MINUTES OF ORLETON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT 7.30PM ON THURSDAY 21 JUNE 2018 AT THE VILLAGE HALL
PRESENT B Gandy – Chairman; P Smith – Vice Chairman; E Clanzy-Hodge; and R Jack.
IN ATTENDANCE Mr W Sanders, Footpaths Officer; Ward Cllr. S Bowen (Bircher Ward); and R Hewitt (Clerk). There were three (3) members of the public present.
1. Apologies for absence – Cllrs. J Harrison and Tibbles.
2. Declarations of interest and written dispensations on agenda items – Cllr. Gandy declared a non-disclosable pecuniary interest in #8 ii) village hall loan.
3. The minutes of the annual meeting held on 17 May 2018 were agreed and signed as a true record.
4. Report on Herefordshire Council – Ward Cllr. Bowen said Balfour Beatty has been asked to clear the brook on an annual basis. A request has been made for roadside gullies to be cleared as well. The Boot is believed to be in the process of being sold. Care will need to be taken to look after the listed single cell dwelling. General Scrutiny is looking at the minerals and waste strategy which will go into the Local Plan. The date for the proposed visit to the Hartlebury waste to power facility is likely to be on 27 August 2018. Armed Forces Day will be marked in Hereford. The leader of the council has been re-elected, and Cllr Bowen has been re-elected chairman, General Scrutiny Committee.
Balfour Beatty will be encouraged to take a longer term view of repairs to potholes. More funding has been allocated to highways in 2018-19. The velocity patcher is working well to repair potholes in this warm weather. OFSTED is carrying out an inspection of children’s services.
5. Clerk’s report and reports on meetings attended by parish councillors – The notice of casual vacancy has been posted. There has been a request from the recreation association to look at whether it is possible to help with the VAT for the pavilion project. Advice will be sought from HALC, and the matter can be considered at the next meeting. Herefordshire Council has adopted a new code of conduct and asked the parish council to consider updating its code of conduct as well. Herefordshire Council has enquired whether the 490 bus service will be supported in 2018-19. The PCC has been informed that donations to support the maintenance of the churchyard will need to be undertaken in the same way as previous years.
6. Invitation to members of the public to address the council (limited to 15) – A member of the public offered to undertake a general upkeep of the area by the adopted telephone kiosk. The meeting thanked the member of the public and agreed to accept the kind offer of assistance. A member of the public asked if one of the streetlights could be turned off late at night. The parish council suggested this was a matter for the highways authority, which has responsibility for streetlights.
A member of the public said that parking on King’s Road by St George’s Crescent was not a problem, and do not think there is a need to have marked bays for disabled parking. This matter will be reviewed at the next meeting.
7. Plans
181977 The Grange, Overton Road, Orleton, SY8 4HZ – Retrospective hard standing for a tractor/baler store and small workshop for farm machinery to be stored safely as stored in the field at present. Hardcore route from main house to new tractor store. extension. There was no objection to the proposed plans.
The following planning decisions by Herefordshire Council were noted: 180642, 56 Mortimer Drive (planning permission); and 180326 St George’s Church (planning permission). Works to trees within a conservation area have been allowed for 181124 Heather Meade; and 181304 Millbrook Cottage. Planning enforcement has advised that velux windows put in a property recently without planning permission are not considered to cause harm so no further action is appropriate.
8. Accounts
i) The latest balances of the parish council accounts were noted: Treasurer – £11,600.76; and Money Manager – £20,308.83. The meeting noted the donation to the village hall for the kitchen refurbishment that was agreed on 19 April 2018 (£3,679.20) has been paid.
ii) The following payments were agreed: D C Gardening Services, lengthsman(£168.00); D C Gardening Services, P3 footpaths (£48.00); Leo Pest Control, dog waste removal (£136.80); Clerk, domain renewal and hosting of NDP website, 2018-19 (£74.37); Honorarium, internal audit (£50.00); Orleton Village Hall, loan for kitchen refurbishment (£5,689.00); and Balfour Beatty, SID location assessment at Comberton (£534.00).
iii) Repairs to the wall at the Memorial Garden – The parish council considered three quotations and agreed to select the lowest cost quotation for the rebuilding of the wall (£2,810.00) subject to reviewing insurance cover, and confirming a minimum 30cm foundation for the new wall, or more if required (for example footings where the wall approaches the frontage to Millbrook Way). The wall will be rebuilt using lime cement or lime mortar.
9. Lengthsman/ Highways and Footpaths – Mr Sanders, footpaths officer provided a short report, and will meet the locality steward shortly. The lengthsman was asked to uncover speed limit signs on the B4361 where the hedge has grown over the front, and to check (and renew as required) the grips on the U92623, which is the road that forks off to the left by Culliscroft between Portway and The Goggin.
10. Review of measures to address speeding in the parish – The location of the SID socket requested for Comberton is set to be assessed by Balfour Beatty; the highways signage and traffic regulation order requests agreed on 19 April 2018 have been submitted to Balfour Beatty. The data from the hire of a SID in March-April 2018 found that the average 85 percentile speed of traffic was 43.8 mph, which is below the usual threshold for enforcement by the Safer Roads Partnership. Nonetheless, in March 2018, Safer Roads Partnership stated that “Orleton has been passed to the local policing team to pay some attention to the area”.
11. Review of updated Orleton Parish Guide – Subject to a small number of amendments and typos, the updated Parish Guide was agreed. Permissions obtained will be given to the Clerk for safekeeping.
12. Historic parish council records and maps – Ward Cllr. Bowen kindly offered to put the parish council in contact with Herefordshire Archives for advice on the best approach to curate and display the local records before donating them to the archive.
13. Appointment of tree officer.
14. Purchase large poppies for Remembrance Sunday – It was agreed to purchase a further 30 large display poppies from the Royal British Legion.
15. Litter pick – The parish council thanked a member of the public for kindly offering to facilitate a regular village litter pick. Ward Cllr. Bowen kindly offered to collect litter pick kits from Balfour Beatty, which are available at no charge to support volunteers.
16. Parish council projects in 2018 – No action required.
17. Matters raised for next meeting (no discussion) – New code of conduct adopted by Herefordshire Council.
18. Information items – Noted.
19. Date for next meeting – 7.30pm, Thursday 19 July 2018.
The meeting closed at 9.33pm.