Minutes 6th March, 2002

Mrs P Carrick

Chairman

Mrs J M Martin

}

Mr J P L Perkins

}

Bisley Ward

Mr N S Rogers

}

Mr T G Carter

}

Mr R K Brooks

}

Eastcombe Ward

Mrs J W Russell

}

Mrs O M Turner

}

Mr R N Budgeon

}

Oakridge Ward

Mr R S Bryant

}

Mrs E F Jordan

Clerk

02.03

1.

Apologies for Absence

Mr A N Newman, previous appointment, Mr MG Flint, previous appointment, Mr N S Rogers, previous appointment, County Councillor Mr C Fellows

02.03

2.

Public Participation

i)

Mr Alex Davies of Oakridge Ward told the meeting that he had managed to obtain a reconditioned printer with a year’s guarantee that could be purchased by the Parish Council and would be available for use by the whole Parish. The cost of this would be £650 + VAT. The purchase of this was proposed by Mr Perkins and seconded by Mr Carter and passed unanimously. Mr Davies also gave a donation of £650 to the Parish Council on behalf of the Oakridge Parish Newsletter. Mrs Carrick thanked him for this generous donation.

Page 12

ii)

Mr David Ashmead spoke on behalf of the residents of Stancombe who asked for the Council’s support in asking the County Council to put a speed limit in place in their village. After some discussion it was suggested that the Clerk write to the Highways Department to explore the possibility of extending the 30 mph speed restriction in Bisley to include the village.

02.03

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The draft Minutes of the meeting held on 6^th February 2002, having been circulated were approved with the alteration of the figure in the last paragraph of minute number 02.02.6 to read £100K and signed by the Chairman.

02.03

4.

Matters Arising

a)

Bisley Road Quarry, Eastcombe

The gates have now been installed and the clean up completed.

b)

Toadsmoor Road Footpath

An e-mail had been received from the County Council bringing this matter to a conclusion.

c)

Stroud District Council’s Jubilee Grant

A letter has been received from Stroud District Council confirming that they would be giving grants of up to £1,500 to every parish together with a cast brass commemorative plaque which will be available in April.

The councillors were asked to discuss this at ward level and report back at the next meeting.

d)

Transport Plan

The Chairman told the meeting that she, District Cllr Greene and Mrs Turner had met Paul Beecham of Paul Beecham & Associates, a consultant specialising in accessible and community transport development who was assisting them in this project. Mr Beecham has now produced a report and the Clerk was asked to circulate it.

Winter Maintenance

Mr Bryant asked the Clerk to write to the County Council to ask, should there be a surplus this year, what would happen to it.

The Clerk was requested to ask the County Council to put the grit bin on the Broadway in the correct place.

02.03

5.

District Council Matters

District Cllr. Greene told the meeting that kerb-side recycling would commence in April.

Page 13

02.03

6.

County Council Matters

As Mr Fellows was unable to attend the meeting, Mr Brooks asked the Clerk to contact Mrs Randles of the County Council to try and obtain information as to the progress of the application for the deletion of the public footpath MBL16 at Bismore Farm with a copy to Mr Fellows. It was suggested that if there were to be any change of use of this footpath that a planning application should have been received for consideration by the parish council.

02.03

7.

Finance

Receipts

£

VAT

Total

£

Mr Raphael (Oakridge Pavilion)

1000

Interest

3.68

£1003.68

Payments

Local Council Review (Subscription)

10.99

The Consortium (Stationery)

50.84

8.88

59.72

T Butt & Son (Headwell)

58.57

10.25

68.82

Robert Newbold (Eastcombe Sculpture)

10.00

Graduate Gardeners (Headwell)

113.90

19.93

133.83

George Rowles (Headwell)

250.25

John Davies (Headwell)

326.49

Severn Trent (Bisley Pavilion & Playing Fields)

26.59

E F Jordan (February Salary)

440.24

Inland Revenue (NI & Income Tax – February)

25.32

E F Jordan (Petty Cash)

75.00

Valley Trading (Headwell)

30.40

5.32

35.72

Sodexho (Final Grass Cutting)

248.00

43.40

291.40

A S Services (Bisley Pavilion Lock)

71.98

12.60

84.60

British Telecom

61.61

10.78

72.39

The Oakridge Graveyard Group (Contribution to Rural Grant)

450.00

Eastcombe Pavilion Fund (Contribution to Rural Grant)

450.00

Eastcombe Scout & Guide Group (Contribution to Rural Grant)

500.00

£3311.36

Cash Balance as at 28 February, 2002 – £11,457.04

The Clerk told the meeting that allotment rents were still outstanding from Oakridge and Bisley and should be collected before the end of the financial year – 31^st March 2002.

The Chairman stated that the rent for the Bisley W I Hall would increase as from April from £12 per meeting to £15 per meeting.

Page 14

02.03

8.

Matters for Discussion

a)

Windyridge

Consider response to the District Council’s letter of 19.2.02.

The Clerk was asked to reply to Mrs Fallows’ letter informing her in the strongest possible terms, that the suggestion that the District Council should dispose of the freehold interest of the balance of land at Windyridge on the open market would be totally against their wishes.

To seek the approval of a letter to SDC Candidates

A draft letter to SDC candidates and group leaders asking “Do you undertake to do all in your power to retain the balance of the Windyridge site until such time as a further need for social housing is established?” had been circulated to members for approval. Approval of the letter was proposed by Mr Perkins and seconded by Mr Budgeon and passed unanimously. The Clerk was asked to send this letter out.

b)

Planning – New Scheme of Delegation

A letter and enclosures had been received from Stroud District Council regarding a new scheme of delegation that had been approved by the council in December. This had been circulated to members and was discussed. The Clerk was asked to reply to the Planning Department with the comments. Mr Perkins suggested that the situation be reviewed in six months.

c)

Traffic Speed Restrictions – Bisley

A letter had been received from the County Highways in respect of vehicular actuated speed signs. These were discussed and considered to be not suitable for a country lane. It was agreed not to pursue this matter. The Clerk will write to the Highways Authority.

d)

Road works – 2002/03

A list of proposed road works taken from Minutes of a meeting provided by Mr Fellows had been circulated to the council. Mr Brooks requested that more details should be supplied as to when the work would take place and exactly what the work was to be and where and what were the priorities. The Clerk was asked to contact the Highways Department to ask why the Council had not been consulted on the proposed works. Mr Bryant and Mr Brooks requested a meeting with the County Council in order to let the County Council know which roads should be done.

Page 15

e)

British Legion – Bisley Pavilion

A letter had been received from The Royal British Legion indicating that they no longer wish to meet in the Bisley Pavilion and asked that the Council forgo any charges that might possibly occur. The Council agreed to these terms and the Clerk was asked to reply.

f)

Aims and Objectives

These will be discussed at the May meeting

g)

Skips – 2002/03

Dates for the skips were given to the wards. Mr Brooks will put the dates on the website.

h)

Supplementary Planning Guidance – Affordable Housing

This document had been circulated and was briefly discussed. Oakridge asked that any settlement should be on the edge of the boundary, not inside. Eastcombe and Bisley will give the Clerk their comments shortly for inclusion in the reply.

i)

Gas Provision – Bisley

This will be discussed at the next ward meeting and reported on at the next meeting. The other wards would support Bisley’s decision.

02.03

9.

Planning

The following applications have been received and the following are the Council’s responses during the last month.

Ambleside, Oakridge Lynch – Demolition of garage, erection of garage and single storey extension – Support : We would not like to see plastic windows and doors, including the garage, this is not mentioned in the drawing.

Fieldholme, Limekiln Lane, Waterlane – Erection of two storey extension and conservatory – Support : We would prefer to see the conservatory built in timber not PVC-u.

Ridings Farm Bungalow, Avenis Green, France Lynch – Certificate of Lawful Development – Continued use of dwelling without agricultural tie – Support.

Berrimans, Lypiatt – Revised consultation – Support

Holbrook Garage, Bisley – Building for rain harvesting and training centre – Object – Whilst we fully support the generation of local employment and the obvious need for buildings to accommodate the expansion of ‘Green’ businesses, we feel that the majority of the parishioners we represent would consider the proposed building too avant-garde and inappropriate for the locality and being adjacent to a main approach to the village.

1 Fir Tree Cottages, Bisley – Enclose existing porch – Support

Page 16

02.03

10.

Correspondence

The Following correspondence was received during the Month of January.

“

“

Stroud District Council

Dates of Council Meetings

Stroud District Council

Town & Parish Link Newsletter Group Meeting 28^th January.

Stroud District Council

Spring Clean 2002

The Chairman brought a letter from ‘Save Our Standish’ to the attention of the meeting. This group are asking for both financial and practical support in order to keep the services from transferring from Standish Hospital to the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in 2004. The Clerk was asked to reply indicating very strong support from the Parish Council.

The Chairman reminded the wards that RoSPA would undertake their inspection of the play areas in April.

02.03

11.

Ward Matters

a)

Bisley

Mr Perkins said that there was a raised manhole on the Stroud Road going towards Lypiatt.

Mrs Martin reported that the 20 mph sign in Vanderbreen Street had now been replaced.

b)

Eastcombe

Mr Carter reported that there were two depressed manhole covers at the cross roads in Eastcombe.

Page 17

A request had been received from a resident of Stonecote Ridge requesting that the Council give consideration to stopping children playing on the village green. This had been considered and the ward did not feel that this was appropriate.

It was requested that the Clerk contact Transco requesting that they reinstate the village green that was damaged during excavation work. The Clerk confirmed that she had already written and was awaiting a reply.

The village green is also being damaged by vehicles being illegally parked on it. The Clerk will explore the possibility of large boulders being placed on the three corners.

Some young people had a party near the play equipment which resulted in a broken bottle and vomit. Mrs Law, a neighbour kindly cleared up the mess and disinfected the area. The Clerk was asked to write to Mrs Law and thank her for her kindness and consideration.

Mrs Turner reported that the Eastcombe Sports Club had been granted £500 towards the refurbishment of the play area.

Mrs Russell asked that enquiries be made as to how many accidents had occurred on the Toadsmoor Hill in the last year.

Mrs Russell asked that the County Council be made aware that horse riders were using the path from Keepers Cottage to Bismore

c)

Oakridge

Mr Bryant reported that a gate for Far Oakridge allotments had been purchased for £100. Mr Lorenzen has kindly offered to install this at no cost.

It was reported that the Fountain Piece top had been damaged and the Clerk will contact the Highways Department to get it repaired.

Mr Bryant asked the Clerk to search out papers on the 14/28 Rule regarding the use of land for agriculture.

Mr Budgeon reported that a stone had been knocked out of a wall Back Lane, Bisley and the wall was in danger of collapsing onto the road. He will let the clerk know the address in order that she may report it to the Highways Authority.

Page 18

Mr Budgeon reported that a tree had fallen in a trench near Holbrook Cottage and requested that this be cleared.

0203.

12.

Date and Place of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at Bisley W I Hall at 8.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 3^rd April 2002 after the Parish Meeting.