Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils
Western Area Committee
Minutes of the DAPTC (WA) meeting
held at Mountfield, Bridport, on Thursday 25 May 2017.
Present: Cllr Chris Turner – Chairman (Beaminster), Cllr Janet Page (Beaminster), Cllr Debby Snook (Char Valley Group PC); Cllr Rowland Hubbard (Broadwindsor PC), Sandy Goldsmith (Clerk) and Cllr Wendy Smart (both Bradpole PC), Mary Boughton (Shipton Gorge PC), Cllr Hilary Nadin (Loders PC), John Broom (Lyme Regis TC), Cllr Paul Oatway (Charmouth PC), Cllr Steve Ralph (Symondsbury PC), Cllr Rowland Hibbard (Broadwindsor PC), Cllr Martin Buckland (Puncknowle & Swyre PC), Cllr Henry Lovegrove and Cllr Guy Folwell (both Corscombe, Halstock and District Group PC).
In Attendance: Hilary Trevorah (DAPTC Chief Executive), Stephen Hill (Strategic Director, North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council) and Sal Robinson (Secretary and Chideock PC)
430. Chairman Cllr Chris Turner opened the meeting by welcoming all present and, as there were new representatives present, asked everyone to introduce themselves.
431. Apologies were received from Bob Gillis (Bridport TC Clerk), Peter Noel (Charmouth PC) and Sally Welford (Thorncombe PC).
Freda Hennessy has resigned as Clerk to Corscombe, Halstock and District Group PC and will therefore no longer attend meetings. AGREED to write to Freda thanking her for her many years of attendance at DAPTC Western Area meetings, originally as a councillor and then as Clerk amd to wish her well for the future.
432. Minutes. Having been previously circulated, the minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2017 were taken as read, and were approved and signed as a true record.
433. Matters Arising from those minutes and not included on the Agenda. None.
434. Stephen Hill, Strategic Director, North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council / Impact of Local Government Re-organisation on Parish and Town Councils.
Stephen said that he was not able to say much due to “purdah” for the forthcoming General Election on 8 June.
He updated the meeting regarding the potential re-organisation of Local Government in Dorset.
· “Future Dorset” – still waiting on the response to the Unitary proposals from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which will not be received until after 8 June.
· Due to this delay, “we have now entered the world of possibilities”
· WDDC, Weymouth & Portland and North Dorset Councils are working more closely with DCC.
· Poole and Bournemouth Boroughs are also working more closely together
· Christchurch, Purbeck and East Dorset, who voted against the Future Dorset proposal, could be forced to be part of the Unitary set-up by the Secretary of State
· It is still possible to get though all the legal “hoops” by March 2019 – the emphasis will be on procedural and legal matters, not on the transformation of services, which would follow
· Delaying until March 2020 could cause problems with elections
· The Conservative Party manifesto appears to promote an “open door” policy regarding reorganisation of Local Government.
Stephen then spoke about the “Working Together” initiative.
· There has been a meeting between Cllr Tony Alford (WDDC Leader) and Town Clerks to look at how assets and services might transfer from WDDC to local councils.
· The towns requested this meeting
· Parishes are not included yet.
Attendees voiced concerns that Parish Councils are not involved.
435. Chief Executive’s Report.
The report had been pre-circulated and was taken as read.
Hilary was asked if DAPTC can find out what resources (in terms of manpower and tools / machinery etc) each Town / Parish Council has as this could be of significant use when considering devolution of services.
436. Dorset County Councillor.
Ron Coatsworth, who has attended meeting for many years to report on DCC matters, is no longer a DCC councillor.
AGREED that the secretary writes to all DCC councillors covering the DAPTC Western Area asking if they would be willing to attend these meetings.
437 Update on Superfast Broadband.
No update had been received from Superfast Dorset.
438 Reports from Parish Council representatives.
· Chideock PC. A group of residents has conducted a survey regarding a Chideock A35 bypass. The Parish Council is not committing itself for or against at the current time but is instead pursuing measures to improve safety and air quality. The Parish Council is using the Bridport Lengthsman to mow the council owned playing field.
· Bradpole PC. Gore Cross Green has been registered as a Field in Trust and there is a “Picnic on the Green” on 8 July to mark this. The PC hopes that this will bring the community together and help build communication between residents and the PC, which is essential when considering devolution of services to the parish. Bradpole PC already works with Bridport Town Council and shares resources. The 5 parish Neighbourhood plan is progressing and surgeries / consultation will be held within the parish to look at all aspects of the emerging plan. There are 2 casual vacancies.
· Char Valley PC. At the May Parish Council meeting it was decided not to develop a Neighbourhood Plan as only a very small minority of parishioners have expressed interest.
· Shipton Gorge PC. This is a small parish with approximately 300 residents and 200 properties. The main concern is devolution of services. In common with other parishes, it is hard to get people to be councillors, let alone volunteers to undertake devolved tasks. If devolution of powers to provide services is mandatory then some Parish Councils will cease to exist. Residents have shown no interest in developing a Neighbourhood Plan. Dorset Highways are not responding to requests for work – for example drains are only cleared once they cause flooding.
· Corscombe & Halstock PC. Parish Clerks are paid officers. But the role has expanded considerably and not all clerks are able to do the number of hours work now required. The parish is now served by 2 bus services, both operating 1 day a week, thanks to Nordcat. Bus passes are accepted. Freda Hennessy has resigned after 13 years as Clerk, so the PC has lost the General Power of Competence. The new clerk intends to work towards the Cilca qualification. The Neighbourhood Plan is in limbo until the Autumn. Renovation of a 2.5 mile stretch of lane connecting Corscombe and Halstock is complete. This was carried out in conjunction with DCC Highways.
· Loders PC. There is a new Clerk who is very good. The precept was increased by 20%. The AONB is funding undergrounding of Western Power Distribution electricity cables at Loders. However, BT, whose wires are on the same poles, are not co-operating. Part of the parish will get Superfast Broadband this summer. The Neighbourhood Plan is in place – this is making planning application discussions more complex and time consuming. There are new councillors, and 1 casual vacancy.
· Beaminster TC. Planning for the Skate Park is going well and some sources of funding have been identified. The Parish Council is investigating what is required to become a “Quality” council and is considering whether to develop a Neighbourhood Plan. The Deputy Clerk is taking the Cilca qualification.
· Lyme Regis TC. They have a lady Mayor, are advertising for a Lengthsman and are not going to develop a Neighbourhood Plan.
· Charmouth PC. 60 people attended the Annual Parish Meeting – all houses were leafleted. The precept has been increased by 45%. The Neighbourhood Plan is progressing –over 30% of the 16 page surveys were returned. A management plan for the foreshore (owned by the PC) has been agreed with Natural England. The former Congregation Chapel is up for sale – the PC considered purchase but could not justify this.
· Symondsbury PC. The Clerk is unable to receive e-mails. The next Parish Council meeting has been moved as the clashed with the meeting about the proposed development at Vearse Farm. There are 2 casual vacancies.
· Broadwindsor PC. There is a full council. They have an excellent Clerk who is responsible for the website, Facebook etc. The Neighbourhood Plan is progressing, with 9 people on the Steering Group and a consultant has been employed. There was a 60% response rate to the recent survey. A grant of £4,400 has been obtained. 14 potential development sites have come forward. Progress has been made with the Community Land Trust site at Drimpton.
· Puncknowle and Swyre PC. The Parish Council does not need to spend money on a Lengthsman Scheme as they have plenty of volunteers. They have no grit bins – residents have tubs of grit and some stocks are held at a local farm. There is a full council.
439. The dates of the next 2 meetings are 7 September 2017 and 23 November 2017, all at Mountfield, Bridport, starting at 7.00pm.
The meeting closed at approximately 9:00 pm.
Signed Date:
Chairman