Minutes of the Winterborne Zelston Village Meeting held on Tuesday 12th April 2022 at Winterborne Zelston Village Hall commencing 7pm
Chair: Cllr Ron Sorrell
Present: Cllr Bill Newman
8 residents and Dorset Cllr Emma Parker
1. Apologies
Apologies have been received from Cllr Ross Jessopp, Della Jones, Stephan Spiriak, and Jeff Hall.
2. Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the meeting had been issued with the agenda and had been available on the website. Bonnie Randall proposed them to be a true and accurate representation of the meeting. This was seconded by Di Lewis and agreed unanimously.
3. Matters arising
Best Kept Village – Di Lewis had contacted Burton Bradstock about the work party and forwarded details to the Parish Council. Post meeting note: Due to a lack of sponsor, there will be no Best Kept Village this year.
River Stour notice board has still not been sorted out. It was felt that it is unlikely it will be replaced like for like. A suggestion was made that Tony Bates from Bere Regis may be able to help produce some information for a board and this will be followed up by Di Lewis.
Better communication still needs to be looked at. Perhaps a flier could be included with the Red Post the month prior to meetings to encourage additional attendance.
4. Parish Council Chairman’s Report
Cllr Sorrell read out the Chairman’s report. A copy is available on the Parish Council website and at the end of these minutes.
5. Village Updates
Floodwatch – Andy Meadon – At the last meeting it was mentioned that advice was needed on the best way to keep down the overgrowth of vegetation on the riverbed. Andy contacted both James Allan and Henry Quinney from the Environment Agency. They kindly came and examined the problem and both of them suggested that, instead of clearing the whole of the riverbed, we should just clear a narrow channel. The fast- flowing water through this channel would then scour the gravel bed of the river. The efficiency of this has not really been tested this year as we have had less rainfall than normal and so the river has not been at full flow. Having said that, it will be interesting to see how much vegetation grows back as the river dries out in the summer. This new, less extensive scheme of river clearing was definitely a lot easier to fulfil for the willing band of volunteers. In that respect, it has a lot to be recommended.
On Thursday 7th April, Bill Northey (our Deputy Flood Warden) noticed that the river was very cloudy and discoloured. Andy was not around, so Bill contacted the Environment Agency, took photographs and a sample. He then went to investigate upstream and came across a group of workers digging a big hole at the back of The Red Post Garage site in order to install a large septic tank. As the hole was below ground water level, it was filling up, so they were pumping it out into the stream. Apparently, they had permission to do this, but they were supposed to filter out the silt from the water before letting it into the stream. Unfortunately, the filter system was not working properly. The Environment Agency are now keeping an eye on the situation and, apart from a slight blip on Sunday, the river is now running clear. The good news is that the cloudiness of the river was not due to toxic chemicals or sewage; the bad news is that the riverbed is now siltier than it would have been.
Homewatch – Di Lewis – Thankfully, reports of criminal activity in the village and surrounding area remain few and far between. The monthly newsletter and regular police alerts make us aware of any local crime and, perhaps, more importantly, how to help protect ourselves and our property. Online and telephone scams continue to be a threat but, hopefully, we are all getting better at automatically reporting any suspicious calls, texts, and emails. Finally, we should not underestimate the role we have to play as neighbours – watching out for the unusual and taking the time to flag up concerns via WhatsApp or a quick phone call.
Footpaths – Stephan Spiriak – although he was unable to attend, he had reported that there are no problems with the surrounding path network.
Bridleways – Bonnie Randall – nothing to report as a problem. The path to Colwood is well maintained.
Village Hall – no report available.
Church – Della Jones had forwarded a copy of her latest entry to the Red Post Parish Magazine. A broad outline of up-and-coming events included:
August – BBQ
September – following the Harvest Festival, a typical Great British Sunday Lunch will be served in the Village Hall. At some point during the weekend, there will be a Harvest Auction.
Friday 16th December – Outdoor Carol Service on Pooh Bridge, mulled cider and mince pies to be served afterwards.
A full list of Della’s Meanderings can be found in the Red Post Magazine.
6. Community Governance Review update
The Clerk gave a brief outline of the situation to date and reminded everyone that the consultation period is now underway until the 23rd May. From the 24th May to the 14th July, Dorset Council will consider further submissions/representations and make final recommendations to Full Council. The agreed recommendations will then be published in July 2022. Although Dorset Council is minded to accept the proposal to split Winterborne Zelston from the Grouped Parish Council, it is still necessary for everyone to complete the online consultation whether they are in favour or against the proposal.
7. To consider the future of Parish Council meetings in Zelston following the loss of parking facilities
Since we have lost the parking facility, the Parish Council have held one meeting in Zelston in February and it was quite dark. Only people from Kingston turned up at that meeting and were obliged to park alongside the road. The question was asked, should meetings continue in Zelston. Di Lewis felt the village hall, without parking facilities, was not fit for purpose in the winter months. Perhaps one meeting in the summer could be considered. The Parish Council currently meets in June in Zelston and this meeting could be maintained whilst all others will be transferred to Kingston.
Safety is an issue with people walking in the dark down a rough lane. There is only parking in front of the church for three cars.
The following item will be put on the Parish Council agenda for May:
‘It is the view of the Zelston Village Meeting that there is no reason to hold all of the listed Parish Council meetings in Zelston as it is not fit for purpose. The only meeting that can be safely held will be the June meeting.’
8. Report on roads, grass and the Laurels
Cllr Newman thanked Bill Northey for continuing to cut the grass in the village.
The laurels are going to be looked at again in the autumn to see whether anything needs to be done.
Roads – nothing was done with regard to verges and putting down the stones. It is looking pretty bad at the moment. Possible solutions will be looked at again. This has been exacerbated with the closure of the village hall car park and people who come from outside of the village to use the walks now parking on the grass. It was suggested that parking matting might be the answer. Cllr Newman will contact Richard Bowers to discuss this.
Sign – Cllr Newman reported that most of the people originally be dealt with at Dorset Council have either left or changed post. The matter will, therefore, be started from scratch.
9. Internet access – an update
Wessex Internet are still quite happy to dig a trench from Mapperton to Anderson, via the village and deliver highspeed fibre to the door. However, at this time only seven residents have signed up and twenty are needed to make the exercise worthwhile. It is not necessary to sign up to a contract – only an expression of interest is required. It is understood that Openreach have no plans to do anything.
10. Open Forum
Bonnie Randall – The A31 was closed on the 6th April without any prior warning and several residents had difficulty in getting back to their houses. At present, whenever the road is closed, the Red Post junction is used as the crossing point. The obvious solution is to have a crossing point between the Worlds End Pub and the Botany Bay.
No notification and no attention is paid to the residents. The Clerk will contact the relevant authority. Proper provision should be made to ensure residents can get to and from their homes.
There being no further business the meeting ended 19.54
Chairman’s Report for the Parish Meetings, April 2022
The start of the previous year was again dominated by Covid, with the Governments previous allowance for online meetings lapsing and there being no suitable ‘Covid secure’ place for us to hold meetings, the Parish Council did not meet after our May village meetings until July of 2021 and, given that we do not meet in August, it’s fair to say that we probably did not get back into the full swing of things until September last year.
Nonetheless, we were able to make several improvements within the Parish, such as goal posts at the Winterborne Kingston rec, new windows at the Hub, and conducting a traffic survey for Tomson and Anderson (which found that speeding was not as bad as we had feared). We have also submitted representations to the Council Council’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan, suggesting ways to improve walking and cycling through and around the parish. The Parish Council has also been lobbying for improvements to the A31 and are attempting to get the local Members of Parliament involved, as well as carrying out our usual role of commenting on planning applications and trying to reflect the views of our communities in the planning process. Being conscious of the strain on everyone’s wallet, we have also frozen the precept for this year – so, at least the Parish Council element of the Council Tax bill shouldn’t be an extra burden!
As you will be aware, for the year ahead, we have the Jubilee celebrations taking place in June with events happening in both Zelston and Kingston. There is an exciting programme of events planned and it is hoped that everyone will have a good time. We have also received feedback from the local Community Governance Review which shows that Dorset Council are minded to accept Winterborne Zelston’s desire to leave the Parish grouping and form a village meeting – subject to the ongoing consultation which is due to close on the 23rd May. Moving forward, we hope to have as ‘normal’ a year as possible – however, if there are any issues that you need us to look at, please get in touch with your councillors.
Cllr Ross Jessopp
April 2022