Minutes of the MEETING OF LYTCHETT MATRAVERS PARISH COUNCIL

Held on Monday May 18th 2015 at 7:00 in the Village Hall, Lytchett Matravers.

PRESENT were Cllrs: M Colvey, A Bush (until 8:30pm), R Carswell, A Cottman, A Huggins, J Taylor, E Wilson, C Wood and Mr T Watton (Parish Clerk).

District Cllr W Meaden and two members of the public were also present. .

1. Election of Chairman of the Parish Council for 2015/16.

Cllr Colvey was nominated and seconded. In the absence of any other nominees he was duly elected.

2. Receipt of Chairman’s acceptance of office.

The Parish Clerk explained that he had overlooked preparation of the necessary form, which he would now forward by email for formal acceptance at the June Full Council meeting. Action: Parish Clerk to email the form accordingly.

3. REceipt of apologies for absence – Cllrs K Norris and P Webb; and County Cllr Drane.

4. CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS.

The Chairman reported the sad news of the death of former Cllr Bob Miller who had served the community through his council membership for 8 years between July 2006 and June 2014. Bob had been council Chairman for three successive years – 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14. A minute’s silence was held. No details were yet available regarding the funeral, but members were assured that they would be advised of this in due course.

5. DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST; AND CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR SPECIAL DISPENSATIONS UNDER SECTION 33 OF THE LOCALISM ACT 2011. There were none.

6. Election of Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for 2015/16.

Cllr Bush was nominated and seconded. In the absence of any other nominees he was duly elected.

7. Receipt of Vice-Chairman’s acceptance of office.

The Parish Clerk explained that he had overlooked preparation of the necessary form, which he would now forward by email for formal acceptance at the June Full Council meeting. Action: Parish Clerk to email the form accordingly.

8. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

A resident of Castle Farm Rd who lives adjacent to the northern end of Dyetts Field, wished to make a statement regarding the council’s consideration of a variation to a licence for bees to be kept on an adjacent portion of Dyetts Field owned by the council. The proposed variation to the licence involves the inclusion of the rearing of pigs on this land; and this matter was due for discussion under item 16 below (consideration of a recommendation from the Environment & Amenities Committee). After giving his name and address – highlighting his property’s proximity to the land in question – the remainder of the resident’s statement concerned points he wished to make in objection to this proposed variation to the licence. Such arguments concerned matters of health & safety related to possible effluent from the site and matters of road safety related to access and parking, reasonableness & respectfulness to himself and his family, comparison with the council’s rules preventing livestock-keeping on the neighbouring Allotment land, the possible creation of a nuisance, and conferring of an unfair advantage to the licensee to the detriment of others. A full transcript of the arguments contained in this statement is included at Appendix 1 to these minutes.

The Chairman summarised how the matter had first come to the attention of the Council. This resident had initially contacted the Council to raise the matter of the land being used by the Licensee to raise pigs, in addition to his longer term practice of keeping bees there. The Chairman commented that it was pleasing that the resident had attended this meeting to expand upon his views – so that the Council could take them into consideration when determining how to resolve this matter. Those present were also reminded that the Licensee had attended the Environment & Amenities committee – where the resident’s concerns were discussed and the process of reviewing the Licence for use of this land had begun. The Licensee had chosen to attend the committee meeting because the Council had raised the resident’s concerns with him in a letter. It was noted that the Council has long considered bee-keeping on this site near to the allotments to be advantageous, and would be reluctant to curtail that.

Comment was also made on the matter of access to the site, and whether there were alternatives which might address the resident’s concerns about the parking, security of his property, and road safety aspects.

The Parish Clerk corrected a point of fact in the resident’s statement regarding the Allotments. There are 72 plots and currently only one is vacant.

9. THE MINUTES of the Council meeting on April 20th 2015 were approved as a true record of the meeting, and signed by the Chairman.

10. MATTERS ARISING & UPDATE ON ACTION POINTS.

  1. Minute 13, 18th August 2014. Establishment of Google Diary. Cllr Carswell had previously commented that he would develop and circulate some instructions to guide members in how to link their diaries to the online calendar on the Council’s website; and also how to add items to the website calendar. Action: Cllr Carswell to prepare and email this briefing – CARRIED FORWARD.
  2. Minute 10, 15th September 2014. Litter bin for MUGA. Awaiting installation by the Village Handyman. It was noted that this has not been installed yet. CARRIED FORWARD.
  3. Minute 17, 15th December 2014 – correspondence with a resident regarding poor mobile phone signal. Cllr Colvey had indicated that he would raise this matter with Ofcom, but had not yet been able to do so. Action: Cllr Colvey to contact Ofcom accordingly. CARRIED FORWARD.
  4. Minute 10, 19th January 2015 – Dog control signage. The Parish Clerk reported that he had now identified a third supplier and had requested a quote from them.
  5. Minute 13, 19th January 2015 – matters raised during visit to the village by County Cllr P Finney and Officers from DCC. A letter containing thecollated details has now been sent to Cllr Finney. DISCHARGED
  6. Minute 17, 19th January 2015 – review of the Council’s banking arrangements. Cllr Wood reported that she had visited HSBC Bank on Saturday 18th April with her evidence of identity as required by the bank. DISCHARGED
  7. Minute 22, 19th January 2015 –Venues for Council meetings. The Parish Clerk confirmed that he hadbooked the Blanchard Room for all meetings for the three months from May-July 2015 inclusive. It had previously been agreed that a small group of Council members would meet urgently to brainstorm the matter of meeting venues. The group is to consist of Cllrs Wood, Wilson, Carswell and Huggins. Action: The named four council members to arrange to meet accordingly.

viii. Minute 8v, 16th February 2015 – DCC Members divisional budget. The Parish Council element (£500) is subject of a recommendation under minute 11(b) (iii) below. The youth / community element (£1000) requires a relevant group (or groups) to be prompted to approach Cllr Drane with the details of their project(s). Cllr Norris indicated that he would advise the Scouts, and Cllr Cottman would advise the Sports Club accordingly. Regarding the Parish Council element, it was noted that Cllr Carswell had prepared a report on the matter of a permanent barrier around the edge of the rec field. Cllr Cottman advised that the Sports Club have been consulted on this and are in favour. Cllr Carswell’s report will be considered at the next meeting of the Finance & Policy Committee. Action: Parish Clerk to add this matter to the next agenda of the Finance & Policy Committee. Action: Regarding the youth / community element, Cllrs Norris and Cottman to obtain responses from representatives of the Scouts and Sports Club respectively. CARRIED FORWARD.

  1. Minute 13, 16th February 2015 – Primrose donation to Village Hall toilets refurbishment project. The Parish Clerk reminded those present that the formal letter of response to Primrose, based on the expert advice from NALC about the VAT element of the project, and enclosing the firm quotation for the full project, had been sent on 20th February. It was agreed at the April meeting that, as no response had been received from Primrose, Cllr Colvey would write to them. He reported that a draft had been prepared ready to send. Action: Cllr Colvey to send the letter to Primrose accordingly.

11. Appointments to : Environment & Amenities Committee,

Finance & Policy Committee

Planning Committee

It was noted that Cllr Webb had expressed an interest in being a member of all three committees. No other member had expressed a wish to change their committee membership. This, as well as the adjustment arising from former Cllr Maitland standing down from the Council, were noted as the only required changes. Consequently all other members were reappointed to their existing committee membership. A copy of the revised representation is attached at Appendix 2 to these minutres and will be published on the noticeboard and website in due course. Action: Parish Clerk to arrange notice display.

  1. Appointment of representatives to:

DAPTC, Purbeck Area Cttee, Village Hall, School Liaison, Youth Organisations

Sports Club. Appointment of Footpaths Officer, Appointment of Editor of Lytchett Link

There being no requests for changes in representation, all members were reappointed to their existing representative roles. This is incorporated into the notice referred to in the minute above and detailed in Appendix 2 to these minutes – which will be published on the noticeboard and website in due course. Action: Parish Clerk to arrange notice display.

13. District Cllrs report.

The Chairman welcomed the newly elected Dist Cllr Meaden. She began by noting that this, her first report to the Parish Council as a District Councillor, is quite brief as it is too early in office to have very much to report. She commented that both she and Dist Cllr Peter Webb had attended the Induction of District Councillors, signed our Acceptances of Office in the presence of the Chief Executive, declared necessary interests and had various presentations from I.T., Legal and Finance officers of Purbeck District Council.

The first Council Meeting of PDC is on Thursday evening, 21st May, where approval will be requested for various Councillors to be appointed to various Committees and panels. Other business includes consideration of a new village hall and museum for Kimmeridge and a sculpture on the Jurassic Coast. Cllr Meaden reported that she has already been approached by Lytchett Matravers village residents regarding disabled accesses, dropped kerbs and highway surfaces. She and Cllr Webb would be looking into these matters. She also commented that Dist Cllr Webb had told her that in the past he and Cllr Taylor, as the two District Councillors for this village, had established a routine of submitting reports to the Parish Council on alternate months. Cllr Webb had suggested that they continue that practice. Finally she commented that everyone knows that former Dist Cllrs Taylor and Colvey have both worked very hard for this village and will be a hard act to follow. She assured the Council that she and Cllr Webb would do their best.

14. County Councillor’s report

There was no report as County Cllr Drane was unable to be present.

15. REPORTS FROM SUB-COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS

Neighbourhood Planning Group.

Cllr Bush reported that a meeting held on Thursday 14th May had been effective. It is planned to commence the local pre-submission consultation exercise on 8th June. It was noted that PDC has raised the need for a sustainability statement and it was wondered if this would affect the pre-submission consultation in some way. However it was decided to go ahead with the consultation as planned. With regard to the grant application, a volunteer was sought to prepare the necessary forms.

16. Recommendations from Committees:

(a) Planning Committee – meeting 7th May 2015:

No meeting took place as there were no applications to consider.

(b) Environment & Amenities Committee – meeting 11thMay 2015:

The following had been recommended by the Environment and Amenities Committee:

That a licence to rent the plot for keeping bee hives be approved at a rent of £25 per annum and that pigs be allowed to be kept on the plot for a limited length of time, the licence to be reviewed annually. It was further recommended that the number of pigs is limited to two and that the maximum length of stay should be 18 weeks during the autumn in any year and that Mr Horlock informs the Parish Council prior to putting the animals onto the land.

Consideration was given to the points made by the nearby resident as detailed in his statement at Appendix 1 to these minutes, as well as in minute 8 above.

Cllr Wilson emphasised the limitations within the committee’s recommendation – two pigs only for a maximum of 18 weeks.

Drawing on some specialist knowledge, Dist Cllr Meaden advised that in order to keep pigs there is a legal requirement for the owner to have obtained a CPH holding number from DEFRA, and also a DP number from Animal Welfare. She also pointed out that any risk of pig effluent entering a water course is regarded as a serious matter, which is the responsibility of the land owner rather than the owner of the animals. The sloping aspect of the site may therefore be significant.

In the light of the above, it was AGREED to approve the licence for bee-keeping only at this stage, at a revised fee of £25 per year. A letter is to be sent to the Licensee to this effect – confirming the license for bee-keeping, and deferring the matter of keeping pigs on this land. The letter should also query whether the Licensee has CPH and DP numbers for the pigs he reared there. Action: Parish Clerk to write to the Licensee accordingly. It was noted that the matter of the risk of run-off of pig effluent would require further specialist investigation, if pigs were to be kept there in the future.

It was RESOLVED to receive the minutes of the above meeting.

17. Review of insurance cover 2015/16 and consideration of proposal to accept quotation from Zurich Insurance.

The council RESOLVED to accept the level of cover and quotation for £1825.87 for this.

18. (i) Acceptance of year end Internal Audit Report (ii) Consideration and approval of 2014/15 Accounting Statements.

Cllr Bush had raised some questions concerning the lack of reconciliation between the proposed Financial Statements and the Annual Return (Accounts) for BDO, making it difficult to cross reference the two. There were also questions regarding the treatment of the investment with Prudential. In the light of this the Parish Clerk is to review the figures with Mrs White.

19. Consideration of proposed person specification for Council Members.

After some discussion, and in view of the possibility of the Council requiring to co-opt a new member in the near future, it was RESOLVED not to formally accept this specification at this time.

20. Approval for Data Protection annual registration fee (£35) by Direct Debit.

It was RESOLVED to approve the payent of this fee.

21. Receipt of remaining Risk Assessments 2015.

It was noted that the risk assessments for the Allotments and the Recreation Ground had been forwarded the Parish Clerk. However there were difficulties with the file formatting of both, and so the Parish Clerk asked if the two Councillors concerned would review these, putting them on to the templates he had originally sent out – and then forward them to him again. Action: Cllrs Carswell and Cottman to review and re-send accordingly.

22. Consideration of grant request from Lytchett & Upton Age Concern.

It was RESOLVED to approve the payment of this.

It was also reported that an enquiry about a grant had been made to a Council member on behalf of a local “Speed Watch” group. However, nothing formal and in writing had yet been received.

23. Consideration of estimate for repair of bridge on Foxhills Open Space.

The Parish Clerk reported that he had received a quotation of £450 for this repair from the contractor who had attended to it on the two previous occasions. It was RESOLVED to approve this.

24. Consideration of quotation for budgeted replacement of Parish Clerk’s laptop.

It was RESOLVED to approve acceptance of the quotation from Novatech for £560 (ex VAT) for this.

25. Consideration of arrangements for naming ceremony for Foxhills-Deans Drove path.

It was noted that this needs to happen before the end of the school term. A suggested date of 19th June was therefore AGREED. The school is to be consulted for their decision on the time of day which this ceremony will take place.

26. Consideration of payment of the £50 one off fee to PDC for Planning Training events for 2015-16.

It was RESOLVED to approve this.

27. Report of any training activity undertaken in the past month.

There was none.

28. Reports of Representatives (by exception):-

Village Hall DAPTC Footpaths School Liaison
Youth Organisations Sports Club

Youth organisations: it is understood that the Scouts charge the Guides £100 per term to use the Scout hut.

Village Hall: There will be a coffee morning on 4th July. It was noted that this coincides with the next litter pick.

It is understood the two WI groups in the village jointly raised £437 for an “Africa” charity from the sale of refreshments on the day of the Annual Parish meeting.

29. COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING PAYMENTS DUE: –

Inv To Whom For What Net VAT Total
3445 T Watton Clerk’s salary – May (12 equal monthly payments by standing order) 905.05 0.00 905.05
3446 T Homer Handyman duties – April. 263.15 0.00 263.25
3447 T Homer Reimbursement of cost of new bollard & fixing materials for Eldons Drove car park. 134.63 26.93 161.56
3448 Continental Landscapes Grass Cutting, Southern end of Rec – April 20.00 4.00 24.00
3449 The Landscape Group Cemetery maintenance – April 303.49 60.70 364.19
3450 Brighstone Landscaping Ltd Foxhills Open Space Maintenance 560.93 112.19 673.12
3451 Dorset County Council Funding of additional library open hours 2015/16 1290.00 0.00 1290.00
3452 Dorset County Council Land at Lytchett Matravers Youth Club – annual rental 15.00 0.00 15.00
3453 Lytchett Matravers Village Hall Hire of hall for Annual Parish Meeting 25/04/15 40.00 0.00 40.00
3454 Information Commissioners Office Data Protection Annual Registration fee 35.00 0.00 35.00
3455 Purbeck Film Festival Grant award 2015-16 150.00 0.00 150.00
3456 Lytchett Matravers Twinning Association Grant award 2015-16 200.00 0.00 200.00
3457 Lytchett Minster & Upton Age Concern Grant Award 2015-16 800.00 0.00 800.00
3458 Pamela White Accountancy Services Internal Audits 14/15

Year end procedures 14/15

Payroll services 14/15

Preparation of financial statements 14/15

1225.00 0.00 1470.00
3459 K Bradbury Cover for Clerk’s holidays 221.80 0.00 221.80

It was RESOLVED to approve all the payments listed above.

30. “Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014”, Part 3, Paragraphs 6-10, Record of Decisions and Access to Documents – record of decisions taken by Parish Clerk.

The Parish Clerk advised that he had nothing to report.

31. CORRESPONDENCE.

The Parish Clerk reported on receipt of three items of correspondence:

A letter and poster concerning the public consultation on the draft recommendations from the Local Government Boundary Commission’s electoral review of Dorset.

A letter and booklet from Fields In Trust notifying of their AGM to be held in Twickenham.

A letter and plans from PDC giving details of, and seeking any comments on, requested works to a protected tree at 19 Charborough Close.

32. MATTERS OF INTEREST AND INFORMATION

There was nothing to report.

The meeting closed at 9:05pm.

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

Appendix 1

A statement made by a resident of Castle Farm Rd regarding a proposed variation to the licence for keeping of bees on the land at the northern end of Dyetts Field:

I would like to point out the following:

1. Parish Council code of conduct (point 1) states that “He / she shall behave in such a way that a reasonable person would regard as respectful”. I do not consider that allowing pigs to be kept at the top of my drive to be reasonable or respectful. Which of you Councillors regards this proposal is reasonable and respectful? Would you be happy with pigs and pig sties next your property?

2. Parish Council code of conduct (point 2) “He / she shall not act in a way which a reasonable person would regard as bullying or intimidatory”. I consider being told at the last minute to that the Environment & Amenities committee are “minded” to allow [name of licensee] to keep pigs next to my family home a threat to me and my family and therefore intimidatory.

3. The adjacent allotment holders are governed by a set of rules. They are not permitted to keep any livestock or poultry. Nor are they to cause any nuisance or annoyance to others. The Parish Council code of conduct (point 3) States that “He / she shall not adversely confer an advantage or disadvantage to any person”.

Likewise, should [name of licensee] be permitted to keep pigs then I consider you are conferring an advantage to him and a disadvantage to me and my family insofar as there will be additional nuisance and annoyance and environmental issues. Then add-in the fact that it would potentially devalue my home. Should I be able to prove that this was a breach of duty by the Parish Council then I would be looking to recover any financial loss is that I may incur.

4. Is this proposal to allow [name of a licensee] to keep pigs adjacent to my family home on public land does get through, can I take it that this is a reasonable course to take with regard to village homeowners? I only ask this as I own a 10 acre field on the north-western boundary of Lytchett Matravers which abuts in excess of 20 homes and I may well be minded to set up a pig farm.

5. Parish Council has an obligation with regard to health and safety. The entrance to the plot of land crosses my drive and is on an awkward junction. Please see the attached aerial photo. The access to the site is across my entrance. The keeping of pigs there will incur significantly more journeys to / from site on a daily basis (as compared to bee-keeping) as well as attracting people crossing my land to view / feed the animals (bee-keeping attracted no one). I have dogs roaming my property – for security reasons, and when [name of licensee] kept pigs there last year they were constantly barking due to [name of licensee] and the amount of people going to feed or look at the pigs. This also compromised the security of my property as some days we ended up keeping the dogs inside. [Name of licensee] also regularly parked his car in one of 4 spaces marked with an “X”. This further compounded restricted sightlines, narrowing the road and the like. It made the junction more hazardous.

6. I would also argue that charging only £10 per year end for the land is not an efficient return on a public resource. I have offered to buy the land which in turn the proceeds could be used for the benefit of many within the village as opposed to one person. Also, based on the 6% return you are getting on council funds in the bank, my offer of up to £8000 would yield around £500 per annum interest.

7. I understand that of the 36 allotments there are 9 empty. If you are minded that [name as licensee] can keep livestock then why can’t [name of licensee’s] smallholding / bee-keeping operation be sited within the allotments? The area could be sectioned of, as is the case with the present plot. This will utilise empty space. Keep his vehicle off the Castle Farm Road. It will also mean that I could potentially purchase the land, to say plant trees on, to give me back the privacy that we have had up until recently.

Also, by way of compromise, I offered [name as licensee] the use of a corner of my field to keep his pigs (away from any of the houses). This was not taken up. I have also written to your chairman, Martyn Colvey with a view to arranging a meeting with all concerned to try and reach an amicable resolution. To date this has not been arranged. I was only informed of this meeting yesterday and I have had limited time in which to put my case together. I believe [name of licensee] was given plenty of notice in order to put his case forward last week. Is there another agenda here that I should be aware of? As I do not feel I have been given fair notice or indeed an opportunity to put forward my case to any full council meeting, unlike [name as licensee].

In summary, if you allow this proposal to go through you are applying a different set of rules for the allotment holders compared to [name of the licensee]. That is hardly fair or indeed democratic.

You are impacting my family’s quiet enjoyment and value of my property. You are allowing a traffic hazard to be further compounded. At the end of the day I live here with my family, [name as licensee] does not. I also believe this affects one of my basic human rights – that is the right to respect for privacy and the home.

This is my family home he is disturbing for the sake of a few 100 pounds of sausages! Why should my family have to put up with the additional disturbance? Boot on the other foot, none of you would accept this proposal if it was your family home that was being threatened? I would still welcome an opportunity to meet all concerned, on site, to try to reach an amicable solution.

I ask you not to approve this motion.

Minutes of Full Council meeting 18th May 2015