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STURMINSTER MARSHALL PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Full Council on Thursday 16th May

2019 at 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall

Present: Chairman Cllr. Miss H Palmer; Cllr Mrs S Cade, Cllr M Steel; Cllr H Fookes; Cllr J

Jackson; Cllr S Gerry and Cllr L Seare

Also in attendance: Clerk Mrs Alison Clothier; Cllr Robin Cook; 2 representatives from

Aster

MEMBERS OF PUBLIC – There were 3 members of the public present. A member of the

public spoke about the changes to the entrance on to Footpath 1. See Appendix 1.

1 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

Cllr Palmer was proposed by Cllr Gerry and seconded by Cllr Steel. All in agreement.

2 ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN

Cllr Cade was proposed by Cllr Palmer and seconded by Cllr Fookes. All in agreement.

3 DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

All Councillors signed the declaration of acceptance of office.

4 APOLOGIES – MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.

Cllr A Godfrey gave his apologies, and these were accepted by the committee.

5 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were none.

6 APPOINTMENT OF COUNCIL OFFICERS AND WORKING PARTIES

See Appendix 2.

7 INSPECT DEEDS AND INSTRUMENTS

These were inspected. Churchill Green is being transferred to the Parish Council. The

Sports Association lease will need to be rewritten in the light of this transfer. Bartons

Ground lease runs out in August 2019.

8 TALK FROM ASTER HOUSING ASSOCIATION

The neighbourhood manager and property investment manager from Aster introduced

themselves. They are reviewing and assessing the current stock and looking at things

like stock condition and stock rationalisation. They are looking in particular at properties

that are under performing. There is a disposal project for properties with low level

energy performance – the assessments are rigorous and go through to an investment

panel who decide whether they will be disposed of. They look at both the financial

impact and social impact of disposing of properties.

The neighbourhood manager manages the neighbourhood officers and look after the

people that live in the properties including issues like ground maintenance and

antisocial behaviour. This department would lobby the property investment manager to

keep properties that were needed.

Housing associations now have more autonomy in how they manage their stock and

disposing of stock that does not meet the standards. Parish Councils have taken more of

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an interest, so Aster are coming to the meetings to answer questions. Aster want to be open and transparent about the process.

Cllr Gerry explained a situation in the village where a member of the community may have to move out of the village because of the disposal policy. The bungalows being disposed of are needed for elderly people to move out of larger, family houses. Aster are looking at the big picture, but this has an impact on people. Aster are at the meeting because of a complaint rather than proactively. There was another example given where a member of the community had lost out on a house in the village. Another further example was given of a disabled person with a local connection that needed a bungalow.

Aster commented that there is a 70 unit property holding within the village. Council allocate the properties and assess people’s needs. There are 22 people on the waiting list have expressed Sturminster Marshall as a preference. If they are able to make the case about retaining properties then they will. Aster have no control over who is housed as this is the responsibility of the Local Authority. The bungalow was disposed of because it was no longer energy efficient and hard to invest in – it is not viable for the organisation to keep investing in these properties. There are 5 properties in the village that are flagged – this does not mean that they will be disposed of they will need to be assessed.

Cllrs raised the fact that nobody was given the chance to bid on the property that was disposed of. Aster have a Transparency Policy but the request to see the assessment of the property was denied. It was commented that this policy is social cleansing for the village. There have been complaints from other Town Council’s and this is happening in other parts of the country. Private individuals are buying the properties being disposed of so why is it not possible for Aster to keep them? The Parish Council are not seeing any of the consultations. The Parish Council want to see something that reassures them that this would not happen again in the village.

There are many people over occupying 3 bedroom properties in the village and need 2 bedroom properties. Aster responded that there were a series of circumstances that led to this property being disposed of. There was an assurance that no properties were sold below market value. It is a very sensitive subject. The surplus generated is put into building more properties.

It was noted that the Parish Council were disappointed that there was not a consultation with the Parish Council before the property was disposed of. The village need a housing office who is sympathetic to the needs of rural communities and who is visible.

The question was asked that some properties have been moved to Aster 3 and what impact this would have. It was confirmed that there will be no impact on the tenants

Anti-social behaviour issues have calmed down slightly. There is still parking on the Green. Partnership working is essential with this. The Parish Council encouraged an officer from Aster to come and meet with the Parish Council on a regular basis and do a walk around of the village to discuss issues.

It was agreed that the Parish Council would write a letter to the Board at Aster and voice the concern of disposing of properties in the village and request consultation before any further stock is sold.

9 GENERAL POWER OF COMPETANCE

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A paper on the General Power of Competence was circulated before the meeting. See Appendix 3. It was resolved that the Parish Council was eligible for the General Power of Competence as it meets the three requirements, specifically: • It has 8 out of 9 councillors elected • The Clerk of the Council holds the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) • The Clerk of the Council has passed the CiLCA module on the general power of

competence.

The Parish Council will revisit the eligibility at the next Annual Meeting of the Parish

Council in May 2020.

POLICE REPORT 10 See Appendix 4.

MINUTES 11 The minutes of the Full Council Meeting held on 4th April 2019 were signed as true

record of the meeting by the Chairman.

MATTERS ARISING 12. A report from the Clerk which had been circulated was read by the Clerk and is attached

to these minutes as Appendix 5. Ongoing issues from the Clerks Report are:

i. Pill Box

ii. Highways Matters

iii. Neighbourhood Plan Clerk

AMENITIES AND FACILITIES 13.

i. Pill Box – awaiting appointment of Visitor Experience Officer at

Kingston Lacy.

ii Playground –Monthly check complete. Clerk to purchase litter picker. Clerk Playground inspection to take place on the 21st May.

iii Bartons Ground – awaiting response from Eton College regarding the

lease.

iv. Churchill Arms – A reply to the ACV letter was circulated before the

meeting. This was agreed and will be sent to Dorset Council.

v. Rights of Way – replacement of style with a gate at the entrance to

Footpath 1. From the point of the Health Walk the gate is more

accessible than the style. The neighbours would have paid for a

compromise but are upset that they were not consulted, and the gate Clerk is too wide. A user with a disability scooter has commented that they

cannot get out the other end. The gate is now padlocked so there is no

access. A possible solution is a kissing gate next to a radar key

accessible gate. The Rights of Way team have a policy for open access.

It was resolved to go back to Rights of Way Manager and request a

meeting.

vi. Posts on Greens – Dave Miller to paint tops of posts white.

vii. Benches – work to go ahead in June

viii. Disposal of social housing stock – a letter will be written to Aster to Clerk voice the concern of disposing of properties in the village and request

consultation before any further stock is sold.

xi. Noticeboards – repair works to go ahead in June.

14. ENVIRONMENT

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i Flood Wardens – nothing to report. ii. Anti-Social Behaviour – as above. Mini motorbikes on pavements are a Cllr Gerry problem. Proposal to ask the Hall Committee to turn around the CCTV camera if that is allowed in law.

15 TRAFFIC & TRANSPORT

i A31/A350 – A31 has had several accidents. Meeting held with Highways on the 18th April regarding issues with the Roundhouse Roundabout, speed limits, a sign to , drainage and hedges. Awaiting a further response. A31 petition - Clerk to respond. A350 works finishing on May 19th. Cllr Fookes to respond to A350 Clerk group. ii Highways – Traffic Calming and Safety. Complaint about builders vans blocking Balls Lane – this was reported to the Police. iii. Request for speed limit reduction on Front Lane. No volunteers as yet for Speedwatch. iv. To consider the request from the First School for Community Signs – awaiting response from Highways. v To consider the proposal for alterations to Moor Lane in line with correspondence from Dorset County Council – no response has been received. vi. To consider an update regarding the Community Bus – Cllr Jackson gave an update. The funding from Sturminster Marshall has not yet been spent so this will be used for next year. 95% of passengers are concessionary fares. There is funding for another day of the week as. There is a draft new bus timetable which will meet with X8 with a new stop at Kingston Lacy. Contract is for 3 years. vii. To consider correspondence regarding White Mill Bridge- an email had been received regarding lorries driving over White Mill Bridge. Need traffic police involvement.

16 REPORTS To receive reports from representatives of the following: i Alms House Charity – nothing to report. ii Memorial Hall – the AGM has taken place and the Chair and Treasurer have remained in place. The partition between the big and small halls will be changed soon. The front door is next on the list for replacement. There will be door bells for the different rooms. iii. Sport Association – nothing to report. iv P A C T – June meeting v DAPTC – nothing to report vi. Dorset Cllr Cook – 82 new Councillors have been elected with 25 being brand new Councillors. Conservative margin is much smaller than before. The first full Council meeting was on the 16th May. The Council agreed to recognise a climate change emergency and will set up a cross party group to look at this. Cllr Cook is on the Eastern Area Planning Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and Place Committee. Eastern Planning Committee will meet in Wareham.

17 FINANCE i The Schedule of Payments were received, approved and the cheques were signed in accordance with the Bank Mandate. Appendix 6 to these minutes. Cllr Seare to become signatory and ex Cllr Parratt to come off. 5

ii. To note the change of company name from TGS to Greenscape Ltd and the VAT registration of this company this was noted. iii. To consider insurance renewal – this is part of a long term agreement that Council have signed up to. iv. To report garden voucher spend. £25 has been spent on the planters and £125 is left.

18 INTERNAL AUDIT

i. The letter from the internal auditor was circulated and noted.

19 POLICIES i. To consider the following draft policies: • Complaints • Data Protection • Social Media • Co-Option

All in agreement to adopt.

20 COMMUNITY ASSET TRANSFER

i. There is a final bill expected from Farnfields which will be £800 over Clerk the original quote. This is being queried.

21 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

i. Meeting took place on the 14th May and featured a talk from Joanne Witherden, a Neighbourhood Planning Champion. The next steps are to look at funding and to speak to the Dorset Council about the Environmental Assessment.

22 DAPTC/NALC

i. To consider the request for information forms from DAPTC – suggestions were given services to the community examples asked for. ii. To consider a response to the consultation on the vehicle operator licensing system – if anyone has any comments then to pass comments to the Clerk.

23 CORRESPONDENCE VE day celebrations – for 8-10th May 2020. Pass to Church Council and advertise.

24 PARISH MATTERS

Japanese knotweed – has been surveyed

The Parish Council meeting was suspended at 10.21pm whilst the Planning Committee took place. See minutes 16th May for details.

The Parish meeting re-convened at 10.35pm

DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING – Thursday 13th June 2019 at 7.30pm 6

There being no other business the meeting closed at 10.35pm

Signed ______Chairman 13th June 2019