Bishopstone and District Group
Parish Council
Comprising: Bishopstone, Bridge Sollars, Byford, Kenchester and Mansell Gammage.
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 28 January 2010 in The Portway Inn Hotel, Staunton starting at 7.30pm.
Present. Mrs P Redshaw (Chair), Mr J Macklin (Vice chairman), Mrs L Allsopp, Mr G Malins, Mrs C Draper, Mr B Merrick, Mrs M Holmes, Mr J Verry
Mrs D Shaw, Ms S Hubbard, Mr A French. Mr B Megson (Clerk)
1. To start the meeting the Chairman advised of the fire exits.
2. Apologies. Mrs S Knights and Mr T Hunt. Did Not Attend. Mrs P Hickey.
Members of the public were Mr D Macklin (Newsletter Editor) and Mr and Mrs A Johnson from Kenchester.
3 Declaration of Interest. The councillors were asked to declare any personal interest they may have in the items on the Agenda. None offered.
4 Approve and sign the Minutes. Councillor Mr J Verry (Bishopstone) queried the vote of 6 to 3 taken during the November meeting under item 9. The chairman refused to discuss and requested the question be put in writing for discussion at the March meeting. The previously distributed minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a correct record and signed.
5 Presentation by our Ward Councillor. Mr A Blackshaw gave a short resume on how important it is for everyone to become involved in the consultation document “Shaping Our Place 2026” which will replace the UDP. He suggested a meeting of all parishes within the Ward to discuss it. The meeting was presented with drawings that showed the improvements to be made to Widemarsh Street in Hereford City as part of the ESG.
6 Matters arising. The Clerk summarised Item 6 from the November minutes by saying that letters he had been asked to write had been sent to Mrs A Midwinter about problems of traffic through Mansell Gamage. To Herefordshire Council regarding the reuse of horse riding road signs for Bridge Sollars and a road safety mirror at Mansell Gamage for residents of the Barns. He reported that he had received a response from Herefordshire Council about the transfer of land to Kenchester Parish. A short discussion took place the result of which the Clerk was requested to write to Herefordshire Council again asking if the Group Parish Council must automatically accept the land or can they reject the offer.
A summer house at The Steppes, Bishopstone. HR4 7JT.
The construction of a flood relief culvert from the Yazor Brook at Credenhill to the River Wye south of Old Weir farm.
8 Village Plan. There were no reports offered by councillors when the Chairman asked. The Chairman delivered a report herself in which she included all the objectives set out within the Village Plan starting with Housing and Planning about which a report will be delivered at the March meeting re affordable housing within our Parish Group. The Community Centre is ongoing and recycling has now been completed. Our local bus service continues to run and we have built a good relationship with the Police. We are working to preserve the existing BT kiosk at Bishopstone. We have made special arrangements with Amey Herefordshire for maintenance of roads, ditches and drains and all our Rights of Way are marked on maps now placed on all notice boards. Finally we have put in place strong communication links via newsletter, web site and local newspaper.
The clerk was asked to write to Amey Herefordshire to praise them for the
prompt way in which they repaired pot holes on the A438 after the bad snow
and ice this winter.
The clerk was asked to report pot holes and permission was given to Mr A
Johnson from Kenchester to speak about his experience with blocked ditches/
drains near the entrance to his property in Kenchester which the clerk will
report.
9. Meeting Dates for 2010. The clerk proposed these to be Thursdays, March
11th, May 13th, July 15th, September 16th and November 11th. These were
accepted unanimously. The new owner has given permission to use his
premises free of charge for these meetings.
10 Staunton Primary School. A discussion on how to support the school ended with a sum of £100 being agreed but no decision on what to purchase.
11 Accounts. The clerk reported that he had transferred £1000 from the Current account to the Reserve account as requested. Councillor Mr J Verry (Bishopstone) asked if the meeting would discuss the Clerk’s salary. The chairman once more referred him to write so that it may be discussed at the next meeting.
12 BT payphone at Bishopstone . The charges BT will impose were read out by the chairman, disconnection, re-connection, standing charge and an annual cost for light. Councillor Mr J Macklin advised that he held a sum of £130 being the Bishopstone millennium funding money not used. This may be used for the kiosk expenditure he suggested. The clerk was asked to contact BT and ask for their charges to disconnect the overhead supply which was used for this kiosk.
13 Parish Freighter The meeting was advised that the clerk had secured the Parish Freighter and Box Van (at the old rate of £40 per visit) for Byford on Saturday 13th March and for Bishopstone on Saturday 27th March. Both between the hours of 11am till 1pm.
14 May Annual Meeting. The meeting confirmed that last year had been successful and that we should proceed with another. The clerk was asked to contact the Public Rights of Way Manager for Amey Herefordshire and ask that he be the speaker for that meeting. It was agreed that we used Stretton Village Hall again.
15 Request from a Bishopstone resident. An email was read from Mr R Toll about the need for a Grit/Salt box to be positioned at the junction of Bishon Lane with Roman Road in Bishopstone. The clerk was asked to write after the meeting had agreed with his request.
16 Correspondence.
HVA Newsletter
Clerks & Councils DIRECT magazine.
Festival Housing Group Newsletter.
Community First Newsletter.
Herefordshire Compact’s Code of Practice.
November and December 2009 Police Reports.
The Herefordshire Partnership “Quarterly Economic Bulletin” Nov. 09.
Biodiversity Newsletter.
Environment Agency letter about their internal change of boundaries between England and Wales.
Herefordshire Council letter regarding Public Rights of Way Wardens.
West Mercia Police letter inviting attendance to a consultation evening.
Herefordshire Council letter inviting participation in the future of Herefordshire County “Shaping our Place 2026” consultation paper. This was discussed and six volunteers took away a 145 page document and the 18 pages of questions to be answered.
Herefordshire Council letter regarding maintenance, repair and protection of War Memorials. The meeting concluded we did not have any.
The meeting closed with two plates of food being provided by the new owner of The Portway Hotel and Inn free of charge.
The next meeting will be on Thursday 11th March 2010.