Ubley Parish in the Chew Valley

Draft Minutes of the meeting of Ubley Parish Council held on Thursday 31^st January 2019

Present: Councillors: Hallam (Chairman), Collins (Vice-chairman), Cole, Haley, Smart and Thompson.

Clerk: Mrs H. Collins 

1. To receive and accept apologies for absence

        Apologies: Cllr Moore.   Apology was received and accepted.                       

2)    To receive declaration of interest in the agenda

None reported.

3. Open session to receive comments from the public

No members of the public were present at the meeting. 

4. To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3^rd January and go through the follow-up actions

The Minutes and the Financial Statement attached to it were approved and signed. The follow-up actions were gone through and several responses from B&NES were still outstanding. These will be expedited.

5. Clerk’s report/correspondence: To discuss and approve further actions where needed:
1. Request from the Clerk for a change from webmail to Outlook on the Parish Council laptop

The Council agreed in principle that this change could be made as it can be done at no cost to the Parish Council.

2. Election and Purdah. Information received from ALCA

The information from ALCA was shared with the Councillorsand it was confirmed that no “new business” could be started during Purdah.

Cllr Collins to check the original license to confirm that this change can take place

6)  To receive an update on Highways issues, speed limits and signposts

1. Update on speed limits

A response had not been received from Mr Garrod regarding a meeting with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman in January

2. Bins for the lay-bys

A reply had been received from Martin Hellyer saying that no final decision had been reached as to which litter bins would be used in future. The Councillors agreed that they would not want a 5 foot tall unit as mentioned in Mr. Hellyer’s email.

3. Drainage

The Chairman reported that there was nothing of note regarding the drains at present. 

However, there had been a complaint regarding the gritting, which had not been done on the previous Monday when the road outside the School was very icy. The Chairman had reported this to B&NES and the gritting had been done on every day since then.

Cllr Collins to send another email to Mr Garrod

The Clerk to speak with Mr Hellyer again about the requirements for Ubley

7. To receive an update from the Police/Neighbourhood Watch

The Parish Council was very pleased to welcome the new Beat Manager, Jon Beswetherick and PCSO Martyn Bragg to the meeting. Jon will be a Full-Time Manager. Though the team is based in Keynsham, new technology means that they can operate more effectively from their cars without having to go back to their base to check emails etc. They are starting Beat Surgeries, which will be held monthly in Moondance Coffee Shop in Chew Magna. Dates and times will be published in The Gazette.

Cllr Thompson reported that there had been a vehicle incident in Stanton Drew and a car theft in Pensford.

The Clerk to circulate Jon’s email address to the Councillors

8. To receive an update from District Councillor Vic Pritchard

District Councillor Pritchard confirmed the upcoming Council Tax increases. He also confirmed that the information that we had received on flooding was correct and this will be kept on file.

9. Projects.
1. Grass cutting. To receive an update from the working group.

WestCountry Groundcare Ltd have agreed to undertake the grass cutting in Ubley for the next year.

Some invoices have been received from Tim Baker.

2. Playground. To receive an update.

The working group has now become a constituted group with its own Chairman and Officers. It has also set up its own bank account and so is now independent of the Parish Council; though the Parish Council will continue to work closely with the group. This group will be setting up a Drop-in session in Ubley during March and parishioners will be invited to come along to view the plans and discuss any issues with the members of the group.

The Chairman to talk to Tim Baker about the invoices

Cllr Collins to bring the plans for the playground to the March meeting of the Parish Council

10) Finances

1. Financial statement 

The Financial Statement was shared with the council. It was agreed to delay the payment to Tim Baker until the Chairman has discussed the invoices with him.

2. To confirm payments and signing of cheques 

The payment of cheques was agreed, and they will be signed immediately after the meeting. (see note above)

3. Budget Forecast: To analyse this prior to setting of Precept

The re-drafted budget was fully discussed. An increase was agreed (5 councillors agreed with 1 abstention) that would cover the shortfall in the Sweeper Scheme and allow the Parish Council to increase the reserve to half the annual running costs, in line with general good practice. 

4. CIL money. Update from the recent training event.

The information sent following the recent CIL training event was emailed to all the Parish Councillors. They were reminded that this money had to be spent by the end of March 2022.

11)  Defibrillator: To receive an update  

An email had been received from Cllr Moore confirming that all the necessary checks had been done.

12)  Planning

1. To receive updates on The Village Plan/Place-making Plan/CVNP

Nothing of note this month.

2. Other planning: 

The decision to support the amended plans for Cross View Villa 19/00033/FUL was ratified.

3. PCAA. To receive an update.

The PCAA has submitted a very comprehensive response to the major planning application submitted by Bristol Airport to North Somerset Council. The PCAA response notes the group’s objection to the plan and provides a wide range of evidence for this decision.

4. Gigaclear/ Truespeed. To receive an update.

There has been a complaint from a resident that the screening of the Truespeed cabinet in Innicks Close has not taken place. 

District Councillor Pritchard was able to confirm that the new Public Liaison Manager for Truespeed is Ben Stevens.

The Clerk to contact Truespeed again

13. Sweeper - To discuss and decide the way forward in light of changes to the sweeper scheme.

An email had been received from Sara Dixon confirming that the Chairman’s proposal regarding the transition scheme had been accepted by B&NES.

14)  To receive an update on the Parish Hall

The new Chairman of the Parish Hall Committee will be Ian Harvey, who will take up his post in April. A Vice-Chairman will also be appointed in due course.

1. To discuss and decide whether to keep replacing ceramic pots outside the Hall

It was agreed that the broken plantar should be replaced with a plastic one.

Cllr Moore to purchase a plastic plantar to replace the broken ceramic one

15) To receive reports from Councillors who have attended meetings or training sessions:

1. ALCA meeting 16/1/2019 attended by the Clerk

The Clerk went through some of the main points from the meeting. These will be in the minutes of the meeting which will be sent to the Parish Councillors in due course.

16)  To confirm the date of the next meetings

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 7^th March 2019, starting at 7:30pm.

             Chairman: Wesley Hallam Tel: 01761 463509

Clerk: Mrs Hilary Collins Tel: 01761 462294

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