Agenda and draft minutes

Cllr Mike Caswell introduced the meeting, he advised that he would be standing down as Chair of the Dowsborough LCN. Mike gave a small statement on his time as chair, which included his ambition that the LCN stand together:

This area is a rural settlement and if change was going to happen, the community has to work together, including all the parishes, and make it better for everyone. Mike wished the LCN the very best for the future.  

Only members of the core membership are eligible to be nominated as the Vice-Chair. Either the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Local Community Network shall be a Somerset Council Councillor.

Only voting members can make nominations. The nomination must be seconded to be valid.

To participate in the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair, as a core member of the LCN, you will need to be physically present at the meeting. (For more information please see Terms of Reference).

Nominations for the position of Chair: 

Cllr Chris Morgan from Stogursey Parish council was nominated by Cllr John Roberts from Nether Stowey Parish Council, Cllr Chris Morgan seconded this. Chris Morgan accepted this nomination.  

Cllr Simon Stretton from Spaxton Parish Council was nominated by Cllr Mike Caswell from Somerset Council, this was Seconded by Rosemary Woods from Somerset Council. Simon accepted this nomination. 

Both nominees gave a short statement as to why they would be a good candidate. 

The core membership voted. Chris Morgan received 4 votes. Simon Stretton received 11. 

Cllr Simon Stretton was duly elected as chair of the Dowsborough LCN.

Only members of the core membership are eligible to be nominated as the Vice-Chair. Either the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Local Community Network shall be a Somerset Council Councillor.

Only voting members can make nominations. The nomination must be seconded to be valid.

To participate in the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair, as a core member of the LCN, you will need to be physically present at the meeting. (For more information please see Terms of Reference).

The Chair invited nominations for Vice Chair.He advised that this needed to be a Somerset Councillorunder the Terms of Reference for LCN’s. Cllr Hugh Davies and Cllr Rosemary Woods declined to stand for the position due to their own personalcircumstances. TheVicechair was notelected, and nominations will be invited at the next meeting to fill this position. 

Cllr Caswell presented the yearly report which provided an overview of the work of the Dowsborough LCN during 2023/24. Cllr Caswell thanked the officers for the good work and support they had provided. He also thanked Simon for his support whilst he served as Vice Chair. Cllr Caswell was encouraged andrequested that the hard work continuesfor the better of the community into the 2^ndyear.  

Question – The data provided in the report:How accurate is this as it is very different from the data the Parishes have?  

Link Officer Sam Murrell answered that the figures were provided a year ago and produced by Somerset Business Intelligence.They were correct at the time. If the working groups would like more data on particular topicareas, then this can be arranged. New data sets will be available for LCN in the coming months. 

The LCN link officers present provided an overview of the work of LCNs across Somerset.  More information is available in the slide pack which can be viewed here. 

- What has been working for you?

- What can we change or improve for the coming year?

The meeting was invited to form break-out groups and discuss what they felt had been useful in the previous year, and what could do with change or improvement?

A:       What has been working for you? 

·         Creation of the working groups  - good way to concentrate on specific topics and themes;

·         Networking with other Parish Councils – sharing and learning from peers;

·         Clear objectives (in agenda) helps focus the discussion;

·         The Highway working group has promoted and helped communication by having highways officers present and available; 

·         Flooding work has helped achieve preventable measures. Would be good to use the LCN as a way of centralising and coordinating a collaborative approach. (Ensure that parishes are working across borders for the benefit of all). 

B:       What can we change or improve for the coming year? 

·         Continuation of the same parish council representatives for consistency. 

·         Clear action points and timeline of achievements to date. Will help everyone understand what we are doing and working towards.

·         Digital data and information sharing. Better communications between meetings, and publication of agendas, minutes etc. 

·         Encourage those parishes or organisations who have failed to attend to come along and be involved. 

Table discussion and feed back session

Are these still relevant for the next 12 months or should we modify them?

Are the priorities that were set last year still relevant for the next 12-month period, or should we modify them?  

·         To continue with the developing work of the Highways subgroup (strategic planning) so that more work can be carried out.  

·         To continue with the emerging work of the Community Resilience subgroup (emergency planning), especially around flood prevention and mitigation.

·         A health and wellbeing group to be considered.   

·         Continue/develop issues around Rural isolation e.g connectivity, buses and access. 

·         More information regarding Hinkley and their projects e.g. the Hinkley decommissioning trip.  

·         Social housing issues, including accommodation to help local residents, affordability. – A house survey may help this.  

Digital access and connectivity was discussed at length 

ACTION: for All parishes to register interest in Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) with Cllr Mike Caswell. Cllr Caswell to invite a representative from CDS to a future meeting.

Proposed dates.

Wednesday 11^th September 2024 
Wednesday 11^th December 2024 

Wednesday 12^th March 2024 

Wednesday 19^th June 2024  

Venues will need to be found.