West Ashton Parish Council

Please reply to the Clerk – Ms N Duke, 6 Shetland Close, Westbury, Wiltshire BA132GN

Tel: 01373 864127 email:

Minutes ofa meeting of the Parish Council held on Wednesday 18th January 2017 at 7.15 pm in the Village Hall, West Ashton.

Present: Cllr R Covington (Chair), Cllr M Workman, Cllr S Alford, Cllr Le Mare and Cllr H Barrow

In attendance: Nicola Duke (Parish Clerk)

Public Participation– There were no members of the public present.

AGENDA ITEM
2016/53 / Apologies for Absence and to consider the reasons given
Cllr Prickett had sent apologies for absence due to holiday and these were accepted.
2016/54 / Declarations of Interest and Dispensations to Participate
There were none.
2016/55 / Minutes of previous meetings
The minutes of a previous meeting held on 16th November 2016were approved for accuracy and adopted (proposed Cllr Workman, seconded Cllr Barrow).
2016/56 / Parish Councillor Reports
a)Members received updates on:
  • Highways– including Wiltshire Council consultation on traffic calming features, Bratton Road, which was noted as now being advertised.
  • Wiltshire Council– no update due to Cllr Prickett’s absence.
  • Police– no police presence, report previously circulated.
  • Wiltshire Council works in the village–Cllr Alford reported he continued to liaise with the Parish Steward, who had now attended to the majority of the identified tasks. It was confirmed that he attended twice per month and prioritised his workload according to the requests send in by the parish council. Cllr Workman reported that along West Ashton Road there was a road sign in the ditch. Cllr Le Mare responded that the cutting of the hedge along that road had allowed the detritus in the ditch to be visible. Clearance of this ditch would be added to the list for the Parish Steward. It was also noted that the West Ashton sign had been hit by a vehicle some time ago and Cllr Alford had been liaising with Wiltshire Council and Cllr Prickett. It was agreed Cllr Workman would take this forward with Pat Whyte. Cllr Le Mare asked whether a couple of skips could be arranged to empty Blackball stream. Residents were happy to carry out the work but requested that Wiltshire Council supply the skips. The parish clerk would send in a request to Pat Whyte.
  • Community speed watch–Cllr Workman reported that the figures had been sent into the police. A new volunteer (Jo Walton) had submitted her application form however, her training in December had been cancelled by the police. This was still to be re-arranged. Cllr Le Mare reported on the SID, which he was currently storing. He had been asking for volunteers for training but no one had come forward. It was confirmed that the training related to safety and enabled volunteers to move and erect the SID. Members agreed they would need to reconsider how to proceed with this project.
  • Village Hall–redecorating had been carried out, noticeboards had been erected and there were plans to revamp the bar. There had been a complaint regarding noise at 9.30 pm on Saturday night and Wiltshire Council had carried out an inspection. There were a few adjustments required but overall there were no issues identified. The plan of the building needed to be updated following work carried out.
  • West Ashton Magazine–the next edition was due in March. Cllr Workman noted that there was no sponsorship identified and this was noted to be have been a trial. Cllr Le Mare reported that this had been investigated but the feeling had been that adverts were not appropriate and sponsorship was unlikely without agreeing for some advertisement. The Chair agreed to discuss this with Geoff Watkins, who had been involved with the editing of the magazine.
  • Neighbourhood Plan–the steering group meeting had been re-arranged and the next meeting was scheduled for Monday 23rd January 2017.
  • Traffic calming–already covered above.
  • Village defibrillator – to receive report from Cllr Alford as to an appropriate operating model to ensure maximum accessibility–it was reported on how the project had been delivered in Melksham. The issue had been that the unit was locked and it had been noted that this could create difficulties in gaining access. The Chair reported on the need for the unit to be regularly checked. He also reported on a scheme where users are asked to call 999 to obtain the code to unlock the unit. Cllr Workman reported that a road sign had been erected in Steeple Ashton and suggested that this could be useful in the West Ashton parish. It was resolved to purchase a defibrillator sign for £22.96 (proposed by Cllr Alford, seconded Cllr Covington) and the Chair would approach his NHS contact for additional support in addressing some of the issues.
  • West Ashton crossroads – to consider proposal from Cllr Alford for the purchase of a wooden flower box–this was agreed as being a good idea and it was agreed to allocate up to £200 for its purchase and that Cllr Alford would source and plant (proposed Cllr Le Mare, seconded Cllr Covington). Cllr Workman would report this plan to Pat Whyte at Wiltshire Council.

2016/57 / Financial reports
a) The below listed payments were approved (proposed by Cllr Covington , seconded by Cllr Workman):
HMRC / PAYE December 2016 and January 2017 / £63.80
Playdale Playgrounds / Recreation area swing / £1,765.58
K Isaaks / 100 x 30 for a reason stickers / £99.00
Planning Street / Neighbourhood Plan invoice 2 / £1,950.00
G Aland / Grass cutting play area / £360.00
Cllr Le Mare / Reimbursement for bin / £369.91
2016/58 / Planning applications, decisions, enforcement issues and appeals
None received at time of issue.
2016/59 / Parish Council budget and precept 2017/18
Members discussed the previously circulated budget and considered the precept request for 2017/2018. Following debate it was proposed by CllrCovington, seconded by Cllr Alford and unanimously resolved to set the precept for 2017/18 at £6,500. It was agreed to include an article in the parish magazine to explain the situation and the rationale behind the decision to the residents of the parish.
Policy number 2016/59
Statutory provision LGA 1972 s 150/151
2016/60 / Correspondence
Trowbridge Town Council – re: actions arising from the community governance review (previously circulated) –this was noted and it was agreed that permission would be granted to relocate the TTC welcome sign and floral display box on or after 1st April 2017 but not before due to insurance and asset implications. The clerk would write to TTC accordingly.
2016/61 / Parish Matters
Cllr Le Mare – reported on correspondence received from Ian Robertson regarding tree preservation orders. Cllr Le Mare would raise this with the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. It was agreed to place the issue of potential TPO’s in the parish on the agenda for the next meeting in March 2017.
Parish Clerk - update on recruitment –it was reported that no applications had been received to date although the closing date was not until 10th February 2017. Further to previous discussions it was agreed that the council meeting schedule would be adjusted in order to enable the parish clerk to continue in employment.
2016/62 / Dates of next meeting
The date of the next meetingwas agreed asWednesday 29thMarch 2017 at 7.15 pm.

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 8. 30pm.