BUCKLAND DINHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting at 7.30pm, Thursday 4 December 2014 in the Village Hall, Buckland Dinham

3099 Present: Councillors Tamsin Aston, Judy Annan, Peter Corbett, Mitzi Harrington, Will Phippen and John Reckless; Pauline Short, Clerk; District Councillor Edward Drewe (until after item 3104 only) 3100 Apologies: Councillor Jonathan Swift ; Councillor Mitzi Harrington joined the meeting at item 3103 and confirmed, at that point, that she had no declarations of interest to make. Deputy Chair, Cllr Aston took the chair in the absence of Cllr Swift 3101 Minutes of the meeting on 23 October: Minutes were agreed and signed 3102 Code of Conduct - Declarations of Interest: Cllr Corbett declared a pecuniary interest in the planning application as the result could affect the future of his own application that had previously been refused

3103 Consultation on Planning Application for construction of 2 single storey dwellings with garages on land at Clays Orchard, Buckland Dinham: Cllr Corbett left the room and returned after council had made their decision on recommendations. After discussion council agreed to recommend refusal of the application (proposed Cllr Phippen, seconded Cllr Annan) on the following grounds:- • The site is agricultural land in open countryside outside the historical development limits of the village. The development is not required for any reason related to agriculture • Access is proposed from the dangerous A362 main road, regularly used by heavy traffic. Although widening of the current field gateway is suggested, council believes this entrance will remain dangerous. Visibility for approaching vehicles from the direction, often at illegally high speed, is restricted by the entrance being just after the brow of the hill as the road dips to enter Buckland. There is also no safe pedestrian access to the site • The village itself is a Conservation Area and one of the reasons for that is it’s setting in countryside of significant landscape value. Care has been taken to avoid new development which will spoil that landscape and also spoil views of the village from roads, lanes and paths approaching from, in particular, the south and east. This development will impact on those views. To allow this development would set a precedent • The creation of the proposed wider entrance to the site will also destroy hedgerows and wildlife habitats. Impact on the ecology had been recognised, with the construction disturbing trees, badgers and bats, and there is also concern about potential disturbance to the birds of prey that regularly hunt in the area

3104 Matters arising from the last meeting: Action Cllr Swift 1. Police Speed Checks– In Cllr Swift’s absence there was no update on this topic 2. Update on situation with introduction of superfast broadband to Buckland Dinham –Cllr Osman, Leader of County Council, had replied to the councils letter of 19 September and the clerk had circulated the reply to council for Cllr Corbett their thoughts and discussion. At this point they had no response to make 3. Managing consultations on planning applications from April 2015 after which date Council will no longer be providing hard copies – The clerk had written to Matt Williams, Planning Team Manager at Mendip,

outlining her, and the councils, concerns about how to manage consultations without having hard copy plans available. She had not yet received a reply but District Councillor Edward Drewe was able to tell council that he was not expecting the change to be made due to the number of difficulties it would create

4. Request from police for Parish Councils in turn to cover the cost of room hire for future Rural Neighbourhood Police meetings – Peter Simenton had advised that, if each village took a turn, each council would only need to host a meeting once in three years. As meetings are usually less than two hours long the

cost would be around £12. Therefore, with the clerks agreement, he had gone ahead and booked a meeting for February 2015 Peter also wished the council to know about current arrangements for “front office” provision at the old police station in Oakfield Road and that one of our PCSOs,

Zoe Brooks, is keen to make contact with the council with a view to attending meetings. The clerk will make contact with Zoe to give her meeting dates and ask Ms Short

her to confirm when she will be attending

3105 Matters arising: 1. Consultation on proposed changes to bus routes – There was concern that

Somerset County Council planned to withdraw the 424 bus service on Saturdays and it was agreed that the clerk would send a response to the consultation on Ms Short behalf of the council. The main points agreed were:- a) Difficulty or, particularly in the case of non drivers and some of our elderly

population, impossibility of getting to town for work or facilities on Saturdays. This could lead to loss of jobs for some as well as isolation b) The dangers of the A362 making the route unsafe for cyclists or walkers c) The green issue of inevitable increase in use of cars

Cllr Annan volunteered to talk to the bus company involved to establish numbers actually using the route on Saturdays and this data would be used in the response. Councillors were also encouraged to respond on their own behalf 2. Consultation on publication of a Neighbourhood Plan for Frome – A number

of councillors had read the plan and reported that it did not refer to Buckland Dinham in any way. Therefore no response would be sent

3106 Clerks Report:

1. Cllrs Swift, Phippen and Reckless had looked at the plan for felling of a tree at 4 St Michaels Close and had recommended approval with a requirement for replacement with another tree 2. There was no further news on the Bell Inn camp site decision due in October

3. Dates had been received for the next SID installations at the Bell Inn and Fountain House in April and November 2015 4. The clerk had queried the yellow paint on the road surface in Cock Road, which had seemed to indicate work to be done. At the same time she had reported the

increasing danger from the pothole near the junction with the A362. Charlie Higgins, Assistant Highways Service Manager, had responded explaining that the yellow paint only indicated that the site had been identified for possible surface dressing in 2015-2016 but that he had ordered an immediate inspection for safety

repairs (N.B. This repair was completed soon after this meeting and within 4 working days of the request) 5. Two other possible items for this agenda had been circulated to councillors - The Somerset Minerals Plan consultation and Somerset Library Service Consultation –

but councillors had not thought discussion necessary 6. Mells Parish Council had asked for support to address poor mobile phone reception in their village 7. Additional salt, in bags for use on pavements and other public areas during icy

weather, had been offered by Mendip but the offer not taken up as we still have supplies from last year

3107 Finance: All 1. Precept estimates for 2015-16 were discussed and will be finalised in January 2. Invoice had still not been received for the £47 repair to the notice board 3. Cheques were signed for:- a) £110.49 to Playing Field from the VAT reclaim b) £88.00 for Society of Local Council Clerks membership fees c) £96.00 for Village Hall rent for meetings between March and October 2014 4. The clerk reported that the National Association of Local Councils had agreed an increase of 2.2% to clerks salaries from January 2015. 3108 Dates of next two meetings: Agreed as 8 January and 19 February 2015 This meeting closed at 9.02pm