MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF BISHOP'S HULL PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT THE FRANK BOND CENTRE ON THURSDAY, 14th JANUARY 2010

Present: Mr K Burgess (in the Chair)
Mrs J Beaumont
Mr G Everett
Mrs L Kelly
Mrs W Lewis
Mr N Roper
Mr E Rose
Mr M Summers

Cllr Alan Paul of SCC and PCSO Simon Parry were also in attendance.

E2134 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Bulbeck, Mrs Ravenhill, Mr Porter and Cllr Ian Morrell (TDBC).

E2135 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The Minutes of the meeting held on 9th December 2009 were signed as a correct record.

E2136 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

E2123 - Smells at Frethey House - the Clerk reported difficulties with getting in touch with the Environment Agency. Mrs Beaumont offered to provide some contact numbers.

E2123 - Dropped kerb at Shutewater - SCC had reported that most of the statutory undertakings had been contacted, and an order for the work would be placed with Atkins as soon as they were not completely overwhelmed by weather problems.

E2123 - Bench at Haydon Close - the revised estimate for a new high quality bench and a full concrete standing was £600 plus VAT. It was agreed unanimously to proceed with this work. No agreement was reached on the fate of the old bench.

E2123 - Tytherleigh Bridge - Mrs Kelly said that her contact with SCC had been unhelpful and that the suggestion had been made by them to close the bridge completely, which was controversial.

E2123 - Footbridge over the River Tone - the Clerk reported that she had finally made contact with the heritage Department at Taunton Deane although Ms Hartnell had not been available in person. She had not yet had time to visit the bridge and make an assessment about its suitability for listing. On the matter of the old School building in Gypsy Lane, she did not consider that suitable for listing and TDBC would not support an application for this.

E2126 - Estimates for 2010/2011 - Mr Burgess stated that he had checked the revised document issued prior to the meeting and having found some matters which concerned him had asked Mr Rose to check further. Mr Rose raised some presentational matters on the revised estimates which were similar to those that had been considered at the December meeting in order to set the precept. He said that he had found them difficult to understand and the figures were inaccurate. The Clerk said that she was not aware that these matters would be raised and consequently she did not have any papers, and therefore was unable to respond to his queries. She did say that she had shown the estimates in draft form to Mr Porter and there had been an exchange of e-mails. If there more changes required which had not been raised at the December meeting, it would probably be best to wait until Mr Porter was back in circulation. It was acknowledged that the queries made no difference to the request for the precept.

E2131 - Members' e-mail addresses on Website - the Clerk said that this had yet been done, but the Chairman thought it was imminent.

Declaration of Interest - Mrs Lewis wished to place on record that her employer was involved with the Persimmon application to build homes.

E2137 PACT

PCSO Simon Parry was welcomed to the meeting. He said that there had been no reports of anti-social behaviour since the last meeting, no damage, and no arrests. With regard to dog fouling, he had spoken to several dog owners in the playing field and drawn their attention to the notices. The CCTV installed at Malthouse Court was working well, giving exceptionally clear images in daytime. It covered the church car park, the road and the play area. The old SCAT annex was to be boarded up, to prevent it becoming an area for gatherings. While nothing had been reported regarding fly tipping, several bags of rubbish had been sighted at Fideoak. The 'no cold calling' zone at Gillards was going ahead.

He asked whether there were any new issues, and the state of parking on the corner opposite the village shop was raised. This was a dangerous junction and people were parking too far around, causing drivers to have to go on the wrong side of the road on a bend.

PCSO Parry said that the on-going matters he would look at would therefore be anti-social behaviour, dog fouling and dangerous parking.

E2138 FINANCIAL MATTERS

Frank Bond Centre - a request for financial assistance from the Frank Bond Centre had been received at the last meeting. The Trustees were seeking £1,500 from the Parish Council towards the total bill of £4,500 - £6,000 for some work on the boundary and pavement, including widening by the bus stop.

It had been decided to defer this matter to this meeting, as too many councillors present had connections with the FBC, being either members, Trustees, or married to Trustees. The Clerk had sought clarification from David Greig, at Taunton Deane. His advice had been that members of the FBC and the spouses of Trustees should declare a personal interest, but speak and vote freely. Trustees clearly had a personal interest and should declare this and withdraw. This said, Mr Rose withdrew from the meeting.

Mr Burgess, Mr Summers, Mrs Lewis and Mrs Kelly all declared interest as members of FBC; Mr Burgess and Mr Summers were also spouses of FBC Trustees.
After discussion, it was agreed to donate £1,000 towards the work (proposed by Mrs Lewis, seconded by Mr Everett, passed unanimously with one abstention), which would cover the pavement widening, estimated at £800. This grant was subject to two conditions - that the widened pavement by the bus stop must be adopted by TDBC, and that there be no ongoing maintenance costs to be met by this Council.

Mr Rose rejoined the meeting and was informed of the outcome. He asked for clarification - if the pavement widening by the bus stop was not done, would there be any grant at all. It was confirmed that there would not be, and he asked that the Council write to the FBC stating this.

E2139 CHEQUES FOR AUTHORISATION AND SIGNATURE

The following cheques were presented and signed:-
S Watts - Clerk's salary and expenses for January £582.08
R Dezille - Street Cleaner's hours £360.00
Frank Bond Centre (oven door repair) £49.00

E2140 PERSIMMON HOMES APPLICATION

The future of the application was still hanging on a decision regarding the adoption of the verge on Bishop's Hull Road and highway rights. The Chairman said that he had already attended two meeting on the S106 agreements. He would make contact with local groups who had an interest in how plans for a community hall might be progressed. A steering group may need to be established, and anyone involved would have to be prepared to be in for the long term. More money should be forthcoming (in addition to the £186,000 already agreed) if and when more houses were built in accordance with the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Core Strategy consultation - this was underway and there was to be a presentation held at the Frank Bond Centre on 26th January. Mrs Beaumont reported difficulties in getting into the consultation website and Mr Burgess said he would circulate the details again.

E2141 PARISH PLAN REVISION

Mr Porter had had a look at the Parish Plan but did not consider it was worthwhile reviewing it at this stage. There were plenty of other things which needed doing.

E2142 PARISH WEBSITE

Clarification had been sought about 'ownership' of the parish website i.e. who was to take overall editorial responsibility. When the site had been set up initially, Mr Fogg had taken that responsibility and the question had not come up, but now Mr Jorgensen and Mrs Coldicott wanted the Parish Council to take over the editorial responsibility. After discussion it was agreed that they would, with the proviso that each contributor must take responsibility not only for the accuracy content of their web page, but also keeping it up-to-date.

The Clerk was asked to send a copy of the Council's Financial Regulations to Jill to put on the website.

E2143 REPORTS FROM OTHER BODIES

Somerset County Council - Cllr Paul said that County Council services had been overwhelmed by the recent snow but they had managed to achieve their target of gritting 21% of the county roads. The offer of grit to individual parishes had been withdrawn for fear of a shortage, but would no doubt be reinstated later in the year.
The Core Strategy consultation was necessary as the councils were trying to identify development sites for the next 30 - 40 years. A lot of the sites were speculative.
Parking - nothing would be done until the outcome of the additional Park and Ride had been evaluated.

Budgets were a major issue at the moment and would not be published until the end of January. There would be few grants available - the County would only be able to do what was required by statute.

VEG Group - had a very successful 2009 with most events well attended. Christmas lights would not longer be stored and erected by TDBC, so the group had taken them on. It was going to be too expensive to put them on the tree in the churchyard, so instead they had been put around the porch. The summer event would be held on 12th June but was still in the planning stage.

E2144 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday, 25th February 2010, at 7.30 p.m.

E2145 ITEMS OF REPORT

Grit boxes - several requests had been received for these, and Mrs Kelly suggested that one be located outside the shop to enable the top of Shutewater Hill to be gritted. There was disagreement over this, however, given the size and possible location of the grit box, and the likelihood of snow of such severity possibly not being experienced again for 30 years. Cllr Paul said he had some money left in his community budget and it might be possible for him to pay for a box or two. The Clerk said she had been asked by residents at the bottom of Shutewater and Bishops Hull Hill, and by Berrys Coaches at Cornishway whether grit could be provided.
Speed limit at bottom of Shutewater - Mrs Beaumont said there was confusion over where the 20 mph limit became 30 mph and how far that went. The Clerk was asked to seek clarification.

Trading estate at Norton Fitzwarren - bright lights reported being on all night, probably for security. Light pollution.

Bishop's Hull Charity - the Clerk reported that she had delivered some flowers to Betty Mapletoft as a 'thank you' to her for all her work as the secretary of the BH Charity. Members expressed an interest in how the remaining funds had been dispersed and it was agreed to invite Betty to the AGM to explain this.

CHAIRMAN