1 Apologies for Absence: Mrs J Beale, Mr R Beale and Mr J Sharpe (County Councillor)

Mr H Warden has resigned from the Parish Council due to ill health. A letter will be sent thanking him for his hard work and contribution to the village during his time both as a Parish Councillor and as the Chairman of the Parish Council.

2 Declaration of Interests

C Hockey declared an interest in the land next to The Old Telephone Exchange, 38 St James Street and Deposit Accounts.

R Palmer declared an interest in the land next to The Old Telephone Exchange.

L Port declared an interest in Howden, Over Stratton.

B Priddle declared in interest in the demolition of South Petherton hospital, although to date he had not been consulted as an interested party.

3 Young People’s Parish Council

A number of the Young People’s Parish Council are away in Ghana at the present time. A grant in the region of £300 for the BMX track change is likely to be available form the Somerset Community Chest if the YP PC makes the application themselves. The application form will be passed to R Palmer to discuss with YP PC.

4 David Hall, A Presentation By the C Keating, the Chairman

C Keating gave a presentation explaining the current problems facing South Petherton Arts Trust and the David Hall. The building itself needs extensive repair work, particularly the roof and the ungrading of facilities eg hearing loop, heating, insulation, and disabled facilities. Hence a Save the David Hall Campaign is being launched.

Additionally the current agreement with SSDC, from whom they have been receiving a grant of £10,000 per year ends in March 2006 and is not being renewed, leaving a shortfall in running costs. ie expenses exceed income. There are various plans and grant applications being put in place to secure capital funding and the David Hall seeks the support of the Parish Council so local support can be demonstrated when making these grant applications and support/lobbying to SSDC until the David Hall can be self sufficient. This was agreed.

5 Late Correspondence

SSDC, the taxi licences will be changing to District wide not just Yeovil.

6 Agreement of Minutes

The minutes of the monthly meeting held on 14 June 2005 were signed as a correct record.

7 Matters Arising or Raised by Members

a) Concern has been expressed about the number of bonfires since the introduction of ‘wheelie’ bins. It was noted that there are no specific by- laws in the area but continuing problems can be reported to SSDC Environmental Health Department.

b) S Wallis will be attending the CAB AGM on behalf of the Parish Council.

c) The overgrown area of the’ landing’ and what was A Chammings ‘garden’ is causing a safety hazard and will be reported to Somerset Highways. Longer term it is proposed that the Lengthsman will be restoring the garden.

d) Verge cutting seems to have been a problem this year, the clerk was asked to again seek clarification on how often the verges should be cut.

e) There was a planning application for a caravan on a site in Palmer Street, which was later withdrawn, but there now appears to be a caravan on this site. This and the caravan and building works on a site at Lower Stratton will be brought to the attention of the SSDC Enforcement Officer.

8 Planning Verdicts

The verdicts on planning applications received during the month were reported.

9 New Planning Applications

a) 01680ful Construction of area to store potato boxes at Frogmary Green Farm, West Street. The Parish Council recommended approval.

b) 01604ful Erect a detached dwelling with double garage on land adjoining The Old Telephone Exchange. The Parish Council recommended approval.

c) 01627ful Demolish the existing extension and erect a two storey extension at 4 Swedish Houses, Over Stratton. The Parish Council recommended approval.

d) 01626ful Modified proposal of previous submission at 2 South Harp, Over Stratton. The Parish Council recommended approval.

e) 01630ful Erection of a conservatory at 7 Bakers Court, West Street. The Parish Council recommended approval.

f) 01646tpo Cut down and remove Lawson Cypress at Mere Cottage, North Street. The Parish Council recommended approval with a suitable replacement being planted.

g) 01625ful Erection of two dwellings at 38 St James Street. The Parish Council recommended refusal, as the proposed new dwellings would take the light from the adjoining flats. Also this space is currently used for the parking of Hodges vehicles, which at busy times already park in the road on double yellow lines. This application makes not provision for where these vehicles will then park.

h) 01628lbc and 01642ful Conversion of shop and flat into a dwelling house at 38 St James Street. The Parish Council recommended approval.

i) 01721ful Conversion of a garage into a dinning room at Howden, Over Stratton. The Parish Council recommended approval.

j) 01785dem Notification of the demolition of South Petherton Hospital. The Parish Council recommended approval.

k) 01840ful Application to vary the condition to allow outdoor music between 12noon and 11pm at The Brewers Arms and Bakehouse Restaurant. The Parish Council had no objection, providing it was occasional as stated in the application.

10 Local Plan

The proposed changes were noted, but they do not affect South Petherton.

11 Recreation Ground

a) The items of high priority on the SSDC play inspection reports are being dealt with.

b) C Willy has not been able to contact P Turner about the Garden of Remembrance. It was agreed that this should be added to the Lengthsman longer tern list of tasks, noting that the scouts will then take over the maintenance,

c) It was noted that the Recreational Maintenance Grant from SSDC for 2004/2005 has been cut form £5,700 to £2,100. £820 for the BMX track was disallowed as SSDC had made a capital grant towards the BMX track. SSDC will be asked for a breakdown of their figures.

d) Under the new licensing laws, P Bussell has applied for a licence that covers the recreation ground. The Parish Council would consider a contribution to wards the costs he has incurred when approached. To ensure no misunderstandings in the future a letter will be sent to P Bussell confirming that he must consult with the Parish Council for any events on the recreation ground that require a licence. The final decision on who uses the recreation ground lies with the Parish council.

(P Mottram arrived)

e) No one on the Parish Council is available to attend the SSDC Sport and Leisure Faculties Meeting.

f) C Willy summarised the SPRUG meeting.

g) The Brewers Football Club will be reminded that they still owe £50 from last year and the payment for 2005/2006 must be paid before the start of the season. C Willy offered to meet with them if there is any problem about this.

h) A Moore, the SSDC Play and Youth Facilities officer has checked the MUGA and found 23 items that need to be resolved. |His recommendation is that the MUGA should be removed and the whole project started again from scratch. A meeting will be arranged with Base Leisure who installed the MUGA. It was also noted that SCC were installing 11 full MUGAs across the county; J Sharpe will be asked what selection process was used.

i) The grit is available for the Lengthsman to put on the BMX track as soon as the YP PC has decided what is required.

j) Following the problems with motorised bikes and go-karts on the recreation ground, to avoid any misunderstandings, two signs will be purchased saying mortised vehicles are not allowed with out written

k) It was agreed that the hedge by the BMX track should be cut. C Willy will make arrangements for this to be done.

k) The Green Fair is considering a new venue for 2006.

12 Highway Matters

a) A list, from the three Parish Councillors who liaise on highways, describing areas in the village that require attention was circulated. These will be brought to the attention of Somerset Highways. It was agreed that this monthly survey of the village was a good idea and it was requested that this list should be available in time to go in the correspondence box, rather than circulated at the meeting.

b) Following the site meeting between B Davis, H Brunton and a representative from the Somerset Disability Forum, it was agreed that ideally there should be five additional dropped kerbs between West End View and the centre of the village.

13 Clean Neighbourhoods

Parishes can choose whether to implement this new Act or not but District Councils, who already have some powers, will have no option but to implement the new act. It was agreed that no action by the Parish Council was necessary and they requested that SSDC should keep the parish informed.

14 Lengthsman

The scheme is working well but suggestions for wet weather /winter tasks are needed. The initial ideas are for work in the chapels, the pavilion and the Blake Hall. Agenda item for next meeting.

15 Footpaths

a) Working towards preparing a bid to improve footpaths from the Community Access Fund and SSDC Market Towns Initiative, walkers in the village have been consulted and discussions with landowners have started.

b) After reading two letters from parishioners and hearing the comments from the members of the Parish Council’s footpath group, it was agreed that the first gates across footpath Y24/24 at Compton Durville were unnecessary to retain stock.

c) Following a letter to all parish councillors including the past councillors and clerk, the folder of footpath maps has been found and returned to the clerk. Copies are now being made for members of the Parish Council footpath group. SCC has also provided a colour copy, which is with B Priddle. A Ashdown has scanned the maps and hopes to soon have them available on the South Petherton website.

16 Somerset Village of the Year Competition

South Petherton is through to the final of the Somerset Village of the Year, which was held on 12 July 2005, but the result will not be announced until 13 September 2005.

17 Cemetery

a) M Davis, the current contractor for the cemetery was invited to speak. In his view the cemetery had been left in a poor state when he took over the contract with many wreaths let from last year, which fouled the blades of his machinery, hedges had not been cut and the weather in April was very wet, which caused the initial problems. He believes he is now on top of the work with spraying of paths still to be done and hedges to be cut in August. There had been many complaints from the public. It was agreed that the work in June had been satisfactory and this would be monitored closely fro another month.

b) M Grinter had quoted £25 to level the spoil left near the old gate on the right side. It was agreed that this should be done and a suggestion was made that this area should be grassed over and a new site found for the spoil.

c) There is a problem with moles at the cemetery and B Davis will get a quote for having them removed for consideration at the next meeting. Also for removing the moles in the play area at the recreation ground.

18 Churchyard

There has been a problem with glass in the churchyard: R Beale wil be asked what it would cost for the caretaker to clear the litter and glass on a regular basis.

19 Pavilion

P Mottram meets regularly with P Bussell and reported that those who use the facilitates are pleased with the current arrangements.

20 South Petherton Hospital

M Willy and S Dickie reported on the recent meeting of the South Petherton Hospital Reference Group. A decision has been made on the road access from the Martock Road and they are in consultation with the landowner. There is also going to be a footpath and cycle path from Lightgate Lane to the hospital. Whether or not the doctor’s surgery will move has not been decided and there will be public consultation on this. It is proposed that the full business case should be ready by November 2005 and the new 44-bed hospital will be ready for 2007, following a nine month building programme. A most encouraging meeting.

21 Consultation - South Somerset NHS, The Trust’s Five Year Strategic Framework

M Willy completed the questionnaire on behalf of the Parish Council

22 Flooding Awareness Workshop

P Stratford has been approached to attend on behalf of the parish.

23 County Councillor’s Report

There was no report.

24 District Councillors’ Report

a) SSDC have been successful in the Ashden Awards, which are international awards for energy, in obtaining £10,000 for a scheme to generate electricity to the mill owners on the River Brue.
b) There is a new Home Office document called 'Together We Can' about local councils and government working together.
c) There is a new report 'A View of South Somerset' which is now available in every library. The Parish council requested a copy via P Robathan.
d) The SSDC five-year corporate plan is now nearing completion.
e) Ham Hill and Yeovil Country Park have both been awarded a Green Flag.

25 Deposit Accounts

It was agreed that a new deposit account would be opened with Bank of Ireland, which offers a higher interest rate than the Bath Building Society, keeping the Bath Building Society account open with the minimum of £1,000.

26 Approval of Cheque Payments

Approval was given for cheques drawn as indicated on the list attached to these minutes.

27 Parish Council Social Event

This will be a boat trip on the Taunton to Bridgwater Canal on 2 August 2005 for Parish Councillors and their partners. The clerk to be notified as to who will be going by 19 July.

The meeting closed 9.54pm

Minutes Approved by: Chairman………………………

Date………………………..