In advance of formal meeting minutes, these are some brief informal notes taken during the meeting;
Matters Arising
First reminder – that Remembrance Sunday is on the 14th and there will be a ceremony at 11am held at the War Memorial, and then wine, tea or coffee at the Village Hall afterwards.
The village defibrillators have now been registered with “The Circuit” – national defibrillator network for the ambulance service – thanks to Councillor Younger.
Community Safety
Little Holbury & Kidnams Walk play areas corrective work – no progress, Persimmons has not carried out anything yet.
Two trees in the Playing Field have been identified as possibly being affected by Ash Dieback and a local tree surgeon will be inspecting them on 4/11 to determine whether they need to be removed. There’s consideration of possible replacements with two oak tree saplings.
Planning
Newland Homes has queried why we objected to their proposed developments at Upton’s Gardens. We reviewed the previous correspondence and confirmed that this was primarily rejected because the proposed development is outside the existing development boundary – The new local plan has not yet been adopted. Further points were that Newland Homes has proposed 11 houses rather than the 10 that are in the proposed Local Plan, and we also had outstanding queries regarding the boundary treatment of the wooded area towards the Playing Field.
Pegasus leaflet to the village for up to 45 homes west of Schoolfield Close. We agreed that at this stage the Parish Council would object on the basis of only 30 houses being proposed in the local plan (not 45). Furthermore, this is premature because the existing local plan does not cover this site and so is outside the existing development boundary and would not come within the development boundary until the local plan is adopted.
The Stroud District local plan is now submitted to the Planning Inspectorate and should be a decision on acceptance will appear by the end of the year.
Enforcement.
Nothing has come back from enforcement, either relating to unpermitted development in the village, or noise complaints. This will be followed up by the Parish Clerk.
Footpaths/Highways
The PROW at Whitminster Court and poor state of the Lagger were discussed. The PROW officer will follow-up on Whitminster Court, and the Lagger needs to be repaired. However, the tree which has broken the surface would need to be removed first, otherwise it will just happen again. The PROW officer will check with Councillor Davis for funding for repairing the footpath in this area.
It was highlighted that there is a bush growing out the footpath from Kidnams’s Walk to the field behind Paynes Meadow. This will be raised to highways for removal.
The plastic fencing stacked at Hyde Lane junction with School Lane has been left by Wales & West and should be gone in the next few days. This was apparently just a convenient area for them to store it. They’re not due to carry out any work in the village.
Mud on Hyde Lane was reported to the County Council. A road sweeper has been down the road to clean it, and the responsible party informed to take precautions so that this didn’t reoccur. However, it’s been reported that this has reoccurred and the County Council will be contacted to clean the road again.
It was noted that an old pear tree at Vaisey Field appears to have developed a large hole at the base. This will be reported to the District Council as is a hazard to local pedestrians.
District Council Highways department will meet with the Parish Council next week for a discussion on potential safety improvements near the school which may be joint funded by the Parish Council and District Council.
Skate Ramp
The builders references and warranty for the skate ramp are still being chased and funding from urbaser Community Fund is not yet confirmed. Once this is confirmed we will approach the Public Works loans board .
Other points
Councillor Paynter has finished replacing the plexiglass in the bus shelter. This is was installed on 3 November and is a significant improvement on what was there previously.
The Parish Council should actively canvas for proposals for improvements or small projects in the Village these can be maintained on a list and reviewed when funding is available.
Correspondence was received from David Hennesey, and the Parish Clerk agreed to respond to the points raised and share the requested information.
Next Meeting
Additional agenda items should be the proposed budget for the Parish Council, and discuss the precept and also discuss what should happen within the village for Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.