WINTERBORNE KINGSTON ANNUAL VILLAGE MEETING
TUESDAY 18th April 2023 AT 7PM
HELD AT WINTERBORNE KINGSTON VILLAGE HALL
Present: Cllrs R Allcock, D Knapp, L Luxford, M Meaden, R Brock, K Langdown
Chair: Cllr R Jessopp
Clerk: Mrs A Clothier
Also present: 5 members of the public and PC Tom Clements
1. Attendance and apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr H Andrews, Cllr R Sorrell and Dorset Cllr E Parker
.
2. Minutes of last meeting held on 19th April 2022
The minutes had been issued with the agenda and had been available from the website. They were proposed to be a true and accurate representation of the meeting by Cllr Knapp and this was seconded by Cllr Langdown.
3. Matters arising
No matters arising.
4. Police Report
PC Clements introduced himself as the new Neighbourhood Officer for the Blandford Rural Area. He gave a reminder to the community to report any non – emergency problems using either 101, Crimestoppers or the Police website. He asked those attending what the top three problems were in the Parish and was told that it was speeding, outbuilding break ins and theft of oil. He was asked whether home quality CCTV was helpful in police investigations and he responded that it was. PC Clements asked the community to make him aware of times when his presence would be productive – for example to tackle speeding issues. The Chair thanked PC Clements for attending the meeting.
5. Parish Council Chairman’s Report
Cllr Jessopp read his report to the meeting. A full copy of the report is available at the end of these minutes and on the Parish Council website.
6. To receive an update on the events to mark the Coronation of King Charles III
The plans for the Coronation Weekend in Winterborne Kingston are well underway. There will be a party at the Rec on the Saturday, a street party on Sunday, a volunteers day on the Monday and a flower festival all weekend.
6. Village Updates
Floodwatch (James Allen) –The groundwater is starting to drop now. Quotes are being sought for a new pump with a longer hose. The signs will be stored at the shed on the Rec in future. James will update the Flood Plan and will need a Deputy Flood Warden.
Public Footpaths – two styles have been replaced by Dorset Council.
Bridleways – nothing to report.
Trees – the Parish Council are going to get a quote for a survey of Parish Council trees.
Village Hall – the Hall is getting back to normal with bookings. The Post Office runs from the Hall twice a week.
W.I. (Joan Nash) – The Membership rose from 26 to 29. Fortnightly coffee mornings at the Greyhound continue to be popular with members and non- members alike. The Pancake morning in February was well attended as were the Terracycle collection events which give the community the opportunity to recycle items not taken in normal household recycling. In November we coordinated a village collection of Christmas food and gifts for teenagers to be distributed by Blandford Food Bank. In December members helped to organize the Advent Windows display in the Village. The skittles evenings at the Royal Oak Milborne were very popular, and the Book Club read a wide array of books. Members who play Croquet at Winterborne Stickland took part in the Dorset Federation WI Tournament this year.
The Annual Flower Show made a welcome return following its 2-year absence during the pandemic. Last summer’s high temperatures and lack of rainfall, however, meant a low turnout in the fresh produce section, but was very well supported in other sections.
As part of village celebrations for H.M. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, an Afternoon tea was held in the village hall. An official Jubilee plaque was ordered for the Liquid Amber tree we planted as part of the Queen’s Canopy. In the Autumn daffodils and purple crocuses were planted around the tree and have flowered this spring, as have the ones planted previously by the river path. We were saddened to hear of the death of Her Majesty on September 8th. She was a WI member, an inspirational role model to many of our members and greatly loved.
The annual garden party was very well attended and benefited from good weather as were walks, locally, and around the water meadows at Salisbury. Speakers this year have introduced us to gentle chair Pilates, the work of the Margaret Green Animal Rescue Charity, Mays Wood, the art of sugar craft cake decorations and the Rewilding of Woodbury by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. In November several members visited Athelhampton House, to enjoy a delicious lunch and listen to a Paul Atterbury talk. Members attended the Dorset Federation Annual meeting in October at Poole Lighthouse
The Village Pumpkin Carving Competition, in its third year, was once more a success. The WI witches made their way round to 14 homes and viewed 36 pumpkins, handing out bags of sweets as they went. A member laid a wreath on our behalf at the war memorial on Remembrance Sunday and 2022 ended with a Christmas Meal.
Litter picking continues on a monthly basis with an average of 3-4 bags being collected each time. A considerable number over 10 years!!
2023 promises to be a very busy year as we shortly celebrate the coronation of King Charles. Later in the year the WI in Winterborne Kingston will commemorate a big occasion, its centenary, having been formed one hundred years ago in 1923. Quite an achievement when so many local Wis have sadly closed.
Speedwatch (Helen Andrews) – I started doing Speed Watch on 30th April 2015 so it’s nearly 8 years since the beginning. My job is to plan sessions, get the volunteers then notify the police of where & when we intend to do them. Following a session I complete a spreadsheet with registration number, colour, make of vehicle, speed and the time. This is emailed to the police for checking before being uploaded on to a national database. They then send letters to the offenders or arrange a visit if significantly speeding.
We’ve recorded just over 133000 vehicles passing us, with nearly 3000 being reported as being 36mph and since 2023, 35mph and above. The percentage of speeding vehicles is very low at 1.7% but us being there does have an impact in slowing traffic down. It is hard to get the numberplate of a vehicle significantly speeding but we did record one back in December 2021 doing 59mph.
I have 10 volunteers but would ideally like a few more. Our sessions are 08.30-09.30, 13.00-14.00 and 16.30-17.30 on various days of the week, not weekends. Volunteers can do as little or as much as they like, once a month or weekly
Hub Report (Lynn Luxford) – Lynn reported that the bookings have continued to improve.
Allotment Field – on the 1st April 16 residents planted 420 trees supplied by the Woodland Trust. The tree protection and canes and some oak and beech trees were supplied by the Parish Council. Further trees were also supplied by a local resident. Pathways will be cut amongst the trees and a wild flower meadow planted. Thanks went to all those involved.
Neighbourhood Plan – A public meeting took place in March which was well attended. The Parish Council took the decision to move forwards with the Neighbourhood Plan and have submitted the area to Dorset Council.
Road Repairs – Noah Henville Corner is on the Dorset Council Highways programme of works for this year.
8. Village Appointments
To be undertaken at the May Parish Council meeting.
9. Open Forum
It was noted that the new vicar, Jane Williams, will start in September.
Meeting closed at 19.31pm.
Chairman’s Report to the Village meetings, April 2023.
Much as the start to last year was dominated by the preparations for the Queens Platinum Jubilee the start of this year is likely to be dominated by the preparations to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. Both Villages had well attended and popular celebrations last year (and were lucky with the weather) and preparations for this year are well underway and the events planned will hopefully be just as successful (and fortunate with the rain).
It has been a year of change for the Parish Council, with our new Clerk, Allison, taking over the reigns from Amanda. I’m sure as well as wishing Amanda well you’ll all welcome Alison to the role and I’m sure that we all look forward to working with her in the future.
Continuing the theme of change this year is the last whole year that Winterborne Zelston will be part of the Lower Winterborne Grouped Parish following the decision of Dorset Council to support the residents vote to leave and set up a Parish Meeting. This will now happen in May of next year following the next round of local elections. There will be a lot of work taking place this year to support the residents of Zelston in setting up their new arrangements to ensure that the handover takes place as smoothly as possible. Until May of 2024 Lower Winterborne Parish Council will remain the closest tier of local govt for the people in Zelston so we would encourage you all to use you local councillors for any issues that come up. As many of you may know Councillor Newman retired from the Parish Council recently. Bill was a great voice for Zelston on the PC and will be missed. This has unfortunately come at a time when, given the separation that is taking place, it is important that Zelston is fully represented on the PC- if only to avoid putting too much work on to Ron. I would therefore strongly encourage somebody from Zelston to come forward and serve on the Parish Council for the next 12 months to ensure full input with any issues that may arise, and would request that anyone interested please talk to Councillor Sorrel to get an idea as to what is involved.
Flooding was a challenge in Kingston this year, with a significant flood happening in and around the village and some properties unfortunately succumbing and getting water in their homes. The community rallied round magnificently and in general the flood plan worked, Sand bags were distributed, water was pumped, traffic was marshalled and though there were some frayed tempers the community worked together in difficult circumstances with good humour and kindness. We have hopefully learned some lessons and will be implementing some improvements in the coming months to further increase our resilience in the event of a repeat. But the volunteers and residents can all be proud of how they reacted.
We have also held the first public meeting with regards to setting up a neighbourhood plan and have, following the excellent attendance and widespread support initiated the process of getting an area approved by Dorset Council so that we can move this forward.
Also in Kingston we have planted out the first phase of a woodland habitat in the old allotment fields. A team of volunteers turned out on a grey Saturday morning in March and planted a hedgerow of 420 mixed trees given to us by the woodland trust and an additional mix of 62 Beech and Oak trees were purchased by the PC and planted out in the field. This represents the first phase of what we hope will in future years become a valued community asset.
In the wider Parish the Parish Council has continued to lobby for improvements to the A31, 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. Given the high levels of Inflation and the fact that we had frozen our precept for the last couple of years it was considered that we would have to increase the precept slightly this year, however we did keep the rise significantly below inflation and will continue to try and ensure value for money going forward.
As ever if there are any issues that you need us to look at- or feel we should be aware of please get in touch with your Councillors.