Minutes 14 March 2023

Public discussion of items on agenda

A resident requested that thanks to the Dorset Street Cleaning team were recorded for the thorough work they had done during a recent visit.

Apologies / Declarations of interest / grant of dispensations

Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr Gill Denny and PCSO Bishop.

Approval of Minutes of meeting held on 10^th January 2023

The minutes of the last meeting were approved, and were signed by the Chairman. Proposed by Cllr Scott-Malden and seconded by Cllr Barber.

Matters arising from Minutes of meeting held on 10^th January 2023

a. Pipplepen Solar Farm

Planning was approved by SSDC during their determination meeting in January. A start date for the project in not yet known. Clerk will continue to monitor

b. Wall in Manor Close

To date no volunteers have stepped forward to help with this project. The Chairman mentioned that he had spoken to a builder who thought it would cost approximately £3000 to rebuild the wall. It was agreed that the PC do not currently have the finance for this and therefore the planned work by volunteers would be pursued. It was suggested that a date is selected and then another request for help is circulated on the website, noticeboard and Pump and Pound.

c. New Payroll Administrator

Vicky Reed has accepted the position of Payroll Administrator. A contract has been drawn up for 30 minutes a month. The contract starts on 1 April 2023.

d. Visit by Chris Loder to Annual Village Meeting on Friday 21^st April 2023 at 6pm

A new date for this meeting has been arranged. All residents welcome to come and meet their MP.

Clerk

Chairman/Vice Chairman

Co-option of New Councillor

Andy Syddell and Richard Footitt spoke to the meeting, giving a little background about themselves and their reasons for wishing to be a South Perrott Parish Councillor. After discussion and thanks to both for their interest, the Councillors voted and Andy Syddell was co-opted as the new Councillor.

Millennium Green

The Chairman reported that the Councillors had met after the last PC meeting to have a discussion about the future of the Millennium Green Trust (MGT). It was decided that the way ahead was to hold a public meeting in June to give residents the chance to come and ask questions of the MGT Trustees and the Parish Council. This would be followed up by a survey (paper and online) to all households. After these events have taken place the Parish Council will make a decision whether to take on responsibility for the Millennium Green.

Martyn Gillingham, Secretary to the MGT, reported that following the resignation of David Lines in January there was currently only one Trustee, Peter Simmons. Jonathan Baker and Gill Denny had both offered to become Trustees as an interim measure but this had not yet been pursued because it requires the drawing up of a legal document by Natural England and it was thought it would be better to wait for this to be done when the future of the Trust has been decided.

Coronation Event

Councillor Scott-Malden reported that plans for the village Coronation Event were coming together well. It is to take the form of a Tea Party which will be held on Sunday 7^th May from 3 – 5pm in the Village Hall. In addition to refreshments there will be competitions for the Best Decorated Cupcake (16 years and under) and the Best Decorated Cake (adults). Children of the village will be presented with a commemorative aluminum flask. A flyer with all the information will be circulated with the next edition of the Pump and Pound. RSVPs to Cllr Scott-Malden will be required by 1 May 2023 to help with planning.

Cllr Scott-Malden

Planning Matters

a. Applications handled since last meeting

None

b. Decisions notified by DC since last meeting

None

c. New applications to be considered

None

d. Tree applications since last meeting

i. P/TRC/2023/00803 – Hunters Hatch

e. Other Planning Matters

i. WD/D/20/001708 – Coach and Horses

The Chairman reported that he and the Clerk continued to liaise with the Planning Enforcement Team at Dorset Council. The most recent update indicated that the officer assigned to the case had re-visited the property and would be sending a Planning Contravention Notice to the owner requesting further information. Once a response has been received the officer will have a clearer understanding of the way forward. How quickly any of this will happen is unclear, particularly as the officer only works part-time and has a high workload.

The Clerk was asked to continue to monitor and chase.

***NB. On 17^th March 2023 the following update was received from Dorset Council:

For information:

The owners of the Coach and Horses Hotel ( The Perrott Hotel) and the owners parents have this morning  been served with an Enforcement Notice to reverse the unauthorised changes to the Hotel. The compliance period has been set at 12 months. As with all Enforcement Notices it comes with a right of Appeal which must be exercised within 28 days. If the right appeal is not exercised the notice comes into effect on 17^th April 2023.

Grounds for appealing an enforcement notice can be found at Appeal an enforcement notice: When you can appeal – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)***

Reports from Dorset Councillor, Police Officer, River Warden and Footpaths Officer

a. Dorset Councillor

No report received

b. River Warden

The River Warden reported that there was nothing to report.

Martyn Gillingham

River/Flood Warden

Tel: 01935 891931 Email: mcvgillingham@btinternet.com

c. Footpaths Officer

As spring approaches and I continue to recover from my accident, I’m looking to being out and about again on our local footpaths. In the meantime my reliable “foot soldiers” have continued to update me on the condition of the paths and any issues that need addressing. It would seem that there have been few recent issues although there are some outstanding ones. These are: Langmoor Lane – on the south (Mosterton) side of the ‘Coffin’ bridge, where the bank is badly eroded. As it is also a bridleway it is difficult for horses to traverse this section. Also the first gate on the right that leads into the other footpath to Mosterton is difficult to open due to a build-up of mud under the gate. This is the responsibility of the tenant farmer who last year planted his maize crop over part of the footpath.

Chedington Lane junction with Picket Lane. The silver arm of the footpath sign post in the direction of West Axnoller/Buckham Mills has broken off. Once again (latest on 10/03/23), I have emailed these issues to the Senior Ranger, West Dorset & Coast. He promised to make a site visit earlier this year and I’m still awaiting his response.

At this time of year everything is “springing” into life, with a profusion of daffodils and crocuses on the banks and borders in the village, and it won’t be long until the woods have a carpet of bluebells too. A delight to the eye! It is also the time when all vegetation is growing in abundance, so if your property is next to a footpath or walkway, please ensure that overhanging vegetation is cut back especially where it is a hazard to users.

As the weather improves and the days become longer keep fit and health whilst enjoying our local footpaths.

Sue Coutanche

SP Footpath Officer

d. PCSO

PCSO Bishop sent his apologies for the meeting but reported that he had attended the recent South Perrott Coffee Morning on 11 March.

PCSO Bishop stated that he had nothing to report specifically for the village but provided some advice on how to prevent being scammed. This included drawing attention to the following websites which have a lot of scam prevention advice: www.dorset.police.uk, or www.actionfraud.police.uk.  He also advised screening all calls, either by using an answerphone to get any unexpected or unsolicited calls, or to speak to your phone provider about call screening services.  Using these mean that you do not speak directly to the scammer and they do not have the chance to convince you of why they’re calling.  The other best practice is to hang up on any person calling on behalf of a company, whether they say they’re from BT, your Bank, Microsoft, Amazon, etc, this is likely false.  If you think a call may be genuine, hang up, wait until the line is clear (check for a dial tone) and call that company back directly (not using any number given by a caller).  Remember to NEVER give out any personal or financial details (banks will never ask you to confirm any details if they call you) and never download anything a caller asks you too as this may allow them to download software to your device, or be able to control it and access information remotely.

He also mentioned that there have been many complaints across the patch of late, relating to issues with dogs.  Where people have concerns for the behaviour of a dog, or the ownership of a dog, or if that dog has attacked another dog, please report these concerns or dog on dog attacks to the Dog Warden, through the Environmental Health team at Dorset Council.  You can email them via this link, or call them on 01305 221000 – www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/dog-warden-service.

If a dog is chasing livestock, or attacks a person, this is a criminal matter that can be reported to us on 101, or online at www.dorset.police.uk.  If you are able to record any incidents, this will assist with any enquiry/investigation.  For those who are dog owners/walkers, please bear in mind responsibilities you have to control the dog/s.  If you are walking into a field to let them run, please be sure the field is clear of other animals before letting them loose.  Any incident where a dog worries or attacks livestock or another dog or human, is the responsibility of the owner/walker.

PCSO Alex Bishop

Highways

a. A3066/Lecher Lane Junction

The Chairman reported that there had been another accident at the LecherLane/A3066 junction which had involved attendance by the Air Ambulance. A Councillor also reported a further near miss. Following discussion about how dangerous this junction continues to be, it was requested that anybody who has a near miss or is told of a near miss reports the incident to the Clerk to log. In the meantime, Dorset Council and PCSO Bishop will both be approached to once again try and get some improvements to the junction to reduce the frequency of accidents and before there is a fatality.

Finance

a. Financial Status

Payments made since 10^th January 2023

Income since 10^th January 2023

New cheques/payments for consideration

Bank balance as at 14^th March 2023 £4692.68

b. End of Year Position

The Clerk reported that the estimated end of year figures show an underspend of approximately £500 of the £5500 budget. It was agreed that this was an acceptable amount and showed that the 2022-23 budget had been set correctly.

The budget for 2023-24 had been set at £6000 (an increase of 9% or £5.37 per annum on a Band D property). The main reason for the increase is a £500 contribution towards grass cutting for the graveyard.

c. Purchase of Spare Battery for the SID

Prior to Christmas the SID became faulty due to the battery becoming flat. This resulted in the SID having to be returned to the manufacturer to be re-set. To avoid this happening again it was suggested that a spare battery could be purchased and kept on charge and swapped with the one in situ when the SID was moved. The cost of a new battery would be approximately £60. The other alternative would be to purchase a bigger solar panel for the SID but this would be considerably more expensive.

After discussion it was decided to purchase a spare battery.

Proposed: Cllr Baker Seconded: Cllr Scott-Malden Approved: Unanimous

Matters of report and items for the next meeting

a. Chairman

Nothing to report

b. Clerk

Nothing to report

c. Members

Nothing to report

Dates of Future Meetings

Annual Village Meeting – Friday 21^st April 2023 at 6pm

Annual General Meeting, followed by regular bi-monthly meeting – Tuesday 9^th May 2023 at 6.30pm

The meeting closed at 7.32pm

Public Session to raise items for future agendas

Nothing to report