AN ORDINARY MEETING OF NORTH NIBLEY PARISH COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY 3 JUNE, IN THE VILLAGE HALL, NORTH NIBLEY AT 7.30PM.

Present: Mr D Purnell (Chairman).

Mr K Brown; Mrs K Glancy; Mr S Hale; Mr K Larkin; Mr D Palmer; & Mr L Smitherman.

District Councillors: Mrs J Cordwell & Mr P Smith.

County Councillor: Dr J Cordwell

The Clerk: Mr R Symons.

Burial Clerk: Mrs M King (for part of the Meeting).

1. To receive and accept Apologies for absence. There were none.

2. Declaration of Interests. The Chairman invited members to declare any Interests relating to this Meeting. There were none.

3. To approve and sign the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 13 May 2013, as a true record. The Minutes of the May Annual Meeting had previously been distributed to all members and displayed on the public notice boards and the website. All members agreed the Minutes should be signed, as a true and accurate record. The Minutes were duly signed.

4. The Council noted Matters arising from the Minutes, not covered by agenda items.

The Clerk referred to his Update Note, which had been issued prior to the Meeting. He advised that:

• He had contacted Stroud DC Environmental Health who confirmed that “the use of the Nibley Farm circuit for “motocross activities” is restricted to 4 days per calendar year. This applies to either practice or racing days”. (Dave Jackson’s email of 17 May refers);

• He had contacted the “Rights of Way team” at Gloucestershire CC regarding the removal of soil which had fallen onto Wood Lane. His contact wanted to clear the matter with her specialist, as she feared that removal could lead to further slippage of the bank. The Clerk is awaiting further advice. Meanwhile the Cotswold Way Volunteers Team have removed sections of the old steps;

• A small team of Councillors carried out repairs to fencing and removed black plastic from the Council land at Breakheart Hill;

• He had advised GAPTC that the Standing Orders for Local Councils, published by The National Association of Local Councils, are not gender neutral with several references to male Councillors etc. GAPTC agreed to bring this to NALC’s attention;

• The Council’s End of Year Accounts have cleared internal audit and are on the June Agenda for sign-off prior to submission to external auditor.

• He had not received either an acknowledgement or any reply to his letter to Mr Corker (Stroud DC Enforcement). (Item on Agenda).

5. The Council consider and commented upon the following Planning Application:

• S.13/0410/HHOLD. 40 The Street, North Nibley, Dursley, Gloucestershire, GL11 6DW. Proposed Double Garage. Following a discussion and consideration of the documents linked to the Application the Council agreed to make “No Comments”.

• The anticipated Planning Application for Binley Farm, Waterley Bottom, had not been received. The item was withdrawn from the Agenda.

6. The Council noted that the following decision has been made by Stroud Local Planning Authority:

1. The following Listed Building Consent has been granted:

• S.13/0577/LBC. The Round House, Whiteway Hill, Woodmancote, Dursley, Gloucestershire, GL11 6AD. Removal of south glazed bay and lower ground floor plant room and construction of balcony in glazed balustrade and brushed steel frame.

2. The following Planning Application has been approved:

• S.13/0361/FUL. Land Adjoining Swinhay House, Swinhay Lane, Swinhay, Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 7PQ. To install 460 solar pv panels, ground mounted in a field annexed to Swinhay House.

7. The Council discussed what further action it could take and agree their response to Stroud DC over their apparent lack of action to carryout enforcement action at Bird Farm.

The following Resolution was passed by the Council: North Nibley Parish Council is deeply dissatisfied with the District Council Enforcement Teams’ inactivity over Enforcement Action at Bird Farm, Stancombe. Furthermore the Parish Council were astounded by the Enforcement Officer’s lack of understanding of this situation and the relevant findings of the Government Inspector on the matter. The Parish Council want to see the Enforcement Team take immediate constructive action and report to the next available Development Control Committee for authorisation of an Eviction Order. This action should not be delayed by any other actions taken by the team in respect of this Enforcement.

The Clerk was also asked to write to the Head of Stroud DC Enforcement Team to advise him of their dissatisfaction. He was also asked to write to Mr Skill to point out that there had been no reply to the Council’s letter of 17 May.

8. The Council discussed how they should proceed on matters relating to claiming grants from the Rural Payments Agency on the Council land on the Knoll; and what steps, if any, the Council should take over the unregistered land adjoining Wood Lane. Following discussion the Council agreed that Mr Brown should progress discussions with Natural England over claiming higher Level Grants for the Council’s land on the Knoll. If possible the Council should register the land from September 2013, as any delay could mean that future grants would cease to be available in 2014. It was agreed that payments by Natural England could be made through a single registration number with the Knoll Trust, as this was the only option available. Mr Brown reported that the Higher Level grant would also bring with it funding for stiles and fencing.

The Council discussed the possibility of registering the unregistered land off Wood Lane. The Clerk advised the Council that he had spoken with Rights of Way and that they had assured him that should the Council successfully register the land Gloucestershire County Council would not make a retrospective claim for any costs of work carried out to clear trees and the slippage caused by the bank.

The Council agreed that before taking action to register the land, Councillors should first meet on site at 7.00pm on Monday 24 June to ensure that all the Council had a full understanding of the issues and any longer term risks which ownership would carry. This would be followed by a discussion to determine the next steps. The Clerk agreed to put together a brief note on “Risks”, in preparation for the meeting. The Council also agreed that following a decision on the steps the Council decides to take, they should meet with the Knoll Trust to agree a collective approach.

Mr Brown reminded the Council that currently Breakheart Hill land is vacant and suggested the Council should advertise the land for rent. The Clerk agreed to place adverts in Dursley & North Nibley.

9. The Chairman closed the Meeting for Public Discussion and Questions.

There were no questions. The Chairman re-opened the Meeting.

9. The Council received a written District Council Report from District Councillor Mr P Smith. (See filed aside).

It was brought to Cllr. Smith’s attention that the rubbish bin at the “Viewpoint”, off Old London Road, Wotton under Edge, was overflowing and didn’t appear to have been emptied for some time.

11. The Council received a written County Council Report from County Councillor Dr J Cordwell. (See filed aside).

Cllr. Cordwell pointed out that the contract with Gloucestershire County Council for the 311 ‘bus service was due for review after 12 months. Should there be insufficient use of the service it may not be continued. The clear message is that people should “use it or lose it”. The Clerk agreed to place something in On The Edge. Cllr. Cordwell also pointed out that currently the service is not advertised from Bristol ‘Bus Station. The Clerk agreed to take up this matter with Mr Carr at Gloucestershire County Council. There were no further questions.

12. Councillors’ Reports. The Chairman invited Parish Councillors to report on any Meetings they had attended.

• Mrs Glancy attended a School Governors’ meeting. The new Reception Class starting in September will have 12 pupils, against a normal intake of 15. The money donated by the Parish Council has been spent on equipment for the play area which is expected to be installed during week commencing 10 June. Finally the School anticipate that there will be an Ofsted Inspection in the near future.

13. Finances.

1. The Clerk reported that the Accounts had been passed by the Internal Auditor. The Council approved the Accounting Statements as set out in the Annual Return for 2012/13. The Clerk went through the Annual Governance Statement for 2012/13 in Section 2. The Council approved the statement which was signed-off by the Chairman and Clerk. It was agreed that the Annual Return for 2012/13 was ready to be submitted to Grant Thornton for external audit.

2. To approve the Invoices and draw up cheques for items on the enclosed Payments Schedule. There were no invoices to pay

13. The Council receive a verbal update on the plans to install a Parish Information Board. The Clerk reminded the Council that the proposal had been cleared with Stroud DC Planning and that planning approval is not required. He had also cleared the proposal with Gloucestershire Highways. Finally the Clerk had spoken with the householders in the property adjoining the proposed location. They were content with the Council’s proposals.

Mr Smitherman reported that having looked at similar boards in Wotton under Edge he had held preliminary discussions and drawn up some outline proposals with a local craftsman. The proposal was to create an A1 size board made of oak. The map, showing footpaths and key locations in the Parish, would be designed so that it could be removed and refreshed as necessary. Mr Smitherman had also identified some local businesses who were interested in advertising through the Information Board and he had received definite interest which would cover 80% of the cost. As the proposal stood Mr Smitherman was confident that the whole project could be funded through local sponsorship.

13. The Burial Clerk reported that a burial was due that week. Further enquiries to purchase graves, had been received.

The Clerk agreed to meet with the Chairman to agree the specification for the proposed path, giving access to the new area of the Cemetery.

13. The Council received a verbal update on Correspondence & Messages received. The information is contained on document filed aside.

There being no further business the Meeting closed at 9.20pm.

The next Meeting of the Parish Council will be held in the Village Hall on Monday 1 July 2013 at 7.30 pm.