Meeting documents

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 10^th May 2017.

The minutes of the previous meetings held on Wednesday 10^th May 2017 and Thursday 18^th May 2017, copies of which had been circulated, were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Henry Hobhouse and Michael Lewis.

In accordance with the Council’s current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February 2015), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting. 

Members are reminded that they need to declare the fact that they are also a member of a County, Town or Parish Council as a Personal Interest.  Where you are also a member of Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council within South Somerset you must declare a prejudicial interest in any business on the agenda where there is a financial benefit or gain or advantage to Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council which would be at the cost or to the financial disadvantage of South Somerset District Council. 

Planning Applications Referred to the Regulation Committee

The following members of this Committee are also members of the Council’s Regulation Committee:

Councillors Sarah Dyke, Tony Capozzoli, Nick Weeks and Colin Winder.

Where planning applications are referred by this Committee to the Regulation Committee for determination, Members of the Regulation Committee can participate and vote on these items at the Area Committee and at Regulation Committee.  In these cases the Council’s decision-making process is not complete until the application is determined by the Regulation Committee.  Members of the Regulation Committee retain an open mind and will not finalise their position until the Regulation Committee.  They will also consider the matter at Regulation Committee as Members of that Committee and not as representatives of the Area Committee.

At the time the item was discussed, Councillor Colin Winder declared a personal interest in Agenda item 11: Community Capital Grant Requests, as a Trustee of the Wincanton Memorial Hall, one of the grant applicants.

Members are asked to note that the next scheduled meeting of the committee will be at the Council Offices, Churchfield, Wincanton on Wednesday 12^th July at 9.00 am.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Area East Committee would be held at the Council Offices, Churchfield, Wincanton on Wednesday 12^th July 2017 commencing at 9.00 am.

There were no questions from members of the public present.

The Chairman congratulated Councillor William Wallace on his appointment to Chairman of Somerset County Council.

The Chairman also noted that responses had been received to the Committees letters from the banks in Wincanton following their proposed closure.

The Chairman read out a statement from the Legal Services Manager relating to the current position of the Henstridge Airfield Section106 agreement.  The query related to whether the document had been correctly executed by Losan Ltd (the owner of most of the land at the airfield) and because the Council’s legal fees for working on the agreement had not yet been paid.  The statement said that both issues had been raised with Mr Jarvis but no response was forthcoming so far.  Whilst the fee was not an important issue she required assurance the document had been properly executed by Losan Ltd.  These two issues were preventing completion of the agreement and the issuing of the permission.  The Chairman said he would contact Mr Jarvis personally. 

The Chairman also reminded Members there was a briefing session on the Transformation Project the following day, prior to the Full Council meeting. 

Councillor Colin Winder said he had received several comments from the public relating to the non-collection of certain plastics in the weekly recycling bins.

The Community Development Officer confirmed that until the Waste Partnership rolled out the Recycle More initiative, they were limited in the type of plastics which they could accept for recycling.

Councillor Tony Capozzoli advised that following a tour of of Hadspen House to view its restoration work, it would be informative for Portfolio Holders to report this type of work at Full Council.

Councillor Sarah Dyke advised that she had attended an In It Together tennis event in Milborne Port the previous day which was aimed at helping women and girls aged 14+ to be more active.  She said the event had been very well attended and there were other events being run across the district. 

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Community Support Assistant confirmed that the proposed grant was to renovate the front of the former HSBC Bank building at 15 High Street, Wincanton.  The total cost of the works would be £6,500 and an additional condition of the proposed award would be that if within 5 years the unit ceased to be a business premises the full grant would be reclaimed.

Members unanimously confirmed their support for the award.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Assistant Highway Service Manager introduced his report and advised that most of the proposed resurfacing and drainage schemes had been completed during the previous year, further surface dressing was proposed for 2017/18 which would target A and B class roads and any resulting road closures would be listed on the SCC website and Parish Councils affected would be fully informed. 

In response to questions from Members the Assistant Highway Service Manager advised:-

·         The proposed resurfacing of Old Hill in Wincanton would not affect the new development at the bottom of the hill. 

·         There were ongoing drainage issues at Stockwich Cross as some drainage pipes were on RNAS Yeovilton land and access to repair had not been gained.  They were looking at the best way to manage the drainage without impacting on other catchment areas.

·         SCC had purchased additional land at Grove Cross with the intention to install a roundabout, however, clearing the area had improved visibility and the number of accidents had reduced and so the roundabout proposal was now outside the scope of highway maintenance services and would require senior level discussions.

·         He would check if the phasing of the traffic lights at Lydford Cross had been altered and report back. 

·         The Travel Somerset website was now operating and members of the public could report highway issues through it which would send the information directly to the highway officers on site. 

·         At the current time, if a road was closed then diversion routes would use a similar classification of road and sometimes this also necessitated a lengthy diversion route along an A or B class road.

Members raised concern over the machines which were being used to cut the hedgerows/verges across the district, particularly in Keinton Mandeville.

At the conclusion of the debate the Chairman thanked the Assistant Highway Service Manager for attending and answering Members questions.

RESOLVED:  that members noted the report

The Licensing Manager introduced his report and highlighted the work of his service across the district and within Area East.  He advised that each area now had a dedicated Licensing Officer and that he was the dedicated officer for Area East.  He outlined their work with licensed premises, Temporary Event Notices, taxi licensing, animal welfare and scrap metal dealer licensing.

In response to questions from Members, the Licensing Manager advised:-

·         Issues around animal rehoming would be dealt with by the RSPCA.

·         The Peddlars Act was enforced by the police and licensing officers could not take any action in this area.

·         Complaints and evidence of disturbance relating to the Red Lion public house in Wincanton should be forwarded to licensing officers.

·         The Licensing Enforcement officer has a very good working relationship with scrap metal dealers in the area and they were happy for him to inspect their records.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Chairman thanked the Licensing Manager for attending to present an interesting and informative report.

RESOLVED:  that members noted the report

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(At the time the item was discussed, Councillor Colin Winder declared a personal interest in recommendation 5 of this report as a Trustee of the Wincanton Memorial Hall).

The Community Development Officer advised that grants were generally expected to be spent within 6 months of the award.  There had been exceptional circumstances relating to Galhampton Village Hall and the project was about to commence so he recommended a further 6 month period be allowed.  The Castle Cary and Ansford Fairfield project had been unsuccessful in a bid for funding from Veolia and so the grant allocation would be returned to the Capital Reserve and they could re-apply for funding in the future.  Members were in agreement with this proposal.

The Neighbourhood Development Officer advised that Ilchester Parish Council had agreed to change the supplier of the proposed play equipment to one who qualified for kit mark accreditation. Members fully supported the proposal.

The Neighbourhood Development Officer advised that following an Access for All audit of the Town Hall in Milborne Port, it was proposed to install a stairlift to improve access.  They had also installed a hearing loop, wifi and digital screens.  In response to questions from Members he confirmed that he would consult with the Fire Brigade in case they had any issues on the narrowing of the staircase to accommodate the stairlift.

The Community Development Officer advised that there was an urgent need to replace the air-conditioning and heating system at the Wincanton Memorial Hall.  Because a significant sum of money had been left to the hall trustees some years ago, there was an assumption that they had funds, however, their reserves had dwindled over the years and so he recommended a combination of a grant and a loan, plus a request that the Town Council match fund the SSDC grant.  Members briefly discussed the proposal and were fully supportive of the recommendation.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Chairman confirmed that he would continue to act as Chairman for the Henstridge Consultative Committee for a 12 month period and it was agreed that Councillor Hayward Burt would join the group as one of the Ward Members. 

Members were happy to confirm the appointments as proposed.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Chairman asked Councillors Mike Beech and Colin Winder if they were happy to continue to act as substitutes for the Chairman and Vice Chairman under the Development Control Scheme of Delegation and they confirmed that they were content to do this.  All Members were fully supportive of the proposal.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The Assistant Director (Communities) informed members that there had been no further information on the strategic plan for health but the Wincanton Community Hospital would be added to the Forward Plan with a date to be confirmed.  Similarly a report on Superfast Broadband would be brought as soon as possible.

During discussion, Members regretted the lack of progress in providing Superfast Broadband to business parks in Wincanton and also requested if it was possible to apply for outline planning permission for a large retail outlet off Carrington Way as a means to draw retailers to the town centre.  The Assistant Director (Communities) said she would put the proposal to the Strategic Regeneration Board meeting the following day and report the cost implications to the Committee. 

It was also noted that a Parish Council event was to be held to discuss providing Superfast Broadband to rural communities.

RESOLVED:       1) That members noted the Area East Forward Plan and the suggested amendments to the plan.

                            2)  That in principle, Area East Committee would facilitate outline planning permission for a retail outlet, using their own funds, subject to a review of costs to be carried out by the Assistant Director (Communities), for which a supplementary report would be provided to members at the August Area East Committee meeting.

Members noted that there had been no planning appeals received, allowed or dismissed in the preceding month.