MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL

ON WEDNESDAY 6^th FEBRUARY 2008

PRIOR TO THE MEETING PARISHIONERS WERE INVITED TO RAISE MATTERS OF CONCERN WITH CLLRS:

Mrs Rosemary Morris

Mrs Morris was pleased to advise that gutter cleaning has been carried out along The Street.

Police Report

PCSO Debra Hughes was unable to be present and had provided a written report.   There had been 3 reported incidents over the last month and to date there was a nil detection rate. 

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

PRESENT

Cllrs Alexander, Clifford, Greenfield, Howe (Chairman), K Lewis, M Lewis, Price, Speed and Wagstaff were present, plus County Cllr Booth, District Cllr Smith and Lynn Ireland (Clerk) and one member of the public.  

APOLOGIES

Cllrs K Lewis and M Lewis .

14/08      DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None received

15/08      PREVIOUS MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 9^th January 2008 were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.  

16/08      COUNTY CLLR’S REPORT

County Cllr Booth reported:

§            Footpath EFS34 – he had investigated the possibility of diverting the footpath during Frampton Cricket Club matches on The Green and advised there were two possible ways forward. Either to request a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order; this would require six weeks prior notice and could cost £700-£1000, or to find an insurer who is less concerned about the presence of the footpath.  He would advise the Cricket Club to contact the Gloucestershire Playing Fields Association and the MCC.

§            Council Tax – there was to be a 1.1% ring-fenced increase in council tax to cover flood defences. 

In response to an enquiry from Cllr Speed, County Cllr Booth said he would check to see if the County Council had a policy to tap telephone conversations.

County Cllr Booth left the meeting

Cllr Price arrived

17/08      PLANNING

(a)    decisions of the district council

(b)        planning applications

(c)        other planning matters

No matters

18/08      ACCOUNTS

§          Invoices for Payment

Cllr Alexander had learnt that the County Highways would provide sand free of charge to parish councils for use in flood defences and this will be borne in mind for future use.  Cllr Alexander has ordered 200 sandbags that will be stored for any future incident.

§           Financial Update

Cllrs noted the contents of the Financial Statement for January 2008 prepared by Cllr M Lewis.

§           Other Finance

-      Appointment of Internal Auditor

Cllrs were asked to confirm the appointment of the Internal Auditor.

Proposal               Cllr Wagstaff proposed Council reappoint Iain Selkirk as Independent Internal

                                Auditor for the year ended 31 March 2008 at the same fee as last year.

Seconded             Cllr Speed

Vote                       Unanimous

-     Appointment of External Auditor

The Audit Commission have confirmed Moore Stephens have been appointed as the External Auditor for this Parish Council.

-     Constabulary Request for Funding

Cllrs had received copies of the funding request from the Stonehouse INA for assistance with the purchase of Golden River Advanced Vehicle Monitoring System.  After a full discussion it was unanimously agreed to take no action.

-    Invoices to be Minuted

The following invoices had been paid under the Chairman’s Authority and the Clerk asked they now be Minuted to enable the audit trail:

19/08      REVIEW OF CONSERVATION AREA  

Cllr Alexander had previously circulated copies of the Consultation Document to all Cllrs. The draft document was well written and the District Council appeared to have taken note of comments made in the Parish Plan.  Cllrs agreed to make individual responses to Kate Russell at Stroud District Council.

There is to be an open meeting for the parish on Saturday 16^th February from 10 am to 12.30 pm in the Village Hall.  It was important to ensure that parishioners are aware of the consequences of being included in the revised Conservation Area.

20/08      ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

The Annual Parish Meeting will take place at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 26^th March 2008 in the Village Hall.  Cllrs noted the draft Agenda and agreed the list of proposed speakers.

21/08      CANAL RESTORATION CONSULTATIVE MEETING

The Chairman had previously circulated a report of the meeting held at Ebley Mill on 23^rd January.  British Waterways have since announced they will be withdrawing funding for the project and an update will be given as soon as the future of the project is known.

22/08      EMERGENCY PLAN

§          Emergency Plan - Cllr Alexander reported Mrs Cathy Griffiths has been appointed as Assistant Co-ordinator.  The District Council are holding a meeting on 11^th February to discuss Emergency Plans and will be using the Frampton draft as a format for other parishes. 

§          ‘Protecting Your Community’ - The Clerk had attended the County meeting on 25^th January and reported discussions.  Papers were passed to Cllr Alexander for use by the Emergency Plan Group.

§          Flooding Emergency – It was noted that flooding to properties in the parish had been kept to a minimum due to the excellent work carried out by staff from Frampton Court Estate and the Sailing Club members.

§          Wicksters Brook – The Chairman had been told that British Waterways would be starting work shortly to repair the leaking bank of Wicksters Brook.  Cllr Alexander believed the work was to be done by the Environment Agency and would check.

§          Flooding in Whitminster Lane – During the January flooding there had been a problem in Whitminster Lane by the new cricket field.  It appears that there is a highway drain carrying water southward from the cricket field entrance to the Perryway ditch, but this had been unable to carry the floodwater.  Cllrs wondered whether there had been a roadside ditch, perhaps running northward to join the highway drain which had recently been uncovered at Oatfield. It was agreed that Cllr Alexander would ask John Roberts for any further information he could provide.

23/08      CRICKET ON THE GREEN

Cllrs noted the report given previously by County Cllr Booth and Cllr Clifford agreed to pass these comments to the Cricket Club.  

Cllr Speed suggested consideration be given to moving the screen netting to the other side of the footpath during matches and displaying a notice to read:  “For your Own Safety use Footpath this way → “.

24/08      DISTRICT CLLR’S REPORT

District Cllr Smith had returned from a period of sick leave and had nothing specific to report.

25/08      CORRESPONDENCE

§           Meetings

Parish Council has been invited to send representation to:

§           Gutter Clearing

The District Council has confirmed that work has now been carried out in The Street.  They have noted comments about the recycling vehicle.  

§          County Highways

The Clerk advised that during the flooding emergency in January, County Highways had provided an excellent service of updates on weather and road conditions.  

§         Extension to Chapel House

The owner of Chapel House has objected to the reference to his building work contained in the summary of Parish Council Minutes printed in the Community Newsletter. It was agreed the Chairman should write an explanatory letter.

§          Care & Repair

Information relating to the 2008 Gardening Assistance Scheme.  

§          Code of Conduct

Consultation document – Orders & Regulations relating to the Code of Local Authority Members in England .

§          Post Office Network

Information from GRCC on proposed closures and details of how to submit comments.

§           Mobile Police Station

Will visit the parish on 6^th and 25^th March.

§                 Miscellaneous

Various papers and reports were made available for Cllrs’ perusal.

26/08      CHAIRMAN’S ITEMS

§                  Fly posting

A parishioner has complained about the amount of fly posting throughout the village.  It was agreed the Chairman should write giving Parish Council views and would encourage people to remove obsolete posters.

§                  Community Association

The funding bid to Cory Environmental for assistance with repairs to the canal bank on the western boundary of the playing field has been successful and £10,000 has been granted.  The grant from Parish Council contributed to this successful outcome. 

§                  Know Your Village Booklet

The latest edition of the booklet has been circulated to every house in the parish.  Cllr Lorna Price had produced of the booklet on behalf of Parish Council and the Chairman wished to record thanks to her for the excellent standard of the booklet and to BCVA for covering the cost of printing.  It was anticipated an update would be made in a couple of months and any amendments or additions should be passed to Cllr Price.

27/08      ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Cllr Price reported that a large amount of topsoil has been dumped in Baccabox Lane by contractors working at Bute House which has covered access to the drainage ditch.  The Chairman will check and see if any action is required.

Cllr Wagstaff reported that she would prepare an item for the Community Newsletter giving an update on the affordable housing situation.

Cllr Alexander reported:

(a)   The road outside Frampton Stores should be repaired before the end of March

(b)   Whitminster Lane is scheduled for repair work in the next financial year

(c)   The road surface in Fromebridge Lane is extremely dangerous due to mud from the adjacent farm. 

Cllr Speed reported road verges at Splatt are in a bad state of repair due to vehicles parked along the roadside.  On occasion vehicles are blocking the road to through traffic.  It was thought appropriate signage in the area might help the situation.  The small area of land to the south of Splatt could make a small car park and Cllrs agreed this should be properly discussed at a future meeting.  In the meantime Cllr Alexander will raise the problem at the next meeting of the Canal Users Forum and Warden Andy Foster will be asked to keep an eye on the area.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.36 pm .