WEST CREWKERNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday
14th January 2020 at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall
Members Present
Mrs Julia Borland (Chairman)
Mrs Caroline Broom
Mr D Yeomans
Mr R Franklin
Mr Barrie Carter
Mr Mike Best (Somerset County
Councillor)
Also present
5 Members of the Public
1. Apologies
for Absence
Apologies
received from Mrs Sue Osborne (South Somerset District Councillor) Mr Frank Freeman
(Parish Councillor) and Miss Jackie Parsons (Parish Clerk), Mick and Mary
Wilson, Mr L Graham-Gleed and Mrs M Ashby.
2. Public Open Forum – Each member of the
public present is entitled to speak once only, in respect of business itemised
on the agenda and shall not speak for more than 5 minutes.
The concerns raised by members of the public were with regard to
blocked ditches and drains and debris coming off of fields into people’s
gardens and driveways. The Chairman
stated that the concerns must be raised on the Somerset Highways website. It is reasonably easy to use and usually a
quick response time.
3. Declarations of Interest in items on
the agenda (Pecuniary or non-statutory interests).
Mrs J Borland declared an interest in the precept, as Chairman of the
Village Hall committee, she stated she would not make any comment on the amount
to be given to the village hall by the Parish Council.
4. To approve the minutes of the Parish
Council Meeting held on the 12th November 2019
The minutes approved by the meeting and proposed for approval by Mrs C
Broom and seconded by Mr D Yeomans.
5. Matters arising from the minutes not
covered elsewhere on the Agenda.
Mr R Franklin raised the matter of internet connection and Gigaclear
with Mr D Yeomans. Mr D Yeomans
reiterated what had been reported in the above minutes.
6 Planning
Matters.
West Crewkerne Parish Council is a Statutory
Consultee for Planning Applications
and
as such does not make the final decision on any application. Any decisions and comments made by the Parish Council
will be fed into the planning process and added to the report by the Planning
Officer. South Somerset District Council
is the Planning Authority and will issue the final decision notice (Planning
Determination) once their investigations into the application, consultation
period and decision making process has been completed.
A);
19/02372/FUL 28th August 2019 Land OS6400 Peckmoor Farm Henley
Crewkerne Somerset. Use of land for
revised sting of 2 holiday lodges, formation of hardstanding for lodges and
formation of trackways.
Application permitted with conditions on
12th December 2019.
B);
19/02774/PAMB 23rd September 2019 Farm buildings Lyminster
Woolminstone Crewkerne Som. Notification
for prior approval for the change of use of agricultural building to dwelling
house.
Application permitted with conditions on
29th November 2019.
C);
19/02922/HOU 12th October
2019 The Rye Barn, Hewish, Crewkerne Somerset TA18 8QT. Garage conversion to form entrance, to
include a door and 2 windows along with cladding and stone wall to match
existing.
Application permitted with conditions on
5th December 2019.
The
Chairman stated that at the time of the meeting there were no outstanding
planning applications for West Crewkerne Parish. However as a neighbouring Parish to Crewkerne
we have received no notification with regard to the development at the top of
Lang Road which impacts on the Cathole Bridge Road. The Chairman asked Mr M Best (Somerset County
Councillor) and Crewkerne Town Councillor to comment.
1.
The appeal submitted is a written appeal and interested parties have until the
21st January 2020 to submit any comments and observations to the
office shown on the Crewkerne Town Council website. The independent Inspector will look at all
the evidence submitted and his or her decision (which is expected to be reached
in 6 weeks) and this decision will be final.
2. Until the above appeal is finalised nothing
can be taken forward with regard to the Maiden Beech cross –roads. This point will be reviewed again when the
outcome of the appeal is known.
7. Highway
Matters
Roundham Small Improvement Scheme.
The
Chairman informed the meeting that work to replace and up-date road signage and
road markings will be starting in the next few days.
The
Small improvement scheme was shown to Roundham residents last year, the
majority of Roundham residents agreed the scheme as did the parish council.
With
regards to the speed limit reduction from 40mph to 30mph despite the parish
council being informed in November 2017 the reduction would take place,
following consultation with police authority and local police officers this
decision was reversed because the police had stated that they would not support
a reduction to 30mph as the speed limit was appropriate for the location.
Four
residents from Roundham attended the meeting who expressed disappointment that
the speed reduction was not happening and informed the meeting of the problems
experienced on a daily basis, speeding motorists, large vehicles not being able
to pass safely due to the narrow road, minor accidents and not being able to
safely walk along the road. All of the
above problems were supported by Councillor Carter who had been campaigning for
road improvements at Roundham for a number of years and also expressed
disappointment that correspondence from him to Somerset County Council have
gone unanswered and requested County Councillor Mr Mike Best to organise a site
meeting with the appropriate people from Somerset County Council Highways.
The
Chairman asked that traffic problems experienced by residents be reported to
the local authorities and copies sent to the parish council and if possible,
video evidence to be obtained.
Mr
Yeomans has contacted the Police Inspector for the area to arrange a meeting to
discuss the decision taken by the police not to support a speed reduction, but
as yet has not received a reply.
Gigaclear
No
further communication from Gigaclear.
Ditches
and Water Egress on to the roads throughout West Crewkerne.
To
be reported on Somerset Highways website.
8. Reports
from Councillors, including District and County Councillors.
1. No report from Mrs C Broom or Mr B Carter.
2.
Mr D Yeomans produced an analysis of the people using the West Crewkerne
Website for December and for the year ended 31st December 2019. As the aim of the Parish leaflet is to make
the parishioners of West Crewkerne aware that they have a Parish Council and a
Parish Website then the effectiveness of the leaflet drop can be measured
against the data held for the website for 2019.
3. Mr R Franklin reported on the property known
as Fuzzey ground. At the back of the
property this has now become what appears to be a car breaker yard up to two
cars deep, this is not good for the environment and should be stopped. The Chairman agreed this should be reported,
to which County Councillor Best replied he would contact enforcement in the
planning department. The hedge that is
causing obstruction in the road has already been reported to Highways on more
than one occasion and was still waiting to be cut back.
4. Mrs J Borland reported on Crewkerne cemetery
which has had to expand because of new graves, so there is site clearance, new
paths being created new grave plots being marked out. Because of the weather there has also been a
lot of tree work carried out. Mr D
Yeomans stated that he does not get any copies of the Crewkerne Burial Board
minutes to put on the website, Mrs J Borland will follow up.
5. Mrs J Borland stated on behalf of Mr F
Freeman that as one of the trustees of the Almshouses he does attend meetings
and has been helping with the clearing of one of the gardens. At the next meeting Mr F Freeman will give a
report on the Almshouses.
9. Considerations for a Neighbourhood
Plan. Do we wish to join with Crewkerne
Town Council in drawing up a Neighbourhood Plan.
The
Chairman outlined the commitment that would be required from both Parishioners
and Councillors of West Crewkerne, if we were to draw up a neighbourhood plan
for West Crewkerne in conjunction with Crewkerne Town Council. After discussion, the Chairman put forward a
motion not to join Crewkerne Town Council in drawing up a Neighbourhood Plan
and this was seconded by Mr D Yeomans.
The motion was put to the remaining 3 councillors of which 2 voted for
the motion and 1 against the motion.
10. Leaflet drop to the residents of West
Crewkerne Parish.
The
Chairman asked the Parish Councillors to do a leaflet drop of the Parish
Leaflets that Mr D Yeomans had had printed and the leaflet drop to be completed
by 31st January 2020.
11. Finance
A): To pay
the Clerk’s Salary £152.00 Cheque No.
327
B): To pay HMRC £38.00 Cheque No. 326
C): To pay Mr D Yeomans for the order of
leaflets. £32.99 Cheque No. 323
D): To pay SALC for training course £25.00
Cheque No. 324
E):
To pay for the hire of the meeting room to Clapton and Wayford Village
Hall.
£57.60 Cheque No. 325
F):
To agree the proposals for the precept for 2020/21
The
proposals were amended at the meeting, the grant to the village hall was
reduced to £800 with the proviso that if they under took a project they could
ask the Parish Council for a contribution.
The amended precept was proposed by Mrs C Broom and seconded by Mr R
Franklin and agreed by all the councillors.
12. Correspondence;
Various
e-mails including recycling monthly updates from SWP.
Road
Closures from Gigaclear and other utilities providers
Avon
and Somerset Police.
Somerset
Waste Partnership new recycling details from 2020
Tree
Planting Policy – The Parish Council owns no land in the Parish.
Mobile
and Laptop Regulations. – The Parish Council complies with the regulations.
13. To
confirm that the next meeting of the West Crewkerne Parish Council will be
held on Tuesday 10th March
2020 at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall at 7.00pm.
The above date confirmed.
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Chairman