SOUTHWICK PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman – Mr Stephen Carey

Minutes of the meeting of Southwick Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Southwick at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 17 March 2015

Present

Cllr. S Carey             (Chairman)

Cllr. A Doel

Cllr. S Jones

Cllr. G Masters

Cllr. F Morland

Cllr. K Noble

Cllr. E Pomeroy

Cllr. D West

Roger Coleman (Clerk)

Wiltshire Council Cllr. Horace Prickett attended.

PC Mark Hough (Neighbourhood Policing Team) attended (part-time).

There were no members of the public present.

1016.   Welcome and Introductions.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1017.   Apologies.

Apologies for non-attendance were received from Cllr. J Jones and Cllr. S Shave.

1018.   Declaration of Interests.

The Clerk explained the legal requirements associated with declaring interests

The Chairman, Cllr. Carey, declared a prejudicial interest in respect of Agenda item 6c.

1019.   Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting held on 17 February 2015.

The Parish Council resolved that the minutes of this meeting were a true and accurate record.  The Chairman signed the minutes.

1020.   Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT).

a.         PC Mark Hough of the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) gave the following report to the Parish Council:

There were 60 rural occurrences of which 15 were in the village. 3 of these were crimes.

ASB – 4.

• 25/2 Hollis Way - Verbal argument over parking issues outside local school. Advice given to both parties.
• 4/3 Chantry Gardens - Ongoing problems with youths playing "knock down ginger" on residents. youths have banged on IPs window before running off. I traced the youths in question and gave strong words of advice. I hope that this will address the issue.
• 4/3 Frome Rd - Known male has sent threatening messages to IP via Facebook. Officer has attended and viewed the messages, no offences. Offender warned.
• 12/3 Hollis way – Unknown youth shouted abuse at resident. I have offered reassurance here. I hope this the incident is isolated.

Burglary - 1.

• 17/2 Dunkirk BP -  Unseen persons have gained access to the RP's corrugated clad warehouse by cutting a hole through the outer metal skin; entered downstairs office, search cabinets and cupboards. Believe nothing stolen.  No forensics.

Drugs – 1.

• 21/2 Country Park - Suspect has been found in possession of cannabis and given a cannabis warning by Officer.

Theft – 2.

• 22/2 Frome Rd - Unknown suspect/s have stolen the de-fibrillator from the box where is was housed on the side of the building. I understand that this was returned.
• 7/3 Lamberts Marsh - Unknown suspect has stolen an unknown quantity of Oil from the tank located to the side of the property. We have had a few of these in the sector.

Violence – 1.

• 10/3 Frome Rd – Minor domestic assault where male was cautioned.

2 Other domestics with no offences

Criminal Damage – 0.

Traffic – 4.

• 15/3 Wynsone St – Drunken male hit car in layby and made off. Male found in Hollis way. Arrest and charged. (not local)
• 15/3 Frome RD – (unrelated to above) Drunken male drove over mini roundabout took out lamp post and church hedge. Male made off. Arrested further down Frome RD  and charged. (None local)
• 3/3 Brokerswood Rd - Clash of wing mirrors on narrow country road. Suspect in car failed to stop. Investigation ongoing.
• 14/3 Frome RD - RTC involving a coach and a small herd of cows loose on the road, resulting in the death of one cow, injury of another and damage caused to the vehicle. Farmer from Rode. No offences.

Police Constable Mark Hough
Community Beat Manager Trowbridge Rural (ET16) – Trowbridge & Bradford-on-Avon Sector

Tel - 101 ext 725528,   E-mail: Mark.Hough@wiltshire.pnn.police.uk

End of Report.

The Chairman thanked PC Hough for his report. 

b.         Cllr. Pomeroy reported that parked vehicles in Wynsome Street were causing an obstruction.

Cllr. Noble reported that a vehicle was regularly travelling at high speed in Chantry Gardens and that the security light also in Chantry Garden and previously reported was still causing difficulties for drivers. PC Hough stated that he noted these reports but the vehicles in Wynsome Street were parked lawfully and he had already spoken to the property owner in respect of the security light.

1021.   Highways/Environment.

a.         The Chairman presented a possible scheme for a village gateway at Firs Hill at the village boundary when travelling from Trowbridge to Southwick and he presented photographs to illustrate his proposal. He commented that such a scheme would improve road safety at that accident spot and a sympathetically designed gateway scheme could be an attractive feature. The scheme involved the installation of a 5-Bar  gate on the verge, improved signage and the creation of a ‘rumble strip’. Councillors discussed this subject at some length and resolved that the proposed scheme be fully designed and costed and presented to the CATG meeting for approval.

b.         It was resolved that the request to introduce waiting restrictions at the laybys in Wynsome Street be referred to the CATG meeting for approval..

c.         Cllr. Carey handed the Chairmanship to Cllr. Noble and did not take part in the discussion on the ‘stopping-up’ order application.

The Council examined the request for the ‘stopping-up’ of part of U/C Road 6116 and Path Southwick 45 submitted by Wiltshire Council and following an explanation by Cllr. Morland of the history of these highways and a detailed discussion by councillors, the Parish Council resolved that it would not consent to the application.

Cllr. Carey resumed the Chairmanship.

d.         Cllr. Carey stated that he and Cllr. Pomeroy had met with Wiltshire Council, Mark Banks, to review and to identify tasks for the next Community Day. Cllr. Carey invited councillors to propose additional tasks to be undertaken. The following tasks were proposed by councillors:

Cllr. West:

• Road sweeping of Frome Road between the Wynsome Street junction and the village boundary.
• Drain and gulley clearance in Church Lane.
• Litter collection in Wynsome Street.

Cllr. Doel:

• Identifying and removing the cause of flooding in Poles Hole Road. It is likely that it is a blocked drain.

Cllr. Masters:

• Clear the culverts and drains at Silver Street Lane.

Cllr. Grant:

• Cut back trees at the Fairfield Meadows/Frome Road junction.

e.         The Clerk was asked to produce a letter on officially headed paper to request parishioners to cut back overgrown vegetation etc. He was requested to provide forty copies of the letters for councilors to use where and when appropriate.

1022.   Wiltshire Council Report.

Wiltshire Council, Cllr. H Prickett gave the following report to the Council:

• The First Bus service No. 234 is vulnerable and could be withdrawn or be subject to a significantly reduced frequency. A similar service is provided by the X34 Monday to Friday.
• The T1 bus service cannot meet the staffing levels required nor can it meet the timetable requirements.
• The Solar Farm application in respect of Brook Hall Farm has been withdrawn.
• It is hoped to obtain a defibrillator for Southwick Country Park at the Squirrels Café.

The Council resolved that the Bus Service No. 234 through Southwick on a Saturday is important as it is the only bus service serving Southwick on a Saturday and that representations to maintain it should be made to Wiltshire Council on behalf of Southwick Parish Council.

1023.   Planning

a.   The Council noted the current status of the following planning applications:

b.         The Council examined the following planning application and resolved to send comments to Wiltshire Council as shown (in italics):

The Council supports this planning application.

c.         There were no planning applications received after 10 March 2015.

d.         Cllr. Carey stated that he and Cllr. Morland had attended the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations DPD Stakeholder meeting at Chippenham Town Hall on 23 February 2015. Cllr. Morland reported that the conurbations affected directly were Trowbridge, Melksham and Holt and that Southwick was unaffected. There ensued a discussion on the possibility of additional dwellings in Southwick and Cllr. Morland confirmed that there would be an opportunity to propose possible sites when the Draft Plan is issued for a six week consultation period in the Summer. Cllr. Grant emphasized that new dwellings in Southwick are needed but any significant developments must be accompanied by additional facilities, such as retail outlets and schools.

e.         The Clerk reported that Selwood Housing had stated that the planning application for the nine parking spaces at Arnold Noad Corner had not been implemented because an area originally planned for one of the parking spaces had been sold to a private occupier of one of the properties and no funding had been forthcoming from the other private occupiers to match fund the contribution to be made by Selwood Housing in respect of their tenants for the construction of the remaining parking spaces. Cllr. Noble stated that the Parish Council had only ever requested parking spaces for the Selwood Housing tenants and that she was unaware that any financial contribution from the private occupiers had been requested. The Clerk was requested to contact Selwood Housing and to enquire whether the private occupiers had ever been asked for a contribution.

The Clerk was asked to contact Selwood Housing and/or Wiltshire Council for a street light to be erected at Arnold Noad Corner  to replace the one removed from a property that had now been sold by Selwood Housing to a private resident.

Cllr. Morland reported that Mr Daniel Gerber of Gifford Hall had won his Court case in respect of the Broughton Gifford Solar Farm and that the Judge had quashed the extant planning permission thereby requiring the Solar Farm to be dismantled.

Cllr. Carey stated that he had discussed the question of a s106, or equivalent, contribution in respect of a local Solar Farm development with Wiltshire Council and had been advised that because no related infrastructure is required for a Solar Farm it is very unlikely that any s106, or equivalent, financial contribution would be forthcoming.

1024.   Finance

a.   The current financial position was reported as follows:

The Clerk stated that £305 had been credited to the Paris Council’s account in March in respect of revenue accrued from Southwick Village News adverts.

b.         The Council resolved to make the payments shown under ‘Accounts due for payment’ above.

1025.   Village Website.

The Chairman confirmed that the Village Website that is being developed by XYZ Web Ltd is nearing completion.

Cllr. Grant stated that she was very disappointed at the design of the website and that more consideration should have been given to its ability to attract users – especially younger people - and to enable it to be used on a variety of platforms, such as mobile phones and tablets. She commented that the design at present is too crowded with an excessive textual content thereby making the content difficult to read.

Cllrs Grant and S Jones emphasized the necessity of the Parish Council owning the Domain name. Cllr. Grant added that far more discussion on the nature and purpose of the website should have taken place and that there should have been a clear focus on the intended user communities.

The Chairman thanked Cllr. Grant for her comments and added that the website was a developing project and changes to it could be made. He added that the Parish Council was not tied in forever to the current web designer.

The Council resolved that the creation of Twitter and Facebook accounts will be discussed at a future meeting.

1026.   Members Reports

Cllr. Carey – The Southwick Village News Editor had been invited to attend the next Parish Council meeting to discuss the Southwick Village News and he invited all councillors to contact him beforehand regarding any comments they may have or may wish to make at that meeting in respect of the Southwick Village News.

1027.   Clerk’s Report.

a.         The Clerk reported the following:

• CPRE Best Kept Village Competition.
• Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre – Missing Records.
• Clerks & Councils Direct.

b.         The Council noted the date of the next meeting:

• Ordinary Parish Council Meeting – 21 April 2015 at 7.30pm.

c.         It was noted that the Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Tuesday 28 April 2015 commencing at 7.30pm.

There was no other business and the meeting concluded at 9.40pm.

Chairman                                                                                                     

Southwick Parish Council                                                                          21 April 2015

ACTION LIST – Meeting 17 March 2015

Action 1 (17/3/15)      Cllr. Carey.

Min 1021                     To ‘work up’ the village gateway scheme.

Action 2 (17/3/15)      Clerk.

Min 1021                     To contact Wiltshire Council – ‘Stopping-up’ Order.

Action 3 (17/3/15)      Cllr. Noble.

Min 1021                     To advise Wiltshire Council, Mark Banks, of tasks to be undertaken.

Action 4 (17/3/15)      Clerk.

Min 1021                     To produce letters for parishioners – Overgrown vegetation.

Action 5 (17/3/15)      Clerk.

Min1022                      To write to Wiltshire Council – Bus Service 234.

Action 6 (17/3/15)      Clerk.

Min1023                      To write to Wiltshire Council – Planning application.

Action 7 (17/3/15)      Clerk.

Min1023                      To contact Selwood Housing – Street light.

Action 8 (17/3/15)      Clerk.

Min1024                      To make payments.

Action 9 (17/3/15)      All Councillors.

Min 1026                     To inform the Chairman re. views on Southwick Village News.

Details of the Actions are contained in the minutes.