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A meeting of Grimstead Parish Council was
held at 7:30pm on 6th October 2003 in West Grimstead
Village Hall.
Present: District Cllr Richard Britton,
District Cllr Leo Randall, Mr R Amor (Vice-Chairman), Mrs
R Clark, Mr R Parsons (Clerk), and nine members of the
public.
Apologies were received from District and County Cllr
Bill Moss and District Cllr Jane Bissington.
67/03 Declaration of Acceptance of Office: Having
been appointed by Salisbury District Council in exercise
of the powers contained in Section 91 of the Local
Government act 1972 and all other powers in that behalf,
District Cllr Britton and District Cllr Randall signed
their Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Councillors
of Grimstead Parish Council.
68/03 Election of Chairman: Cllr Amor
proposed and Cllr Clark seconded, Cllr Britton as
Chairman. Cllr Britton proposed and Cllr Clark seconded,
Cllr Amor as Vice-Chairman.
69/03 Public Question Time: * An East
Grimstead parishioner asked why five Grimstead Parish
Councillors had resigned. Cllr Britton replied that on
the advice of the legal department at Salisbury District
Council the letters of resignation would remain private.
However he emphasised that no wrongdoing had been alleged
or implied. Cllr Amor and Cllr Clark confirmed that they
had no intention of resigning. Cllr Britton suggested
that anyone dissatisfied with his reply could write to
Salisbury District Council.
* A West Grimstead parishioner asked if minutes of
meetings could be published before they had been approved
at the following meeting. Cllr Britton replied that it
was not usual to publish minutes until they had been
approved but that a report of the meeting, once approved
by the Chairman, could be published sooner.
70/03 Urgent matters of Parish Council Business: The
Grimstead PC meeting on 22nd September had been abandoned
because a quorum of members was not present. Members
resolved to consider urgent agenda items:
71/03 Declaration of Interest: It was
resolved that any Declarations of Interest should be made
as and when necessary during this meeting since not all
items on the agenda for the 22nd September would be
covered.
72/03 Minutes: The minutes of the PC
meeting held on 4th August were approved for publication
but could not be formally adopted because only two of the
present members participated in that meeting.
73/03 East and West Grimstead Chalkpits: Cllr
Britton declared that these matters would have to be
deferred to enable all members to discover the pertinent
facts.
74/03 New Gateway at Macks Lane: It had
come to the PC's attention at the last meeting that a new
gateway had been created to access land adjacent to the
northern end of Macks lane. Because the gate opens
outwards it could become a hazard to users of the Right
of Way. This had been reported to the SDC planning
department and was being investigated. Action: Cllr
Amor will liaise with the SDC enforcement officer.
75/03 Litterbin for Crockford Green: It
had been suggested at a previous meeting that there was a
need for a litterbin on Crockford Green. The Clerk
reported that he had asked an Environmental Services
Officer at SDC to consider the viability of providing a
litterbin at this location. Action: A
reply is awaited.
76/03 Walkway between Whaddon and West Grimstead:
This proposal had been considered at previous
meetings but had not been satisfactorily resolved. Action:
Cllr Britton will investigate and report.
77/03 Applications for Easements at East
Grimstead: Cllr Britton declared that the SDC
appointed Gimstead Parish Council members needed time to
understand the intricacies of this matter and it was
resolved to defer this agenda item until the next meeting.
Action: Cllr Britton and Cllr Randall
will investigate.
78/03 West Grimstead Playing Field: Cllr
Clark reported that she had supervised the delivery of
two loads of safety surfacing for the play area and
organised the installation of the new Goalpost. Several
parishioners had helped with the work. She had also
attended the RoSPA safety inspection. Action: *
Cllr Clark will arrange the implementation of the RoSPA
recommendations including the removal of barbed wire on
the boundary fencing. * The Clerk will request the
release of the agreed R2 funding to pay for the Safety
Surface and the Goalpost.
79/03 Noticeboards: The SWAG Committee
awarded £645 in 2002 towards the project estimate of £875
for providing noticeboards in the Villages. The first
noticeboard was installed on Chapel Hill during November
2002 at a cost of £205 and the second of similar design
installed in the West Grimstead Playingfield in July 2003
at a cost of £445. For a number of reasons this has not
been popular. PC members were concerned that the safety
glass was a potential hazard and that the locking doors
discouraged the posting of notices. Action: The
Clerk will discuss with the Burnbake Trust and Cllr Clark
how best to resolve villagers concerns.
80/03 The Road by West Grimstead Playing Field: Members
had expressed concern in the past about the risk of
accident on the road passing by the playingfield entrance.
It was suggest that a red coloured surface to the road
would alert drivers to be wary of the playing field
entrance. Action: Cllr Britton agreed to
investigate.
81/03 Tree Surgery: At the PC meeting on
23rd July two PC members had agreed to survey the
condition of the Sycamore trees in the West Grimstead
Playingfield to establish the most appropriate method for
removing excessive growth. As a result, a quote from a
tree surgeon had been received. Cllr Britton suggested
two other local tree surgeons. Action: The
Clerk will obtain competitive quotes for the work before
the next meeting.
82/03 Wiltshire Association of Local Councils: WALC
is organising a training day on 16th October to explain
the clerk's role in becoming a Quality Council. Cllr
Britton explained that he understood that Quality Council
status was designed to enable Parish Councils to take
over functions from the District and County Councils.
Since this was unlikely to be a possibility in the medium
term it was not relevant to Grimstead PC members.
83/03 West Grimstead Pond: Cllr Clark
suggested that it might be appropriate to make a SWAG
application for maintenance of the West Grimstead Pond.
It was agreed to defer a decision on this until the next
meeting.
84/03 Finance: The following payments
were approved:
Stadia Sports
International Ltd - Goalpost - R2 funds --- 198 - £398.91p
ATF Supplies -
Safety Surface - R2 funds -------------- 199 - £785.84p
East Brothers (Timber)
Ltd - Oak gatepost ------------- 200 -- £32.90p
R Parsons - Clerk's
fee for 2003/04 (26 week balance) - 201 - £465.79p
R Parsons - Clerk's
expenses for 2003/04 (26 weeks) -- 201 -- £67.00p
85/03 Application to Upgrade Footpath 21 at West
Grimstead to a BOAT: The Clerk confirmed that a
letter expressing the views of the PC had been sent to
WCC and that this had been acknowledged. WCC Rights of
Way officers will be studying the evidence and if
necessary an order will be made in due course. The Parish
Council has made it clear that they would expect WCC to
apply a traffic regulation order to restrict traffic
movements if WCC are obliged to upgrade the footpath
based on user evidence.
86/03 Parish Lengthsmen had visited the
East and West Grimstead on 1st/2nd September.
87/03 Street Cleansing: This is carried
out by SDC every three months although parked cars often
make it impossible to achieve full service coverage. Action:
The Clerk to liaise with SDC Environmental
Services.
88/03 Roadside Hedgecutting: Every year
overgrown roadside hedgerows are a cause for concern. In
most cases these are the responsibily of the bordering
landowner and it is often difficult to get a satifactory
result from a direct approach. It was agreed that a list
of addresses should be compiled that could be forwarded
to the Highways Department of Wiltshire County Council in
order that letters can be sent direct to those
responsible for maintaining the relevant roadside hedges
and trees. Action: Cllr Clark, Cllr Amor
and the Clerk.
89/03 Planning: Until new Parish Council
members are elected or co-opted, planning applications
will probably be referred to the Southern Area Committee
of Salisbury District Council. Action: Cllr
Britton.
90/03 Correspondence: There were no
urgent items of correspondence.
91/03 Date of the next PC meeting is 20th
October at East Grimstead Reading Room.
The meeting closed at 8:50pm
Signed by the Chairman, Cllr R Britton, on 20th October
2003
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