Cllr David Speed, Vice Chairman of the Parish Council, was in the Chair. There were 27 parishioners and Councillors in attendance. A special welcome was made to Mrs Oyugi who was visiting Lakefield School on an cultural exchange from the Utawala Academy in Kenya.

Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr John Howe, was unable to attend the meeting due to illness and thanked the Vice Chairman for taking the Chair. Apologies were also recorded from Cllrs K. Lewis and M. Lewis and Christine Lingard, the Village Agent.

The School House Trust Charity Accounts were available for inspection.

The Vice Chairman presented his Annual Report for 2009. (copy attached).

6.2 District Cllr Norman Smith reported that one of the chief priorities for the District Council is to provide affordable homes for local people. Between 2004 and 2008, 409 affordable homes were completed with another 500 planned. So far this year Dursley have had 46 completed and Stroud 50.

The Neighbourhood Warden scheme now has district wide coverage and continues to be very successful.

Local Councils now have more powers to take on environmental issues such as fly tipping, littering and graffiti. Please report any incidents to the Council and they will be swiftly dealt with.

The Council held a special meeting to discuss the restoration of the Canal and took the decision to lead the project. This resulted in £13.7 million of external investment including £11.9 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the intention is to spend this with as many local firms as possible.

A survey of public satisfaction with the work of the District Council’s showed a 62% rate of satisfaction.

4. EMERGENCY PLAN

Cllr William Alexander reported that the initial idea of setting up an Emergency Response Team came about following the disastrous Foot & Mouth emergency in 2001. This had been tackled very well at the time but showed that the village needed to be prepared to tackle any similar emergency in the future. In 2007 the village had not been prepared for the flooding that occurred in July.

Taking advice from Peter Cheesman we have now set up an Emergency Response Team who will be able to deal with first response at any emergency that happens locally. Hopefully the Team will never be used. Team members are Co-ordinator William Alexander, Deputy Co-ordinator Cathy Griffiths, Facilities Lorna Price, Communications Lynn Ireland and Parish Council representative Martin Lewis. Team members have been provided with a fully equipped bag containing items such as high visibility jacket, torches and emergency foil blankets. The use of intercom radios in the bag was considered but was not felt appropriate at present.

Parish Council, led by Cllr David Speed, carried out a risk assessment and negotiated with experts to prepare an Emergency Response Plan. Local groups and organisations have been included and arrangements made for use of equipment and facilities if required in an emergency. Parish Councillors have agreed to take responsibility for vulnerable residents in their Ward areas

Without the invaluable assistance from Peter Cheesman, who was able to call upon his experience of working as Chaplain at the International Air Tattoo at Fairford, we would not be in such a strong position, and we are very grateful to him for his commitment to this project. The template of our Emergency Response Plan is so successful it is now being used to encourage other communities to prepare a similar plan for their area.

Fiona Arnison head teacher at Lakefield School reported that the school continues to expand and improve and at present there are 172 pupils on the roll, despite a falling birth rate. The school building is well used for evening classes ranging from Digital Photography to Pilates.

In February a pilot scheme was put in place to provide activities for children during the half term holiday but unfortunately although many signed up to take part the attendance was disappointing.

The school welcomed children from two Eastern European families who were unable to speak English. This was a challenge but after six months the children are improving with their language skills and progressing well.

A sign of the times is that parents can now pay dinner money on-line. Laptops have been provided for the children and these are taken into the classrooms to assist with lessons. The school website is well supported with over 3000 hits so far this year.

Some children from school will be forming a guard of honour at the rugby match between Gloucester and Osprey at the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry next Saturday. This is to be televised on BBC TV and I am sure many parents will be watching.

We are very happy to welcome Mrs Oyugi and Mrs Murithi from the Utawala Academy in Kenya. They are visiting for a week on a cultural exchange and the children are fascinated to hear about work in the academy.

Basil Booth reported that the Council tax increase for the County Council was 2.9%, with a 3.5% rate by the District Council and 2.9% by the Police Authority. Over the past year the County Council has increased its spending by 3.8% - £12.7M.

Plans are continuing to increase waste recycling and the purchase of the Javelin Park site should enable this to be taken forward.

County Highways have had an increasingly difficult time following the floods of 2008 and the severe weather conditions earlier this year. Therefore a number of capital projects have been delayed. The repair of potholes is a priority and will be tackled before other schemes are taken forward. The proposal for a roundabout at the junction of the A38 and the Perryway is one of the projects which have been put on hold.

Funding for the County’s schools has been finalised and Lakefield School will be receiving the promised funding for the next financial year.

Norman Smith had given his report at the beginning of the meeting.

Col Andy Hodson the Head Church Warden reported that work to extend the burial ground at St Mary’s continues. The half-acre plot had very kindly been provided by Michael Williams and following an archaeology check, planning permission had been obtained. The Conveyance was completed in 2007. The PCC is concerned to keeping expenditure at a reasonable level and quotes have been obtained for the fencing the boundaries. Funds from Entrust have been secured to assist with fencing

The fencing work will be carried out in keeping with the existing and the railings from the northern edge will be reused to form an extension to the western boundary. The northern boundary of the area is a drain/watercourse and as regulations do not allow burials within 30m of a watercourse a Garden of Remembrance is to be created at the northern tip of the extension.

Apple trees on the plot were required to be left under the terms of the planning consent but work has started to clear the area and the PCC are grateful to Frampton Court Estates for levelling and clearing the ground.

It is anticipated that the extension to the burial ground will ensure that burials can continue to take place at St Mary’s for many years to come.

7.1 Presentation

The Chairman present Mrs Oyugi with a copy of ‘Frampton on Severn – An Illustrated History’. Mrs Oyugi said she was visiting England on a two weeks cultural exchange with Lakefield School. She found the weather cold – in Kenya temperatures would be 28/32^o in January and February with 16^o being considered cold in June and July. She was very happy to be visiting the children at Lakefield School and they were proving to be very interested about life in Kenya and the Utawala Academy. Two teachers from Lakefield School will be going on a return visit to Kenya in June.

Parish Council has secured agreement with Highways for the Gutter Sweeper to visit the village every 2 months. This appears to have lapsed and at present the gutters are blocked with fallen leaves. The Chairman confirmed that Parish Council would take appropriate action.

Cllr John Howe and Cllr Pam Greenfield has taken part in a broadcast for BBC Radio Gloucestershire on Monday morning. The main issue was rates and how parish councils use the money raised. David Greenfield said that the broadcast could be heard on ‘Listen Again’ on the BBC Radio Gloucestershire website.

(1) The Oval has been left in a very bad state following works by the District Council to install the ground source heat pumps. The Chairman confirmed that Parish Council would report this to the Estates Department at the District Council and request they reinstate the area.

(2) The boundary hedge of the car park in The Oval was very overgrown and in need of trimming back. Residents are not clear who is responsible for this maintenance work. Cllr Alexander advised that if the residents would like to carry out the work themselves, Parish Council would ensure that any waste product was removed and disposed of.

The footpath between The Barn and Church End is being used to park cars and this can be very dangerous for pedestrians. Vehicles are also driving on the footpath causing damage to the grass. The Chairman confirmed that Parish Council would take appropriate action.

(1) Confirmed that Frampton Court Estates will see what action could be taken to ensure vehicles do not use the footpath at Church End.

(2) Work is now to begin to replace the Whitminster sewer and this will inevitably mean some disruption to the Perryway.

The Chairman said the concerns of the parishioners had been noted and follow up action would discussed and actions agreed at the next Parish Council meeting.

There being no further business, the Chairman thanked the speakers for their interesting and informative reports and thanked everyone for attending. The meeting closed at 9.05 pm.

Your Parish Council has had a busy year, and we have this year seen a welcome and significant increase in attendance at our Parish Council Meetings by parishioners, both to listen and contribute to our meetings. Although councillors hear of issues during day to day contact with villagers, these contributions at the start of our meetings have been most informative and welcome.

We have produced a Parish Model Publication Scheme. This provides members of the public with directions on how to find information relating to the functioning of the council. Copies may be obtained from the clerk or better still viewed on our website. The website also contains the minutes of our meetings and current state of finances. We are grateful to David Greenfield for his support in managing the website for us.

You will be pleased to know that as a result of encouragement by the clerk we are using electronic communication more and more for the day to day communications. So making better use of the clerk’s time and saving on paper.

The accounts have been audited and found to be correct and for this thanks are due to Councillor Martin Lewis our Financial Officer. In the past few years we have increased the precept by more than the rate of inflation to balance income against increased expenditure, particularly to finance village maintenance and projects in the village. This coming year we do not have so many calls for support and in view of the current national financial crises we have only increased the precept by £649.

So how are we using the precept?

The precept enables us to finance the regular maintenance of the playing field and other large grassed areas in the Parish. Additionally, we are grateful to John Goulding for his work in strimming, grass cutting and general tidying around the village, and to Graham Vick for his continuous litter picking. Thanks are also due to Caroline Williams for mowing and maintaining the area around the War Memorial and Michael Selby for mowing at Roes Pool. We thank too all those who pick up litter, keep their frontages clean and tidy, and make the village attractive to residents and visitors.

We have taken responsibility for the Glebe Close lagger. Years of neglect necessitated radical action and we expect the newly planted native species will soon form a fine new hedge.

Money has also been used to support improvements and maintenance managed by community groups. We contributed to the restoration of the canal bank at the Recreation Ground and we are providing funds for work to the Village Hall. We contribute to the maintenance of the parish burial ground and we welcome the efforts of the PCC towards its extension. We hope to hear more about this later.

The formation of the Emergency Team has also incurred expenditure and the creation of a reserve fund for use in the event of an emergency arising.

We consider the money to have been well spent, to appropriately maintain our parish.

The deterioration of local roads is a constant worry and the recent wintry weather has exacerbated the problem of potholes and crumbling road surfaces. We are grateful to the Highways Team at Stroudwater who respond quickly to our requests, but they have a never-ending task. We are pleased to report the two major resurfacing projects – the approach to Frampton Stores and Whitminster Lane – have been carried out.

We continue to actively pursue a number of projects to improve road safety in the parish. We have a promise that the Bridge Road build-out, to reduce traffic speed so making it safer for pedestrians to cross the road will be constructed in the next financial year. We have acceptance by the police and councils that the Perryway - A38 junction, due to the volume of traffic and the number of heavy vehicles is a risk to safety. We do not have a commitment to improvements; however we continue to press for the earliest completion of a roundabout. A bid for funds for the Perryway foot & cycle path failed and the project is currently at a standstill.

We have achieved more than our fair share of maintenance by the Stroudwater Team and Councillor William Alexander deserves special recognition for his continuing liaison with the County on highways matters

A great deal of our time has been devoted to planning matters and we are looking forward to a reduction in applications as a consequence of recent changes to the Planning Act. In future small domestic extensions, which form the majority of our business, will no longer need planning consent. Should you need guidance, the clerk can provide you with a layman’s guide to the revised rules and you are encouraged to discuss any plans with the Stroud Planning Department.

We are pleased that the Conservation Area Review conducted by the Stroud District Council was completed and the changes we supported were included. It is gratifying that the revisions, for the most part, were as proposed in the Parish Plan produced by this council.

It is encouraging too that our carefully argued judgements on applications have usually been heeded by Stroud District Council. We have had our difficulties, requiring the Chief Planning Officer to attend our meetings to explain planning decisions or for planners to attend site visits to achieve more favourable outcomes for parishioners.

You will be aware of the government’s consultation on the four proposed Severn Barrage schemes. The council is participating in meetings to discuss the barrage and thanks are due to Roger Bagley who attends many of the meetings on behalf of the council.

Due to its impact on the village and surrounding parishes we cannot leave the subject of planning without reference to the proposed extension to Shipton Mill. Your council has consulted widely, held a public consultation, and received parishioner views at its meetings. The outcome is that the application is opposed by all but a few parishioners and the council voted by a majority not to support the application. The application will be considered by the full Stroud District Planning Committee in April.

Your council remains committed to the provision of affordable housing in the Parish. You are aware of the needs survey carried out by the GRCC which makes the case for a limited number of properties. We have identified two potential sites and a developer has come forward with a proposal which is supported by this council. The consultation to gain acceptance of the proposal has just started and we know it will be a frustratingly slow process. We have to say a special thank you to Councillor Wagstaff as the lead on the housing initiative, for her patience and persistence in moving this project forward. Thank you Sarah.

You will know from last years report that we have a Parish Emergency Plan. We have formed an Emergency Team to manage and co-ordinate any actions in the event of an incident and Councillor Alexander will give his report as part of our agenda this evening. Additionally, the Emergency Team is supported by our Parish Risk Mitigation Plan which is managed by the Council. This reviews the level risk and identifies actions to reduce those risks. Flooding remains our greatest risk. Although the flooding in the last year has not been as bad as in 2007, water levels remain high and further heavy rain will again put properties at risk. Our thanks are due to Councillor Clifford who with the support of parishioners is well on with mapping all the watercourses in the parish and establishing who is responsible for each length. Your Parish Council has appointed a Watercourse Warden, David Greenfield, who, with the aid of the map is working with us and with Stroud District Council’s responsible officer to monitor the local watercourses to spot potential hazards and organise action. We have welcomed the dredging by the Internal Drainage Board and the efforts of the County Highways team and Frampton Court Estate to keep highways ditches clear.

If you have not done so already, we are strongly recommending that parishioners register with the Environment Agency Flood Warning Scheme.

We are rightly proud of our initiatives to support and recognise pride in our village. The Council’s Annual Garden Competition has again been a great success and we thank Councillor Greenfield for organising the competition and Chris Marshall and his team for deciding on the winners.

We also join in organising the Bill Wood Memorial Award which last year went to Mrs Maureen Webb whose work for so many people and organisations in this community, and more widely, richly deserved recognition. We shall shortly be inviting nominations for this year’s award.

We work with outside organisations that can be of assistance to villagers. The local Police attend our meetings and thanks are due to Officer Deborah Hughes for her contributions to our meetings. I am pleased to say crime remains at a low level, and recently the police have had success in apprehending offenders.

Our Village Agent continues her work, especially with older people in our village, her work is greatly appreciated. Sadly our local Neighbourhood Warden has moved on; he was just getting himself known and was doing useful work; we hope the District Council will fill the vacancy promptly and look forward to meeting and working with his replacement.

We are grateful to County Cllr Booth and to our two District Councillors, Norman Smith and John Jones, for their continued assistance over the year.

I am sure that if John our chairman was here he would wish to thank all councillors for their support this past year and for electing him chairman.

Most importantly, we are all deeply indebted to our Clerk, Lynn Ireland, who takes careful Minutes and receives and dispatches ever increasing volumes of emails and even occasionally real letters, to ensure that business of your Parish Council is efficiently conducted.

Frampton on Severn Parish Council

Copyright © 2005 Frampton on Severn Parish Council