BURTON BRADSTOCK PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 4^th November 2009at 7.30pm in the Reading Room, Burton Bradstock.

Present: Cllrs: A.Mackie, P.Toms, D.Batten, P.Dutton, G.Moody, D.Dixon, K.Delves, S.Pett, F.Moore (Clerk), DCC Cllr: R.Coatsworth and seven members of the public.

1. Apologies: Cllrs: D.Venn, P.Middlemast, K.Broad, WDDC Cllr: M.Parsons.

2. Declarations of Interest:

S.Pett declared an interest in Agenda Item 12. Post Office Update.

The Clerk reported that in a response to concerns about S.Pett being a Village Society Trustee as well as a Councillor, he had taken advice from the WDDC Monitoring Officer for Legal Services.

As a councillor S.Pett must declare an interest in any issues regarding the Post Office if it is on the Agenda. This should be done at every meeting. Legally S.Pett can stay, discuss and vote on Post Office matters that are deemed as ‘personal interest’ e.g., decoration, rent reviews, what is sold at the Post Office etc.

A ‘prejudicial interest’ is only declared when items of financial expenditure and planning are being discussed, and no comment can be made.

3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting 7^th October 2009.

Cllr.Mackie thanked Cllr: Dutton for chairing the 7^th October Meeting. The minutes of the above meeting were confirmed and signed by Cllr.Dutton as a true record.

4. Parish Clerk’s Report & Matters Arising:

• Parish Clustering, ‘Lengthsman Scheme’. It was agreed to leave this matter in abeyance until further information regarding costs, hours etc was available.
• Flu Clinics: 60 patients from the Bridport Clinic had received injections on the 9^th October, and the Portesham Clinic was having a Flu Clinic on the 10^th November in the Reading Room between 2-3pm.
• Bus Route 45: There has been a response from ‘First’ Bus Company stating that they are looking into the extension of the route to the Hive Beach car park. There are however no details at the moment.
• Land Registration: Cllr Dutton stated that they were looking to register all land that the Parish Council owned, hopefully as a package. This included the allotments, the two village greens, land by Cliff Road and the playing field. In addition a plot of land had also been identified at the top of Cliff Road going westwards towards West Bay. This was by a ‘Deed of Gift to the Council by the Hawkins brothers. It was agreed that once we had registered this particular plot we would pass the information to Cllr Moody to open discussions about it with the N.Trust.

The Clerk to send details of the two ‘Greens’ to Cllr. Coatsworth he stated he would ascertain with the solicitors at WDDC if it was correct that they belonged to the Parish Council.

• Highways: The Clerk had reported again to the Highways department the problem with the overgrown hedges in Shipton Lane, and to WDDC the poor quality of the signs at Barrowfield.
• Extra Dog Bin: The clerk to contact again WDDC to ascertain if a bin could be placed at the top of the ‘Drain in Annings Lane, what the cost would be and would WDDC empty it on a regular basis.

The Clerk to also put an article in the next edition of the BVN about dog owners

Having the responsibility to clear up after their animals.

The Clerk to reposition the Waste Bin to outside the Bus Shelter in the High

Street.

• Play area. The play area has had its annual inspection and we are awaiting the written report. Cllr.Pett stated that this was an area of high risk for the Council and that the Finance Committee would be looking at what regular inspections are required by our new insurance company.
• BT Box in High St: The problem of not being able to use the phone has been reported and it appears to be working correctly, however it has not been cleaned or decorated yet.
• White Lines: Cllr Pett reported that white lines at the side of the road at Red Bottom had been repainted.

5. Correspondence:

• Minutes in Library: A note had been received from C.James to say that a number of minutes of the Parish Council Meetings were not available at the Library. The Clerk to resolve this situation.
• Letter from F.Tame’s Daughter: This was a request to have a bench situated somewhere within the village in memory of F.Tame. It was agreed to put this matter into abeyance until all the land owned by the Council had been registered. The Clerk to contact J.Evans on this matter.
• Financial Assistance Letters: Applications for financial assistance have been received from Bridport Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Burton Bradstock Playgroup.

It was agreed to place these with the Finance Committee for attention.

• Government Response to Byelaws Consultation: Details of this report will be placed on the Operations table.
• WDDC: West Dorset Planning Obligations Guidelines: This is a draft supplementary Planning Document. It was agreed to place this document with the Planning Committee for attention.
• Partnerships, Plans & Power of Wellbeing: An opportunity to attend a day conference at Kingston Maurward on 19^th November at 10.00am.

6. Planning Committee Report:

Cllr.Toms reported that the next meeting was set for the 11^th November 2009.

7. Finance Committee Report:

Cllr.Pett reported that the next Finance Meeting would be on 13^th November 2009 and they would be looking at the budget and precept figures for 2010/2011. If fellow councillors had any comments regarding income and expenditure please contact her or the RFO. Also at this meeting discussion would take place regarding the Loan for the Allotments and the Councils Risk Assessment Policy.

8 Working Party Reports:

Youth Activities:

Cllr D.Dixon reported that there would be a second ‘Youth Fun Day’ on Sunday 6^th December in the Playing field from 11am – 3pm. Help will be from the N.Trust, the Extended Schools Officer and members of the Youth Committee. It was hoped that various items of equipment will be purchased for the day. Young people have requested that the basketball hoop etc should be erected if possible for this day. It was agreed to look at a suitable site and try to do this. Clerk to contact R.Brown after a site had been identified.

Cllr.Mackie advised the Council that the N.Trust were holding a meeting for adults in the Village Hall on the same day.

Website:

There was no formal report by this working party. There was concern that a number of details were incorrect on the site and that the minutes had not been updated. The Clerk to contact Cllr.Venn on this matter.

9. Finance:

The following cheques were ratified:

Mrs Stevens £29.45 Cleaning and Back Pay, F.Moore £468.24 Salary & Expenses, The Roman Group £5.28 Stationary, D.Dixon £38.75 Replacement cheque supplied in April but not cashed, HSBC Pension £7.09 C.Hughes, Nildram £16.68 Broadband, BB Canaries FC £250.00 Grant.

Insurance has been arranged with Aviva a saving of £400 on the Zurich policy with enhanced cover. Cheque for £2304.11 has been agreed to be paid.

A new bank mandate has been completed to add the RFO.

10. B3157 Update:

Cllr Pett reported that the Board had met on 20^th October and agreed the following points.

• Introduction of a 50mph speed limit for the rural sections of the road between villages.
• Re-marking and upgrading white edge markings along the whole of the route.
• Maintenance and upgrading of cats eyes along the whole route
• Work to repair and enhance lay-bys.
• Landscaping of road verges to highlight known hazards.

As yet there has been no decision made about white lines in the centre of the road.

There will be a walkabout in the village by the Board and when dates are known Cllr Pett will inform councillors if they wish to attend. The Burton Bradstock Footpath proposals are still on the agenda.

There has been meeting with the owner of Fourwinds, Coast Road to try to improve visibility, double white lines will be painted and concealed entrance signs will be erected.

Discussion took place regarding a sign indicating where the Burton Bradstock Parish starts on the B3157 near Othona. Concern was expressed whether such a sign would address the problem of the dangerous aspects of the road e.g. visibility and speeding. It was agreed to say a provisional yes to some sort of sign after having more information about what the wording of the sign would say, and asking the local residents after a period of time if it was working. It was agreed that the Clerk contacts A.Brown DCC Highways about these issues and also to ask if they already had any evidence from other locations that this sort of sign is effective.

The next meeting of the Board is 14^th December 2009.

11. Library Report:

Cllr. Mackie reported that he and Cllr.Middlemast had met with the Council’s solicitors, Nantes regarding finalising the Lease Agreement with DCC and the Community Use Agreement. Also a draft copy of the Friends of the Library Agreement with the Parish Council was being looked at. This was regarding the Friends of the Library being the management agents for the Parish Council.

Some issues were still outstanding and still needed to be resolved; they were an Asbestos Survey, a Fire Safety Survey and an Energy Certificate for the Library from the County Council.

A period on notice of one year to terminate the agreement with DCC had been agreed. The lease would be for 99 years and would be a peppercorn rent; the Parish Council would have the responsibility to maintain the Library to a professional standard.

12. Post Office Update:

Cllr.Mackie reported that the Parish Council had met with the Village Society and the Tenants of the Post office, and they had identified various projects for the future. The Village Society was of the opinion that an increase in rent during the current financial climate was not appropriate, but a review on an annual basis could be a possibility. It was agreed that the Finance Committee look at the Rent review at their next meeting. The next meeting of the Post Office Committee is 19^th January 2009.

13. A.O.B.

• Cllr Moody stated he had been asked to lobby the N.Trust regarding reducing Car Park fees for local people. It was agreed that an out of season local pass was a good idea. A way of reducing admin costs would be to open a venue, e.g. the Reading Room and allocate passes on one day. It was agreed that this was an item for the N.Trust to organise. This could also reflect something like the shopping permits that are allocated.
• Cllr.Dutton was concerned about wooden footpath signs that seem to have disappeared. The Clerk to pursue.
• Cllr Pett expressed concern about the X53 bus going towards Weymouth on Friday October 30^th at 11.00am was 20 minutes late and then did not stop to pick up waiting passengers at the Anchor. The Clerk to write to ‘First Bus’ on this matter.

The Reading Room door, and the premises in general need attention and maintenance. It was agreed that the Clerk draws up a list of works and then obtain quotes.

14. Date of Next meeting: 2^nd December 2009.

15. Democratic Half Hour:

The following issues were raised by parishioners.

• The Library should always have a facility for Community use.
• Gated entrances to villages do seem to be effective in reducing speeding vehicles.
• Concern was expressed about pailings being broken or removed in the play area. The Clerk to contact R. Brown on this matter as well as the painting of equipment. A seat near the play area has also been damaged.
• Concern was expressed that the Spar Garage extension was being used as residential accommodation. The Clerk to check this out with WDDC Planning department and the owner of the Garage.
• R.Coatsworth reported that the WDDC Enforcement officer was the person to check out unauthorised residency.

The safety improvements on the B3157 are linked to money from the government and he has concerns that because of delays some of the money may not be spent in the allocated timescale and therefore could be taken back.

The Waste Management Site Officers have not reported back for six months on details regarding other sites. R.Coatsworth has called for a Scrutiny Committee to meet on 19^th November to look into this matter. He has produced a document regarding this and will send a copy to the Clerk.

The Meeting Closed at 9.00pm.