NORTH NIBLEY PARISH COUNCIL

2016


AN ORDINARY MEETING OF NORTH NIBLEY PARISH COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY 6 JUNE 2016, IN THE VILLAGE HALL, NORTH NIBLEY AT 7.30PM.

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

District Councillors: Mrs C Braun

County Councillor: Dr J Cordwell.

The Clerk: Mr R Symons.

There were no members of the public present.


The Chairman opened the Parish Council Meeting. He welcomed District Councillor Catherine Braun to her first meeting of the Parish Council. The Chairman also welcomed Ms Karen Phimister (GRCC) who was attending for Item 6 on the Agenda.


  1. The Chairman invited apologies. Apologies were received and accepted from Councillor Mrs J Burton; and District Councillor G Butcher.

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

  3. The Council approved and signed the Minutes of the Annual Council Meeting held on 16 May 2016, as a true record. The Minutes of the May Annual 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.


  1. The Council approved and signed the Minutes of the Special Council Meeting held on 18 May 2016, as a true record. The Minutes of the Special Meeting had previously been distributed to all members. All members agreed the Minutes should be signed, as a true and accurate record. The Minutes were duly signed by the Chairman.


  1. 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:

  1. Land at Waterley Bottom (S.16/0616/FUL) has been Permitted;

  2. Millmans Farm (S.16/0759/FUL & S.16/0786/LBC) has been Withdrawn;

  3. Laburnum House, 2 The Street, (S.16/0680/HHOLD) has been Permitted.


  1. The Chairman introduced Ms Karen Phimister (GRCC) and invited her to bring the Council up to date on progress on Affordable Housing in North Nibley. Ms Phimister informed the Council that in the past few months there had been little progress on the purchase of the Council’s preferred site. She suggested that an alternative approach would be to explore the Council’s second preference.

In response to questions by Councillors Ms Phimister advised the Council: that ideally the Council needed to find a site to meet the full identified affordable housing need, but that in the absence of this being possible it would be acceptable to meet some of the identified need; that in her understanding, “Starter Homes”, as recently defined by government, are not permitted on Rural Exception Sites; she added that there is a clear distinction between Rural Exception Sites and Exception Sites, the former being what is being considered in North Nibley; and following her discussions with County Highways, access may be less of an issue for the Council’s second preference site.

Finally the Council agreed that Ms Phimister should approach the owners of the Council’s second preference site and ascertain if they are still interested in offering the site for affordable housing.

Ms Phimister informed the Council that Stroud DC funding of her post with GRCC, will end in July and not be renewed. Her responsibilities for North Nibley would be taken forward by Martin Hutchings (GRCC). The Chairman thanked Ms Phimister for all her work on behalf of the Council and conveyed the Council’s best wishes in her new post.

Following this Item Ms Phimister left the Meeting.


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

There were no members of public present. The Chairman re-opened the Meeting without further discussion.



  1. The Council received information about the following planning application:

Following discussion the Council agreed to “Make No Comments”.



  1. The Council noted that the Clerk would represent the Council at the Development Control Committee at Stroud District on Tuesday 7 June. The DCC will be deciding on the planning application for Mount Pleasant (S.16/0557/HHOLD). The Parish Council had previously objected to the Application at its April 2016 Meeting (Minute 5 bullet point 2 /4/2016).


  1. The Council received a written District Council Report from District Councillor Ms Catherine Braun on behalf of the ward’s District Councillors. See Report aside. The Chairman thanked Cllr Braun for her report.

  2. The Council received a written County Council Report from County Councillor Dr J Cordwell. See Report aside. Cllr. Cordwell highlighted the plans to carry out repairs to the road bridge on the A38 at Berkeley Road. The Chairman thanked Councillor Cordwell for his report.



  1. The Chairman invited Parish Councillors to report back on meetings they had attended.



The Council agreed that the Clerk should send the Report to Gloucestershire County Rights of Way team, bringing to their attention the number of items requiring attention. The Chairman thanked Cllr. Palmer for his work in drawing up the Report.



  1. The Council received a request from a parishioner to repaint the “finger signpost” on Wotton Road. The Council were informed that the signpost probably dates from the 1930’s. It was in a poor condition and like other similar signposts in the area needed to be repainted. County Councillor Cordwell brought to the Council’s attention that he had requested other signposts in Kingswood and Wotton under Edge to be dealt with under the Council’s “Lengthman’s Scheme”. The Clerk agreed to write to Andrew Middlecote at County Highways and request the inclusion of this signpost onto their programme.


  1. Finances.

  1. The Council received a Statement of Finances for the first two months of 2016/17 Financial Year. (See report aside).

  2. The Clerk brought to the Council’s attention that there were no Invoices for payment this month.

  3. The Clerk advised the Council that he was still awaiting the third quote for repairing the south facing wall of St Martin’s churchyard. Following discussion the Council agreed the work needed to progress as soon as possible, with contractor’s availability being a key issue. It was agreed the Clerk, upon receipt of the third quote, should inform Councillors by email and contact the cheapest contractor about a start date for the work. The matter would come back to the July Meeting for formal decision.

  1. The Council was informed that the Clerk had again approached Treecreeper Arborists about attending to the ivy on the wall at St Martin’s Church.


  1. The Council received for information details of Correspondence & Messages received. (See report aside). Following discussion of the report Councillors agreed:

There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.45 pm.


The Chairman announced the next Meeting of the Parish Council will be held in the Village Hall on Monday 4 July 2016 at 7.30 pm.

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