MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL

ON WEDNESDAY 2^nd MARCH 2011  

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

Proposal for Housing Development

12 Houses and new Village Hall on Land at the Rear of Whittles Lane

Mr Matthew Grist from Buckholt House had submitted a letter to Parish Council and now explained to Cllrs his reasons for opposing the proposal.  Mr Bourne from Narles House said he agreed with Mr Grist and that he too would oppose any housing development on the land at the rear of Whittles Lane.

The Chairman said these matters would be considered under Agenda Item 6 during the meeting.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING  

PRESENT

Cllrs Alexander, Baker, Clifford, Greenfield, Grist, Howe, Hutchinson, Peacey and Price were present plus District Cllr Smith and Lynn Ireland (Clerk). 3 member of the public were present.

APOLOGIES

County Cllr Booth

30/11      DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Cllrs Alexander, Clifford and Grist declared a prejudicial interest in Agenda Item 6 – Proposals for Housing Development at the Rear of Whittles Lane.

31/11      PREVIOUS MINUTES

Minutes of the Meeting held on 2^nd February 2011 were amended as follows:  

§          Item 15/11 – Amendment to the November Minutes

Second line to read “...garden of The Old Post Office in Perryway was .....”  

§          Item 23/11 – Snow Plough Operator

Second line to read “....and passed to the County Council.”  

§          Item 29/11  - Any Other Business

Item (c) delete everything after the words “District Council”.  

The Minutes were then approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.   

32/11      PLANNING

(a)        DECISIONS MADE BY THE DISTRICT COUNCIL

 (b)          PLANNING APPLICATIONS TAKEN AT THE MEETING

None received.

(c)           OTHER  PLANNING

§          Planning Open Day

Arrangements had been made for Cllrs to attend at the District Council for a Planning Presentation at 9.30am on Wednesday 30^th March.  

§          Greycroft / de Lacy Cottage / de Lacy Hall

It has been over a year since the Conservation Officer was requested to take action to secure the future of these listed properties, and an update had been requested.  Cllrs were advised that de Lacy Cottage and de Lacy Hall were shortly to be advertised for sale.  The situation with regard to Greycroft would need to be re-examined.   

§          Review of Settlement Boundary

A Sub Group of Cllrs Alexander, Grist and Hutchinson had studied the current Settlement Boundary and proposed several minor changes.  The plan was circulated and Cllrs noted the numbered amendments. The numbers relate to those on the plan which will be submitted to Stroud District Council.   The plan can be viewed by appointment with Cllr Alexander.

1.       Include ‘brown field’ site for potential low cost housing

2.       Include ‘Surgery’ premises

3.       Include existing dwelling

4.       Exclude part of field – use boundary              

5.       Exclude part of fields – use boundary

6.       Include existing dwelling

7.       Include area which includes church

8.       Exclude allotment area

9.       Follow natural boundary  

Council approved the amendments and the plan will now be returned to the District Council.  It was noted that the Settlement Boundary would in future be known as “The Development Limits”.  

On behalf of Council, the Chairman thanked the Sub Group for their efforts.  

§          Frampton-on-Severn Bowls Club

The Club proposed to replace an existing timber store with a rendered concrete block structure of the same size and had asked Parish Council to support their planning application.  After discussion Cllrs unanimously agreed to support the Bowls Club in their application.  

33/11      FINANCE

(a)           Invoices for Payment

At this point, Cllr Alexander wished to record thanks to Mr Richard Baker who had repainted the Whitminster Lane bus shelter to cover the obscene graffiti.  Cllr Peacey had reported the problem and the repainting had been organised and carried out extremely swiftly.  It was noted that the Police had spoken to the offenders.

(b)           Financial Update

Cllrs noted the contents of the Finance Update for February prepared by the RFO, Mr Martin Lewis.  

(c)           Other Finance Matters

§          Internal Auditor

Cllrs unanimously agreed the appointment of Mr Iain A Selkirk for the 2011 audit.  Mr Selkirk’s fee was the same as last year - £115.  

§          Parish Council Insurance

Cllrs discussed the revised list of assets to be insured and unanimously agreed to reduce the amount of cover for the 4 village notice boards to £2500 which would reduce the premium payable.  Alternative sources of insurance were also to be investigated.  

§          Parish Office Photocopier

The Chairman advised that the copier in the parish office had gone away for repair and he had been advised this would cost approximately £300. The present machine was over 5 years old and any repair would only be a temporary measure.  Cllrs discussed the merits of hiring another second-hand machine or the purchase of a new machine.  As the copier was occasionally used by other village organisations Cllrs agreed it was an essential item.  There was an unwritten agreement that the Community Association covered the cost of the paper used.  Preliminary enquiries have revealed that a new copier would cost in the region of £450 and would be far superior to the old one.   

Proposal               The purchase of a new photocopier to be investigated and progressed.

Seconded             Cllr Greenfield

Vote                       Unanimous  

34/11      PROPOSAL FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AT THE REAR OF WHITTLES LANE

Cllrs considered a letter from Mr M Williams with plans to provide affordable housing for the village together with a village hall and two executive houses on the land he owned south of Whittles Lane.  Cllr Alexander reported a conversation he had had with Mr Williams, who had emphasised the plans were merely an outline and in particular it was certainly not his wish to demolish the Lych Gate.  Having declared a prejudicial interest Cllr Alexander took no further part in the discussions.

Cllrs Alexander, Clifford and Grist declared a prejudicial interest, took no part in the discussions and did not express their opinions on the proposal.

In discussion the following points were made:  

1)       The need for affordable housing in the village has been clearly established.  

2)       Council is very keen to find a suitable site so that houses can be provided.  

3)       Two sites have been discussed with officers of Stroud District Council – The Old Tennis Courts in Lake Lane and the Old Dairy in Whitminster Lane.  Cllrs agreed that these are both, in principle, very suitable, but in each case there are obstacles which have prevented progress so far.  

4)       The Whittles Lane site had not figured in discussions with the District Council officers so their view on its suitability was not known.

5)       It seems that the Whittles Lane site would raise a number of planning issues, for example:

▫          It was outside the present Settlement Boundary

▫          It would have a major impact on an important part of the Conservation Area

▫          Access onto The Street seemed likely to be resisted by the Highways Authority

▫          The site was well within the high flood risk area as identified by the Environment Agency

▫          Cllrs discussed the means by which any affordable housing would be managed.  In particular, District Cllr Smith noted the difficulty of guaranteeing that houses went to genuinely local people.  

6)       The provision of a village hall and parking was noted. Cllrs agreed the desperate need for parking space, but wondered how the current village hall committee would view the prospect of a replacement when very large sums of money had recently been invested in the existing building.  

7)       One Cllr felt that the project was worth supporting in principle at this stage.  

8)       However, there remained four Cllrs who felt that the planning constraints and other issues outlined above made it very unlikely that the project could be implemented.

9)       Having declared a prejudicial interest three Councillors did not give their opinions on the proposals.

35/11      VICARAGE SITE, THE STREET

The Chairman reported that the Chief Planning Officer had replied to the Chairman’s letter largely agreeing with the Council’s concerns about the building on the site, saying the District Council are considering enforcement action.  

Cllr Alexander said pressure must be kept up to ensure that some action is taken and District Cllr Smith said he will speak to District Cllr Jones to see if there was anything he could do to put pressure on the District Council.  

It was agreed to take follow up action in four weeks and hopefully a report could be given to the April meeting.  

36/11      WHITMINSTER LANE, PACKTHORN CORNER

Whitminster Parish Council have responded to this Council’s concerns about safety at Packthorn Corner in icy weather conditions, reporting that they have been trying to get the whole of Whitminster Lane included in the secondary gritting route. It was unanimously agreed that this Council would support Whitminster Parish Council in their efforts to achieve this objective.

37/11      A38/PERRYWAY JUNCTION

Following the site visit on 24^th January Cllr Alexander had written to Cllr Stan Waddington on behalf of Parish Council setting out the sequence of events leading up to the present negotiations.  Unfortunately Cllr Waddington had taken offence at a statement included in the letter and Cllr Alexander agreed to respond with an apology about the unfortunate misunderstanding.  Council agreed that it was essential to continue to press for action at this junction.

38/11      SEVERN VOICE

§          Report from the February meeting

Cllr Grist gave a brief update on the meeting.  The presentation by Mr Quarrier, the Environment Agency’s project manager for the Severn Estuary Flood Risk Management Strategy, had been informative, but in the question and answer session many inaccuracies had been found.   In particular, concerns were raised that the inaccuracies in the EA flood maps were causing difficulties to house owners in the whole district as regards insuring their properties.  These inaccuracies also impacted on proposed development in the Severn Vale.  The meeting concluded that it was imperative to correct these errors.  A strongly worded response would be sent to the EA from Severn Voice.  This action was supported by local MP Neil Carmichael who was present at the meeting.

§          To confirm date for next meeting

As the February meeting was entirely given over to the Severn Estuary Flood Risk Management Strategy it was agreed another Severn Voice meeting should be held at which the normal agenda would be followed.  Agenda items would include Affordable Housing and School Admissions.  The meeting would be hosted by Frampton-on-Severn Parish Council on a date in May to be agreed.

39/11      SNOW PLOUGH OPERATOR

Cllr Price declared a prejudicial interest and took no part in the discussion.

Following the retirement of the Coole family as Snow Wardens and Snow Plough Operators, Mr Tony Price of Old Stable Cottage, The Green, had been appointed.  All details were now being finalised with the County Council.

40/11      ANNUAL PARISH MEETING – 20^th APRIL 2011

Cllrs agreed the final Agenda for the Annual Parish Meeting and posters would now be displayed.

41/11      TELEPHONE AT PARISH OFFICE

Cllrs Grist and Peacey had investigated alternatives for a telephone at the parish office.  A land line would not be cost effective and a contract with a mobile phone company would seem to offer the best solution. A contract could be arranged for as little as £10 a month.  It was agreed to test the signal strength at the parish office before proceeding.

42/11      COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT

County Cllr Booth was unable to be present due to illness but had asked that Council be made aware that the Highways Meeting at the end of the month would probably be discussing the A38/Perryway Junction.  It had been announced that central government would be providing an additional £1M towards the cost of repairing potholes.  On behalf of Council, the Chairman asked that best wishes for a return to health be sent to County Cllr Booth.

43/11      DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT

District Cllr Smith reported:

§          The District Council was proposing a standstill budget so there would be no change to the Council Tax this year.  There would be a large number of cutbacks to services and staff in an attempt to counteract the effects of the reduced government grant.

§          The new delegated planning system seemed to be working smoothly and would be reviewed after a year.

§          Cllr Alexander asked if the District Council would be taking action to clarify the use of minor amendments and retrospective planning applications.  District Cllr Smith confirmed that he would continue his discussions with planning officers but to date no resolution had been agreed.

44/11      CORRESPONDENCE

§          Frampton Industrial Estate

A resident in Lake Lane complained that she had not been consulted about the pollarding of the trees in the Industrial Estate which had exposed her garden to noise, dust and debris and removed a much needed visual screen.  The Chairman agreed to write to the resident to explain the procedures followed by Parish Council.

§          Telephone Box in The Street

BT Payphones had agreed to inspect the phone box and add it to their works programme.  The Clerk was asked to request the phone box in Bridge Road also be added to the schedule for repainting.

§          Shipton Mill

A resident in Lake Lane had complained about the excessive noise from Shipton Mill at unsocial hours.  She had been advised to contact the Environmental Health Officer to see if any action could be taken.

§          Neighbourhood Policing Newsletter

The newsletter explained the changes being made to local policing as from 1^st April.

§          SARA Meeting

Cllr Price gave a brief outline of discussions at the meeting.  The SARA plans would in future be set for six months and therefore meetings would now be twice yearly. 

§          Land Registration

Cllr Clifford declared a prejudicial interest and took no part in the discussion

The Chairman reported letters from the Land Registry on the registration of ownership of the Village Green and of the triangle north of the Lych Gate.  In response to Council’s earlier comments the boundaries of the Village Green area had been extended but the various roadways remain excluded.  The Land Registry had acknowledged the existence of various rights of way.  The Chairman believed that the exclusion of the roadways was unfortunate but presumably the registered owner was acting with the advice of his solicitor.  It was of course useful that the Council’s view had been reported to the Land Registry and would remain on their records.

§          Miscellaneous

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

45/11      CHAIRMAN’S ITEMS

§          Electoral Review of Gloucestershire

The Chairman had responded to the consultation document on behalf of Parish Council.  He reported that

 the number of County Councillors was being reduced from 63 to 53 which would mean the creation of larger Wards, 2-Member Wards and smaller rural communities being joined.  He opposed the creation of 2-Member Wards and had argued strongly that Frampton-on-Severn should remain in a predominantly rural Ward with communities with whom it shared common interests.  Rural and suburban areas should not be combined.

46/11      ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Cllr Alexander asked if Tompkins Barron could be contacted with a request to resurface the entrance road to the Industrial Estate which was badly potholed. 

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.50pm.