ASHPRINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the PARISH COUNCIL MEETING on Thursday April 4th, 2024 at 7.45 pm held in Ashprington Village Hall.

Present; Cllr Rogers {Chair}, Cllr S. Paterson, Cllr. Thompson, Cllr Stocks, County Cllr. Hawkins

Also present: Michael Read, Clerk. No members of the public.

1.Declaration of interest in items on the Agenda.

None

2. Apologies. M. Pearey, Tree Warden, P Macey, P3 Co Ordinator, Cllr T. Green, Cllr K. Throgmorton, Cllr S. Greaves {Vice Chair}, District Cllr J. McKay
3. The minutes of the Parish Council meeting dated March 7th were approved.
4. Matters arising from the meeting not on the agenda;

Highway Maintenance Community Fund.

It was agreed that the Council would apply for funding from this fund to maintain the verges of the parish’s roads. Cllrs Stocks and Thompson will prepare the bid when applications are invited. Photographs will be taken and the bid submitted by the end of April

Lengthsman

Cllr Rogers has recruited a number of volunteers to assist with work in the parish –

John Widdicombe has now stood down – the Clerk will write and thank him.

Community Connectors

Chris Grimshaw wrote to the Clerk regarding the possibility of a grant of £100 towards the cost of producing 200 diaries per month for the parish. The Council voted in favour but requested the Clerk to indicate that this would be “one-off” for this year.

Commemorative Tree

The Village Hall Committee were not happy with the positioning of the tree. Cllr Stocks has spoken to Lynne and Nigel Paterson, who are waiting for a break in the weather before moving the tree to Ash Meadow.

Thermal Imaging Camera

The camera will no longer be available after April 30^th but will be available later in the year

Purchase of Parish Laptop

The parish has purchased a laptop costing £384.

5. P3 Report.

No report this month.

6 County  Councillor Report There was a view regarding Bow Hill where the consensus was that the conditions had improved since contact with Highways was initiated by the Chair and Cllr Hawkins. A grant of up to £1000 could be made to his Locality fund. The funds will be used for the Defibrillators and Ash Meadow with £400 still to be allocated.

7.Tree Warden Report

Mike Pearey removed a dead tree near Corkscrew Hill with assistance. The Clerk was asked to contact Thelma Rumsey regarding the appointment of Alex Carter. The Clerk was asked to contact Joe Todd regarding a tree growing wild near the Tuckenhay Bus Shelter.

8. Planning

4063/23/ARC Steps Cottage Application for approval of details reserved by conditions. Part Approved/Part Rejected.

4053/23/ARC Steps Cottage. Application for Approval of details reserved by conditions. Part Approved/Part Rejected.

4026/23/LBC 1 Frogmore Farm. Listed Building Consent for reinstatement of field gateway. Approved.
0504/24/VAR 4 Orchard Close. Application for Variation of condition 2 {Planning Document OHH/182} to planning consent 4680/21/HHO. Support.

4519/22/PDM Higher Sharpham Barton Farm. Application to decide if prior approval is required for a proposed change of use of agricultural building to 5No dwelling houses. Support proposal to decide if prior approval is required.

9. Correspondence

An invitation has been received to join the Rural Services Network at a cost of £60 per annum. After a vote, it was resolved not to accept the invitation as the Council already receives information from similar organisations.

10. Finance

Treasurers Account -Balance £26.716.99, Cemetery Account – £353.84,

P3 Account – £487.71. Expenditure approved -Parish Expenses – £167.59. Clerks

Salary – £943.80. Tax Thereon – £629.20. Defibrillator Supplies £5.20. DALC Subscription – £174.93

11.Ash Meadow Report

General maintenance work parties are proceeding but shredding work and some

Maintenance has been delayed by the inclement weather. We have two new

Volunteers and members of the committee. Pam and Nick Mallalieu are very welcome to the team. Thanks to all volunteers who have attended. Communication with our SHDC ground maintenance team continues to be good and helpful. The storm damage reported last time has now all been corrected although we still need to remove the main tree trunk from the cycle path. Thanks to, I believe Paul, for repairing the fencing bordering our property that has saved us much work. There has been some confusion over the ROSPA inspection who normally advise of the date of their attendance so we can liaise with them. Communication this year has not been terribly good so I am not sure whether they have visited or not. This is disappointing

As in previous years they have been so helpful. We are to put together an H & S inspection rota for each member of the committee to undertake a H&S inspection in a regular format each month of the year.

Composting Area. We reported last time on the requirement to provide a new container and fencing for the green waste area. We should sincerely thank our very active Director of the CIC and parish council chair Robert Rogers for his assistance in obtaining a very competitively priced new 20-foot container.

At £2475 ex VAT it was easily the best price we have received as it also includes delivery which previously was quoted at circa £650 ex VAT. The plan now is for the old container and its contents to be temporarily moved to one side before being sold for scrap. The ground preparation and installation of the new container and transfer  for old containers contents is to take place on Monday 8^th April with the help of some volunteers but especially from Robert and his team. There will quite rightly be a charge for their time which will be paid in due course plus about £50 for a new substantial lock. Once this in place we will then need to remove the current redundant gate and prepare to install the new concrete fencing for the green waste area at a cost of circa £1500 ex VAT. We will be surrounding the new fencing with fruit bushes when complete. These plans have been discussed with Julian at Sharpham and he has no issues. There is quite a lot of discussion gong on at this time regarding the position on being able to reclaim VAT {circa £1100 in total} which hopefully will be resolved in a positive fashion. At all times we must be totally transparent on all matters to avoid any accusations associated with being seen as fraudulent. The major discussion point is whether we would still be seen by HMRC as an “outside” body whilst being a CIC whose articles of Association state we must at all times be governed by at least three directors From the Parish Council.

Information from this is far from clear and indeed confusing. An important factor, some feel, is that in the event of closing Ash Meadow or the CIC for any reason all assets would be returned reported last time on July 20^th and plansrned to the PC. We would like to thank Mike for his views on this important matter. Chris has agreed to take over the monitoring and reporting of the amounts of compost being collected now that William has left. Thanks Chris.

Locking up pilot. It has been decided that this is working well and will become a permanent feature. Activity on the site. The tractor fest will take place as reported last time on July 20^th and plans are proceeding in a very positive fashion. We have agreed to again hold a celebration for bonfire night. This however will be a very reduced affair for the Parish residents only, as far as possible and quite possibly may only be a bonfire but with BBQs and games for all the is family. Katherine Weare is to put together a proposition for a family sports day to be held on September 7^th. This will be very similar to previous years which have always been popular.

Finances

I have applied for funding from SHDC to improve and repair the composting site. We are hopeful of a positive outcome albeit only 50% of the overall cost. I have also applied to Jonathan Hawkins as he requested for a support fund of £250. Thanks go to Jonathan for this opportunity. Chris has provided a financial report which shows us to in a healthy position.

12. Other Business/Councillors Areas of Responsibility.

Cllr Rogers reported that a holly bush needs to trimmed. The Clerk will contact Joe Todd.

Cllr Stoaks was assured by the Chair that the remedial work to the Bus Sheler at Tuckenhay would be undertaken when the weather improves.

The meeting closed at 9.15pm.

Next Council meeting will be on Thursday May 9th, 2024 at 7.45pm in the  Village Hall, preceded by the Annual Parish Meeting{or AGM} at 7.30pm  Michael Read Ashprington Clerk spooks49@michaelread.plus.com.Tel. 732047

The meeting is one week later than usual, due to the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections on May 2^nd.

Download the meeting minutes in Microsoft Word format here: PC Minutes April 2024