1 Apologies for Absence: J Derbyshire, J Johnson and J Sharpe.

Absent: J Broughton

2 Parish Council Vacancies

John Purefoy has resigned from the Parish Council and this third vacancy will be formally advertised. The two vacancies announced at the last meeting have been formally advertised with no response, so the Parish Council can now co-opt. It was agreed to co-opt Mrs K Forsey if she is still interested in becoming a Parish Councillor.

As new Parish Councillors are co-opted they will be asked to fill the vacancies as the representatives on village committee and parish council working parties for the coming year.

3 Declaration of Interests

a) S Dickie declared an interest in the appeal for the planning application for the land adjoining St Michaels Gardens and Lightgate Lane.

b) R Neve declared an interest in the letter from Stratton and District Village Hall, as his wife is the secretary and had written the letter.

4 Current Issues in South Petherton, PC Mark Edgington,

PC Mark Edington reported on the current anti-social behaviour issues in SP and what is being done eg more patrol cars, increased cover some nights, targeted patrols, the work of the Local Action Group, which liaises with other agencies, temporary CCTV camera, which is accessed by lap top computer, the Police Post. There have been two arrests relating to crime in Prigg Lane car park and regular discussions with both young people and their parents. He explained how a ‘Mosquito’ works and how this might help in SP. There are 24 ‘response’ police officers working from Chard police station, which is the same number as before he was appointed to his post for SP and Crewkerne area. The Police Post, which is staffed by community volunteers, is a big asset to both the police and the community.

5 Affordable Housing, a Presentation and Discussion with R Pallister

R Pallister explained the SSDC policy of a mix of affordable and social housing on each development site, with there having to be 35% affordable housing of which 50% will be shared ownership and 50% social housing. Shared ownership would normally be two bedroom homes, as the most affordable and social housing would be two or three bedrooms. He recognised that this does not meet the needs of local people as this affordable housing is not ‘affordable’ to many. The only exception is the Rural Exception Scheme which can be outside of the development area, need not be in the Local Plan, but there does have to be a justified need and they have to be sited accessible to the village. There is no mechanism for these to be restricted to local people.

The Choice Based Lettings Policy will come into place in the next few months. This is a bid system that recognises the highest need and the highest priority, so those wanting to return to SP would move up the order. There are currently 6,500 on the housing register.

SP needs more young people to stay in the village and these young people want to own their own homes. The government has proposed a 75% market value ownership scheme which might achieve this but this is currently not being pursued by SSDC. There is a Government Green Paper saying growth should not just be around the major towns but there should be small scale growth elsewhere and this should include sustainable development eg doctors, schools, transport, shop etc. . In addition to Rural Exception Schemes there could be Rural Clusters, which would be all affordable housing. Land value increases as soon as it has planning permission but this would increase the value of agricultural land from about £3,000 per acre to £10,000 per acre, considerably less than normal building land. A Rural Cluster could be restricted to local people and restricted to 90% ownership, but SSDC has no policy in place to come into line with government guidance. It should be noted that a restriction to local people only works for the first purchase and con not be maintained after that.

6 Agreement of Minutes

The minutes of the monthly meeting held on 10 July 2007 were approved and signed as a correct record.

7 Matters Arising

Recycling to be considered as a separate agenda item.

8 New Planning Applications

a) 03315ful Erection of a single storey side extension and two storey rear extension. The Parish Council recommend refusal as this proposed two storey development is too imposing on the site and the neighbours in Compton Road. There is also a possible problem with the closeness to the retaining wall.

b) 03320ful The construction of a tree house at The Vineyard, 4 West Street. The Parish Council recommend approval only if the walkways can be designed to come more into the applicant's garden to avoid overlooking the neighbours.

c) 03589ful Retrospective planning application for the use of land to station a mobile home at The Mobile Home, South Harp Farm, Lower Stratton. The Parish Council has sympathy with the applicant but recommend refusal unless there is new relevant medial evidence which the South Petherton Parish Council are not qualified to judge. They request that this application should be referred to SSDC Area North for their consideration

d) 03462ful The erection of a first floor extension over the car parking spaces at to 20 Lightgate Lane. The Parish Council recommend approval.

e) 06/03211ful Erection of a five bedroom house and detached garage, revised boundaries and revised design, at Hardings Court, Palmer Street. Providing the plans agree with what has now been built the Parish Council recommend approval.

f) 06/03209ful Erection of a four bedroom detached house, revised boundaries and revised design ,on Plot 2, Hardings Court, Palmer Street. Providing the plans agree with what has now been built the Parish Council recommend approval.

g) 01302lbc Alterations to Bothy Cottages and the construction of a tennis court at Parrett House, Parrett Works, Martock. The Parish Council had not comment to make on this planning application.

03435ful The erection of a single detached dwelling at 18 Summershard. The Parish Council recommends refusal as this is over development of this small garden site and too imposing on the neighboring properties and would be in conflict with the existing street scene.

9 Planning Decisions, including - West Down Orchard and West End Close

a) West Down Orchard – The Parish Council felt that the refusal of this planning application was a retrograde step and whilst noting SSDC’s concern about lack of visitor records and possible business use on the site, they question whether the lack of a site manager will help with proper enforcement. They expressed surprise that this application had been decided without reference to the SSDC Area North Committee, where they would have had a further opportunity to express their views.

b) West End Close – The Parish Council had recommended refusal because of concerns about traffic issues. There is confusion on the date of the meeting to discuss the details of this so M Willy and C Willy offered to represent SP PC at a meeting on 21 August.

10 Planning Appeal, Development Behind St Michaels Gardens and Lightgate Lane

A response will be written emphasising the deviation from the South Somerset Local Plan and repeating the comments previously made in the Parish Council’s recommendations to SSDC. Concern was expressed about the lack of communication from SSDC on this matter.

11 Local Action Group

a) The possible installation of a Mosquito was discussed, with concern that any problem will just be moved elsewhere in the village. It was agreed that some possible sites would be identified in the village eg car parks, church yard, recreation ground, with the wiring being put in so that the Mosquito could be moved around as required. The time line for the installation will be investigated with PC Mark Edgington. The possibility of purchasing one for use in South Petherton will be discussed with the Market Towns Initiative Group.

b) The need to report all crimes needs to be emphasised and Mark Edgington will be asked to write about this for TA13.

c) A non alcoholic ‘bar’ in one of the empty shops is being considered but requires the support of local residents before the idea will be progressed.

d) At the request of neighbours, consideration was given to removing the seat in the wall at St James Street car park as it was felt that this was rarely used during day time, but this will not be pursued.

e) The Somerset Rural Youth Project were contacted to see what help they might be able to offer working with young people who like to gather in SP, but they are unable to help in villages which are already supported by SCC Youth Service which in SP has a SCC Youth Worker at the Youth Club. Also their brief is not to work in Market Towns.

12 Adoption of Local Authorities Code of Conduct

The new forms were signed by the parish councillors present

13 Adoption of Publication Scheme

The draft Publication Scheme was approved and will be sent to the Information Commissioner for their agreement.

14 Approval of Cheque Payments

a) Approval was given for cheques 3532 – 3549 drawn as indicated on the list attached to these minutes.

b) VAT had been added to the invoice from Tree Zone but as the price for this work was given before Tree Zone was VAT registered, the cheque was made out for the amount net of VAT. This was queried by the owner of Tree Zone. P Robathan advised the Parish Council that if a payment was being made to a Parish Councillor, it must be perfectly correct, and regardless of whether the quote was written or verbal, it had not included VAT.

15 Highway Matters

a) The letters from SP Infants School were considered and whilst it was not considered feasible to have a bridge or pedestrian crossing where the children were suggesting, PCSO Michelle Haimes will be asked if she could visit the class at the Infants School to talk about road safety.

b) There has been a meeting between SCC and the Highways Agency about ‘non vehicle crossings’ on the proposed A303, but SP PC and the residents of SP have not been included in these discussions. A meeting with P Hobley from SCC and the Highways Agency will be requested.

c) Somerset Highways hope to be able to improve the lane to West End Close in the area closer to Compton Road but have no plans to down grade it to a footpath. It was suggested that fly tipping had been a problem in this area and K Dexter was asked to discuss this further with P Robathan.

16 Recreation Ground

a) It was agreed to purchase an additional seat for the play area at the recreation ground and to have the other seat secured to the ground.

b) The auditor’s comments on the system for public booking and payment to use the tennis courts were discussed and the recommendation of SPRUG that any change to the system would be too bureaucratic was accepted. Now that Balfours close at 6pm another venue for bookings need to be arranged.

c) The Parish Council were not in favour of another metal container for storage at the recreation ground, so the scouts and the Out of School Club will be asked to explore other options.

d) Work on the third tennis court was delayed due to the wet weather but is now progressing well.

e) SPRUG is proposing to start fund raising for the ‘pirate ship’ for under 5s.

f) The results of the Youth PC survey are that the young people would prefer a MUGA to a skate board park. This needs to be considered at a later date.

g) An extension to the recreation ground needs to be considered for the future and C Willy was asked to pursue this idea.

17 Cemetery

a) R Shutler reported that the area around the tress at the Community Woodland has been sprayed and the rest is being left to grow naturally and will be tidied up in the autumn.

b) The laurels on the right side, just in the entrance to the cemetery are encroaching onto the graves and the contractor will be asked to cut these back.

18 Churchyard

K Dexter offered to take over from J Purefoy as the Parish Councillor with responsibility for the churchyard, but asked to relinquish his role on the Blake Hall Committee when other Parish Councillors are co-opted.

19 Allotments

It was reported that the allotments at Pitway are over grown. M Willy will check on whether they are still being used.

20 District Councillors’ Report

a) Local residents have suggested gates in the passage way next to the library entrance similar to those leading to St James mews. The senior SCC librarian is liaising with the owners of the building to progress this idea.

b) The District Councillors’ Community Fund is for projects and activities that benefit residents in the Ward and can be given to a number of different groups but has to be spent before April 2008. Ideas were requested and might include such things as Crombleholme’s clock, litter bins that SSDC will not fund.

c) The Local Government Reorganisation for Somerset is now not happening, so SSDC and SCC are trying to work more closely together. Area committees, made up of SCC, SSDC, parishes and local residents are being considered. There is an inspection due in January 2008, so both SCC and SSDC would like to have something in place before then.

d) The SSDC Food Festival is in September and leaflets were made available.

21 County Councillor’s Report

No report.

22 To Consider

a) Additional Pitches for Travellers - R Neve offered to respond to this consultation.

b) Christmas Lights - N Symes offered to liaise with C Hockey and Knight Electrical on the erection of Christmas lights for 2007. It was noted that no budget had been approved for additional lighting.

c) Clocks - No quotes were available for consideration as it has been difficult to find anyone prepared to look at the clocks and give a quote for their repair.

d) Grant Application from Stratton and District Village Hall - Some temporary roof repairs have already been carried out but a further £1,400 of repairs will be required next summer, in addition to putting heating in the toilets. The Parish Council agreed a grant of £700 across the two projects, nominally £600 and £100 but to be divided in the way most appropriate to allow Stratton and District Village Hall to access other grant funding.

e) Internal Auditor’s Report - The draft response is missing from the correspondence box so will be considered at the next meeting.

f) Venue for SP PC meetings and use of the Hearing Loop – It was noted that SSDC Building Control are no longer required to be involved with licensing applications, so R Robathan, J Churchill and S Blake met with the SSDC Architect to discus the proposed Blake Hall stair lift and a response awaited. The new ‘microphone’ for the hearing loop was tried out at the recent planning meeting and was a success. A date for moving SP PC meetings to the Blake Hall will be considered at the next meeting when it is hoped that all the information will be available on availability of dates, permission and funding for the stair lift and S Doble’s availability as relief clerk.

g) Recycling - P Robathan explained the SSDC proposal to have 15 strategic recycling areas and that South Petherton could be one of these. This would be a site for glass, can, paper and plastic recycling plus any others that SP PC might wish to arrange, such as cardboard. The option to have just plastic which is currently not part of the kerb collections not an option. No recycling bins at all was considered as an option. After a vote it was agreed to pursue a strategic recycling site for SP.

23 Meetings

SSDC Community Safety Workshop, 4 October 2007. As there were no volunteers, R Neve said he would attend.

The meeting closed at 10.02pm

Chairman……………………… Date…………….