Parish Council
Parish Council Minutes 3 Mar 14
KING’S SOMBORNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held in the Epworth Hall
commencing at 7.00pm on Monday 3 March 2014
Present: Cllr R Harwood (Chairman)
Cllr A Brock
Cllr J Evans
Cllr F Fahy
Cllr R Jackson
Cllr A Reeves
Cllr J Werrett
In Attendance: Mr P J Storey (Clerk to King’s Somborne Parish Council)
Public Session
The Footpath Warden, PCSO Bonter, B/Cllr Ward and five members of the public were present for all or part of the meeting.
Mr Pearson recommended a survey be made of the Churchyard tree adjacent to the School playground, that the Tollgate pavement be cleared of debris and that new kerbs be installed along its length to deter vehicles from mounting the pavement. Mr Lay queried the number of affordable homes quoted in the draft Local Plan following which it was confirmed that no plans existed at this time for more such homes to be built in King’s Somborne. However, it was noted that pockets of land were available for further development and these would be considered when drafting the Village Design Statement which was in hand and would be put out for public consultation in due course. Mr Haydon, the Footpath Warden, briefed that plans were afoot to have a dog slide installed at the Horsebridge end of the footpath from King’s Somborne to address the concerns of dog walkers whose pets could not negotiate the new gate although this was subject to the landowner’s consent; scalpings would be laid at the kissing gate at the Horsebridge Road kissing gate into the field at the south end of King’s Somborne; action had been taken to remove the fallen tree which had impeded the water flow across the same field and that HCC had acknowledged the need to replace the kissing gate damaged by a fallen tree at the top end of the Muss Lane play area. PCSO Bonter reported an increase in vehicle crime in general and that she had issued ‘Slow down’ stickers for Strawberry Lane residents to stick to their refuse bins to draw attention to the dangers of speeding along that narrow road. Mr Crouch thanked the Parish Council for the action taken to alleviate the problems caused by the current flooding and B/Cllr Ward suggested the Parish Council’s response to the draft Local Plan might focus on the settlement boundary and water supplies. The Clerk would action, where necessary.
Action: Clerk
29. Apologies for absence.
29.1 Cllrs Curtis and Lane; C/Cllr Gibson.
30. Chairman’s announcements and Councillors’ questions
30.1 None made.
31. To approve the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 3 February 2014
31.1 Proposed Cllr Werrett, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2014 be accepted as a true record.
32. To consider any Matters Arising from those Minutes
32.1 Para 22.4 Southern Water reimbursement. Southern Water was again reviewing its billing records and would confirm no future reimbursement claim would be made in due course.
33. Declarations of Interest and requests for Dispensations
33.1 None declared or sought.
34. To consider Correspondence Received and determine any action required
34.1 The Clerk drew Members’ attention to correspondence received but no further action was thought necessary.
35. To consider co-option to fill the vacancy
35.1 One nomination, from Mr Simon Whitehead, had been received and the Chairman invited Mr Whitehead to introduce himself.
35.2 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Jackson, RESOLVED unanimously that Mr Simon Whitehead be co-opted on to the Parish Council.
36. To receive Councillors’ Reports
36.1 Cllr Evans reported that in the event neither she nor Cllr Reeves had been able to attend the transport forum.
36.2 Cllr Fahy queried ownership of the marked parking areas on Scott Close as the markings were worn and it was becoming increasingly difficult for all residents to park their cars there. The Clerk would investigate.
Action: Clerk
36.3 Cllr Fahy introduced the wish of the Village Hall management committee to erect signs at the entrances to the King’s Somborne recreation ground on land managed by the Parish Council indicating the presence of both the recreation ground itself and the Village Hall.
36.4 Proposed Cllr Fahy, Seconded Cllr Jackson, RESOLVED with Cllr Brock abstaining that the Village Hall management committee be allowed to erect at its own cost suitable signage at the entrances to the King’s Somborne recreation ground indicating the presence of the recreation ground itself and the Village Hall.
36.5 Cllr Fahy represented the concerns of the Village Hall management committee at the additional cost likely now it appeared that in order to succeed in obtaining consent to develop on land owned by Fields in Trust an independent surveyor’s report on the value of the land in question was required to satisfy the Charities Commission. The total costs now could exceed the £2000 earmarked by the committee. This was noted and in the subsequent discussion on whether title to the land should be transferred or a long lease be granted, Cllr Werrett opined that preference should be for a lease.
36.6 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED by four votes for and three against that should the actual transfer of land occur between Fields in Trust and the Parish Council that part of the land which the Village Hall wished to extend upon be leased to the Hall on a long term basis rather than be the subject of a further transfer of title.
36.7 The Clerk would make these points known to Fields in Trust who would determine the situation at their June meeting of trustees.
Action: Clerk
36.8 Cllr Jackson recommended that corner posts be erected around the proposed biodiversity site on 3Fields to identify the limit of the mowing area.
Action: Clerk
36.9 In the absence of Cllr Curtis, the Clerk updated Members on the current situation regarding costings for the multi-use games area (MUGA). The supplier had reviewed the estimated cost and reduced it by deleting the need for spoil removal from site and replacing the planned gated entrance with a chicane entrance; the revised cost was now £55.653.94 ex VAT. However, Members expressed a preference for a gate to enable the area to made secure when necessary and information on the location for the removed spoil was required.
Action: Cllr Curtis
36.10 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Fahy, RESOLVED unanimously that S&C Slatter Ltd be authorised to proceed with the installation of the MUGA with the addition of a gate instead of a chicane and confirmation of the planned location for the removed spoil.
37. To receive the RFO’s Report and Budget Monitoring
37.1 A budget monitoring report had been circulated with the agenda papers and was noted.
38. Payment of Accounts
38.1 Proposed Cllr Fahy, Seconded Cllr Jackson, RESOLVED unanimously that the following accounts for February 2014 be approved for payment:
To For Net VAT Gross Chq/Internet
Mr P Storey Salary/expenses 1011.46 12.59 1024.05 Int
BPC Shared costs 22.00 22.00 Int
HMRC Tax/NIC 175.29 175.29 Int
Bruno Construction Church wall repairs 280.00 56.00 336.00 Int
TVBC SLR maint 790.00 790.00 Int
Southern Water KS rec water 13.26 13.26 DD Totals 2292.01 68.59 2360.60
39. Parish response to the TVBC draft local Plan
39.1 Cllr Brock would draft the response to the TVBC draft Local Plan in Cllr Werrett’s absence and the Clerk was authorised to submit the comments made which would include comments on water management and the need for adequate sewage and drainage systems. In particular, Cllr Werrett emphasised the need to ensure any future new buildings in our area avoided causing water to flood into the valley and aggravate the risk of local flooding.
Action: Cllr Brock and Clerk
40. Community Resilience Plan
40.1 The Chairman explained the need to invoke a small working committee to oversee and co-ordinate, where appropriate, the Parish response to the current flooding. The committee comprised himself, Cllr Werrett, as the lead floodwatch councillor, and the Clerk. It had met and would continue to meet informally as the need arose with updates, as appropriate, going on the Flood Alert page on The Sombornes website. Flood Wardens for those areas at risk had been appointed and frequent contact made with those external agencies involved, some of whom had been more responsive than others. The impact of the flooding on the local community would be open for discussion and receipt of parishioners’ views at the forthcoming Annual Assembly. Following the various wash up meetings to which Parish representatives hoped to attend, the Community Resilience Plan would be
reviewed based upon our recent experience.
Action: Clerk
41. Parish Development working group
41.1 Cllr Werrett reported that work continued on drafting the Village Design Statement which would go out for consultation later in the year.
Action: Cllr Werrett
42. Annual Assembly 2014
42.1 Arrangements were well in hand for this year’s Annual Assembly. Although there would not be any external speakers, Mr Peacey, from HCC, would be in attendance to answer questions on the roll out of super broadband in rural areas.
43. Clerk’s monthly report
43.1 TVCB was seeking an update to the public open spaces information that it currently held together with any additions. This information would then form the basis for seeking future developers’ contributions. The Clerk briefed on the current list and Members thought that improvements to the School path, provision of a water supply to the allotments, and seats and an information board around the proposed biodiversity area should be included.
Action: Clerk
43.2 Members noted with regret that redundancy notices had been issued to Tacmac employees. No further information was available at this time on the future of the site.
43.3 On behalf of C/Cllr Gibson, the Clerk reported that he was attempting to have the speed limit in the area of the Strawberry Lane junction with Winchester Road reduced to 40mph.
44. Date, time and place of next meeting
4428.1 The next meeting would be on Monday 7 April 2014 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall, Romsey Road, King’s Somborne.
Action: All
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.00pm