South Tarrant Valley Group Parish Council

0346
ST07/2023

SOUTH TARRANT VALLEY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF AN ORDINARY MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, 11th July 2023
at 7pm in The Anne Biddlecombe Hall, Tarrant Keyneston

Present: Councillors Cossins (Chairman), Eaton, Garland, Parker, Sweetland and Thomson.
In attendance: Clerk Mrs Huck, County Councillor Brown

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Beale, Deketeleare, Harding, Munford and Thompson.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST and DISPENSATIONS GRANTED
None were received.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 9th May 2023
It was:
RESOLVED the minutes of the previous meeting be accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

4. Report by County Councillor
Cllr Brown reported the following:
• Flytipping – dashcam footage was now being used in prosecution. If witnessed, the advice from Dorset Council is not to intervene. Evidence from the items can be used to trace the owners who may face a fine of £1000, increased from £400 by central government in response to unitary councils’ feedback.
• Wild Woodbury – Dorset Council and partners have purchased land outside Bere Regis for community use \ wildlife protection.
• Project Gigabit – North Dorset is benefitting from work being done by Wessex Internet. The contract was the first to be awarded by central government intended to provide gigabit-capable fibre optic connections to 7000 homes.
• Affordable homes – Dorset Council has exceeded its target of building 300 affordable homes, working with housing association partners.
• Team Awards – Dorset Council’s Customer Services Team has won 2 awards from South West Contact Centre Forum (SWCCF) for Best Customer Engagement and Contact Centre of the Year.

5. Open discussion
B3082 speed limit – the short distance between the 40mph limit at Tarrant Keyneston and newly imposed 50mph limit at the start of the tree avenue to Badbury Rings was queried with Highways. They had explained there was no evidence for the 50mph or 40mph limits to be extended to remove the intervening 0.6 stretch of 60mph road.

6. Community Speedwatch and Speed Indicator Device
The Clerk confirmed updates from the Community Speedwatch Group were still being received via the village Whatsapp group. The ongoing voluntary and sometimes challenging work was much appreciated by Councillors.

Also discussed was the potential to raise the 2024 precept to help fund a Speed Indicator Device (SID). There was an awareness this was a project based on the B3082 and therefore Tarrant Keyneston and that the precept applied to all four villages in the South Tarrants. Councillors from Tarrants Crawford and Rawston, as well as Tarrant Keyneston, agreed speeding traffic impacted all who used the B3082 and the valley road crossroads. It was:
RESOLVED the Council looked favourably upon the potential raising and using of the Precept to help fund a SID and consultation with the residents follow, starting at the Parish Meeting.

7. Annual Parish Meeting – to confirm arrangements \ content
Councillors and the Clerk confirmed arrangements for the Annual Parish Meeting to be held on Tuesday 25th July in The Anne Biddlecombe Hall. It had been advertised via Whatsapp, noticeboards and hand delivered flyers.
RESOLVED limited expenditure could take place to provide refreshments for the Annual Parish Meeting.

(Minute 6 Resolution also refers.)

8. Green Canopy Project:
(a) Proposed tree planting – alongside B3082 Tarrant Keyneston
Cllr Beale had met with Andy Beale, the County Arboricultural Officer, the landowner and a volunteer. All agreed that only a small area, adjacent to an existing mature tree was suitable so as not to interfere with sight lines for traffic.
The purchasing of mature trees was not considered viable and so the planting of saplings would be revisited in the autumn. Some wild seeded saplings are already in evidence. This would be a September agenda item.

(b) Queen’s Copse – wildflower area – path grass cutting
Cllr Munford was not able to be present. He had previously reported his intention to prepare the ground under the Queen’s Copse to plant rattle grass. Once established this would give wildflower seeds the best opportunity to establish. Councillors asked it be a September agenda item to give an update. The cutting of a path was considered to be very helpful.

9. Bus shelter – St Richard’s Close
The Chairman and Cllr Sweetland confirmed the shelter’s roof had been repaired and there would be no cost to the Council, for which they were thanked for their generosity.
Cllrs Eaton, Garland and Thomson had volunteered to paint it inside. It had also been decided to fix a shelf to enable a book swap.

10. Emergency \ Resilience Plan
The further development of a Plan was considered. A meeting had been set for the Hall Committee and Cllr Thompson to discuss an outline of what would be required for it to be used as an Emergency safe place, i.e., power, hot food, drinks etc. It would be a September agenda item. The Clerk commented the guest speaker at the Annual Parish Meeting may be able to help with suggestions around power supply, as he was from Scottish & Southern Electricity Network.

11. Fingerpost – Tarrant Keyneston Mill post roundel
Cllr Harding was not able to be present at the meeting and so it was asked this be a September agenda item. The previous Resolution read: “…that, if Cllr Harding felt the fixings could provide security for the roundel, then it be replaced.”

12. Off-Grid Homes With Oil Fired Boilers
Councillors further considered the approach in this area. Cllr Brown stated he had flagged the issue with Dorset Council’s Climate Change lead. Cllr Beale had been in contact with Dorset Association of Parish & Town Councils who were unaware of the matter, though had confirmed other councils have now also contacted them. DAPTC would investigate further, presumably with the National Association.
Cllr Thomson suggested the Parish Council use social media supported by the website to start to make residents aware, given central government’s position. The Clerk would further investigate the Boiler Upgrade Scheme so that information could be included as a slightly more positive approach to the situation.

13. Villages websites
The Clerk reported she had contacted the website developer about the combining of the Council and village website and was waiting for a costing.

14. Noticeboards – Tarrant Crawford
The Chairman reported the noticeboard had been repaired with the help of Mr Tory of Abbey Farm and his staff. It was now positioned under the front porch of the farmhouse. There had been some miscommunication around proceeding with the work, though councillors recognised there would be expenditure whichever way it had been carried out and so thanks were expressed for the assistance.

The Tarrant Crawford fingerpost – one finger had also been replaced in conjunction with the above work and it was:
RESOLVED the ‘Blandford’ part of the post be replaced at a cost of £224 and this amount to come from Reserves.

15. Financial statements for May and June 2023 and approval of cheques scheduled
The Clerk had previously emailed the financial statements showing full details of income and expenditure set against budget, together with a bank reconciliation. It was:
RESOLVED (a) the May and June statements be approved and signed; (b) the cheques shown in the schedules be approved and signed; (c) the cheque for Mr David Tory be approved and signed. Minute 14 refers.

16. Planning application updates on the following (Dorset Council reference numbers):
01645 – T Crawford – T Crawford sewerage works  – Refused
01700 – T Keyneston – Kings Ransome Valley Road – Outstanding
02923 – T Keyneston – Drovers Cottage Valley Road – Granted
02461 – T Rushton – Redundant Bull Pen Preston Farm – Granted
03187 – T Crawford – Barn Access to Tarrant Abbey – No Comment by Parish Council

17. DAPTC
Cllr Eaton provided an update following a Northern Area meeting. She felt the Association appeared to be active. The main area was on the forthcoming Council Elections in 2024 and a first training on this would be available at the 2023 Clerk’s Conference in September. It was:
RESOLVED the Parish Council’s Clerk attend the Conference at a cost of £45 to come from the Training budget line.

The Clerk highlighted the DAPTC issued a weekly newsletter. She had previously asked if councillors would like this forwarded and received a negative reply. Given Cllr Eaton’s view, she asked if this was still the case. Councillors AGREED it may be useful and for the newsletters to be forwarded for a trial period.

18. Two Rivers Benefice
Cllr Parker provided an update on the progress of reorganization of the Chase Benefice area into what is now known as the Two Rivers Benefice. Progress in terms of changing the boundaries was slow due to the traditional approach being taken in this matter but the new team were working well.

19. River Tarrant
The Chairman reported attending a meeting of the Protection Society. A survey undertaken a week prior to the Council meeting had found there were more fish than at this time last year.
However, it was also reported the river was dry further down at the weir.

20. To decide items for next agenda.
Two Rivers Benefice
Emergency \ Resilience Plan
River Tarrant
Tarrant Keyneston fingerpost roundel
Off grid homes with oil fired boilers
Queen’s Copse – wildflower planting
Tree planting – B3082 verge in Tarrant Keyneston
Village \ Council websites

21. To confirm date of next meeting,
This was set for 12th September with the final meeting for this year on 7th November 2023.