MINUTES OF THE PYONS GROUP PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT 7.30 PM ON TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018 AT CANON PYON PARISH HALL
Present: Mr. G. R. Vaughan (Vice Chairman), Mrs M. Riley, Mrs G. Dickson, Mr W. A. Austin, Mr B. Thomas, Mr D. Spooner and Mr D. Wilkinson.
In attendance: Ward Cllr. M. Cooper; and Mr R. Hewitt, Clerk. One member of the public was present.
2018/164 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Mr H. Ray (Chairman), Mrs S. Bagnall, Mrs. L. Pugh, Mr D. Bowen-Jones and Mr N. C. Davies.
2018/165 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND WRITTEN REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATION – None.
2018/166 MINUTES OF MEETING
The minutes of the Meeting of 6 February 2018 were agreed unanimously and signed as a true record.
2018/167 VIEWS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS – There were no matters raised.
2018/168 PLANNING
180379 Land adjacent Victoria Cottage, Ledgemoor, HR4 8RJ – Proposed 3 bedroom detached house and garage. The group parish council agreed to support the planning application.
173355 Land at Lye Court, Upper Hill, HR4 8ET – Installation of crop protection covers for the new sweet cherry orchard on land at Lye Court. Construction of rainwater harvesting reservoirs for a precision irrigation system to support the cherry trees. Reconsultation – additional plans or documents. The meeting agreed not to comment on the reconsultation.
The following planning decisions by Herefordshire Council were noted: 170858 Land at 16 Meadow Drive, and 174478 Great House.
2018/169 CLERKS REPORT
Herefordshire Council’s Section 106 officer has said the highways improvement projects are to be included in the Annual Plan for 2018-19. Balfour Beatty is providing a briefing for parishes. West Mercia Police have been asked for an update on the request to operate a Community Speed Watch scheme. The Annual Maintenance Plan for lengthsman and P3 footpaths work in 2018-19 has been submitted to Balfour Beatty. Discussion with Herefordshire Council on the scope of maintenance at the Public Open Space is to start once a provisional certificate is issued for the development, and this will be once the road has been ‘topped off’ in about 3-6 months.
2018/170 REPORT OF THE WEOBLEY WARD COUNCILLOR
Ward Cllr. Cooper said the poppy display at the cathedral will be arriving soon. The new university anticipates bringing an additional £120 million to the county by 2022 when there will be about 1,000 students. The consultation on the Hereford bypass is underway and a preferred route should be known by July 2018.
In response to a question on responsibility for ditches, Ward Cllr. Cooper suggested the locality steward should be able to contact riparian landowners.
(Ward Cllr. Cooper left the meeting.)
2018/171 FINANCE
The meeting noted the following receipt: HMRC, VAT reclaim 2016-17 (£1,408.41). The following payments were agreed: T Hughes, footpaths maintenance (£512.50); R Mills, lengthsman (£912.00); and Clerk, administration, December 2017-March 2018 (£228.03).
Mr I Watson was appointed internal auditor for the 2017-18 accounts. The Clerk was given delegated authority to spend up to £1,000.00 between meetings in the event of an emergency or unexpected need, in consultation with the Chairman or Vice Chairman.
2018/172 HIGHWAYS/ LENGTHSMAN SCHEME
A written report from the footpaths officer was read and noted. A reported blocked PROW has been reviewed and is not a footpath. Balfour Beatty has completed digger work on Brookside to clear back debris from the side of the road. The Vice Chairman reported that pothole repairs done in the last month have held despite the recent weather. A re-patch of the road by Fullbridge will be discussed with the locality steward. Potholes on the A4110 coming out of Canon Pyon have been reported to Balfour Beatty.
2018/173 PAVEMENTS AND ROADS IN CANON PYON
A complaint about the condition of the pavements was considered. Cllr. Austin and the Vice Chairman kindly agreed to walk the pavements in Canon Pyon and report back at the next meeting. It was noted that the group parish council’s priorities for Section 106 highways improvements include:
• putting in a crossing from the parish hall car park to a new pavement on the parish hall side which will be built as part of the housing due for the former coach park (priority 1); and
• work to improve the pavement outside the shop so it links up with the new pavement at Valentine court and footpath outside the other development next to the playing field (priority 2).
The work is organised by Herefordshire Council and implemented by Balfour Beatty.
An invitation will be extended to the member of the public who raised the matter to join the walk of the village pavements to highlight specific areas of concern.
2018/174 CO-OPT COUNCILLOR TO CANON PYON PARISH
Mr David Wilkinson of The Laurels, Westhope was co-opted to the group parish council. Mr Wilkinson signed the Acceptance of Office and joined the meeting.
2018/175 LITTER PICK
The litter pick on Saturday 24 March 2018, has been publicised in the Pyonear. The WI has kindly agreed to provide soup, bread and a hot drink at the parish hall afterwards. Balfour Beatty will provide bags and pick up the collected rubbish from the parish hall car park afterwards. Equipment will be provided by the group parish council. The ‘Stop the Drop’ pledge organised by Herefordshire Council was supported.
2018/176 PYONS GROUP WEBSITE
The following recommendations made by the website working group were agreed:
• Add member telephone numbers to the list of councillors;
• Change ‘Events’ to ‘Calendar’;
• Remove unused categories such as ‘fundraising’;
• Add a ‘Community Directory’ page under ‘The Parishes’ and provide a page for those local clubs and societies that want to update information on their activities;
• Review the approach to content in light of the General Data Protection Regulations; and
• Add circular walk from earlier website.
2018/177 NEWSLETTER
The newsletter working group has met and will review content with Cllr. Pugh. Printing of the newsletter will be via the college where good rates can be obtained.
2018/178 GARNSTONE WOODLANDS CONSULTATION
The consultation on Forest Certification was noted, and the Garnstone Estate was thanked for approaching the group parish council on the matter.
2018/179 ANNUAL PARISH MEETINGS
It was decided to consider holding separate annual parish meetings in 2019.
2018/180 MEETINGS SCHEDULE, 2018-19
The schedule of meetings was agreed.
(Cllr. Thomas left the meeting.)
2018/181 MATTERS RAISED FOR NEXT MEETING (no discussion)
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
2018/182 INFORMATION ITEMS
The information items on the agenda were noted.
Date of next meeting: Tuesday 1 May 2018, Canon Pyon Parish Hall.
The Vice Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.20 pm.