Author: Lindsey Wood

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of the ANNUAL MEETING OF MERE TOWN COUNCIL held on Monday, 12^TH May 2025 at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW.  The meeting will consider the items set out below.

Present:  Councillors John Jordan (Chair), Glen Ings (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Nick Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward, Rodney Coward, Sam Dean, Rachel Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Raymond Hill, George Jeans, Alan Mead

+ 8 members of public

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

Members of the public are invited to address the Council on any issue over which it has a power. This session will be limited to 15 minutes (3 minutes per speaker). The Chairman will convene the Town Council meeting after the public session (please note that once the meeting has been convened members of the public are no longer permitted to speak unless invited to do so by the Chairman).

Mr. Hopkins spoke in support of his planning application PL/2025/02086

Mr. Lear spoke in support of his planning application PL/2025/02106

REPORTS FROM LOCAL POLICE REPRESENTATIVES

None present

1. TO RECEIVE DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE FORMS FROM ELECTED COUNCILLORS

All Councillors in attendance signed their Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

2. TO ELECT THE CHAIR OF THE TOWN COUNCIL FOR 2025/26 AND TO RECEIVE THE CHAIR’S DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

Cllr. Alan Mead nominated and Cllr. Rachael Hansford seconded for Cllr. Sandra Catley to be elected as Chair.  Cllr. Rodney Coward nominated and Cllr. Nick Beale seconded for Cllr. John Jordan to be elected as Chair.  A secret ballot was carried out amongst councillors with Sandra Catley receiving 8 votes and John Jordan receiving 6 votes.  Cllr. Sandra Catley duly elected as Chair and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Cllr. Sandra Catley in The Chair

3. VOTE OF THANKS TO OUTGOING CHAIR

The outgoing Chair, Cllr. John Jordan, was given a vote of thanks for his hard work as Chair during the last year.

4. TO ELECT VICE-CHAIR OF THE TOWN COUNCIL FOR 2025/26 AND TO RECEIVE THE VICE-CHAIR’S DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

Cllr. Sandra Catley nominated Cllr. Rachael Hansford to be elected as Vice-Chair, seconded by Cllr. Ings,  There being no other nominations, this proposal was put to the vote and carried with a unanimous vote.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford duly elected as Vice-Chair and signed her Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

5. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires a record to be kept of the members present and that this record form part of the minutes of the meeting.  Members who cannot attend a meeting should tender apologies to the Town Clerk.

Apologies for absence received from Cllr. Steven Pester.  Members gave authority for Cllr. Steven Pester to sign his Declaration of Acceptance of Office in the presence of the Clerk at a later date

6. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

• To receive Declarations of Interest relating to matters contained in this agenda, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 in respect of officers and the Localism Act 2011 in respect of members.
• To receive written requests for new DPI dispensations.

Members are invited to declare disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests in items on the agenda as required by the Mere Town Council Code of Conduct for Members and by the Localism Act 2011.  The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.  If you become aware, during the course of a meeting, of an interest that has not been disclosed under this item, you must immediately disclose it.  Whether you can remain in the meeting and the extent to which you can participate depends on the type of interest you have.

• Jeans declared a personal interest in Minute No. 22a)
• Jordan declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 27a) (recipient)

7. MINUTES – RESOLVED to approve as a correct record, the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 7^th April 2025.

8. STANDING ORDERS – To approve and adopt the Standing Orders for Mere Town Council (attached) – the Standing Orders (updated 6.5.25) were approved subject to the statutory procurement threshold amendment.

9. FINANCIAL REGULATIONS – To approve and adopt the Financial Regulations for Mere Town Council (attached) – Agreed to defer consideration of the Financial Regulations until after the Internal Audit as the Clerk said that she had some questions for the internal auditor relating to this matter.

10. INTERNAL AUDITOR – To appoint an Internal Auditor – RESOLVED to re-appoint the services of Kate Houlihan via the Local Council Consultancy service if she is happy to continue.

11. COMMITTEE STRUCTURES – To review Committee Structures and appointment of any committees in accordance with standing order 4 and, if appointing committees, to consider Terms of Reference and membership – It was agreed that the Town Council would continue with the present arrangements of having an Annual Budget Committee + Staffing Panel & Appeals Committee only and an ad-hoc structure of Working Groups as and when considered necessary and required.

12. WORKING GROUPS – To appoint members, including Convenors, to serve on Working Groups as required – as above.

13. STAFFING PANEL – To appoint members, including the Chairman to serve on the Staffing Panel – It was agreed that the Staffing Panel member make-up should be Chair, Cllr. Colman & Cllr. Philip Coward.

14. APPEALS COMMITTEE – To appoint members, including the Vice- Chairman. It was agreed that the Appeals Committee member make-up should be the Vice-Chair, Cllr. Debbie Beale and Cllr. John Jordan.

15. APPOINTMENT TO OUTSIDE BODIES – To appoint representatives on the under mentioned bodies as required:

Review of representation on or work with external bodies and arrangements for reporting back;

The Clerk pointed out that councillors listed above should contact the groups and organisations to inform them that they were the Town Council’s representative for the ensuing year.

16. ASSET REGISTER – To review the Town Council asset register for 2025/26 (attached) & Asset Management Policy (attached) – approved without amendment.

*17. INSURANCE POLICY – To review the Council’s Insurance Policy and discuss/decide on alterations. (see Clerks Report) – Members noted the building reinstatement valuations.  The Clerk pointed out that she was hoping for two insurance quotations to compare today but only one had been received in time.  It was therefore agreed to delegate the decision on the insurance policy to the Chair and Vice-Chair.

18. BANKING AND FINANCIAL POLICIES – the following (a-c) below were considered and approved en bloc.
19. To review the Council’s banking and signatory arrangements including Draft Business Debit Card Policy (attached) – the Clerk confirmed that the Council’s banking was currently paced with Lloyds Bank and that there were two councillors that verified the payments by physically signing each invoice.
20. *To approve the schedule for Standing Orders and Direct Debits (in Clerks Report)
21. *To approve membership and subscriptions for the council year (in Clerks Report)

19. POLICIES

To review and decide on amendments to Council policies:

1. Scheme of Delegation (attached) – RESOLVED to adopt the Scheme of Delegation without amendment.
2. Draft Safeguarding Policy (attached) – RESOLVED to adopt the Safeguarding Policy without amendment. Jordan said that the policy should be made available in all of our facilities.
3. Investment Policy (pending review) – deferred.
4. Reserves Policy (pending review) – deferred.
5. Governance & Management Risk Register – RESOLVED to adopt both documents without amendment.

20. MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL – RESOLVED to continue with current arrangement of holding meetings

on the first Monday of every month unless it is a bank holiday, in which case the Town Council will meet on the following Monday. The Town Council does not have a scheduled monthly meeting in August.  It was agreed that meetings would continue to start at 7.00 pm.

21. Matters Arising from Public Session

• None

22. Matters Arising from previous Meetings (not covered by other agenda items)

*a) Request for the use of a part of Salisbury Street Car Park for Charles Coles Family Funfairs to have a small funfair for the Mere Carnival event on 13.9.25 – Mr. Tim Thorn representing Charles Coles Family Funfairs will be attending the meeting to answer questions and provide more details to clarify points raised at the last meeting.

Mr. Thorn confirmed that Coles Family Funfairs would arrive on the Friday night after business hours (6pm – 7pm), set things up (it would be a couple of rides, a couple of children’s rides and some games), open for Carnival Day and pack up on Saturday night and take it all away.  No-one will be staying on site and all the equipment will be confined within the area shown on the plan with rights of access maintained.  There was a discussion about where residents would be able to park if they found themselves displaced by the Funfair but Cllr. Hazzard said that this wasn’t really the responsibility of the Town Council.  Mr. Thorn confirmed that signage would go into the car park beforehand to warn people and that they would deploy someone into the car park during the day to advise people that they would need to move their cars by a certain time.  Members felt that the Carnival needed the funfair in order to survive and it was RESOLVED that the Funfair could use the car park on Carnival Day as indicated.  Having declared a personal interest in the above matter, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting.

23. Reports & Consultations
24. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans reported on the lack of progress being made on fibre broadband to premises for Mere. It was agreed to raise this as a future agenda item.

24. Planning
25. a) Applications for consultation response:

Cllr. Jeans explained that this kind of ‘exchange’ has happened in the past whereby a Class Q permission is exchanged for a new build.  Cllr. Debbie Beale said that this planning application has not changed since it was considered last month.  Cllr. Nick Beale said that he thought the application should be refused as it seemed like it was a way round getting a new build on agricultural land.  Mr. Marshall was invited to speak and said that the bungalow would be 25m away from the barn.  Cllr. Ings said that providing the bungalow was tied to the farm he felt that it was preferable considering that the barn was on a flood plain.  Cllr. Nick Beale proposed that, since the application has not been amended, the Town Council should object to the proposal for exactly the same reasons as last month.  Seconded by Debbie Beale.  Vote 3 for and 7 against & 4 abstentions.  Substantive motion was put forward by Cllr. Ings to support the application subject to the bungalow being occupied by a person solely or mainly working or last working at the agricultural enterprise known as The Acorns, Barrow Street, Mere.  Seconded by Cllr. Alan Mead and carried with a vote of 7 for, 3 against and 3 abstentions.  [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

Cllr. John Jordan said that this property is not visible from the road and he couldn’t see an issue here.  RESOLVED to recommend that this application is recommended for approval.  [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

RESOLVED to recommend that this application is recommended for approval.  Following a suggestion from the Clerk, members agreed to invite Redcliffe Homes to a future Town Council meeting for a pre-application discussion prior to them submitting a Reserved Matters application.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.  [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

25. 25. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
26. To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports.

• Property on North Road with a hedge causing an obstruction to the pavement and visibility obstruction on Denes Avenue/North Road junction.

26. Wiltshire Council – Highways Capital Programme 2025/26 – the Cabinet Member for Highways, Street Scheme and Flooding has approved the funding allocations and scheme lists for 2025/26. For further information please see page on Wiltshire Council’s website: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?id=2135&LLL=0

Cllr. Jordan said that the document was disappointing with the programme included some repairs to Whitehill Lane, Limpers Hill would have some repair work for the little bit by The Pax in 2027/28, Burton Lane has some repair work identified but with no date and then they have said that there are access issues for Manor Road.  After having raised the last issue with our Wiltshire Councillor, their response was that they had to consider the safety of operatives, buildings and members of the public when assessing sites for access.  There was some work identified for Park Corner Farm.

26. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries

27. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – Having declared a pecuniary interest in this item, Cllr. Jordan left the meeting room whilst this matter was discussed.  RESOLVED to authorise schedule of payments (attached).

1. b) Bank Reconciliation – Cllr. Jordan confirmed that he had signed and verified the bank reconciliation for March 2025 against the bank statements whilst he was still Chairman.
2. c) The Heritage Revival Fund has been created to help communities across England rescue and repurpose neglected historic buildings – Cllr. Jordan said that some time ago the Clerk had shared a document outlining a vision that she had for restoring and using the two chapels and he was keen to see if this fund might be suitable for this funding. It was agreed to raise this as a future agenda item.

28. General Items

29. Future meetings and events

The Clerk reported that there was an Extraordinary SWW Area Board meeting on 20^th May at 11 am at County Hall, Trowbridge where they would be electing Chair, Vice-Chair and appointments to the LHFIG.

30. Future agenda items

The Clerk gave a list of some of the agenda items that were pending and would be raised for discussion over the next few months.

Note:  Members are reminded that the Town Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions: Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status and any disability), Crime and Disorder, Health and Safety and Human Rights.

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Meeting closed at 8.30 pm

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a Town Council meeting held on Monday, 7^th April 2025 at 7.00 pm in the Andy Young Pavilion, Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW

Present:  Councillors John Jordan (Chair), Glen Ings (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Nick Beale, Aubrey Colman, Rodney Coward, Clive Hazzard, George Jeans, Linden Stone, Kate Symonds & Lesley Traves.

1 member of public

Public Participation Session

Mr. Fineman spoke in favour of his planning application at Breaches Barn.

Clive Hazzard congratulated the Clerk on her April Fools email.  He also asked whether any potential Town Councillor candidates had thoughts on putting together an election leaflet and suggested that a candidate may like to gather a few lines from each candidate and put them all together on a leaflet that could be published on social media etc.

John Jordan thanked the volunteers who came out to do the Spring Clean litter pick with him yesterday.  He said that there was good turnout and the litter pick was carried out with great enthusiasm.

John Jordan also suggested that perhaps an experienced ex-Chair might want to take on the role of Vice-Chair to add support to a new Chair for the new Council after the elections in May and stressed that it is an honour to take on the role of Chair to the Town Council and encouraged someone new to take on the role.

Reports from local police representatives

• None present

548. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Sandra Catley & Raymond Hill.

549. To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests from Councillors on matters to be considered at the meeting.

• Hazzard declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 557a) Finance (recipient).
• Jeans declared a personal interest in Minute No. 556 in respect of Coles Funfair’s request to use Salisbury Street Car Park.

550. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 3^rd March 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record. RESOLVED that the Minutes of the working group meeting held to review & assess the effectiveness of Internal Control Measures held on Tuesday, 25^th March 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record.

551. Matters Arising from Public Session

Cllr. Jeans said that he thought it would be a good idea for candidates to get together and produce a leaflet.  He did, however, suggest that if these are to be published on social media then it would be advisable to turn off comments because he said that people can be very rude on social media.  The Chairman said that this was not a Town Council responsibility but could be done outside the Council by a group or by individual councillors.

The Clerk said that the Notice of Poll would be printed off and placed on the noticeboards, post office window and put on social media sites as a reminder for people to go and vote (with comments turned off).

552. Matters Arising from previous Meetings (not covered by other agenda items)

*a) Annual Town Meeting – draft Agenda attached.  The agenda was approved without amendment.  The Chairman encouraged members to attend the meeting.

553. Reports & Consultations
554. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans reported that he had made 6 trips to Salisbury with 45 sets of nomination papers for Town & Parish Council candidates in the last couple of weeks. He said that he had received a lot of reports of dog fouling in public places. Double yellow lines in Salisbury Street have been painted in the wrong place and are covering three on-street parking spaces.  Horse riding has now been included in the LTP4 document.

554. Planning
555. a) Applications for consultation response:

As the extension has an exterior door and could, potentially, become self-contained it was RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application with the following condition:

That the extension remains ancillary to the occupation of The Pax and cannot be occupied separately, rented out as self-contained accommodation or sold off separately.

[In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

It was pointed out that this proposal was an alternative development scheme for the barn at The Acorns which was approved under Class Q on application number PL/2024/07389 and that if this proposed development were to receive planning permission then the barn, subject to the Class Q conversion would be demolished.  The Clerk also pointed out that the Class Q permission on the barn was subject to an agricultural tie.  The Chair pointed out that the location of the proposed bungalow was closer to footpaths.  RESOLVED to raise an objection to the above planning application as the proposal would place development in agricultural land in the open countryside and would place a detrimental visual impact on the landscape when viewed from Bridleway MERE45/10 and Footpaths MERE 27/10 & MERE 44/10.  The fall-back option is preferable as the residential conversion of the barn approved under PL/2024/07389 is closer to the concentration of existing farm buildings and will have less of a visual impact on the rural landscape.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

RESOLVED to recommend the above application for approval.

RESOLVED to recommend the above application for approval.

RESOLVED to recommend the above applications for approval subject to the following condition:

The Town Council could find no mention for the materials of the replacement doors, windows, and dormer windows and assume that, as this is a Listed Building, that these will be made of timber.  Can this please be conditioned.

555. 555. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
556. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports.

• Potholes in Manor Road and Denes Avenue

556. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries

*a) Request for the use of a part of Salisbury Street Car Park for Charles Coles Family Funfairs to have a small funfair for the Mere Carnival event on 13.9.25 (information in Clerks Report + attachment)

Cllr. Jeans declared a personal interest in this matter and left the meeting whilst it was discussed.  The Clerk confirmed that she had made an approach to Wiltshire Council who had agreed, in principle, to depart from the terms of the lease for this one occasion and use part of the car park as detailed.

Members noted that it was not clear whether the area identified was just for rides or whether it would also include trailers and vehicles for the funfair operators.  There were no proposals as to how the area would be made clear beforehand.  Members felt that, generally, the area that was marked on the plan was too big an area and would take up too many car parking spaces but felt that they should go back to Charles Coles Family Funfairs and ask if it might be possible for them to use a smaller area for just toddler rides etc. and provide a bit more detail about how they plan to maintain access, consult with residents that need access, consult with the doctors surgery and how they proposed to stop people from parking on the area that they want to use.  There was a brief discussion about whether or not the Town Council could offer alternative parking spaces for those that might be displaced.

557. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – RESOLVED to authorise schedule of payments (attached)

1. b) To note the reconciliations for February 2025 – the Chairman confirmed that he had verified the bank reconciliation against the bank statements and signed accordingly.

*c) Effectiveness of Internal Control Measures – RESOLVED to adopt recommendations of working group as outlined in Minutes of Working group meeting held to review & assess the effectiveness of Internal Control Measures held on Tuesday, 25^th March 2025 (Minutes attached) and RESOLVED to approve and sign the Statement of Internal Control 2024/25 (draft attached).

*d) To report on allotment rent audit (see Clerks Report) – Noted without comment.

1. e) 2023/24 Annual Governance & Accountability Return external auditor instructions – the Clerk reported that instructions had now been received from the External Auditor and that the Town Council would be subject to an intermediate review – the additional requirements for this year related to the Annual Review of Risk Management arrangements was discussed.

558. General Items

Briefing Notes

• Briefing Note no. 25-02 Management of Council business and publicity, during the pre-election period.
• Briefing Note 25 -03 – Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) update

The Clerk pointed out that she had viewed the map and it would appear that Castle Hill & Long Hill had been identified as wooded areas in this strategy.  Cllr. Rodney Coward felt that this strategy was possibly contradicted by the governments new ruling to stop all new applications for Sustainable Farming Initiative grant.  It was agreed that members would spend more time looking at this.

559. Future meetings and events

Annual Town Meeting – Wednesday, 23^rd April 2025

560. Future agenda items

NB – Please note that the next Town Council meeting will be the Annual Town Council meeting and will be held on Monday, 12^th May 2025

Cllr. Jeans asked for the resurfacing of the uneven paved surface by the bus stop outside Balcony Cottages in The Square to be discussed at a future meeting.

Note:  Members are reminded that the Town Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions: Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status and any disability), Crime and Disorder, Health and Safety and Human Rights.

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Meeting closed at 8.09 pm

Approved at Mere Town Council meeting held on 12^th May 2025

Signed:                                                                                                                                                                 Chair of meeting.

Signed by the Chair of the meeting

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

Meeting convened at 8.09 pm

For the Trustee to consider the following:

1. Lease between Mere Peace Charity and Seeds4Success – please see attached documents:

• Project Co-Ordinator’s Report (attached)
• Draft Lease prepared by Wellers Hedley (attached)
• Rental Valuation report for Youth Centre Building (attached)
• Schedule of Condition for Youth Centre Building (attached)

RESOLVED to send the Draft Lease and the two commercial documents to Seeds4Success for comment and review.

1. RESOLVED to authorise the following payment:

Water2Business – Standing Charge for water supply to old cricket shed                 £ 30.99

Wiltshire Council – Business Rates for Recreation Ground                                        £  0.00

Meeting closed at 8.12 pm

Approved at Mere Town Council meeting held on 12^th May 2025

Signed:                                                                                                                                                                 Chair of meeting.

Signed by the Chair of the meeting

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 3^rd March 2025 at 7.00 pm in the Andy Young Pavilion, Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW

Present:  Councillors John Jordan (Chair), Nick Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Raymond Hill, George Jeans, Kate Symonds & Lesley Traves.

Also 10 members of the public.

Public Participation Session

Mel Wilkinson representing the Carnival Committee introduced the new Chair and Vice-Chair of the Carnival Committee (Victoria Johnson & David Hytch) and said that enough volunteers had come forward to give the committee the confidence to plan for a carnival for September 2025.  Last year’s event was successful and although we spent a lot of money, our finances are healthy.  John Jordan said that many people in this room had played a part in organising the carnival and paid his respects to the committee members past and present.

Mr. Birch of Oaktree House, spoke in favour of his planning application.  He pointed out that there was an error in the planning application – it wasn’t going to have 16 parking spaces but could accommodate 16 people if all accommodation was used to capacity at the same time.  The equestrian use is low key and will not be commercial.

Elaine Stallard thanked the Council for support with the Solstice Beacon proposal but unfortunately, after all our hard work, we are sorry to say that the Solstice Beacon will not now go ahead.  The beacon’s value means that it is uninsurable for malicious damage and it cannot realistically sit within the Tower Stories project although they would support a separate application for another time in which we may have to include funding to provide 24-hour security cover.

David Hytch explained that he had been working with the Town Council to get an electric vehicle charger into the car park in Salisbury Street but this project had now reached a déjà vu situation in that the company that I was working with has been bought out by another business and the new business has decided that they no longer wish to support the work in Mere to install an EV charger.  He said that this was very disappointing news for him personally and he thought it was a poor decision but he has not yet given up on the project as he was looking to find alternative providers/suppliers

Reports from local police representatives

• None present

536. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Debbie Beale, Glen Ings and Linden Stone.

537. To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests from Councillors on matters to be considered at the meeting.

• Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 544a) [payment recipient]
• Lesley Traves declared a personal interest in planning application PL/2025/01213

538. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 3^rd February 2025 be approved & signed as a correct record.

539. Matters Arising from Public Session

• None

540. Matters Arising from previous Meetings (not covered by other agenda items)
541. a) For Chairman & Vice-Chairman to sign Operating Agreement and Licence for EV chargers to be installed in Salisbury Street Car Park – the Chairman said it was disappointing news that this project with Pluscharge would not now be realised (see public session) and said that the Town Council would remain hopeful that another company could be found to provide EV chargers in the car park.
542. b) Public Toilets Refurbishment – update – Rachael Hansford reported that the planned meeting with Healthmatic did go ahead, although Roger Pipe was not able to come along as he was taken ill. However, we got the answers to the queries that we had which have now been fed back to Roger and when he is back he will schedule the electrical work, plumbing work and doors etc. The Chairman thanked Cllr. Rachael Hansford & Aubrey Colman and wished Roger a speedy recovery and the Clerk confirmed that he was doing well.  The Clerk confirmed that she would be writing to Wiltshire Council to make sure that they would be happy for us to charge for using the toilets in the way that we were planning.  (i.e. overnight usage).
543. c) Report on South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting held on 19^th February 2025 – the Chairman reported on the meeting which he said was rather abrasive at times, largely due to the distribution of LHFIG funds and progress of projects.

*d) Resources, timetable & information for Town & Parish Council elections (information in Clerks Report) – noted.  The Clerk said that she would be happy to print off some nomination papers & also confirmed that Cllr. Jeans had volunteered to take nomination papers in to the council offices and that she and Cllr. Jeans would make convenient appointments for this.

540. Reports & Consultations
541. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans reiterated that Wiltshire Council will increase its council tax by 4.5% rather than the full 4.99 % permitted by Government. He said that he had provided a full report in Mere Matters.

541. Planning
542. a) Applications for consultation response:

Cllr. Hazzard said that although he hadn’t been to the site, he had spoken to residents that live nearby and reported that they were positive about the application.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application and to ask Cllr. Jeans to call this application in to committee if the planning/highways officers are making recommendations for refusal. [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

The Chairman reminded members that there was a similar application for this barn in 2015 but was not supported as there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that agricultural usage was in place on 20.3.2013 and also the application did not contain any form of structural assessment that demonstrated that the existing building was structurally strong enough to take the loadings associated with external works required for conversion to residential use. The Chairman read out the criteria for determination as to whether the prior approval of the LPA would be required.

RESOLVED that the Town Council object on the grounds that this application does not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the officer’s recommendations made to the application for this barn in 2015 under Application Reference: 15/04655/PNCOU have been overcome.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.   (Cllr. Lesley Traves declared a personal interest in this application and abstained from voting.)  [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

*b) Integrated planning for a sustainable future – correspondence from Mr. Nick Gosse (see Clerks Report) – members noted the information.  Cllr. Philip Coward said that a very long time ago there was a plan to take a road into Woodlands at a time when Beaumont’s were trying to get very large chimneys off site but to take a road across the route suggested would be like HS2.  It was also pointed out that Wiltshire would not build a road unless there was a financial incentive to do so and that would likely be hundreds if not thousands of houses.  Mr. Gosse was invited to speak and said that the issue was a safety one and if someone gets run over there because there are no warning signs then it will come down on the Town Council’s and the County Council’ shoulders.  Mr. Gosse asked if the Town Council would suggest to Wiltshire Council that some form of traffic calming is introduced when the detailed planning application for the Beaumont’s site is under consideration. The Chairman also reiterated that pedestrian safety proposals had been submitted to the LHFIG some time ago but no progress had been made by Wiltshire Council on this.  RESOLVED that, if a planning application for the old Beaumont’s site is presented in the future, then the Town Council should suggest that finance be sought to help improve Clements Lane corner.

542. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
543. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports –

• Potholes on the zebra crossing at White Road
• Foliage obstructing signage at Downside Close and Underdown

*b) Response from National Highways to letter relating to flooding of A303 and ramps on bypass bridge at Manor Road (see Clerks Report) – Noted.

1. c) Report on LHFIG meeting held on Wednesday, 5^th February – the Chairman reported that sadly, there has been no progress on pending projects. The Chairman said that he had spoken to Paul Shaddock and asked for the contact details for our lighting engineers to speak to their lighting engineers and unfortunately, he would not permit this. Cllr. Jeans asked for this to go back on the agenda for the Town Council to consider whether or not it should power up the lights along Eric Mitchell Way.

543. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries

544. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – RESOLVED to review and authorise schedule of payments (attached) [Having declared a pecuniary interest, Cllr. Jeans left the room whilst this matter was discussed.]

1. b) To note the reconciliations for January 2025 – the Chairman confirmed that he had verified the bank reconciliation against the bank statements and signed accordingly.
2. c) To set date, venue and member make-up for Annual Assessment of Internal Control Measures – it was agreed that the Chairman + Cllrs Lesley Traves & Sandra Catley would meet to consider the draft assessment and make recommendations for the Town Council.

*d) Actions from Interim Internal Audit Report (report attached) – the Clerk to prepare draft policy/RA for the debit card, draft Reserves Policy, review the Financial Regulations & standing orders and the Clerk confirmed that she is currently seeking insurance quotations and building valuations.  The Clerk acknowledged that she was currently using two financial software packages but said that she did not have the confidence to stop using the old system at the present time although she was hopeful that this would be the case in the near future.

1. e) Funding for Mere Matters – is the future of the magazine in jeopardy and what sort of money would make a difference? It was confirmed that the future of the magazine was not in jeopardy and the Clerk said that the editor had given her an assurance that he would contact her if lack of finance was an issue going forward.

545. General Items

546. Future meetings and events

*a) Town & Parish Council Planning Forum 5^th March (information in Clerks Report) – Noted

1. b) VE Day – 8^th May & VJ Day – 15^th August – the Chairman confirmed that he had been working with Stuart Walker and he was keen that we should commemorate VJ Day and will be working with the new vicar to take part in that but was not keen to hold two commemoration events as they would likely become diluted. The suggestion was that we would lay a wreath on VE Day but spread the word via Mere Matters and Social Media that we would be commemorating the end of the war VJ Day on 15^th

547. Future agenda items

• None

Note:  Members are reminded that the Town Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions: Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status and any disability), Crime and Disorder, Health and Safety and Human Rights.

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Meeting closed at 8.23 pm

Approved at Mere Town Council meeting held on 7^th April 2025

Signed:                                                                                                                                                                 Chair of meeting.

Signed by the Chair of the meeting

Minutes of a working group meeting held on Thursday, 25^th March 2025 at 3.30 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere.  BA12 6EW

Purpose of the meeting: To review and assess the effectiveness of internal control measures:

In attendance – Cllr. John Jordan (Chairman) + Cllr. Lesley Traves + Cllr. Sandra Catley + Lindsey Wood (Town Clerk & RFO).

Two draft documents had been presented to working group members prior to the meeting:

• Statement of Internal Controls 2025
• schedule for Internal Control Measures

It was pointed out that the Council’s Risk Management is still undergoing review with Guardian Advisors Ltd who the Town Council appointed in April last year.  The following aspects were covered during the year:

• General Health & Safety training event for all Town Council staff was held in August
• Fire Risk Assessment for the Andy Young Pavilion was carried out in August
• Keith Roser of Guardian Advisors had visited all the Town Council assets and inspected the grounds compound with a view to analysing the Town Council’s needs and requirements to create a functioning Health & Safety management system
• A First Aid At Work training course had been held for some Council staff in January
• Some Draft Risk Assessments had been received but these are currently awaiting further discussion/review
• A Draft Health & Safety Management Policy has been received but this is currently awaiting further discussion/review.

The Schedule for Internal Control Measures highlighted the Internal Control Measures & Risk Assessments that were likely to be reviewed in the next year.  Members were happy to present the Statement of Internal Controls to the Town Council for adoption and signature. (Draft Statement of Internal Controls 2025 attached)

In respect of recommendations made by the Internal Auditor from the current year audit – the Clerk confirmed that she would be:

• drafting a policy for the use of the Town Council’s newly acquired business debit card.
• Revising the Town Council’s Financial Regulations to reflect the changes introduced by NALC
• Reviewing the Town Council’s insurance coverage, including a valuation of all properties and insurance quotations.

With the adoption of these new and/or amended documents, members of the working group recommended that the Town Council should confirm that it had made proper arrangements and accepted responsibility for safeguarding the public money and resources in its charge.  Members recommended that the Council should agree that they had considered and documented the financial and other risks the Council faces and dealt with them properly.  These assertions would enable the Town Council to agree ‘yes’ to assertions 2 and 5 in the Annual Governance & Accountability Report for the year ending 31.3.2025.

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 3^rd February 2025 at 7.00 pm in the Andy Young Pavilion, Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW

Present:  Councillors John Jordan (Chair), Glen Ings (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Raymond Hill, George Jeans, Linden Stone, Kate Symonds & Lesley Traves.

Also Project Co-Ordinator, Roger Pipe + 1 member of public.

Public Participation Session

Clive Hazzard raised the matter of funding for Mere Matters and said he did not want it to get to the stage where it was necessary for people to pay to get the magazine.  The Chairman said that this should be raised as a future agenda item.

Glen Ings said that he had been requested by several parishioners to pass on thanks to the Town Council for the new play equipment and refurbishments at Castle Hill Play Area.

Hamish Bell reported on the Grove Building Audio Visual system that was now installed and fully working and had already proved to be a great benefit for the users of the hall.  The Town Council was thanked for its financial support towards this.

523. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Nick Beale & Rodney Coward

524. To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests from Councillors on matters to be considered at the meeting.

• Rachael Hansford declared a personal interest in Minute No. 527 a)
• Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in finance – Minute No. 532 a)
• Jeans stated that although he had property adjacent to the public toilets, he did not have any personal or pecuniary interest to declare.

525. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 13^th January 2025 be approved as a correct record with the amendment that Cllr. P. Coward was not amongst those present.

526. Matters Arising from Public Session

• None

527. Matters Arising from previous Meetings (not covered by other agenda items)

*a) Consideration of proposal for temporary art installation on Castle Hill – Solstice Beacon – (attached paper prepared by Elaine Stallard on behalf of the Tower Stories Community Group) – the Chairman reminded members that the Town Council had allocated £1250 from the Wiltshire Towns Programme Funding towards this event.  Elaine Stallard was present to answer questions from councillors and clarified points about the concrete slabs and confirmed that the beacon would not be visible from the A303, grazing and grass cutting.   Risk Assessments and insurance was also raised and it was confirmed that this would be given consideration.   RESOLVED that this should be fully supported by the Town Council

*b) Covenants/restrictions relating to the disposal of the land/property registered at St. Marys Church, Pettridge Lane, Mere – response from charity solicitor (response in Clerks Report) – members felt that the response from the solicitor had answered the Town Council’s question.

*c) Public Toilets refurbishments – reports attached – questions were raised about the vinyl flooring and the cost of the door that allows the toilets to be used at night with contactless payment.  It was pointed out that the labour caried out by Town Council staff is not included in the costings and we would be asking them to do a lot of painting and repairing in order to save money.  The Town Clerk pointed out that this work would need to be carried out after the grass-cutting season if we wanted to do it ‘in house’ or alternatively use outside contractors.  Clarification on contactless payment or swipe payment & the door locking mechanism was requested. The Clerk pointed out that the budget allocation for this project currently stands at £17k.  Cllr. Jeans said that he felt there was sufficient funds in reserve to vire £12k.  There were discussions on hand driers, and steam cleaning and it was agreed that outside contractors should be used to do the decorating in order to get the project completed sooner. Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she felt that, overall, members had agreed on the main points of the refurbishment but minor details and refinements on variables can be given further consideration.  RESOLVED to make headway with painting & decorating, prepare urinal, put Wallgate unit in, plastic toilet cisterns, no vinyl on floor, sensor lighting and plumbing and try to get the gents toilets open.

*d) Communications Plan for Mere Town Council – Cllr. Rachael Hansford (Draft plan attached) – RESOLVED to accept it although it was agreed that it was not appropriate to highlight the Minutes.

528. Reports & Consultations
529. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans explained the significant impact that the new governments Planning Policy has on Wiltshire Council’s Local Plan. He also explained that Wiltshire’s Council Tax is likely to be increased by 4.5%.  A sum of money has been paid by the developers of the Care Home at Norwood Park for a junction improvement scheme on the Gillingham Corner junction which should improve pedestrian safety.

529. Planning
530. a) Applications for consultation response:

The Chairman reported that this was the third or fourth planning application for this site.  He confirmed that the last application which received planning approval even though the Town Council objected on grounds of Overdevelopment and Parking/Turning/Access, was for one large building.  The application now was for two detached properties.  Although members felt that these two detached properties were more in keeping with the surrounding area there were concerns that the previous properties might be more affordable.  RESOLVED to submit the following response:   Approve, subject to conditions – Given that the previous application (PL/2021/06674) for this site has been approved, members of the Town Council prefer the design of the two separate dwellings being proposed here to the application that has approval.  However, the Town Council’s reservations about parking and vehicle manoeuvrability within the site remain.

Parking/Turning/Access: Members of the Town Council feel that the parking, turning and access for the car parking spaces will be restricted in this small area and manoeuvrability of the vehicles will be difficult to achieve.

530. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
531. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports:

• Clear vegetation obstructing signs along White Road directing drivers onto the A303.
• Pothole repairs Denes Avenue
• Large pothole on Zebra crossing in White Road
• Potholes in Queens Road

*b) To note the Town Council’s response to Wiltshire Council’s LTP4 Consultation (response attached) – members noted the response.  Cllr. Jeans said that there was an Emergency Full Council meeting on 11^th March to consider the LTP4 Consultation.

531. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
532. a) To consider quotations for Tree Inspection, written reports, survey schedules etc. – The Clerk confirmed that she had contacted four companies last year with a view to providing a quotation for the 5-year Tree Inspection & Survey and had only received two quotations back:

Company Y was £2210 + VAT & Company X is £2905 with no VAT.

RESOLVED to accept the quotation from Company Y

532. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – RESOLVED to authorise payments as detailed in the schedule of payments (attached)

1. b) To note the reconciliations for December 2024 – the Chairman confirmed that he had verified the bank reconciliation against the bank statements and signed accordingly.
2. c) To authorise signature of the Grant Agreement for the Provision of the Wiltshire Towns Programme – Activity Generation Allocation Funding for Y3 2024/25 and Y4 2025/26 – RESOLVED that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman should sign the Agreement documents for return to Wiltshire Council’s Legal Services.

*d) Review of Mere Town Football Club’s fees & request for reduction in lieu of work carried out in the changing rooms. (information in Clerks Report) – the Chairman reported that he and the Clerk had viewed the Changing Rooms and they looked to be in good order apart from one place where the drains were blocked due to footballers washing their muddy boots in the showers.   Last year we gave them a reduction because they bought goods for redecoration and this year, they have carried out further decoration works. RESOLVED that the Town Council apply a further £150 +3% reduction on this year’s fees in lieu of the redecoration work that has been carried out.

533. General Items
534. a) To set date, time, venue and format for Annual Town Meeting – RESOLVED to continue the Annual Town Meeting on a similar format to last year but to make the information boards more readable and add a Q & A session to the end of the meeting. Date: Wednesday, 23^rd April 2025 at 6.30 pm Venue: Duchy Manor

*b) Briefing Note 25-01 Electric Refuse Collection Vehicle (eRCV) trial (Briefing Note attached)

534. Future meetings and events
535. a) LHFIG meeting, Wednesday, 5^th February 2025 14:00 -15.50 at Nadder Centre, Tisbury, SP3 6HJ – The Chairman confirmed that he would be attending the meeting.
536. b) South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting – Wednesday, 19^th February at 6.30 pm at Wilton Community Centre, West Street, Wilton SP2 0DG – the Chairman confirmed that he would be attending the meeting.

*c) Town & Parish Council Planning Forum – Wednesday, 5^th March 6pm – 8 pm online (see Clerks Report)

535. Future agenda items

Funding for Mere Matters – is the future of the magazine in jeopardy and what sort of money would make a difference?

Note:  Members are reminded that the Town Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions: Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status and any disability), Crime and Disorder, Health and Safety and Human Rights.

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Approved at Mere Town Council meeting held on 3^rd March 2025

Signed:                                                                                                                                                                 Chair of meeting.

Signed by the Chair of the meeting