Report of 15 May 2008 Meeting

Six members of the Council along with the county councillor were present at the Parish Council meeting on May 15th.

The Chairman, Mr C. Matravers, agreed to continue for the next year as Chairman. The Vice Chairman, Mr J. Merrick, agreed to continue as Vice Chairman for the next year. There had been no other nominations for the Chair or the Vice Chair.

The PC then agreed that responsibilities for the next year should be as follows:

• Planning Committee - DC, CM, JM, VS, JS, MS, TT
• Highways and Crime, Disorder and antisocial behaviour - Mr V. Sellick
• Housing - Mr M. Symes
• Environment, School Liaison - Ms T. Thomas
• Waste, Recycling - Mrs K. Rew
• Village Maintenance and Finance - Mr J. Merrick
• Health, Welfare and Church Liaison - Mrs D. Griddle
• Strategy, Quality of Service - Mr C. Matravers

The village school new proposals were discussed. The Chairman had written the school and indicated to the meeting the reply. It was decided that a member of the school governors should be contacted and the concern that there should be a member of the council or someone to represent the council on the board of the school raised with that person. The council would support the suggestions from KR, TT and CM

The accessibility planning intends to improve access to key services like health, hospitals, education, employment, food shops, leisure and reduce social exclusion. This very much focuses on Transport.

The next SALC West Area meeting will be on Thursday 5th June at 19.30hrs at the Village Hall Bicknoller. The agenda includes Power of well-being for Parish and Town Councils and Quality Parish Councils- criteria for accreditation. The Clerk has further details.

Local Action for Rural Communities had held a meeting at Chilton where some of the considerations for the future had been discussed. These included Climate change, encourage working together, local consultation and sustainable transport, green tourism, agriculture.

Watchet Williton & Quantocks Area Panel had their meeting on April 29th. Points considered included climate change and resulting sea levels, some suggestions how to reduce carbon footprint, police report and highways report. Next meetings will be 29th July and 28th October.

The search for suitable available sites for affordable housing was being looked at by West Somerset Council. A questionnaire had been sent to some 47% of the present house in the area to ascertain how to proceed in this direction. The possibility of a quarry site in Vellow was raised

County Council Report (VS). The council was looking hard at trying to reduce the two tiers between the county and district and to increase local initiative budget schemes. The local area budget has to link with the local area agreements. £15K is available but can only be split into five grants and the minimum of any such grant must be £2K. A TB. emphasised the wish for requests for grants to come through the parish councils for the parish needs and for them to be sold hard. Any such requests must be ready by September and sent to the C. Council by November. The development of passing spaces in the access roads to Stogumber was suggested as a need for such a grant

Planning
Planning is permitted for the conversion of "Barn B Rexton Farm to a residential Building"
Planning is permitted for the "Internal & external alterations to the Old Baptist Chapel, Brook Street to form a dwelling"
Planning is permitted for "Linking of 2 separate stable blocks with new straw shed built on the side".

Highways and village Maintenance
The surface dressing programme for local roads was announced and will include: Shutting Preston Lane for three days starting 11th June. Planned for Woode Lane in July
Stogumber parish will be covered by Ross Hartgen, the Highway Superintendent responsible for routine and reactive highway maintenance eg. potholes, blocked drainage and verge cutting.
This path still belongs to Somerfield. DEFRA to be contacted to cover any safety arguments for using the road rather than the path.
If the steps are to proceed then Glen Martin in the Highways department should be contacted.
No further progress had been made and it was feared that nothing would be done until the wall fell.

Matters by Permission of the Chairman
BT had informed us that they were going to reduce BT payphones as the use of them had dropped considerably. The one to be removed in Stogumber was in Station Road post code TA4 3TQ. The number of this phone corresponds to the number in the phone opposite Wick House and is not in Post code 3TQ.

The next meeting will start at 19.30hrs on July 17th in the Common Room Deane Close

Allan Weir - Clerk to Stogumber Parish Council