2021/01

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held via Zoom Wednesday 7th April 2021

Present Sue Isherwood - Chair, Sue Reece - Councillor, Ros Wyke - Vice Chair, Buffy Fletcher – Councillor, John Millbank – Councillor, Guy Timson- Councillor, Jo Tucker - Councillor

In attendance: Kate Egan – Clerk, and Mark Smith, Website administrator

Items were taken out of order from the agenda

21/32 To confirm the appointment of a new permanent Clerk to Westbury-sub- Mendip The appointment was confirmed at the meeting on 3rd March, the New Clerk was welcomed to the Council

21/133 Apologies for Absence None Received

21/134 Declarations of Interest and Dispensations (a) Declarations of interest from Councillors on items on the agenda Cllr Wyke, as a member involved in the consideration and determination of planning applications by Council, declares that the views expressed by her at Parish Council meetings on any particular proposal are based on the evidence available to her at the time, and is provisional only. Cllr Wyke will not be bound by any recommendation made by the Parish Council on any proposal, and will consider any matter afresh in connection with any application which comes before her in her capacity as a Member of Mendip District Council, taking all further evidence into account. Cllr Ros Wyke requested dispensation on items 21/135 (c)

Cllr Sue Reece requested dispensation on items 21/142 (c) and (d) (b) Written requests for dispensations for disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests or personal and prejudicial interests None received (c) Other requests for dispensation as appropriate None Received 21/135 Planning (a) Planning Applications to be considered: 2021/0544/HSE The Nest, Crow Lane, Westbury-sub-Mendip, BA5 1HB After discussing the planning application, the Parish Council recommended approval. (b) 2021/0573/HSE West Acre, Mares Lane, Westbury Sub Mendip, BA5 1HX After a long discussion the Parish Council recommended refusal due to the amount of glazing and concern for Dark Skies.

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2021/02

Cllr Jo Tucker joined the meeting at 7.59pm

Cllr Ros Wyke absented herself from the next item

(c) 2021/0499/HSE Tor View, Top Road, Westbury Sub Mendip, Wells, BA5 1JB During this section a resident spoke about the application and a discussion was held. The Parish Council recommended refusal due to the confusing plans, absence of the car port as mentioned in the heritage statement and amount of glazing.

Cllr Ros Wyke re-joined the meeting.

21/136 Minutes To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 3rd March 2021 The Council RESOLVED that the minutes for 3rd March 2021 be accepted as a true record and would be signed by the Chair 21/137 Website update (a)To receive a report on website matters from Mark Smith, Website Manager The report was sent prior to the meeting to Councillors. The number of website News Posts Subscribers is 153 people (up 2 from last month), the website was viewed during March 2,091 times. The Clerk asked for access and this was granted by the Council 21/138 Footpaths Report (a) Mendip Pathways report The path which starts at Court Farm has now been way marked across the large field to the west of the farm and walkers will be encouraged to use the correct path. (b) To consider the suggestion of adding a footpath to the Definitive Map This is still ongoing 21/139 Update on impact of Coronvirus pandemic on Parish Council business To receive updates on the impact of the current situation from the village hall, the Playing Field Trust, Community Shop and any other related issues Community Shop The village board has been updated with COVID news and will still be done on a regular basis. Other News – the shop is also currently purchasing a new fridge with parish council support. Playing Field Trust The tennis court is now open for booking via the shop, the swings are finished and open, the MUGA area has been cleaned and ready to use and the interpretation panels are being installed over the next few weeks when there is a break in the weather. The goalposts are also being moved Village Hall The Village Hall is not yet open. 21/140 Reports from the County Councillor and Mendip District Councillor – to receive reports from both Councillors County Councillor Graham Noel was not in attendance District Councillor Ros Wyke was in attendance and gave a short verbal report as they are currently subject to purdah. 21/141 Clerks Report There was no Clerks report this month due to the Clerk being very recently appointed.

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2021/03 21/142 Mendip District Council Decisions For general consideration/monitoring (a) 2019/1549/FUL Agricultural buildings Top Road (b) 2019/2336/FUL Shamrock Stables amended application and appeal outcome Still awaiting appeal decision (c) Land at Lynchcombe lane, unauthorised occupancy and any developments Waiting on enforcement information (d) Shepherds Barn, top of Lynchcombe Lane (e) Felling of oaks at the Old Vicarage 21/143 Finance Payments to Note (a) Zoom account £14.39 Payments to Approve (b) Tickbox Marketing - £671.94 (c) Sam Peake – Interim Clerk - £315.78 (d) Mark Smith - £262.50

The Council RESOLVED to agree the above payments

To note and discuss account balances as at 31/03/21: Treasurer’s Account £868.14 Business Bank Account £16,547.10 21/144 To receive a report on the St Cuthberts Out Unitary authority discussions The report was sent out prior to the Meeting. 21/145 Update on Parish Newsletter and Contract for Editor A local resident Martin West has kindly offered to be editor of the new Parish Newsletter/Bulletin, they will be issued within a week of the Parish Council Meetings 21/146 To receive an update on actions to combat speeding in the Parish The 20mph signs are still waiting to be installed on the Main Road. An idea was put forward for a Scarecrow competition to be held in the summer and they could be installed in strategic places within the village. Cllr John Millbank will carry this forward and report back at the next meeting. 21/147 To consider sharing a SID with St Cuthbert’s Out Parish Council Cllr Sue Isherwood will contact St Cuthbert’s Out for further information, following their meeting on 31st March 21/148 Green Policies (a) Dark Skies There will be a speaker, Judith Chubb-White, Planning Officer for the AONB, at the Annual Parish Meeting talking about Dark Skies (b) Update from the Tree Group Cllr Buffy Fletcher informed the council that all Somerset AONBs have successfully bid for funding for a number of ecological projects. This will include some support for the Westbury Tree Nursery. The sum is still in negotiation. 21/149 To consider the Somerset Fly the Flag project The Council RESOLVED not to contribute to this project 21/150 Notices There were no notices

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2021/04

21/151 Items for Next Agenda There were no new items raised for the next agenda

Date of next meeting – Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 5th May, followed by the Annual Council Meeting followed by a short monthly Parish Meeting. Due to several meetings being held on one evening, the start will be 6pm and they will be held virtually via Zoom.

Meeting closed 9.58pm

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