KING’S SOMBORNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held in the Epworth Hall commencing at 7.00pm on Monday 6 June 2016
Present: Cllr R Harwood (Chairman)
Cllr A Brock
Cllr J Evans
Cllr H Griffith
Cllr K Hughes
Cllr R Sutton
Cllr S Whitehead
In Attendance: Mr P J Storey (Clerk to King’s Somborne Parish Council)
Public Session
Mr R Dyke and Mr R Pidgeon (Open Spaces Wardens) were present for part of the meeting.
Mr A Langridge from Tony Langridge Consulting and Ms T Hancock from Aster Housing attended the public session to give a presentation on Aster’s proposal to develop four houses on the current car park at the Scott Close/Eldon Road boundary. The site is one of a number under consideration by Aster as part of their commitment to make better use of their land holdings to generate funding for new affordable homes. If planning permission was granted, the site would be sold and would most likely be developed as market housing for sale. The current garages on the proposed site, which Aster claimed were not well used, would be demolished and four new 2 and 3 bed homes and eight parking spaces for these homes plus thirteen other parking spaces would be provided. It was thought the new homes would appeal to both families and those wishing to downsize and in developing them councillors were assured that the amenity of neighbours would be protected with development at least 20m away from the nearest existing bungalow in Old Palace Farm and with the planned window orientation no overlooking of 2 – 6 Scott Close would occur. The Cherry, Ash and Maple trees on site would be retained and following a parking survey which Aster had undertaken, the evidence showed that sufficient on-street capacity existed within 200m of the existing garages.
Councillors raised some concern at these statistics and also stressed the need for starter homes to help current Aster tenants get on the housing ladder. The lack of action by Aster to remove/relocate the two domestic caravans taking up parking slots on the estate was raised and the wish of the Council not to incorporate external TV aerials was noted. The full planning application was now awaited.
85. Apologies for Absence
85.1 Cllrs Curtis, Fahy and Lane, and C/Cllr Gibson and B/Cllr Ward.
86. Chairman’s announcements and Councillors’ questions
86.1 None.
87. To approve the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9 May 2016
87.1 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2016 be accepted as a true record.
88. To consider any Matters Arising from those Minutes
88.1 Para 71.2 Land transfer. Cllr Brock would contact Fields in Trust to expedite action on the land transfer paperwork and also the approvals necessary to enable SSE to bury their electricity supply cables across the 3 Fields site.
Action: Cllr Brock
88.2 Para 71.3 Portable generator. The Clerk would liaise with the Village Hall and SSE over the purchase and siting of a portable generator as part of the community’s resilience planning.
Action: Clerk
89. Declarations of Interest and requests for Dispensations
89.1 None declared or sought.
90. To consider Correspondence Received and determine any action required
90.1 Test Valley School had written seeking donations towards their annual prize giving. In previous years, the Council had granted £75 towards prizes.
90.2 Proposed Cllr Evans, Seconded Cllr Hughes, RESOLVED unanimously that £75 be granted to Test Valley School towards prizes to be awarded ant their Annual Presentation Evening to be held on 24 November 2016.
91. To receive minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 23 May 2016
91.1 The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 23 May 2016 had been circulated with the agenda.
91.2 Proposed Cllr Hutton, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 23 May 2016 be received and accepted.
92. Councillors’ Reports
92.1 None tabled.
93. To receive the RFO’s Report and Budget Monitoring
93.1 A budget monitoring report had been circulated with the agenda papers.
93.2 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Evans, RESOLVED unanimously that the Budget Report be accepted as tabled.
94. Payment of Accounts
94.1 Proposed Cllr Griffith, Seconded Cllr Sutton, RESOLVED unanimously that the following accounts for May 2016 be approved for payment:
To For Net VAT Gross Chq/Internet
Mr P Storey Salary/expenses 859.25 859.25 Int
HMRC Tax/NIC 219.82 219.82 Int
Legal & General Staff pension 37.08 37.08 DD
Cllr A Brock Fuel reimbursement 5.56 5.56 Int
Mr M Rebbeck Grounds maint 791.00 791.00 Int
KS Village Hall Hire charge 45.00 45.00 Int
Totals 1957.71 1957.71
95. Review of 2016 Annual Assembly
95.1 The domestic arrangements for the Annual Assembly in the Village Hall were deemed satisfactory but disappointment was expressed at the poor attendance. Discussion took place on how to attract more attendees and amongst the ideas put forward were the need to communicate more effectively and the inclusion of another activity to encourage attendance. Although e-mail address lists existed for other activities, such as the Neighbourhood Development Plan, no central Parish Council list existed. Cllr Hughes volunteered to construct such a list in an effort to enhance the Council’s ability to communicate more effectively.
Action: Cllr Hughes
95.2 Other points raised included an invitation to Grant Aid recipients to talk about how the grant awarded had benefited their organisation, holding an American supper where you brought your own food to make the evening more relaxed, a fund raising event and/or quiz and the possible sale of alcohol during the event.
95.3 The following points were raised in the public session: clearing the detritus from under the A3057 bridge (an HCC bridges engineer had visited but had determined no benefit would derive from this); hanging baskets from the poles around the Parish (lacked support due to probable maintenance problems); car parking on 3 Fields to alleviate congestion on the A3057 and recreation ground car park (English Heritage who owned the field in question would not countenance such an arrangement); the purchase of a second speed indicator device (to be discussed further); the introduction of a community safety scheme whereby volunteers record speeding motorists for follow up action (to be discussed further); and local development at Spencer’s Farm and on the Eldon Road/Scott Close car park (planning applications awaited).
96. Trim trail maintenance programme
96.1 It had been suggested that because of the poor use of the trim trail the grass adjacent need not be cut so frequently and a cost saving made. However, the responses to the Neighbourhood Development Plan Questionnaire indicated that sufficient people used the facility to make it worthwhile maintaining.
97. Recreation ground car parking
97.1 The increasing use being made of the recreation ground car park during the day and evening for car parking by other than Village Hall or recreation ground users made it more difficult for those using the facilities to park especially when a function was in progress.
97.2 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Harwood, RESOLVED that introduction of marked parking slots be investigated to maximise the number of slots available and that the two clothing banks be relocated adjacent to the TVBC recycling facility.
Action: Clerk
98. Dog fouling in open spaces
98. The problem of irresponsible dog walkers not picking up their dog’s waste was getting worse to the detriment of football and cricket players as well as posing health dangers to people especially children. The Clerk was taking advice from the TVBC dog warden on action that responsible members of the public and councillors could take in these circumstances.
Action: Clerk
99. Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) progress
99.1 Cllr Brock briefed on the progress to date regarding preparation of the NDP. An encouraging response had been received to the public consultation questionnaires indicating some clear ways forward. To this end, three public engagement meetings were being planned and a leaflet drop to all dwellings in the Parish would indicate time and place and encourage residents to attend following which the first draft of the NDP would be produced. A grant from TVBC of £1000 had been received to help offset costs incurred to date.
100. Clerk’s monthly report
100.1 All-weather path. Following an on-site meeting between English Heritage, HCC, TVBC and the Clerk, the route for the path had been agreed but it would have to avoid going through the mounds on the 3 Fields site. The work would now go out to contract with a planned installation date of late Summer.
100.2 Wanton damage. The Clerk reported damage to a trim trail sign and a dog waste bin on Top Field. Repair action was in hand.
100.3 The Church had requested the purchase of a picnic table to discourage visitors choosing to take refreshment in the area from sitting on the stone wall or the War Memorial steps. Although a proposal was tabled, it was subsequently thought more appropriate for this to be the subject of a formal application for Grant Aid. The Clerk would forward the necessary forms.
Action: Clerk
100.4 Skate ramp graffiti. An increase in graffiti on the skate ramp whereby vandals were scratching through the paint resistant surface to leave their mark had taken place. Discussion ensued on ways of deterring this and one suggestion to be followed up was to give ‘ownership’ of part of the ramp to a tag artist.
Action: Clerk
100.5 Humbers View dog bin. An increasing amount of dog waste was being left in the vicinity of Humbers View to the annoyance of residents or where the waste was bagged the bags were being put in residents’ green household waste bins. The need for a dedicated dog waste bin had been suggested. However, the installation costs were in excess of £300 with an additional charge for regular emptying and cleaning and as the land in the area was owned by Aster Housing it was thought more appropriate to approach them for assistance.
Action: Clerk
100.6 Councillor Commission. The Clerk had previously circulated a note outlining the formation of a Councillor Commission to conduct an independent review of the role and work of parish councillors to provide policy makers with a better understanding of the office of councillor and the contribution made to their communities. All noted that Cllr Mike Evans, a board member of HALC, had been appointed to the Commission.
101. Date, time and place of next meeting
101.1 The next meeting would be on Monday 4 July 2016 at 7.00pm in the Epworth Hall, Winchester Road, King’s Somborne.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.40pm