Holford Parish Council

HOLFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting of HOLFORD PARISH COUNCIL held on MONDAY 8th SEPTEMBER 2014 immediately following a brief presentation by Rebekah West of the Quantock Hills AONB team at7.30pm. in the Holford & District Village Hall.

PRESENT: Cty. Cllr. H. Davies, Dist. Cllr. S. Goss Cllrs. T. Ayre, P. Grandfield, D. Salvidge, D. Talling Also present P. Brimson (Clerk), + 4 members of the public and PCSO P. Bolton

Cllr. Talling took the Chair, welcomed those present.

APOLOGIES Dist. Cllr. C. Morgan, Cllrs. A. Salvidge, N. Venner

Minute 072/14 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST and REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS No declarations of interest or requests for dispensations were made.

Minute 073/14 MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM SCC Cty. Cllr. Davies highlighted issues including: 1. West Somerset Railway. Cllr. Davies described the situation as ‘ongoing’. 2. Libraries. A self-service system is being piloted in several libraries. 3. Old Croft House, Williton. SCC will sell so that 12 affordable houses can be built on the site. 4. New Bus Service. Webers are trialling a new service to Bridgwater Hospital, for a 6 month period. 5. Free school meals for children in Reception + Years 1 & 2. Parents must register for this offer. 6. Wahford Cross Roundabout. Work will start in early October and be finished by Summer 2015. 7. Kilton Cross bus stop on A39. Buses will now leave the A39 and stop at the shelter. 8. Health & Wellbeing Fund. Applications for up to £500-00 are invited.

Minute 074/14 MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM WSC Dist. Cllr. Goss reported: 1. £90k from the Impact Mitigation Fund has been awarded to Stogursey 2. The WSC Local Plan will be out for consultation by the end of the year 3. The WS/Taunton Deane Joint Management Team has been in place for seven months and is looking at ways of obtaining ‘best value’ from the amalgamation of the two district councils. 4. Pick-up points for Hinkley Point site workers. There is currently no ‘park and ride’ facility at Cannington, the nearest one being located near J24 of the M5. The consequence of this is that workers from the Holford area have to go to Bridgwater in order to be picked up for work at Hinkley Point!

Public comments on agenda items only 1. Agenda item 13c. A member of the Holford & District Village Hall Committee gave an outline of the improvements under discussion. 2. Agenda item 10. Information that bridleway WL10/29 is in poor condition behind White Cottage.

Minute 075/14 MINUTES The minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 14th July 2014 were taken as read having been circulated to Cllrs., and were accepted as a correct record upon a proposal by Cllr. Grandfield and seconded by Cllr. Ayre. The minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 31st July 2014to discuss planning application 3/16/14/001(Heathercot) had been ‘tabled’, and were accepted as a correct record upon a proposal by Cllr. Grandfield and seconded by Cllr. Talling.

Minute 076/14 MATTERS ARISING and not covered elsewhere on the agenda. 1. Re: ‘Notes from meeting with CEO of WSC’ attached as an appendix to the PC minutes of 14th July meeting, point 5. Cllr. Ayre said Holford PC does not own any equipment for self-help maintenance and there would be insurance issues concerning maintenance next to a Highway. The subject would need careful investigation before any policy decision to adopt this suggestion. 2. Broadband matters. Cllr. Grandfield reported that the application to the CIM Fund for the project (which still needs a name), has not been submitted yet, but will be ready shortly. Meanwhile, BT has said it might consider supplying (some of ) the 741 area with an improved broadband service. Cllr. Grandfield said he was not very impressed with the proposals which are vague and unsatisfactory.

Minute 077/14 CHAIRMAN TO REPORT Cllr. Talling reported: 1. Area Panel meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for 16th September 2014.

Minute 78/14 PLANNING Cllr. Grandfield commented on applications received: 1. 3/16/14/002 Woodlands End – listed building. A site visit had been made and, upon a proposal by Cllr. Grandfield which was seconded by Cllr. Talling, the council agreed there were no objections to it. 2. 3/16/14/001 Heathercot, amended application. Council agreed that the decision reached by the Parish Council at the meeting on 31st July was not altered by the amendment to the application. 3. Cllr. Ayre said he wished to object to the very short notice given for the site meeting at Woodlands End. Cllr. Grandfield said the problem was with the applicant who could only see Cllrs. on that day.

Minute 797/14 FINANCE 1. the following payments were authorised: Clerk salary July/Aug £262-50 proposed by Cllr. Ayre seconded by Cllr. Salvidge expenses July/Aug £40-40 proposed by Cllr. Salvidge seconded by Cllr. Grandfield

2. the following payment was ratified: QHGM – maintenance work £119-99 proposed by Cllr. Ayre seconded by Cllr. Salvidge

Minute 080/14 HIGHWAY and RIGHTS OF WAY MATTERS 1. Condition of bridleway WL10/29. Cllr. Grandfield said this has been reported to the RoW Group 2. Somerset Strimmer Project. The Chairman reported that SCC will supply both training and equipment for self-help by councils.

Minute 081/14 MAINTENANCE MATTERS including BOWLING GREEN 1. Dog Pound. Cllr. Grandfield reported that everything is in place for an access agreement but ownership of the land immediately in front of the building is proving difficult to establish. 2. Bus shelter. The Clerk would try to find out when Ray Potter was intending to do the repair work. 3. Community Warden Scheme. The Chairman reported this scheme is still open to new groups of parishes with £3k per parish being available. 4 parishes are needed to start a scheme and the Warden is self-employed. It was agreed the Chairman should make further inquiries and report back. 4. Ground maintenance for 2015. Areas to be maintained were agreed and tenders would be sought.

Minute 082/14 CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED - and not dealt with elsewhere in the agenda. There was no correspondence to deal with.

Minute 83/14 ITEMS TO REPORT 1. Neighbourhood Plan. Cllr. Grandfield said there had been only one response to his article in Holford News & Views. He will try to contact parishes which have successfully launched such schemes. 2. Chairman’s Award for Service to the Community 2014. Cllr. Talling will place a nomination form on the Holford Village website, since any person can nominate any other person for this award. 3. Holford & District Village Hall proposed improvements. The Chairman read a letter from Mrs. Mo Young outlining the reasons for the proposals. Ms. McDonnell was on hand to answer questions when the Chairman suspended the meeting for this purpose. 4. Launch of Greater Quantock Landscape Development Fund. Information will be placed on the website 5. Flytipping in ‘Silk Mills’ area. This is a matter for the owner of the site to deal with. 6. PCSO Bolton reported on the 4 calls to the police relating to the Holford area, including the reporting of the theft of gnomes from a garden in Portway. Open Discussion at the discretion of the Chairman There were no matters raised for discussion.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.30pm. Next meeting MONDAY 10th NOVEMBER 2014