MINUTES OF AN ANNUAL FOLLOWED BY A MONTHLY MEETING OF PUBLOW WITH PENSFORD PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 18th MAY 2015 AT 7.15 pm AT THE MEMORIAL HALL PUBLOW LANE PENSFORD

Present: Mrs J Stephenson, Mr T Heaford, Mrs J Gully, Mrs L Cains,
Mrs D Custance, Mr S Filer, Mr J Kelly, Mrs T Jones, Cllr P May, Mr P Baxter.
Clerk: Mrs J Bragg.
There were 12 Members of the Public present.
Clerk welcomed everyone to the Annual & Monthly Meeting. Clerk then asked for proposals for the position of Chairman.

1. Election of Chairman, Vice-Chairman & Parish Councillors: Chairman: Mrs Janette Stephenson was proposed for the position chairman by Mr Heaford. This was seconded by Mrs Gully and Mrs L Cains. Vice-Chairman: Mr Tony Heaford was proposed for the position of Vice-Chairman by Mrs Gully and seconded by Mr Filer. All other members attending were elected to their position of Parish Councillor. At this point Mr Baxter informed the Parish Council that “Your Vote” achieved 48% of the votes. The official figures will be obtained and reported under Matters Arising at the June meeting.

2. Signing of Declaration & Acceptance of Office Book: The Declaration & Acceptance of Office Book was duly signed by the newly elected members of the Parish Council.
Clerk circulated a Register of Members Interests to all for completion and return to the Council within 28 Days.
Clerk circulated a copy of the Standing Orders of the Parish Council.

3. Members of the Public: First Member of the Public to speak informed the Parish Council that she had lived on Pensford Hill for 30 years and is now very concerned about the Accident Rate on the A37 and urges the Parish Council and the Local Authority to take action. There have been numerous accidents in the past months with fatalities. Lorries have been reported to have brushed a pedestrian whilst walking up Pensford Hill. Lorries have mounted the pavement on Pensford Hill damaging bollards. Parents have been reported to have moved their children to different schools in the local area to get them away from the main A37.

Suggestions on how to improve the current road layout were discussed with ideas such as a Roundabout at the turning for the B3130 at the top of Pensford Hill. Traffic Lights and Traffic Calming measures. A concern was that if too much traffic calming was undertaken then traffic may start using the smaller side roads as a cut through. A Member of the Public asked the Parish Council to find out what Criteria apply for formal Traffic Calming on Speed Limits.
Cllr Paul May was very supportive to all concerns and is happy to support in any way he can. Parish Council will pursue Traffic Incident Reports from the Police & Highways. Evidence from Members of the Public will also help put together a report for Highways.

Proposed Yellow Lines for Church Street: A member of the Public who lives in Church Street raised his concerns regarding the proposed restrictions and the detrimental effect it will have on the current parking problems which exist in the village. The Chairman informed members of the public that this is currently an informal consultation led by BANES who are firstly consulting with the Parish Council. The next stage will be a formal consultation during which Members of the Public can send in their comments to BANES. It was noted that there is a proposal to put Yellow Lines where a current Keep Clear Line is outside of Church House. The proposed Yellow Line would go across the Garage of this property. Clerk will notify BANES that the line should not go across the garage.

Church Street: Signs are overgrown with vegetation. This was pointed out at a recent meeting with BANES and should be in hand.
4. Apologies for Absence were received from Mrs S Grimes & Mrs J Jones

5. Minutes of Monday 13th April 2015 after being circulated were signed as a correct record.

6. Matters Arising from the previous minutes: There were no matters arising which were not covered on the Agenda or on the Clerks Progress Report.

7. Appointment of Representatives for: Memorial Hall Committee: Jenny Gully, Julie Bragg & Tracy Jones. Parish Council’s Airport Association: Tony Heaford & Sue Grimes. Parish Liaison Meetings: Janette Stephenson & Sue Grimes.  ALCA Meetings: Tony Heaford. Mr Heaford also attends the ALCA Executive Committee Meetings. Chew Valley Forum: Tony Heaford & Sue Grimes. Flood Representative: Paul Baxter & Jenny Gully. Planning Sub Committee: Tony Heaford, John Kelly, Janette Stephenson & Lisa Cains. Guardians for Defibrillators: Hillcrest: Lisa Cains & Dawn Custance. Post Office Pensford: Jennie Jones. Woollard: Janette Stephenson. Allotments: Steve Filer.

8. Parish Council Charity Donation: There had been no requests for donations it was therefore agreed that requests will be dealt with as and when they are received.

9. Items for Discussion:

a) Neighbourhood Plan Update: Parish Council were reminded of the Dates and Times for the Open Drop in Sessions. Display Boards for comments will be put up around the room with supporting information and pictures from around the village. There will also be pictures of Past Pensford. It is hoped that the Questionnaire will go out sometime in September. A Grant process is in hand. Funding is available for three years. Parish Council are funding expenses at the moment. Cllr May reported that Whitchurch Neighbourhood Planning Committee have received 190 questionnaires back out of 450 sent out.

b) Pensford 10K Update: The whole event went well. The total amount of runners entering was slightly down on last year. The date for next year is 26th April 2016.

c) New Signs for Village: Progressing this had been put on hold until the Elections had taken place. Pictures of the Farrington Gurney Signs will be obtained. It was reported that they cost in the region of £750.00 each and Traffic & Safety will be looking for a donation from the Parish Council. It was agreed that if the signs were purchased the word “Publow” has to be on the sign. i.e. Publow with Pensford Parish

d) Accounts: After the April Meeting small changes had been made to the accounts. The Annual Return had been completed and all now ready to go to Audit. Mr Kelly the Responsible Financial Officer read out an updated Financial Report. Mr Heaford proposed that the Accounts were agreed and signed. This was unanimously supported.

Number Square for School: Previously the Parish Council had donated £300.00 to the Primary School for a Number Square in the Playground. It was noted that the Number Square has not been put down, but in fact further fundraising is being undertaken to add additional items to the number grid. £350.00 was raised at the 10K. Mrs Cains will update Parish Council on the progress of this.

e) Presentation of Community Award Certificate: A certificate has been awarded to Sally Daniels of the Miners Coffee Shop for her contribution to the Community. Parish Council to arrange a date for presentation of the certificate.
f) Traffic & Safety on the A37 – Pensford Hill: Discussed under Members of the Public.

g) The Community Bus: An application had been received from the Community Playbus seeking funding to run further play schemes in Pensford. The Community Bus is a holiday play scheme, which is provided for five to 12-year-olds in Pensford. It was a huge success in April with 21 children attending the morning session and 24 the afternoon. The Organizers have to pay £70.00 for the hire of the Memorial Hall. On discussion the Responsible Financial Officer proposed that £500.00 should be donated. A request for details of Accounts will be made for future years.

h) Proposed Traffic Regulation Order – BANES Highways & Traffic: The existing tensions in relation to parking in Church Street were discussed. Parish Council Chairman re-iterated that this consultation has been prepared by BANES. BANES had determined the areas where there was a need for safety. It is proposed to replace the existing white Keep Clear Lines with Double Yellow Lines outside of the Church Room to allow Wheelchair Access. The Church Room is used frequently. A resident in Church Street is of the opinion that Yellow Lines will not stop residents parking in front of the Church Room.

The Primary School recently had a visit to the Church Room and the children had to walk in the road because of cars parked on the pavements outside of their homes.

10. Clerks Progress Report:

Redundant Bus Shelter: Matter still ongoing.

Highways: Council Connect have again been reminded about the Potholes in Church Street.

Hursley Hill: Clerk has reported two separate incidents of Fly Tipping which have occurred in the Lay By at the bottom of Hursley Hill.

Church Street: Highways have been asked to highlight the white No Entry Sign in Church Street outside of Waterside Cottage. This was pointed out to Traffic & Safety during their site visit. It has since been noted that cars are entering the No Entry by the Post Office. Highways will be asked to highlight the No Entry and the One Way system.

Traffic Regulation Order: Item 9 h) on the Agenda. Clerk has spoken with the Traffic Management Team who welcome the Parish Councils comments after tonight’s meeting and report that the Public Consultation would take place about 3 weeks after the end of the Informal Consultation so towards the end of next month and it will run for a period of 21 days.

Tennis Club: Tennis courts are in use but final surface/painting needs to be done once the league matches are completed. This has been deliberately delayed to enable league matches to go ahead.

Footpaths: A Complaint was received by Sheila Petherbridge at PROW regarding an overhanging hedge at Bluebell Cottage. Sheila has visited and this has now been cut back a footpath. Clerk has asked the Footpaths Officer to attend to surface vegetation on the path.

Rubble in Publow Lane: The Highways Inspector has been notified about the rubble in Publow Lane lay by. Members of the Public have complained to the Clerk. A follow up call to Highways was made.

Neighbourhood Planning Banners: Highways confirmed that they were happy for these banners to be displayed on the railings on Pensford Bridge.

St Thomas a Becket Churchyard: Notification has been received from the PCC in relation to the Insurance Policy being cancelled as of 15th May 2015 and the responsibility will now be passed to the Council.

Planning:

15/01759/TCA Mr & Mrs Baxter The Former St Thomas a Becket Church. Fell Holly tree – no intention to replace. Parish Council have queried with BANES the current ownership of the land, and if transfer is not complete have the Church of England been notified of the intention to remove this tree. The Arboriculture Officer has confirmed that “The ownership of the tree is not a material consideration in how the council determines a notification for tree works, however, an advisory note will be added to indicate that the permission of the land owner would need to be obtained.”

Correspondence:

Flood Risk Management Strategy Briefing Workshop: An invitation has been received to attend a briefing workshop/session on Local Flood Risk Management which will take place on Wednesday 17th June 2015 at Keynsham Civic Centre, Market Walk, Keynsham. 10am till 12pm

Footpaths Agency Agreement: Public Rights of Way have confirmed that the amount for the Footpaths Officer 2015/2016 is £821.82. Clerk has raised an invoice for this amount.

Greenfeasts: Parish Council have received an email from Sally Jenkins who for the last couple of years has been developing plans for a new community supported farm on Stanton Lane. Sally attended a Parish Council meeting in October 2013 to introduce herself and the project. Sally would like to attend a future Parish Council meeting to give an update. Permission has just been granted for Sally to build a barn to create essential facilities for this enterprise. Details can be found under the Planning section in BANES 15/01172/AGRN Wild Things Farm Old Down Pensford Lane Stanton Drew.

Planning Question:

Paul Baxter Public Session Meeting of 9 February. In response to a question from Mr Heaford Mr Baxter stated that he stood by the statement he made in the Public Session of the Meeting of 9 February that he had been offered and turned down monetary inducements related to planning. He said he had not informed the police and declared that he did not wish to say any more about the matter. Mr May commented that in many years working in the public sector he was unaware of anything similar taking place. He did warn that while members of the public were to a large extent free to report or not to report the offer of inducements parish councillors had an absolute duty in such circumstances to immediately inform the police.

11. Planning:

Applications to be considered: 15/01672/OUT Mr & Mrs Fear
31 Hillcrest, Pensford. Erection of 1no. Dwelling with associated parking (Resubmission). Parish Council could not see any major difference in the resubmission and gave their support to the application.

Applications considered by Sub-Committee: 15/01415/FUL Mr Baber 85 Hillcrest Erection of single storey rear extension. Parish Council Support.

Tree Works Notification: 15/01759/TCA Mr & Mrs Baxter The Former St Thomas A Becket’s Church. Fell Holly tree. No intention to replace. Parish Council submitted comments. An interest should have been declared. However, Mr Baxter reported that the land on which the Holly Tree stands has now been transferred to himself.

Planning Appeal Lodged: 14/05615/ADCOU AMP Electrical Belluton Barn Belluton Farm, Stanton Road. Prior approval request for change of use from Agricultural Barn to Dwelling (C3).

Planning Appeal Decision:

14/04771/FUL Mr & Mrs Sessford Birchwood Lodge. Detached Double Garage (Resubmission). Appeal Dismissed.

14/04826/FUL Mr T Gibbons 13 Hillcrest Pensford. 2 Bed Dwelling to be built to the side of 13 Hillcrest. Appeal Dismissed.

Outcomes:

15/00329/LBA Parsonage Farm, Parsonage Lane. Internal Works. Consent.

15/00598/FUL Mr & Mrs Radford The Rising Sun. Alteration of existing first floor window openings to create a new escape door access to new external fire escape. PERMIT.

15/01165/TCA Hill House Pensford Hill. Tree Works in Conservation Area. No Objection.

15/01445/TCA Mr P Clouting Chew Cottage Mill Lane Woollard. Tree Works in Conservation Area. No Objection.

12. Financial Matters:

Payments to be Authorised over £100.00

Mrs J Bragg April Salary Net 637.32
Zurich Insurance Cover 732.31

Payments to be Authorised:

National Allotment Soc Membership Renewal 25.00
Mrs J Bragg Imprest 31.50
Mr S King Neighbourhood Plan Banners 72.26

Payments Authorised:

Mrs J Bragg Use of Home as Office 416.00

Insurance: An insurance comparison had been carried out in the last Financial Month and the Parish Council Insurance had moved from AON to Zurich at a saving in excess of £200.

13. Any Other Business:

Footpath needing clearing: The footpath which runs from Leigh Farm to Lordswood was reported to be in need of clearing. Mrs Stephenson will mention it to the footpaths officer.

The Footpath from the Garage up towards Nursery Corner and up to Whitley Batts is still in need of attention. BANES will be asked again to clear it. The responsibility of the wall will be questioned.

Policeman’s Lane: Is reported to be overgrown.

Bus Stop, Hillcrest: Concerns were raised regarding the wall by the bus stop. There are large cracks in the wall which look to be getting worse.

Pre-School Provision: Cllr P May asked if there was pre-school provision in the Parish. He was informed that there is Stanton Drew & Pensford Pre-School at the Village Hall in Stanton Drew. The Pre-School is currently seeking funds to help keep it running.

Publow Lane: Dumped brickwork is understood to be ongoing. It was noted that there is a lack of signage for Publow. Clerk reported that the sign on the fingerpost on A37 giving directions to Publow was removed for repairs and never put back by BANES. Clerk to follow up.

Wick Lane: There are bags of rubbish dumped at the side of the road by the “Old Doctors Surgery”, in Wick Lane. Clerk to report and get it removed.

Waterside Cottage: The ivy is overgrowing the No Entry sign. The rubbish around the property makes an unsightly Conservation Area.

Employees Pension: Clerk was reminded about this new initiative. Clerk has details from ALCA.

14. Notice of Future Meetings:

DATE OF NEXT MEETING MONDAY 8TH JUNE 2015 AT 7.15p.m.