OLD CLEEVE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of a Meeting held at 7pm on Monday 16th September 2019 At Washford Memorial Hall Agenda Item Action Present Present: Cllr Williams, (Chair), Cllr Gannon (Vice-Chair), Cllr Duncan, Cllr Smith, Cllr Searle, Cllr Webb, Cllr Binding, Cllr Johnson-Smith from 7.05, Cllr Duncuff-Hoad from 7.05, Cllr Baker from 7.20pm In Attendance: Cllr Lawrence, Cllr Kravis from 7.45pm Also in attendance – Mrs S. Penny 807/0919 Apologies: Apologies and Cllr Eggar, Cllr Hunt, Cllr Pilkington, Cllr Lillis, Cllr Gaskin Declarations of Declarations of Interest: Interest Cllr Gannon – planning application 3/26/19/019 Cllr Smith – Cleeve Park and Blue Anchor Toilets Cllr Williams – Blue Anchor Toilets 808/0919 Minutes of the meeting of August 19th 2019 to be approved: Minutes of the Proposed: Cllr Searle Seconded: Cllr Duncan last meeting – It was resolved unanimously that the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 19th August 2019 be accepted as a true and accurate record. 809/0919 Co-option of Councillor: Councillor An application had been received for the Casual Vacancy from Stephanie Penny. Vacancy Following a presentation by Mrs Penny it was proposed to co-opt Mrs Penny to the Council Proposed: Cllr Webb Seconded: Cllr Smith resolved unanimously 810/0919 The Chair summarised activities undertaken since the August 2019 meeting: Chairs Report • An article was submitted to the Parish magazine which included the following items: o Article 4 Cleeve Park o Calling in planning applications o Salt & grit provision o Hedgerows overhanging the Highway • Undertook the quarterly inspection of the War Memorial o Looks tidy o Cut & raked o Union flag faded – due for replacement (Cllr Gannon has one and will check that this is suitable) 811/0919 • The Clerk reported that after looking into the Parish On-line training, Clerks Report with other resources currently available, it was considered that the training was not necessary at this time • Whilst in Roadwater, it was noted that there were branches overhanging the highway and the Give Way road markings by the White Horse pub are not clear and need re-painting. Both issues have been reported to the appropriate departments • Magna Housing have confirmed that the cut-through that has been created will be made good and fencing will be placed along the top to prevent this happening again. A job has been raised but no date confirmed as yet. The Clerk will follow this up The Clerk P1 OLD CLEEVE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of a Meeting held at 7pm on Monday 16th September 2019 At Washford Memorial Hall • With regards to the ownership of the verge, the Clerk has contacted Somerset County Council with the Land Registry information, but has not yet received a response. Cllr Johnson-Smith requested that this is an agenda item and the Clerk will include this for the October 2019 meeting. The Clerk Cllr Kravis stated that he will investigate this further and asked that the Cllr Kravis Clerk send him the information regarding the ownership 812/0919 Cllr Lawrence – Somerset County Council (SCC): Reports from: Cllr Lawrence informed the Parish Council that the company who had been Somerset County awarded the contract for highspeed broadband has had the contract terminated Council and West as they were not delivering what had been agreed. Once a new contractor is Somerset found, the project will move forward. Councillors/ With regards to information received at the recent Public Health Conference Police and which Cllr Lawrence attended - Somerset is achieving in areas such as health Neighbourhood checks, clean air and promoting breastfeeding, however the area of mental Watch health was not as good and further work needs to be undertaken. Additionally, the use of opioids in Somerset is at its highest recorded level. Somerset County Council will be looking into this. The idea of a sugar tax is also being researched. Two new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) schools are being built – one in Taunton and one in Bridgwater. These new schools will be fully fit for purpose and enable more children with SEND to access appropriate learning and development opportunities. Cllr Lawrence queried with the Clerk what action had been taken with regards to the verge/hedge cutting. The Clerk will forward the information to Cllr Lawrence. Cllr Kravis – Somerset West and Taunton District Council (SWT) The Clerk Cllr Kravis reported that the corporate plan is ready for approval by full council and expects it to be signed off soon. A transport strategy for Taunton is taking place and this is also looking at the parking in Minehead and Dunster. Consultation on the Local Plan is upcoming and one aspect that will be considered is the process for commenting on planning applications. The need to use agency staff at SWT is reducing as new staff are being recruited, this will obviously reduce the spending on staff as this continues. The government’s commitment to providing £30m for 5G in rural areas has been considered, however as it is country wide and requires a large financial contribution from the local council, this will not be pursued at this time. There are new procedures for calling a planning application to the planning committee. Cllr Kravis requested that the Clerk forward a copy of a recent Parish Council objection to a planning application that had been made as it included a The Clerk request for it to be reviewed by the planning committee. Cllr Kravis also stated that he was very happy to take up any issues that the Parish Council may have within any of the three wards. Police Reports Cllr Hunt had received the Neighbourhood Watch report from August which was circulated during the meeting. 813/0919 No members of the public were in attendance Members of the Public Question Time P2 OLD CLEEVE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of a Meeting held at 7pm on Monday 16th September 2019 At Washford Memorial Hall 814/0919 Jane Birch (JB) summarised the report and the main conclusions were as follows: Housing Needs Survey • Based on the findings in this survey together with current level of Homefinder applicants and lettings rate there appears to be only a small number of vacancies created in the current housing stock in Old Cleeve and Withycombe parishes • None of the respondents were identified to be in high priority housing need • It is worth noting that this Housing Needs Survey represents the findings at a set point in time • Personal circumstances are constantly changing, and the need for affordable social rented housing in the future may change. • Given the level of response to the survey and in spite of the potential for circumstances to change, the Parish Councils can feel confident in the results of this survey • The survey has identified a need in the near future for 3 units of affordable housing • As the needs of households are constantly evolving the level and mix of need in this report should be taken as a guide • In particular, it may be appropriate to vary the mix of sizes provided • This report remains appropriate evidence of need for up to five years • If there is a significant development of affordable housing in the parishes which is subject to a local connection requirement and substantially meets the need identified in the report, it would normally be recommended to re-survey the parish before any further development to address local need is considered The full report is available on the website http://www.oldcleeveparishcouncil.btck.co.uk/RELATEDDOCUMENTS/Planning or if required, please contact the Clerk for a copy. Cllr Johnson-Smith highlighted the concerns about the Homefinder website – as not being fit for purpose - and asked if this was being looked into JB – Stated that it is recognised that the website needs to be updated, but did not know if any work to upgrade the system was due Cllr Gannon queried why within the survey was it not asked ‘where they live’ and ‘where they would like to live’. There is a need to look at the bigger picture, which would then allow planning applications to be targeted more specifically Cllr Duncan asked how are people matched to properties JB – They need to be on Homefinder Cllr Johnson-Smith reiterated that the website is not suitable and requested that Cllr Kravis look into this for the Parish Council and feedback any information at Cllr Kravis the October 2019 meeting. 815/0919 Feedback from the Environment Working Party Environment No meeting has taken place – deferred to October 2019 meeting Cllr Hunt Working Party P3 OLD CLEEVE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of a Meeting held at 7pm on Monday 16th September 2019 At Washford Memorial Hall 816/0919 Consider request for signs indication walkers/cyclists along the road from Request for Chestnut Avenue to the cycle trail Pedestrian and Cllr Smith raised concerns about the lack of signage indicating pedestrian and Cyclist Signs cyclists, particularly as this stretch is a promoted cycle route. Also, the 30mph signs in the hedge are covered by the foliage. It was queried by Cllr Duncan as to where additional signage could be placed and how effective this would be. Cllr Gannon stated that the signs that are there must be visible. As the cycle path is part of the Steam Coast Trail, it was proposed that the Clerk contact them stating that representations had been made about this The Clerk stretch of road with regards to the signage and the visibility and what improvements can be made. Proposed: Cllr Smith Seconded: Cllr Duncan 817/0919 Discuss complaints re light pollution affecting Cleeve Park Light Pollution at Cllr Smith has received complaints from residents about the light pollution Cleeve Park affecting Cleeve Park from a nearby holiday park which has lighting on all night.