None on known agenda items.

3. Public Participation

There were no members of the public in attendance.

4. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26th August were reviewed. Cllr Glynn said that to be strictly correct, the reference to 20mph ‘limits’ on page 4, paragraph 7b, should be changed to ‘zones’. With this amendment, the minutes were signed as a true record.

5. Correspondence

Copies of most items of correspondence had been circulated to members prior to the meeting.

a. Letter from Wrington Friendship Club, requesting a grant towards their Christmas lunch. The Chairwoman proposed that a grant of £60 should be made, as in 2008. This was agreed unanimously.

b. Open Spaces Society: letter with information about their objectives and activities and invitation to join the organisation. After discussion, it was agreed that the OSS had similar objectives to other organisations of which the Parish Council is already a member. It was therefore decided to take no action.

c. Notice of road closure for resurfacing and drainage improvements at Cooks Bridle Path and Winters Lane from 28th October. The work is expected to take about ten days.

d. North Somerset Council – notice of forthcoming Local Standards Conference on 27th November and again on 4th December. The Parish Council is invited to send three representatives. This gave rise to a brief discussion on the Code of Conduct and to what extent members who had recently joined the Council were aware of this. The Clerk expressed concern at the lack of provision of training for new Councillors currently, as ALCA does not seem to be running any courses at present. Cllr Yamanaka suggested contacting NSC to see what they can offer. It was agreed that the Clerk would attend one of the above conferences, along with those of the new councillors who are available.

e. Joint Waste Core Strategy: information from West of England Partnership on two new sites that are to be further assessed, at Cabot Park in Avonmouth and Warne Road in Weston-super-Mare. It was agreed to note this information, but not to make any comment.

f. Email from ‘Local Works’, an organisation promoting the Sustainable Communities Act, expressing concern that local councils had been excluded from the legislation. It was agreed to write to Dr Liam Fox MP to request that he supports Early Day Motion on the Sustainable Communities Act Amendment Bill.

g. Village of the Year Competition: the Clerk read out comments from the judges which had been obtained by Jeremy Birkett. Some of the points made were felt to be rather inaccurate and negative, but that they should be borne in mind for the future.

h. Rickyard Road development: request from English Rural Housing to include the name of Wrington Parish Council on the site sign board. It was agreed to decline, on the grounds that the site was not on Parish Council land.

i. Countryside Alliance Awards: invitation to submit nominations. The awards go to rural enterprises in various categories, and it was agreed to nominate Amors shop in the Village Shop category.

j. BT – response to the Parish Council’s letter declining their offer to adopt red telephone kiosks. It had been pointed out in the letter that two of the kiosks were still used frequently, and therefore it was felt they should be retained as a public service. The response from BT was that this did not cover the cost of the upkeep of the kiosks, but they did not seem to be suggesting that any action is taken at this time.

6. Reports

a. Police Report: a report had been provided in advance of the meeting, as neither PC Tacchi nor PCSO Jordan would available to attend the meeting. The report was reviewed. It was agreed to request that the names of roads where incidents occur be included in the report.

b. Clerk’s Report & Finance Report

Both reports had been circulated previously, together with the accounts for August.

Old Hill barrier: the Clerk reported that she had been in touch with the landowner of the woodland at the Brockley Combe end of the bridleway, which falls just within the boundary of Wrington Parish. He had expressed interest in erecting a barrier at that end, and she would be sending him information about this. In the meantime, it was agreed to proceed with the installation of the barrier at Old Hill.

Finance: It was noted that the second instalment of the precept had been received from NSC a few days previously. The following payments were approved:

SEC Ltd – two new street lights £2427.60 inc VAT
RBS Software – annual support & maintenance fee £241.50 inc VAT
Hamilton-Baillie Associates £345.00 inc VAT
Scott Arrowsmith – village orderly – August £108.00
Memorial Hall grant – second quarter £3,000.00
HMRC – 2nd quarter – to be calculated
Clerk’s salary September – to be calculated

c. District Councillor’s Report

Cllr Yamanaka had circulated a report previously. This included information on the recent meeting of Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel in relation to Wrington Surgery, and the consultation which is now to take place.

The proposed improvements to the rear entrance of Wrington School have been deferred due to costs, but it is hoped that the work may still take place in new money can be identified.

The outcome of the review of parish boundaries currently being carried out by NSC is awaited. Cllr Yamanaka said that if Wrington Parish Council is unhappy with the results of this, representations could be made to NSC.

Cllr Yamanaka referred to the recent publicity about closure of some smaller libraries and potential changes to the mobile library service. She feels it is likely that some of the shorter stops by the mobile library may be cut out, and the frequency of visits may be reduced, as visits to the villages where libraries have been closed will have to be fitted into the schedule.

d. North East Ward report

Cllr Turton had circulated a report in advance of the meeting. Cllr Turton explained that the parish boundary review had caused some concerns in the Downside area, with misleading information being given to some residents to encourage them to support a move to Backwell Parish. She had been working hard to dispel any misconceptions and to inform residents about the support that is given by Wrington Parish Council, especially in relation to airport issues.

7. Working Groups

There had been no meetings of the working groups since the last Parish Council meeting. Cllr Turton reported on a recent meeting of the Parish Councils Airport Association and the following points were noted:

- objections to BIA expansion had been submitted by Bristol City Council, Bristol Water and Bath & NE Somerset

- NSC had indicated that the provisions of the forthcoming Regional Spatial Strategy may not be given as much weight as had been feared

- North Somerset District Councillors were being briefed on the application by Richard Kent of NSC on 28th September

- NSC is using independent consultants on some aspects of the application because the necessary expertise is not available within the Council.

- the application is likely to be considered by the South Area Committee on 9th December.

Cllr Turton will be attending the Environmental Effects Working Party on 7th October and asked members to get in touch with her if they wanted to raise any issues.

8. Consultations

a. National Grid - Hinkley Point C Connection Project: notice of forthcoming consultation. This was noted, but no action will be taken at present.

b. NSC Housing Strategy 2010-2026: this consultation document had been circulated prior to the meeting. Although it was generally felt to be a rather bland document with little in its content that could be commented upon, Cllr Glynn suggested that it would be worth commenting on one aspect. This was under the heading ‘Proposed vision, themes and priorities’ and stated that NSC’s vision is ‘maintaining and developing successful communities where people want to live, by meeting the housing needs of our residents now and in the future’. It was agreed to comment that successful communities required that important facilities such as post office and GP surgeries needed to be maintained.

9. Wrington Vale Medical Practice

The Chairwoman said that a proposal had been received from Churchill Parish Council to meet with three or four members of Wrington Parish Council to discuss issues affecting both parishes. It was agreed that it would be helpful to have information on Churchill Parish Council’s position, and also the situation with the existing Churchill surgery which is on Parish Council land. The Clerk will therefore contact the Clerk at Churchill to discuss dates for a meeting, the Wrington representatives being Cllrs Irving, Robinson and Cowgill.

The Clerk circulated minutes of the meeting held with three of the doctors and the practice manager of WVMP on 21st September, and these were noted.

10. Bus Shelter

The Clerk showed members a leaflet illustrating several types of timber bus shelter which might be appropriate for the Broad Street bus stop. It was noted that no details of the height of the structures was given, and the Clerk is to check on this. Cllr Irving said she felt that a small structure that could be placed over the existing seat would be most suitable. Cllr Cowgill proposed that the Parish Council should proceed with the provision of a bus shelter in principle, and this was agreed. It was also agreed to write to the residents of The Old Rectory as a matter of courtesy. The Clerk will now take this forward with the officer responsible at NSC.

11. Parish Plan

The Clerk reported that Cllr Bigg would be providing the final version to the printers by the end of the week.

12. Trees on Village Green

Cllr Phillips explained that the box where the Christmas tree is usually placed is now overhung by branches of the Algerian Oak, and this would prevent the Christmas tree being put up unless some action was taken. She also felt that the three trees on the green are too large for the space, and although she was not generally in favour of removing trees, it would be preferable to replace them with one or two smaller trees in the longer term.

Cllr Glynn commented that the Black Walnut was a problem partly because the branches are brittle and liable to break off. He recalled a meeting with NSC’s Tree Officer in 2006 when it was suggested that the Algerian Oak should be lightly pruned. He proposed that the walnut and the oak should now be removed, with the hornbeam being retained for the time being, and a smaller tree planted to the right of it. Cllr Robinson seconded this, and all were in favour. An application for tree works will now be made to NSC, so that the work can be completed before Christmas.

Cllr Phillips asked about the cost of the tree (£120 last year), which is normally met by the Parish Council. It was agreed that a maximum of £140 could be spent this year.

13. Annual Newsletter

Cllr Irving said that a new editor would be needed as Cllr Thorn, who had edited the newsletter previously, was no longer a member of the Council. It was pointed out that Cllr Berkley had previously expressed willingness to take on this task. It was agreed to seek confirmation of this.

14. Clerk’s Annual Review

It was agreed that the Finance Working Group would undertake this on a date to be arranged.

15. Open Forum

Cllr Moss asked whether a reflector could be provided on the wall on West Hay Road, approaching the bottom of Chapel Hill, as it juts out into the road and may not be seen in the dark. The Clerk will take this up with NSC.

There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 9.55 pm.