Chaffcombe Parish Council Minutes November 2018

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Chaffcombe Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Monday 19th November 2018 1. Attendance and Apologies Those present: Mrs J Miles (Chairman) Mr K Dunthorne (Vice Chairman) Mr R Bale Mr S Robinson Mrs L Vijeh (County Councillor) Mrs S Osborne (District Councillor); Mrs S Morley (Clerk) 19 Members of the public Apologies - Mrs M Butler; PC Alan Hollick

2. Public Voice (a) Planning Application App No 18/03373/COU Proposal Change of use of existing transfer station site to aggregate storage/sales and parking of heavy good vehicles Location Chaffcombe Waste Transfer Station, Chaffcombe Road, Chard, TA20 1RR A number of members of the public attended to raise the issue of the planning application above. Mrs Helen Deardon also attended for the applicant. Mrs Deardon explained that the plan is to open up the existing Deardons site to connect with the former Waste Station. At the moment Deardons vehicles cannot access the site if they arrive after a certain time due to the time restrictions on their existing site. These vehicles must now be left overnight at a site at Cricket St Thomas. This site is to close and Deardons therefore need to find parking for their vehicles overnight. It is intended that vehicles will be able to remain on this new site when they have finished for the day and also be able to leave early in the morning. The meeting was told that this means there is unlikely to be any extra traffic than at present, and possibly less because lorries will not have to leave again to park at Cricket St Thomas. Concern was expressed about the need for the operating hours to be extended to 24 hours a day rather than in keeping with the restrictions on the current site. It is intended that the new site will operate for 24 hours for the parking of vehicles and will not apply to loading and unloading. A haulage operator cannot work with restrictions on arrival times. Because of the current time restrictions, Deardons have had to lease another site where trucks could arrive at any time. The trucks being used are modern vehicles with no-noise tyres and are quiet and have clean emissions. With reference to a possible increase in heavy good vehicles, the meeting was told that many of the vehicles on site leave for a number of days before returning and this will not change. Leaving and arriving times will be staggered. There will be little or no increase in the number of heavy vehicles because it is intended to use this site for parking and storage of the vehicles which are currently parked at Cricket St Thomas. It was also noted that there are already a number of heavy vehicles which use the roads locally, such as tractors and vehicles for the chicken farm. There was some concern about the site being used by drivers unfamiliar with local roads. It was explained that the site will be used by Deardons for their business and by Deardons drivers who are familiar with the local area. There were a number of objections expressed about the unsuitability of the site being used for industrial purposes. Several people felt that the original planning approval was wrong. However it was noted that Deardons already have permission to use the site for industrial purposes and as a former Waste Transfer Station this site is unlikely to be suitable for many other purposes such as housing because of its former industrial use. Concern was expressed about the railway bridge. If the bridge were to be closed for repair it would impact on Deardons ability to conduct their business. The bridge is inspected by the County Council and has been declared to be sound but the road surface is very bad. 1

Concern was also expressed about the sluice bridge and its ability to take more heavy lorries. There was concern about the reservoir and its status as a nature reserve. The lorries and the dust will impact on this area. Could trees be planted along the boundary of the site? A resident asked the District Councillor why Deardons were apparently encouraged by the District Council to buy the lease to the site they already occupy rather than locating themselves on an industrial site? And also why the application was submitted in September but has only gone public in November? Residents were advised to write to the Planning Department at SSDC to express any concerns they may have. At 8.25 p.m. this item was closed and a number of people left the meeting including Mrs Vijeh. (b) Chicken Farm Concern was expressed that the chicken farm are not keeping to the conditions of their planning. It was expected that they would clean out their sheds every 6 weeks. However it seems that individual sheds may be cleaned out every 6 weeks on a rolling basis because there is a terrible smell for 2 - 3 days every week or 10 days. The resident would like Environmental Health at SSDC to investigate. (c) Dormice Mr Yates has placed a number of dormouse nesting boxes in the woods. He has some left over and would be willing to site them in alternative locations, preferably on public land. Veronica is in the process of getting a licence. Councillors agreed that boxes could be put up in the Pound and Orchard Plot. Mr Yates to liaise with Mr Pudduck who maintains the areas for the Council.

3. Report by County Councillor Mrs Vijeh's report was circulated by email. There were no comments or questions.

4. Minutes of the last meeting The minutes of the Ordinary meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 20th August 2018 were agreed and signed

5. Matters arising from these minutes (a) Dog Bins 2 red dog bins have been delivered and fitted - 1 by the footpath on the bank opposite the boundaries of The Old Rectory at the end of Shepherd's Purse's property and 1 by the phone box. A notice advising residents of the new dog bins was inserted as a flyer in the Link and leaflets and posters put up around the village. It was noted that the new bins are being used and emptied and this has made a huge difference to the amount of dog waste around the village. (b) Request for another Dog Bin To be sited on the corner of the Village Hall car park for the use of those who walk their dog down the path to the field. A large amount of poo bags are being deposited in the Hall dustbin. This gets collected every 2 weeks and, in spite of the bags, they do smell. People using that route do not want to walk up the hill or back to the telephone box area to deposit their bags, and find it convenient to deposit waste bags in the general bin which is by the kitchen. Councillors agreed to buy another bin to be attached to the wall beside the Village Hall. The Clerk to check with SSDC that they are willing to empty it before ordering a new one. ACTION - Mr Butler / The Clerk (c) Phone Box Work is ongoing on the renovation of the phone box thanks to Mr & Mrs Bracher with some help from Mr and Mrs Lindsay. It should be finished by Christmas. It is being stripped, undercoated and finished with 2 coats of Hammerite and will be cleaned inside. There are photos of the phone box on the new calendar. Councillors thanked Mr & Mrs Bracher for a brilliant job. (d) Gigaclear have been given the contract by Connecting Devon and Somerset and are laying cables in many places but not yet in Chaffcombe which is being referred to as a fourth area with no definite dates. They have said they will liaise with Chaffcombe Parish Council when work starts and are happy to attend a Parish Council meeting. It is difficult to work in rural communities but they have indicated they are committed to doing so. 2

6. Planning Applications App No 18/03373/COU Proposal Change of use of existing transfer station site to aggregate storage/sales and parking of heavy good vehicles Location Chaffcombe Waste Transfer Station, Chaffcombe Road, Chard, TA20 1RR See minute 2(a) above. Councillors considered their response to this application and commented as follows: "There have been a number of concerns raised by local residents, particularly those living closest to the location. These mainly concern the current use of the adjoining site which is already operating in accordance with the planning consent previously received. Residents are concerned that by granting this application the situation could be made worse by further developing the site. Having listened to comments from both objectors and from the applicant, the majority of the members of the Parish Council feel that granting consent to this application will not make the situation worse for the nearby residents. However councillors have expressed some concern about the sluice bridge because this is going to get more heavy traffic if the application is granted. As for the operating hours as long as they keep to their existing trading hours as in opening to the public the majority of the members of the Parish Council do not feel the extra lorry movements will be a problem. On that basis the majority of the members of Chaffcombe Parish Council do not object to the application. One member of the Parish Council does have objections and will be writing to the Planning Department personally. Other residents have also been advised to write personally to Planning to express their views."

7. Highway Matters (a) Road by old railway bridge The road will be closing on Thursday to level the road on either side of the bridge. The bridge itself is sound but the road is in very bad condition. The work will be done in one day. (b) HGV Sign The outstanding request for an unsuitable for HGV sign is now 13 months old. Mr Dunthorne has been in contact with Highways who have agreed to do the one at Chaffcombe Gate. (c) Drains These have been done on the hill down to the centre of the village. (d) Pothole by Kerris Vean was reported to Highways but is not circled by paint yet. (e) Grit Bin A request for another grit bin to be placed on the grass verge, fairly close to the entrance to The Old Stables and Chaffcombe House has been received. The Clerk gave prices for bins available from Imagenta (Rototek) and Glasdon. Imagenta 50 litre (2 cu ft) = £39.00 + VAT + £17.00 carriage + a grit sticker (optional) = £7.20 / 175 litre = £75.00. Glasdon 90 litre = £102.96 + VAT carriage free. Councillors agreed to order a 175 litre bin from Imagenta in green without a sticker. ACTION - The Clerk (f) Winter Gritting A number of main local roads will not be gritted this year due to cuts in funding - this will include the old A303 from Ilminster to the South Petherton roundabout, the road from the Eagle Tavern to Chard, the road from Lopen Head through Merriott to Crewkerne and the road from Ilminster to the A30 plus many more. Highways had said they will no longer refill the grit bins or provide grit for parish councils to collect. However SCC have now agreed to spend their share of the extra £10m funds which the government has allotted to highways on the refilling of grit bins for parish councils. So far there has been no confirmation of this from Highways.

8. Footpaths The Chaffcombe Parish footpath network has been walked each month, a section at a time by volunteers, cutting back around stiles and gates etc as required to keep the footpaths open and accessible. Although extensive clearance work was carried out early in the year, due to the warm summer and rampant foliage growth further extensive cutting back has been required in recent times. 3

Of particular note is extensive work carried out by 14 enthusiastic volunteers in early November to clear a very heavily overgrown section of little used footpath on the A30, braving numerous lethal bramble creepers in the process..

There have been a few issues with footpaths obstructed by growing crops, mainly to land south of the A30 as well as stiles and gates out of repair which were reported to the SCC Rights of Way Team for action. The stile at Sprays Hill going down to Cricket Lane has not been repaired.

At the time of writing all footpaths have been walked at least once during the past 12 months and this will be recorded in the annual report to be issued to SCC Rights of Way early next year.

9. Path at the Orchard Plot It appears that the repairs which have been considered so far will be costly and involve a lot of work with costs running well into thousands of pounds. An alternative is to make the repairs using concrete with red sand, which has been done in the past. Some stones are cracked and dropped and these could be dug up and reset. The mortar which has been eroded could be left to nature to fill up with earth and moss giving a more level surface between the stones. There are several unused stones at the bottom of the path (leading to the old notice board) and these could be utilised in the repair work. Various dips and crannies can be infilled with the mortar. There is a large patch of this at the gate leading into the church yard so this would be in keeping. There would be minimal cost apart from man hours. Mr Pudduck has offered his services to do the repairs. The trustees of the Orchard Plot have all agreed to go ahead with the repair in this way. 10. Defibrillator It was agreed that the Village Hall would be the best place for a defibrillator because the Hall is used regularly by a number of groups and for evening entertainment. The Village Hall trustees agreed in principal to buy a defibrillator but feel that now is not the right time. The Parish Council agreed to contribute towards the cost. The basic cost is about £1,200 and has a life of about 5 years. There is some maintenance involved which would add about £300 per year.

11. First Aid Training 15 people in the village, including a number of Village Hall Trustees, attended the course arranged by the Red Cross. Use of a defibrillator and CPR was included. It is hoped to run another course in about 3 years to keep everyone updated. The course was excellent and very well presented and Mrs Vijeh was thanked for funding this for the village from her SCC allowance.

12. Councillor Training Mr Dunthorne attended a course organised by SALC on "Being a Successful Chairman" which he felt was very informative and helpful.

13. Correspondence Most correspondence is now forwarded directly by email to all Councillors (a) War Memorials Trust Bulletin (b) Clerks & Councils Direct (c) A letter regarding the planning application above. The Clerk will forward it to the Planning Department. ACTION - The Clerk

14. Accounts payments and receipts (a) The balance at the bank at 30/10/2018 was £8,691.82. (b) The following cheques were raised: 000322 - £375.00 - Maintenance of War Memorial & Orchard Plot 000323 - £139.40 - S Morley, salary and Clerk's expenses 000324 - £ 33.60 - HMRC - Paye 000325 - £ 30.00 - SALC - Training course

15. Precept and Budget It was agreed to make no increase in the precept. It will remain at £3,000.

16. Matters and items to report (a) Speeding in the Village A question was asked about what can be done about speeding through the Village. Because there is no speed limit, other than the national one of 60 mph, speed calming measures such as speed bumps cannot be fitted. Saturday night is a very bad time for speeding motorists. It was suggested that the Police are asked for advice and then maybe consider a sign such as "Drive Carefully Through our Village" or similar. ACTION - The Clerk (b) Somerset Libraries 19 existing library buildings are recommended to be retained by SCC with the remaining 15 library buildings to be developed as Community Library Partnerships where communities would support this. Of the 19, 7 had been earmarked for change. Ilminster Library and Crewkerne Library are both recommended to remain the same, as are Cheddar, Dulverton, Martock, Shepton Mallet and Wellington - all of which had been earmarked for change. (c) SALC AGM - 18th December 2018 @ 6pm Edgar Hall, Somerton

17. Date of next Ordinary Parish Council Meeting The next ordinary meeting of Chaffcombe Parish Council will be on Monday 18th February 2019 at 7.30 p.m. at Chaffcombe Village Hall The meeting ended at 9.40 p.m.

Josie Miles / Chairman