MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL

ON WEDNESDAY 9^th JANUARY 2008

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

Mr Duncan Morris

§           Gutter Cleaning:  Gutters in The Street have not been cleared since March 2007 and now require urgent clearing.   The Clerk will contact the District Council.

§           Recycling Vehicle:  The hoist on the back of the vehicle is in danger of touching overhead phone lines.  The Clerk will advise the District Council.

Police Report

PCSO Debra Hughes  

§           Crime update:  There had been three reported incidents during December.  The most serious were burglaries from properties in The Street and The Green while houses were empty over Christmas.  Evidence was being gathered and an arrest was anticipated.

 §           Golden River Equipment:  Stonehouse INA was hoping to purchase this advanced traffic monitoring system for use in the Stonehouse area.  The equipment enables officers to target problem areas and has been working very successfully in the Dursley area.  The equipment is expensive and Sgt Irvin is requesting assistance with funding from parish councils in the INA.  The Clerk will circulate copies of documentation to enable Cllrs to consider the request at the February meeting.  

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

PRESENT

Cllrs Alexander, Clifford  

APOLOGIES

County  

1/08        DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None received  

2/08        PREVIOUS MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2007 were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.  

3/08        PLANNING

(a)    decisions of the district council

 (b)    planning applications taken by the sub group

(c)        planning application

(d)        other planning matters

§           Householder Design Guide / Validation of Planning Applications

Stroud District Council have provided two explanatory documents for consultation.   The documents are also available on CD and the District Council website.   

§           Stroud District Local Strategic Partnership

The document ‘Working to develop a Sustainable Community Strategy’ has been provided for consultation purposes.   Responses are required by 29^th February and it was agreed the Chairman would respond on behalf of the Parish Council.  

§           Conservation Area Review

Cllr Alexander will arrange for all Cllrs to see a copy of the consultation document. The District Council has agreed to extend the deadline for comment until after the February Parish Council meeting.  Cllrs are also encouraged to submit personal responses.   This will be added as an agenda item for the February meeting.

4/08        ACCOUNTS

§          Invoices for Payment

§           Financial Update

Cllrs noted the contents of the Financial Statement for December 2007 prepared by Cllr M Lewis.

§           Budget for 2008/09

Cllr Lewis confirmed the 2008/09 precept had been requested from the District Council in the sum of £12,891.00.

§           Other Finance

-  Grass Cutting Account

T.W. Hawkins have quoted £665 + vat for the 2008/09 season.  The Chairman noted that the work carried out by T.W. Hawkins in previous years has been excellent and Cllrs unanimously agreed that as the quote was only minimally higher than 2007/08, there was no need to request alternative quotes.

Proposal               Cllr Alexander proposed accepting the quote from

Seconded             Cllr Greenfield

Vote                       Unanimous  

-                      Internal Auditor

Cllr M Lewis advised that an internal auditor would need to be elected for 2008/09.  This will be added as an agenda item for the February meeting to enable a vote.

5/08        EMERGENCY PLAN  

Cllr Alexander reported that he has been appointed Co-ordinator of the Emergency Planning Group and the Rev Peter Cheesman will in future act as a consultant to the Group.  Others officers have been appointed and the preparation of the Plan was progressing.     

6/08        POLICING PRIORITIES MEETING 

Cllr Alexander reported on the Constabulary’s meeting held in December to discuss the SARASgt Irvin

7/08        PARISH PLAN

GRCC has asked for permission to include the Frampton-on-Severn Parish Plan on its website database, MAIDEN (Multi-Agency Information Database for Neighbourhoods in Gloucestershire), and also on the GRCC website.  

Cllr Speed explained that an electronic copy was not available and therefore it was unanimously agreed to take no action.  

8/08        PARISH & TOWN COUNCILS FORUM

The Chairman had attended the meeting on 11^th December at Ebley

9/08        FLOODING UPDATE

The County Council letter had been previously circulated to enable Cllrs to discuss the content.   The Final Report from the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee into the Summer Emergency 2007 was available on CD for Cllrs to view.

Wicksters Brook:  Cllr Alexander

10/08      CRICKET ON THE GREEN

Cllr Clifford reported that the Cricket Club had been advised of Parish Council’s enquiries with regard to Footpath EFS34.   Information from County Cllr Booth was awaited and in the meantime Cllrs were asked to consider inviting the Chairman of the Cricket Club to give a presentation to a future meeting.

The Chairman agreed to contact County Cllr Booth and request information about the possibility of diverting or closing Footpath EFS34 during cricket matches on The Green.

11/08      CORRESPONDENCE

§           Meetings

Parish Council has been invited to send representation to:

§           County Highways Winter Service

Snow & Ice Clearing on Gloucestershire’s Roads information and leaflet provided.

§           County Highways

Changes to improve the service were advised.  A ‘Highways & Customer Services Team’ has been created and Mr John Roberts appointed as Stakeholder Manager for the Central (Southern) area.

§           County Highways Parish Survey

Cllr Alexander has completed the on-line survey on behalf of the Parish Council

§           Flood Guide

Leaflet available from GP surgeries and Libraries.

§          20-mile Road Race

Will be held on 2^nd March, starting on The Green and finishing at the Community Centre.

§           Mobile Police Station

Will visit the parish on 7^th and 24^th February.  A District Council Officer will be on board on the 29^th January visit.

§                 Miscellaneous

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

12/08      CHAIRMAN’S ITEMS

§          Parish Council Meetings

A list of 2008 meetings had been previously circulated.  The Annual Parish meeting would be on Wednesday 26^th March and a draft agenda had been prepared for discussion.  Cllrs were asked to consider local organisations to give presentations. 

§          Council Tax 2008/09

The Leader of the County Council had written advising of the three proposals being put forward for council tax expenditure for 2008/09.  Responses are required by 16^th January.

13/08      ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Cllr Clifford reported there was a continuing problem in the village with inappropriate car parking and litter by owners/users of narrow boats on canal.  This is of particular concern at the south of The Green.  Cllr Alexander advised he would raise this at the next Canal Users Forum meeting. 

Cllr Speed asked if there had been any progress with discussions about the extended car park at Severnvale Services. Cllr Alexander advised he would meet with the owner on his return from holiday.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.15 pm .