BISHAMPTON AND THROCKMORTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council held on Monday 2nd November 2009 at the Parish Room, Throckmorton

Members and Officers present: Mr D Cheetham (Chairman) Mr C Tucker (Vice Chairman), Mr M Argyle (until 9.02pm), Mr G Day, Mr R Hodgkins, Mr J Mills, Mrs L Rimell (from 8.15pm) and Mrs C Morris (Clerk)

In attendance: Mrs E Tucker, Worcestershire County Councillor and Wychavon District Councillor

The meeting opened at 7.35pm.

It was adjourned to hear from Mr Steve Osborne, to hear a presentation from Charlotte Ruff and Francesca Gordon re item 7, and to hear from PC Stuart Toms. See attached note.

The meeting reopened at 8.05pm

ADMIN

1.To receive apologies and to approve the reason for absence
Apologies were received and approved from Cllr Baldwin who was away on holiday.

2.To record: a) Declarations of Interest (Personal & Prejudicial) and b) Any changes to be notified to the Register of Interest and Gifts & Hospitability
None

3.To approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on September 7th 2009
The minutes were approved and signed as a true record of proceedings.

4.To consider co-option of a new councillor
Mrs Linda Rimell, as the only candidate, was unanimously elected to take the vacant seat on the council. She signed the Declaration of Office and was welcomed by the council to take part in the meeting.

5.To review the council’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act
It was agreed the clerk should prepare a publication scheme and circulate it to all members for its formal adoption and publication next meeting. Action Clerk

NEW ITEMS

6.To consider issues arising from the village flood alleviation schemes
Councillors noted the report sent in by the Wychavon engineers looking into the flooding of Broad Lane and were pleased to see that investigations were moving forward.

7.To consider a request for sonsorship of Pershore High School pupils from the parish undertaking an exchange visit to Zambia
The council thanked the girls for their presentation (see notes from the public session) and agreed that the visit was valuable to the girls, their school and their peers, for educational and developmental reasons plus was valuable to the community, as it would involve cross-cultural experience for the parish when the Zambian youngsters came to visit. Members agreed to sponsor them £200 each – the money to be paid into the project via the school. Action Clerk

8.To consider issues regarding the Lenches wind turbine scheme following the public meeting
Cllr Argyle gave an update on the situation regarding the turbines –a planning application is still awaited. He explained how the money which the parishes donated was being spent to make independent checks on sound levels. He reported that a request had been put to Wychvon for a three-month period of consultation on the matter in order to allow local people to full explore the plans and give an informed opinion.
It was noted that MP Peter Lufff was raising the issue of an exclusion zone from houses in Parliament. The clerk had sent a brief message of the PC’s support after consulting councillors by email.

9.To consider a request for the purchase of a remembrance wreath
It was agreed that the council should pay £25 for a wreath. Cllr Cheetham is to attend the service.

REGULAR ITEMS

10.Finance

10.1.To note any receipts
£427 was received from the county council for mowing of the verges in the village.

10.2.To approve the statement of cash reconciliation for September 2009
The statement of cash reconciliation was approved. It showed that, in the current account, the above cheque for £437 had been deposited and cheques totalling £1,730.75 had been written. With one cheque, for £22 not yet presented, the account total stood at £11,314.63. The savings account accrued £1.39 in interest, which brought its total to £33,731.05. This meant, that accounting for the unpresented cheque, the council’s total cash assets at the end of October totalled £45,023.68.

10.3.To approve outstanding invoices for payment/payments made between meetings
The following invoices were approved for payment:

• 250 Limebridge Rural Servs. Footpath mowing £ 67.85
• 1251 Mr N Winter Lengthsman £221.61
• 1252 Flyfords Group Wreath £ 25.00
  Action Clerk

10.4.To approve claims for expenses/overtime
Clerk’s expenses of £10.75 (£4.75 ink/ £6 mileage) were approved.

BREAK FOR CHEQUE SIGNING

11.Planning

11.1.Council’s response to planning applications between meetings
None

11.2.Current planning applications
None

11.3.Reports on planning decisions
None

12.Play AreasTo consider any matters relating to the parish play areas/village hall grounds. Rospa Inspection/play area notices/safety procedure
Clerk to liaise with David Baldwin re the purchase of a new safety mat. Action Clerk/ Cllr Baldwin

13.Footpaths: To consider footpath issues and spending of the footpath grant
No new issues.

14.To consider any parish Lengthsman issues/jobs
During October the lengthsman has:

For highways:

• dug out grips in Broad Lane
• inspected ditches and culverts in Broad Ln and Main St
• dug out grips and cleared culverts in Broad Ln.

For the PC:

• carried out weekly play area safety checks
• cleaned the war memorial
• dug holes to investigate the water lying in Broad Lane
• finished filling in the village hall steps with stone
• mended the Tilesford noticeboard

15.To consider any newsletter/website issues
It was noted that councillors delivered the newsletter themselves this time around. There had been no official feedback but it seemed to have been well received. Councillors also delivered copies of the VVASP newsletter about the wind turbines on behalf of the campaign group, which was an entirely separate publication.

UPDATES

16.To consider any matters regarding ongoing issues

• The wind turbine plans for the Lenches: As above
• Moat Farm Lane Conservation Area: Mr Bob Averis had written to the council to tender his resignation as manager of the Nature Reserve, a job had been doing for 20 years since he was involved in securing the land from the district council in the first place. He offered to help a new volunteer.
  The council expressed its appreciation to Mr Averis for all his hard work over the years and asked the clerk to write to officially thank him.
  Cllr Hodgkins expressed an interest in taking on the role and he agreed to meet Mr Averis to talk about it. Action Cllr Hodgkins
  Mr Averis had requested that the council install a fence on the southern side of the reserve to stop people using it as a shortcut with their dogs. Cllr Hodgkins agreed to talk about this and about new signs.
  Cllr Cheetham reported that the planned work to dig out the reserve pond had not yet been done but he hoped it would be carried out while it is dry.
• Housing: A report on the data gathered at the Throckmorton Airfield development community consultation events from Qinetiq had been received. Clerk to circulate.
• Community First Responder Scheme: Nothing new to report.
• It was also noted that the phone box adoption scheme was in process.

REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE

17.PACT news
Nothing to report

18.CALC/ training matters
It was agreed to proceed with a training session on January 4th.

19.County and district councillor report
Cllr Liz Tucker reported on:

• Footpaths: she was investigating improvements developments from the highways department.
• County Council: she said the county council was focussing on what it could do in playing a part to combat climate change.
• Vehicle activated signs: She said the county had signs which could be temporarily installed. She agreed to request a vehicle speed check (wires across the road) to ascertain general vehicle numbers and speeds through Bishampton before requesting further attention in the village.

20.To receive reports from councillors and items for future agendas
The future of the shop and the budget were to be the main items for the December agenda – clerk to circulate budget details beforehand if possible. Action Clerk

21.To consider any further items of correspondence

• Wychavon Community development sports recognition awards
• Wychavon Chairman’s Christmas Fayre

Circulation: Parish Matters (one each); Wychavon DC Annual Report;

22.To affirm the dates of the next meeting of the Parish Council
The date for the next meeting was confirmed as Monday, December 7th 2009, 7.30pm, at Bishampton village hall.
The meeting closed at 9.40pm

………………………………………………… …………………………..
Chairman Date

Clerk to the Council
Mrs C. Morris

Notes from the public session

Mr Osborne attended the meeting to tell the council that after 13 years running Bishampton Stores and Post Office – the longest tenant in its history - he had given in his notice and would be leaving the shop in 12 months’ time. He said there had been extra costs imposed by his landlords which he could not bear. He added that he would do all he could to try to see the shop continue as a going concern. The councillors expressed their disappointment at the situation and agreed to put the matter on the next agenda for a more detailed discussion, with members gathering information in the meantime.

Charlotte Ruff from Tilesford and Francesca Gordon from Bishampton attended the meeting and gave a presentation about their planned trip to Zambia as part of a Pershore High School exchange scheme. This would see them live with a Zambian family and bring their friend back to stay with them. It will cost the girls, and two others taking part, £1,300 each to go on the trip and they are raising £6,000 to pay for the exchange trip. The trip to Zambia is due to take place in March 2010 and the return in June/July 2011. They were thanked and praised for an excellent presentation.

PC Stuart Toms attended, with Simon Hall, the new Community Support Officer for the area. They spoke about a visit of the new Mobile Police Station, which would be in Bishampton on November 16th at 2.30pm, when it was hoped people would take the chance to talk to the local officers about their concerns. Cllr Cheetham told the council about an increase in crime locally and Cllr Hodgkins reported some problems with youths causing trouble as they returned from the play area.