Council Meeting Minutes
Hewelsfield and Brockweir Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting held on 1st September 2009 in the Mackenzie Hall, Brockweir
Present: Cllr. Mr. Wilson (Chairman), Cllr. Mrs. Mayo, Cllr. Mr. Stott, Cllr. Mr. Summers, Cllr. Mrs. Mackey, Cllr. Mr. Fox and Cllr. Mr. Skinner and the Parish Clerk.
Also present were eight members of the public.
1458. Apologies for Absence
There were no apologies made.
1459. Declaration of Interest
There were no declarations made.
There followed an adjournment of the meeting to allow Members of the Public to raise matters.
Mr. Michael Gordon raised his concerns regarding Sustrans plans for Route 42 which would travel up Cold Harbour to St. Briavels.
Mr. Adrian Birch and Ms. Barbara Lindley asked if the Parish Plan highlighted a need for Social Housing and suggested that if a need could be established the District Council may consider the CPL site.
Mrs. Pam Harrison expressed concern about the suggestion that travellers may be interested in moving in on local land.
The meeting resumed at this point.
There followed a change of order of the agenda items.
1460. Co-option of three Parish Councillors
Cllr. Wilson welcomed Mr. Fox, Mrs. Mackey and Mr. Skinner to the Parish Council. The three signed a ‘Declaration of Acceptance of Office’ and each gave the Parish Clerk completed ‘Register of Members’ Interests’. Cllr. Wilson explained the procedure for circulating Parish documents and gave all the Councillors a document listing various jobs that are performed by the Parish Councillors with the aim to allocating particular subjects to individual Councillors.
Cllr. Wilson suggested that as the Parish Council had four Councillors that needed to attend the ‘Being a Good Councillor’ course run by GAPTC it would be more cost efficient to hold the course in the Parish and to invite neighbouring councils to attend. Cllr. Wilson asked the Parish Clerk to contact Kim Bedford for details of the cost involved and available dates.
Action Parish Clerk
The order returned to the agenda items.
1461. Confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7th July 2009
The minutes of the meeting held on 7th July 2009 were confirmed; this was proposed by Cllr. Summers and seconded by Cllr. Mayo.
1462. Matters arising from the minutes of the Meeting held on the 7th July 2009
1462.1 Speed restriction signs for Bailey Lane
It was agreed that it would be difficult to stop SatNav systems from directing traffic through the village so it would be better to have signs put up on Hewelsfield Crossroads informing drivers that the road is unsuitable for large vehicles i.e. 7.5 tonnes. Cllr. Mayo will contact Gloucestershire Highways.
Action Cllr. Mayo / Parish Clerk
1462.2 Highways, RUPPs, Rights of Way and Open Space Policy
The Parish Council has received a copy of the ‘Rights of Way Improvement Plan’ from Gloucestershire County Council which is an extensive document. The Parish Councillors agreed to read the document for discussion at the next meeting. Cllr. Wilson asked the Parish Clerk to forward the document to all the Councillors, as well as Mrs. Carol Knight and Mr. Ross Ward.
Action All Councillors / Parish Clerk
Two members of the public left at this point.
1462.3 Suggestion of compulsory purchase of CPL site
The Parish Council has received notification from the Environment Agency which states that the stream by CPL is not contaminated.
It was agreed that the Parish Council should establish if there is a need for Social Housing in the Parish. Cllr. Wilson asked the Parish Clerk to contact Mr. Martin Hutchings of the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council to ask him to attend a Parish Council Meeting to explain how the Parish Council could go about finding out this information. Cllr. Mackey offered to look at the Parish Plan Questionnaire Results to see if there were any questions / answers which might suggest such a need.
Action Cllr. Mackey / Parish Clerk
1462.4 Encroachment concerns regarding Hewelsfield Court
It was agreed there are no encroachment issues at this time.
1462.5 The Parish Clerk confirmed that Cllr. Mayo and Cllr. Summers have been added as signatories to the Natwest bank account
1462.6 The Parish Clerk confirmed that £50 has been donated to Age Concern Forest of Dean Meals Service
1462.7 The Parish Clerk confirmed that £300 has been donated to the Brockweir & Hewelsfield Playground Project
1462.8 The Parish Clerk confirmed that she responded to Planning Application Ref. P0805/09/FUL – Vine Cottage, Underhill, Brockweir
1462.9 The Parish Clerk confirmed that she responded to Planning Application Ref. P0893/09/FUL – 8 The Triangle, Brockweir
1462.10 Sustrans plans for cycle track
Although Sustrans have not yet put forward a new planning application it was agreed that the Parish Council would be more likely to influence an application if it could have dialogue with Sustrans as soon as possible. The Parish Council agreed that Parishioners should be approached through an ‘Opinion Survey’ to find out their concerns and views. Cllr. Stott offered to ask Sustrans if it would be prepared to pay for such a survey although it must understand that all questions must be fair and unbiased.
Action Cllr. Stott / Parish Clerk
4 members of the public left at this point.
1463. Confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29th July 2009
The minutes of the meeting held on 29th July 2009 were confirmed; this was proposed by Cllr. Stott and seconded by Cllr. Mayo.
1464. Matters arising from the minutes of the Meeting held on the 29th July 2009
1464.1 The Parish Clerk confirmed that she sent the requested pages to Mrs. Knight
1464.2 The Parish Clerk confirmed that Mr. Skinner, Mrs. Mackey and Mr. Fox have been given copies of Standing Orders, Financial Standing Orders and Code of Conduct
1465. Finance
1465.1 The councillors confirmed they had all received a copy of the Financial Statement for July 2009 and the accrual figure is £10,413.53.
1465.2 The councillors confirmed they had all received a copy of the Financial Statement for August 2009 and the accrual figure is £10,414.88.
1465.3 Cheques were signed for AEB Price £160.00 (609), Mackenzie Hall £37.50 (610), Age Concern FOD £50.00 (611), Brockweir & Hewelsfield Playground Project £300.00 (612), Michele Compton £158.49 (613), Michele Compton £158.49 (614).
1466. Planning Applications
1466.1FODDC – Planning Application Ref. P1264/09/ADV - Gregory Farm, Brockweir, Chepstow – Erection of a non illuminated information sign (retrospective)
It was agreed to object to the proposed sign as it was felt to be inappropriate for the area and there were concerns a precedent might be set.
Action Parish Clerk
1466.2 FODDC – P1367/09/FUL – The Tumpkins, Brockweir Road, Hewelsfield – Alterations & extension to dwelling (retrospective)
As too few Councillors had been able to study this application there will be another meeting to discuss this item.
Action Parish Clerk
1467. Planning Decisions
The following planning decisions were noted:
1467.1 Seven Oaks, Mill Hill, Brockweir, Chepstow – Alterations and extension to dwelling to provide granny annexe and raising of roof height to provide additional bedroom – Granted Permission
1467.2 The Knoll, Brockweir Road, Hewelsfield – Alterations and single storey extension to dwelling (demolition of existing conservatory) – Granted Permission
1467.3 Vine Cottage, Underhill, Brockweir, Chepstow – Alterations and erection of a two storey extension to dwelling – Granted Permission
1467.4 8 The Triangle, Brockweir, Chepstow – Construction of new vehicular access and provision of off road parking facilities – Granted Permission
1468. Erection of a ‘Direction Signpost’
It was agreed that the Parish Council would wait until the Village Shop approached them again with a proposal.
1469. Suggestion for reduction of Councillor numbers from 7 to 5
It was agreed that the Parish Clerk should find out what process the Parish Council would need to go through if they were to decide to reduce the number of Parish Councillors, although the decision will not be made until shortly before the 2011 elections.
Action Parish Clerk
1470. S uggestion of installation of a winch on Brockweir Quay
This will be an item on next month’s agenda.
Action Parish Clerk
1471. Minutes of Parish Council meetings
It was agreed that future minutes should be less detailed. The minutes should summarise events and show the decision made. If a Councillor wants something specific entered in the minutes he will ask the Parish Clerk to do so.
1472. Return of Accounts Y/E 03/2009
The accounts have returned from the external auditor who had no comment to make. The appropriate notices have been placed on the notice boards outside Mackenzie Hall and the Village Shop.
1473. Date of future Parish Council meetings
It was agreed to continue holding the meetings on a Tuesday evening but due to the need to facilitate disabled parishioners it was felt that an alternative venue should be considered. Cllr. Mackey agreed to find out how much it will cost to use the Village Shop instead.
Action Cllr. Mackey / Parish Clerk
The final members of public left the meeting at this point.
1474. Parish Clerk Contract
It was agreed to change the hours the Parish Clerk is contracted to work from 18 per month to 22 per month but to ask the Parish Clerk to continue keeping a record of how many hours she needs to work to do the job.
Date of Next Meeting is Tuesday 6th October 2009.