Minutes of the Meeting held in the Phoenix Hall On Thursday, 9th January 2025 at 7 pm

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Parish Councillors Present:Cllr. R. AylingChairman
Cllr. C. Coslett
Cllr A Bridewell
Cllr. P. MacKay
Cllr S O Grady
Cllr A Brown
Mrs DA CorbettParish Clerk
In Attendance:ResidentRepresenting the Church

WELCOME BY CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Cllr Mackay for reading at the Church Carol Service.
The school were grateful for the donation of equipment and sent thank you letters which were passed round.

The New Years Eve lunch was a great success with 30 people fed. Thanks to the residents who organised, cooked, donated or helped on the day.

Sensitive housing issue – has been passed to Wilt Council to help find appropriate accommodation.

POLICE REPORT

Report received and sent out before the meeting, van and garage break ins being the main issue and someone using fake £50 notes in the shop.

REPORT BY WILTSHIRE COUNCILLOR

None received before the meeting

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Resident asked questions about the Bourne in Lower Road, wood left to fall in it after being cut.

Millenium/Stables side. Clerk to carry on investigating.

Resident asked about the VE day celebrations, Vice Chair to contact the jubilee committee

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APOLOGIES

Apologies received and accepted from:

Cllr B Covil.
Cllr S Perry
Cllr P Perry
Cllr D Burke

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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None received.

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MINUTES

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14th November be accepted as a true record.

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FINANCE 

a.    Bank Reconciliation

Netheravon Parish Council Bank Reconciliation January 2025

It was resolved to approve the payments for Nov/Dec 24

b.  The budget was presented by the clerk. The Precept we received from Wilts Council was very good and the amount Parishioners will pay in their Council tax is slightly less than it was last year.

c.  Cemetery Notice Board –quotes from Signs Express were very expensive. It was decided to try and repair the current one.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

1 .   Planning

Since the last Parish Council meeting there have been two new items for the planning committee to consider.

  1. PL/2024/11711 – Threeways, Mill Road – tree works in a conservation area. Despite being in a prominent site in the village NPC should support with no objections.
  2. PL/2025/00138 – Riverside House – tree works in a conservation area. NPC supports this application with no objections.

Annual summary for 2024 shows that there were 12 applications before NPC in the year (up from 11 in 2023). All were dealt with by NPC in accordance with its guidelines.

The most public interest being in the applications concerning development of land at Piggott Close (WC refused the re-submission but a pair of semi-detached houses already has approval at this site), and development of Highview Farm buildings which was objected to by NPC and refused approval by Wiltshire Council.

Meeting re Cob Wall next week with relevant stakeholders to discuss options.

2 .   Flooding and Adverse Weather

We are experiencing adverse weather, thanks to the residents for spreading grit from the yellow bins. Clerk to put on Social media if anyone can help, to do so.

3 .  Highways and Parish Steward

Clerk to check with Cllr Covill that he has engaged with Parish Steward.

4 . Cemetery/Enhancement/Netheravon in Bloom

Cemetery – Cemetery is looking very good with village handyman keeping it tidy.

5 .  Recreation

Old School Close – Wilts council to publish the new way forward and the Parish taking over the maintenance, any objections to be in by 30th January, looking at handover by the end of February.

Corfe Jump Park

Is looking tidy, this may be due to less use due to the weather.

6 .   Allotments

Cllr O Grady to speak to the allotment holder regarding a swap.

7 . Community Allotment and Community Larder

The Community larder is going well and has been stocked and used over Christmas.

8 .    Rights of Way

Nothing to report.

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REPORT FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF OTHER GROUPS

 

a .  Phoenix Hall

CHAIR PERSON REPORT FOR PHOENIX HALL JANUARY 2025

Finances show a current bank balance of £7246.62 with an additional £13777.50 on deposit.

The bookings total for this year is currently £12049.24
Up to the end of December we are showing an increase over last year of £1024.14 or 10%

With 3 months still to go till end of financial year we have already exceeded last years hire total by £538.64

We have also received a payment from Scottish power for £371.88

Expenditure remains very low but may increase in the near future.

Maintenance and Improvements

The dishwasher in the main kitchen has been condemned as unsafe for use this will needs replacing.

We received 3 estimates for the main hall floor which seems to be approx. £4000 this will be discussed at the next hall meeting.

The fire exit signs may need to be replaced in the main hall, as they failed the annual test

Looking ahead

Pam has taken a few new bookings since Christmas and she continues to advertise the hall using new photos from recent events.

We have now lost one of our exercise classes however we now have a fortnightly craft group.

b.    Jubilee Committee

Cllr Burke to contact chair of the jubilee committee over VE day.

c.  Stonehenge Area Board

Grants were oversubscribed, so the committee were going to ask people to accept less.

d.  All Saints School Liaison

Cllr Bridewell said the school has a new head, and he hopes to meet them to continue the relationship, but their internet has been down so has received no response yet.

e.    Netheravon Speed Watch Group

SIDs were turned on from 27th December, speed checks due
to be started from the 17th January. Still awaiting the report. Chair to write to LHFiG to ask about double white lines on A345 and also traffic calming measures for Harefield Crecent.

f.    Newsletter

No news, next newsletter items need to be in by 17th January.

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REPORT BY CLERK

Fittleton Haxton Trophy, Netheravon turn to present it this year, Councillors asked if they can think of any contenders. Clerk to find out rules on giving it out, maybe involve the school.

Council Christmas meal – Monday 10th February, partners invited, clerk to put something out.

Trees down on the river walk between Chaulston Bridge and Haxton, Landmarc have been very responsive and cleared the path quickly.

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CORRESPONDENCE

Email received about the devolution “Heart of Wessex proposal” from Wilts council. Election may be delayed if this goes ahead

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GENERAL PARISH MATTERS

April meeting Clerk asked if it can be moved to the 17th April (Maundy Thursday?) to be discussed next month.

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DATE OF NEXT COUNCIL MEETING

The next meeting of the Netheravon Parish Council will be on Thursday 13th February 2025 at 7pm