Public Recess

1 member of the public – Mr D Pearse remarked that the New Road planning application on the SBC website shows that the agent for the application has changed. Cllr Brady advised that the Council was aware of this change.

18/37. Declarations of interests.

None.

18/38. Approval of minutes from 9th July 2018.

No changes.

A proposal was made by Cllr Bates that these minutes be therefore accepted; Cllr Mills seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

18/39. Matters arising and action points.

Matters arising

None

July – Summary of Action Points

Clerk:

  • 17/76. Ask Ward Cllrs to chase cutting back of trees obscuring sign on A346 Plough Hill. Ongoing, waiting for highways.
  • 18/29. Report that green marker signs on A346 also covered by undergrowth and brown sign on A346 for hotel and Barbury Castle are knocked over. Completed.
  • 18/33. For Finance agenda – paying a Chair allowance in 2019/20 precept. Done – added to agenda.

Ward Cllr Foley & Mattock:

  • 17/133. Investigate why vehicles are parked on verges at New Road layby. Closed – see Ward Cllr Mattock’s report below.
  • 17/133. Request information from SBC on what constitutes a breach of safety specific to Highways. Ongoing – refer to highways.

Cllr Sunners:

  • 17/137. Progress shops/pubs becoming safe places for dementia sufferers. Cllr Sunners advised that a memory café is planned for the church hall on a monthly basis for an initial period of 6 months. Discussions had started with sbc coordinator for dementia safe places initiative.

18/40. Community Safety.

Cllr Sunners reporting.

Crime Stats for June showed 1107 crimes within South Swindon police sector. 20 crimes were reported in the Chiseldon area, 13 of which were at the Esso Station. Brief details were provided to Cllrs of the other 7.

18/41. Ward Councillors reports.

There were no Ward Cllrs present but the Cllr Brady read out Ward Cllr Mattock’s communication:

Firstly, I thought you may be interested in the committees that I have been appointed to. We are of course fortunate that Cllrs Gary Sumner and Fionuala Foley have been appointed to Cabinet positions, namely Strategic Planning and Highways and the Environment. Both roles are clearly very pertinent and helpful to the activities of the Parish.

I have been appointed as Chair of the Resources, Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Vice- Chair of the Licensing Committee, Chair of the Appeals Committee as well as a member of various task groups and Boards.
Separate from Parish enquiries residents within Chiseldon have corresponded on numerous individual matters relating to highways, litter, graffiti, potholes, issues with trees and hedges being overgrown and matters of anti- social behaviour.

Updates on matters previously raised by the Parish:

  • “Cutting back of trees obscuring sign on A346 Plough Hill”. I am advised that the case has been raised to be completed and that the Tree Officer is just awaiting Highways to provide traffic management for this road so that the job can be completed.

  • “Investigate why vehicles are parked on verges at New Rd.” Officers advise that the scheme was funded by the Housing Revenue Account on behalf of tenants. There are however no restrictions on parking in that lay by and there is no easy way to restrict parking to the extent that each house has a reserved bay – as this is public highway rather than private land. Double parking and obstruction would be enforcement issues for the Police and the Civil Enforcement Officers. However, it would be unlikely that officers could attend immediately as an issue arose. If double parking persists we will have to look again.

  • “New Rd, Planning application.” – I am advised that the agent has been changed on this application. Officers received an email requesting this last week. The new agent has asked for the application to be deferred until October. Officers have not yet caught up with the agent to find out the reasons for this!!

  • “Request information from SBC on what constitutes a breach of safety specific to Highways”. I imagine this was raised before May when I was elected a councillor and so would be grateful if you could give me a bit more detail and I would be delighted to follow this up.”