MINUTES OF KINGTON
HELD IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM OF THE VILLAGE HALL ON
PRESENT: Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird, Cllr.
Dr. Maurice Dixson, Cllr. Mrs. Val Giles, Cllr.
APOLOGIES for absence: Cllr. Mr. John Foster (family commitments) and Cllr.
The meeting was opened by Vice-Chairman Cllr.
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034.08 |
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND DECLARATION OF
ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE
Councillor Peter Hart
nominated that Dr. Maurice Dixson be appointed to the office of chairman.
There being no other candidates, on a proposal by Cllr. Peter Hart, seconded by Cllr. Chris Timbrell, IT WAS RESOLVED unanimously that Dr. Maurice Dixson be
appointed Chairman. Dr. Maurice Dixson signed his Declaration of Acceptance
of Office. |
ACTION
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035.08 |
ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN AND DECLARATION OF
ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE
The current
vice-chairman, Cllr. Dennis Gill, remained in office. |
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036.08 |
RESIDENTS FORUM - None.
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037.08 |
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None. |
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038.08 |
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 14 JANUARY 2008
Minutes
of the meeting held on 11 February 2008 were circulated to all Councillors. On a proposal from Cllr. Don Styles, seconded by Cllr. Dennis Gill, IT WAS RESOLVED that
the Chairman, Cllr. Dr. Maurice Dixson, sign the Minutes as a correct record. |
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039.08 |
MATTERS ARISING
Minute Minute 027.08: Village Benches –
Maintenance Update (War Memorial): Cllr. Gill has measured and recorded the
degree of lean and it is not clear whether this is a recent or long term
movement. It was decided that it should be measured again in a year’s time and
that the Clerk should add this to her Annual Schedule. Minute 028.08 – Greathouse,
Lower Common – Branches & Drainage Problems. The Clerk has received a quote from Tree
Maintenance Ltd for £462.25 + VAT for carrying out works to prune / remove
trees. She has also spoken to an arboricultural consultant (Mr. Nigel de
Berker) who will also take a look at the problems. Regarding the blocked drains
on either side of the Greathouse access drive, the Clerk has visited the site
with Ms. Anthea Jenkins who will advise on what needs to be done to unblock them.
Ms. Jenkins however does not believe this would be Parish Council
responsibility to rectify. Minute 030.08 – Annual Parish
Meeting Agenda. The agenda has now been published in the Village Magazine and
distributed to non-recipients in the village thanks to Cllrs. Trickey,
Timbrell, Hart and Peter Giles. |
Clerk |
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040.08 |
Mr. Colin Coles, as a Cllr. Dixson agreed to follow up how Kington
Langley might be able to take advantage of this opportunity. |
Cllr. Dixson |
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041.08 |
PLANNING
(a) Planning Issues: None. (b)
Planning Applications decided by North
Wiltshire District Council:
Planning Application Recommendations decided
under powers delegated to the Parish Clerk: None. (c) Planning
Applications for consideration: 08/00070/FUL The Old Apple Store, Plough Lane Nursery
– Construction of double garage and garden store with loft studio room above
and change of use of part of nursery to additional residential curtilage.
(Amended Plans) These Plans were reissued on 18th
February with the change of use comment added. In view of the NWDC Planning
Decision above on 08/00007/RNWL, Councillors believed that the same conditions
should apply and would therefore no longer support this application. (d) New Applications:
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Clerk |
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042.08 |
CURRENT CONDITION OF VILLAGE ROADS AND LANES A
letter from villager Mr. Edwin-Scott has been sent to NWDC and County Cllr.
Jane Scott complaining about the state of the village roads and raising a
number of issues. Copies of the letter were passed to all councillors. A
general discussion followed about the issues, which were divided into two
categories – the state of the roads and the state of the verges. Cllr. Mrs.
Val Giles, who is the Council’s Parish Steward liaison representative, provided
an update of NWDC policy on street cleaning, the condition of the road
surfaces and the blocked drains and flooding. It was agreed that the issues
of funding and priorities should be investigated further and that the
Chairman would follow this up with County Cllr. Scott. The
route large horse boxes are taking to enter and leave The Stables at Concern
was also expressed that lorries may be disregarding the village weight
restrictions and using the village as a rat-run. The use of Satellite
Navigation systems also appeared to direct drivers through the village. It
was agreed that the local beat officer should be contacted as the weight
limits need to be enforced. On
other matters of village appearance, Cllr. Don Styles mentioned that the
Newlands Green road sign had fallen over completely. The Clerk was asked to
ensure that it was added to the current schedule to replace damaged road
signs. Cllr.
Hart said that at the top of Plough Hill soil from the tractor cutting the
hedges had been pushed onto the grass. It was agreed that the owners of the
land should be contacted to rectify the situation. |
Cllr. Dixson Cllr. Dixson Clerk Clerk Cllr. Dixson |
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043.08 |
VILLAGE LIGHT TRESPASS Following
circulation of a report by the Institution of Lighting Engineers, several
councillors had commented about specific problems in the village. Councillors
agreed that an article should be put in the Village Magazine reminding
villagers to be courteous about their use of security lighting to ensure that
it only shone over areas that needed to be lit up and not beyond their
property. |
Cllr. Dixson |
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044.08 |
PERMISSION FOR WORKS ACROSS MIDDLE COMMON BY THE UNION CHAPEL The Clerk read out an e-mail she had received from Rev. John Schofield
saying that the Union Chapel wish to carry out some remedial work on the driveway across Middle Common
leading to the Union Chapel and Councillors
were unanimous in their agreement to this work. |
Clerk |
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045.08 |
FINANCE
(a)
Cheques
issued, payments received and transfers made since 11 February 2008 meeting:
Payments Received:
Transfers Made:
Direct Debits Paid:
Invoice for the above cheques had been inspected
and approved by the signatories. On a proposal from Cllr. Don Styles,
seconded by Cllr. Chris Timbrell, IT WAS
RESOLVED that cheques numbered 1025-1027
be approved by the meeting. (b)
Bank accounts: The last reconciliation had been successfully carried out on 10th
March 2008. Bank Accounts and Petty Cash as at 29 February 2008:
(c)
Village Benches
Update: All work has now been completed which makes
all the benches safe and prolongs their life. Councillors expressed general
approval to the village, Mr. Boulton, about the work that had been done. More work than anticipated had needed to be
done to the benches which therefore added an extra cost for labour and
materials of £160.00 onto the total price. Councillors agreed that this extra
cost should be met as it has meant that no benches have needed to be
replaced. The Clerk was also asked to investigate the
Notice board opposite Upper Common as the supports need to be strengthened. (d)
Precept
Update – Final Month: The Clerk handed out copies of the final
precept position for this financial year. On a proposal from Cllr. Peter Hart
seconded by Cllr. Dennis Gill, IT WAS RESOLVED that an additional
£1,000 payment should be made on the Footpath Loan. The Clerk was asked to
reissue the tables to reflect this plus show other incomes from the Village
Hall loan repayment. (e)
Grants /
Other Financial Actions: 1.
A request for Bunting for the Scarecrow weekend in May had been
deferred from the last meeting. However, as there will be no Village Party
this summer, it was agreed that this could be funded out of next financial
year’s budget from money allocated to paying for Portaloos. 2.
Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird said that the Kington St. Michael Almshouses
extensions still needed to raise additional funding. On a proposal from Cllr.
Peter Hart seconded by Cllr. Don Styles, IT WAS RESOLVED that the
remaining £110.00 in the Donations budget would be granted to this project. 3.
Parish Contract Renewals (Minute 030.08). The Clerk has spoken to the
current contractor, who in spite of price rises of 4% this year, would agree
to a 3-year contract at the existing rate. As there are no other certified
contractors available in the area at comparable rates, on a proposal from
Cllr. Dennis Gill seconded by Cllr. Don Styles, IT WAS RESOLVED that
the contract with Complete Weed Control should be renewed for the next three
financial years at rate of 2 sprays per annum at £135.00 plus VAT per spray. 4.
The Clerk asked for authorisation to attend a WALC Accounts and Audit
Training Event in May but it was agreed that as this would come out of next
year’s budget it should be raised again at the next meeting. |
Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk |
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046.08 |
CORRESPONDENCE
(a) Received: Letter from Mr. Edwin-Scott covered above in Minute 042.08. (b) Circulated to Parish Council: It was agreed that in
future all the circulated papers would not be minuted but that the Clerk
would produce a separate monthly log to ensure that councillors could check
whether they had missed anything. |
Clerk |
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047.08 |
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
(a)
Cllr. Gill said with
respect to the fact that there would be no village party this year, the village
fetes had suffered in the same way as the village party. (b)
The Clerk was asked
to contact Mrs. Diana Collins of Lodge Farm who has expressed an interest in
taking away the large stone on the edge of Middle Common which had originally
been placed there as part of the Commons Erosion project evaluation. (c)
Cllr. Don Styles
expressed his thanks from the Council to villager Andy Boulton for his work
on renovating the village benches. (d)
Councillors agreed
with the suggestion by Cllr. Mrs. Val Giles that all councillors should be
issued with name badges for the Annual Parish Meeting. The Clerk agreed to
provide them. (e)
Cllr. Mrs. Betty
Bird thanked everyone for their cards and the flowers she had received whilst
she had been in hospital. (f)
An e-mail had been
received from Rev. John Schofield referring to a project he had undertaken
with Cllr. Trickey on the setting up of emergency plans regarding a Rest
Centre in the village. Councillors expressed
their appreciation for the work Rev. Schofield and Cllr. Trickey were doing
in this respect. (g)
Cllr. Dr. Maurice
Dixson updated councillors on feedback from Mrs. Lynn Atwell regarding the
village pond. The pond was being left dormant for the
moment because there is a particular weed-killer that will kill the
pernicious stonecrop invasion from the root and can be used without harming
other flora and fauna. This will be done in the near future. (h)
The Clerk had been
asked by NWDC to complete a questionnaire on whether people sleep rough in
the village and asked councillors if they were aware of anyone. Apart from an
occasional person sleeping in the church doorway no-one else had been seen. (i)
The Clerk
distributed copies of the list of Parish Council Powers that was provided by
WALC at the Clerks’ Course last month and said it was a checklist for
ensuring that everything the Council wishes to do is within its powers. (j)
All present were reminded that the Annual Parish Meeting is at 7:30 pm
on Tuesday 25 March at the Union Chapel. The meeting closed at 21:43. The next Parish Council
Meeting will be at 7:45 pm on Monday 14th April 2008. |
Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk All Cllrs. |