CHAFFCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Chaffcombe Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Monday 20th May 2013 1. Attendance and Apologies Those present: Mrs J Miles (Chairman) Mrs M Butler (Vice Chairman) Mr R Bale Mr S Robinson Mrs S Osborne (District Councillor) Mrs L Vijeh (County Councillor) Mr T Gray (Footpath Liaison Officer) Mrs S Morley (Clerk) 4 Members of the public Apologies - No apologies 2. Election of the Chairman of the Parish Council Mrs Butler proposed Mrs Miles for Chairman, seconded by Mr Robinson. There were no other nominations and Mrs Miles was duly elected as Chairman of the Parish Council. 3. Declaration of acceptance of office by the Chairman Declaration of acceptance of office was signed by Mrs Miles. 4. Election of the Vice Chairman of the Parish Council Mr Bale proposed Mrs Butler as Vice Chairman, seconded by Mrs Miles. There were no other nominations and Mrs Butler was duly elected as Vice Chairman of the Parish Council. 5. Parish Council Vacancy Mr Drewer has resigned from the Parish Council. Mrs Miles expressed the thanks of the Council for all Mr Drewer's hard work and support for the village during many years on the Parish Council. A vacancy notice was placed on the two notice boards in the village and on the website. No one has come forward to volunteer for the vacancy. 6. Review Insurance cover and inventory of land and assets Insurance cover was reviewed and agreed. Assets listed in the notes to the accounts were agreed. 7. Review Financial Regulations and Risk Assessment Amended Financial Regulations were approved. A Risk Assessment was approved. 8. Membership of outside organisations Currently the Parish Council is a member of SALC. It was agreed to retain this membership. 9. Dates and times of ordinary Council meetings for the year ahead The dates of future meetings for the year ahead (3rd Monday in the month) were agreed as follows: Monday 19th August 2013, Monday 18th November 2013, Monday 17th February 2014, Monday 19th May 2014. The Annual Parish Meeting will be on Monday 21st April 2014. All meetings to start at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall unless otherwise agreed. 10. Minutes of the last meeting The minutes of the last meeting of the Parish Council on Monday 18th February 2013 were agreed and signed. 11. Matters arising from these minutes (a) Minute 3(b) - Registration of Orchard Plot and War Memorial - Mrs Miles will speak to Mr Drewer, who is a trustee, regarding registering the land. ACTION - Mrs Miles (b) Minute 6(a) - Sandbags - Mrs Morley collected a box of 30 gel sandbags from the Yeovil Depot. The bags will be stored inside the village hall until needed. 1 12. Planning Applications a) No: 13/00315/FUL Proposal: Change of use of holiday let to full residential Location: Devonia, Chaffcombe Permission refused (b) No: 12/04924/FUL Proposal: Erection of single storey extension Location Windy Ridge, Knowle St Giles Application permitted with conditions. (c) No: 13/00703/FUL Proposal: Erection of a two storey annex Location: Woodside Cottage, Paintmoor Lane, Chaffcombe Chaffcombe Parish Council had no objections - application approved (d) No: 13/01200/CPO Proposal: Deposit of soils to raise land Location: Newlands Farm, Chaffcombe Chaffcombe Parish Council had no objections (e) No: 13/01794/FUL Location: 1 Dons Close, Chaffcombe Proposal: Erection of a two storey extension and front porch - Application to be considered. 13. Highway Matters (a) Map of drains and gullies - Mrs Osborne has received a map of the drains and gullies in the village which has been passed to Mrs Miles. (b) Drains and gullies - these will now only be cleared every two years instead of annually. (c) Chaffcombe Gate - work is scheduled in this area to alleviate the flooding. 14. Footpaths Mr Gray reported that he completed his survey of the Parish footpaths in April and has sent in his report to the County Council Rights of Way team which includes the gates and stiles which need repairs. There has been a complaint about one of the footpaths which is very boggy because of the nearby spring. A boardwalk was suggested as a possible solution. A fungal infection has been found in a sweet chestnut at Dowlish Wake. The tree has been removed. 15. Village / Parish Plan It has been suggested by the District Council that Parishes which do not have the resources to produce a Neighbourhood Plan may wish to consider producing a Parish Plan so that if in the future there is money available from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) the Parish will have plans in place to use the money. A Neighbourhood Plan is a statutory document which is very costly and time consuming to prepare and requires a referendum before it is official. Chaffcombe does not have the resources to consider drawing up a Neighbourhood Plan. A Parish Plan is not a statutory document and can set out projects on which the community would like to spend any income from the CIL should it become available. The projects suggested were the Water Wheel, the Orchard Plot path and the War Memorial. Several local Parishes have produced their own Parish Plan and Mrs Morley will obtain copies. ACTION - Mrs Morley 16. War Memorial Mr Robinson is making enquiries regarding the refurbishment of the War Memorial. He will check with the War Memorials Trust to see if Chaffcombe is registered. If not it was suggested that we join and apply for grants and / or advice from the Trust. ACTION - Mr Robinson 2 17. Correspondence (a) Police & Crime Plan 2013-17 (b) Clerks & Councils Direct (c) Yeovil District Hospital News (d) Western Power Distribution - information leaflet (e) Summary of Somerset's Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) 2012 (f) Letter from Mr and Mrs Bracher confirming that they can go ahead and remove the tree stump by the telephone box. They confirm that the land does not belong to them but are happy to maintain it. 18. Accounts (a) The accounts for 2012/2013 were approved and signed by the Chairman. (b) The internal audit was completed by Geoff Lucas. There were no adverse matters to report. (c) The Annual Audit Form and Annual Governance Statement were approved and signed and dated by the Chairman. (d) The following income was received - precept - £2,850. (e) The balance at the bank at 30/04/2013 was £4,258.64. (f) The following cheques were raised: 000227 - £58.02 - SALC 2013/2014 membership 000228 - £363.85 - AON Limited, insurance 2013/2014 000229 - £128.00 - S Morley, salary and Clerk's expenses 19. Matters and items to report (a) Community Right to Bid It was agreed that the Water Wheel should be listed with SSDC so that if in the future the owner wishes to sell, the Parish Council will have six months to find the purchase money. It was thought that the Water Wheel itself was a gift from the District Council although it stands on private land. Mrs Butler will find the original letter to Deardons regarding ownership. Otherwise inquiries can be made to SSDC. ACTION - Mrs Butler / Mrs Morley (b) Chaffcombe Parish Records were deposited on a loan basis at Somerset Heritage Centre (Records Office) on 6th March 2013 and given Group code D/PC/chaf and Accession number 2013/81 - as follows: (i) Parish Meeting Minutes 1895 - 1974 (1 volume) and 1992 - 2005 (1 volume) (ii) Parish Council Meeting Minutes 1970 - 1982 (1 volume) and 1983 - 1996 (1 volume) and 1996 - 2005 (1 volume) (iii) Parish Accounts Parish Council Cash Account 1971 - 1994 (1 volume) (c) Flower Festival Mrs Morley was asked to check with Highways regarding the use of the lay-by in the centre of the village for skittles. ACTION - Mrs Morley 20. Date of next Ordinary Parish Council Meeting The next ordinary meeting of Chaffcombe Parish Council will be on Monday 19th August 2013 at 7.30 p.m. at Chaffcombe Village Hall The meeting ended at 8.50 p.m. Josie Miles Chairman 3 .