MINUTES – PARISH COUNCIL “VIRTUAL MEETING” – 14th SEPTEMBER 2020
PRESENT: Mrs R Jess (Chairman), Mr D Broad, Mr G Broad, Mr A Kingsley, Mr A McLellan,
Mr I Morgan and Mrs E Broad (Clerk)
District Councillor Jenny Forde
APOLOGIES: County Councillor Paul Hodgkinson
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES: The minutes from the Parish Council Virtual Meeting held on the 10th August 2020 were agreed as a true record.
DECLARATION OF INTERESTS: The Chairman to remind Councillors of the need to declare interests as necessary.
OPEN SESSION FOR THE PUBLIC: Jenny Forde gave a brief update on what was happening at CDC. John Selway reported that due to the recent new covid rules the hall committee were restricting the use of the hall to no more than 6 people unless groups wishing to book can demonstrate that they are exempt from the new legislation. He also explained about the
financial situation of the village hall and where their priorities are during the current covid pandemic and why the village hall committee consider it a priority to double glaze the rest of the windows in the hall.
The Chairman brought the village hall grant funding request (Double Glazing) forward on the agenda.
Chedworth Village Hall:
a) Grant Funding Request (Double Glazing): A request had been received from the Village Hall for a grant towards provision of double glazing. The village hall committee had requested a grant of £6,000 towards the windows with the remainder of the £9,000 estimated cost coming from other grants, the committee also asked the Parish Council to reclaim the VAT on their portion of the grant. After some discussion it was proposed by Mr D Broad and seconded by Mr McLellan to donate £5.000, the remainder of the money included in the precept for the village hall as the previous projector project had overspent by nearly £1,100, agreed with one abstention. The Chairman outlined the in order to reclaim the VAT the items need to be ordered by, and invoiced to, the Parish Council and it was therefore agreed that in order to receive the £5,000 donation, the village hall committee would need to allocate the windows in such a way that the total of the group which the Parish Council purchases is £5,000 net of VAT.
PLANNING:
20/02800/TCONR Lauriston – Tree Works
20/02379/FUL The Old Farm – Dwelling – Chedworth Parish Council does not object to the application but would like to draw the planners attention to the flooding problem which exists at the bottom of Hawkes Lane. In order not to make the situation worse we would urge you to insist that the development has the minimum of impermeable surface around the property.
20/02840/FUL Land North West of Village Hall – Change of use of Land & Storage Building (Parish Council’s own application)
Land next to Village Hall: A request had been received from Centaur Homes asking to attend a meeting of the Parish Council in order to discuss their proposals and obtain the views of the parish on their proposed planning application. After some discussion and it was agreed to reply that due to Covid restriction the Council has not met in person since March, holds meetings via video conferencing, and is unlikely to be able to meet again in the foreseeable future. It would therefore be impossible to hold a meeting at the hall, which is likely to be very well attended, in order to discuss the proposals. Therefore it was suggested that it may be possible for them to put on an exhibition at the hall and in some way control the number of people present at any one time. Alternatively, they could set up a meeting using Zoom, or some similar software, when they could present your scheme and allow councillors and villagers to comment.
Neighbourhood Plan: Following discussions on social media about the development next to the Village Hall revisited talk about a Neighbourhood Plan for Chedworth. It was decided to ascertain the level of interest by asking on social media and the Hill and Valley.
MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION:
Traffic in Village and Road Matters:
a) Roadside Verges: It was reported that highways had done their cut and Brian Brazington was due to do the further cut at the end of September. A reply had been received from Zurich asking for further details of the verge works to be undertaken. Mr Morgan also reported that following his item in the Hill and Valley on verges, Robert Yong had been invited to join the verge group.
b) Community Speedwatch: An email had been received from David Holland asking for details which it was agreed to pass on.
Footpaths:
a) KCH 64: The Chairman had received a query referring to a diversion to KCH 64 which had been subject of a small diversion in 2014 which had never been formalised as it felt to be ‘de minimus’ by GCC PROW officers. It was agreed to write to GCC PROW stating that the Parish Council felt that the diversion is far from ’de minimus’ and should be formalised with a diversion order. This will hopefully mean that the maps are amended to match what is on the ground. Currently there are no signs directing walkers onto the revised path and given that on the map the path is a straight line, this must be very confusing for walkers. Councillors were also concerned that the diverted path is narrow and unless the hedge, which has been planted around the plot, is kept cut it will soon become unwalkable.
b) Missing Signs on Parish Rights of Way: Several direction signs are missing from a number of rights of way. The Chairman had discussed the number of missing signs around the parish rights of way with Frank Dorrington Ward, GCC PROW, and suggested that a list is drawn up a list of these so that they can be replaced hopefully with the help of the Cotswold Wardens. The paths around Hartshill have recently been subject of a diversion order. While the landowner and done a good job of building steps to provide access to the new path, and some new signs to direct walkers, for people approaching from the west, the new path is not marked at all. The problem could be solved by a single post in the location indicated on the attached document which was presented to the council. This post could direct walkers in both directions on KCH17 and onto KCH18. There is also a problem with waymarkers which are missing from all of the gates on footpaths where they cross onto Hartshill land and a confusing ‘Private Drive’ sign where KCH17 leaves the road. There is also a further problem with KCH19 which is totally blocked at the stile where it leaves the road. It was agreed to write to Frank Dorrington Ward, GCC PROW, stating that the Parish Council is very keen that these paths are not lost from what is a very popular area for walking.
Playing Field:
a) Options for Pre-school new Building Site: An email had been received from Sarah Wembridge including a request for a Parish Councillor to join the pre-school It was agreed that that the offer of land still stands and was never withdrawn. Regarding the offer of a place for a Parish Councillor on the committee, it was felt that there are restrictions on members on other bodies speak in Council and it was therefore agreed that rather than put forward a Councillor to sit on the committee it would preferable to have someone with whom they could liaise directly but who would still be able to speak in Council meetings. The Chairman agreed to act as the liaison person.
b) Grass Maintenance around the Fitness Equipment: An email had been received from Patricia King HVLTC requesting to pass the responsibility for cutting the grass around the fitness equipment back to the Parish Council. Councillors were very disappointed to receive this email as Councillors were clear that when this agreement was made there was no time limit attached. The tennis club agreed to cut the grass in return for the Parish Council not siting the equipment below the tennis courts and it was understood that this would be an ongoing commitment by them. It was agreed to write and ask that they reconsider their decision. While investigating this matter it became apparent that the five yearly rent review should have taken place in 2017. It was also agreed to take this opportunity to let the HVLTC know that we will be considering this matter at our next meeting.
The Grass Keep Field:
a) Drama Group Storage: It was reported that the planning application had been submitted, there was no further charge, and was awaiting decision. Mr Kingsley reported that he was awaiting one more estimate for the base.
Trees at The Hemplands: Jenny Forde had found out that it was GCC Highways who were responsible for the trees. It was agreed to write to them and ask for the trees to be cut back.
Chedworth Village Hall:
a) Grant Funding Request (Double Glazing): Dealt with earlier in the meeting.
b) CVS Snapshot: The email from Simon Colbeck was noted.
Rendcomb Airfield: CDC were currently investigating any potential breaches of planning rules. It was agreed to put an item in the Hill and Valley gathering any comments from local residents to pass on to CDC.
We declared a Climate Emergency at CDC and we mean it: Councillor Jenny Forde had sent through an email regarding this event. If anyone was interested in attending they were asked to contact the Clerk who would pass their details on.
FINANCE:
Clerks Quarterly Salary £659.00, prop. A Kingsley, sec. A McLellan
Clerks Quarterly Mileage £9.65, prop. I Morgan, sec. A Kingsley
Bibury (Verge Cutting £208.00 + £20.00 arisings removal + VAT) £273.60 (revised invoice), prop. R Jess, sec. G Broad
Cottage Garden Services (Playing Field Cutting August) (£80.00 + VAT) £96.00, prop. A Kingsley, sec. D Broad
Zurich Municipal (Insurance Renewal) £401.04, prop. G Broad, sec. D Broad
OTHER BUSINESS:
October Meeting:
a) To decide if the 12th October meeting should be a face to face meeting at the Village Hall or a further virtual meeting: In the current circumstances it was agreed to carry on with Zoom meetings at present.
b) To decide whether to take out a Zoom subscription: The free Zoom sessions had now come to an end and it would now only allow 40 minutes without having to log in again. It was proposed from the Chair and seconded by Mr Kingsley to take advantage of the 30% discount and take out a one year subscription., agreed.
Hill and Valley: Several items were agreed to be included in the October edition, which would be written by the Chairman.
The Chairman reported that she had been contacted by Matt Fulford regarding the village joining the Great British September Clean for the annual litter pick which normally takes place in the Spring but fell foul of Coronavirus. Mr McLellan agreed to co-ordinate this and it would be held on Saturday 24th October.
The meeting concluded at 9.13pm.
NEXT MEETING: Monday 12th October at 7.30pm.