Minutes of Parish Council meeting held on Monday 30th January 2023 held in the Committee Room at the Memorial Hall commencing at 7.30pm.
Present – Cllrs. J. Jones (in the Chair), H. Tierney, G. Kirk and R. Barnes.
An apology for inability to attend was received from Cllr. J. Tearle.
Also in attendance was Parishioner P. Brown and the Clerk.
Minutes – The Minutes of the meeting held on 28th November 2022 were taken as read, confirmed and signed by the Chairman.
Declarations of interest in items on the Agenda – Cllr. Tierney repeated her interest in the planning application on land opposite Twinkelow Cottage in case this should come up under Planning Report.
Open Session –
Cllr. Harvey was unable to attend the meeting but had submitted her written report for circulation.
Mr Peter Brown requested time to give his comments on various items on the Agenda as and when they arose for discussion.
Update Reports on outstanding matters and agree further action as necessary –
(a) Lengthsman – Cllr. R. Barnes reported on a list of projects to be undertaken by the Lengthsman by the end of March including
- Seat at top of The Common plus plaque would be in position after completion of the road works at the top of The Common and that a bollard would be situate at one side of the seat as a means of safety from reversing traffic which had caused damage to the existing seat.
- Drainage work will take place after road works have been completed.
- Doors attached to the notice board adjacent to Pool Piece costing about £300 which is considerably cheaper than a new board.
- Work in Pool Piece to clear brook area and the car park by Pool Piece to help drainage and also to clear the ditches of leaves.
He advised that the next large project would be Ochre Hill hopefully out of new drainage grant funds being applied for. He advised apparently there was no limit for use of the Grant funds received for works already approved from Herefordshire Council/Balfour Beatty. He also hoped that it may also be possible to carry out some work to gain access into the Pleck.
(b) (i) Grit Bins – Balfour Beatty advise that there appeared to have been some technical issues with them regarding these jobs on their scheduling system. They have investigated and uncovered the issues and problems and the jobs are now in hand and expected to be resolved shortly.
(ii) Smart water sign has been re-erected.
(iii) Notice Board – see report from Cllr Barnes above.
(iv) Telephone kiosk – Simon Wilkinson had advised that the defibrillator was now back in working order and it was confirmed that the painting of the kiosk would take place when weather conditions are at lowest humidity and best ambient temperature.
(v) The sign post at the bottom of Ochre Hill has been re-erected.
(Query raised by Mr. Brown whether some other person could have done some of this work. The question of Insurance would need to be carefully considered).
(vi) Ash tree – this was discussed and Cllr Barnes agreed to advise both Herefordshire Council and the Harrisson family that this was the responsibility of Hereford Council. He also agreed to contact the companies who had given the Parish Council Quotations for their advice whether the tree is an immediate danger. Cllr Barnes agreed to contact Herefordshire Council’s Oliver Kaye seeking his opinion whether he also considered the tree to be an immediate danger to the public..
(vii) Traffic monitor count report which had taken place indicated that most days in each direction about 200 cars travelled, about five to ten of which in both directions were over the speed limit with some doing about 30-40mph. The survey was to provide details to the Parish Council whether traffic levels increased when the Viaduct building site is commenced and the Parish Council had also agreed to carry out a further count when work was commenced. Further traffic complaints had been received – one from Brian Snell concerned about danger to walkers going into Ledbury and the Chairman agreed to discuss the matter with Withers Farm management to see whether it might be possible for a sign to be installed indicating “Danger – walkers in the road”. We were also to contact previous councillor David Williams to see whether he had made contact with a lady who had complained about traffic speeding along Horse Road.
Items for consideration –
Three Shires rally would take place this year on 18th September 2022 and we had been advised that the donations for community based projects would be available again this year upon application.
Discuss and agree position for Bench in memory of Dr. Bernard Hill – The Clerk advised she had been contacted by Wendy Hill who advised the Clerk of her husband’s bequest for a bench to be situate in Wellington Heath. This had been discussed and the Clerk was to advise Wendy that the Parish Council and Memorial Hall Management Committee were delighted to accept their kind offer and the bench would be situate in the grounds of the Memorial Hall adjacent to the boundary where Dr.Hill and Wendy had lived.ill h
Sign hire agreement for Memorial Hall – The Chairman signed the Contract for use of the Memorial Hall for meetings, which had indicated there were no increase in fees for the current year.
Oak Tree Book – It had previously been agreed that the Parish Council would present David Darwood with a signed book by the Chairman on behalf of Parish Council members to commemorate his dedicated work in the publication of the work carried out to the Oak tree. Chairman to sign book and present to Mr. Darwood.
Dogberry footpath – Cllr Kirk had requested discussion regarding the possibility of works to improve the standard of Dogberry Footpath No. WH15. This was discussed at length, particularly in view of the estimated cost of both materials and labour and it was unanimously agreed not to proceed with this proposal during the current financial year but Cllr Barnes agreed to mention this to the Public Rights of Way at Herefordshire Council to see if any funding might be forthcoming from them for this project.
Finance matters –
To approve payment of the undermentioned accounts for December when no meeting was held –
- Clerk – salary for December £314.20.
- HMRC – PAYE to 5th December 2022 80.
- Cooke, Lengthsman duties £100.00.
- Constantine (repayment for 10 extra oak tree books) £237.13.
The following accounts were also presented for payment at the meeting –
- Clerk – salary for January 2023 £314.20.
- HMRC – PAYE to 5th January 2023 £60.80.
- Clerk (home allowances/expenses for 2 months £65.00.
- Lengthsman £1,035.00.
- Streetwise (traffic monitor) £225.00. + £45 vat.
- Kevin Reid – annual grass cuts at Pool Piece £262.50.
- Truprint – Newsletter £255.00.
- Marcus Low – computer set up £40.00,
On a proposal by the Chairman seconded by H. Tierney and carried all the above Accounts were agreed and approved for payment and cheques were signed.
Reports from Council Representatives for the following –
- Memorial Hall – The Committee had agreed to the seat in memory of the late Dr. Bernard Hill being situate in the grounds of the Memorial Hall. Arrangements are in hand for the Coronation afternoon tea and treasure hunt. Door codes will be changed bi-monthly and the Committee were looking at changing the locks on windows.
- The Plecks – Cllr Tearle reported via Cllr Tierney that he hoped to commence work tidying up the front hedge quite soon.
- Pool Piece – No report received but the Chairman advised that Kevin Reid had spoken with her and told her that due to health issues he would not be able to mow the grass at Pool Piece next year. The Chairman had mentioned this to Cllr. Tearle and it was suggested that this could also be mentioned in the next edition of the Newsletter in the hope that a local person would take the work on.
- Planning issues – Cllr Kirk advised that the planning application for the land opposite Twinkelow Cottage had been withdrawn. The Arknell Farm planning has been approved, and the Ridgeway application has also been approved. He reported that the application for Becks Orchard remained outstanding but it had been suggested that this should go to full Council for a decision.
- Cllr Kirk expressed his unhappiness in the way the change over of e-mail addresses for the Clerk and Website had taken place and agreed to take the matter up with HALC.
Information – The Clerk advised on Bank balances and notification of the External Auditor for the year ending 31st March 2023.
Dates for Council meetings during the year were agreed as follows
27th March 2023.
22nd May 2023 – Annual Parish meeting and Annual Meeting of the Parish Council. This date may need to be changed due to local Elections taking place in May.
31st July 2023; 25th September 2023 ; and 27th November 2023.
There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.15pm.
Jennifer Jones
Signed……………………………[Chairman].
27th March 2023.
Dated…………………………