Minutes of the meeting of LYTCHETT MATRAVERS PARISH COUNCIL

Wednesday 22nd July 2020 at 7:00 online.

PRESENT were A Bush (Chairman), B Barker, R Carswell, M Colvey, A Huggins, K Morgan, J Wonnacott and Mr T Watton (Parish Clerk).

Also present: Dorset Cllrs A Brenton, B Pipe and A Starr

One member of the public was present.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

There was none.

DORSET COUNCILLORS’ REPORT

Dorset Cllr Alex Brenton provided a written report which was circulated to all members after the meeting. A copy is attached at appendix 1 to these minutes.

She also added some comments about the Summer in Dorset Scheme for children – in particular opportunities for Lytchett Matravers children to take up free places on one day activities run by staff from Leeson House and Carey Outdoor Education Centre.

Procedural NOTE: It was agreed to consider item 14 below before consideration of the planning applications at items 9-13. The planning application at item 13 was taken immediately after the one at item 9 because both were from the same applicant, Jo Wonnacott, who had also applied to join the council. Mrs Wonnacott duly declared an interest in these two items and left the meeting whilst they were being considered.

To receive and consider apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Attridge and Webb. Dorset Cllr Pipe also offered his apologies and that he would try to join the meeting later.

TO RECEIVE AND CONSIDER APPLICATIONS FOR THE TWO COUNCIL VACANCIES ARISING FROM THE RESIGNATIONS OF MR C MAHER AND MR R WATTS. Members noted the applications of Mrs Jo Wonnacott and Mr Ken Morgan for these vacancies. There were no other applicants. Both were unanimously appointed to the Parish Council and joined the meeting from this point.

TO RECEIVE THE ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE OF NEWLY ELECTED COUNCIL MEMBERS. The Parish Clerk explained that he had prepared an email to be sent immediately to Cllrs Wonnacott and Morgan. This included the Acceptance of Office, Register of Members’ Interests form and the Councillors contact list – all for completion and return to the Parish Clerk ASAP.

To receive any declarations of interest, and consider any requests for Special Dispensations under Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011.

There were none.

To receive and resolve to approve minutes of Council meetings held on 24 June 2020.

It was RESOLVED to approve these minutes as a true record of the meeting. The minutes were then duly forwarded to the Council Chairman for signature and return to the Parish Clerk.

To receive and consider reports of past subject matters (for the purposes of report only).

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. Italics below indicate additional comments made by members during the meeting.

i. Dorset Cllrs Report, Minutes 23rd October 2019 – DC Criteria for placement of SIDs. We are now awaiting the delivery and installation of the SID unit.

ii. Minute 13, 23rd October 2019 – Replacement fence for Rocket Park play area. Work commenced Monday 20th July on the fence replacement. This job is expected to take approximately 2 weeks. A comment was made about the welfare arrangements for the contractors doing this work. The Parish Clerk indicated that he would take this up with their line manager. Action: Parish Clerk to speak to Poole Business Services accordingly.

iii. Minute 7.1, 26 February 2020 – Contact Santander to close the two dormant bank accounts. Deferred due to the current health crisis, i.e. (i) bank advisor availability, and (ii) the possibility that the accounts might be needed for some purpose during the crisis. It was RESOLVED to review this again at the end of the calendar year. DEFERRED until the November meeting.

iv. Minute 7.2, 26 February 2020 – PBS to lay 5 square metres of rubber flooring inside Rocket Park south side gateway to address worn, sharp concrete edge. This has been booked with Poole Business Services. This will be done at the same time as the new fence is installed.

v. Minute 10, 27 May 2020 – appointment of council representatives to the DAPTC Area Committee and the Larger Councils Committee. The Parish Clerk wrote to Peter Bowyer as chair of the DAPTC Purbeck Area Committee to see if it is possible to change the scheduled meetings of the Area Committee away from 2nd or 4th Wednesdays of the month. Cllr Bowyer has replied to say that he will try to accommodate this request. The Purbeck Area Committee currently has no secretary / minute taker after Ali Burnett decided to stand down. Consequently communication flow is a little slower than usual at present.

vi. Minute 11, 27 May 2020 – Advertising the Parish Council vacancies and review of person spec for Council membership. This has been distributed to members. DISCHARGED

vii. Minute 11, 24June 2020 – Mr Trim, the Lees Estate, DC Environmental Health, Local residents and Parish and Dorset Council members to review what course of action could be taken to mitigate the effects of slurry application. DC Environmental Health has declined to take part in this proposed meeting, presumably because they consider they have no further comment to make to add to the extensive correspondence they have already had with all interested parties. As a result, Cllr Bush spoke to the resident who first raised this matter to clarify the purpose of the intended meeting. The resident understands that it is acceptable if the slurry can be ploughed in immediately, but the concern is when it is sprayed on growing crops and therefor remains on the surface of the ground. His desire was therefore for a friendly meeting to ensure that the community is forewarned when he will be spraying. Dorset Cllr Brenton remarked that Mr Trim is well aware of the regulations governing this, adheres to them, and keeps records of this activity. He has also already given a commitment to inform the community before he does any more spraying – and that this will be after the maize has been harvested. Cllr Brenton expressed some doubt about the purpose and value of a meeting. Cllr Bush indicated that he would speak to Clare Lees about the matter.

Chairman’s announcements (for the purposes of report only).

The Chairman provided an update on the status of the Lytchett Matravers Angels activity; the level of demand for support activity has reduced, although there are still 95 residents on the register. They are looking to expand the foodbank and, as the Just Giving page expires week commencing 27th July, the LM Angels are looking for other funding for the foodbank.

To receive and note the content of the minutes of the Finance & General Purposes Committee meeting on 8th July 2020 (for the purposes of report only).

It was RESOLVED to note the content of these minutes.

TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATION 6/2020/0292. Land at New Park Farm, Dolmans Hill, Lytchett Matravers, BH16 6HP. Erect temporary agricultural workers dwelling. As the applicant, Cllr Wonnacott left the meeting and took no part in considering this application.The members present were concerned about the precedent which would be set by allowing open countryside to be broken into very small holdings each with “essential” dwellings, if this application were to be approved. In view of the very small size of the proposed operation viability of the business needs to be assessed by a suitable expert. The Council accepted that the building is intended to be temporary, and if it were to be permitted then it would also expect an undertaking for it to be removed within a maximum period of four years. However the council also noted that there is a ready supply of existing accommodation locally and therefore wished to OBJECT to this proposal.

TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATION 6/2020/0291 Fair View, Eldons Drove, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6HH. Raise part of roof, proposed rear extension at upper ground floor level, rear terrace and external remodelling. New brick & timber boundary walls & new front electric gates.

The Parish Council had no objection to this proposal provided that approval is given with conditions requiring the retention of the grass verge and its tree planting. This is in line with the Townscape Character Appraisal carried out by the former Purbeck District Council which particularly identified Eldons Drove for preservation of its status and appearance.

TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATION 6/2020/0263 St Marys Church, Colehill Road, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6BS. Erect three lamp posts in church car park.

The Parish Council expressed support for the principle of time restricted and light pollution restricted car park lighting and was in support of this proposal provided the approval of Dorset Council’s Conservation Officer for the design of the lighting is obtained.

TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATION 6/2020/0314 164 Wareham Road, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6DT. Sever plot and erect a detached two storey dwelling with associated access, parking, landscaping and amenity space. NO OBJECTION.

TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATION 6/2020/0303. New Park Farm, Dolmans Hill, Lytchett Matravers, BH16 6HP. Erect agricultural barn.

As the applicant, Cllr Wonnacott left the meeting and took no part in considering this application. The Parish Council noted that if this operation is run as a discrete holding then the principle of providing some sort of barn / store is reasonable. However the size of the proposed structure in this case was considered to be disproportionate in relation to the land and the number of animals proposed to be on it. The Parish Council therefore wished to OBJECT to it unless the scale of the proposed structure can be made more proportionate to the business described.

TO CONSIDER A PROPOSED MOTION TO BE PRESENTED TO THE DAPTC AGM IN NOVEMBER 2020 CONCERNING CLARIFICATION OF THE ROLE OF PARISH & TOWN COUNCILS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS. Cllr Bush explained that whilst there are a number of statutory consultees to the planning process, the role of Parish Councils is not well defined. He referred to a draft paper he had produced and circulated to all members (copy attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes), which is based on the principle of gathering and representing the wider village view on the impact of applications. Dorset Cllr Brenton explained that her understanding is that Parish Councils produce valuable insight into the effect of planning proposals on settlements as a whole. They also act as a conduit for information on compliance (or not) with planning decisions, and in flagging up queries. Cllr Morgan agreed that acting as the community “eyes and ears” and commenting on every application within the parish is a very valuable role – and in his experience Planning Committees take a lot of notice of Parish Council responses. He also remarked that the NPPF documents are not merely a set of empirical rules to follow, but instead they contain a lot of scope for interpretation to suit the needs and character of local environments and circumstances. In the light of these remarks it was RESOLVED that Cllr Bush would work with Cllrs Carswell and Morgan to develop his draft paper further.

TO RECEIVE AND NOTE THE INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31ST MARCH 2020, AND THE INTERNAL AUDITOR’S RESPONSE TO THE INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT SECTION OF THE ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT (AGAR). A copy of the draft AGAR is attached at Appendix 3 to these minutes. It was RESOLVED to receive and approve the internal audit report and the completed page 3 of the AGAR.

TO CONSIDER AND RESPOND TO THE GOVERNANCE QUESTIONS LISTED IN SECTION 1 OF THE ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT (AGAR). The members considered each of the Governance questions in section 1 of the AGAR in turn and it was RESOLVED to answer “yes” to questions 1-8. Question 9 (Trust Funds”) was marked “N/A”. The form was duly completed to reflect this.

TO CONSIDER AND APPROVE THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN SECTION 2 OF THE ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT (AGAR) It was RESOLVED to receive and approve the figures in the financial statement in section 2 of the AGAR. The form was duly completed to reflect this.

TO CONSIDER THE COUNCIL’S RESPONSE TO THE NALC CONSULTATION ON A REVISED MODEL MEMBERS CODE OF CONDUCT (DETAILS OF CONSULTATION EMAILED TO ALL MEMBERS ON 11TH JUNE 2020). The Council felt that this appears reasonable, and so it had no comments to make on this.

TO CONSIDER A PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A DRAFT POLICY CONCERNING MEMORIAL TREES.

Cllr Huggins referred to the paper on this matter he had prepared and circulated in advance of the meeting – a copy of which is attached at Appendix 4 to these minutes. Dorset Cllr Brenton drew attention to an example in Upton of a sponsored avenue of trees. After some discussion it was RESOLVED to add this matter to a future agenda for further consideration.

TO RECEIVE AND NOTE THE CONTENT OF A REPORT OF A MEETING WITH DORSET COUNCIL REAL ESTATE. It was RESOLVED to receive and note this. A copy of the report is attached at Appendix 5 to these minutes. Cllr Bush offered thanks to Dorset Cllr Brenton for her efforts in encouraging representatives of Dorset Council Real Estate to attend a meeting with the Parish Council.

To receive and consider reports of the following Working Groups:

  1. Village Centre: Cllr Carswell referred to a report he had circulated to members ahead of this meeting. A copy of the report is associated at appendix 6 to these minutes.
  2. Library: A response is awaited from Rupert Williams, Senior Estate Surveyor, Assets & Property, Dorset Council, as referred to in the report at Appendix 5 to these minutes.
  3. Astro: Covered within Appendix 5 to these minutes.
  4. Village Hall: Cllr Huggins reported that he is in email contact with the Village Hall Management Committee regarding the security bollards.
  5. Huntick Rd Cycle Path: Cllr Huggins has prepared a letter intended to go to local residents whose properties are adjacent to the highway verge intended to be used for the section of the path between the new Huntick Rd development and Jubilee Walk. This letter is currently with Cllr Bush.
  6. LM Charitable Trust: The Chairman advised that he and Cllr Webb will be starting work on this with the Sports Club.
  7. Parish Council communications: Cllr Barker asked all members to let her know if there was material to go out. There was some discussion about another joint Parish Mag / Lytchett Link issue. This will be reviewed as and when the Council has more substantial news to report.
  8. Climate Emergency: A report from Cllr Carswell is associated at Appendix 7 to these minutes.
  9. Broadband provision improvements: Cllr Huggins remarked that remaining properties in Huntick Rd are in the plan.
  10. Defibrillator project: The units opposite the school and at The Chequers are now working; and those two plus the unit at Tescos are registered with the SW Ambulance Service. The Council is still waiting to hear from Aster Housing regarding the installation of the unit on their premises.

To resolve to approve the following payments already made:

Inv To Whom For What Net VAT Total
4332 BT Office phone and Broadband June 2020 51.37 10.27 61.64
4333 SSE Car park lighting Quarter 1 2020/21 16.18 0.80 16.98

It was RESOLVED to approve the above payments already made.

To resolve to approve the following payments due:

Inv To Whom For What Net VAT Total
4334 T Watton Clerk’s salary – July (12 equal monthly payments by SO) 945.54 0.00 945.54
4335 Dorset County Pension Fund LGPS pension contrib July 2020 373.14 0.00 373.14
4336 T Homer Handyman duties June 2020 245.25 0.00 245.25
4337 T Homer Reimbursement for expenditure: cable ties, barrier tapes, sanitiser, nitrile gloves 95.08 15.72 110.80
4338 Idverde Ltd Cemetery maintenance – July 20 303.49 60.70 364.19
4339 Idverde Ltd Grass cutting area adjacent to playing pitches 27 May, 10 & 22 June 2020 72.00 14.40 86.40
4340 The Sign shed Ltd Covid-19 signage 294.12 58.82 352.94
4341 Dorset Council Supply & erect 3 SID posts 1052.00 210.40 1262.40
4342 Don McQueen Water supply to cemetery 2018-2020 300.00 0.00 300.00
4343 Lytchett Matravers Sports Club Share of Water2Business bill to 31st March 2020 254.64 0.00 254.64
4344 Life Education Dorset Grant 2020 630.00 0.00 630.00

It was RESOLVED to approve all of the above payments.

To note any training undertaken by members or the Clerk in the past month (for purposes of report only).

There were none.

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 (fpor purposes of report only).

The Parish Clerk reported that he is in the process of ordering a new waste bin to replace the one adjacent to the skate park. There was some discussion about whether the new bin should be sited in exactly the same place. Village Centre Working Group to consider this point.

Correspondence (for purposes of report only).

Reference was made by the Parish Clerk to the telephone call received from a dog-owner resident. The resident had queried whether there may have been some toxic substance somewhere on the recreation ground which may have made her dog ill. Investigation by the Council had confirmed that the only spraying on the recreation ground had been more than 2 month earlier, and in both cases by professionals under licensed and safe schemes: (i) sports pitches, within a Dorset FA pitch improvement scheme and (ii) weed spraying by a trained and licenced professional. A general check has been made of the whole recreation ground and nothing found. A review has also been undertaken of litter bin clearance arrangements – all bins are currently cleared 3 times a week. One bin has been found to be too small and a replacement has been ordered for installation ASAP. In the meantime an additional clearance per week of that bin has been introduced.

The Parish Clerk reported on correspondence from Dorset Council requesting attention to the tree next to the bus stop in the High Street adjacent to the Sports Pavilion. The Clerk has requested quotes to remove branches which are now interfering with the carriageway.

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

The next full council meeting is scheduled to take place online on Wednesday 26th August 2020 at 7pm. The access link to this meeting will be made available to members of the public on request from the Parish Clerk (tel 07824 829491 or email lytchettmatravers )

The meeting closed at 21:20

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

Full Minutes 200722v3 (Word)
Full Minutes 200722v3 (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 1 (Cllr A Brenton, Dorset Council report July 2020) (Word)
FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 1 (Cllr A Brenton, Dorset Council report July 2020) (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 2 (Planning Application Guidelines Discussion Draft) (Word)
FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 2 (Planning Application Guidelines Discussion Draft) (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 3 (LMPC 2019-20 AGAR) (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 4 (Consideration of a Need for Memorial Tree Policy) (Word)
FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 4 (Consideration of a Need for Memorial Tree Policy) (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 5 (Meeting Dorset Council Asset Property Jul 7 2020) (Word)
FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 5 (Meeting Dorset Council Asset Property Jul 7 2020)” (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 6 (Village Centre Working Group Report – 2020 July).pdf (PDF)

FullMinutes 200722 Appendix 7 (Climate Emergency Working Group report July 2020).pdf (PDF)

Full Council minutes 22 July 2020