Odstock Parish Council
An Ordinary meeting of Odstock Parish Council was held
on 13 February 2017 in the Barker Room, Nunton.
Present: Gavin Simmonite (Chairman), Rod Poynting
(Vice-Chairman), Colin Berry, Nigel Start, Sally Nelson, Richard Parsons
(Clerk), Wiltshire Cllr Julian Johnson and one member of the public.
Apologies: Stephen Stapley and David Williamson-Jones.
01/17 Open Public Forum: None.
02/17
Declaration of Interest: None.
03/17 Minutes
of the Ordinary OPC meeting held on 12 December were approved and signed
by Cllr Rod Poynting who chaired the meeting and counter-signed by Cllr
Sally Nelson as a true record.
04/17 Community
Initiatives:
a) Radnor Hall Committee: Cllr Poynting
reported on an extra fund raising car boot sale to be held on 29 March.
b) Parish/Community Planning: Cllr Nelson reported on
the most recent meeting of the steering committee where a liaison
officer and a colleague from the Wiltshire Council planning department
were present. Members of the steering committee were advised that some
of the paragraphs in their draft plan were inconsistent with the adopted
core strategy plan for Wiltshire. The villages of Odstock, Nunton and
Bodenham are classed as ‘small villages’ and thus any future development
will be limited to infilling between existing properties. A future
meeting of the steering committee will decide how the parish
consultation will be used to fit in with the Wiltshire Core Strategy
Plan effective until 2026.
c) Odstock Telephone Box:
Cllr Poynting observed, the redundant kiosk in Charlton had been
successfully converted into a book exchange centre. Once OPC have
secured ownership of the K6 kiosk in Odstock, it can be similarly
converted.
d) Parish Website: There is little
enthusiasm within OPC to make the necessary commitment to run a
community website. There are several local websites where relevant
information is available and Wiltshire Council maintains historical
information about all Wiltshire parishes. The new editor of
NewsandNotes.co.uk may seek to influence Parish Councillors and
this will become apparent at the Annual Parish meeting in May, shortly
after the Wiltshire Elections. The Chairman and Cllr Start agreed to
prepare some short reports about OPC activities for the March edition of
N&N.
e) Litter Clearance:
GreatBritishSpringClean.org.uk is
a good example of a two page website for a specific purpose. In previous
years, the Longford Estate has organised extensive litter picking
(ref.6/16(h)). OPC will publish instructions in N&N about how willing
parishioners can join litter picking initiatives in the villages.
05/17 Nunton Recreation Field:
a) Grass Cutting:
The current contractor has quoted £2,035.78 for 18 cuts and 3
applications of weed killer on the Nunton Field play-area and the
Odstock Field play-area during the 2017-18 season. Unanimously agreed.
b) Pavilion: Cllr Poynting reported a grant of £598
from Southern Area Board towards the replacement windows project. The
Community First Application for £960 will be determined in April.
c) Play Area: Cllr Nelson agreed to help Cllr
Williamson-Jones conduct a thorough inspection of the play equipment.
d) Facilities Usage: A ‘Memorandum of Understanding’
and/or a ‘License Agreement’ is awaited from Cllr Start.
06/17 Transport, Roads and Footpaths:
a) Wiltshire Council Highways:
A list of activities which the Parish Steward can undertake has been
produced and each parish is expected to identify, in an ‘issues log’,
where those activities need to be performed. The Wiltshire Council
Parish Steward will visit Odstock Parish on 1 March and 29 April. An
evening meeting to discuss the success of the scheme is scheduled for 23
May in the City Hall. All Cllrs agreed to give the ‘issues log’
selective consideration. It was also agreed to publicise, through N&N,
extensive use of the Wiltshire App for reporting Highways issues by
anybody.
b) C.A.T.G: Cllr Berry agreed to continue
liaising with Wiltshire Highways and CATG to obtain solutions to
projects agreed by OPC in the minutes of meetings (ref.42/16(b),
53/16(b) and 57/16).
c) Dog Fouling: Cllr Start
reported having received a parishioner’s letter asking what more can be
done to encourage dog owners to clear up their dog’s mess. The Wiltshire
Council website recommends policies which dog owner’s are expected to
observe. Cllr Nelson agreed to research the costs and practicality of
providing and emptying waste bins and report her findings to a future
OPC meeting. Previously, OPC resolved to provide dog fouling notices
making it clear that dog mess must be removed from public access areas
within the parish. (ref.53/16(c)).
d) Community Speedwatch:
Cllr Start reported his team of trained volunteers has already reported
20 drivers who will receive letters from the police. He estimates about
200 cars per hour use the road through the villages at peak times.
e) Bridleway, Shelf Lane to the A338: Cllr Poynting
will manage a team of volunteers to clear debris and weed growth. This
will be publicised in N&N and needs to be completed before the end of
March. Volunteers with be covered by OPC’s Personal Accident insurance
policy and suggested dates are either 4th, 11th or 18th March.
07/17 Planning: There were no new planning applications
for consideration. It was noted, in connection with planning application
16/12123/FUL for the Construction of two residential dwellings on Land
at Whitsbury Road, Odstock, objections and/or requests for further
information had been lodged by Wiltshire Council Engineers for Land
Drainage and Highways & Transport. There is also a comment from a
neighbour. The application will likely be determined by Wiltshire
Councillors. OPC has formally written in support of this application.
08/17 Reports and Correspondence:
a) Wiltshire
Council: The next Area Board meeting is at Trafalgar School,
Downton on Thursday, 2 March.
b) Police Report: Some
OPC members have yet to sign-up at
WiltsMessaging.co.uk for regular updates.
c) Wiltshire Association of Local
Councils: Transparency Code funding will continue to be
available in 2017-18.
d) Joint Strategic Assessment meeting
at City Hall on 16 February:
WiltshireJSA.org.uk refers to what
is to be expected.
09/17 Finance:
a) Budget Review:
The balance being carried forward at year end is mostly
non-discretionary funding.
b) Workplace Pensions:
Employers duties are described at
http://tpr.gov.uk/sd-duty.
c) External Audit: Appointments and Scale of Fees has
been published for 2017-18 to 2021-22 at
localaudits.co.uk.
d) Payments: The following were approved:
Society of Local
Council Clerks – Subscription 585 £67.00p
Bawden
Contracting Services Ltd – Grass Cutting 586 £403.13p
R Parsons –
Clerk's salary and expenses, on account 587 £746.00p
Wessex Water –
Nunton Field Water DD £18.52p
SSouthern Electric – Nunton Field
Electricity DD £48.24p
10/17 Any Other Business (for
information only):
a) SSE and the AONB: Cllr Start has
formally applied to Scottish and Southern Electric to nominate
Cranbourne Chase & WWD AONB for the undergrounding of HV overhead
conductors.
b) Highway Re-profiling: The owner of
the Coach House, Nunton, has reached an agreement with Wiltshire
Highways to alter the camber on the road in front of his driveway to
stop water cascading towards his house door when there is heavy
rainfall. Once the work is complete, storm water will run down the road
towards the river. A road closure will likely be required while the work
is carried out.
c) Jubilee Gardens: Cllr Berry
believes the footbridge may require some maintenance.
d) OPC
Chairmanship: The Chairman let it be known that he would be
standing down at the Annual OPC meeting.
11/17 The next
scheduled OPC meeting is the Annual meeting on 15 May.
The meeting closed at 9:01pm
Signed without amendment by the Chairman, Cllr Gavin Simmonite, as a true record on 13 April 2017.
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