The Meeting of the Parish Council of Withypool and Hawkridge
Withypool Village Hall, Tuesday 10th September 2019 at 7.30PM
Attendees: Parish Cllrs: A Howard (AH - Chairman), K Branfield (KB), A Collins (AC), T Lloyd (TL) , W Lock (WL), County Cllr F Nicholson (FN), District Councillor S Pugsley (SP) and Clerk C Hornsby
Members of the public: 2
39/19 Apologies of Absence: JD. SP would be late and FN and TL would have to leave early
40/19 Declarations of notifiable interests: None
41/19 Approval of the Minutes of the previous meeting on 02/07/19. Once an amendment of point 25/19 had been agreed the minutes were proposed by KB and 2nd by AC and all agreed for the chairman to sign as a true and correct record of what took place.
SP Arrived
42/19 Matters arising from the Minutes of 02/07/19: 30/19 (i) Slade Bridge to Cattle grid. Work had started by Devon Highways but had stopped however it seems that they will return to finish it. 28/19 (iv) Tarr Steps slip way FN said she was dealing with it.
Order of business changed so that FN could leave for another meeting
45/19 Report by the County Councillor: FN reported that the salting routes have returned to the original routes which means Quarry Head will now be salted. She said that the bins that the parish council are to place around the parish will be filled and refilled only when they notify Highways. It is the parish council responsibility to ensure that the bins are kept topped up but there will be no charge to the PC by the Highways. It was agreed that the PC will meet to discuss the siting of the bins on 17th September and notify Highways as soon as possible of the positions. SP will forward the clerk a new revised map of the salt bags areas. FN also stated that it was very important for the PC to respond to the consultation about the Fire and Rescue service in the area Clerk to respond.
FN left the meeting
43/19 Council vacancy: AC proposed and TL 2nd Mrs Polly Soltau to be the seventh councillor for the parish and all agreed. Mrs Soltau was asked if she wished to stand which she said yes. Clerk to forward all relevant paperwork to Mrs Soltau.
44/19 Report by the District Councillor: SP spoke about the recent site visit to Halsgrove House and that the views of the Parish Council were taken in to account. He stated that the next Consultative meeting is on Thursday 12th Sept at Withypool Village Hall.
46/19 Finance report
(i) Bank reconciliation as of 30th August £ 8921.30
(ii) VAT claim has been paid by HMRC for £473.08 for 2018/19 tax year (on bank statement)
(iii) Mr and Mrs Blanning have paid their parish garden rent of £250. (on bank statement)
(iv) Mr and Mrs Scott inform me they have paid their rent of £120.00 (but not on bank statement yet.)
(v) Exmoor Parish Council have paid for their share of the Laptop of £196.50 (but not on bank statement yet)
(vi) Invoice of £15 for training. Exmoor paid the full amount of £30 to SALC and All Agreed that the Pc should pay half to Exmoor PC Chq No 494 £15.00 Exmoor PC
(vii) Clerks Pay and expenses: 1st July to 31st September to be paid on 5th October. All Agreed that this was to be paid CHQ No496 £362.68 Mrs C Hornsby
(viii) RFO had paid for the yearly fees for the parish council website and asked for this to be paid, All Agreed Chq No 497 £29.95 Mrs C Hornsby
(ix) Taking in to account the above items that are not on the bank statement - incomings from parish gardens and laptop and outgoings for training and clerks pay and website renewal - the account balance is £8830.17
(x) RFO has not purchased a minute book as yet.
(xi) Financial Regulations have been read, understood and All Agreed that the FR should be authorised. They were Proposed by AH, 2nd by AC all agreed. These will be published on the website.
47/19 Highways: (i) AH report on Waterhouse Farm drainage- AH stated that he has reported it to Highways at the Exmoor Panel meeting. (ii) AH reported that a resident hit a raised fire hydrant Withypool side of Pennycombe Bridge which resulted in two damaged tyres Highways have been emailed by AH (iii) WL reported that there is a hole in the road on the Hawkridge side of Tarr Steps Clerk to email Highways (iv) WL to email clerk with info about road that is bad on Devon side, then send email to Devon Highways (v) Lots of road closed signs with no work going on, so Clerk was asked to email Highways to ask about removal of signs or if work is continuing.
48/19 Parish Gardens: (i) There is now a waiting list for more land with two interested parties. At present no land is available. (ii) It was agreed by the PC to allow the Scotts to manage the hedges as they see fit. (iii) Benches beside the river bank need to be inspected and either repaired or replaced. WL to take a look and to ask Andrew Blackmore to take a look. All the PC agreed that WL should go ahead organising the work as it was an urgent nature and not to wait for next meeting. WL will inform the PC at the Siting of the Salt bins meeting.
49/19 Planning None
50/19 Parish Maintenance: (i) Tree with BT wire through it. Three quotes are required for the work and AH to chase Dan Passmore regarding Tree Felling licence. Nick Hosegood was recommended and a third will be sort. WL and AH to discuss with relevant parities. (ii) It had been reported that dogs are getting in to the garden that borders the carpark. There is a possibility that a wire fence had been removed previously and so Magna Housing needs to be contacted. SP to inquire at DC (iii) there is also a very muddy area with in the carpark towards the rear. SP to inquire again about who is responsible. (iv) Hunting gate has a drop on the jubilee gardens side that could cause a problem. PC will deal with this themselves. They will discuss this at the siting of salt bins meeting. (v) Clerk to email ENPA regarding BT Wire that is across the footpath leading towards Comers Cross.
51/19 Correspondence (i) Route 60+ about a presentation to older drivers. (ii) The clerk checked that all councillors had received the information, sent out by the Somerset Association of Local Councils (SALC), regarding the Local Government Association website page for the Councillors Guide to Handling Intimidation. All had received it. (iii) PCC and Police Public forum 24th September 7pm-9pm Beech Hotel, Minehead. (iv) SALC AGM 26th Oct.
52/19 Report from representatives of other groups:
Withypool Village Hall, AH raised the point of possible electric charging points in the car park and KB will take this back to the VH committee. KB reported that the fete was a huge success and it raised about £1400. 6th Oct is the Harvest Festival and there is a quiz in aid of the village hall and church on 30th Nov. Hawkridge Village Hall, WL reported about the accident that happened at the Hawkridge Revel which has caused some issues regarding risk assessments and insurance. Clerk to check with SALC about PC risk assessments for meetings and whether they are a necessity. There is a quiz on 13th Sept to raised funds for the church and hall. Henry Leigh Trust, KB said there was a meeting due shortly. Exmoor Panel, discussed earlier Consultative & Parish Forum, maybe changing to 4 meetings in the day rather than 5 of a mix of evening and day. SP said he hoped that W&HPC support the meetings when they occur.
53/19 Items for November agenda Budget and Precept.
54/19 Date and time of next meeting:
Tuesday 12th November 2019 Hawkridge Village Hall 6.30pm
There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 9.15pm
Chairman .Date .