BAYDON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting held at the BYPA Hall on 25th July 2011
(Draft copy. Subject to approval at the next meeting)
PRESENT: Cllr Tony Prior (Chair), Cllr Michael Edmonds, Cllr Andrew Knowles, Cllr Alison Tomkins, Cllr Tamsin Witt, County Cllr Humphries, PCSO Mills and 8 members of the public.
1. APOLOGIES – None.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – The Chairman declared a personal interest in item 6.7a.
3. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING –
The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on the 27th June 2011 were approved, with a grammatical change to item 6.7f.
4. SUSPENSION OF THE MEETING FOR PUBLIC QUESTION TIME - Cllr Witt reported that a member of the public had raised the issue of children playing and sleeping in empty garages in Downsmead. It is believed the empty garages are managed by Sarsen Housing. Cllr Witt offered to contact Sarsen housing to ask for the empty garages to be locked. Action: TW
5. PLANNING –
5.1
E/11/0806/FUL -
Single storey rear extension, single storey link between dwelling and detached
garage and insertion of velux rooflights
to facilitate loft conversion. Barnlek,
5.2 E/11/0846/FUL - Creation of off road parking area, works to bank, create retaining wall. ^ Manor Lane, Baydon. The Cllrs agreed ‘No Objections.’ Action: Clerk
5.3 E/2011/0869/FUL - Milking parlour building, collecting and disposal yards and feed bin Gore Lanes Farm, Baydon. The Cllrs agreed ‘No Objections.’ Action: Clerk
5.4 E/2011/0888/FUL – Erection of garden room, Ashwood House, Barley Fields, Baydon. The Cllrs agreed ‘No Objections.’ Action: Clerk
5.5 E/2011/0897/FUL
– Extensions to house (resubmission of E/11/0362/FUL), High Farm house,
6. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION
The Chairman brought the following two items forward in the agenda:
6.13 PCSO Mills – PCSO Mill addressed the meeting and commented on the following current issues in Baydon:
a. Ermin Close – an unsolicited individual has approached homeowners in Ermin Close regarding hedge cutting, claiming to be on holiday. Whilst satisfactory work had been carried out for one house the credentials for the individual were suspect.
b. Parish Field – Antisocial behaviour had been reported past 11 o’clock at night by neighbouring properties.
c. Cricket Field – A large number of dangerous Nitrous Oxide cylinders has been found on the Cricket Field. PCSO Mills reiterated that the inhaling of pure nitrous oxide is a potentially lethal pastime and any canisters should be reported to the police.
6.10 Manor Lane Hedging – A resident was invited to speak about the problem of overgrown hedging and cutting and he referred particularly to the Baydon House hedge. Cllrs discussed the issues both on the highway in general and by the footpath. The Chairman explained that he had been in contact with Wiltshire Highways regarding possible options which ranged from a general request to residents to Highways cutting the hedge and claiming the costs back from hedge owners.
pg 2011-23
The Clerk was asked to place a request in the Baydon Scene
to all land and homeowners to check their hedges where they border highways and
footpaths to ensure they are not overhanging. The Cllrs
agreed to write to the landowner of the hedge in
6.1 Parish Council membership and vacancies. The Chairman read out a statement advising the Council that after four years on the Council and three as Chairman he was resigning in December 2011 at the latest. Cllr Witt, on behalf of the Council, thanked the Chairman for all his hard work during a particularly active period of the Parish Council. The Chairman stated an additional two tasks which he had dealt with annually (the grass cutting contract and the allotment documentation) which need to be taken on by the remaining Councillors. He also stated that the Clerk’s workload is steadily increasing and additional overtime may not be the answer.
The Chairman noted that Cllr Edmonds had recently been elected to Aldbourne Parish Council and asked him what his intentions were regarding continuing as a Baydon Councillor. Cllr Edmonds replied that he would continue until a Baydon resident joined the Council.
6.2 Traffic Calming Working Group, (TCWG). The TCWG gave a report. The Community Speedwatch (CSW) continued to be active and had resulted in additional ad-hoc visits from the traffic police to Baydon. The TCWG and in particular the CSW had been praised at the last Parish Forum. Cllr Edmonds stated it was an excellent report and he was full of admiration for the workload involved and the results achieved. He offered a formal vote of thanks to Mr Mark Austen.
6.3
The
6.4
The Parish Forum. - The Parish Forum met on the 19th
July 2011. Cllr Prior attended but six parishes were absent. The Parish Forum
continues to discuss the structure of the
6.5 The BYPA – Cllr Witt stated that the new BYPA committee has eight members and had met twice since its AGM. Members were in the process of applying for charity status after which they can apply for their first grant application to improve the toilet facilities.
6.6 Cricket Field Bins. Cllr Witt confirmed that Wiltshire Council would charge £150 annually to empty an additional road-side bin. Cllr Edmonds raised the issue that Baydon seems to be comparatively ‘poorly off’ compared to other villages regarding publically funded bins. The Cllrs agreed to write to Wiltshire Council challenging their comparative number of publically funded bins and to enquire about seasonal options for emptying. Cllr Humphries suggested copying the letter to the relevant Cabinet member Mr Toby Sturgis. Action: Clerk
The Cllrs also agreed to buy a road-side bin for the cricket field up to a limit of £100 excl VAT.
Action: Clerk
Cllr Witt will arrange for the bin to be installed. Action: TW
It was agreed to hold a litter pick to include the cricket field. Action:TW
The Cllrs also discussed the removal of the unwanted ‘Terrapin’ buildings from the Cricket Field. Cllr Witt had sourced 3 quotes of £780, £600 and £480 excl VAT and proposed that the Parish Council agreed to accept the lowest quote from Berkshire Clearance for removal before the Autumn. The Cllrs agreed to the proposal. Action:TW
6.7 Report on the status of the Parish Field.
a. Communal Shed for Allotment holders. The Baydon Allotment Association, (BAA) shed plans have been circulated. The Cllrs, after discussion, agreed ‘no objection’ to having a single shed for the BAA on the Parish Field. The Chairman offered to continue to liaise with the BAA and as owners of the land the Council offered to apply for the planning permission. The BAA will make a donation to the Parish Council. Action: AP
b. Litter Bin status. The Clerk apologised for not yet ordering the bin. Action: Clerk
c. Mound area development. The weed spraying had been done at a cost of £40 incl VAT and the area would be seeded at a cost of £50 incl VAT. There will be no additional charge for mowing that section.
pg 2011-24
d. Benches - Two steel benches have been ordered and are due for delivery on the 9th August. They are insured for £1300 at no extra cost for this insurance year.
e. Dropped Kerb - The drop kerb had been installed.
6.8 Response to Wiltshire Council advice regarding use of S106 money.
a. First Claim - The Cllrs agreed to the first claim of £7678.74 for work and equipment on the Parish Field. The final variance, despite the extra mound cost, had been £493 after the contingency funds had been taken into account.
b. Second Claim – The Chairman has spoken with Wiltshire Council (Mr S Ibbotson) who advised that the Parish Council could claim for the money spent on the play equipment from the original ring fenced recreation money. The Cllrs approved the claim from S106 money of £3354.60 and asked the Clerk to forward the documentation.
Action: Clerk
c.
Gleesons/Redcliffe Letter – Cllr
d. Possible alternative uses of S106 money. The Cllrs briefly discussed several alternatives for use of the remaining S106 money. These included the BYPA Hall, the Cricket Club and Little Crickets who have recently been given some garden space in the village
6.9 The Cricket Club S106 application. This item was deferred.
6.11 Village Emergency Resilience Plan. The Cllrs briefly discussed this topic raised at the Parish Forum and agreed that extreme weather conditions were the most likely scenario in Baydon. The Cllrs agreed to defer this item to a later date, keeping a watching brief on the requirement.
The Chairman adjourned standing orders at 9.45 pm.
6.12 Village Jubilee 2012 celebrations – A village meeting will take place on Friday, the 16th September 2011 at 19.45hr in Baydon St. Nicholas school hall. The Chairman confirmed he would only chair the initial meeting. The Clerk confirmed there would be no requirements for minute taking.
7. FINANCE
7.1 Payments made between meetings. - None.
7.2 Future Payments. - The following sums were approved for payments:
Repayment to MCAB (on receipt of S106 money) £2977
BYPA Hall hire (May – July) £38.00
The Clerk noted that the hire of the BYPA hall would be increased to £5/hr from September.
7.3 Bank funds reconciliation statement for July 2011. - The Cllrs approved the bank funds statement for July 2011. The total in the RBS bank is currently £18929.24 (£8696.01 in the current account, £10149.20 in the Savings account). The Petty Cash total is £58.62.
7.4 To receive the first Quarterly Budget report. The Cllrs approved the previously circulated budget report.
7.5 Additional Parish Field fencing quotation. Cllr Knowles has received three fence quotations but they were for slightly different specifications. Cllr Knowles was asked to obtain three more quotes for 6 ft chain link fence, with steel posts for direct comparison. Action: AK
pg 2011-25
7.6 Request for Baydon Youth Worker Funding. Ms Venice Marriott (BYPA) spoke to the Council regarding the Baydon Youth worker project and said that the BYPA was fully supportive of the initiative and that the viability of the project would be improved by the possible Parish Council grant. The Chairman asked for further information and to meet Amy Wallis, although Mrs Hazel Keen explained the money would be a grant and the Council would not be directly employing Amy. Ms Venice Marriott offered to create a document to address outstanding ‘employment’ issues for the Parish Council to review. Cllr Tomkins stated that this would be a one-off kick-start payment to the Aldbourne Youth Council, as requested, for the Baydon Youth Club. It did support the priorities listed in the Village Plan. Cllr Edmonds proposed that a payment of £1500 grant from Reserves be agreed in principle subject to satisfactory ‘employment’ issues being documented and approved by Baydon Council. This proposal was agreed unanimously.
7.7 The Red Lion Public House car park – No formal request has been received but the Cllrs agreed that they would not be able to contribute to a commercial business activity.
7.8 New external Christmas lights and timer. Deferred until the next meeting.
8. ITEMS TO NOTE:
8.1
Aldbourne Road Closures –
9. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING:
9.1 Election of new Chairman.
9.2 To discuss the Cricket Club S106 application.
9.3 To approve the additional Parish Field fence quotations.
9.4 To meet with Ms Amy Wallis
9.5 To agree a quote for the new external Christmas lights and timer.
The meeting closed at 10.15hr
Signed............................................ Date..................................
pg 2011-26
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