North Nibley Parish Council

2010



MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY MEETING OF NORTH NIBLEY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 4 OCTOBER 2010, IN THE VILLAGE HALL, NORTH NIBLEY AT 7.30PM.


Present: Mrs EA James (Chairman); Mr K Brown; Mrs A Hale; Mrs. P Kelly;

Mr D Palmer; & Mr R Smith.

District Councillors: Mrs J Cordwell; Mr. A O’Connor.

County Councillor: Dr. J Cordwell.

The Clerk: Mr R Symons.

Cemetery Clerk: Mrs M King (present from Agenda Item 6)

Four members of the public present for parts of the Meeting.

PC Kate Stuart was present for the first 3 Agenda items.


  1. To Receive and Accept Apologies for absence.

The following apologies were accepted:

Mr D Purnell (Vice-Chairman); and District Councillor Mr P Smith.


  1. Declaration of Interests.

The Chairman invited members to declare any interests. There were none.

  1. To Approve and Sign the Minutes of the Meeting held on 6 September 2010, as a true and accurate record.

The Minutes had previously been distributed to all members and displayed on public notice boards and the website. All members agreed that the Minutes should be signed as a true and accurate record. The Minutes were duly signed.

At this point in the Meeting the Chairman closed the Meeting and invited PC Kate Stuart to introduce herself. PC Stuart informed the Council that she had recently been appointed as the full-time police constable based at Wotton under Edge to cover Wotton and North Nibley. PC Stuart was previously based at Dursley. She said that she would be keeping in regular contact with the Council. Contact details were exchanged.

At this point the Chairman re-opened the Council Meeting.


  1. The Council noted Matters arising from the Minutes that were not covered by agenda items.

The Clerk’s Update Note, which had been issued prior to the Meeting, informed the Council that he had:




  1. The Meeting was opened for Public Discussion and Questions.

Mr Andrew Gregg (New Road) had previously discussed with the Council the potential need for a skate ramp in the Village. In response to the Council’s suggestion that written evidence of need was important, Mr Gregg delivered to the Council a petition which had been in the Village Shop for 3 weeks, signed by 63 people. This was passed to Dave Palmer, as Chair of the Parish Plan Group, for consideration of possible inclusion in the Plan. During discussion it was agreed that the next steps would be to establish the potential costs, (including maintenance, insurance and running costs); and the land space requirements for such a project. Mr Gregg was given contact details of the person in Wotton under Edge who is leading that project and he agreed to explore these matters further. It was also agreed that a suitable piece of land would need to be identified and the Clerk would include such a request in his monthly OTE article. Mr Gregg was thanked for his efforts and he agreed to report back at the next meeting.

Mr Eddie Vick expressed his concerns about intrusive light aircraft noises over the parish caused by pilots carrying out ‘stunts’. He had recently written to the Gazette about this matter and he was now actively pursuing complaints to the appropriate authorities. Mr Vick requested the Council to give their support by contacting the relevant bodies. Cllr. Dr Cordwell said that similar concerns have been expressed by a Wotton-under-Edge parishioner and he agreed to pass on the details to the Clerk. Councillors discussed the matter and it was agreed that the Clerk should write on behalf of the Council to the Civil Aviation Authority. The Clerk said he would also include the matter in his OTE Article.

Lucy Rathbone (Chair) and Claire Brown from the Pre-School Group brought to the Council’s attention the damage to the fencing around the play area. They explained that the area, and safety of young children using it, is vital to the Pre-School Group. The Clerk said that during his time in post this problem had happened on three occasions. He had reported the recent damage on a number of occasions and worked with Peter Wilson (Neighbourhood Warden) to lobby Stroud DC to carry out the repairs. It was pointed out that although one section had been repaired the other had only been temporarily repaired by Pre-School staff. It was suggested that the cost of carrying out regular repairs was not a good use of resources and that a more permanent solution of a metal fence should be considered. The Clerk agreed to contact Stroud DC and progress these matters. He also agreed to inform District Councillor June Cordwell, so that she could also speak to officers at Stroud DC.

There being no others matters, the Chairman re-opened the Meeting.



  1. The Parish Council received an update on the Pavilion Project from Paul Findlay, Chairman of the Recreation Field Trust.

Mr Findlay gave the Clerk a copy of the Trust’s insurance policy in response to an earlier request from the Council. Mr Findlay reported that the pavilion project was nearly finished. Because of some unexpected additional costs he anticipated that the project would cost all the available money, including the Council’s PWLB loan. Fitting out the kitchen would have to be delayed until more funds became available. Meanwhile other finishing work was underway.

It was expected that work would be completed during October and that there would be an Opening Event. At the request of the Council it was agreed that they would be able to visit the pavilion. The Clerk agreed to make arrangements.



  1. The Parish Council considered and commented upon the following Planning Application received from Stroud District Council:





Following discussions the Council agreed to make “No Observations” on this application.

  1. The Parish Council noted the following decisions by Stroud District Council Planning Authority:



  1. District Councillor Mrs J Cordwell submitted her written District Council Report. (See attached). Mrs Cordwell added that the grants made by the Council to Stroud CAB were very important and greatly valued. However the current £25k shortfall was likely to lead to cutbacks in the service.



  1. County Councillor Dr J Cordwell provided a written report. (See attached). The Council noted the contents of the Report.



  1. The Council received and discussed Reports of Committees and Meetings attended by Parish Councillors.



Mr Brown reported that he had recently been visited by Gloucestershire Highways to inspect and check on arrangements for the snow plough he uses on their behalf. He also reported that four Councillors had visited Breakheart Hill and measured it for fencing. Mr R Smith said that a date has not yet been set for carrying out the work.

Mrs Hale reported that she had attended the first School Governors’ meeting following the new head teacher’s appointment.

Mrs Kelly provided a written report of the Village Hall Management Committee. (See attached). Mrs Kelly also reported that the recent week’s activity to celebrate the anniversary of the project had been well supported.



  1. The Council discussed its response to the forthcoming electoral review of Gloucestershire County Council. The Clerk reported back on a meeting at Shire Hall he had attended. Following discussion the Council agreed the Clerk should write in support of the present numbers of Councillors and to retain the right to make further comments to the Review team at a later stage.









  1. Finances.



  1. Following careful consideration of each item the Council agreed to approve payments for the following items; and cheques were drawn up:



  1. The Council approved the transfer of VAT, re-paid in respect of the pavilion and credited to the Council’s main cheque account, to the Parish Council Recreation Field Loan Account.



  1. The Clerk provided a written update on the Parish Council Recreation Field Loan Account. (See attached) He explained that the current account, once the above named transfer (see 13 (2)) had taken place, stood at £4,415.12. A further claim for VAT would be made in the coming weeks.



  1. The Council approved the part payment of and signed a cheque for £4400 was made in respect of the following Invoice:





  1. The Council approved their response to Gloucestershire Local Transport Plan Questionnaire. The Clerk was directed to return the completed Questionnaire.



  1. Cemetery Report. The Council received a written report from the Cemetery Clerk. (See attached) It was agreed that the parish rate would be applied to the purchase of a plot reserved for Mr Grace, a former long term resident.

Mr R Smith agreed to meet Mrs Convery to agree the location of a seat in the Cemetery.

Mr R Smith agreed to speak to Mr Alan Smith about completing the installation of the hand rail for the Cemetery



  1. The Council received a written update on Correspondence received since the last Meeting. (See attached).

The Clerk read out a letter from Nailsworth Town Council. Following discussion the Council mandated the Clerk to support Nailsworth’s motion at the GAPTC AGM.

Mr Brown agreed to contact Mrs Amanda Godber from the Down to Earth Cooperative (Stroud) Ltd. and answer her questions about arrangements in North Nibley.



  1. Mrs James reported that she had recently received an e mail from Nibley City Council, Utah USA, seeking a twinning arrangement. Following discussion the Council agreed that Mrs James would put an article in OTE seeking parishioners interested in taking forward this suggestion. She also agreed to forward the email to other interested parties in the parish.



There being no further business the Meeting closed at 9.55 pm.



The next Meeting of the Parish Council will be held at the Village Hall on Monday 1 November 2010 at 7.30 pm.











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