Minutes – 30th November 2021

1. 54. To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests from Councillors on matters to be considered at the meeting. Members are invited to declare disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests in items on the agenda as required by the West Knoyle Code of Conduct for Members and by the Localism Act 2011.West Knoyle Parish Council

       Parish Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

        

       Minutes of a meeting of  West Knoyle Parish Council held on Tuesday, 30^th November 2021 at 7.30 p.m. in West Knoyle Village Hall.

        

        

       Present:  Councillors P. Yates (Chairman), Tony Davis & Marcus Randall.

       + Wiltshire Councillor George Jeans

       0 members of public

        

       Meeting convened at 7.31pm with Public Session

       • None

        

       Apologies for absence received from Cllr. Alex Davies

       53. To co-opt member to fill Casual Vacancy

       For new member to complete Declaration of Acceptance of Office and sign Register of Disclosable Interests

       There being no nominations put forward, members were unable to co-opt and fill the Casual Vacancy.  The Clerk said that this would now be rolled over to the next meeting in March 2022

       54. To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests from Councillors on matters to be considered at the meeting. Members are invited to declare disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests in items on the agenda as required by the West Knoyle Code of Conduct for Members and by the Localism Act 2011.
       • None received

        

       55.  Minutes – RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday, 5^th October 2021 be approved as a correct record (Minutes attached) on proposal made by Cllr. Randall, seconded by Cllr. Yates and carried with a unanimous vote.

        

       56. Matters Arising from previous meetings
       • None

        

Reports & Consultations
a) Wiltshire Councillors report – Jeans said that he was trying to get the road outside Park Corner Farm addressed which was in a very poor state. He also pointed out that 80% of the budget white line road markings had been removed. Cllr. Davis asked why the verges in the village had not been cut & Cllr. Jeans explained that Wiltshire Council decided that they were no longer going to cut verges until September but he had noticed that there are some verges that have not been cut at all.  He said he was not happy about this because he was aware it was causing visibility issues for drivers wanting to pull out onto roads with fast-moving traffic and he thought it was a safety hazard. Cllr. Jeans reported that he had been told that the policy is going to be reviewed and the officer dealing with this at Wiltshire Council is called Chris Clarke.

b) Wiltshire Council’s Community Environmental Toolkit – The Clerk reported that Wiltshire Council had developed the Community Environmental Toolkit in partnership with Natural England to allow communities to take the lead in defining and restoring biodiversity in their community. Designed for use by community groups, local landowners, Parish and Town Councils, schools and youth groups it provides a structure for how local communities can better understand what they already have in terms of biodiverse habitats as well as how to plan for developing greater biodiversity and nature-based carbon sequestration in the future. The Toolkit also signposts to many other organisations which can assist communities in delivering their aims and objectives. The Toolkit will form part of a suite of documents that Wiltshire Council is producing as part of the Green Blue Infrastructure Strategy. Randall said that he would mention it to a resident who may be interested.

58. Planning
59. a) Planning applications to consider at the meeting

• None at time of printing agenda

b) Planning applications considered since last Parish Council meeting

Parish Council response:   Support                            Planning Authority’s response:  Approved with Conditions

The Clerk reported that the above application had been approved by the Planning Authority and read out the conditions stipulated on the decision notice.

59. Footpaths, Highways, Traffic & Transport

a) Highway and footpath issues & issues for parish steward – Cllr. Davis said that he would report issues of potholes to the Parish Steward. Randall pointed out that there was an accident at the bakery a couple of weeks ago but it was thought that this was due to driver error.

60. Play Area

a) Report on RoSPA Play Area Inspection report and apply a schedule to carry out actions identified – The Clerk had prepared a task sheet for Medium and higher risks items identified in the Play Area Inspection Report. Randall & Cllr. Yates said that they would try and attend to the hedge encroachments/obstructions (Page 6 of report) as soon as possible.

b) Play Area Maintenance & equipment repairs – The Clerk said that she had yet to make contact with Kevin from Alvian Ltd about the broken balance beam.

61. Finance, Policy & Resources

a) To discuss banking arrangements – the Clerk explained that she had sent off the bank mandate forms with the new signatories only to receive a telephone call from the bank to say that one of the councillors had not completed their address correctly and therefore the whole form had been destroyed.  Cllrs. Davis & Randall completed a second bank mandate form and the Clerk said that she would submit this again.

b) Report on latest bank reconciliation – the Clerk reported that the net balances of the Council at 30.11.21 stood at £11,177.20 & that this figure verified with the bank balances.

c) Payments – RESOLVED to approve the following payment

d) Annual Budget – to consider annual budget figures for 2022/23- RESOLVED to approve the draft figures prepared by the Clerk and distributed to members prior to the meeting without amendment, on proposal made by Cllr. Yates, seconded by Cllr. Randall and carried with a unanimous vote.

e) Precept – to approve Precept on Wiltshire Council for 2022/23 – The Clerk pointed out that from the budget figures the precept would be £4700 and the Band D charge would go up from £66.79 to £68.79 which would result in a 3% increase. RESOLVED to approve Precept on Wiltshire Council for 2022/23 of £4,700.00 on proposal made by Cllr. Davis, seconded by Cllr. Randall and caried with a unanimous vote.

62. General Items, Events etc

a) South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting to be held on Wednesday, 15^th December – noted

63. Date of next meeting

It was agreed that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday, 29^th March 2022

Meeting closed at 20.29 pm

Members are reminded that the Parish Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions:  Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status and any disability), Crime and Disorder, Health & Safety and Human Rights.