MINUTES OF THE BRATTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Held in the Pavilion on the Village Green

9th February 2010

 

Present: Councillors, Mrs G Drewett, Mr K Davis, Mr S Lloyd, Mr K Miller, Mrs J Snooks, Mr R Pearce, Mrs K White, Mrs J Swabey & Mrs A Whittle (Clerk).

 Open Forum.

Local Police.

          The clerk gave a short report on behalf of the Police.

Anti-Social Behaviour:         Mini motos had been reported on the White Horse

                                      2 arrests made for damage to a vehicle outside Ashton Coombe

Theft:           A Land Rover had been stolen from land at Capps Lane

General:        There had been a couple of domestic issues

Intelligence:   Good feedback. Horse Watch had reported suspicious males/vehicle in Lower Westbury Road and Neighbourhood Watch had reported suspicious males in Lower Road

Community Speed Watch:    Three Sessions had taken place to date

 

12/10 Apologies.  Apologies were received from Cllr Hurn.

 

13/10 Declaration of Interest.  

          Cllr White declared an interest in item 22/10 as she is President of the Bratton History Association.

Cllrs Miller and Snooks declared an interest in item 22/10 as they are both members of the Bratton History Association.

 

14/10 To approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 12th January 2010

The Minutes of 12th of January were accepted as presented with one small spelling amendment.

Proposed      Cllr Miller        Seconded     Cllr Lloyd       All in Favour

 

15/10 Planning Applications

            Notification of decision received from Wiltshire Council

W/09/03353/FUL – Conversion of existing house and mill to form one residential unit – withdrawn

W/09/03408/S73 – two storey dwelling land between 1A Millhouse and 1 Lower Road – Permission

W/09/03555/FUL – Bicycle Shelter – Bratton School – Permission

W/09/03650/TCA – 4 Ashton Coombe – dismantle sycamore & fell horse chestnut – No TPO made

W/09/00031/IND – 10 The Butts – Sycamore, Ash and Mulberry – Tree Preservation Order Made

W/09/02386/FUL – Mobile Home, Day Room and Caravan – Land South West of Bonnie Park – Appeal Hearing will start at 10am on Tuesday 2nd March in Committee Room 1 at Bradley Road Trowbridge

Applications for Discussion

W/10/00002/FUL – Mr and Mrs D Waller – 20 Southay – Single Storey Rear Extension and Second floor extension to front of house. No Objection

Proposed      Cllr White       Seconded     Cllr Miller        All in Favour

 

16/10 Wiltshire Council – Cllr Swabey

Cllr Swabey reported that speed watch was up and running and as Wiltshire Council had purchased the speed guns, she would return the grant of £1000 awarded to the villages by the Westbury Area Board in order to purchase a speed gun. The clerk was asked to write to the board to say thank you for awarding the grant. Cllr Swabey clarified that the gun is owned by the Westbury Area Board and will be maintained by the Police. She advised that the planning application W/09/02622/FUL – Freddy Hughes – Shellbrook View Capps Lane - change of use of land for full planning for 1 mobile home for a Romany gypsy family, 1 utility room, 1 touring caravan for nomadic use only and to retain the existing lean to sheds for horses, will be heard at committee on the 10th of March. With regards to the Westbury Area Board, all the villages must try and apply for grants in the next financial year. Bratton have done well with awarding of grants but the other villages do not seem to be applying. Cllr Drewett asked what was happening about the possible changes to the wheelie bins system. Cllr Swabey reported that this had been placed on hold for the time being as the council were awaiting further guidance from the government on any changes to the rules etc for bin collections and recycling across the country.

 

17/10 Westbury Area Board – 11th February 7pm Heywood Village Hall

Cllr Davis advised that the next meeting was Thursday 11th of February when the health of Westbury and surrounding areas would be discussed. The clerk was asked to write to Sally Hendry asking for the waste collection changes to be placed on the next Area Board Meeting agenda.

18/10 Clerk report

  1. Electric Box removal from Duke Car Park. The clerk has asked the electrician who fitted the box to get in touch about removing it as soon as possible.
  2. Xmas Lights Removal. The clerk will be arranging to remove the lights on Sat 20th of February.
  3. Railings Spring Gardens. Having noticed the rotten post at the main road end of the Spring Gardens railings the clerk has contacted Pat Whyte regarding replacing the post as soon as possible.
  4. Reeves Orchard Paddock. The clerk has asked the Monday Gang to cut the grass in the Paddock so that Wiltshire Apple Trees can be planted by end of February early March by Michael Pearce.
  5. Signs for village Green. The clerk has purchased the signs and will pass them to Bob for fixing.
  6. Allotments. The clerk is still awaiting planning permission. The forms where sent back for slight alteration and the clerk has sent them back.
  7. Church Steps Opening. The clerk is in the process of arranging the Steps opening on one Monday lunch time on March. She has asked the Monday Gang to advise of the best Monday and will arrange refreshments and invite the press and staff from Wiltshire Council. She will write to all the councillors with the details as soon as she has confirmed them.
  8. Pot Hole Jubilee Hall Lane. Having reported the pot hole on a number of occasions, Mark Banks from Wiltshire Highways has advised the clerk that the footpath from the Tynings Lane Car park to Melbourne Street does not come under the remit of highways. She will confirm if it’s classed as a right of way/footpath or whether it is under the owner ship of the Jubilee Hall. Mark suggested we asked Kevin (Parish Steward) if he could fill the hole when he is in the village and carrying a small amount of tarmac. 
  9. Grit Bin Tynings Lane Car Park. In view of the issue over the ownership of the footpath, the clerk will be contacting Selwood Housing asking for permission for a grit bin, supplied and maintained by highways, on the grass area by the street light in the car park.
  10. Anti Social Behaviour Log sheet. Due to the early delivery of the February Churchman, the clerk was unable to include the new anti social behaviour log system information sheet in the churchman. The document is now ready for delivery with the March Churchman. She has already given a pack of the log sheets to the land lord at the Duke and have packs ready for the school, the shop and the pre-school for delivery before the end of February.
  11. Wiltshire Air Ambulance clothing bank. The clerk still has had no reply about our request for this bin. She will try and contact Hills again.
  12. Recycling bins. Hills have advised that they can not confirm whether we will still have the recycling bins in the village as this decision is taken by Wiltshire Council. She has now written to Wiltshire Council recycling department asking them to confirm the future position of the bins but as yet have not received a reply. It does however look like we may lose them if the new green bin and plastic and cardboard recycling system is adopted by Wiltshire Council in the new financial year.
  13.  Wheelie Bin 30mph Signs. The clerk has researched the use of these signs further and has found them to have been a worthwhile expense to the councils which have purchased them. Looking at most places they have purchased the square sign. She has researched other companies to buy from. Many will sell individual signs i.e. the number you require, but the cost is higher approx £2 per signs plus postage. The original company who contacted us do seem to have the best option of larger numbers at a cheaper cost. The minimum we can purchase is 125 and is we chose the square signs the cost is £146 excluding VAT. Pewsey Parish Council purchased the signs through The Pewsey Community Area Partnership. The clerk will research whether the Westbury Community Area Partnership could provide them for all the villages.

 

19/10 Parish Steward Visit – 4th March

The clerk was asked to advise that the council would like the steward to clear Emms Lane, Sands Lane towards Lower Road and the lane at the back of Redlands from the Baptist Chapel.

 

20/10 Possible changes to the wheelie bin system    

As Cllr Swabey had advised that this was postponed the clerk was asked to bring this forward to the March agenda.

 

21/10 Taking Action on School Journeys – Cllr Lloyd

Cllr Lloyd reported to the council on action on school journeys. A travel plan has been written by Wiltshire Council which incorporates the new bicycle shelter. The report also has recommendations for traffic calming measures. It suggests that a new footpath is installed from the Duke car park to the village green entrance, a new crossing at the war memorial end of the Duke garden. At this point the report suggests narrowing the road. The Parish Council said they would have objections to this suggestion as this would affect people stopping in their cars outside the shop and would therefore affect the shops takings. The council need to amend the crossing points at the Jubilee Hall entrance to bring the drop kerbs up to standard. The report also suggests a drop kerb crossing on Carpenters Lane. Cllr Lloyd will keep the council informed of any further information.

 

22/10 Section 137 grants – to decide on awarding grants as requested

The council has received requests for a grant from the following groups and awarded monies as follows: Three Villages Minibus £100, Bratton Historical Association £50, 4 Villages Link £50 and

Wiltshire Area Ambulance £50.

 

23/10 To consider items of Correspondence needing a reply

          Invitation to Jubilee Hall AGM – Tuesday 16th March 8pm

          Cllr Davis and the clerk will attend.

          Wiltshire and Swindon Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document

          This document has been circulated for each councillor to comment on.

 

24/10 To confirm the Financial Statement for January and accounts for payment

          The council accepted the financial report for January and agreed the following for payment.

A Whittle – Hours and Travel - £828.08     Inland Revenue – PAYE - £70.44

R Jordan – Village Works - £58.00             Jubilee Hall – Pavilion Hire - £21.56

SEC – Xmas Lights Connection - £148.05   3 Villages Minibus – Sec 137 - £100.00

Bratton History Assoc – Sec 137 - £50.00  Four Villages Link – Sec 137 - £50.00

Wiltshire Air Ambulance – Sec 137 - £50.00

Proposed      Cllr Davis       Seconded     Cllr Snooks     All in Favour

 

25/10 To receive reports from Members

Cllr Pearce reported that the road from Bonnie Park to the Recreation Ground is in a very poor condition. The clerk will report this to Clarence.

Cllr Miller asked whether the bus stop roof was being repaired. The clerk reported that she had asked Bob Jordan to look into repairing it. He also commented on the parking outside the shop on the B3098 and that it made the area very dangerous for both vehicles and pedestrians.

Cllr White reported that the lights on the flats in Court Orchard are not working and the post lady had fallen. The clerk will report this to Selwood Housing.

Cllr Davis suggested that perhaps the Parish Council could apply for a grant from the Westbury Area Board towards the cost of repairing the rubber matting around the play equipment on the village green. He will take this forward with the Village Green Play equipment committee.

Cllr Lloyd reported that community speed watch was up and running and now had 6 trained volunteers including one from Edington. 3 sessions have now taken place at the bus stop outside the Jubilee Hall. They have not recorded any vehicle driving over 35 miles per hour but people do seem to have slowed down through the village. He reported that he had been advised that one of the speed watch volunteers had been verbally abused and threatened by a member of the public. He then named the member of public who unfortunately was sat in the chairs set out for the audience and open forum. The member of the public left without comment. A discussion took place between the clerk and Cllr Lloyd regarding the matter.

Cllr Lloyd then asked for the minutes of the previous meetings to be placed on the notice board as soon as possible and he advised that as he was now the editor of the Churchman he did not have the time to prepare a précis of the parish council meetings for the churchman so perhaps the clerk could undertake this task.

 

The meeting closed at 8.30pm

 

Next meeting Tuesday 9th March 2010 at 7.15pm in the Pavilion.