllr Gruitt to keep council informed.

12.Cherry Tree Play Area. The replacements for the swing seats and the chains are now completed. Applications for quotations to re-surface the entrance gate and the extended swing areas have been applied for.

13.Correspondence. Could councillors please take the magazines and read them so you are au fait with what is going on. All the various documents received were read out and everyone was invited to read them if they wished to do so.

The Date of the next meeting was 11th October 2005. This may have to be altered.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed at 9 30pm

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