2016/01/22
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 19th January 2016.
Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 19th
January 2016 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.
1. Apologies: Cllr. Pat Lennard.
Present: Cllrs. Martin Allen (Chairman), Martin Baker, Brian Gale, Katrina Maxwell, Terry Oxman and Ray Triggol. Also Cllr. David Hall (SCC).
Members of the public: Richard Woodward, Rodney Young, Robin Kyd, Marion and Jonathan Dethier.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting of 15th December 2015 were taken as read, approved and signed.
3. Matters arising from the minutes.
5. Planning. No new proposals.
6. Correspondence.
8. Finance.
Balances with all cheques having been cleared:
* Reflecting interest of £60.30 added on 31/12/2015
3 cheques signed by 2 councillors.
The Clerk reported a precept request for £6000.00 for 2016/17 had been submitted to Sedgemoor District Council.
9. Any other business including date of next meeting.
• Footpath at Parchey. Cllr Martin Baker asked the up to date position here. A discussion took place and the Clerk was asked to speak to George Montague, Footpath officer with SCC responsible for Sedgemoor and report back to the next meeting.
Date of next meeting Tuesday 23rd February 2016
There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 8.25pm.
1. Apologies: Cllr. Pat Lennard.
Present: Cllrs. Martin Allen (Chairman), Martin Baker, Brian Gale, Katrina Maxwell, Terry Oxman and Ray Triggol. Also Cllr. David Hall (SCC).
Members of the public: Richard Woodward, Rodney Young, Robin Kyd, Marion and Jonathan Dethier.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting of 15th December 2015 were taken as read, approved and signed.
3. Matters arising from the minutes.
- Visit to flood defences and pumping station. The Clerk reported that John Rowland had requested a postponement in the flood defences tour and it was now going ahead on Sunday 7th February, leaving from outside the village hall at 10.00am. A fresh notice would be displayed. So far, 7 names have been taken and anyone wishing to go please give names to the Clerk.
- Health and Wellbeing Budget 2015. Cllr David Hall said funding a piano for the village hall or new seats fell outside the scope of the scheme. He went on to say the Manshed scheme was due to be opened at the basketworks on the A361 on Friday 29th January and anyone interested would be welcome to attend. Marion Dethier thought women would be put off joining because of the name.
- Landline and Broadband Problems. Cllr Allen (Chairman) said he had received a lot of strong complaints before Christmas about the dire state of BT’s services to the village as a whole. And he was grateful to David Hall for assisting in arranging a meeting with Paul Coles, South West Regional Manager BT Group with the Parish Council last week on Thursday 14th January 2015 at 10.00 am in the Village Hall. He went on to say it had been a very fruitful meeting attended by himself, David Hall, Paul Coles, Katrina Maxwell and the Clerk. Paul Coles said he would look into the landline problems as a priority and he requested specific information – Date and time of problem, Brief nature of the problem and relevant telephone numbers. The Chairman said he had put notices up asking for this and had so far received about 15-20 replies, and he would leave a week or so for more to come in, then he and the Clerk would collate the information and draft a suitable letter / email to Paul Coles. Marion Dethier said she thought many affected villagers had not yet had time to respond and more time should be given, to which the Chairman agreed. David Hall cautioned that Paul Coles could not solve the broadband issue easily but certainly the landline problems should be sorted. The matter of broadband was more complex. Chedzoy had been included in the original commercial rollout, and had been connected via the box outside Mole Valley Farmers. The problem was that the box is situated too far away in lineage terms from the village. Chedzoy is not included in the Superfast Broadband rollout but may well be covered by the phase 2 rollout which has yet to be commissioned and should be concluded (up to 95% coverage) by the end of 2017 or into 2018.
- Somerset Civil Contingencies Unit. A Local Contact [was] still required. The Clerk was pleased to advise the Mr Rodney Young had kindly agreed to put his name forward for this postion. The Clerk thanked him and would now advise the Unit appropriately.
- Broadband issues – covered already.
- SCC budget not yet placed before the County Council.
- Business Rate de-centralisation - the details of this are still vague.
- The Central Government Support grant of 1.9% to encourage no council tax rise was no longer being paid.
- There is a suggestion of ring fencing a 2% rise in council tax, specifically for Adult social care, which is a huge cost to the SCC.
- The funding of the new Somerset Rivers Authority going forward is still not settled.
- The IPC Government Planning Authority had sanctioned the “Pylon corridor” linking Avonmouth with Hinkley Point. Various amendments/safeguards were incorporated.
- Council Tax. It seems likely that, after years of shielding council tax payers from increases, despite Central Government funding cutbacks, these may be coming to an end, and a rise could be on the way this coming year.
- Hinkley Point Final Investment decision. Rumour has it this could now be imminent.
- Winter road gritting was now under way.
5. Planning. No new proposals.
6. Correspondence.
- Clean for the Queen. The Clerk read a letter from the Campaign Director setting out the aims. In the run-up to HM Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday on April 21st 2016, they aim to inspire a million people to take action and enjoy a few hours together litter-picking to make places where we live more beautiful. Full support is available with tea shirts, litter-pickers and bags offered free of charge. There will be “Clean for the Queen” litter blitzes throughout the country in January, February and March, and the most monumental of all litter clear-ups from Friday 4th March to Sunday 6th March 2016. The Clerk said he would bring the subject up at the next coffee morning on 3d February to gauge support
- Tables of Parish Councillor’s Interests. The Clerk handed out copies of these which would be appearing on the Sedgemoor DC website.
- Mendip Community Transport. A request had been received for grant aid. As previously decided, again it was decided not to assist.
- Avon and Somerset PCC newsletter. This was read out.
8. Finance.
Balances with all cheques having been cleared:
| Lloyds Bank current account | £3237.74 |
| Lloyds Bank deposit account | £2.48 |
| Cambridge Building Society Easy Access Account | £12252.99* |
* Reflecting interest of £60.30 added on 31/12/2015
3 cheques signed by 2 councillors.
| Number | Payee | Amount | For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 496 | Mr C.N Fry | £ 34.54 | Expenses to date |
| 497 | Mr C. N Fry | £152.67 | January net salary |
| 498 | HMRC | £114.40 | Clerk's PAYE Oct/Nov/Dec |
The Clerk reported a precept request for £6000.00 for 2016/17 had been submitted to Sedgemoor District Council.
9. Any other business including date of next meeting.
• Footpath at Parchey. Cllr Martin Baker asked the up to date position here. A discussion took place and the Clerk was asked to speak to George Montague, Footpath officer with SCC responsible for Sedgemoor and report back to the next meeting.
Date of next meeting Tuesday 23rd February 2016
There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 8.25pm.
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