Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Ewyas Harold Group Parish Council

held on Tuesday 6th April 2010

At Rowlestone Village Hall at 7.15 p.m.

Present

Councillor P Sheen (Rowlestone) in the chair

Councillor Mrs M Williams (Rowlestone)

Councillor R Weaver

Councillor Mrs J Webb

Councillor D Harries

Councillor P Jinman

Councillor B Krige

Councillor R Baker

Councillor Mrs E Overstall (Dulas)

In attendance:

The Clerk, C. Cllr J B Williams

4 members of the public

Public Forum

• Mr Bob Curtis read out a prepared statement outlining the background to Shaping Our Place and copies of the statement were made available to all Council members. The introductory paragraph is included below:

“The recent consultation that Herefordshire County carried out was in connection with a Report that they entitled ‘Place Shaping Paper’. This Paper is designed to formulate a preferred strategy for a policy entitled the ‘Core Strategy’ for the county. It also forms the first stage for the Hereford Area Plan and the Market Towns & Rural Areas Plan.  The Core Strategy is a long-term strategic planning document which sets out the vision and objectives for the County and establishes the policy framework and the broad locations for development necessary to deliver them.  Once adopted in 2010/2011 the Core Strategy will set the guidelines for development of new homes, businesses and other facilities across the County until 2026.”

It would appear that the evaluated sites at Ewyas Harold can be rejected, provided that acceptable reasons are given, and alternatives proposed. Mr Yates has indicated that responses would be required within the next two months.

It was suggested by Mr Curtis that a sub-committee/residents association should be established to progress this issue.

Mr Curtis was thanked for his presentation and assured that the GPC would give due consideration to the information and requests.

• Ewyas Harold Cricket Club had asked for the chance to speak during the Public Forum but did not attend the meeting. It was believed that they wished to make a request for extra grass cutting of their ground in support of an attempt to establish a youth team. It was questioned whether the Club had approached Sport Aid for support but hopefully this can be answered at a future meeting.

1

Apologies for Absence

Cllr Mrs M Bradley

2

Declaration of Interests

None declared

3

Minutes

• The minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on Tuesday 2nd March 2010 were approved without amendment.

• The minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Council held on Tuesday 23rd March 2010 were approved without amendment.

4

Reports

The report from the public meeting held on Thursday 11th March 2010 was accepted.

5.1

Segonzac Twinning

An email has been received identifying provisional dates for the return visit as from 27th to the 30th May 2010. It is likely that there will be 4 visitors (Alain Barbot, Jean-Claude Saunier, Meike Forget and Janine Bretagne.

Resolved

That the Clerk would email Councillors and set up a meeting to discuss the itinerary and accommodation.

ACTION CLERK

5.2

PAT Testing

The Clerk believes that this work has been completed but is awaiting confirmation and an invoice.

Resolved

That Councillor Krige will check the situation with the electrician.

ACTION BK

5.3

Contractor Advert

Contract has been signed and Clerk will forward list of outstanding work requiring estimates.

ACTION CLERK

5.4

Dog Fouling Signage

The Dog’s Trust is to reprint “Scoop the Poop” posters.

Resolved

That Cllr P Jinman will remind them of their promise to send a supply of these when they are ready.

ACTION PJ

5.5

Parish Freighter

The Clerk for Abbey Dore and Kentchurch has been contacted to see if they would like to share the costs of providing the Freighter service. It appears that Abbey Dore is unlikely to agree to this but Kentchurch have indicated that they would be prepared to make a reduced contribution.

Resolved

That the Clerk should write to Kentchurch identifying the costs and proposed pro-rata charges. It should also be pointed out the GPC were still evaluating the value of this service and for how long it may continue to be funded.

ACTION CLERK

Monitoring –  A group of councillors undertook an audit of the usage of this service on March 27th and the following facts were noted:

• 51 visits were made (some users visiting twice) – 43 in the first hour
• Virtually all of the users were from the Ewyas Harold area.
• People were aware of the £15 bulky item service and many of them used this as well.
• Items left ranged from fridges to garden waste.
• At the end of the session the trucks were not full to capacity.

Resolved

That the monitoring would be continued for the next visit in May.

5.6

Emergency Planning

Herefordshire Council will be sending the necessary nomination paperwork to the Clerk.

6

Recreation Ground

7

Local Security Matters

No items raised in this section other than those recorded under correspondence

8

Correspondence

9

Lengthsman Scheme

9.1

Lengthsman work undertaken in March.

Resolved

That this is noted and approved

10

Financial Report

10.1

Payments for approval

10.2

Balances as at  30th March 2010

10.3

Payments Received

10.4

Budget Adjustment

• Transfer £2.96 from budget code 2 (Insurance) to budget code 6 (Stationery)
• Transfer £32.00 from budget code 2 (Insurance) to budget code 10 (Hire of Premises)
• Transfer£37.87 from budget code 2 (Insurance) to budget code 19 (Parish Freighter/Letter)

Resolved

That the monthly financial statement is accepted and that payments and transfers should be made.

Carried unanimously

11

Planning

11.1

Planning Application DMSW/100483/F

Resolved

That the GPC has no objections to this application

12

Road Maintenance and Related Matters

12.1

General Maintenance

As in previous months the ongoing problems with potholes and surfaces were discussed.

13.1

Footpaths Officer’s Report   

RW3 & RW4.  These paths meet south east of the Vroe and it is no longer possible to continue along them all the way to the A465. The bridge across the Monnow close to the main road is closed because of structural damage caused by winter flooding. The bridge is just across the parish boundary and is actually in Monmouth. To reach the main road now means taking a detour around to Llangua bridge.

LY6. The footbridge next to the Vroe has been washed away. The stream is still fordable using stepping-stones. I have asked Hereford council to add this to their schedule but the job will be a fairly low priority.

LY11. This permissive path joining LY6 and LY9 north of the railway line is still waiting for a bridge across the ditch. I have been assured by Tim Thompson that this will be done soon.

EH12.  This footpath that leads from opposite Trapp House up to the common is a popular route. The landowner has agrees that we may replace the first two stiles with gates, and these have been ordered from Hereford.

The digital map of the four parishes is now available and ready to go on the website.

Peter Overstall

14

Newsletter

The editor and contributors were congratulated on the layout and content of the latest Newsletter, which was approved with only minor alterations.  

15

Parish Website

Digital footpaths map is now available for inclusion on the website

Standing Orders were suspended to allow C Cllr Williams to speak

Cllr Williams spoke of his involvement with some of the long term planning initiatives within Herefordshire and the West Midlands.

• Strategic Housing Newsletter 2010 which identifies a review period between 20th May to 20th November
• Hearts of Herefordshire
• Herefordshire Total Place Update
• Golden Valley is identified in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Lord MacKenzie is due to produce a new report on 22nd July 2010.
• Sustainability is seen as key and local entrepreneurs will be involved in a group led by the Chief of Finance in Herefordshire.
• Planning permission is already in place for 11,000 of the new houses identified by Peter Yates at the Shaping our Place presentation.

It was believed by the GPC that the Parish Plan was being cherry picked by Herefordshire Council to justify some housing needs. It was noted that the 2005 publication had not been endorsed by the Planning department because a request to rewrite certain parts had been refused on the grounds that it best reflected local needs.

Resolved

 That the Parish Plan should be reviewed before resubmitting to HC Planning.

ACTION ALL

That, given the earlier presentation under the Public Forum, the Clerk should contact Peter Yates (HC) and seek clarification of the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and raise the concern that yet another deadline had been presented without communication to the GPC.

ACTION CLERK

Councillors were reminded of the need to appoint a replacement Chair in May as Cllr Paul Sheen was standing down after 3 years in the post.

Matters for Future Discussion

• Twinning
• Shaping Our Place

The Meeting closed at 9.15pm

Chairman

Date

NEXT MEETING   May 4th 2010 at the Memorial Hall

Future Meetings :

June 1st

July 6th