Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held on
Tuesday 11th January 2022 at 7.15 pm in the Jubilee Hall.
Present: Cllr Jeff Ligo (Chair), Cllr Eddie Cole, Cllr Tim Goode, Cllr Jo Jolly, Cllr Noel Kew, Cllr Steve Lloyd, Cllr Keith Rayward, Cllr Steve Ridley and Cllr Phil Whittaker.
In attendance: Nicola Duke (Parish Clerk), 1 member of the public, Mr Mike Manson (Chairman, Bratton Recreation Ground Committee) and Wiltshire Councillor Suzanne Wickham.
Open Forum
Members of the public were invited to make representations to the Council on any matters relating to the work of the Council or to raise any issues of concern: None.
Village updates:
• Police report – PCSO Alice Moore had presented apologies and provided a report, which had been circulated to members and was noted. Cllr Rayward thanked the PCSO for the report, which was welcomed and Cllr Rayward expressed the hope that such reports would continue to be sent for PC meetings.
• Wiltshire Council and Westbury Area Board – Cllr Suzanne Wickham reported the following:
o That she had sought clarification from officers at Wiltshire Council regarding the lack of consultation regarding the February 2021 VAR application at land west of Penn Farm. She had queried why only two premises within the locality of the application had been listed for consultation. It had been confirmed that this was down to the selection made by the planning system. She had raised this with the Cabinet member for Planning and this issue would be looked at in the future, with a wider circulation being considered. Notices to the PC and the ward member had also not been received and Cllr Wickham had been informed that this failure had been down to the planning system which was being changed at the time. WC had apologised for this. The lack of posted notice on the site was down to the fact that officers were not visiting sites during the covid lockdown. Cllr Wickham had also questioned WC in relation to a comment that the lack of consultation had been a deliberate choice resulting from an issue with the VAR application. She had been informed that this was categorically not the case. The PC considered whether to further discuss issues relating to the recent planning application; including a potential revisiting of the decision and it was agreed to raise this when considering the adoption of the minutes.
o Cllr Wickham reported that CATG was meeting online on Friday 14th January and the Area Board meeting (hopefully) in the Laverton in Westbury on Thursday 17th February. It was noted that the Police and Crime Commissioner would be attending the Area Board meeting.
AGENDA ITEM
2021/66 Apologies for Absence and to consider the reasons given
None.
2021/67 Declarations of Interest and Dispensations to Participate
None.
2021/68 Minutes of Council Meetings
The minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held on 9th November 2021 were approved for accuracy and adopted (proposed Cllr Ligo, seconded Cllr Ridley).
The minutes of an extraordinary Planning meeting of the Parish Council held on 4th January 2022 were approved for accuracy and adopted (proposed Cllr Ligo, seconded Cllr Cole).
Cllr Rayward thanked the Clerk for providing guidance to members in relation to the consideration of the planning application PL/2021/08566 for land west of Penn Farm. He then asked for clarification on the call in process, its impact on the application and any involvement the PC should have in the process. Cllr Wickham outlined the procedure for calling in planning applications; confirming that ward members could request that the application be considered by Planning Committee rather than being delegated to the planning officer for decision. Representations were permitted at the resulting meeting with a 3-minute time limit per speaker and the PC was able to make representation at this point. Following receipt of representations, the ward member would present a report; in this case Cllr Wickham was raising issues relating to highways, scale and size, impact on local residents and environmental issues. Members discussed PC attendance at the meeting and this was agreed to be appropriate; Cllr Ligo would draft a statement for members to consider which could then be presented to the Planning Committee at WC once agreed. It was felt that the statement could potentially focus on the scale of the proposed development. Members discussed the potential future growth at the site and expressed concern at the possibility of incremental planning applications which would gradually increase the size of the site over time. It was agreed that concern would be expressed relating to the setting of a precedent at the site in the statement to the Planning Committee; such a precedent thereby enabling future applications to be potentially be granted and the site expanded beyond what the PC felt to be reasonable.
Members discussed the potential re-visiting of the decision reached at the meeting of 4th January 2022; with some members expressing the view that the PC should consider adjusting its ‘Comment’ response to one of ‘Objection’. Information from the Clerk as to how resolutions could be re-visited had been circulated. Cllr Wickham confirmed that the determination process at WC was likely to be lengthy.
Members discussed the background to the February 2021 VAR application relating to the site; noting the detail of the pre-existing permission and the variation which was subsequently submitted. This was noted to relate to the removal of the condition that occupiers of the site must be personally related to or dependent on the landowner.
It was noted that members would discuss whether they wished to reconsider the decision made on the 4th January 2022 and would inform the Clerk accordingly.
2021/69 Committee, Clerks and Council representative reports
a) The Chair of the Bratton Recreation Ground Committee reported the following:
a. It had been a quiet time for the Recreation Group with a limited number of matches being played, some matches had been cancelled due to bad weather and its impact on the condition of the pitch.
b. Cllr Kew was continuing with his work to improve the drainage at the ground and improvements were being seen as a result of work already undertaken.
c. A meeting of the Committee would be arranged for within the next two weeks at which further works to assist with drainage would be considered.
b) The Chair of the Jubilee Hall Management Committee had sent apologies and provided a report, which had been circulated to members. There were no questions.
c) Cllr Rayward reported on CATG meetings and projects, referring to his circulated report. Cllr Rayward proposed that the PC approve the project to undertake signage changes to improve safety at the Lower Road/Stradbrook intersection with B3098 and allocate the required match funding in the amount of £315 accordingly. This was seconded by Cllr Ligo and resolved. Cllr Cole would liaise with a resident in relation to an overhanging tree which was impacting highway visibility in this vicinity.
d) Cllr Kew reported on the emerging local Climate Group; informing members that the Memorandum of Understanding had been circulated to interested local councils for signature and positive responses were being received. Cllr Kew was aiming for the receipt of responses by the middle of March with a meeting to be arranged for early April, this would be hosted by Bratton Parish Council as the lead council for 2022.
2021/70 Planning applications and consultations
None at time of issue.
Members considered the below planning application received after the issue of the agenda (where the response time fell outside of the meeting schedule and an extension cannot be obtained).
PL/2022/00069 – Lynwood, 28 Westbury Road, Bratton, BA13 4TB – Extensions and alterations to existing dwelling house, including two-storey front extensions and single-storey extension to rear – No objection.
The Clerk reported that four further tree work applications had received on the day of the meeting, which would be circulated post meeting for members’ comments.
2021/71 Financial Reports
a) A schedule of payments and receipts December 2021 had been circulated to members and was noted. Following a query, it was confirmed that the Clerk would send out a copy of the budget report and add a regular budget report to the list of financial reports which would be issued for each meeting.
b) The bank reconciliation and Financial Position Statement as at 31st December 2021 had been circulated to members and were noted.
2021/72 Budget and Precept Setting 2022-23
Members approved the budget for 2022-23 and set the precept at £40,367 maintaining the Band D rate at £80.03 per Band D property; thereby representing no increase in the individual household rate (proposed Cllr Ligo, seconded Cllr Kew).
It was agreed that the Clerk would present a report on the Earmarked Reserves Fund to the March meeting of the PC.
2021/73 Wiltshire Council Pension Fund
Members passed a formal resolution confirming that the PC wished to join the Wiltshire Council Pension Fund (such resolution required by Wiltshire Council prior to enrolment) (proposed Cllr Ligo, seconded Cllr Ridley).
2021/74 Queen’s Platinum’s Jubilee Celebration 2022
The Chair had provided a report, which had been circulated to members. Arrangements for the Jubilee Celebrations 2022 were discussed and it was agreed that £500 from the contingency fund should be allocated towards the costs of any planned events (proposed Cllr Ligo, seconded Cllr Ridley). The Chair confirmed that was arranging an initial meeting for 25th January 2022 and would invite local stakeholders and interested parties. This would form a co-ordinating group for the Jubilee celebration events. Cllrs Lloyd and Ligo would represent the Council on the group. Cllr Jolly would provide assistance with promotion of events as required.
Cllr Lloyd proposed that the PC fund a commemorative mug, which would be gifted to local primary school children. He confirmed that 200 mugs would cost £1,050. The proposal was discussed and the difficulty of ensuring that each child in the village received one was noted. The cost of the proposal was also queried and it was suggested that a more permanent marker of the event could be considered. The Clerk advised members on the statutory power which could be used to fund the provision of mugs (s137 LGA 1972); asking members to note that the benefit to residents must be considered to be commensurate with the expenditure incurred and must be limited to residents of the parish only. It was agreed that general support for the proposal was lacking and members determined to consider a more permanent mark of the event; this would be considered by the working group as referred to above.
2021/75 Councillor reports
Cllr Rayward –stated his disappointment at the response to the planned improvements to the website. He referred to the fact that the website did not include PC meeting information. It was noted that the website group had stalled and it was agreed to arrange a meeting as soon as practicable.
Cllr Kew – asked the Council to consider whether an overview of policy documents and Standing Orders was required. The Chair suggested that training could be appropriate, especially in respect of understanding the planning system. The Clerk would consider how the request for procedure notes and a review of existing policy documents could be met. Cllr Kew raised the issue of whether filming of PC meetings was permitted and suggested that the Council needed to be clear as to how this would be dealt with. The Clerk would also review this and report back to the March meeting on both counts.
Cllr Lloyd – reported that refurbishment to the phone box had been commenced and the door would be repaired shortly. It was expected that the door would be away for about a week and the kiosk would be boarded up in the interim. A review of the future use of the kiosk would be undertaken once the works to the kiosk had been completed. Cllr Lloyd reported that new co-ordinators for the CSW had been identified and that the hand over process had been commenced. The group would re-start activity in April 2022 and a call for volunteers would go out in the BPN in February 2022. Cllr Lloyd also reported on the Speed Indicator Device, which had had a new control box fitted. A meeting had been arranged with Westbury Town Council to see if it could assist with the relocating of the unit on a regular basis. The next relocation of the SID would see it moved to Trowbridge Road, although this would not happen until the new speed limit had been established in that location.
Cllr Cole – asked what was happening with the bus shelter at the bottom of Castle Road, which had been hit and removed. It was confirmed that the shelter was in the ownership of the Parish Council. The Clerk would liaise with Pat Whyte at WC and the Chair would liaise with the PCSO to obtain the information to enable an insurance claim to be made, if appropriate.
2021/76 Correspondence
None.
2021/77 Date of next meeting
Tuesday 8th March 2022 at 7.15 pm in the Jubilee Hall. Other meetings being arranged outside of the formal meeting schedule were noted to be:
Bratton Recreation Ground Committee
Jubilee Event Planning Working Group
Website Working Group
Climate Working Group
There being no further business the meeting was closed at 8.47 pm.