Minutes of a MEETING OF LYTCHETT MATRAVERS PARISH COUNCIL

Held on Wednesday March 28th 2018 at 7:00 in the Blanchard Room, Village Hall, High St, Lytchett Matravers.

PRESENT were Cllrs M Colvey (Chairman), A Bush (Vice Chairman), A Cottman, A Huggins, K Norris, J Taylor, R Watts, P Webb and Mr T Watton (Parish Clerk).

Also present: District Councillor W. Meaden, and three members of the public.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

A resident who is also a member of the Village Hall Management Committee drew attention to the Village Hall AGM which is due to take place on 9th April 2018, commencing at 8pm in the Village Hall. She encouraged everyone present at the meeting to attend. She also asked if the Council would appoint a representative to serve on the Committee, and to attend the AGM. Cllr Cottman volunteered and it was RESOLVED to appoint him to this role.

Another resident wondered what arrangements are in place to proof read the Lytchett Link before it goes to print. She commented that her husband had identified two errors.

District Councillor’s Report

Cllr Meaden’s and Cllr Webb’s joint report is attached at appendix 1 to these minutes. In response to a question, Cllr Meaden commented that the result of the recent consultation exercise by PDC should be made public by the end of April.

County Councillor’s Report

It was noted that a copy of Cllr Wharf‘s report had been circulated to members in advance of the meeting. This is attached at appendix 2 to these minutes.

He thanked the Council Chairman for inviting him to the awayday event; and then went on to comment on the items discussed there. The first concerned broadband provision in the village. He reported that a superfast Dorset project manager working for Dorset County Council is willing to attend a full council meeting to answer questions and discuss related issues. In order to make this session as effective as possible he asked if the council members would put together a list of questions and issues which could be sent in advance of the meeting. Cllr Huggins agreed to co-ordinate such a list of issues and members were requested to feed these to him. Regarding the matter of road crossings, he reported on a different approach taken by Beaminster Town council. This took the form of a co-ordinated approach, with all relevant parties taking part in an initial meeting to tease out the key issues and construct an action list. County Cllr Wharf will forward an email on this matter from DCC Officer Rob Camp. This email details the approach Beaminster have taken, and demonstrates the necessary firm backing of the community in that town.

Finally, County Cllr Wharf reported that he had attended a meeting of the task and finish group concerning ward boundaries for members / representation on the new unitary authority. A public consultation based on two options is to follow.

1. To receive and consider apologies for absence – Cllrs R Carswell, B Barker and C Wood.

2. TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST; AND CONSIDER REQUESTS FOR SPECIAL DISPENSATIONS UNDER SECTION 33 OF THE LOCALISM ACT 2011. There were none.

3. TO receive AND RESOLVE to APPROVE THE Minutes of The Full Council Meeting on 17th January 2018. Two minor typographical corrections were noted after which it was RESOLVED to approve these as a true record of the meeting; and they were duly signed by the meeting Chairman.

4. TO RECEIVE and consider REPORTS OF PAST SUBJECT MATTERS.

It was RESOLVED to receive and note the contents of the following report, which had been prepared and circulated in advance of the meeting by the Parish Clerk. The italics below indicates additional comments made by members at the meeting.

  1. Minute 10, 18th Sept 2017 – proposal to clear undergrowth and shrubs along the metal fence adjacent to Library Walk, leaving just the oak trees and the low shrubs around the noticeboard and bordering High Street. Work Complete. DISCHARGED.
  2. Minute 10, 16th October 2017 – Proposal to award a grant of £100 to CALM for printing of publicity signs. Paid invoice now received – see items 15 on agenda. DISCHARGED.
  3. Minute 13, 20th November 2017 – to apply to Fields in Trust for protection for the Foxhills Open Space. This is the subject of agenda item 7.
  4. Minute 7, 17th January 2018 – research of grant funding for defibrillator by Cllr Cottman. Cllr Cottman reported that third suitable site is still to be identified.
  5. Notes of Public Participation 21st Feb 2018 – To clarify with relevant expert at PDC whether it is feasible to establish a byelaw to require dog walkers to produce dog bags on demand – i.e. basis in law, precedent for this, and views on practicality of enforcement by Dog Wardens. The Parish Clerk reported that he had spoken to the dog warden at Purbeck district council on this matter. For the dog wardens strongly felt that this was not a suitable approach to undertake locally. Firstly he explained that considerable time and effort has been invested in establishing good working relationships with local dog owners and this has resulted in a great deal of cooperation and goodwill which has had a very positive effect. It was felt that any shift of policy to one. Which includes challenging dog owners to produce bags on demand attempt to challenge dog owners to produce bags on demand is likely to be interpreted by dog owners as unnecessarily aggressive and confrontational and thereby damage this positive relationship. Secondly there is no precedent for the introduction of a byelaw which would be necessary to support this approach, and thus it would also be impractical as it is considered unenforceable.
  6. Minute 22, 21st February 2018 – Clerk to be provided with the grant request letter from Purbeck Film Festival so he can reply with a copy of the Council’s Grant request process and application form. Awaiting copy of the letter.

5. CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chairman thanked of the non-council member guests who had taken the time to attend the away day.

6. To receive and note the content of the minutes of the Finance & General Purposes Committee meeting on 14th March 2018. It was RESOLVED to receive and note these.

7. To consider the information provided by FIT, and any other options which may be available relevant to a proposal to protect the Foxhills Open Space as green space in the village.

Cllr Watts referred to a briefing update and proposal paper which he had prepared and had been circulated to members prior to this meeting. A copy of this paper is attached at appendix 3 to these minutes. Members noted the series of actions Listed in section four of Cllr Watts’s paper which need to be completed prior to any formal proposal being submitted for consideration by the council.

The chairman summarised that the overall goals should be to ensure that the protection of the Open spaces in question is never lost, but that changes to it can be made if a future Lytchett Matravers Parish Council finds it necessary to do so.

Cllr Norris noted that there is a need to go back to Fields In Trust to ascertain whether they will allow a variation of the deed of dedication for the Recreation Ground, and so at the same time an opportunity might be taken to test with them how strong the proposed protection would be for the Foxhills Open Space. Members noted that there he is a mechanism for trade-offs by exchanging one piece of protected land for another – which can be explored with the representatives from fields in trust.

8. To receive and note the content of a report into the annual review of burial records. It was RESOLVED receive this report and note that the burial records have been found to be accurate and up to date.

9. To receive and note the content of a report into the annual review of insurance cover. It was RESOLVED receive this report and note that the Council’s insurance cover is found to be complete and adequate. A question was raised about whether this would cover the newly purchased telephone box and the defibrillator which it will eventually contain. The Parish Clerk confirmed that he would advise the council’s insurers of this new acquisition prior to insurance renewal. Action: Parish Clerk to inform the Council’s insurers accordingly.

10. To receive and note the content of a report into the annual review of the Council’s Risk Register. A copy of the updated of Risk Register is attached at appendix 4 to these minutes. Members noted that some additions had been made or to the list of risks and that all evaluations of the impact and likelihood of each identified risk has been reconsidered and reaffirmed. It was RESOLVED to receive and note the members’ report into the annual review of the Risk Register and that it is considered to be complete and realistic.

11. To receive and note the content of a report into the annual review of the Council’s Internal Controls and Governance Schedule. A copy of the updated internal controls and government schedule is attached at appendix 5 to these minutes. It was RESOLVED to receive and a note the members’ report into the internal controls and government schedule and that it is considered to be complete and realistic.

12. To consider further details of the content and approach to the Annual Parish Meeting. The Chairman reported that he would be giving a presentation in to the Council’s activities which had been undertaken during the civic year just completed. Cllr Bush was asked to prepare some comment on the Neighbourhood Plan, and Cllr Norris to prepare something on the successful litter picks – ideally with some supporting figures to demonstrate the level of participation and impact upon the area.

13. To consider a proposal to purchase the telephone kiosk adjacent to the Rose & Crown PH. It was noted that this telephone kiosk is not in a suitable position to accommodate a defibrillator, because it is located too close to Tesco’s store. After some discussion, it was RESOLVED to seek ideas from the public at the forthcoming Annual Parish Meeting about potential uses of this box.

14. To consider a proposal from Cllr Huggins regarding Mobile Phone signal coverage in Lytchett Matravers.

Cllr Huggins had prepared a report into this matter which had been circulated to all members prior to the meeting. A copy of that report is attached at appendix 6 to these minutes. The Chairman thanked Cllr Huggins for his detailed work on this, and it was noted that the visit to the April Full Council meeting by a DCC Project Manager from the Superfast Dorset Programme is a relevant next step.

15. To resolve to approve the following payments due:

Inv To Whom For What Net VAT Total
3893 T Watton Clerk’s salary – March (12 equal monthly payments by SO) 864.63 0.00 864.63
3894 DCC LGPS pension contrib March 343.62 0.00 343.62
3895 T Homer Handyman duties, February 2018 202.50 0.00 202.50
3896 Idverde Ltd Cemetery maintenance – February 2018 303.49 60.70 364.19
3897 RP and SA Ball Supply of water to cemetery April 2017 – March 2018 105.00 0.00 105.00
3898 Churches Fire Security Ltd Fire equipment service at Club Hall 63.28 12.66 75.94
3899 British Telecommunications PLC Office phone and broadband Mar-June 2018 138.70 27.73 166.43
3900 Printerbase Ltd Scanner / copier / printer consumables 226.64 45.33 271.97
3901 Jurassic Computers Laptop service and Replacement battery and CD drive 100.00 0.00 100.00
3902 Anglebury Press Ltd Printing 1500 copies of Lytchett Link no 62 311.00 0.00 311.00
3903 Lytchett Matravers Village Hall Electricity used in the Parish Office 15/05/17 – 08/03/18 137.57 6.88 144.45
3904 J Clark Reimbursement to Mr J Clark for printing costs incurred on behalf of CALM (part of 2017 Council grant award to CALM) 100.00 0.00 100.00
3905 W T Doe Tree Surgeon Ltd Raking area where trees removed at Library walk, supply of 4 Tonnes topsoil, sowing with grass seed. 370.00 74.00 444.00

It was RESOLVED by a majority (2 abstentions)to approve all of the above payments.

16. to note any training undertaken by members or the Clerk in the past month

The Parish Clerk attended a seminardelivered by Rob Long, Data Protection Specialist from I-West on behalf of DAPT concerning the requirements for compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) by 25th May 2018.

17. To note any decisions and / or action taken by Parish Clerk under “Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014”, Part 3, Paragraphs 6-10, Record of Decisions and Access to Documents.The Parish Clerk reported on the following:

  1. Arranging for the urgent repair of a section of matting at the end of the zip wire at Rocket Park by the original installers, Sutcliffe Play South West who are based in the village. Reason: urgent safety consideration. Quotation Estimate of cost was below the de minimus limit.
  2. Renewing the contract with the current contractor for maintenance of Foxhills Open Space and play area inspections. Contract commenced in 2017.

18. CORRESPONDENCE

Cllr Wood reported that CPRE had written wanting to know the impact on the planning process of having a Neighbourhood Plan. There were some concerns about the detail within the questions they had asked – which took the form of a survey. However, she had responded by saying that she would be willing to have a general conversation with an officer from CPRE.

Cllr Norris commented on some correspondence regarding a request to remove benches from the library premises, because some residents believe that they have become a focus for youths in the village who then cause a nuisance to Library users due to their antisocial behaviour. It is understood that the benches do not belong to the Parish Council, and as they are on library premises Dorset County Council would need to be consulted on this matter. In addition, there was some opinion expressed that such a response seeks to address the symptom rather than the underlying cause, and that this would disadvantage the wider community by removing a useful facility. It was RESOLVED to ask the local Police Officer o get involved, and also to contact the Antisocial Behaviour Officer at Purbeck District Council, as a starting point. Cllr Norris agreed to make the contact with the Antisocial Behaviour Officer about this matter. Action: Cllr Norris to contact the Antisocial Behaviour Officer accordingly.

19. To note date of next meeting and items for future agendas.

Issues for consideration at subsequent meetings:

· To consider a proposal to demolish and remove the bus shelter at Lime Kiln Road opposite the war memorial.

.

The meeting closed at 9:10pm

Annotated by/on …………………………….. Signed by……………………

FullMinutes180328 Appendix 6 (Report on Mobile Phone Coverage Mar 2018).docx (Word)
FullMinutes180328 Appendix5 (Internal control and governance schedule).xls (Excel)
FullMinutes180328 Appendix4 (Risk register -Approved Mar 2018).xls (Excel)
FullMinutes180328 Appendix 3 (Foxhills Open Space).docx (Word)
FullMinutes180328 Appendix1 (REPORT OF DISTRICT COUNCILLORS March 2018).docx (Word)
FullMinutes180328 Appendix 2 (DCC Cllrs Report).doc (Word)

 

Full Council minutes 28th March 2018