Action

1.

Welcome

Mr James welcomed those present and thanked them for coming.  Apologies were received from Sgt Hardiman of Amesbury police.

2.

Minutes

A copy of the minutes for the last meeting on 12^th July 2006 were submitted, approved and duly signed by Mr James. 

3.

Visit by John Meeker, Principal Planning Officer of Salisbury District Council

Mr John Meeker of Salisbury District Council attended the meeting in his capacity as Principal Planning Officer and answered questions that the Parish Council had previously forwarded to him concerning Planning issues and in particular the Structure Plan.  The Clerk was asked to send a letter of thanks to Mr Meeker.

Clerk

4.

Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting

Noticeboards – Mr James reported that he had spoken to those residents who would be affected by the erection of the new notice boards and confirmed that they were happy with the changes.  Mr James has yet to confirm with the residents at the top of Firs Road where one of the notice boards will be positioned.  There was concern in the delay of the erection of the notice boards by the chosen contractor.  It was agreed that the Clerk should contact the contractor, Mr George to ascertain a precise time frame for the erection of the boards.

Grass cutting – It was confirmed that after several quotes had been sought, grass cutting had satisfactorily taken place six on the footpath to the play area and play area itself.  It was decided that the grass had not grown enough to warrant a further cut but it was decided that (a) the area of the permissive footpath from number 99 Firs Road to the bottom of the woods needed grass and hedge cutting to take place and (b) the assigned area adjacent to the play area for the new play equipment did need cutting.  The Clerk was asked to contact PMA management to obtain a quote for this work and report back to the Parish Council.

A resident made comment that the grass at Dunstable crossroads was causing a hazard due to its length and the Clerk was asked to write to the landowner in order that the grass is cut to aid visibility and safety.

Mr Green proposed and all agreed that it would be a good idea to place a note in the précis asking if any contractors/individuals would be interested in quoting for future grass/hedge cutting or any other work in the Parish and if so then they should contact the Clerk.

Play area – The Clerk reported that the new play equipment was due to be delivered on the 19^th September.  The Clerk confirmed that she arranged the delivery address and in particular access to the play area site where the equipment is to be located.  The Clerk will attend the site on the day of delivery and Mr Richards agreed to meet on site to make the final decision as to the location of the equipment.

Refuse Compaction Vehicle (RCV) – Salisbury District Council – the Clerk confirmed that she had arranged for the RCV to be available to the Parish at Windmill Farm, Pitton Road on 30^th September.  The Clerk has produced a poster to advertise the service and agreed to place a poster she had produced on all three notice boards.  In addition Mr Richards will add the poster to the web page.

Parish Exercise – Mr Hawkins reported that he had arranged for a Parish Exercise to take place on either of two dates, 12^th October and 9^th November 2006.  It was agreed to carry out the Exercise on the 12^th October at Mr Richards’s home address.

Figsbury Ring - The Clerk reported that she had been in contact with the Structures Team at Wiltshire County Council and MOD regarding the unstable wall at Figsbury Ring.  The Clerk had ascertained from both parties that they were not responsible for this wall.  Mr Simcock kindly agreed to visit the owners of the wall and report back to the next meeting of the Council.

Mr James, Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk, Mr Richards

Clerk, Mr Richards

All Councillors

Mr Simcock

5.

Financial Report

The Clerk distributed a new version of the Parish Council’s spreadsheet to the Council members with details of the Council’s financial accounts and transactions for the last month.  The Councillors felt that the report needed to be more concise and a revised spreadsheet would be more suitable to Councillor needs.  The Clerk agreed to alter the spreadsheet for production at the next meeting.  The Clerk was thanked for making the accounts fully available.

The Clerk reported that matters had now been resolved with the current Parish Council’s bank – the Abbey.  The Clerk proposed and all agreed that the Parish Council’s funds with Barclays should be transferred to the Abbey and the two bank accounts with Barclays be closed with immediate effect.

It was noted that the discussion for the Precept should take place at the next meeting. 

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk

6.

Steering Group

Mr Richards reported that there was no progress to report following on from July.  Mr Richards noted that he hoped to produce a collation of resident responses and written report for the November meeting.

Mr Richards

7.

Roman Road

The Clerk reported that following on from the last meeting she had written to Barbara Burke, Senior Rights of Way Officer at Wiltshire County Council asking Ms Burke together with contact Nick Cowen, Rights of Way Officer to discuss vehicular traffic on the Roman Road and the possibility of obtaining a TRO.

8.

Highways and Speeding

Mr James reported that vehicles exceeding the 30mph speed limit in Firs Road, was still posing a problem, especially early in the morning and in the early evening.  Following on from previous police advice it was agreed that Councillors should take a note of those vehicles and their registration number exceeding the speed limit.  The Clerk was asked to produce a template for the recording of such information and this information would be forwarded to the relevant police department.  The Clerk was further asked to put a note in the Précis informing them of the Councillor’s intentions in an effort to deter the culprits.

The Clerk was asked to send a letter to the relevant police department informing them of the speeding problem and in particular to ask for the rubber speeding monitoring cables to be placed at the top and bottom of Firs Road.

Clerk

Clerk

9.

Planning

The Clerk distributed the quarterly Planning application spreadsheet for Councillor perusal.

·          S/2006/1710 – 34 Firs Road – Full application (Retrospective) - replace existing flat roof with pitched roof to rear elevation incorporating new bedroom, extend garage with pitched roof over.  The Council had no objection to this application.

·          (Land at rear of) 38 Maesmor, Firs Road, Firsdown – Appeal ref: APP/T3915/A/05/1192540 – Proposed bungalow with garage and vehicular access.  The Clerk confirmed that a hearing relating to the above appeal will take place at Winterslow Village Hall on 20^th September 2006.  Mr Green or Mr Hawkins agreed to attend the meeting on behalf of the Council.

·          S/2006/1818 - Land at Hill View Farm, Pitton – Full application – the installation of a 22M monopole supporting 3NO Omni antennas and 2NO 600MM link dishes with ground based equipment cabinets.  As the proposed site of this installation is adjacent to the boundary of Pitton Parish the Clerk was asked to contact the Parish Clerk for Pitton to ascertain whether Pitton & Farley Parish Council had received any objections to this application.  In addition Mrs Tier agreed to contact one of the three residents affected by the erection of the installation to ascertain their views.

Mr Green, Mr Hawkins

Mrs Tier, Clerk

10.

Correspondence received and sent

Wiltshire County Council – Wigglybus.  After discussion it was decided that a Wigglybus run by residents with possible collaboration from other Parishes was not suitable for Firsdown as there was already a very good bus service available to the Parish.

Salisbury District Housing Market and Needs Survey – Salisbury District Council.  The Council had received a letter informing them that an independent research consultancy had been commissioned by the District Council to undertake a housing needs and market survey.  The research will involve a postal questionnaire sent to households in September.

11.

Any other business

It was agreed that the Clerk should write a letter to the contractor responsible for the re-furbishment of the Parish benches as one of the benches was in need of further repair.

Mr Hawkins reported that the Parish Lengthsmen scheme had been renamed to Parish Steward and that the Parish Steward allocated to Firsdown would be visiting on 9^th October.  Mr Hawkins asked fellow Councillors to forward any requests for jobs to be carried out by the Steward to himself and that he would liaise with the Clerk to ensure they were carried out.

Clerk

Mr Hawkins,

Clerk      

12.

Questions or points from the floor

None

13.

Councillors comments

None