Minutes of Town Council Meeting held in the Town Council Office
On Wednesday 27th July 2005 commencing 8-00 p.m.
Present Councillors P Ashcroft, J Cowley, D Grimes, D Neal, J Oliver, D Short and
I W A Semple Chairman, D J Hine (Clerk)
In attendance C Cllr D Fox, D Cllr G Carr-Jones and 1 elector
To receive apologies D Cllr W Batty-Smith, J Cox, J O’Hare and R Penfold
Declarations of Interest None
Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting having previously been circulated to Councillors were approved and signed by the Chairman with the following alteration.
Item 6. The motion was seconded by J Oliver and not J Cowley
Proposed Expenditure
All expenditure previously budgeted for
Sign Cheques
In accordance with S O No.40 it was proposed by P Ashcroft and seconded by D Grimes that the following cheques be signed
D J Hine £479.98
Society L C Clerks – Conference fee 265.00
Williams Nursery the Cross planters 17.10
John Singleton – JFPA £437.50
R Sharp The Ring 60.00
Blackmore Vale Pubs 15.76
S & A Builders Maintenance 153.93
Dorset C C from PF Grant £111.11
Direct Office 23.43
Agree Accounts and Audit Form for 2004/5
The Receipts and Payments Account presented by the Clerk was agreed and it was proposed by D Grimes and seconded by D Neal that Section 2 – Statement of assurance on the Audit Commission annual Return form be completed and signed. All Agreed.
OPEN FORUM
D Fox advised that attempts are still being made to ensure that when the present Bus operator finishes there will be an adequate service provided by another company. With regard to requests for additional or altered speed limits, he will be meeting with Mr Bradley from DCC Highways next week regarding various requests.
Town Plan Steering Group
The Clerk advised that letters had been sent to various individuals and organisations and a date for an inaugural meeting set for Wednesday 31st August. It was felt that invitation letters should be sent to the various Churches.
Clerk to write
Quality Council Status
The Chairman advised that he and R Penfold and The Clerk had attended a presentation at Dorchester with regard to Councils becoming “Quality Councils” he feels that it is the way forward and that once granted this status, the Council could take on the responsibility of providing various services to the Town. The main criteria for obtaining quality Status is that the Clerk is suitably qualified (has a Certificate in Local Council Administration) and all Councillors are elected at the start of the term of office. One way for the Clerk to obtain the Certificate is to produce a Portfolio of work and the best way to go about this is to study the Working with your Council course provided by the Society of L C Clerks at a cost of £195 on top of this there is the additional time needed to complete the Portfolio which is in the region of 30 hours for which the Clerk would have to be paid. After some discussion it was proposed by D Grimes and seconded by J Oliver that efforts to obtain Quality Council status should be made. Agreed.
Councillors’ report/questions
D Grimes advised that he spoke to Count DePelet asking him to consider allowing some additional land around the present church-yard for an extension. He emphasised that he was speaking on behalf of all the residents of Stalbridge. Count DePelet promised to think about and investigate the problem further.
D Neal felt that some comment should be made regarding the proposed capping of NDDC for exceeding the allowed increase in Council Tax percentage as he felt that the NDDC had brought the problem on themselves as they knew that they had exceeded the limits. G Carr-Jones explained the situation more fully and a discussion on the subject took place. To conclude the matter it was agreed that NDD Councillors were advised of the feelings of the Town Council through G Carr-Jones.
The overhanging growth has been cut along the Duck Lane to Station Road footpath but left in a very untidy state. D Fox will endeavour to find out who did it.
As the roadworks in Lower Road now appear to be completed and there are no alterations to Bagber Crossroads, it was agreed to write a further letter on the subject especially regarding the width of the hedge.
Clerk to write
It was reported that the Stalbridge sign at the top of Bazel Hill has been damaged and the bollard outside the Post Office has been knocked down.
The Chairman reported on a very enjoyable visit to Wimborne Minster
Correspondence
NDDC Air Quality Progress Report
Dorset AONB Partnership 2005 Reclaiming our Rural Highways
Local Council Review
DAPTC Chief Exec. Circular 10-05. Emergency Planning.
DCC News - emergency Planning Day and Rural Bus Services
NDDC Notification of intent to fell trees. 8 Westminster Cottages. No objections
Copy letters to and from Miss Rabbetts re. Bus Services
DCC Highways. Acknowledgement of our letter re. overhanging hedges etc. and no cycling signs
DCC Highways Notification of closure of Landshire Lane for 2 weeks to work on Cale Bridge
E Mail from David Fox re. DCC grants to Village Halls
Sturminster Newton Community Learning Centre re. Local Learning Plan
Copy e-mail from Community Office to Dorset Police re. lack of mention of Stalbridge on their new Web site, plus their reply
Planning Inspectorate. Appeal decision in respect of Sunnyside, Thornhill Road
NDDC Statement of Community Involvement in Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act
Sturminster T C Invitation to meeting on 1st August re. Proposed Bio-ethanol plant
NDDC Notification of application to alter Licensing conditions for The Swan. No objections
Sth Somerset DC Notification of meeting on 23rd August at Henstridge airfield to discuss Henstridge Airfield Master Plan (see also Planning Meeting)
Notification from Stalbridge Hall that there may be some disruption to the premises when the new building works start
DCC appeal for Local Access Forum volunteers
Letter from Mrs Wareham to say how nice the Ring looks now the beds have been weeded and also complaining of overhanging trees etc., along Jarvis Way
The Chairman advised that he had sent an E-Mail to DCC Data pointing out that there was no reference to Stalbridge on the on-ling page. He immediately received a reply advising that this would be remedied and it had been done so.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9-40 p.m.
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