LOWER WINTERBORNE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 17th March 2020 at Winterborne Kingston Village Hall, commencing 7pm
Present: Cllrs R Allcock, R Brock, K Langdown, H Andrews, D Knapp, B Newman
Chair: Cllr R Jessopp
Clerk: Mrs A Crocker
Also present: 9 members of the public
1. Public Participation
20.162 Village of the Year Competition is likely to be cancelled this year although the entry form will still be submitted, excluding the play area, just in case it is able to go ahead.
The Red Post will not be delivered to doors in Winterborne Kingston this month but can be collected centrally from the Church or the Greyhound Pub.
The owners of the Greyhound kindly offered their services to anyone who needs any help with anything over the next couple of months.
Justin Pottinger, Vicar of St Nicholas, informed the meeting that he felt there should be co-operation between the civic corporation and the Church and a sense of collaboration with some sort of backup. The Coronavirus situation is going to go on for a long time, probably until June, so anything that is set up needs to be able to stand the test of time. There needs to be a system in place. Justin is the key contact for the Church and, under him, are two deputies who can step in should he fall ill. In each village within Justin’s parish there is a parish co-ordinator and a deputy who put together volunteers and needs. In Morden it was agreed that a flier will be produced that will go through every door saying what can be done, listing telephone numbers to call and they have created a WhatsApp group for volunteers. The Church can offer people trained in pastoral listening for those who are vulnerable. They will also be looking at those who may be in financial difficulty because they have lost their job or had their work hours reduced. The Church is able to offer some limited bridging grants for about 48 hours whilst other authorities are organised should a resident find themselves in severe difficulty. The Parish Council will try to encourage volunteers that can then link into the Church network.
The Greyhound offered to store basic food supplies in the pub – bread, milk, eggs, etc and anything that could be frozen.
The Botany Bay is offering the same service and is happy to deliver it to villagers in Zelston. Both pubs are now offering takeaways and will deliver within their respective village.
The Parish Council will draw up a leaflet for distribution to every household in the parish. Cllr Jessopp will move this forward and the Greyhound will produce a leaflet setting out what they can offer. The Botany Bay is doing something similar for Zelston and their fliers can then be delivered
with the one from the Parish Council. This will be produced and out to every household by the end of the week.
The Parish Council could also pick up any mileage fees for volunteers who find themselves doing a large number of miles to collect/deliver shopping or prescriptions.
Regular updates will be posted on the village Facebook page and on the Parish Council web site in order to help keep residents up to date with events.
2. Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests
20.163 No interests were declared at this stage.
3. Apologies
20.164 Apologies had been received from Cllrs Lynn Luxford and Ron Sorrell and Dorset Councillor Emma Parker.
4. Minutes of the meeting held on the 18th March 2020
20.165 A copy of the minutes had been issued to all members prior to the start of the meeting. Cllr Knapp proposed them to be a true and accurate representation of the meeting. This was seconded by Cllr Brock and agreed unanimously. The minutes were signed by the Chairman in the presence of the meeting.
5. Matters arising from the minutes for report only
20.166 Nothing arising that is not covered by the agenda.
6. Dorset Councillor’s Report
20.167 A copy of Cllr Parker’s report had been issued to all members prior to the start of the meeting. This will be put on the website.
7. Finance
20.168 To confirm the payment of accounts
The following payments had been requested:
Cheap Printing Neighbourhood Plan invite letters BACS026 12.00
BT Hub alarm BACS027 33.58
Water 2 Business Cemetery & Hub 28/8/19 to 19/2/20 BACS028 25.45
Dorset Council Trade Waste - February 2020 BACS029 11.55
DC Pension Fund Pension contribution – March 2020 BACS030 121.00
A Crocker March’20 wages + expenses BACS032 439.61
JSR Treecare February grass cutting BACS033 833.33
The total amount requested from the Precept this month is £1,476.52.
Cllr Brock proposed the payments are made. This was seconded by Cllr Andrews and agreed unanimously.
20.169 To confirm the reconciliation of accounts and position against budget
A copy of both reports had been issued to members prior to the start of the meeting.
8. Speed Watch update
20.170 Cllr Andrews reported that the Police camera team came back into the village two days ago and went out with the Speed Watch Team. They caught two vehicles speeding.
9. WK Community Hub update
20.171 Cllr Luxford was unable to attend the meeting but had sent the following report:
‘The Hub will be undergoing a deep clean over the next 2-3 weeks. The cooker has been cleaned by Krista from the Mothers and Toddlers group and Cllr Luxford.
The Scouts have already done the outside and this included cutting back the brambles at the back of the building, allowing access to the windows. Cllr Luxford offered her thanks to them for their support over the weekend.
There are a few bookings in the pipeline.
10 5litre tins of interior, neutral coloured paint have been donated by the Scout Leader, Alan, who, in turn received them from Dulux in Blandford being end of line stock. This will be stored and perhaps next year, we could look at painting the inside areas.
We are currently on the lookout for a new urn as the current one has a leak that is not repairable. If anyone know of one either free or reasonably priced, please contact Cllr Luxford. A hoover is also needed as the one we have is not really man enough for the building.’
10. Planning applications and tree work proposals
20.172 2/2020/0190 Abbots Court Farm – change of use from residential to pop up restaurant & venue for weddings, camping and food preparation for outside catering (variation of Conditions 4 and 10 of original permission to allow for 30 weddings per annum)
When the original permission was granted 12 weddings and 12 pop up restaurants were granted. The current occupiers now wish to have 30 weddings and no pop ups. Cllr Andrews has been assured that they will not use East Street at all, and all deliveries and visitors will use the new driveway. It is understood that they also plan to hold the weddings at the back of the property to minimise noise to the village.
Cllr Brock proposed we support the application on the condition that the new access is used at all times. This was seconded by Cllr Newman and unanimously agreed.
11. WK Playground
20.173 Cllr Allcock reported that he has another piece of equipment – a basket swing - which needs a little bit of refurbishment. There will be a cost of about £450 for the installation and approximately £200 for the resurfacing and the equipment will, hopefully, be in place in time for the summer.
Cllr Allcock has located someone who will give a quote for the refurbishment of the playground.
12. Update on Neighbourhood Plan
20.174 It had been proposed that a public meeting would take place on the 28th March, but this will now be put on hold for the time being.
13. To consider nominations for the Dorset Council Community Hero Awards
20.175 Any nominations should be passed to the Clerk with a brief citation before the 30th March.
14. Home Watch/Flood Watch
20.176 Graham Hyde reported that we had the 5th wettest winter on record, but the parish got by remarkably well with few incidents of flooding. The river did not overflow at all this year and has kept flowing well.
15. To consider items for the Village Meetings
20.177 These will be postponed until later in the year.
16. Parish Councillors' Reports
20.178 Cllr Langdown extended thanks to the WI for carrying out the litter pick again through the village. There was a very successful, informative meeting on Thursday 12th March regarding hedgehogs. Joan Nash reported that a representative of the Dorset Mammal Group gave a presentation. They have produced a large-scale map showing the location of hedgehogs in the village through the years and residents can mark on it where hedgehogs are found each year, drawing up a pattern of their locations and movements. It is the intention for Kingston to become a hedgehog friendly village and, perhaps, when things calm down a little, we can look at moving this initiative forward.
Cllr Jessopp will order some more pads for the defibrillator.
15. Correspondence receive since the agenda was set
20.179 Nothing had been received.
16. Items for the April agenda
20.180 In the ongoing Coronavirus situation, Cllr Knapp proposed that the Parish council does not meet in April. This was seconded by Cllr Brock and agreed unanimously.
In the meantime, in order to maintain the day to day running of the Parish Council, the following resolution was put forward:
“In response to the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK and in the event that it is not possible to convene a meeting of the council in a reasonable time, the Clerk shall have delegated authority to make decisions on behalf of the council where such decision cannot reasonably be deferred and must be made in order to comply with a commercial or statutory deadline. This will be carried out where possible by consultation with members by electronic means or telephone. The clerk will further consult with the chairman for guidance as necessary. The delegation does not extend to matters expressly reserved to the council in legislation or in its Standing Orders or Financial Regulations. Any decisions made under this delegation must be recorded in writing and must be published in accordance with the relevant regulations. This delegated authority ceases upon the first meeting of the council after the council meeting at which the delegation was put in place"
Cllr Brock proposed the resolution is accepted. This was seconded by Cllr Knapp and agreed unanimously.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 19:53.
With the April meeting being proposed, the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 19th May 2020 at Winterborne Kingston Village Hall, commencing 7pm and will be the Parish Council AGM. Please watch the village Facebook page and the Parish Council web site for updates.