AN ORDINARY MEETING OF NORTH NIBLEY PARISH COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2015, IN THE VILLAGE HALL, NORTH NIBLEY AT 7.30PM.

Present: Mr D Purnell (Chairman). Mr K Brown; Mrs J Burton; Mr S Hale; Mr D Palmer; & Mr L Smitherman.

District Councillors: Mrs L Reeves; & Mr K Tucker.

County Councillor: Dr J Cordwell.

The Clerk: Mr R Symons.

There were 12 members of the public present.

The Chairman opened the Parish Council Meeting.

1. The Chairman invited apologies. Apologies were accepted from Mr K Larkin & Dist. Cllr. Mrs J Cordwell.

2. Declaration of Interests. The Chairman invited members to declare any Interests relating to this Meeting. There were no declarations.

3. The Council approved and signed the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting held on 7 October 2015, as a true record. The Minutes of the October Ordinary Meeting of the Council 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 by the Chairman.

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:

• so far had received only 3 volunteers to join Community Speed Watch. This would be insufficient to make the Group viable;

• had further reported the blocked gulley & sump at the bottom of Wood Lane, which had then been cleared shortly after the October Meeting. The blocked drains in Wotton Road have also been cleared;

• contacted the Neighbourhood Warden Team and spoke with Peter Wilson about the hedgerow of Willow House, Smarts Green. Peter has visited and checked out the area. He has advised that “I have been to look at the site. There is evidence of a dumping but it does not look like this is recent. I have taken a photo, the waste is not interfering with the lane. May be the sensible approach is to send a letter asking them not to do this if it continues. I saw no evidence of the stones on the verge you mentioned”.

• had advised Dr Steel’s solicitor of the action taken at the October Meeting of the Council. (Planning Application (S.15/1746/OUT. The Old Brewery, Pitt Court, North Nibley, Dursley. Outline application for a dwelling within the curtilage of Cotswold House.)) A letter thanking the Council for the action taken has been received by email.

• had taken action on the ivy at St Martin’s Churchyard, which is covered in Agenda Item 18.

4. The Chairman closed the Meeting for Public Discussion and Questions. There being no matters raised from the public present, the Chairman re-opened the Meeting.

6. Miss Kathryn White reported back to the Council on her Project into World War One veterans from the Village. Miss White has finished her research on the lives of the veterans and their time in the army and has managed to acquire photographs of half of the men she is researching. She is currently putting her research together and hoping to have it written up and published for a New Year launch. The Chairman suggested putting plaques on or around the former homes of the men. Miss White said that identifying home addresses for some had been a difficulty. The Chairman restated the Council’s support for her work and asked her to contact the Clerk should she need any further assistance.

6. The Council approved the purchase of a wreath to be laid at the War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday. The cost of £25.00 was drawn on the Chairman’s Budget.

6. The Council considered and commented upon the following Planning Applications:

• S.15/2129/LBC & S.15/2071/MINAM- Millmans Farm, North Nibley, WUE. Following discussion the Council agreed to make “No Comments” on this application.

• S.15/2347/HHOLD. Southwold House, Wotton Road, North Nibley, Dursley. Householder Application. Retrospective application for erection of garden office/hobbies room.

Following discussion the Council agreed by 4 votes to 2 to make “No Comments” on this application.

6. The Council noted that the following application has been Withdrawn by the applicant:

• S.15/2268/HHOLD. Brookside Cottage Park Lane, Stancombe, Dursley, Gloucestershire, GL11 6AY. Erection of an annexe to replace the existing mobile home.

10. The Clerk reported back to the Council on the progress for arrangements to purchase and install a Defibrillator in North Nibley.

Following the earlier decision of the Council (Minute 13/08/2015) to locate the defibrillator at the Village Hall the Clerk wrote to 6 local organisations which had previously indicated support. The Village Hall Management Committee confirmed that the defibrillator could be located on external wall of Hall.

However, some other organisations had indicated a preference that any financial contribution they made should be linked to defibrillator being located at Pavilion.

The Council’s application to the British Heart Foundation (cost £1,000 plus vat) had been acknowledged and forwarded to Ambulance Service. Subsequently the application has been “activated”.

The Clerk reported that he had received notification of a grant for £1,000 from the Music Festival.

Upon the suggestion of a resident he had applied to the local Rotary Club for a grant.

The Clerk proposed that as the Music Festival grant was sufficient to fund the defibrillator there was an option available to the Council to install two defibrillators in the Village.

The Council discussed the suggestion and considered the merits of locating a second defibrillator in the Recreation Field or in the Barrs Lane/Pittcourt area of the village. They also discussed their original decision to site one at the Village Hall.

Following discussion the Council agreed by a vote of 4 to 2 that the original decision (Minute 13/08/2015) to locate the defibrillator at the Village Hall should stand.

The Clerk was asked to contact the supporting organisations to inform them of these developments and find out what financial support they would provide; to find out the cost of locating and maintaining a defibrillator in the Pittcourt telephone box; and to take forward the arrangements with British Heart Foundation.

10. Broadband in North Nibley. The Council received an update on the latest situation with the broadband service to the Parish. The Clerk reported on a number of developments since the June public meeting:

The Clerk:

(1) advised the Council that Mr Patteson had recently received an email from BT/Openreach, stating North Nibley was once again on their commercial programme for the year 2016/17. The Clerk had contacted BT earlier in the day and was advised the information ” will be the most up to date information on the current situation”;

(2) had received an email from our MP indicating that he is lobbying Fastershire and seeking their attendance at public meeting in the village;

3. reported enquiries about alternative approaches for a broadband (e.g. Gigaclear & Cotswold Wireless) which indicated some delay before they could proceed;

4. informed the meeting Chris Huxley-Reynard had secured a quote from BT/Openreach.

The Chairman then opened the meeting for public comment and questions.

The Chairman thanked him for his work on securing this information and invited Mr Huxley-Reynard to speak about the quote. Mr Huxley-Reynard explained the quote was for £50,102.40 (incl. VAT) for installing fibre a cabinet in Forthay. BT/Openreach maintain this “gap funding” represents the difference between what they can justify contributing and the actual cost of upgrading the network. He added that should residents fund the work it would likely to proceed in 2016/17. He emphasised that whilst this could be a way forward for the village he was not promoting the idea. It would be for residents/businesses to decide whether they wanted to raise this money.

During discussion some interest was expressed from some members of the public in taking this idea forward.

The Clerk, advised the Parish Council, the Council is not in a position to provide financial support, without increasing the Annual Precept.

Following discussions between the public and Councillors the Chairman closed the meeting. The Council agreed the way forward was:

1. The Clerk should contact Mr Clifton-Brown MP to set up a public meeting, involving Fastershire.

1. The Clerk should follow up with BT/Openreach to check on accuracy of their recent information on their commercial programme.

2. The Clerk should ask our MP to contact BT/Openreach to check out the accuracy of their recent statements;

3. The Clerk should provide further information through the Council’s “On The Edge” article.

11. Affordable Housing. The Chairman reported that the Council is continuing to explore the position on affordable housing for the Parish. He added there was nothing further to report, but he was hoping to be able to report more fully in the foreseeable future.

11. Finances. Report by the Clerk.

1. The Council approved the Invoices and drew cheques for the two items on the Payments Schedule.

• TW Hawkins & Sons SGMS: Cut & collect grass in St. Martin’s Churchyard:

£240.00

• Garden Supplies: Hedge cutting and removal of waste at the Cemetery:

£92.40

2. The Council noted that the Direct Debit for (£1,068.74) payable to the Public Works Loan Board, has been taken on 1 November 2015.

3. The Council received an update on the Council’s 2015/16 Budget. (see report filed aside). The Clerk reported that Income on the Cemetery & from Government Grants had been less than budgeted; whilst Expenditure on Neighbourhood Warden Service and Cemetery were underspent and on St Martin’s Churchyard, overspent.

Mr Smitherman reported that he had someone interested in renting the Council’s Breakheart Hill land, but the current condition of the field was deterring them from going ahead. The Chairman & Mr. Brown agreed to inspect the field and carryout any necessary work, including investigating an aerial protruding from the water mains.

The Clerk was asked to report back to next meeting on requirements on the Council should it decide to sell this Council asset.

Mr Brown requested that fencing of the land on the Knoll should be put onto the December Agenda.

Mr Hale apologised and left the Meeting.

15. The Council received and discussed District Councillor Mr Ken Tucker’s Report. (See Report aside). The Chairman thanked Councillor Tucker for his report; and on behalf of the Council said he was pleased to see that Cllr. Tucker was better.

15. The Council received and discussed a Report from County Councillor Dr J Cordwell.

The Council was reminded that the County Council is carrying out a Planned Review of their Local Transport Plan. The Chairman thanked Councillor Cordwell for his report.

15. The Chairman invited Parish Councillors and the Clerk to report back on Committees and Meetings they had attended:

• Mr D Palmer reported he had visited Gloucestershire Records Office (GRO) to look at the copy of the Magna Carta. The GRO have plans to make changes and carry out further developments to the Records Office.

• The Clerk reported he and the Chairman had met with the recently appointed Head of Stroud Planning, (Mrs Geraldine LeCointe). This had enabled them to show her around the village and explain the Council’s thinking on Affordable Housing.

• Mr D Palmer reported that he had invited a botanist friend to do a survey of the plants on The Knoll.

• Mr D Purnell reported on a recent meeting of Stinchcombe Hill Trustees. The Trust had carried out a survey of the hill which showed that the ecology of the hill is evolving with some species disappearing and others emerging.

15. The Council received and approved the Cemetery & Churchyard Reports (see enclosed).

Following discussion the Council approved two inscriptions to be put onto plaques to be placed in the Garden of Remembrance.

The Council received information about the condition of the retaining wall in St Martin’s Churchyard. The Council expressed concerns about the condition in which the wall was when the Churchyard was handed over to the Parish Council for maintenance. Following discussion the Clerk was asked to write to the Parochial Church Council setting out the Council’s concerns and pointing out that the Churchyard was claimed to have been handed over in “good order”.

15. The Council received for information details of Correspondence received. (See report attached).

There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.15 pm.

The next Meeting of the Parish Council will be held in the Village Hall on Monday 7 December 2015 at 7.30 pm.