Present:

Mr Summers (in the Chair)
Mrs J Beaumont
Mr K Burgess
Mrs W Clothier
Mr G Everett
Mrs S Ravenhill
Mr E Rose

Cllr Ian Morrell (TDBC) and Cllr Alan Paul (Somerset CC) were also in attendance.

E1833 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Searle, Lane, Bulbeck and Debenham.

E1834 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14th December 2006 were signed as a correct record.

E1835 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

E1811 - Handrail on slope in playing field - Mr Rose said there was no progress to report yet.

E1827 - the following applications had been granted:-

05/06/33 - Therapeutic pool for use of residents at care home at Longrun House, Longrun Farm;

05/06/37 - Conservatory at 11 Lavender Grove.

Revised plans for application 05/06/040 - Proposed change of use of Magnolia House from residential to medical consulting rooms and associated offices, and provision of caretaker's flat - had been submitted and the Clerk reminded members that, if they had any interest in any application, they should declare this and not take part in any subsequent discussion.

Daws Mead Trees - this application to fell three trees had been granted with the condition that replacement trees would be planted.

E1832 - House on Wellington Road near the Tile Centre - some progress had been made with clearing the garden, and Cllr Morrell was actively pursuing this.

Annual Parish Meeting - the Clerk confirmed that the date had been changed to Friday 20th April 2007, and the venue would be the School Hall.

E1836 LOCAL ACTION TEAMS

The Chairman welcomed PC Polly Livingstone and Sgt Mark West to the meeting. PC Livingstone outlined the purpose of Local Action Teams. Background information had also been supplied by Cllr Paul and the Clerk. An initial meeting was to be held on 8th February and a volunteer councillor was sought to attend. It was agreed that the Clerk would be notified and would pass the name on to PC Livingstone. Sgt West outlined his new role and that of PC Livingstone. He added that a Community Support Officer would also be provided for the village in March. She would be responsible for community liaison, newsletters, communications and attending meetings, whereas PC Livingstone would be responsible for policing matters. Sgt West said that he was happy for police mobile phone numbers to be made available to the public, but they should understand that, in an emergency, it was still best to use the 0845 number or dial 999.

In response to a question about speed cameras, Sgt West said that the Speedwatch Officer was Mike Bond, and he was operating through Local Action Teams.

Sgt West and PC Livingstone were thanked for attending.

E1837 CELEBRATE 2008

Richard Hodder and Adrian Cross from St Peter and St Paul's Church, were welcomed to the meeting. They had come to outline the purpose of Celebrate 2008, which was being organised in the village to celebrate two of the church bells being 400 years old. They had come to ask whether the Parish Council wanted to be involved, particularly in the administration of the funding.

In answer to a question about under-writing events, Mr Hodder said that the organisers would have to cut their coat according to the cloth - in other words, if funding was not available, events would have to be scaled down accordingly. The church wanted this to be a village event - over twenty other groups were involved so far, including the Village Events Group.

With the agreement of the Clerk, it was agreed that the Parish Council would act as fund-holders/administrators, should the grant application be successful.

Mr Hodder was thanked for all his hard work so far, and keeping everyone informed and on board.

E1838 CHEQUES FOR AUTHORISATION AND SIGNATURE

The following cheques were presented and signed:-

S Watts - Clerk's salary and expenses for January £579.88
Mr R Dezille £377.52
Wee Tree Nurseries (saplings) £160.11
Larry Fogg (Broadband) £29.98
Frank Bond Centre (room hire) £105.00

E1839 SUPPORT FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS

A paper on financial support given to local groups by Taunton Deane was tabled, which also set out payments made by the Parish Council to voluntary organisations over the last five years. It was agreed that it would be helpful to know the actual amounts given by TDBC to the various groups, and Cllr Morrell undertook to try to find this out. Once he had, Cllrs Rose, Burgess and Ravenhill offered to examine the whole picture and recommend a policy for making future donations.

E1840 SILK MILLS SCHEME, TRAFFIC CALMING ETC.

The Clerk read out an e-mail she had received from Richard Needs at SCC in response to the Council's letter about the possible closure of Netherclay or any other options for slowing traffic down through that lane. Mr Needs had said that the introduction of the 20mph limit had been designed to address the speeding issue and he was unable to suggest any other alternatives. The increased use of the lane by pedestrians resulting from the opening of the Community Woodland had been subsequent to the Silk Mills scheme and had therefore not been taken into account. He had, however, passed the Council's letter to the Area Highways Manager for his consideration.

Cllr Paul suggested dates for two traffic surveys and asked for assistance in carrying these out. The dates proposed were 6/7/8 and 13/14/15 February from 7.30 - 9.00 am and 4.00 - 5.30 pm. Various offers of help were made and noted. Cllr Paul said that he would co-ordinate the surveys in consultation with the Clerk.

Other matters - the lighting at the Park and Ride when it was closed was condemned as not only a waste of money but environmentally unacceptable. The Clerk said that this matter had been raised before and the reason given for all night lighting was for security purposes. Mrs Beaumont offered to draft a letter to the local paper, on behalf of all Council members. The Clerk would circulate it so that everyone could see what was being said.

A letter had been received from a resident in Laurel Villas about the state of the road outside the houses following 're-surfacing' in the summer. It would be hard to arrange for street sweeping along there given that cars were parked there nearly all the time. The Clerk was asked to raise the matter with TDBC/SCC. If they were unable to help, it would be down to self-help by the residents, as and when the kerb was clear.

E1841 PLANNING

The following planning applications had been considered and no objections raised:-
05/06/042 - Single storey extension to rear of 8 Wren Close;
05/06/43 - Detached dwelling with parking at land adjacent to 7 Badgers Close;
05/06/044T - tree work on two evergreen oaks and one turkey oak at 67 and 69 Bishop's Hull Road;
05/06/045 - dwelling on land adjacent to 49 Smithy;
05/07/01 - two storey and single storey extensions at 58 Stonegallows (revised scheme);
05/07/02T - felling of one silver maple at 1 Jarmyns.

E1842 PARISH PLAN UPDATE

Community Woodland - Mr Burgess reported that he had purchased the required trees from Wee Trees Nurseries and the infilling had been carried out. Tree planting on the new area of woodland was complete. The two kissing gates were likely to be removed as they were pinch points for walkers, and getting very muddy. Another volunteer day would be held soon for 'thistle topping'.

Mr Burgess mentioned that the Wildlife Trust were proposing to put 3 new information boards in the woodland and asked whether the Parish Council would be prepared to contribute £500 towards the cost. This was agreed, providing that the Council could see the proposed design in advance and that some mention be made on the boards of the contribution made by the Parish Council to the scheme.

The Clerk was asked to inform the Environment Agency about the trees in the river, lodged against the footbridge.

Village Events Group - Mrs Clothier updated members on the recent meeting of the VEG, and what was coming up.

E1843 FOOTPATHS

Various fallen trees had been reported, and the footpath T3/17 was overgrown - the field had not been sprayed out and the stiles at either end were in poor condition.

E1844 REPORTS FROM OTHER BODIES

Cllr Paul updated members on the two main areas of activity at Somerset County Council, namely the establishment of Area Panels in each district, which it was hoped would help to devolve more activities and services to a more local level (meeting on 5th February at Norton Fitzwarren), and the applications for unitary status (or otherwise) which the county and districts were submitting.

E1845 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday, 15th March, 2007, at 7.30 p.m.

E1846 ITEMS OF REPORT

Caravan in Pigs Loose Lane - the Clerk was asked to report this possible illegal camping to the community police officer.

Fideoak - there were still people living on this site which threatened to become permanent. No planning permission had been given for this activity and it was feared that a 'Little Shamba' type situation might develop if left unchecked.

CHAIRMAN