MINUTES OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 7TH JANUARY 2015 AT 7.30 PM
IN THE CHURCH ROOM CHURCH STREET PENSFORD
Present: Mr C James, Mr C Taylor, Mr A Ford, Mr S King, Mr J Cogan, Mrs S Grimes, Mrs J Stephenson & Mrs J Bragg.
1) Apologies were received from Jacquie Haigh and Helen Stockwell
2) Chairman’s Remarks: Mr James, welcomed new member Mr James Cogan to the meeting.
3) Minutes of Previous Meetings: a) The minutes of 26th November 2014 after being circulated and read were signed by Mr James as a true record.
b) The minutes of 4th December 2014 a meeting which was held with two representatives from the Whitchurch Neighbourhood Planning Group were also signed as a true record.
4) Matters Arising: Draft Minutes: It was agreed that the Draft Minutes would only be submitted to the Chairman who will make any amendments necessary. Once the minutes have been agreed by all members and signed as a true record at the next meeting they will be made available on the web site.
Logo: The Primary School have said that they would like the children to be involved in the creation of a Logo. The Primary School Council made up of school pupils will take this on as one of their projects.
Whitchurch Neighbourhood Planning Group are keen to keep links with Pensford. It was agreed that they would be invited to meet with Pensford every couple of months. It was agreed that we share one common problem which is the A37. We could also share advice with each other on how to get the best advice from B&NES Council. It was agreed to meet as an information sharing meeting rather than a formal meeting. Parish Council members to speak with Paul May.
One matter arising from the 4th December minutes, Mr Taylor had raised a query in relation to the possibility of a Bristol Ring Road. There had been no reaction to this and was dismissed.
5) Feedback from the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 8th December: It was reported that the Parish Council are happy to lend Financial Support to the Neighbourhood Planning Group for items such as Printing, Room Hire and other smaller costs.
6) Items for discussion: a
) Composition and Membership of the Neighbourhood Planning Committee: Mr James explained that there is now a need to clarify how we want the structure of the group to be. It must be Parish Council lead. However after holding 8 meetings, formalisation of the group is needed. It was confirmed that up until now Mr James
02/15 had chaired all of the meetings, and as the Parish Council have agreed to fund the Parish Council Clerk, Mrs Bragg, she will remain the minute taker. The group Proposed Mr James as Chairman, this was unanimously supported. Mr King was proposed as Vice-chairman and this too was unanimously supported by the other members. A Finance Officer will need to be appointed. Mrs Stephenson will ask the Parish Councils Responsible Financial Officer if he would like to hold this position. The correct procedure for opening a Bank Account will be checked with Julie O’Rourke as will the role of the Parish Council in the funding issue.
Mr James explained that at present we potentially have ten members who will regularly meet to push forward with the Neighbourhood Plan. Therefore what structure would everyone like? It was agreed that we would meet as before and try to recruit other members maybe once the questionnaire has been circulated. Awareness of the Neighbourhood Plan still needs to be achieved. The Public Meetings will hopefully be the next stage in raising awareness and maybe recruiting further members.
Publicity: Further reports will be included in the Parish Magazine.
Draft Timescale/Draft Questionnaire/Draft Budget: A meeting had been held between Mr Ford, Mr Taylor and Mrs Grimes who produced a timescale, questionnaire and budget. Research had been carried out by looking at neighbouring parishes questionnaires. The second questionnaire was brought to the table for the members to discuss. A discussion on the questionnaire took up the bulk of the meeting and changes were suggested. It was agreed that Mr Ford would take away the questionnaire and circulate back to all. Any further responses were again to go back to Mr Ford. Clerk was to circulate the questionnaire to the Parish Council prior to their next meeting and ask them to trial filling it out and bring their feedback to the meeting. Mr Ford would make himself available at the meeting for any comments.
Distribution of the Questionnaire: It was noted that the Post Office had kindly offered to help distribute the questionnaires. It was agreed that a box for responses would be put in the Post Office but also offer a collection service for those who could not get to the Post Office with their form.
It was agreed to avoid the Election Period, and that it would be better to delay the questionnaire going out and get it right.
It was agreed that Public Meetings are going to be vital in the whole process. Initial thoughts were to hold the Public Meeting in April/mid-May onwards. The Consultation will also be a good opportunity for recruitment.
Budget Application: Is now pressing in terms of timescale. It was agreed that Julie O’Rourke would be asked for advice on the budget. Mr Ford & Mr James would visit Julie in Bath if it made things easier for her as she had informed the clerk that the earliest she could visit would be the 20th or 27th February.
Funding: The Parish Council will be asked for a Terms of Reference in respect of funding. There will be referendum costs and a B&NES Inspector which are costs paid by B&NES.
National Money is available in April for which the detailed budget will need to be ready.
Next meeting with Julie O’Rourke: Clerk to ask for a meeting sooner than the end of February.
7) Any Other Business:
Mr Cogan offered assistance with an Air Quality Survey/Traffic Management Survey through his employment.
8) Date of Next Meeting: Wednesday 4th February 2015 at The Church Room, Church Street, Pensford.