MINUTES OF KINGTON LANGLEY ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM OF THE VILLAGE HALL ON

TUESDAY 6 MAY 2008

PRESENT: Cllr. Dr. Maurice Dixson (Chairman), Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird, Cllr. Mrs. Val Giles, Cllr. Dennis Gill, Cllr. P Hart, Cllr. D Styles, Cllr. C Timbrell, Cllr. G. Trickey, District Cllr. Mrs. Sherry Meadows. Mrs. Sue Hart (Clerk) plus 2 members of the public.

APOLOGIES for absence: Councillor John Foster (family reasons), County Councillor Mrs. Jane Scott.

064.08

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird and Cllr. Dennis Gill declared a personal interest in the Planning Application at Barncroft, The Barton. Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird declared a personal interest in the Planning Application at 2 Lime Tree Cottages.

ACTION

065.08

ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN AND DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

On a proposal from Cllr. Peter Hart seconded by Cllr. Graham Trickey, IT WAS RESOLVED unanimously that Cllr. Dr. Maurice Dixson be elected as Chairman. The Chairman signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

066.08

ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN AND DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

On a proposal from Cllr. Don Styles, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Betty bird, IT WAS RESOLVED unanimously that Cllr. Dennis Gill be elected as Vice-Chairman. The Vice-Chairman signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

067.08

REGISTER OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS

The Register of Members Interests was circulated to all councillors to check, sign and date that their declarations were up to date.

068.08

RESIDENTS’ FORUM

Mr. Ramon Weston raised concerns about the downgrading of Byway 34. He believed that the reasons for downgrading, especially the drugs issue, was one for the police and not the Parish Council and questioned whether a village referendum had taken place. Since resurfacing the byway 4x4 usage was no longer an issue. He was also concerned about the likely costs involved.

Mr. Weston said that the debate about it being a footpath / bridlepath dated back to 1983. Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird said that she had originally raised the issue as Wiltshire now had a large number of Restricted Byways. Cllr. Hart said that the legislation on Restricted byways had not been available in 1983.

Mrs. Celia Trickey had submitted an e-mail for Residents’ Forum saying that she believed the proposed Middle Common bollards should be natural timber as the quality would be more in keeping with the village.

069.08

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 14 APRIL 2008

Minutes of the meeting held on 14 April 2008 were circulated to all Councillors. Cllr. Mrs. Val Giles asked for Minute 060.08 Becoming a Parish Council to be amended to read “Councillors agreed by a show of hands for the Clerk to investigate it”.

On a proposal from Cllr. Don Styles, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Betty Bird, IT WAS RESOLVED that the Chairman, Cllr. Dr. Maurice Dixson, sign the Minutes and amendment as a correct record.

070.08

MATTERS ARISING

The Chairman asked for the actions from the previous meeting to be reviewed as follows:

Min. 052.08 – Planning:	Action – Clerk. All Parish Council responses were submitted to North Wiltshire DC.
Min. 054.08 – Commons Erosion Project Choice of Bollard:	Action – Cllr. Hart. An article was placed in the May Village Magazine.
Min. 055.08 – Greens Registration:	Action – Clerk. Outstanding.
Min.056.08 – Byway 34:	Action – Clerk. Correspondence was copied to Cllrs. Foster and Gill.
Min. 057.08 – Village Red Telephone Box:	Action – Clerk. An application with photographs has been submitted to North Wiltshire DC.
	Cllr. Trickey noted that British Telecom had put a notice in the Church Road phone box saying that they were giving notice of removing it if it wasn’t being used. The Clerk was asked to follow up.
Min. 059.08 – Boundary Committee – Electoral Review of New Wiltshire Unitary Authority:	Action – Clerk. The Clerk had written a letter to the Boundary Committee summarising the Council’s views.
Min.060.08 – Becoming a Quality Council:	Action – Clerk. The Clerk had been in touch with the Wiltshire Association of Local Councils who is in the process of obtaining new assessment criteria for CiLCA. District Cllr. Ms. Sherry Meadows said that she would also investigate the benefits of becoming a Quality Council.
Min. 061.08(c) Finance: 2008 Asset Register	Action – Clerk. The Asset Register has been updated and the Clerk will circulate it to Councillors as part of a new Parish Council Procedures Binder.
Min. 061.08(d) Finance: Coffin Way Resurfacing	Action – Clerk. It will be necessary to resolve exactly what needs to be done before going out to tender for the remedial work.
Min. 061.08(e) Finance: Lower Commons Trees	Action – Clerk. The tree maintenance work should be carried out within the next 8 weeks.
Min. 061.08(f) Finance: Grants, Donations & other Financial Actions:	Action – Clerk. Cheques for Scarecrow Weekend Bunting, the Bobby Van Trust and the Clerk’s Finance Course have now been raised.
Min. 062.08 Correspondence (to The Stables, Ashes Lane):	Action – Cllr. Timbrell. Cllr. Timbrell visited The Stables. The owner was pleased that personal contact had been made. He will reiterate the correct route through the village with his visitors plus put up a notice.
Min. 063.08 (b) AOB:	Action – The Clerk. A thank you to the Village Party Committee was put in the May Village Magazine.

Clerk

Clerk

District Cllr. S Meadows

Clerk

071.08

PLANNING

(a) Planning Issues: None.

(b) Planning Applications decided by North Wiltshire District Council:

07/02382/FUL 1 Milk Marketing Board House, Kington St. Michael Road – Erection of detached garage with living accommodation over for dependant person.	Consent Granted: 22 Apr 08
08/00525/LBC 2 The Barton, Upper Common – Renovation of Stone Outbuilding to include the rebuilding of the front and right hand side elevations & chimney stack, replace window, etc.	Consent Granted: 28 Apr 08
08/00565/OUT Land at Lypgate. Erection of a Building.	Permission Refused: 28 Apr 08

Planning Application Recommendations decided under powers delegated to the Parish Clerk: None.

(c) Planning Applications for consideration:

08/00823/FUL 2 Lime Tree Cottage – Front and Side two-storey extension	Supported
08/00787/LBC Lime Tree Farm, Middle Common – Improving insulation, boarding and plastering ceiling and walls, etc	Supported
08/00855/FUL Barncroft, The Barton – Erection of 5 dwellings	Not supported
Councillors believed that the 2 affordable houses were being placed on a part of the site that had been a pond and still floods. The buildings would also affect the water table. Access down the side of the site was also an issue as only 2.4m had been allowed and this could affect the Right of Way. The houses did not align with the rest of the buildings in the area (Mill Cottage in the Barton and Lime Tree Cottages) and would have a major impact on the street scene in a conservation area. Such a dense number of houses at the very front of the site was also an over-development of the site.
08/00975/REM – Russet House, Plough Lane [by Plough Lane Nursery] – Erection of Dwelling and Attached Garage (Approval of siting, design, external appearance of buildings, access and landscaping.	Supported (1 Abstention)

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

072.08

CHAIRMAN’S BUSINESS

The Chairman said that all the points he wished to raise were covered elsewhere in the Agenda. He also wanted to record his thanks to County Cllr. Mrs. Jane Scott for coming to the village with two Wiltshire County Council representatives following the issues raised at the Annual Parish Meeting regarding highways and verges.

073.08

COMMONS EROSION PROJECT

Cllr. Hart said that following the Village Magazine article about the choice of bollards he had not received any feedback with the exception of Mrs. Celia Trickey’s note which was read out in Residents’ Forum. On a proposal from Cllr. Chris Timbrell, seconded by Cllr. Don Styles, IT WAS RESOLVED that the project should continue with reconstituted bollards.

The disposal of the sample stone currently on the Common was discussed by councillors. On a proposal from Cllr. Graham Trickey, seconded by Cllr. Don Styles, IT WAS RESOLVED that Cllr. Foster should take away the stone for its original price of £30.00.

Clerk

Clerk / Cllr. Foster

074.08

VILLAGE POND

Following a discussion with Mrs. Lynn Atwell, Cllr. Dr. Dixson said that it had been

concluded that chemicals will be too severe for the other plants and wildlife so the stonecrop will be removed by hand. This will be done during June and the weed taken away and burnt. It may subsequently be possible to use weed killer in October and March.

As the Parish Councillor responsible for wildlife, Cllr. Timbrell will also get involved with the project.

There is still an issue regarding villagers removing or putting anything into pond and it was agreed that the Clerk should put a notice up on the railings advising villagers of the contamination issue.

Cllr. Timbrell

Clerk

075.08

HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS

(a) Byway 34: Following the village walkabout on 25^th April, Ms. Barbara Burke, Wiltshire County Council’s Senior Rights of Way Officer, has asked for photographic evidence to demonstrate the issues which support the request. Draycot Cerne residents should also be advised of this. There were several categories under which the Parish Council could put together arguments for downgrading the byway. The WCC officer would be advising the Council of the most likely approach to succeed as the Parish Council were committed to restoring the byway as an amenity to both walkers and horse people without fear of encountering problems. The Chairman asked the Clerk to work with WCC to establish the history of the current situation.

(b) County Councillor Jane Scott Village Walkabout on 25 April: The Clerk was asked to circulate to all councillors notes of the village walkabout meeting. Wiltshire County Council representatives were County Cllr. Mrs. Jane Scott, Assistant Director Ms. Tracy Carter and Ms. Barbara Burke, Senior Rights of Way Officer. The Clerk was also asked to write to Cllr. Scott asking that Church Lane resurfacing should be added to the County list as it was not clear whether this was in any plan. Cllr. Hart asked which Committee was responsible for setting priorities for Highways works and the Clerk was asked to clarify this via Ms. Tracy Carter.

(c) Coffin Way Resurfacing: Following discussion, councillors agreed that the best approach to resurfacing Coffin Way outside Langley Fitzurse School would be to leave the first ¾ metre and break up and make good the remaining area. On a proposal from Cllr. Dr. Maurice Dixson, seconded by Cllr. Peter Hart, IT WAS RESOLVED that the Clerk should go out to tender for this work.

(d) Village Road Signs: All the damaged road signs throughout the village have now been replaced by North Wiltshire District Council including the Newlands Green one raised as an issue at the Annual Parish Meeting. Several signs have been changed to provide greater clarification on specific areas of the village. The Clerk was asked to write to Graham Jones, the NWDC officer responsible for organising these works, thanking him for his support.

Cllr. Foster

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

076.08

TRANSPORT MEETING

Cllr. Don Styles updated councillors on a recent meeting he had attended as the Village Transport Representative. He said that the new bus service has been well received and there has been an increase in passengers. However, there were still issues regarding the longer bus reversing outside the Hit or Miss Pub and Cllr. Styles expressed his view that the question of the bus using Church Lane should be reconsidered. Councillors agreed that they would informally talk to people likely to be affected by this change and it was agreed that this should also be raised with Langley Fitzurse School. This should be an agenda item at the next Parish Council meeting.

Cllr. Dr. Dixson