Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils Western Area Committee

Minutes of the DAPTC (WA) meeting held at Mountfield, , on Thursday 24 May 2018.

Present: Cllr Chris Turner – Chairman (Beaminster), Cllr Michele Warrington (Loders PC), Cllr Peter Noel ( PC), Cllr Steve Ralph (Symondsbury PC), Cllr Sally Welford (Thorncombe PC), Cllr Sarah Williams (Bridport TC), Cllr Diana Staines (Corscombe, Halstock and District PC), Cllr John Broom (Lyme Regis TC), Cllr Debby Snook (Char Valley Group PC), Cllr Wendy Smart (Bradpole PC), Rebecca Bryan (Burton Bradstock PC).

In Attendance: Stephen Hill (Strategic Director, North District Council, District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council) and Sal Robinson (Secretary and Chideock PC Clerk).

470. Apologies were received from Cllr Janet Page (Beaminster), Cllr Rowland Hibbard (Broadwindsor PC, Cllr Hilary Nadin (Loders PC) and Hilary Trevorah (DAPTC Chief Executive).

471. Minutes. Having been previously circulated, the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2018 were taken as read and were approved and signed as a true record.

472. Matters Arising from those minutes and not included on the Agenda. Minute 464 – final paragraph. Cllr Turner said that the proposed “Community Engagement” Task and Finish Group has been put on hold.

473. Stephen Hill, Strategic Director, North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council Stephen’s report had been pre-circulated to all and is sent with the minutes. Stephen gave updates regarding LGR: - • The go-ahead has been given and the necessary legislation is going through Parliament and will hopefully be passed soon • 14 days after that the Shadow Authority will come into being – anticipated for 7 June. • The Christchurch legal challenge is not affecting onward progress. • The Shadow Executive will have 20 members, 10 from DCC and two from each of the current Districts / Boroughs and will be in place until the elections in May 2019 • The Executive will establish Committees • The Executive will set the 1st Unitary budget, for 2019 – 2020 • 3 Interim Officers must be appointed to support the Executive / new Unitary o Head of Paid Services (CEO) o Monitoring Officer o Finance Officer • The Executive will take decisions regarding arrangements for the new unitary authority and the dissolution of the existing 5 districts / boroughs. Cllr Turner said that negotiations have been taking place with Towns re transfer of assets. These are with the WDDC appointed consultants Local Government Resource Centre (LGRC). A report is due to go to the WDDC Strategy Committee on 17 July. The primary asset under discussion is public conveniences, though questions about car parks have also been raised. There has been less negotiation with parishes, but these will be included in the report for 17 July. It was pointed out that not all parishes with public conveniences have been contacted – Stephen Hill said that they should have been and will find out why not etc.

Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils Western Area Committee

WDDC has set aside £1.3m for the devolution of assets and for LGCR’s services. If agreement is not reached with WDDC by 17 July then it will be up to the Unitary to decide what happens, with its own budget constraints. Michelle Warrington asked what DAPTC is doing to provide a unified voice regarding public conveniences? Chris Turner pointed out that DAPTC does not have the manpower to do this but does have 2 representatives attending the Dorset Area Joint Committee meetings as observers on behalf of Dorset Towns and Parishes. There was some discussion regarding the LGCR survey and the WDDC meeting on 2 May 2018. The consensus was that there is a lack of constructive information, especially from DCC. Stephen said that at present WDDC is the only area which is already doing something about devolution of assets: - • North Dorset has already done it about 10 years ago • The situation for Weymouth and Portland is complicated in that a Parish must be set up • Purbeck and East Dorset are starting to look at this

474. Impact of Local Government Re-organisation on Parish and Town Councils. DAPTC Survey. This was felt to be unsatisfactory, even pointless. The was no indication as to which services are statutory and which are discretionary. Community Planning, Harbours and the Citizens Advice Bureau are missing from the list.

475. Chief Executive’s Report – attached. Chris highlighted the main points in Hilary’s report.

476. Dorset County Councillor. The Secretary has contacted the 2 Bridport County Councillors asking if they will attend these meetings but has had no response.

477. Update on Superfast Broadband. No update report had been received. Loders - the new “green box” is reported to be up and running. Symondsbury - the dispute with BT continues in regard to the “green box” which is in the wrong place.

478 Reports from Parish Council representatives. • Chideock PC. All is relatively quiet regarding the A35 bypass demands. The Seatown Regeneration Project continues to progress – interpretation signage is being placed at Seatown and DCC have done the design work for the possible passing places on Sea Hill Lane. • Char Valley PC. There is an enforcement issue where planning consent was given for a small holding, initially for a temporary dwelling then for a permanent dwelling, in both cases required to make a viable living from the small holding. However, the small holding is no longer being used as such but instead is being used for camping. • Corscombe, Halstock and District PC. All is quiet! • Charmouth PC. Everything is going along nicely. There are 3 outside workers who between them provide cover 7 days a week. Permission has recently been received to finish off the flat owned by the council, which will provide some rental income. The office staff are also busy. Cemetery upkeep rules and regulations are changing which is proving expensive. Public Wi-Fi for the west beach is going ahead as is the webcam. There are 2 new councillors but still 2 vacancies. The Neighbourhood Plan is moving ahead. An initial application has been made to the Coastal Communities Fund. • Lyme Regis TC. There are a lot of events coming up – Jazz Festival, Food Festival, Guitars on the Beach. Lyme TC is looking to encourage Lyme to be a plastic free town. The Park and Ride is operating, with 400 parking spaces available.

Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils Western Area Committee

• Symondsbury PC. Steve Ralph read out this statement: - “Bridport Town Council has requested a boundary review, the reason for this request stems from the expected development of Vearse Farm where outline planning permission has been given for up to 760 houses which fall in the boundaries of Symondsbury Parish. They argue that future residents of Vearse Farm will be using all the facilities of Bridport, car parks, toilets, museums and Leisure Centre so they should be adopted into the Town Council. If this is the case, then Symondsbury Parish becomes disjointed with Pine View an island on its own. If Bridport takes on Pine View, then we will have lost our Parish Chairman. Symondsbury Parish Council will be liaising with our residents on this matter and it will be high on our agenda.” • Thorncombe PC. All is quiet! • Bradpole PC. 1 vacancy has been filled. Pagents Field has been registered with Fields in Trust. The Picnic on the Green at Gore Cross Green will be held for the 2nd year running. The Gore needs TLC and residents are being encouraged to help clear it up, cut trees as required and lay hedges etc. Also, a plaque will be erected explaining the significance of this green space. • Loders PC. BT have now decided that they will be undergrounding some of their cables and removing some of the poles! The landslip repairs between Loders and Maltravers are underway with the road possibly re-opening mid-June. There have been bad drain surges in Maltravers, from the Askerswell direction. Wessex Water are on the case. The Project with the Environment Agency and Dorset Wildlife Trust hopes to improve the poor state of the river. This is a community project. A well-attended meeting has taken place. There is a new PC website. DCC want to reclassify the lane where there was another landslip as a bridleway rather than repair it. However, this may not be possible as it is the only route from Loders to Powerstock and is also used by farmers. • Bridport TC. The council is looking forward to further discussions with Symondsbury. The Community Bus route is being finalised. The West Bay Play Area has received a PiPA awards. Bob Gillis, Town Clerk, retires on 16 July after 11 years – the new Clerk starts on the same date. The draft Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Regulation 14 Consultation document is due for approval by the Steering Group and the Joint Council Committee on 30 May. • Beaminster TC. Lack of Saturday buses is still an issue. Progress is being made in setting up a Community Bus – it needs to be registered and a permit issued. The exact route has not been determined but it will run between Crewkerne and Bridport, via Beaminster. As an alternative, First Bus has quoted £225 per day of operation, and they would keep all fares. DCC Officers are being very helpful. LEADER funding has been obtained for the play area refurbishment and may also be available for the proposed skate park. Discussions are taking place with the Beaminster CAB regarding increased funding.

479. The date of the next meeting is 6 September 2018 (AGM), at Mountfield, Bridport, starting at 7.00pm. Subsequent meeting date is 22 November 2018.

The meeting closed at 8.55 pm.

Signed Date: 6 September 2018

Chairman