1 Apologies for Absence – Mr R Neve

2 Declaration of Interests

a) J Derbyshire declared an interest in the Blake Hall, reference the precept discussion.

b) J Broughton declared an interest in the planning application for The Firs, Over Stratton.

3 Young People’s Parish Council

No report.

4 Late Correspondence

a) The first notification that a new Publication Scheme that has to be in place by 1 January 2008. S Blake and S Dickie will work on this.

b) It was proposed and seconded that SPPC would write to SCC supporting the move of SP library to the current Co-op building when they move to their new premises. The clerk will discuss with local residents how best to advertise this to parishioners to get their support.

5 Agreement of Minutes

The minutes of the monthly meeting held on 3 November 2008 were approved and signed as a correct record after discussing whether 6d was correct i.e. should it ‘operated’ or ‘not operated’ .

6 Matters Arising

The clerk reported on the Co-op site meeting which discussed the possibility of the delivery lorries reversing into St James Street Car Park along the side of Prigg Lane wall. Approximately six parking spaces would be lost but could be replaced by a similar number outside the current Co-op building. Specified delivery times in the car park will be considered, as will the size of the delivery vehicles. All of this would need to be subject to a structural survey of the car park to establish where the fuel tanks, from when it was a filling station, are situated.

7 New Planning Applications

a) 04360ful The erection of two poultry buildings and machinery store at Frogmary Green Farm, West Street. SP PC recommended approval.

b) 04880ful The erection of a front porch and rear extension to The Firs, Over Stratton. SP PC recommended approval.

c) 04813hdg Application to remove 2 x 30m lengths of hedgerow at Land OS0057 part, Hayes End. SP PC recommended approval.

d) 04993ful The erection of a two storey extension incorporating a conservatory at 78 West Street. SP PC recommended approval.

(J Sharpe arrived)

8 Highway Matters

a) Somerset Highways has agreed to move the give-way sign at the roundabout by Harvey’s Road and look at the road markings on the approach to the roundabout.

b) The road between West Street and Lopen Head has been resurfaced and in places the quality of the surface is unacceptable. Somerset Highways have accepted this and it will be rectified.

c) The drains in South Street are blocked but Over Stratton drains were cleared last week.

d) It has been suggested by a resident that the spread of light between Bridge Road and Whitehall Close could be improved if one of the lights were moved. Somerset Lighting has said this can be done only if SP PC pays for it, so it will not be pursued at the present time.

e) The mud on South Street and Hele Lane is the spoil from the Persimmon site and both Somerset Highways and SSDC Planning officers have been made aware of this.

f) Somerset Highways have confirmed that they and not SCC Rights of Way are responsible for Doctors Row.

g) There is a meeting on 3 December to discuss the signage between Hayes End roundabout and Coles Lane.

h) Somerset Lighting has said that the new light in Over Stratton will have to be on a metal pole which SP PC considers to be unacceptable as it does not match the other lights in Over Stratton. A wooden post is required and John Sharpe offered to pursue this with Somerset Lighting.

i) Reduced lighting trials are being carried out in Axbridge with other trails of dimming and removing lights elsewhere. The local police have indicated that they have no concerns about the lighting being reduced after midnight. SP PC will ask for a copy of the report and to be considered for future trials.

9 Footpaths

a) South Somerset Bridleways Association wants to have more footpaths designated as bridleways; more detailed information has been requested from them.

b) There are still problems with the footpaths across the Persimmon site with kerbs two feet higher than the path. One weekend there was a barrier across a footpath making it unusable and barriers against the hedge so that people could not pass through.

c) The Diversion Order for Y24/16 which runs alongside Droveway is complicated diversion with part of a footpath being extinguished. The initial consultation was three years ago and at that time SP PC recommended approval, so no further response was considered to be necessary.

d) Both Moondown Lane and Whitfield Lane need some scalpings or similar to fill in the pot holes and Somerset Highways will be asked to provide some next time there is resurfacing in the area.

e) The signpost for Y24/12 was missing but has been recovered by a resident. J Johnson offered to deal with this.

f) Dog fouling continues to be a problem in many areas.

10 Recreation Ground

a) C Willy has spoken again with the Vaux family about buying or renting land to extend the recreation ground. The land around the recreation ground is included in the next SSDC Development Framework and the Vaux family are considering giving 1½ acres to the parish to increase the recreation ground if they get planning permission for this land, which would give an additional 22 yards to the east and an additional 40 yards to the south. A larger extension to the recreation ground would be the ideal to meet the current and future needs of SP but this proposal would allow the cricket square to be moved to create a second football pitch. C Willy was asked to discuss the possibility of renting some more ground until such time as any building is considered. There was concern about what has happened historically when the parish has been given some land and the status of any ‘gift’ so some advice will be sought from the SSDC solicitor.

b) It was noted that the SSDC budget for 2012/13 includes £35,000 for the recreation ground, possibly for a MUGA.

c) It was agreed that as the old youth shelter is rarely used it could be sold to the parish that has requested buying it.

11 Cemetery

a) S Nevitt and J Broughton explained the proposed policy of seats in the cemetery. It will be limited to sites under the larger trees where the ground would not be used for burials and SP PC reserved the right to remove the seat if the space is required or the seat becomes unsafe.

b) Community Woodland - There was a discussion about whether to just mow the paths as at preset or to arrange to keep the grass around the trees cut. It was agreed that by the nature of the community woodland, just the paths would be maintained and as the trees grow the grass underneath would stop growing. A sign will be erected explaining that the site is being kept as a wildlife area.

c) Memorial Woodland – An application for £1,000 will be submitted to O2 so the decision will be deferred until the next meeting.

d) It was agreed that J Broughton and S Dickie will read the tree inspection report, agree what needs to be done and the clerk will arrange this.

e) A letter of thanks for his contribution to SP will be sent to Ken Parkin, the tree warden now that he has relinquished his role because of ill health.

12 Churchyard

a) Quotes are still being obtained for the repair/replacement of the walkway through the churchyard. It is understood that possible sources of funding may be available if applications were made by the church or an associated group as not all funding sources are available to the parish council.

b) K Dexter and S Nevitt will meet to come up with a proposed policy of where seats could be situated in the churchyard.

13 Precept for 2009/10

a) The level of use of the Citizens Advise Bureau in SP has been disappointing. It was agreed to budget for this to continue for another year, but advertise the service more and if usage does not increase to stop the service in SP in September 2009.

b) C Willy reported on the site meeting with the Scouts to discuss their proposals for a new Scout hut at the recreation ground. It was agreed to support this with £10,000 or 5% which ever was the lower.

c) The Blake Hall Roof Refurbishment has now extended to include replacement windows as there would be economies on the scaffolding costs and one large grant provider was prepared to give up to 50% of the combined project cost. It was agreed to give a further donation of £12,000 towards the replacement windows at the Blake Hall, which is owned by SP PC.

d) The additional youth worker was funded this year in the main by a grant from SCC. If it continues it would be wholly funded by SPPC. It was agreed to continue with this service for the coming year.

e) The cemetery wall/fence will require work in the next few years but the cost for this is not known. Some provision has been made within the precept and more investigation will be carried out this coming year.

f) Having the table showing the precepts for all the parishes in SSDC Area North was thought to have been useful when discussing the precept for next year.

g) P Mottram expressed a personal view that he felt more time should have been spent at the precept meeting trying to find savings in the precept. J Sharpe responded to say that the precept is solely for the village and SPPC had complete control over how it was spent for the community and often this can attract other funding from outside sources. The proposed precept was approved 13 -1.

14 Approval of Cheque Payments

a) Approval was given for cheques 3799 – 3811 drawn as indicated on the list attached to these minutes.

b) K Dexter and N Greenleaf were added to the bank mandate for Nat West.

15 External auditor’s report

The external auditor's report for 2007/2008 was accepted and the points raised were noted.

16 County Councillor’s Report

a) SCC has a policy of developing the library service. Letters of support for the move to a new larger site should be sent to the portfolio holder Justin Robinson.

b) The Waste Board has met to review experimental roadside collections of plastic bottles and cardboard. There are both practical difficulties and high costs until a better vehicle option can be found. In response to a question about whether recycling was now going into landfill, J Sharpe reported that as sorted recycling products it was still viable and Somerset was the best in the country with 59% recycling.

17 District Councillor’s Report

a) At the SSDC Community Safety Action Panel Meeting, P Robathan gave a report on the SP Local Action Group.

b) There are a number of queries being raised about the Sports Zone in Yeovil. Why Yeovil and where is the money coming from? A public enquiry is in progress but the aim is to get to the planning stage and explain the siting in Yeovil. It will include an Olympic size swimming pool and will fit in well with Yeovil College. External funding is being sought.

c) SSDC Area North meets monthly and from January 2009 will be the first area in Somerset to hold their meeting with County Councillors; agendas will include community grants, planning, and devolved funding. There will be four parish representatives at these meetings and the election for this will be run by SALC.

(J Sharpe left the meeting)

d) The planning decision on the outline application for 25 Hayes End was queried. SP PC had recently been told to include all requests for conditions at the outline stage but these do not seem to have been considered. P Robathan offered to get a definitive response on this.

e) Note from the public session – K Ronaldson responded to the concern raised about Westtown Orchard Touring Caravan Park to say that the way the planning conditions had been written meant they were unenforceable. These being whether there could be enforcement if there was someone living permanently on the site in a tent or if someone was permanently living on the site in a touring caravan but that caravan was replaced every four weeks with a different caravan. K Ronaldson acknowledged that this had not been looked at in the eight years since the last application was refused and that the existing conditions are from 1991. There is concern about the people that may move on to the site but clear planning conditions that could be enforced are needed and a new application with enforceable conditions is what is needed. This has been discussed with senior planners and agreed that a new applications is needed to be able to control the site and an application that includes some permanent sites is likely to be submitted before the next meeting.

f) Note from public session – In response to the concerns about the garage being built at Manor Gardens in Hayes End, P Robathan responded to say that he had discussed this with the planners and the records showed that there were two applications for this site and two sets of letters of consultation were sent out but no one appears to have received the second letter which related to the garage, but it is difficult to prove a negative. Two of the four plans were on the SSDC website but not the plans that included the garage. It was queried whether the second application was advertised. On the first consultation neighbours with no view of the site were consulted but those with direct view were not consulted.

18 To Consider

a) SP Bridge Club – Their request for initial set up costs was summarised. A grant of £200 was agreed.

b) Draft Cultural Strategy Consultation – Thought to be very dull and with no reference to other cultures.

c) Lengthsman – M Willy gave of summary of the scheme for the new parish councillors and explained the funding. She encouraged parish councillors to make themselves known to the Lengthsman. It was noted that SSDC had offered £1,000 towards poop scoop bins and litter bins but had subsequently withdrawn this offer.

d) Bus Services – As bus services are currently being considered by SCC a letter including the following will be sent to SCC; the need for a direct service to Crewkerne railway station and the swimming pool and a more frequent service to Ilminster. If the GP’s surgery moves to the new hospital, it was queried whether the proposed bus service of every two hours would be sufficient. If the route of the bus from Martock to SP could be diverted to include the hospital this would provide an increased/improved service. Service in the evenings is almost non existent and more are needed. Also a direct service to Taunton and a Sunday afternoon service to Yeovil hospital.

19 Meetings

Flood Awareness – No one was available to attend this meeting. It was noted that SCC do not have a definitive map of where the gullies are in SP and this should perhaps be given further consideration.

Meeting closed at 9.35pm.

Chairman……………………… Date…………….