3Minutes of Ripple Parish Council Meeting

held at Ripple Parish Hall on Monday 28thJanuary 2013at 7pm

Present:Cllrs Blake (Chairman), Jones, Sutton (arrived at 7.30pm), Gallagher, Wilding, Weyman and Cox

In attendance:Mrs. J. Adams (Cover Clerk)

1To receive apologies and to approve reasons for absence– CllrGibson, County Cllr Bullock, Mrs L. Gower and Cllr Sutton (for lateness). Reason for absence accepted.

2Declaration of Interest –Cllr Jones declared an interest in item 10 for which he had been granted a dispensation.

3Minutes –The Minutes of the meeting held on 12December 2012were proposed for approval by CllrWeymanand seconded by CllrJones. Unanimously agreed.

4To receive Report from County Councillor – Cllr Bullock was not present.

5To receive report from District Councillor– Cllr Sutton reported changes to MHDC recycling services whereby the cherry recycling sacks would be replaced with wheelie bins and the collections expanded to include glass. This would be collected fortnightly, with the weekly black sacks for domestic waste continuing to be collected weekly. Properties that would not be suitable for wheelie bins would continue to receive cherry sacks. The District Council had been awarded a grant to fund new vehicles so that the new system could be implemented.

6Progress reports from working groups:-

a. Clerk–General Admin of correspondence/emails etc. Minutes of last meeting. Actions from last minutes. Lengthsman duties/discussions re flooding/ditches etc. Christmas presents to various volunteers delivered. LEADER Project final report and claim sent. Various visits to residents regarding Flooding in Ryall Road/Ripple, emails/correspondence with various people exchanged. Clerk arranging joint meeting with all concerned. Contacting Severn Trent re Naunton pumping station. Meeting with Gerry Brienza of WCC regarding potholes, Uckinghall Bridge, flooding etc has been postponed and will be reschduled. WCC contacted regarding badgers on Saxons Lode Railway Bridge. Botttle bank at Ripple Parish Hall carpark reported as full. Stratford Bridge drain blocked reported. Jetting of drains in Ryall Road chased, finally done on 2nd Jan 2013 (reported 25th November 2012).

b. Management Group– The Management Group met since the last meeting and discussed all ongoing issues within the Parish including the items below. Other issues were discussed and have been minuted at other points in the minutes.

  • The Uckinghall flood bund worked well during December and thanks to the efforts of UFAG there was a rapid response to the flood threat from the River Severn. Some visitors had to be evacuated from a property in Ferry Lane which made the local and national news; thankfully there were no casualties.
  • Flooding issues in Ripple (2 properties) and Ryall Road (1 property) are being investigated with WCC and Land Drainage. Clerk has correspondence between the residents in Ripple and WCC/MP etc. Clerk is co-ordinating a meeting with WCC/RPC/Residents and has shared all information with residents and WCC. Lengthsman has attended the Ryall Road area before and during Christmas to keep drains/culverts clear.
  • Severn Trent need to be contacted by RPC regarding various pumping stations within the parish.
  • As a result of flooding/rain and its aftermath, potholes have appeared and reappeared, badger and rabbit holes have started undermining the railway bridge at Saxons Lode area, once again these issues are being dealt with by the Clerk and the relevant departments at WCC.
  • Chairman attended UTP meeting on the 11th January. The TIC will move to the Pepperpot in January. Public Realm proposals include improvements to Upton’s pavements, the car park and resiting of the recycling centre in Hanley Road, and will commence on the 21st January. A ‘drop in shop’ will be set up in Old Street for advice. A retail survey is being conducted in April 2013 and a website is being developed to update and professionalise Upton’s marketing.

c. Finance Group–Lengthsman reclaim received.LEADER project final claim paid. Grass cutting reclaim money from MHDC and Festival Housing received.

d. Urgent Decisions Group –Letter drafted to Cllr Hughes/Gary Williams MHDC ref SWDP – as yet unsent subject to further discussions.

e. Planning Group - Clerk - schedule circulated. All planning information available from Clerk. A retrospective application for an agricultural building in Ripple has been received, Clerk will circulate.

f. Staffing/Training Group –Cllrs were asked to contact the Clerk if they wished to attend the upcoming training being run by MHDC.

7TaskGroup Reports:-

a.Communities that are safe and feel safe–The recent PACT meeting had been cancelled and would be rescheduled in the near future.

b.Flooding and Environment Issues–Ditches in the parish are running high. The Clerk has contacted Highways regarding some of the drains that are causing concern. Clerk will be meeting with MHDC Drainage Officer regarding the Ryall Road situation.

c. Economic success which is shared by all–Cllr Blake reported that the LEADER project was now complete and that the bureaucracy involved had been disproportionate. However, several local businesses had thanked RPC for the benefits they had received.

d. Improved health & well-beingand meeting the needs of all generations– Cllr Jones had contacted Upton Surgery regarding the delivery of prescriptions to the parish in the event of floods making the road into Upton impassable – a response was awaited. Following the 2007 floods, Beechwood had acted as a distribution centre for prescriptions in difficult circumstances but as it has changed hands there was doubt as to whether it would continue to fulfil this role – confirmation to be sought.

e. Stronger communities –Nothing to report.

8 Correspondence for information – schedule circulated. All items available from Clerk if required.

9 Approval of Invoices – None presented.

10 Wind Turbine Update – Cllr Jones reported that the wind turbines application would be discussed at Tewkesbury Borough Council on the 5th February. The planning officer was recommending refusal. Parishioners and Cllrs were encouraged to attend although they would not be permitted to address the meeting. A flyer had been designed and the Clerk would organise printing, with Cllr Jones co-ordinating the distribution. If the application is refused, Wind Prospect have the option to appeal to all three refused applications, and would likely appeal on the access track in Wychavon first due to the imposed timescales.

11 South Worcestershire Development Plan – Following the rejection of the SWDP, a further meeting reversed this decision and the SWDP is now accepted. Comments have been invited on the legality and soundness of the plan. The Management Group met to discuss this and considered that the failure of the SWDP to recognise Ryall as a Category 3 settlement mounts a challenge to its soundness. The deadline for responses is the 22nd February.

12 Ripple Emergency Plan/recent flooding in Parish – Cllr Gibson had put together a detailed report which will be passed to the working group to tailor to the individual settlements, and then presented at the next Council meeting. Cllr Cox expressed concern that some of the information in the document might have repercussions on some residents household insurance if their properties were identified as vulnerable to flooding.

13 Agreed Dispensation for all Councillors of Ripple Parish Council to set the precept until May 2015. Unanimously agreed.

14 Agree and set precept for 2013/14 financial year

Cllr Gallagher proposed that the precept remain at the current level of £13,700 for the financial year 2013/14. Seconded by Cllr Jones and agreed.

15 Donation to Mercia Inshore Search and Rescue (MISAR)

Cllr Blake proposed a donation of £150 be sent to MISAR. Seconded Cllr Weyman and agreed.

16 Grass cutting tender for Ripple Parish and Parish Lengthsman – Grass cutting has been done by Hayden Ebrey for some years now, with RPC very happy with his work. However to ensure Best Value for Money, Clerk will send out tender documents inviting responses.

17 Councillor’s comments and items for future agendas – A parishioner has reported that contractors who installed a new drain opposite his house have not put down enough tarmac to reach his boundary, and asks if this could be remedied.

18 Date of next meeting – Monday 11March 2013Ripple Parish Hall.

The meeting was closed at 8pm.

Signed ……………………………….. Chairman to Ripple Parish Council Date ……………………..

Public Question Time

No members of the public were present.