MINUTES OF THE BRATTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Held in the Pavilion on the Village Green
8th June 2010
Present: Councillors, Mrs G Drewett, Mrs G Hurn, Mr K Miller, Mrs J Snooks, Mr R Pearce, Mr S Lloyd, Dr R Edwards & Mrs A Whittle (Clerk).
Declarations of interest were received as follows:
Cllr K Miller declared an interest in planning application W/10/01506/FUL and item 75/10 as he is known to Mr Bailey who has quoted for the works on site.
Cllr Edwards declared an interest in planning application W/10/01506/FUL.
The minutes were accepted without amendment.
Proposed Cllr Hurn Seconded Cllr Lloyd All in Favour
Cllrs Edwards and Miller left the meeting during the following discussion.
W/10/01506/FUL – Mrs H Shelbourne – Field 3757 Lower Westbury Road – Change of use of land for one mobile home, one utility block and one touring caravan.
The council raised objections to the application as follows:
1. The council is not satisfied that the applicant has a nomadic/Romany gypsy background.
2. The application states the applicant is resident in Frogmore Road in Westbury, how long has she lived there?
3. When did she last live an active nomadic lifestyle for more than 2 weeks a year?
4. Local knowledge proves that the land has only ever been used for stabling horses and no one has ever lived on it.
5. The council feel that Bratton has been over saturated with single site pitches already.
6. The council is of the opinion that as there have been two applications of this kind granted in the last month, other land owners are “jumping on the band wagon” and trying to obtain the change of use on there own land.
7. The application falls outside the local structure/development plan and the building lines for Bratton and Edington.
8. Should the application be granted the council requests a clause that the change of use is only for the applicant’s lifetime.
Proposed Cllr Lloyd Seconded Cllr Pearce All in Favour
W/10/01530/TCA – Selwood Housing – Land rear of 2 to 5 Chestnut Corner – Works to Trees
The council will accept the tree Officers recommendation.
W/10/01716/FUL – D Pople – Land adjoining Railway line Court Lane – Siting of mobile home, touring caravan and dayroom.
The council raised objections to the application as follows:
1. Local knowledge proves that Miss Pople was born and brought up in the village of Bratton and lived in a residential property until approximately 10 years ago when she moved to Bonnie Park to live with her then partner. Therefore the council would like clarification as to why she requires a mobile home, a site for a travelling caravan and a dayroom on her land on Trowbridge Road Bratton. She holds a permanent position at the Co-Operative supermarket in Westbury and to the council’s knowledge has never lived a nomadic lifestyle, which this type of site is usually required for.
2. The council is of the opinion that as there have been two applications of this kind granted in the last month, other land owners are “jumping on the band wagon” and trying to obtain the change of use on there own land.
3. The application falls outside the local structure/development plan and the building lines for Bratton and Edington.
4. Should the application be granted the council requests a clause that the change of use is only for the applicant’s lifetime.
Proposed Cllr Drewett Seconded Cllr Hurn 5 in Favour and 1 abstention
72/10 Play equipment on village green
The committee are still in the process of looking at the issues and getting them fixed.
73/10 Parish Steward Visit July 2010
The clerk asked if the steward could be asked to cut the grass behind No1 Southay on this one occasion. Having spoken to the property owner she was advised that due to dog owners allowing their dogs to foul this area of grass and not picking it up and disposing of it in the bin in the same vicinity, he was not prepared to strim the grass as he has splattered with dog mess the last time he cut it. The council agreed to ask the steward to cut this area on this one occasion and asked the clerk to produce an A5 leaflet for inclusion in the churchman for July about the issue of dog fouling around the village and that the Dog Warden has been informed and will be patrolling the village at certain times during the day and issuing fines of up to £1000. The chair also asked that the notice included the fact that the bags containing collected dog faeces should be put in the bin not thrown into the nearest hedge as frequently happens.
74/10 Proposed changes to Melbourne Street by Highways due to travel to school report
The chair advised that she had been to see David Brown at the school about the proposed changes in Melbourne Street following the School Travel plan undertaken in conjunction with Bratton School and Wiltshire Council recently. The changes suggested in the report where objected to by the Parish Council but it seems that Wiltshire Council have scheduled the work to go ahead anyway. David Brown has written and asked for the work to be put on hold until other ideas are looked into. One suggestion being a pelican crossing outside the Jubilee Hall entrance or flashing signs to warn drivers of a school in the locality during school start and finish times. The clerk was asked to contact David Thomas at Wiltshire Council regarding the suggestions and whether they could be implemented in Bratton.
75/10 New Allotments – to award the contract for fencing and preparing the allotments.
Cllr Miller left the meeting during this discussion.
The clerk had received two quotes for the works at the new allotments to provide and install a new wooden stock proof fence to separate the paddock and to mark out and prepare the allotment sites. After discussion the council agreed to award the contract to Ed Bailey from Potterne at a cost of £approximately £2085. Mr Bailey will be asked to quote for a galvanized gate rather than a wooden one so the cost will change slightly. The clerk will contact Mr Bailey and arrange for him to start the works.
Proposed Cllr Lloyd Seconded Cllr Snooks 5 in Favour and 1 abstention
76/10 Clerks Report
The clerk reported on the following:
1. The next Westbury Area Board meeting is to be held on Thursday 17th June from 6.30pm at the Paragon Hall in Westbury
2. The Clean up morning on Saturday was attended by the clerk and Bill Taylor. Hazel and Dave Hall helped clean up the village green as they were already on site putting up flags for the Baptist church World Cup football tournament. The next clean up morning will be on Saturday 25th September from 10am meeting at the Pavilion on the village green.
3. The Recreation Ground has been successful in obtaining a grant from the Landfill Community Fund of £15000. They will now be awarding the contract for the building of the new brick built store.
4. The clerk has been contacted by the British and Foreign Schools society re the sale of the old British School in Stradbrook and the possible funds available for the village.
The clerk had obtained a quote from Phil Whittaker for repairs to the roof of the bus shelter by the Jubilee Hall. The roof has become very unstable due to children climbing on it and removing slates. The council agreed to go ahead with the quote due to health and safety. The quote is for £330.
Proposed Cllr Lloyd Seconded Cllr Hurn All in Favour
Westbury Area Board – Just a minute newsletter
The coalition programme for Government
Community First – First News
The council accepted the financial statement for May and the accounts for payment as follows:
A Whittle – Hours and Travel - £926.55 Inland Revenue – Month 2 - £70.44
R Jordan – Hours and Travel - £63.80 Jubilee Hall – Pavilion Hire - £21.56
Callaway Grass Maintenance – Grass Cutting - £86.12
Southern Electric – Rec Ground - £89.38 Viking Direct – New Printer - £244.34
Community First – Membership - £36.00 Wiltshire Council – Rec Ground - £
Proposed Cllr Snooks Seconded Cllr Lloyd All in Favour
Cllr Pearce advised that there is a large pothole outside Hitchfield on the B3098.
Cllr Miller advised that he had inspected the metal seat around the tree which the Brownies want to purchase a new section for. He is of the opinion that to install a new section would make too big a gap between the seat and the tree and would be a safety hazard. He also brought to the council’s attention a couple of points on the application to Westbury Area Board for grant monies for Reeves Orchard as submitted by Michael Pearce of Westbury. The form states the council has child protection clearance which they do not and it doesn’t state that the site is owned by the Parish Council not just managed by it. Cllr Drewett added that regarding the child protection issue, the groups who bring the children to site for visits are all cleared under the child protection rules and regulations.
Cllr Hurn asked the clerk to contact Selwood Housing regarding the Jubilee Hall car park condition, the state of the railings that run along the gardens behind the Jubilee Hall and asking for the drain to be cleared out to allow rain water to run away.
Cllr Lloyd reported that the complaint made against him to the Standards Board has been dismissed and no further action will be taken. He also reported that the last two sessions of Community Speed Watch which were held between 7.30 and 8.30am recoded 19 vehicles travelling at over 35 miles per hour.
Cllr Drewett asked the clerk to write to the residents of Manor Fields and Redlands re the footpath which runs between the two housing estates and over grown hedges etc. The clerk was asked to purchase further No Dog signs for the Village Green as they have been removed on some of the gates. She also asked the clerk to find out the cost of a bin with a lid to replace the open bin on the village green as the birds like to empty the bin looking for food all over the grass.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm
Next meeting Tuesday 13th July 2010 at 7.15pm in the Pavilion.