Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 19th November 2018, in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.

1. Apologies. Cllrs Martin Baker, Katrina Maxwell, Ray Triggol and Terry Oxman.

Present: Cllrs. Martin Allen (Chairman), Brian Gale and Pat Lennard, also Cllrs David Hall (Somerset County Council (SCC)), Derek Alder and Liz Perry (Sedgemoor District Council (SDC)).

Also present: the Clerk together with five members of the public.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting of 15th October 2018, and the Special Planning Meeting of 12th November were taken as read, approved and signed.

3. Matters arising from the minutes.

• Adopt a Kiosk. The Chairman reported on a meeting he has had with Sarah Sutcliffe who has kindly offered to take the lead in the project to develop the old telephone kiosk. Her plan, which has been very well researched, involves a similar scheme to that at Stawell. She has visited and spoken to a volunteers there and talked about the mini library that has been developed. There are about five shelves holding about twenty books each, and this is also the plan for Chedzoy. The Editor of Chedzoy News has offered to construct the shelving and the Chairman and his wife are happy to assist in any way. The Parish Council is fully supportive and has agreed to cover any reasonable costs.
  
  All councillors present unanimously agreed to support the plan.
  
  
• Glebe House proposed development – reference 18/18/00008/DT. This matter is the second item, dealt with under ‘Planning’ below.

4. Somerset County Council report. David Hall reported as follows.

• Financial matters. He confirmed additional funds have been received to deal with potholes. Four out of the five local MPs are supportive with the SCCs financial difficulties surrounding the total of £130 million cut in Central Government funding over the past few years.
  
  
• Giggaclear’s Contract delays. David reported a delay of approximately six months in the latest rollout, which would affect Chedzoy. A remedial plan is being put in place. See AOB item (a) – Digital User Survey below.
  
  
• Local Grit Bins – these are to be replenished by SCC.
  
  
• Hinkley Point. The target date for the jetty opening is Easter 2019.

5. Sedgemoor District Council report. Cllr Alder reported as follows:-

• ‘Sedgemoor – Top Again’. SDC’s Planning Department is celebrating after hearing that they have won the ‘Excellence during the Planning Decision Process’ category in addition to being awarded the ‘Overall Winners’ in the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) south west awards for planning excellence.
  
  
• Flood Risk Consultation. Please see Any Other Business item (d) below.

6. Planning.

Reference: 18/18/00008/DT
Proposal: Certificate of Lawfullness.
Location: Land to the south of Manor Barn, Higher Road, Chedzoy.
Applicant: Oxford University.

This application concerns an application by Oxford University to show evidence that this land has been used on a domestic basis for the last 10 years, which is indeed supported by written submissions contained in the application papers.

These cases are never referred to the Planning Committee. Unless the Parish Council has specific evidence in support then the appropriate comment for the council to make is 'No comment'.

The Clerk was asked to submit the following comment to SDC planners:

‘The Parish Council of Chedzoy has no comment to make’.


Reference: 18/18/00008/DT
Type: Full Planning Permission.
Proposal: Erection of 4no. detached dwellings on site of existing dwelling and outbuildings to be demolished.
Location: Glebe House, Front Street, Chedzoy, Bridgwater, TA7 8EB.
Applicant: Harris Brothers and Collard Ltd.

The Chairman outlined the position here with twenty-two letters of objection as well as the Parish Council’s objections, all well-crafted and relevant with regard to valid planning grounds.

The application has been withdrawn 'After registration' at lunchtime today (19th November).

Any further alternative proposal will necessarily require a fresh Planning Application to be submitted.

Several parishioners present expressed their gratitude to the Parish Council in this matter.

7. Correspondence.

• ‘Tell us your views on Health and Care’. The NHS is seeking the opinions of members of the public on Health and Care in Somerset, and explore how it could change in the future. A series of County-wide events are taking place and the public can review information and feedback their thoughts at:
  
  https://www.fitformyfuture.org.uk/
  
  
• Recommendations for Library Service Redesign. SCC advises that the recommendations for the Somerset Libraries Service Redesign decisions have been published with 19 existing library buildings being recommended to be retained by SCC. For the remaining 15 library buildings SCC are seeking to develop Community Library Partnerships (CLPs) where communities would support library buildings in partnership with SCC. David Hall of SCC has advised that 13 proposals have already been received.
  
  
• Annual (Planning) Training for Parish and Town Councils. The regular annual training in planning matters is being held on Tuesday 27th November by SDC in the Sedgemoor Room, Bridgwater House, King Square from 5.45pm to 9.00pm. The Clerk and Chairman to attend.
  
  
• Changes to Highways Winter Service 2018/2019. The SCC Cabinet recently voted to reduce the budget available for highways winter service for this winter. Precautionary gritting will be carried out on 720 miles (1159 km) or around 17% of the total road network of 4164 miles (6702 km) in Somerset, which represents a reduction from 900 miles or 21% of the network last year.
  
  
• ‘Be the Difference between Homelessness and a Brighter Future’. SCC are seeking appropriate adults to come forward and become ‘Stepping Stones’. Carers for young people who are coming to the end of their time in care, and assist them in preparing for independent living. This can be a very rewarding activity and allowances and full training and support are given.
  
  Call 0800 5879900 or visit the website:
  
  http://www.fosteringinsomerset.org.uk
  
  
• Bower Ponds Park Improvements. SDC have confirmed improvements costing around £70,000 have started at Bower Ponds Park and is being jointly funded by SDC, Live West and Bridgwater Town Council.
  
  
• Town/Parish Clerks’ Training for the 2019 elections.This training will take place on Thursday 7th March 2019 from 6.30pm – 8.30 pm.
  
  
• Spring Flowering Bulbs. These have been received and passed on to Cllr Brian Gale, who has kindly agreed to deal with them.
  
  
• Surviving Winter Appeal. SCC are advertising the scheme whereby people in receipt of the winter fuel allowance can donate it to those living in fuel poverty.
  
  More information, email: [email protected]
  
  
• Fry’s Lane Improvements. The Clerk read out a letter from a Fry’s Lane resident which confirms he has arranged for the “road planings” to be spread over the unmetalled part of the lane that is designated highway, and the remainder over the lay-by as suggested by Laurence Hackling of the SCC Highways Dunball Depot. The letter also confirms that all the building faults at Old Rectory Farm dating from the 1990s when it was built, have been put right. The same resident has decided to carry out further improvements which it is hoped will do a little to improve the village scene.
  
  The Clerk will reply to the letter.

8. Matters arising from the correspondence. None.
 
9. Finance.

Balances after allowing for all payments made

Lloyds Bank current account	£5197.41
Lloyds Bank deposit account	£2.48
Cambridge Building Society Easy Access account	£12318.53

Three cheques were issued as follows.

Number	Amount	Payee	For
621	£111.19	Mr C.N Fry	Expenses
622	£152.47	Mr C.N Fry	November net salary
623	£480.00	Mr C.N Fry	Playing Field grass cutting 2018

The Clerk confirmed the latest water bill for the allotments covering the dry summer has been received and is £117.31, and will be paid by direct debit on 3d December 2018.

10. Any Other Business, including the date of the next meeting.

• Connecting Devon and Somerset. An appeal is being made to Chedzoy parishioners to take part in a ‘Digital User Survey’ in order to get an updated picture of ‘where we are’.
  
  Go to: https://www.connectingdevonandsomerset.co.uk/broadband-user-survey
  
  Details are to appear in the current issue of ‘Chedzoy News’.
  
  
• South East Parish Cluster Group. Next meeting will be held on Tuesday 27th November 2018 at The Lounge at Woolavington Village Hall Higher Road Woolavington TA7 8DY at 7.30pm. This date clashes with the SDC planning training on the same night.
  
  
• Avon and Somerset Constabulary. ‘Police carrying out insurance checks’. In an attempt to catch drivers who either knowingly or unknowingly drive without insurance the Police recently used the very latest technology – ANPR (Automated number plate recognition) cameras in our force area between Monday 12th November and Sunday 18th November.
  
  
• Flood Risk Consultation. The Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) is seeking the opinion of householders in flood affected areas of Somerset on the potential flood risk to their local community. 1200 questionnaires are being delivered for completion.
  
  For more information go to: www.somersetriversauthority.org.uk
  
  
• Parish Path Consultation. Somerset has one of the longest public rights of way networks in the country. It is of similar length to the road network. Monitoring this network with limited resources is challenging, but with the help of several hundred volunteers across the county over 80% of the path network is open and easy to use. The SCC rights of way team would like to review:
  
  
  1. Path categories and
  2. Vegetation Clearance Schedule.
  
  The consultation runs until Monday 31st January 2019 and for more details contact: Jake Taylor Volunteer and Trails Officer, email: [email protected]
  
  Telephone 07917 837542 or 01823 358250.
  
  
• ‘Police launch Youth and Policing Education website’. Avon and Somerset Police have launched the youth and policing education hub – a new website offering free online access to a range of resources to Schools and youth groups. Resources include lesson plans on such subjects as county lines, sexting and knife crime.
  
  Visit: https://www.youthandpolicing.co.uk
  
  
• Audibility issues at Village Hall meetings. The Chairman brought up the matter of the difficulty that can be experienced in hearing proceedings at meetings, particularly well attended ones. Both he and the Clerk sometimes have difficulty.
  
  
• E-consultation with Parishes in Planning Matters. The Chairman is keen to ensure the council has access to on-line plans now that these are nor supplied in paper form by SDC. The Clerk said he can download Zip files of planning applications but is unsure of the connection arrangements to the hall equipment. He said he would make enquiries into both items (g) and (h) above.

Date of next meeting: Monday 17th December 2018 in the village hall at 7.30 pm.

There being no other business, the meeting was declared closed at 8.55 pm.