January Minutes

    The most recent Minutes are belo

The most recent minutes are below. For last year's and previous year's minutes please use the link at the foot of the page or refer to the annual collection of minutes in the collected pdf files section on the Parish Council webpage. Please note that minutes are published as DRAFT minutes and will be approved at the next meeting of the parish council. The minutes for an extraordinary meeting will also be posted to this page. Such a meeting could be held prior to an ordinary meeting or after such a meeting.

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SOUTHWICK PARISH COUNCIL

 

Chair: Cllr John Eaton, 30 Blind Lane, Southwick, Wiltshire, BA14 4PG 07818 870098

Clerk:  Nicola Duke, April Rise, 81 Studland Park, Westbury, Wiltshire, BA13 3HN 01373 864127

 

 

Draft Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held on

Tuesday 30th January 2024 at 7.30 pm in the Annexe, Southwick Village Hall.

 

 

Present: Cllr Eaton (Chair), Cllr Curry, Cllr Snell, Cllr Heydon, Cllr Carey, Cllr Clayton, Cllr Noble, Cllr Porter and Cllr Jackson.

In attendance: Nicola Duke (Parish Clerk) and 10 members of the public.

 

Public Participation

Members of the public were invited to make representations to the Council on any matters relating to the work of the Council or to raise any issues of concern:

·         A representative from Busy Bees spoke to the grant application being considered by the Council, outlining the planned works, reporting that a £5,000 grant had been awarded by the Area Board and confirming that the funds being applied for from the PC would result in a fully funded project.

·         A representative from the Flower Show Committee reported that the Committee had agreed to establish an annual cup in honour of Mr Roy Butt, to be named Roy’s Rose.  A special display had also been planned for the 2024 show.  Members thanked the Flower Show Committee.

·         A resident expressed concern at a tree which had fallen from 32 Southfields onto the playing field, asking for the Council’s assistance in getting the landowner to attend to the required works.  The Chair confirmed that the resident in question had been written to and that he would continue to call round to the property to speak to the landowner.  Cllr Heydon suggested it may be helpful to raise this with the Tree Officer at WC.  This was agreed and the Clerk asked to make the appropriate contact.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                AGENDA ITEM

 

2023/90                                                                                                                                                                Apologies for Absence

Cllr Prickett due to a prior engagement - accepted.

 

2023/91                                                                                                                                                                Declarations of Interest and Dispensations to Participate

Cllr Noble declared an interest in agenda items 2023/100 Village Hall & 2023/102 Playing Field SLA) as a member of both Committees.

 

2023/92                                                                                                                                                                Minutes of Council Meetings

 The minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held on 21st November 2023 were approved for accuracy and adopted (proposed Cllr Curry, seconded Cllr Clayton).

 

2023/93                                                                                                                                                                Wiltshire Council Report 

Cllr Prickett had sent apologies for absence.

 

2023/94                                                                                                                                                                Highways/Environment

Members received any updates or reports on matters relating to:

a)   Parish Environment including:

a.       Dog bins it was noted that these had now been installed however, members were unsure that the two large bins had been sited in the agreed position.  The Clerk would check the project information and also investigate the costs to increase the bin emptying regime.

b.       Flooding – it was noted that Mrs Johnson had provided details of flooding incidents to WC and was liaising with WC to prepare a Flood Plan. Further measures could be considered once this had been finalised and adopted by the PC. The Clerk would look into preparing a draft Plan for consideration at the February PC meeting. The Parish Council also formally thanked Mrs Johnson for her work as Flood Warden. 

c.       Cllr Eaton reported that a drain in Blind Lane seemed to be located in the wrong position.  It was confirmed that this had been reported to the myWilts app and that a response had directed the PC to raise this via LHFIG.  Cllr Eaton would provide the Clerk with relevant photographs to enable a Highway Improvement Form to be submitted.

d.       Cllr Snell asked that Gainsborough be contacted and asked to clear the ditches alongside the Wesley Lane site, as there had been recent flooding.  The Chair suggested that other landowners also be written to and he confirmed he would provide the Clerk with the relevant contact information. Cllr Snell also reported that the concrete along the footpath adjacent to the Wesley Lane site had been damaged during the recent flailing.

 

b)  Highways including:

a.       Chantry Gardens lay by – Cllr Carey had provided a report, which had been circulated to members, on the outcomes of the recent consultation into the proposed works. It was noted that the consultation response was favourable and, following debate, it was resolved to proceed with the request to WC for the installation of parking bays at Chantry Gardens and to allocate the required LHFIG contribution (minimum £3,000) from the Highways EMR (proposed Cllr Carey, seconded Cllr Heydon).  The Clerk would submit the necessary form to LHFIG for progression.

b.       Brokerswood corner – Members considered a request to LHFIG for road signs with Cllr Carey reporting that a Highway Improvement Form would need to be submitted to ask WC to investigate the signs required.  This was approved (proposed Cllr Carey, seconded Cllr Clayton).

c.       Cllr Carey reported on his attendance at a recent Area Board meeting at which Highways matters had been a focus.  He reported that dual cycleways were not being taken forward by WC, due to costs and the increased width required. He further reported that WC planned to spend £200,000 on the repainting of white lines in the county.  

 

2023/95                                                                                                                                                                Planning Applications

 

PL/2023/10503 - Walnut Cottage, Blue Barn Farm, Lamberts Marsh, Southwick, Trowbridge. BA14 9PD - Proposed rear extension to provide additional living accommodation No Comment; Leave to Case Officer.

 

Members considered planning applications received after the issue of the agenda (where the response time falls outside of the meeting schedule and an extension cannot be obtained).

 

PL/2024/00294 - Units 10A & 10B, Dunkirk Business Park, Southwick, Trowbridge, BA14 9NL - Partially decked balcony structure erected on the rear/side elevation of existing employment building - Lawful development: Existing use.  Members noted that the deadline for response was 21st February 2024 and the application was therefore referred to the February PC meeting for consideration.

 

2023/96                                                                                                                                                                Finance

a)     The Bank Reconciliation December 2023 had been circulated to members and was noted.

b)    Members considered a grant application from Busy Bees (previously circulated) and following debate, it was resolved to award a grant in the amount of £2,000 to be funded equally from the Solar Farm Fund and the PC Reserves (proposed Cllr Jackson, seconded Cllr Curry). It was further resolved that, when the grant was drawn down by Busy Bees, an online bank payment was authorised (proposed Cllr Eaton, seconded Cllr Curry).

c)     Members approved the below listed payments (proposed Cllr Curry, seconded Cllr Jackson):

 

Payee

Detail

Amount

Clerk and HMRC

Salary NI PAYE Nov/Dec

£1197.00

Nicola Duke

Reimburse hall hire Oct/Nov

£40.00

Sean Porter

Village newsletter Summer/Autum

£250.00

Tech Office

NP consultation printing

£272.49

Baptist Chapel

NPSG hall hire

£40.00

Cllr Eaton

Chairs expenses NPSG/land registry

£23.51

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

2023/97                                                                                                                                                                Parish Council Budget and Precept 2024-25 (reports previously circulated)

a)     Members debated the PC budget for 2024-25 including an allocation to the Playing Field Committee and, following debate, it was resolved to set the budget in the amount of £ 26,298 (proposed Cllr Carey, seconded Cllr Jackson).

b)    It was further resolved to set the Council’s precept for 2024-25 at £ 27,044 to provide a financial buffer against the budget, representing an increase per Band D equivalent property of 50p per month (proposed Cllr Heydon, seconded Cllr Porter).

 

2023/98                                                                                                                                                                Memorial for Local Resident

Members considered a possible Memorial for Mr Roy Butt and it was agreed to investigate a) the addition of Mr Butt to the memorial stone for Olive Blissett and b) the naming of a street at the Wesley Lane development in his memory.  Members were asked to consider further ideas for an appropriate memorial, for consideration at the next PC meeting.

 

2023/99                                                                                                                                                                Social Club NYE Event

Cllr Curry reported on the success of the Social Club’s New Year’s Eve event and it was agreed to write and thank the Club for the event and their support to the community.  It was also agreed to consider any funding support the Club may need, by way of a grant.  The Clerk would write to the Social Club accordingly, via Cllr Noble.

 

2023/100                                                                                                                                                              Village Hall

Members noted that a request had been received from the Valuation Office for rent, ownership and lease details for the Village Hall (sent to the PC by the Village Hall Committee) and Cllr Noble tabled a copy of the deed and lease, which was taken by the Chair for copying. The deadline for response to the VO was noted to be 12th February 2024. It was noted that the details required by the Valuation Officer were contained within the document and that the Village Hall Committee was therefore duly authorised to submit the responses as required.

 

2023/101                                                                                                                                                              Neighbourhood Plan Review

The Chair reported the following that the recent public consultation event had gone well with a high turnout. The comments on the sites submitted for the NDP review were now being collated and reviewed by the consultants. The Chair reported that the consultation period had needed to be extended by a week due to issues with publishing the required material on the parish website.  It was noted that consideration of a new website was an agenda item for the meeting.

 

The Chair further reported that he was in negotiations for the transfer of land at Blind Lane (previous minutes refer).  A report would be brought to the next PC meeting and members could then begin to consider an appropriate use for the land.

 

Members were also asked to consider approval of a change to the SG’s terms of reference to align agenda setting processes with those of the parish council (3 days’ notice; revised ToR attached). This was duly approved (proposed Cllr Eaton, seconded Cllr Jackson).

 

2023/102                                                                                                                                                              Service Level Agreement – Playing Field Committee

Members considered the next steps in respect of the SLA with the PFC and agreed that a meeting would be required to finalise the exact relationships between and responsibilities of the Playing Field, Village Hall and Parish Council.  Once this had been established and a report brought to the PC the funding application for 2024-25 would be considered. Cllr Noble would provide Cllrs Eaton and Heydon with the relevant documents for review and a meeting would be arranged within the next three weeks.

 

2023/103                                                                                                                                                              Website Proposal

Members considered a proposal for the development of new website (copy previously circulated).  Following debate, it was resolved to proceed with the development of a new website at a cost of £595 (proposed Cllr Heydon, seconded Cllr Curry).

 

It was also agreed that it would be appropriate to purchase a .gov domain name and establish .gov email addresses for the PC.  The Clerk would obtain a quote from the Council’s IT provider as well as a quote from the new website provider and these would be considered at the February PC meeting.

 

2023/104                                                                                                                                                              Southwick Village News

Members considered items for inclusion in the next edition of the newsletter (due March 2024, deadline for content end February) and agreed to include the following:

·    Grant support for Busy Bees

·    Installation of new dog bins

·    Thanks to the Social Club for the NYE event

·    Casual Vacancy and Co-option – expressions of interest to the Clerk.

 

It was also agreed to produce 200 hard copies of the newsletter for distribution around the village at a cost of £1 per booklet (budgetary provision already in place).

 

2023/105                                                                                                                                                              Correspondence

Members noted the below listed items of correspondence (previously circulated):

a)     Wiltshire Council re: Coronation Living Heritage Fund – noted, to be reconsidered when fund opened in Spring 2024.

b)    Wiltshire Association of Local Councils re: Code of Conduct training – no training courses currently being run.  The Clerk confirmed she was liaising with the Somerset Association to see it would be able to provide the training session.

c)     Wiltshire Council re: Casual Vacancy – Members noted that no election had been called and the Council was now able to proceed to co-option.

 

2023/106                                                                                                                                                              Date of next meeting

Tuesday 20th February 2024

 

2023/107                                                                                                                                                              Confidential Information

In view of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted at Agenda Item 2023/108 members resolved that the press and public be excluded from this part of the meeting (proposed Cllr Curry, seconded Cllr Carey).

Such a resolution was made in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 Sec 1 (2), which states "A body may, by resolution, exclude the public from a meeting (whether during the whole or part of the proceedings) whenever publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted or for other special reasons stated in the resolution and arising from the nature of that business or of the proceedings; and where such a resolution is passed, this Act shall not require the meeting to be open to the public during proceedings to which the resolution applies.’’ Reason for exclusion – Staffing Matters

 

At this point the Parish Clerk left the meeting.

 

2023/108                                                                                                                                                              Staffing Matters

Members adopted the NJC/NALC pay award 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024 (proposed Cllr Eaton, seconded Cllr Clayton) and agreed to give further consideration to establishing an employee pension scheme on receipt of more detailed financial information relating to the scheme. 

 

 

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9.30 pm.

Posted on 15 Feb 2024 by geoff edwards
 

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