KINGTON ST MICHAEL PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON THE
15TH NOVEMBER 2012 AT KINGTON ST MICHAEL SCHOOL, THE RIDINGS, THAT
COMMENCED AT 8.15 PM
Present:
Councillors: Mrs L Durno – Chairman
Mrs J Charge, Mr G Gamble, Mrs M Hall, Mr W Isaac,
Ms C Marlow, Mr R Sealy, Mr A Cole (from item 12/121)
In Attendance: Mrs C Sutton (Clerk), Cllr H Greenman (WC) and 3 members of the public.
Public Question Time
A representative from Acorns Pre-school explained that the pre-school served many parts of the
area, and was now in financial difficulty due to children leaving in September to go to school – a
large amount of advertising had been carried out to recruit new children and this was starting to
show results. A new committee was now in place – the previous committee had not been
requesting grants / fundraising, so income down was therefore down and funds much depleted.
Acorns were therefore seeking funding from a variety of different sources, and were hoping the
increasing numbers of children would help to balance the books.
MINUTES
12/117
Apologies
Apologies had been received from Cllr Kallaway.
12/118
Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
12/119
Appointment of Councillor
Mr A Cole had applied to be co-opted onto the Council, and he introduced himself and then
answered questions from Councillors.
12/120
Exclusion of Public and Press
Because of the special nature of the following item, it was proposed seconded and resolved that it
be conducted under the Public Bodies (Admission of Meeting) Act 1960 and the press and public
were asked to leave.
12/121
Ballot
Councillors discussed the applicant and then a ballot was taken. It was resolved that Mr Adrian
Cole be co-opted as a Councillor, and the press and public were readmitted. Mr Cole signed his
declaration of acceptance of office and took his seat with the Council.
12/122
To receive and approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 20 th
September 2012.
The minutes of the meeting held on 20th September were approved as a correct record and signed
by the Chair.
12/123
Report on actions from the last meeting not covered elsewhere on the agenda
Registration of the Pond Area as a Village Green
Evidence has been gathered and the application form completed and submitted. A response is
awaited. Thanks to Cllr Durno for spending so much time in getting the form done.
Traffic problems during this year’s Japfest event
Minutes of a meeting to discuss this have been received and forwarded to Councillors.
Footpath at Tor Hill
A site meeting was held on 8th November, present were Cllr Durno, the clerk, John Price (WC),
Mike Crook (WC), Tim Royal and a surveyor from WC. WC has come to an agreement with
Mr Royal whereby some of the WC land is used to form the footpath.
The land retained by WC will be approximately 3.5 metres wide. It will be fenced off, with a hedge
planted on the farmer's side of the fence and the fence type will be as in the original land
conveyance document (a 1.3m high post and four rail fence). Mr Royal will own and maintain the
fence and hedge in the future. He has also kindly agreed to trim the hedge adjacent to the
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highway (footpath side).
The wall at the crossroads (which is currently hidden by the hedge) will remain in the most part,
with a piece being knocked through for pedestrian access. The wall is not within the conservation
area. The cost of the whole project will be 50/50 KSMPC and PIGS grant. The cost of fencing
was previously looked into and was then thought to be around £2,000. The cost of the hedge is to
be determined.
This project will be treated as a new scheme and the original covenant will have no bearing. It
was noted that quotes for the fencing would be needed before Christmas and that authority to deal
with this matter would be delegated to Cllrs Hall, Gamble, Isaac and Cole.
Community Right to Bid
This is a new right conferred by the Localism Act 2012 which gives communities the right to bid on
land and buildings which are currently used by the community should they come up for sale. This
will be on the agenda for January for further discussion.
12/124
Planning Matters
(i)
WC Decisions received
a. N/12/03143/TCA – Fell one Cherry tree and works to one ash tree at The Old Rectory,
KSM – Permission Granted.
(ii)
Planning Applications received
a. N/12/03175/FUL – Construction of new water supply storage tank and associated
valve chamber building at Allington Reservoir, KSM
b. N/12/03143/TCA – Fell one Cherry tree and works to one ash tree at The Old Rectory,
KSM
c. N/12/03424/FUL – Stand alone retail unit beside existing amenity building at Granada
Hospitality Ltd, M4 Leigh Delamere Westbound.
It was reported that there was renewed activity at North Site, but no planning
permission seems to have been sought for a change of use. The Clerk was asked to
contact Wiltshire Council to find out whether planning permission would be required
for the new activity. ACTION CLERK.
(iii)
S.106
Consideration of letter from KSM School requesting support re potential s106
money.
A letter from Kington St Michael School requesting support in principle for a potential
application for s.106 funding was reviewed. The school was looking to extend its building
to take account of rising pupil numbers. It was noted that further information would be
needed before agreement would be given, but that in principle the Parish Council was
sympathetic to the request but until any s.106 money was agreed upon would be unable
to give any more concrete support. The Clerk was asked to write to the School to confirm
this. ACTION CLERK
12/125
Recreation Field
(i)
Community Shelter
An application had been made to Westlea for £1,000, a response was still awaited. An
Area Board grant would also be requested to make up the shortfall of funding.
Parishioners had been surveyed and statistics showed that the community remained in
favour of installing the shelter. It was formally agreed to continue with project and noted
that it had the unanimous continuing support of the Parish Council.
(ii)
Bonfire Night Report
The event had been successful and £860 had been raised. Thanks were passed to the
people who had worked so hard to make it a success.
(iii)
RoSPA Report
The report was reviewed and it was noted that there were no urgent issues identified. It
was however clear that the play equipment would need replacing at some stage, and it
was agreed that this should be planned for. It was noted that the bench should be either
repaired or removed, and Cllr Gamble agreed to look into this. The zip wire was still in
need of retensioning, although this had not been flagged up as an issue by RoSPA.
12/126
Emergency Plan Update
The areas were reallocated, and it was agreed that Cllr Cole would cover The Ridings, and
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Cllr Gamble would cover the bottom end of the village with Cllr Charge.
12/127
Area Board Spotlight
Cllr Durno showed Councillors the presentation she intended to make to the Area Board on
7th January, and asked if anyone would like to attend the meeting with her.
12/128
Purchase of Grit Bins
It was agreed not to purchase a grit bin to place within the village, and the grit held by the Parish
Council would be redistributed throughout the village.
12/129
Community Infrastructure Levy preliminary draft charging schedule
There were no comments.
12/130
Proposed meeting dates for 2013.
The draft schedule for 2013 had previously been circulated and was approved. The Clerk was
asked to inform the Village Hall Management Committee. ACTION CLERK
12/131
Financial Matters
(i)
Report for October 2012
The financial report for October 2012 was reviewed and it was proposed seconded and
unanimously RESOLVED that the report be accepted and that payments be approved.
(ii)
To agree funding for the proposed community shelter, including use of former youth cub
funds.
It was noted that the total cost of the project would be £20,670. Westlea had been asked
for £1,000, and a sum would be requested from the Landfill Tax Fund. It was noted that
the Parish Council would need to fund 10% of the project cost. Money would also be
needed from a third party to cover the tax, and it had been confirmed that the former
Youth Club funds could be used for this. The former Chair of the Youth Club had
confirmed that he was happy for the Parish Council to decide how to allocate Youth Club
funds. It was proposed, seconded and unanimously resolved that £2,000 be allocated
from the Parish Council towards the project, and that the former Youth Club funds also be
contributed
(iii)
Request for grant funding from Acorns Preschool.
Cllr Cole declared a personal interest. It was proposed, seconded and unanimously
resolved that a grant of £500 be made to Acorns.
(iv)
Request for grant funding from Carer Support Wiltshire.
It was agreed that this would be left until the March meeting as per the Grants Policy.
(v)
Consideration of proposed budget and precept request for 2013/14.
(vi)
The budget was reviewed and accepted. It was proposed, seconded and unanimously
resolved that the precept to be requested from Wiltshire Council should be £13,760. The
clerk was asked to make the request. ACTION CLERK.
12/132
Exchange of information / reports from members
A question was raised on behalf of the Village Hall Management Committee about a key for a
room in which equipment belonging to Youth Club was stored. It was noted that this was not held
by the Parish Council.
It was reported that the Almshouses were processing the purchase of 20/21 KSM. There was
already a sitting tenant, who would remain in the house.
Cllr Isaac reported that he had spoken to Kristian Price about the banks on Grove Lane which had
again been damaged by the grass cutting team, leading to the ditches being filled in again. The
Clerk was asked to contact Kristian Price and inform him that the drains were now blocked again.
Following a visit to the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre it had been noted that minutes from
1991 to 2002 were missing. Cllr Durno had contacted 2 previous clerks to see if they have any
information. Responses were awaited.
12/133
Correspondence
Correspondence received was available for inspection at the meeting, and a schedule was
circulated.
Meeting closed at 10.35pm
Next meeting;
Parish Council Meeting 8.00pm 17th January 2013, KSM Village Hall
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