Holne and Michelcombe Parish Council Website

HOLNE PARISH COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council
held at the Village Hall, Holne on
Tuesday 3 January 2012 at 8.00pm
_______________________________________________________________________

Present
Cllr Mrs G Simpson (Chairman)
Cllr P Arrowsmith
Cllr Mrs M Arden
Cllr R Copus (arrived 8.15pm)
Cllr Mrs B Owen
Cllr Mrs E Ross
Cllr D Troake

In attendance
Suzanna Hughes (Clerk) and 3 members of the public.

Open Forum

Steph Crutchley
Advised that she was attending the meeting to provide a progress report on her planning application at Village Farmhouse (0582/11 – Installation of ground-mounted solar PV panels in field). She reported that she had approached DNPA about 6 months ago about installing solar panels on the roof of the property. However, the Historic Buildings Officer would not allow it. A site was therefore agreed for ground-mounted panels in the field. Because of the imminent reduction in the feeding tariff, they made a decision to start works prior to permission been granted in order to benefit from the higher rates.

Keith Evans
Commented on the planning application at Village Farmhouse (0582/11). Anticipating a number of ground panels in the village, Mr Evans questioned whether it is in the best interests of the community that such installations are visible from public land. He added that the panels at Village Farmhouse are visible from the footpath through the churchyard. He expressed concern that the decision of the Parish Council would set a precedent for future applications.

Cllr Arrowsmith commented that he shares some of what has been said but questioned why Mr Evans hadn’t approached the council when his neighbour installed roof panels. Mr Evans confirmed that planning permission had not been required.

Cllr Ross advised that despite the panels being visible from the footpath in the churchyard, according to the answer given by the applicant on the application form, the panels could not be seen from a public footpath.

Michael French
Commented that until only recently the National Park would not even have considered allowing the installation of solar panels adjacent to listed buildings.
Cllr Peter Smerdon
Cllr Smerdon was unable to attend the meeting as it clashed with Rattery’s meeting but sent a report.

‘The budget process is just beginning at SHDC. There is a shortfall of approximately£200,000 and members are looking at ways to raise this amount. A small start has been made with the reduction of councillors’ allowances by about £200.

It has been proposed to introduce car parking charges at South Brent, however judging by the huge list of e-mails objecting to this there will be a fierce debate about it.

If there are any issues I can help you with don’t hesitate to contact me’.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 8.14pm.

030112.01	Apologies District Cllr P Smerdon Bill Allen (DNPA)	Action
030112.02	Declarations of Interest Members were reminded of their responsibility to continually update their Notice of Registerable Interests and invited to state whether they have a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be discussed during this meeting. There were no interests declared.
030112.03	Ratification of Minutes Members present received the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting of 6 December 2011. It was RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the Parish Council meeting dated 6 December 2011 be signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record of the meeting.
030112.04	Finance It was RESOLVED unanimously to approve the following invoices for payment: HMRC (Clerk’s PAYE) - £86.40 – chq 000628 Cosmic - £150.00 – chq 000629 Members requested that an item be included on February’s agenda to explore other hosts and costs.	Clerk
030112.05	Planning Cllr Ross asked whether she could come off the Planning Committee. It was RESOLVED unanimously that Cllr Owen would replace her on that Committee. a. New applications/appeals (i) 0582/11 – Village Farmhouse, Holne Installation of ground-mounted solar PV panels in field It was RESOLVED to raise no objections to this specific application. However, members wished to seek clarification on certain issues relating to applications of this nature including DNPA’s view on such applications on/adjacent to listed buildings, visibility from public land and how the DNPA deals with incorrectly answered questions on the application form. [It was later agreed that these issues could be answered by a DNPA officer by inviting them to the Annual Parish Meeting – see item 030112.06] (ii) 0615/11 – Landmark, Holne Slate hanging to front elevation of house except central front porch and wall above It was RESOLVED to support the application. It was questioned why a planning application was required. It was agreed that the clerk would speak to the planning officer for clarification. b. Decisions There were no decisions to report. c. Further correspondence re Planning Application 10/2824/11/F – Wind Turbine over 5ft high in Chivelstone Parish After discussion, it was RESOLVED unanimously that the Parish Council was not able to comment further.	Clerk Clerk Clerk
030112.06	Meeting dates Meeting dates were agreed as the first Tuesday of the month excluding August when there would be no meeting and June when the meeting would be held on the second Tuesday so as not to clash with the Queen’s Jubilee Bank Holiday. The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Wednesday 21 March. It was agreed to invite a DNPA representative to talk about the issues relating to renewable energy.	Clerk
030112.08	Parish Cluster A cluster meeting was held on 23 November 2011 the minutes and reports from which were circulated to members. Members agreed that they did not favour the proposal to ‘employ’ Link Officers.
030112.07	Jubilee Celebrations Cllrs Troake and Owen advised that they would report on this next month.	DT & BO
030112.08	Playpark Cllr Owen reported that a meeting will be held next week. The childrens’ Christmas making event was a success.
030112.09	Holne and Scoriton Housing Group There was nothing to report. The Chairman advised that she would chase a response from Vaughan Lake.	GS
030112.10	Snow Warden Scheme Cllr Arrowsmith raised the following points: All grit bins are full but all have had some taken out. People should not be removing grit from the bins until it is needed. Test text messages have been sent to the snow wardens from DCC in preparation for cold/snowy weather. A grit bin will be positioned on the hardstanding outside the village hall for the centre of the village. Grey bags will also be put up when needed. The landowner does not want a grit bin to be sited on his land on the corner of Playcross after March. A new site therefore needs to be identified. In the meantime, grey bags will go out.	PA
030112.11	Potholes, highway maintenance reports and other highways issues (i) Michelcombe Lane, Littlecombe Hill and some of the village centre is scheduled for resurfacing in March. (ii) The condition of the gutters and buddle holes was raised and it was queried who was responsible for cleaning them. It was also suggested that members should start marking a map again identifying highways issues which could then be forwarded to Highways for their attention.	GS/Clerk
030112.12	Clerk’s or Councillor’s Reports on matters authorised by the Council at previous meetings not otherwise on this agenda. No reports.
030112.13	Chairman’s urgent business for action by the clerk if covered by delegated powers or for inclusion on the agenda of the next meeting Cllr Ross notified members about the departure of the Walkers from the village and suggested that the Parish Council writes to them thanking them for the work they have done for the parish. This was agreed.	Clerk
030112.14	Correspondence There was no further correspondence.
030112.15	Date of Next Meeting It was confirmed that the date of the next Parish Council meeting is Tuesday 7 February 2012 at 8.00pm.

The meeting was closed by the Chairman at 9.00pm.

………………………………………..
Cllr Mrs G Simpson
Chairman

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