Sambourne Village

Sambourne Parish Council

 
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 6th September 2010 at 7.45 pm

Present:

Cllr Chris Clews            Chairman
Cllr Phil Jones
Cllr David Shaw
Cllr Willis Ward
Cllr Geoff Smith
Cllr Justin Kerridge        Stratford District Council
Teresa Murphy            Clerk

There were 14 parishioners present

1.  Apologies:
Cllr Clive Rickhards        Warwickshire County Council

2.   Disclosure of Interest
None

3.   Minutes of the Last Meeting
There was one correction to the Minutes concerning Tree Maintenance.  The minute should have read ‘…… If a lower quote is obtained it was agreed that it would be reviewed and agreement sought as to further action’.

4.   Matters arising from the minutes
Trespassing on Mr Archer’s field:  Cllr Ward had obtained a quote of £1600 for 60m of protective netting.  This cost includes the clearing of the land in question.  Cllr Ward was asked to provide a breakdown of the cost and also to ask Mr Archer if he would be willing to carry out the clearing.  Alternative ways of solving the problem are still being sought.

Speeding on Sambourne Lane:  Regular speeding has been observed every morning in Sambourne Lane.  There was a particular incident at 6.30 am on a Sunday morning.  The police have been informed of this and as a result have been proactive and maintained a more regular presence in Sambourne.

Erection of a Pagoda in the recreation ground:  Cllr Kerridge agreed to look into the possibility of obtaining a grant.  Cllr Shaw made an alternative suggestion of a willow arbour.  Concern was voiced about the possibility of vandalism. 

Village Survey: 
See item 7.

Tree Maintenance:  A second quote specifying the cost of each of the two items will be obtained.

Neighbourhood Watch:  
The Chairman has put an item on the website about the interest in resurrecting the Neighbourhood Watch scheme. 
Cllr Clews will contact the Chairman of Studley Parish Council, Jim Bacon, to see if it is worth linking with Studley. 
Cllr Clews will contact Sgt Pete Essex about recent undesirable activities concerning door to door sales in the village.

War Memorial: 
A quote of £195 was given to rake out the loose pointing and replace with the appropriate mortar.  Mr Robin Quinney said that the Sambourne Trust would be happy to pay for this work.  Two other members of the Trust agreed with this decision. The Chairman thanked Sambourne Trust for their offer.

Finger Post: 
It was considered that if the finger post by the Laurels on the Green were replaced it could be damaged because of its proximity to the road.  An alternative is to place a small indicator on two posts at opposite ends of the Green.  The sign would be the same design as on the finger post, ie black lettering on a white background.  The approximate cost of this would be £600.  It was agreed that a decision would be made at the next meeting when feedback from all Councillors had been received and a vote would be cast.


Planting of daffodils: 
As a donation had not been forthcoming from Webbs, Sue and Phil Jones had purchased daffodil bulbs.  These have been bagged up and there are 110 bulbs for each sign.  Planting instructions are included in each bag.  The following parishioners offered to plant bulbs:

Cllr Clews        Middletown Lane (more bulbs needed)
Cllr Ward         Sambourne Lane
Cllr Jones        Wyke Lane
Cllr Kerridge    Oak Tree Lane
Roy Davies      Whitemoor Lane
Wayne Bates   Middletown
Cllr Smith agreed to strim around all the signs for ease of planting.

Footpath signs: 
Completed

Biodiversity Group: 
Cllr Jones attended the Annual Conference of the local Biodiversity Group.  2010 is the international Year of Biodiversity and the Government has produced an Action Plan, to which the Warwickshire and Solihull Group has made a major contribution.  Cllr Jones’ report will be published on the website.
Cllr Jones offered to make bird boxes for the recreation ground and asked if there is anything else that he can do to further the aims of biodiversity.  Suggestions via the website or at the next meeting.

5.  Public Participation
(1)  An issue was raised concerning a proposal to open allotments on land adjacent to the driveway to Sambourne Warren Farm.  Concerns were raised in relation to this proposal, one of the main objections being the implications of parking and congestion.  The Chairman reported that he had contacted WALC and had been informed that planning permission for change of use would be required.  He agreed to make further enquiries to SDC to clarify the position on planning.

A second objection was that the field up from the cricket club was polluted by sewage, which would make it an unsuitable place for allotments.  Cllr Ward agreed to make enquiries about the sewage problem.
The clerk made a note of the e-mail address to report back to Mr Duddy.

(2)  Cllr Kerridge raised the following points:

1) Contribution to the publication of ‘The Voice’.  A cheque for £30, taken from the ‘Publicity Grant’, was issued.
2) The contacts for Police on the notice board are for the Northern Area.  The Clerk was asked to display the contact numbers for South Warwickshire Police.
3) A pointer on the Perrymill Lane finger post appears to be falling off. Cllrs Smith and Ward to investigate.

6.  Speed Limit Review
The Chairman and Cllr Kerridge had attended a meeting with the Head of Traffic Group, Jonathan Simpkins.  Two issues were raised:

1) Speed limit revision.  There are two anomalous areas – the derestricted areas on Whitemoor Lane and Sambourne Lane.  WCC had agreed to change these to 30 mph but are now short of funds.  Cllr Rickhards believed more funds would become available on completion of the review.  Ongoing.

2)Was the 30 mph in Sambourne working?  Data had been collected in the past but more funding is required to bring it up to date.  The Chairman has involved the MP for Stratford in negotiations with Traffic Group and he has shown his support.

7.  Progress of Village Survey
The draft document has been circulated to Councillors for comment.  When all the comments have been received and queries answered the document will be emailed back to Simon Purfield for completion.
8.  Quotations for grass cutting
The Parish Council has been made aware that SDC pay contractors to carry out 9 cuts a year in Sambourne at a cost of £917.  The Parish Council has been offered the chance to take over this cutting and bundle it with our own grass cutting contract.  The vote was as follows:

1)Do we think this extra should be picked up and bundled with our grass cutting contract?
2)Should we go to alternative suppliers for quotes?

It was agreed that:

1)The Clerk would write to Mr Gibbs, outlining the extra work and asking for a revised quote.
2)Alternative quotes should also be sought.  The Chairman would prepare a list of possible suppliers to give to the Clerk.

9.  Tree Maintenance
Quotes had been received to carry out work on the trees in need of urgent attention, ie the oak with the split bole and the crown reduction on the ash on Archer’s boundary. 
It was agreed that:

1)Mark Newell would be asked to quote for the felling of the split oak.  If the quote came in at up to £450 then it was agreed that the work should be done immediately.
2)Mark Newell should be asked to quote separately for the ash tree and this would be discussed at the next meeting.

10.  Accounts

1)The Clerk reported that the Annual accounts for the year ended 31st March 2010 had been returned to Clement Keys as they had requested clarification on the receipts for that year in comparison with the previous year.  The reason for this difference was the receipt of grants from WCC in 2008/9.

2)It was agreed that ‘Contributions to the Link’ would be added as an agenda item for the next meeting.
The following cheques were raised:

WCC for forestry work                          £352.50
Cllr Jones – purchase of bulbs             £26.96
Chairman – expenses re Traffic Group
  And Web space rental                        £19.38
J Kerridge – The Link (Publicity Grant)£30.00
Clerk – Salary and expenses               £422.12   
 
11.  Planning

New Applications made since the last meeting:

10/01687/FUL
Mrs F Kilburn
Erection of 2m high wooden fence.  49 Bromsgrove Rd



Results of Planning since last meeting:

10/01034/FUL
Allely’s Holdings
Demolition of existing workshop and erection of storage warehouse
Withdrawn
04/08/2010

12.  Correspondence
WALC annual report and briefing distributed to Councillors.

13.  Chairman’s Business

1)The Chairman reported the sad death of Doug Bond, who was a former member of the Parish Council.

2)The Chairman has e-mailed John Brown of WCC Environment Directorate and asked him to look at the continuing problem of flooding at Capilano corner.  An email had been received on 23rd August stating that a drainage gang would be dealing with the damage caused by the installation of gas pipes.  The Chairman would be following this up.

3)The gritting schedule has been received for 2010/11.  There are no significant changes to previous years.

4)An invitation had been received for a WCC Reception on 25th October 2010.  Unfortunately no Councillor would be able to attend.

14.  Any other business
Fly tipping in Wyke Lane: 
A bath had been fly tipped in Wyke Lane, 150m away from the Sambourne 30 mph sign.  Also a white cabinet had been tipped in woodland in Coughton.  Cllr Smith agreed to contact SDC.
Studley Fire Station: 
Wayne Bates had e-mailed the Parish Council expressing concern that the publicity surrounding the closure of Studley Fire Station had subsided and suggesting that a referendum be held in the Parish.  The Chairman had contacted WALC for clarification on the operation of a referendum and was informed that the cost could be in the region of £2,000.  He suggested that it would be more economic to carry out a petition or a poll in Sambourne to attract the media.  The Chairman suggested that Mr Bates gets in touch with Studley PC as he had been informed that more action will be taken.  He also directed Mr Bates to the Sambourne web site, which has links to Studley’s web site and to follow the links to contacts re the fire station closure.

New editor of the Voice: 
Cllr Kerridge reported that a new editor would be taking over the publication of the Voice.

Grants: 
The Clerk agreed to contact Lizzie Price at WCC to ascertain the possibility of accessing further grants.           

15.  Dates of next meetings:

Monday 8th November 2010 at 7.45 pm

Monday 10th January 2011 at 7.45 pm