WEST CREWKERNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday
10th March 2020 at Clapton & Wayford Village Hall
Members Present
Mrs Julia Borland (Chairman)
Mrs Caroline Broom
Mr D Yeomans
Mr Frank Freeman
Mr R Franklin
Mr Mike Best (Somerset County
Councillor)
Mrs S. Osborne (South
Somerset District Councillor)
Also present
5 Members of the Public
1. Apologies
for Absence
Apologies
received from Miss Jackie Parsons (Parish Clerk), Mick and Mary Wilson, Mr L
Graham-Gleed and Mrs M Ashby (These parishioners came in part way through the
meeting).
2. Public Open Forum – Each member of the
public present is entitled to speak once only, in respect of business itemised
on the agenda and shall not speak for more than 5 minutes.
No member of the public had any item to discuss.
3. Declarations of Interest in items on
the agenda (Pecuniary or non-statutory interests).
None of the Parish Councillors declared any Pecuniary or non-statutory
interest in items on the agenda.
4. To approve the minutes of the Parish
Council Meeting held on the 14th January 2020.
The minutes approved by the meeting and proposed for approval by Mrs C
Broom and seconded by Mr F Freemans.
5. Matters arising from the minutes not
covered elsewhere on the Agenda.
No matters were brought up for discussion.
6 Planning
Matters.
West Crewkerne Parish Council is a Statutory
Consultee for Planning Applications
and
as such does not make the final decision on any application. Any decisions and comments made by the Parish Council
will be fed into the planning process and added to the report by the Planning Officer. South Somerset District Council is the
Planning Authority and will issue the final decision notice (Planning
Determination) once their investigations into the application, consultation
period and decision making process has been completed.
A):
20/00292/HOU The
Coach House Henley Manor Henley Cross Crewkerne TA18 8PQ, External Alterations to replace one velux
roof light and install one new velux roof light on front elevation of
dwelling. Received 30th
January 2020.
All Parish Councillors had had a chance
to look at this application and none of them had any objection to this
application.
B):
20/00423/TPO Hillside
Farm Hewish Crewkerne Somerset TA18 8QS,
Application to fell one deciduous tree as shown within the South
Somerset District Council (WECR 1) 2010 Tree Preservation Order, Woodland 5,
Confirmed 15.11.10. Received 30th
January 2020.
This application was for information
purposes and as the tree was at a 45 degree angle to
the road, it was a foregone conclusion that the tree was going to have to be
felled.
C). Fuzzy Ground and concerns
raised.
Update from Councillor Best
after his discussion with SSDC Planning.
Councillor Mike Best stated
that he had lodge a written complaint with the planning department of South
Somerset District Council stating the reasons for the complaint was that the
owner had not complied with the conditions laid down, when the planning
application was granted. Councillor Mike
Best had also asked in the written complaint to be informed of the progress of
the complaint. It was now up to the
enforcement officer of the planning department to pursue the matter. The Chairman thanked Councillor Best for
pursuing this matter but equally the Parish Council needed to keep this matter
on the Agenda for the forseeable future.
7. Highway
Matters
Roundham
1.
Mr Mike Best (Somerset County
Councillor) stated that part of the scheme had been Implemented but due to the
weather conditions the scheme had not been completed because road teams had
been pulled off of these jobs to help with the clear up operations after the
storms.
2. Julia Borland, Mr D Yeomans, Barry Carter
(Parish Councillor) had met with the neighbourhood Police sergeant to discuss
Roundham and the concerns of the residents in Roundham and the fact that the
Police although not against a reduction of the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph did
not support it when the request was made in 2015. The Police sergeant was aware of the Small
Improvement scheme for Roundham and was in agreement
with the Parish Council view, that the scheme be re-visited in six months time
after implementation. In the meantime he will install some speed monitoring equipment when
the scheme has been completed. This will
show whether the scheme has;
a)
made no difference to the speed of vehicles
b)
improved the speed of vehicles
c)
caused more speeding vehicles.
Then
there will be evidence on which to base an assessment of the situation and
whether to go forward with any further improvements for Roundham.
Ongoing
reporting of potholes, poor road surfaces, ditches etc.
The Chairman Mrs J Borland reiterated to the meeting
that if there is a problem with
roads, ditches and anything
else that comes under the remit of Somerset Highways to please report the
problem on their website. It has been
her experience that they usually come out and look at the problem even if they
are unable to fix the problem straightaway.
The more that is reported the more statistics can be gathered regarding
the Highways of Somerset. Also if it is a private contractor who takes on the job and
the work is not deemed to be of a sufficiently reasonable standard, then please
contact Somerset Highways to air your concerns.
8. Reports
from Councillors, including District and County Councillors.
1.
Mrs C Broom reported that a motorbike had been abandoned on neighbouring
land. The District Councillor and the
County Councillor both advised her to contact the Police on 101 and then the
South Somerset District Council.
2.
Mr F Freeman gave a short report on the
Almshouses in Crewkerne as he has taken on the role of trustee on the board
that looks after these houses from his predecessor Mr John Wyatt. The houses were originally built in 1620 and
therefore are listed buildings. The
inside of the properties, of which there are eight, have now been brought up to
a very good standard and are occupied by elderly people. They have had one tenant give notice recently
but as there is always a waiting list to rent these properties the vacant
property should soon be occupied. The
finances are very well managed by the Chairman of the board to the extent that
the Board of Trustees are considering purchasing another property to be used as
an Almshouse.
3. Mr R Franklin stated that he had spoken to
his neighbour regarding the mobile home that was now situated on the
neighbour’s land. Mr R Franklin stated
that the Parish Council were concerned that once one person erected a mobile
home on their land other parishioners could follow suit. Mr R Franklin asked his neighbour whether the
Planning Office of South Somerset District Council had been informed and had
they been given permission for the siting of the mobile home on their land. To date Mr Franklin has heard nothing from
his neighbour. Mr D Yeomans stated that
he thought that planning permission had to be given to site a mobile home on
your land. This was confirmed by Mrs S
Osborne (South Somerset District Council) who stated that the enforcement
officer from the planning department should be informed although at present
they have a huge backlog of cases to attend to.
4. Mrs J Borland had nothing to report, only the
potholes that had come up under the heading of Highways.
5. Mrs S Osborne (South Somerset District
Councillor) stated that she had been to a presentation by the Somerset Clinical
commissioning group who are proposing to;
a)
move Mental Health beds to Yeovil from Wells and putting more care out into the
community, to be picked up by agencies.
b)
looking at Minor health and injuries units and renaming them Urgent treatment
centres but not all of them. The Parish
Council should look at the proposals with a view of what it means for Crewkerne
and Chard hospitals and the wider community.
Mrs
S Osborne stated that South Somerset District Council is looking at fees and
charges to make sure they are in line with other councils and that they are
fair. There is also extra money set
aside to help sort out the problems with the computer programme and to retain
and recruit planners for the planning department
6.
Mr M Best (Somerset County Councillor) stated that no decision had yet been
reached on the Cathole Bridge Road scheme.
Mr M Best had also frozen the Maiden Beech cross roads Small Improvement
Scheme because the consultant they had engaged for the appeal against the
Cathole Bridge Road Scheme had stated that if the Inspector allowed the Cathole
Bridge Road Scheme to go ahead then the Maiden Beech cross roads would have to
be seriously looked at in conjunction with this scheme.
Mr
M Best also stated that it had been announced that every County Councillor can
have two more Small Improvement Schemes in the next financial year, so if there
was any particular stretch of road that needed a Small Improvement Scheme to
push it forward to let him know.
9. Finance
A): To pay
the Clerk’s Salary £106.40
Cheque No. 328
B): To pay HMRC £26.60 Cheque No. 328
The
clerk paid HMRC out of her own personal account because she was unable to get
the cheques signed until the 19th March when the payment should have
been with HMRC.
10. Correspondence;
Various
e-mails from Somerset Waste Partnership stating no food waste in the refuse bin
only in the Food Waste Bin, Civic Update, Rural Bulletin, a letter from Val
Ketch leader of the South Somerset District Council and a letter from Somerset
Community Foundation regarding Coronavirus and various links to community
organisations.
11. To
confirm that the next meeting will be the Annual Parish Meeting together with
the West Crewkerne Parish Council meeting to be held on the 12th May
2020.
The above confirmed subject to Coronavirus restrictions not allowing the
meeting to take place.
The
meeting closed at 7.50pm.
Chairman
---------------------