Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Somerset Councillors Brian Bolt, Hugh Davies and Lance Duddridge.

Dr Paul Elliston from Somerset Rivers Authority was welcomed to the meeting. Paul has been facilitating workshops for city, town and parish councils on flooding, riparian issues and community emergency planning.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

None were declared.

To approve the notes from the previous meeting.

The notes from the previous meeting were unanimously agreed.

(A correction to the name of an attendee was pointed out to the clerk at the start of the meeting, and is to be amended)

To discuss matters arising from the notes not covered in later agenda items.

All updates would be covered in later agenda items.

The Chair to advise of any questions, statements or petitions received that are not covered by items on the agenda for the meeting on which members of the public have requested to speak.

There were no comments or questions presented in the advance of the meeting.

1.     General feedback on the meeting of Thursday 29 February.

2.    Ratify the Terms of Reference.

3.    Ratify the frequency of meetings.

The general feeling in the room was that the Highways working group meeting had been very positive, and it was good to see so many senior highways officers present to deal with the issues raised.

There were some notable absentees, and it was hoped that they could be invited to future meetings to continue to and build on the developing good work.

The Chair thanked Karen Scott (clerk) Holford/Kilve PCs for her comprehensive and excellent set of minutes.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) had been circulated in the Agenda pack and required ratification. Some of the points raised included:-

• Parish Representation – Cllr Sue Goss was concerned about representatives being responsible for a geographical area which may be larger than their own specific parish. Did the working group only have 6 total parish reps because more had been present at the inaugural meeting?

Cllr Simon Stretton responded that he felt the numbers would ebb and flow depending on topical issues. It was good that the first meeting was well attended, but the numbers may decline as some highway issues are addressed. Equally if other parishes had items to bring forward, then this could bring more people to the table. It was important that the lines of communication remained open.

• Frequency of Meetings – the TOR stated that the meetings would be held quarterly but it looked as though the next meeting was scheduled for earlier than that date? What was the policy going to be on this?

A lot of action points had come out of the inaugural meeting, which would need to be followed up and reported back. It was felt that waiting until the middle of June was too long. (Also after the AGM which may mean a change in Chair and direction for the LCN). The next subgroup meeting had therefore been scheduled for the end of April to build on the initial momentum and ensure that the actions are captured and reported back in a timely way. Once the groundwork has been established the relationships are built, the meetings can fall back into a regular pattern of quarterly.

• Was there any update on the actions that had come out of the meeting?

Not at present, but this would be happening over the coming weeks and would be fed back. Approaches were being made to invite suggested attendees to future meetings. (Including HPC and Development Control). It was also important that the Highways subgroup did not duplicate work that was happening elsewhere, such as the Hinkley Transport Forum. The action points on the Somerset Council side were being progressed and the LCN action points would be signed off by the end of the evening.

The Dowsborough LCN agreed to adopt the TOR and the frequency of meetings. (Suggested as quarterly, but with the option to meet more frequently if there were pressing issues to discuss).

The first order of business for the next working group meeting would be to elect a Chair. (This did not necessarily  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

It is hoped to have a representative from Connecting Devon and Somerset present at the meeting. If this does not happen, an update will be provided by the Chair, Cllr Mike Caswell.

The Chair had hoped to secure a representative from Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) to attend the meeting, but they were extremely busy at present. He had attended a meeting himself that morning with CDS to look at the local issues and could provide a verbal update.

Local connectivity is supplied by a company called Airband. They have the contract to supply but are experiencing several delays at present. They are in the process of restructuring their organisation and dealing with recalcitrant landowners. The lack of landowner co-operation is a big stumbling block to delivering fibre optic cabling because this must be laid in trenches and back-filled. Some landowners are denying Airband access to work on their land. This has led to protracted negotiations right across the country.

It is also important that the requirement for Broadband is adequately mapped so that CDS can identify the gaps and look at solutions. Households can register their interest on the CDS website, and the more in a geographic area that do so, the more likely that a provider will consider supplying. (Economies of scale. If there are too few or disparate it will not be affordable!) You can register your interest to find out more on the contact page of the Connecting Devon and Somerset Website.

There is a grant scheme available for households to give to their broadband provider to assist with the cost of implementation. Information on the Broadband Voucher Scheme can be found here:-

Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

More information about Connecting Devon and Somerset can be found on the website. Connecting Devon and Somerset - rural broadband programme

The Chair is hoping to get a representative from CDS to attend either the next meeting, or the one after that.

Paul has been facilitating workshops for city, town and parish councils on flooding, riparian issues and community emergency planning. He called into the Dowsborough LCN meeting following a day spent with the Hestercombe LCN focussed on preparedness.

The LCN was asked if they would like to facilitate a workshop with Paul and agreed to take up his offer.

It was requested that the parishes email Dowsboroughlcn@somerset.gov.uk indicating their interest and what topics they would like to cover. On receipt of this information the team would source a venue, and make the necessary arrangements.

Somerset Council has launched an online survey to help shape the county’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)

We want to hear from residents from all parts of the county, rural or urban. We encourage them to take the survey and tell us how and where nature matters to them.

Your views will help shape a greener more sustainable Somerset, and ensure this new strategy meets the needs of communities, farmers, businesses, and of course, above all, our precious wildlife.

To find out more visit www.somerset.gov.uk/LNRS and have your say.

The survey should take between 5 and 20 minutes depending on how much detail you would like to provide.

The Chair advised that Somerset Council is carrying out preparatory work on a Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Parishes involved with the Quantock Hills Landscape (formerly AONB) had already been sighted on this.

Somerset Council has launched an online survey to help shape the county’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)

Somerset Council wants to hear from residents from all parts of the county, rural or urban. The Council is encouraging them to take the survey to inform how and where nature matters to them.

Residents views will help shape a greener more sustainable Somerset, and ensure this new strategy meets the needs of communities, farmers, businesses, and of course, above all, our precious wildlife.

To find out more visit www.somerset.gov.uk/LNRS and have your say.

The survey should take between 5 and 20 minutes depending on how much detail you would like to provide.

If the LCN wanted to hear more information from the relevant officers, then please contact Dowsboroughlcn@somerset.gov.uk, and they can be invited to  a future meeting.

The Chair advised that the HPC Community Fund was now open to new applications.

HPC (HINKLEY POINT C) COMMUNITY FUND: SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME Grants of between £250 and £20,000 are available to a wide range of charitable and statutory organisations for community projects that help mitigate the impact of the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

·         Application deadline: FRIDAY 17th MAY 2024.

·         Funder: EDF Energy (EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, owned by the French state-owned EDF. The Hinkley Point C Fund is being managed by the Somerset Community Foundation on behalf of EDF Energy).

·         Who can apply: Community groups, registered charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs, Community Interest Companies (CICs) limited by guarantee that have a clear asset lock benefitting local communities, companies limited by guarantee that are not-for-profit with all surpluses re-invested back into the organisation, faith organisations (but not for the promotion of religion), Community Benefit Societies, and local statutory organisations such as parish councils or schools. Organisations must be based in Somerset with an annual turnover of under £250,000.

·         Key words: Social Projects, Environmental Projects, Economic Projects, Somerset (particularly in areas impacted by the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station).
The following grants are available:

1. For projects that last for up to a year, the maximum grant is £10,000.
2. For projects that continue for 3 years, the maximum grant is £20,000.

Grants can be used for such things as (please note that this is not an exclusive list):

o Buying equipment or materials.
o Hiring venues or to pay for other rental costs.
o Paying staff time or volunteer expenses, and/or
o Refurbishing buildings.

For more information please see the link below .

Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme – Somerset Community Foundation (somersetcf.org.uk)

The next Highway subgroup meeting will take place on Thursday 25 April, 10am – 1pm at Spaxton Village Hall. An agenda will be circulated in the week before the meeting.

The next Dowsborough LCN meeting will be the Annual General Meeting, which will take place on Wednesday 12 June 2024.