Minutes of the Full Council meeting held in Bishopswood Village Hall
At 7.30pm on Wednesday 24th February 2016
Present: Frank Myers – Chairman
Councillors: Murray Alston, Dave Berry, Shane Carlson, Karen Chinn, Heather Evans, Luke Freeman, Nesta Hirst, Martyn Jenkins.
In attendance: Clerk Catherine Murray. Ward Councillor Paul Newman.
Prior to the meeting commencing, a period of silence was held in memory of Heather Osley, an active member of the Bishopswood community and stage manager / assistant producer for the Village Hall pantomime, who had died unexpectedly the previous week. Minutes: It was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13/01/16.
1. Community Support Co-ordinator (Village Agent): Candidate Louise Jarvis gave an introduction, explaining how she would approach the position and what outcomes she would anticipate.
2. Reports:
5.1 Police representative: CSO Paul Davies gave his report; of note: The Police are carrying out as many patrols as possible by vehicle and on foot during the day and at night; they advise people to note the registration numbers of suspicious vehicles.
5.2 Ward Councillor Paul Newman gave his report; of note: He thanked Bishopswood Village Hall for their pantomime, which was very professional. He said that there will be a phased withdrawal of the Lengthsman and P3 schemes; mentioned the DPD as being an alternative to producing a Neighbourhood Plan and a series of events for local businesses, which are taking place in Herefordshire.
5.3 Localities Steward Kevin Williams was not present.
3. Public Participation Session:
A member of the public asked for an explanation of ‘Low density fracking’. The Ward Councillor was asked if he could communicate detailed information directly with the questioner. (Clerk will supply contact information)
4. Finance: Finance Appendix A and bank statements for January were noted and signed.
7.1 Payments: It was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the following payments:
Ross Gazette Advertisement / Village News Subscription / Walford Village Hall Hire / HALC Subscription.
The Clerk was asked to provide a list of pros and cons on membership of HALC.
7.2 The following payment was noted: Clerk Salary & Expenses for January
5. Planning
8.1 Applications: Planning Appendix B was noted and comments put forward on:
8.1.1 Application No: 153762. Site: Castle Brook Kennels, Coughton, HR9 5SG.
Comments: There were no objections in principle, but the Parish Council is aware of the rights of way issue and would want it to be properly resolved.
Cllr Chinn left the room during discussions.
8.1.2 Application No: 160225. Site: Falcon House, Kerne Bridge, HR9 5QT.
Comments: There were no objections. (There was one abstention.)
8.2 Neighbourhood Planning: Cllr Carlson explained that parishioner Will Warburg will be the group leader for the Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group; Will introduced himself to the Parish Council explaining that he had previous experience of being a Parish Councillor and of development plans. He will be assimilating information and planning a way forward and will be convening the group again. He appealed to residents to contact him via the Clerk if they would like to join the Steering Group. Cllr Berry said that we are in a position to apply for a further grant, as a new round of funding is available. Power was delegated to the Clerk and Steering Group to apply for funding. <>
6. Highways / Rights of Way / AONB: (Appendix D was noted.)
9.1 Reports from the Rights of Way Officer and Clerk: Water on the highway was reported near to the Causeway heading towards Bulls Hill. (The Clerk will report to the Lengthsman) The Clerk will report the deterioration of pot holes in the highway.
9.2 Work orders for the Lengthsman and Rights of Way: Use of a jetter at Hom Green and Bulls Hill.
9.3 Lengthsman Forms: Expression of Interest 16/17, Annual Plan 16/17 & Expenditure 15/16. It was unanimously RESOLVED to delegate the return of these forms to the Clerk and Lengthsman Co-ordinator.
The Annual Plan is to include provision of a gulley sucker, with flexibility built in for pot hole filling. <>
9.4 Daycroft Lane: Ward Cllr Newman explained that a site meeting had been held with representatives from Balfour Beatty and the Parish Council and that a way forward has been identified. The Parish Council has been asked to assist with identifying an additional culvert, which is known to exist, but has yet to be located; once this has been found, with effort from PC representatives and landowners, it is likely that the project can progress, as planned and with the sanction of Herefordshire Council. <>
9.5 Community Speedwatch: The Clerk explained that Walford meets the criteria for a CSW initiative; it was decided to appeal for volunteers via the Newsletter and Facebook and Cllr Berry will explore it further. <>
9.6 Dog waste bins & signs: There has been a decrease in fouling incidents, so the provision of bins will be shelved for now; Walford Village Hall has two fouling signs, which they might consider selling to the Parish Council. <>
9.7 Double decker bus on Coughton Lane: There have been reports of a double decker bus causing hold ups on Coughton Lane. The Chairman will write to Stagecoach, to enquire about why it was using that route and asking them to review the deployment of such vehicles on minor parish roads. <>
7. Parish Projects: Updates and further action.
10.1 Community Support Co-ordinator (The Village Warden Scheme): To be discussed in confidential session.
10.2 Walford Links: (Proposal – See Appendix E) Based on the conclusion of the Steering Group, that the Parish Council has neither the resources or support to successfully pursue this project, a vote was taken on the proposal contained in Appendix E and it was unanimously RESOLVED to postpone the Walford Links project for the time being.
10.3 Kerne Bridge Canoe Launch Site community asset transfer: The Chairman explained that the Steering Group has been tasked by the Parish Council with reviewing and assessing the business plan to see if it is viable and then presenting it to the PC, before the contract proposed by Herefordshire Council is considered. A meeting will be arranged to consider the business plan. <>
10.4 Cleaning programme for Public WCs at Bishopswood: It was unanimously RESOLVED to arrange a deep clean of the public WCs at Bishopswood, for the figure quoted by Mavis Russell cleaning and using some of the reserves earmarked by the Parish Council specifically for the WCs; another deep clean will be scheduled after repairs have been completed by Herefordshire Council; then further action will be based on the business plan. <>
10.5 War Memorials: Walford: The Clerk confirmed that payment of the grant for Walford memorial has now been received from War Memorials Trust, but that the final payment had been reduced by 10%, due to the view of WMT that their method statement had not been entirely adhered to. After considering their report, it was unanimously RESOLVED that the Clerk with assistance from Cllr Berry be given delegated power to pursue a solution the 10% reduction of the grant award, by holding discussions with Ursells or Ross, in order to find a satisfactory solution. Bishopswood: Parishioners in Bishopswood are still pursuing evidence to support the installation of the fencing at the same time as the memorial was first built. The clerk is to submit a full grant application for the cleaning / renovation of memorial itself, by the deadline of 31st March. <>
10.6 Defibrillator: It was unanimously RESOLVED that the clerk be given the delegated power to purchase at the cost of £395.00 + VAT the appropriate model of heated external box to house the defibrillator, which has been kindly donated by Cllr Freeman. <>
10.7 BT Phone Box: The Clerk was asked to include an appeal in the next issue of the newsletter for ideas to make use of the BT phone box, adopted by the Parish Council. <>
8. Events in 2016: Updates and further action:
11.1 Wye Valley River Festival 2016: (29th of April – 15th of May 2016). Cllr Chinn gave an update: An event will be held on 2nd May; the local parish event group has sought and had approval of a grant of £1,400 to host the event. There will be a barbeque brunch, bouncy castle, face-painting and a puppet show for children. Cllr Freeman has kindly offered the use of the field behind Bishopswood Village Hall for the event. Cllr Chinn appealed for volunteers to man the stalls and barbeque. It was proposed and unanimously RESOLVED that the Parish Council holds and administers the grant funds, retaining any surplus for future events.
9. Information and correspondence:
12.1 Correspondence Appendix C, Clerks Report Appendix D and HALC Information corner were noted.
12.2 Responses required to correspondence: The Clerk drew the council’s attention to an e mail highlighting problems with street lighting, overgrown hedges and damp in the housing at Fowbridge Gardens; the clerk was asked to write to Herefordshire Housing, to alert them to these issues and ask them to investigate them. A letter from a resident at Howle Hill, regarding overgrowth and traffic, had also been copied to the clerk by Cllr Newman. The clerk was asked to assist where possible with resolving these issues. <>
12.3 Parish Newsletter: Items as discussed above will be included. The clerk was asked to check ratios of advertising to content and bring back to the PC.
12.4 A3 colour printer: It was unanimously RESOLVED that the clerk be delegated responsibility to purchase an A3 colour wireless printer, with a maximum spend of £250, to include supply of ink cartridges. This will be used for the printing of large scale planning applications, as the PC prefers to view paper copies, rather than electronic ones; it will also be used to print coloured notices for Parish Council meetings. (Previously the clerk has used her own older model A3 printer, which has now broken and is beyond repair.)
10. Brief public response session:
A parishioner suggested re-circulating the figures relating to the potential increase in the precept to cover any future reduction in the Lengthsman / P3 grants, so that parish residents can better understand the implications. (These will be published over the various media used by the PC)
Another asked whether dog fouling signs could be erected on the Wye Valley Walk. (This will be looked into)
Another said that he was looking into gathering evidence for the Bishopswood Memorial fencing; he also said that the funeral of Heather Osley would take place on 2nd March at noon at Bishopswood Church.
Another asked if the Village Warden scheme was funded by a grant; it was confirmed that 50% of the cost will be covered by a grant, which is intended to cover 15 months as a pilot scheme; once the scheme is up and running the PC will look at further ways of funding it.
11. Items for next meeting agenda: As above.
12. Next meeting: 13/04/16 APM @ 6.30pm (Note date change) / Full Council @ 7.30pm at Walford Village Hall.
13. Confidential Closed session: (The public were asked to leave the room)
16.1 Community Support co-ordinator conditions of engagement and employment.
16.2 Lengthsman’s Contract