Author: Lindsey Wood

DELEGATED DECISION REPORT _- 5^th  AUGUST 2024

As the Town Council does not generally meet in August unless there is some compelling reason to do so, a Delegated Decision Report was prepared by the Clerk and Chairman on items that needed a decision and distributed to members for consideration and comment:

Planning Applications

1. a) Applications for consultation response:

Consultation deadline:   8^th August 2024

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED REPRESENTATION FROM A NEIGHBOUR (A redacted copy is included in the Clerks Report at the end of this document).

Delegated Response:

The Town Council feels that there is nothing in this new planning application that would alleviate or cause a revocation of its previous objection to PL/2022/01547.  Indeed, the proposal to excavate the existing bank to form a semi basement construction adds to members concerns – particularly as to the result of a cramped form of development in an unsuitable site.  Reiterate previous objections as follows:

Reasons:

The Town Council is unable to support this planning application for the following reasons:

1) Members consider that it is overdevelopment of the site as it is an extremely small space to accommodate a 2-bedroom house with 2 parking spaces which will result in a cramped form of development with low-quality accommodation.

2)  Members felt that this house will look out of keeping with the character of the area and have a detrimental impact on existing properties and amenities in the conservation area and the change of street scene in Castle Street will have an impact on the immediate neighbourhood and their amenities.

3) Members were extremely concerned about the accessibility and viability of the two parking spaces which would be accessed from an extremely narrow road just around the corner from a blind bend.  Members felt that these parking spaces would be fairly difficult to manoeuvre in and out of and would present a hazard for other drivers using Castle Hill Lane and that, ultimately, occupiers and visitors to the proposed property would end up parking on Castle Street exacerbating the existing parking congestion problems on the main road through Mere.

Consultation deadline: 19^th August 2024

Delegated response:

This house is in a Conservation Area although not a Listed Building (The Grange, next door, is a listed building).  The proposed works do not appear to be unreasonable although the change of windows from wooden windows with glazing bars to what will be (I assume, wooden windows without glazing bars) will alter the appearance of the building, especially from the road along Waterside and from Dark Lane.

To wait until nearer the deadline response time & check to see that there have been no neighbour objections.  If not, to submit a ‘No objection’ response but to ask that the Conservation Officer is consulted and is happy with the proposed window design/materials etc.

Consultation deadline: 9^th August 20244

Delegated response:

It would appear that the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION for this planning application includes Amended Site location plans, Amended elevations and floorplan of the building, new planning statement and plans showing the location of the bund.  We cannot see that any of these amended plans or additional information would change the response that the Town Council submitted on 18^th June: see link https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/web-comment/a07Q300000PyzOlIAJ/mere-town-councils-comment?tabset-ae70b=2 Therefore it is suggested that the Town Council should reiterate its previous objection.

Allotments

Request for structures on the Southbrook allotment site:

Having recently let a vacant allotment at Southbrook allotments, the new tenants have written asking if they could erect the following structures: (these are all outside the authority delegated to the Town Clerk [6’ X 8’]

• Greenhouse, maximum size nominally 12’ x 8’; we will be looking for a second-hand greenhouse and from research it seems unlikely that we will be able to get one with polycarbonate glazing, so it will need to be glass.
• Polytunnel, maximum size nominally 12’ x 35’
• Fruit cage, maximum size nominally 13’ x 26’

Delegated response:

Approve – No issue as allotments at Southbrook are all quite large and contain a plethora of different sized structures.

Finance

Please see attached payment schedule for August.

Delegated response:  Recommend all payments for approval.

Matters Arising

Fairground for Mere Carnival

Following a site meeting held with Mr. Charles Coles and his PR Manager Tim Thorn, Mr. Coles immediately said that he did not really want to bring the fairground to the Recreation Ground.  He had previously visited the field in Angel Lane and announced that this was his preferred venue.  I also showed him a potential venue along Shaftesbury Road which I think was considered but has been ruled out because Mr. Coles said that people wouldn’t attend.  Unfortunately, permission for the use of the field in Angel Lane is not granted and it would now appear that there is going to be no fairground for the carnival for 2024.

Beaumont’s Building

Following a second fire on weekend of 15 July, I wrote to Conrad Carruthers, Wiltshire Council’s Senior Building Control Surveyor, asking if Wiltshire Council could take some action to try and get this building secured in order to avoid the public nuisance aspect, the anti-social behaviour that is taking place within and try and stop children and young people from gaining access.  I said that I believed that there were last resort enforcement options available to Wiltshire Council i.e. Section 29 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 and Sections 79 & 80 of the Building Act 1984.

On Friday, 19^th July I received an email from Sam Townley, a Community Safety Officer at Wiltshire Council who had been made aware of the issues of unauthorised entry and associated anti-social behaviour and recent fire report on the site and asked if I might be available for a meeting.

A teams meeting was set up for Thursday, 25^th July and I attended along with Conrad Carruthers, Sam Townley, Chris Horan (Wiltshire Council Enforcement Officer, and Georgina Russell our Neighbourhood Police Constable.

Georgina Russell agreed to get the police to include the site more regularly within their rounds.  Conrad Carruthers confirmed that he had written to Mr. Henderson and asked him to make the site more secure but confirmed that the site did not meet their criteria to use Enforcement under the Dangerous Structures Act.  However, both he and Chris Horan admitted that they were not familiar with S.29 of the LGA 1982 and didn’t know where this suggestion had come from.  I informed them that I had looked it up and I have subsequently sent them links to other Councils that use the ACT.

EV Charges for Salisbury Street Car Park

Just to report that progress is being made on this.  Meetings have been held and Mr. Hytch is hopeful that Ultrafast EV chargers will be installed in the car park during September 2024

WALC Executive Committee meeting

I have just received the following email from the Local County Secretary:

Following last night’s Executive Committee meeting it was resolved that we would hold the Wiltshire Association of Local Councils Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, September 25^th. If your Council intends to send representation to the AGM, please let me know. Once I have an estimated number for those attending, I will consider options for the most appropriate venue to host this meeting.

Clerks Report – August 2024

Redacted copy of email received from

RE: PLANNING APPLICATION NO: PL/2024/05361

This letter is to state our objections to the proposed amendment to plans for The Drying Fields application PL/2024/05361.

The original application was granted in 2022 in spite of being in a conservation area, the removal of a 55 year old retaining wall on Castle Street and the project being smack on a blind 90 degree  corner on Castle Hill Lane.

The amended plans being proposed, have further amplified our concerns. Much deeper excavations are now required, that go considerably further back towards Castle Hill Lane where much of the work would be carried out. The blind corner and the close proximity of the 200-year-old granary building and boundary wall remain foremost concerns with the additional vibration and excavation.

Further objections to the plans are as follows: –

• Two car parking permission on the blind corner poses safety concerns. There is a history of the granary, Linden House front gates and the wall along Castle Hill Lane sustaining damage from vehicles. Manoeuvring cars in and out of this parking space will generate a constant hazard.
• Inadequate space for council bins, air source heat pump, electric car charging facilities, washing line, dog space, etc
• Lane disruption during construction
• Continued concerns for increasingly complex construction on an unsuitable site.

I hope the parish council can agree that the amended plans are unsuitable for Castle Hill Lane and encourage Wiltshire Council to reject them.

Thank you for your attention.

The Town Council Chair attended a Strategic Planning meeting in Trowbridge on 10^th July to consider Application No., PL/2022/08186 – the extension to the existing Gypsy and Traveller site with 10 additional pitches, each pitch to consist of 1 Mobile Home, 1 Touring caravan and parking.  You will recall that the Town Council lodged an objection to this planning application and the Chair made a good case against it.  For a short while it seemed like Cllr. Jeans was going to get the decision deferred but the decision was made to approve the application with conditions.  NB One of the conditions is that the existing red brick piered wall is removed.

Application Ref PL/2022/08186 – Full Planning Permission

Address: The Stables, Mapperton Hill, Mere, BA12 6LH

Proposal: Extension to existing Gypsy and Traveller site with 10 additional pitches, each

pitch to consist of 1 Mobile Home, 1 Touring caravan and parking

Applicant Name: Mr M Doe Case Officer: Lynda King

Decision Date: 10-07-2024 Decision: Approve with Conditions

Application Link: https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0i3z000019

Wiltshire Council – Gypsies & Travellers Development Plan Document Consultation

Following its approval at our cabinet meeting last week and Full Council this week, Wiltshire’s Gypsies and Travellers Development Plan will now move to the next public consultation stage.

The public consultation begins on Tuesday 20 August until 5pm on Friday 4 October. To enable you to find out more about the Development Plan document and ask questions, we are holding five engagement events at different locations around the county and one online engagement event.

Please do attend one of these consultation events and help to promote the events amongst your contacts and networks.

Full details here: Gypsy and Travellers – planning – Wiltshire Council

This matter will be discussed at the September meeting so you may want to read the documents beforehand.

Open Consultation – Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system

I have received the following report in an email from Civic Voice:

Today (30th July 2024) the Government unveiled a major overhaul of the planning system aimed at tackling the nation’s acute housing crisis and stimulating economic growth. This ambitious plan includes new mandatory housing targets for councils and reforms to both the planning system and housing policies. An eight-week consultation has begun immediately, with the final document expected to be adopted in late September. Please visit the consultation here.

Key elements of the consultation include:

• Annual Housing Target: In a statement in Parliament today, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced that the new annual housing target will be 370,000 homes per year. This new target represents a significant increase from previous goals and aims to address the severe housing shortage across the country.
• Mandatory Housing Targets: All councils in England will now be assigned new, mandatory targets to deliver an additional 1.5 million homes. This initiative is designed to address the most pressing housing needs and spur housebuilding in regions where it is most required.
• Local Plans and Community Engagement: Local plans will play a crucial role in determining how homes and infrastructure are developed with Raynor indicating in her statement to Parliament that this will be the main area of engagement.
• Green Belt Review: Councils will be required to review their green belt land and prioritise ‘grey belt’ land where necessary. Development in the Green Belt will be governed by new “golden rules,” mandating that 50% of homes built must be affordable. Additionally, developments must enhance access to green spaces and ensure the provision of essential infrastructure such as schools and GP surgeries.
• Definition of Grey Belt: For the purposes of plan-making and decision-making, grey belt will be defined as land in the Green Belt comprising Previously Developed Land and any other parcels and/or areas of Green Belt land that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes (as defined in paragraph 140 of the Framework), but excluding those areas or assets of particular importance listed in footnote 7 of the Framework (other than land designated as Green Belt).
• Grey Belt Land: In areas where councils lack up-to-date plans or fail to meet local housing targets, homebuilders will be permitted to propose developments on grey belt land.
• Brownfield Development: The Government will prioritise brownfield sites for new development, with a clear directive that the default position should be “yes” to brownfield proposals. This is to encourage higher-density housing in urban centres.
• Well-designed or Beautiful: The consultation will also address whether to retain references to well-designed buildings and places but remove references to ‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful,’ and to amend paragraph 138 of the existing Framework.
• Support for Social and Affordable Housing: Reforms will include changes to the Right to Buy policy, granting councils greater flexibility to use receipts for building and acquiring more social homes. The Government also plans to reverse the decline in social rent homes and will detail further investments in affordable housing in the upcoming spending review.
• Local Authority Housing Fund: The third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund will proceed, allocating £450 million to councils to create homes for families at risk of homelessness.
• Infrastructure Projects: The reforms aim to facilitate the development of key infrastructure, including laboratories, gigafactories, data centres, and large-scale wind and solar projects.
• Additional reforms will be introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, focusing on strategic planning and streamlining the planning process.

The Government will respond to the consultation and publish revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework before the end of the year, aiming for swift implementation of policy changes.

Consultation Details: An eight-week consultation has started immediately, with the adoption of the final document planned for late September. The consultation comprises 106 questions, covering a wide range of topics related to the planning reforms.

I have also had a brief conversation with Cllr. Jeans who says that the Forward Planning team at Wiltshire Council have announced that the 4.2 year housing land supply is now INSUFFICIENT and has reverted back to 5 years.  They have also warned that Wiltshire will now need to provide nearly double the number of houses previously envisaged within the Local Plan.

This matter will be raised on the September agenda but we thought you may want to gather information prior to the meeting.

Completion of Mere Water stream support phase two (redacted copy of email sent my Wessex Watter 12.7.24)

Completion of Mere Water stream support phase two

Earlier this year, we wrote to you about the second phase of our trial work to protect watercourses in and around Mere.

This project saw construction work in fields to the north of the town, to the northern side of the A303, installing new underground pipes to allow water to be pumped and added to Mere Stream during the summer months, as part of a trial project to support this watercourse.

The project was in response to concerns raised by Mere residents about the low flow of streams during dry periods, including the impact of abstraction for drinking water from our source in Mere.

An initial phase saw a borehole pump and underground pipework installed to allow water to be pumped and added to the Ashfield Water, enabling us to trial stream support in 2021. Those trials proved successful, even maintaining flow along the Ashfield during the 2022 environmental drought.

This second piece of work got under way in February of this year and I am pleased to inform you that it has now been completed.

We would like to thank the local community for its patience and understanding while this work was carried out.

What happens next?

The trialling of stream support will now begin in summer 2024 and we’ll be assessing the project’s effectiveness – how much of the added water stays in the stream – by measuring the flow of the stream at our weir gauge on the Shreen, in Mere, and by weekly spot-gauging of the flow at four locations along the stream.

We will shortly be writing to customers in Mere to advise them about the completion of this work and I attach a copy of this letter for your information. We also remain in regular contact with Mere Rivers Group with regard to progress.

In the meantime, should the town council have any further questions about this project, please do not hesitate to contact me via this email address.

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 10^TH June 2024 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), Nick Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Rodney Coward, Philip Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Raymond Hill, George Jeans, & Lesley Traves

Public Participation Session

Mel Wilkinson confirmed that he had sent a letter to the Clerk to distribute to members regarding his request made during the public session of the last meeting relating to the Town Council granting permission for the Carnival fairground to go into the Recreation Ground.  Tim Thorn, Admin & PR Manager for Charles Coles Family Funfairs said he had come along to explain how they would approach putting the rides in the recreation ground.  He said that if it was damp at the time then they would only use the edge of the car park, they would lay down an aluminium roadway for the big rides which would turn around in the car park and they would use the car park to turn the rides around.  He said his main priority was not to cause any damage because if damage occurs then we won’t want them to come back.  They would also put a bond down to put everyone’s mind at ease.   He said that other towns would give references and sited Gillingham Town Council

Polly Harrington on behalf of Craig Bowers who is away on business spoke in favour of the planning applications for Wet Lane. She said it would appear that there may be some misunderstandings over his intentions and stressed that all he wanted to do was to provide a home for his rescue donkeys and look after the land.

Mark Hill, Chairman of Mere Town Youth Football Club Committee & Peter Down. Chairman of the Mere Town Adult Football Club raised concerns over the possibility of the fairground using the Recreation Ground and how this might impact on the football pitches within the ground, pointing out that there would be football games being played during that period.

Sandra Catley speaking as a member of the public, raised concerns about the impact that the traffic would have on residents living in the area, especially Queens Road.

The Chairman said he wanted to use the public session to thank Stewart Walker as the local representative of the British Legion for leading the 80^th D-Day Commemoration earlier this week.  This was a purposeful and meaningful event laying wreaths at the war memorial where Mary Burfitt played the Last Post and there were about 40 or 50 people in attendance.

432. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Debbie Beale, Linden Stone and Kate Symonds.

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

• Clive Hazzard declared a pecuniary interest in Minute Ref 441a)
• Lesley Traves declared an interest in planning application PL/2024/04076

434. Minutes – This item was deferred as the Minutes had not been prepared.

435. Matters Arising from Public Session

These matters were itemised on the agenda although the Chairman agreed to bring them forward for discussion.

436. Matters Arising from previous Meetings (not covered by other agenda items)
437. a) Result of Wiltshire Council’s decision on Community Governance Review parish boundary change for Mere/Zeals – The Chairman reported that the Final Recommendations of the Electoral Review Committee in respect of the Community Governance Review 2023/24 were presented to the Full Council at a meeting held on 21^st The proposed changes put forward by Mere Town Council to change the electoral boundary for Mere/Zeals were recommended and the Full Council approved these recommendations. (Cllr. Jeans confirmed that he had abstained from voting at the full council meeting.) The Clerk confirmed that this now had to go to the Electoral Boundary Committee for their consideration.

437. Reports & Consultations
438. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans confirmed that he was trying to get Wiltshire Council to take some action on the old Beaumonts Building in the interests of public safety and had found out that the company that owned the building was Woodlands Mere Ltd.

*b) Project Co-Ordinator’s Report – Roger Pipe, the Council’s project co-ordinator was present.  He had prepared reports for members and gave a verbal update on the Footpath Improvement Project, Lease for Duchy Manor, and future project work, specifically an upgrade of the play equipment at Castle Hill Play Area which is estimated to cost in the region of £20k but will enable the Council to invite tenders without having to use the procurement portal.  Members approved the scope of the works, as detailed and also approved the method of procurement by inviting tenders.

Roger also provided members with a draft programme for the AIM (Activities in Mere) event taking place on 9 – 11 August and asked for some volunteer help distributing brochures and supporting some of the events.

1. c) Report on South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting held on 29^th May – The Chairman reported that he had attended the meeting which was held in Mere but lasted nearly 4 hours. The grant requests from organisations in Mere were all successful apart from the snooker club which was not awarded all the money it had requested. Jeans said that at this meeting, the Area Board agreed their priorities for the coming year as Youth Engagement & Wellbeing, Older and Vulnerable Adults Health & Wellbeing, The Environment and Community and Road Safety.

438. Planning
439. a) Applications for consultation response:

The Chairman said that he had visited the site and indeed had walked around with Mr. Bowers, the applicant.  He said that when he first looked at the barn, he thought it was very large and well-built and made for a very desirable residence for four very lucky donkeys.  Members felt that the application description was confusing as they understood that the area of land with the barn already benefitted from mixed agricultural and equestrian use although it appeared this was being requested within the proposal. The Clerk said that her understanding was that the second application (for the welfare building) had been built on an area that was not granted agricultural/equestrian use but that mixed agricultural and equestrian use had been granted on this land as part of planning application PL/2022/03331.  RESOLVED to submit the Town Council’s previous objections to the redesigned barn as follows:

The Town Council recalled that the applicant had attended Town Council meetings in 2022 explaining that he had bought 4 acres of land in Wet Lane in order to house his rescue donkeys and that he required the formation of a field access (another retrospective application) and the erection of an agricultural and livestock building.

Approval for a barn was granted under PL/2022/03331 and it would appear that the barn that has been built is quite different to the barn that was proposed, hence this planning application to revise the approval.

The planning officer confirmed in his 2022 report that the site is predominately rural location within the open countryside for the purposes of the local plan and is outside the defined limits of development.

The overall footprint of the approved barn was c. 94 sq. m. and the overall footprint of the built barn is c. 172 sq m. However, the size of the building adds to the built environment and detracts from the open countryside aspect of this rural area.  Furthermore, the storage container adjacent to the barn (we understood that the storage container had been moved to the adjacent field but it would appear that it is still in situ or at least the timber housing that surrounded the container is still in situ) and large bunded bank at the rear of the site behind which are situated a number of storage containers and stables.  All of this, together with vast lengths of hardcore tracks, hardstanding and fencing has produced a significant effect on the character and appearance of the landscape and created an unacceptable impact on the rural character of this area.

Under the 2021 Environment Act, the Town Council recently agreed its biodiversity policy.  The Town Council felt that this planning application does not meet the criteria within Mere Town Council’s Biodiversity Policy as the application does not benefit biodiversity through the conservation and integration of existing habitats or provision of new habitats for wildlife.

The Chairman confirmed that he had been in the building on his visit and that it was a small building, big enough for a settee, dining table, toilet, basin.  He pointed out that this application included modifications to the roof line proposed within this application.  Members felt that there was no justification for this separate building and it was RESOLVED to reiterate the Town Council’s previous response, taking into account the changes to the application title etc., as follows:

The Town Council recalled that the applicant had attended Town Council meetings in 2022 explaining that he had bought 4 acres of land in Wet Lane in order to house his rescue donkeys and that he required the formation of a field access (another retrospective application) and the erection of an agricultural and livestock building.  He did not mention, at the time, that he would require a welfare building to provide a space for workers on the site.

However, it would appear that this timber studio has been built on agricultural land, hence the purpose of this retrospective planning application.

The planning officer confirmed in his 2022 report, when considering planning application PL/2022/03331, that the site is predominately rural location within the open countryside for the purposes of the local plan and is outside the defined limits of development.

Planning history shows that that this building has been included in two previous retrospective planning applications –  PL/2023/10288 and PL/2023/10288 amended – now withdrawn.  This latest planning application is for the change of use of land from agricultural to a mixed use of agriculture and equestrian and a part retrospective permission for the erection of a small timber building to provide a welfare space for employees or volunteers caring for the donkeys.   I assume that the reference to part retrospective is because this proposal is to make modifications to the building that currently exists by changing the roof profile and installing timber shutters and a sliding door. Furthermore, the planning statement says that the timber building which is also referred to as a cabin and a studio within the planning statement, is required to support the running of the donkey rescue facility to provide welfare facilities, shelter, a WC and facilities to make hot drinks for rural workers on the site.

There are four donkeys on the site and it is believed that there is one member of staff who attends to the needs of these donkeys and it should be perfectly possible to provide a working space for this staff member (and other staff members if necessary) within the footprint existing barn that was erected in 2022.  The agricultural and equestrian building that was granted planning permission in 2022 (Ref: PL/2022/03331) has been built and is now the subject of a further retrospective S.73 application as it is different to the approved planning design -and is a very large and substantial building and although the Town Council does not support the new design, it would be preferable to include necessary welfare facilities within the confines of the barn.  The Town Council feels that there is no justification to support the need for this additional building, built on a different part of the site away from the barn, to serve the needs of staff associated with the needs of the donkeys as a suitable alternative existing building exists on the site.

Under the 2021 Environment Act, the Town Council recently agreed its biodiversity policy.  The Town Council felt that this planning application does not meet the criteria within Mere Town Council’s Biodiversity Policy as the application does not benefit biodiversity through the conservation and integration of existing habitats or provision of new habitats for wildlife

RESOLVED to recommend the above application for approval.

Members were informed that this planning application had already been approved by the planning authority.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application. Cllrs. Mrs. Traves, having declared a personal interest in this application, refrained from discussion or voting.

RESOLVED to recommend the above application for approval.

*b) Invitation to Planning Service Stakeholder meeting – Tuesday, 25^th June at County Hall, Trowbridge (in Clerks Report) – The Clerk said that she would try and attend if no councillors were able to attend.

439. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
440. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports – It was agreed that the Clerk & Cllr. Jeans would work together to try and get something done about the dreadful state of the road/path along White Road outside Mere Social Club.

The Chairman said that he had held an online meeting the LHFIG Traffic Engineer, Paul Shaddock to talk about several items that we have put to LHFIG.  Mr. Shaddock is going to produce a detailed plan for Hazzards Hill and he is also looking at providing a disabled bay at The Square and also talking to officers about Edgebridge.  He is going to leave the centre white line marking in Salisbury Street/The Square until later and give the other matters priority.

440. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
441. a) Approval to appoint structural engineer to assess suspected movement in North Chapel – the Chairman said that, following concerns raised by the grounds staff, he had inspected the Chapel and it does look as though the roof has moved away from the building and rainwater is coming in. RESOLVED to appoint a structural engineer to assess the suspected movement.
442. b) Preliminary proposals for Pluscharge to provide EV charger in Salisbury Street Car Park – the Clerk reported that following a conversation with David Hytch, he was preparing legal documents for a single charger with 2 cables so that two cars parked side-by-side could use it. However, he did point out that they could put a second connector plate into the next parking space along which would have a capped cover but would mean that we could utilise this in the future if and when we felt that extra chargers might be required. Members felt that this sounded like a good idea.

*c) Quotation for new glass fibre 12m flagpole, installation and old flagpole removal from Hampshire Flag Company (attached) – There was a discussion about fundraising for a new flagpole but members felt that the replacement flagpole was an urgent requirement for safety reasons.  RESOLVED to proceed with the new flagpole but to get some reassurances as to the flag raising mechanism inside the pole and how that gets repaired if it fails.

*d) Request from Mere Carnival to use the Recreation Ground to hold the Carnival Funfair in September 2024 (attached) – Some members raised concerns about the Recreation Ground ending up a quagmire and damage to the grounds, issues over access and traffic and the impact of parking on local highways and local residents and the impact of the fairground on other users of the Recreation Ground and noise for the surrounding residents.  Conversely, some members also felt that the Recreation Ground was a facility to benefit everyone in the town and were reassured by the mitigating measures indicated by Mr. Thorn and felt that the return of the carnival might help to assure the future of Mere Carnival.  RESOLVED to grant permission for the Carnival Funfair to use the Recreation Ground on a trial basis for 1 year on condition that the aluminium trackway is used to move the lorries on the ground and a bond is given to the council to pay for any necessary repairs to structures or ground.

441. Finance, Policy & Resources
442. a) Payments – Having declared a pecuniary interest, Cllr. Hazzard left the meeting whilst this matter was discussed and took no part in discussion or voting. RESOLVED to approve the payments as listed in the schedule of payments
443. b) To note the reconciliations for May 2024 – deferred.

*c) To review Mere Town Council Reserves Policy (attached) – RESOLVED to approve without amendment. The statement of reserves held at 31.3.24 was also presented to members – the Chairman pointed out that the general reserves had reduced and said that he was aware that the Clerk/RFO had concerns about this and efforts would be made to address these concerns at the Annual budget meeting.

*d) To approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for the year ending 31^st March 2024

1. To receive and note the Annual Internal Audit Report (attached) – the Final Audit Report following the end of year Internal Audit Review carried out by the Internal Auditor Katherine Houlihan on 17^th May 2024, had been distributed to members. A copy of Page 3 of the AGAR, completed and signed by the Internal Auditor was also distributed to members prior to the meeting and members noted that the Internal Auditor had confirmed that all the relevant Internal Control Objective’s had been met.  Members noted the recommendations made by the IA and the Clerk said that these would be addressed over the course of the next few months.
2. To approve the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1) – Points 1 – 9 of the Annual Governance statement 2023/24 (Section 1 of the AGAR) were read out to members and members answered ‘yes’ to each of the statements. The Annual Governance Statement was signed by the Clerk and by the Chairman in the presence of the Town Council.

• To approve the Accounting Statements (Section 2) Attached – The Clerk pointed out that the Total Fixed Asset Figure for last year had been “restated” and reminded members that last year the external auditor had raised a matter relating to an error that I had made in the asset valuations. Upon thorough investigation, it turns out that the error was actually £50 as explained last month (Minute 428d).  The Accounting Statements 1 – 11a & 11b (Section 2 of the AGAR) were approved by the Town Council.  Confirmation of approval of the Accounting Statements was signed by the Clerk/RFO on 23.5.24 and by the Chairman in the presence of the Town Council at the meeting.

1. To set the commencement date for the exercise of public rights – the Clerk confirmed that, as required by the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2015, the Town Council must now publish the unaudited AGAR and the Notice for the Commencement of the Period for the Exercise of Public Rights. Publication is on the Town Council’s website: merewilts.org

The Clerk anticipated that the commencement date would be 28.6.24

1. To note other information to be sent to the External Auditor and required by External Auditor as part of Intermediate Review 2023/24 – the Clerk pointed out to members that because the Town Council had income exceeding £200k we were required to have an Intermediate Audit Review which required providing extra information to the external auditors. The extra information to be submitted for the 2023/24 intermediate review applicable to Mere Town Council is:

• Supporting documentation for the income included in Section 2, Box 2 (this is the Precept and so evidence of the budgeting/precept process will be submitted)
• If the 2022/213 external Auditor report included any ‘except for’ matters, copies of minutes and any agreed plan showing the corrective action taken to address these matters (this related to the RESTATED Asset Register figure for last year (Minute 428d refers).

442. General Items
443. a) To authorise the Town Clerk to spend time in investigating constitution/governing documents and sorting out/organising a way for the Forest Dear Leazes to continue operating – RESOLVED that the Clerk should spend time on the above.

Briefing Notes

*Briefing Note 24-09, Defra Simpler Recycling Update (attached)

*Briefing Note 24-10, Local Development Order consultation- Revamp Your Tank scheme (attached)

*Briefing Note 24-11 Management of Council business and publicity during the pre-election period (attached)

443. Future meetings and events

Invitation to The Campaign to Protect Rural England – Wiltshire’s AGM, on the 16th July at 19.00 at Malmesbury Town Hall – Speaker is The Chief Executive Officer of CPRE – Roger Mortlock – Speaking on Solar and the Rooftop Revolution!

444. 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 8.39 pm

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

For Trustees to consider the following:

Request from Mere Carnival to use the Recreation Ground to hold the Carnival Funfair in September 2024

As Sole Trustee of the Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground, members of the Town Council endorsed their decision to grant permission for the Carnival Funfair to use the Recreation Ground on a trial basis for 1 year on condition that the aluminium trackway is used to move the lorries on the ground and a bond is given to the council to pay for any necessary repairs to structures or ground.

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of the ANNUAL meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 13^th May 2024 at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW.

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

Public Participation Session

Mrs. Poppy Hall spoke on behalf of Mr. & Mrs. Swann in support of their planning application PL/2024/03421 at Sandells, Water Street. 

Mel Wilkinson, Chairman of the Carnival Committee said that over the last couple of years there had been complaints that the Carnival has not had a funfair and although the funfair is not an integral part of the carnival it is a major part and so he was asking the Town Council to reconsider again the idea of having the funfair on the Recreation Ground in September 2024.

Hamish Bell spoke in support of the request from Grove Building Mere for financial assistance and support of their funding application to South West Wiltshire Area Board in order to upgrade the audio-visual facilities in the building. (Agenda Item 25f)

Kate Symonds said that, following the sad death of Dr. Longbourne, it had occurred to her that it might be a nice idea to name a footpath after him and wanted to put the idea out there.

Lesley Traves said that Dr. Longbourne ’s memorial service would be on July 10^th at 2.00 pm

George Jeans said that as a neighbour of Sandells, he would be declaring a pecuniary interest in the planning application but he was permitted to talk during the pubic session as a member of the public and just wanted to say that he had no objection to the planning application.

 Reports from local police representatives – no police present

404. To elect Chairman of Mere Town Council for 2024/25 and to receive the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office

Cllr. John Jordan elected as Chairman of Mere Town Council for 2024/25 on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Traves, seconded by Cllr. George Jeans, there being no other nominations, this proposal was put to the vote and carried with a unanimous vote.

Having signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office, Cllr. John Jordan in The Chair

405. To elect Vice-Chairman of Mere Town Council for 2024/25 and to receive the Vice-Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Cllr. Glen Ings elected as Vice-Chairman of Mere Town Council for 2024/25 on proposal made by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford, there being no other nominations, this proposal was put to the vote and carried with a unanimous vote.

406. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Nick Beale, Sandra Catley & Philip Coward.

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

Cllr. Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in planning application PL/2024/03421

Cllr. Hazzard declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 428a

Cllr. Jordan declared a pecuniary interest in Minue No. 428a

408. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 8^th April 2024 be approved as a correct record.

409. To review and adopt the Standing Orders & Financial Regulations for Mere Town Council (both attached) – RESOLVED to adopt, without further amendment, both documents. The Clerk explained that NALC had just published new model Financial Regulations this week and so it is likely that the Town Council would be required to amend its Financial Regulations over the course of the next few months when she has had an opportunity to establish what the amendments are.

410. Internal Audit

To appoint/re-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.

411. To review Committee Structures and appointment of any committees in accordance with standing order 4 and, if appointing committees, to consider terms of reference etc. – 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.

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

413. To appoint members, including the Chairman, to serve on the Staffing Panel – It was agreed that the Staffing Panel member make-up should be Chairman, Cllr. Mrs. Traves & Cllr. Colman.

414. To appoint members, including the Chairman, to serve on the Appeals Committee – It was agreed that the Appeals Committee member make-up should be the Vice-Chairman, Cllr. Debbie Beale & Cllr. Rachael Hansford.

415. To appoint/re-appoint Trustees for Forest Charities

Existing trustees are Rodney Coward, Clive Hazzard, George Jeans, Ann Rich and Andrew Rees. Cllr. Jeans raised issues with nominating Trustees for the Allotment Charity and the Chairman said that he would discuss this with Cllr. Jeans at a later date.

416. a) Review of representation on or work with external bodies and arrangements for reporting back:

417. Review of delegation arrangements to committees, sub-committees, staff and other local authorities; (Scheme of Delegation attached) – RESOLVED to adopt the Scheme of Delegation without amendment.

418. To review the Council’s banking and signatory arrangements and mandate for direct debits – RESOLVED to continue with the practice of two councillors to verify payments by physically signing each invoice. RESOLVED to approve the list of Direct Debits.

419. To review the Council’s asset register (asset register attached) – it was agreed that this agenda item would be discussed along with the insurance quotation/schedule. (see Minute Ref: 428 d & e)

420. Confirmation of arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all insurable risks (renewal insurance schedule attached – see also, agenda item 25d) – it was agreed to take this under agenda item 25d) but members delegated authority for the Chairman and Clerk to complete the ‘Statement of Fact questionnaire’.

421. To fix the dates and times of ordinary meetings of the Council and Committees for the ensuing year – 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.

422. Matters Arising from Public Session

In relation to the question raised by Mel Wilkinson relating to the Carnival Funfair being held in the Recreation Ground.  Some members felt that the Recreation Ground was wholly inappropriate and others felt that the Council should make an effort to help the carnival and please the young people by accommodating a funfair.  It was agreed that this matter would be raised as an agenda item for the next meeting and the Chairman asked Mr. Wilkinson to submit a formal proposal for full debate at the June meeting.

As Hamish Bell had spoken in support of this agenda item during the public session, the Chairman brought the agenda item forward:

*f) Request from Grove Building Mere for financial assistance and support of their funding application to South West Wiltshire Area Board in order to upgrade the audio-visual facilities in the building. (report attached) – it was RESOLVED to support this application with a grant of £500.

Naming of a footpath in memory of Dr. Longbourne would be raised as a future agenda item.

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

*a) Feedback on Annual Town Meeting and responses to questions raised (Minutes attached + Questions & suggested responses in Clerks Report) – members felt that in general, the new format of the Annual Town Meeting was better and seemed a bit more engaging.  Members felt that it was very good to have some young people at the meeting but it was felt that maybe we needed to do some refining: – increase print size on displays, think about the timing to try and get more people to come along from different age groups.  With regards to the questions raised – it was agreed that these should be redacted and put into a kind of newsletter to put on the website and possibly shared on social media and Mere Matters.

424. Reports & Consultations
425. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans raised the subject of banking hubs which he thought might be of interest to the Town Council and said he would try and find out more information in the meantime.

*b) Project Co-Ordinator’s Report (attached) – members noted the information in the report.   It was pointed out that Wessex Water had caused some damage to the recently laid footpath and that this was currently being investigated by the Project Co-Ordinator.

1. c) Report on LHFIG meeting held on 8^th May 2024 – The Chairman confirmed that he had attended the meeting and dealt with several matters:

• Speed reduction on Shaftesbury Road – at the present time it is waiting for the Traffic Regulation Order to be posted for public consultation. This is supposed to be posted for June.
• New lights for footpaths 50 & 66 – I was told that this was ‘in hand’.
• Next phase of lighting for footpaths 50 & 66. We have asked Wiltshire Council for their advice and suggestions for the next phase of lighting and we have been told that this is with the Street Lighting team.
• Apparently our grant has been sanctioned but it has still not been received, despite sending an invoice back in March.
• Hazzards Hill – I will be participating in a zoom meeting in early June to discuss the suggestions that we put forward and create a drawing to show where some parking spaces could be provided and double-yellow lines could be created. I am also going to discuss the white line in the centre of the road in The Square.
• Jeans asked if the Chairman could remind them that they needed to remove the double-yellow lines where there is no TRO in Salisbury Street (mistakenly painted)
• Edgebridge – the traffic signing team is going to send an engineer out to look at our request and consult with us to see if we are happy with their proposals.

425. Planning
426. a) Applications for consultation response:

RESOLVED to recommend the above application for approval.

As Cllr. Jeans had declared an interest in this planning application, he left the room whilst this matter was considered and took no part in discussion or voting.  The Chairman pointed out that there were some comments on the planning register.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

RESOLVED to object to this planning application, sending the following response:  The Town Council felt unable to approve this planning application as we were not aware that the premises has been actively marketed as a commercial building and feel that we should resist the loss of another commercial building in the town unless some effort has been made to retain the commercial premises – whether it be used as a shop or offices.  A change of use to residential should only be considered as a last resort.

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

• Weeds around roads in Lovage Way and Fennel Road – Cllr. Kate Symonds
• Rubbish along A303 & Graffiti on A303 bridge – Cllr. Debbie Beale
• Potholes around Mere generally – Cllr. George Jeans

427. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
428. a) Suggestion to amend cemetery regulations to permit interment of cremated remains only in Mere Cemetery – R. Coward said that it was pointed out that space in the cemetery was being used faster than we anticipated and mooted the idea of allowing cremations only in the newest part of the new cemetery. It was pointed out that a lot of people are against cremation burials and the Town Council had plenty of room for cremation burials in the cemetery and it was therefore agreed that we should continue with offering a choice although it was felt that a national policy might change in years to come.

428. Finance, Policy & Resources

Cllr. Ings in The Chair

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

Cllr. Jordan resumes The Chair

10. b) To confirm approval for S.137 payments for 2024/25 financial year (as listed in payment schedule) – it was pointed out that the payments in the schedule had been taken from those approved at the Annual Budget meeting but for the benefit of members, the Clerk explained that S.137 of the Local Government Act 1972 gives Local Authorities the power to incur expenditure for certain purposes not otherwise authorised. The amount of money that can be spent is capped and set annually – the 24/25 limit is £10.81 per elector and the council must also be satisfied that the expenditure incurred gives a commensurate benefit to the residents.  RESOLVED to confirm approval for S.137 payments for the 2024/25 financial year.
11. c) To note the reconciliations for March 2024 & April 2024 – the Chairman confirmed that he had signed and verified the reconciliations against the bank statements and he had verified the Clerk’s monthly salary payments.
12. d) To review the Council’s asset register (asset register attached) – it was agreed that this agenda item would be discussed along with the insurance quotation/schedule.

The full asset register was distributed to members prior to the meeting.  The Clerk confirmed that she had revised the layout of the asset register as she had made some mistakes with the asset valuation which were raised by the external auditor last year.  Members were presented with the workings for the restated asset valuation for 31.3.23 and also the workings for the asset movement summary for 2023/24.

The Clerk pointed out that most of the assets are valued at purchase cost or survey value although the Town Council has traditionally applied the insurance valuations for our buildings as their values are index linked each year.  RESOLVED to adopt the asset register without amendment.

*e) To consider quotation for insurance renewal (attached) – the Clerk pointed out that not all of our assets are insured i.e. seats & benches, play equipment & some fences for damage although we do, of course, have public liability for these items.  She also pointed out that she had asked the insurance company to provide a revised quotation for the inclusion of the two car parks but had not heard back from them.  It was agreed to pay the renewal premium and to await an additional premium for the two car parks.

*f) To review and approve end of year Budget/Expenditure Report including revisions to reserves and to discuss debtors/creditors and End of Year Summaries (report attached) – the Clerk said that she had highlighted the negative reserves and she informed members of the outstanding debts.  Members noted the summary for the maintenance charges of the Recreation Ground. RESOLVED to approve the end of year Budget/Expenditure Report and End of Year Summaries.

429. General Items
430. a) Concerns about security of old Beaumonts building/site in Woodlands Road – The Clerk confirmed that she had made contact with one of the co-owners of the building and his view was that people should not be trespassing into his building. He seemed to be reluctant to spend any money on making the site secure and the Clerk felt that there was not much point in pursuing this point. The Clerk did think, however, that there was legislation for Wiltshire Council to step in to secure buildings against unauthorised entry.  Jeans said he was having difficulty finding out which officer/department to enforce this at Wiltshire Council RESOLVED to ask Cllr. Jeans to pursue this matter further to see if something can be done to secure this site.

Briefing Notes:

*Briefing Note 24-08, Draft Licensing Policy 2024-2029 consultation (Briefing Note attached)

430. Future meetings and events

• 22nd May at 11 am – South West Wiltshire Area Board Health & Wellbeing Group Meeting
• 29^th May at 6.30 pm – South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting at The Grove Building, Church Street, Mere.
• 6^th June 2024 – 11 am – Wreath laying service and Last Post at Mere War Memorial in commemoration of 80^th Anniversary of D-Day Normandy Landings.

431. 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 9.05 pm

Meeting approved by the Chairman

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

For Trustees to consider the following:

RESOLVED to approve payment from Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground Charity to Mere Town Council for maintenance charges for 2023/24 for £15607.09

The Clerk informed members that the Town Council had agreed to provide a donation to the Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground Charity of £15,500

 Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 8^th April 2024 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), Debbie Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Rodney Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, George Jeans, Linden Stone, Kate Symonds & Lesley Traves

Also: Graham Sheppard

Public Participation Session

Mr. Graham Shepard pointed out various issues relating to the work connected with the footpath improvement project and Lesley Traves asked some questions.  The Chairman and Clerk pointed out that the job was not actually finished and the contractors were coming back to deal with some of the points that had been raised tonight as well as other issues which had been picked up on the snagging list.

Rodney Coward urged people to walk around Castle Hill & Long Hill saying that it is well worth the effort to see all the primroses and wild flowers.

John Jordan publicised a walk taking place next Sunday (14^th April) at 2.00 pm starting from Salisbury Street Car Park – this is a walk that has been devised by Richard Broadhead for the Cranborne Chase Natural Landscape.

Reports from local police representatives

• None present

392. Apologies for absence received from Councillors Nick Beale, Philip Coward, R. Hill & Glen Ings

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

• George Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in Minute Ref: 400a)

394. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 4^th March 2024 be approved as a correct record. The working group RESOLVED that the Minutes of working group meeting held to review & assess the effectiveness of Internal Control Measures held on Thursday, 21^st March 2024 be approved as a correct record.

395. Matters Arising from Public Session

None

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

*a) Annual Town Meeting (Minute Ref. 382a) – suggested agenda (Draft agenda attached) – the Chairman said that he had requested that the Q & A session be removed from the draft agenda.  He said that following a brief introduction and report from him at the meeting, there will be councillors on hand and representatives from various groups on hand and I hope that people will direct their questions to those councillors and representatives.  We will also have post-its so that people can provide suggestions and we must annotate all this so that we can note these questions and suggestions in the Minutes. Cllr. Rachael Hansford requested that we include, within the notice, a link to the suggestion page on the website for those that cannot attend the meeting.

*b) Update on licence agreement with Econetiq for EV chargers in Salisbury Street Car Park (Minute Ref: 386b) [see Clerks Report] – The Chairman reminded members that at the last meeting that we approved expending a further £300 towards the solicitors’ costs for additional work.  Econetiq now want a lease from us which will mean the creation of another document which will cost us more.  It was felt that the Town Council had spent far too much time and money on Econetiq and not made any progress and as they were a company chosen by the car share company and not by the Town Council in the first place, it may be better to pursue an alternative company to provide EV chargers in the car park.  The Clerk said she had taken the liberty of contacting Mr. Hytch who had said that he felt confident that the team at Pluscharge would be able to survey, deliver and install chargers to our requirements in the Salisbury Street Car Park.  It was agreed to check with our solicitors that we are free to call a halt to proceedings with Econetiq and if so we should do so and follow up new proceedings to install EV chargers in the car park with Pluscharge.

397. Reports & Consultations
398. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans said that he didn’t want to draw out the meeting with a long report but would happily answer any questions if asked.

*b) Project Co-Ordinator’s Report (report attached) – members noted the information that was distributed and the Chairman pointed out that we had already discussed footpaths 50 & 66 and we appreciate that there is some snagging work to do.

1. c) Community Governance Review – to report on public consultation meeting held on 18^th March 2024 – the Chairman thanked all those who were able to come along to the meeting but gave a summary of the meeting for those who were unable to come along. He said that it was now down to the committee to make a formal recommendation to Wiltshire Council.

398. Planning
399. a) Applications for consultation response:

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

Members felt that the wording on the proposal above was ambiguous as it is unclear exactly what elevations it is proposed to substitute stone for buff bricks (the proposal says certain elevations!).  However, after clarification with the planning officer, it would appear that it is proposed to substitute stone for buff bricks on the front elevation.  RESOLVED that the Town Council cannot support this proposal.  During the pre-application inquiry process for this Care Home, the LPA suggested that the proposed building design should take inspiration from more traditional buildings within the centre of Mere and the applicant determined to proceed with a more traditional design approach and stated that the development would use materials to the walls and roof which harmonized with those used within the centre of Mere and that the building was designed in such a way that is respectful to the older properties within Mere.  To substitute the use of stone in lieu of buff bricks on ANY elevations, but particularly on the front elevation, which will be visible from Castle Street, would not harmonize with any buildings in Mere as the Town Council cannot think of any buildings within the town that are made of buff bricks.  Furthermore, the visual impact would be completely out of character with the surrounding area and would not be respectful to the surrounding landscape and would not achieve high quality design.   [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 informed members that the planning application for Woodlands Road (considered at last month’s meeting) had been approved on condition that it is used for agricultural purposes only.  The planning application for Wet Lane has been withdrawn although Cllr. Jeans has been assured that another planning application will be forthcoming for this site.

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

Cllr. Jeans identified a large pothole in Water Street (outside Shreen Hayes). The Chairman thanked the 20+ volunteers who came along to do the Spring Clean litter pick last weekend and gathered up 31 bags of litter and was impressed that the Streetscene team collected the litter before 8 am the next morning.

*b) Highway Improvement Request Form for review and provision of additional lighting in Pettridge Lane – (Form attached) – this echoes a problem that was discussed at last month’s meeting.  Cllr. Jeans said he would be in favour of this being approved but requested that an apron is included within the light to stop the light being emitted into neighbouring properties.  Cllr. Debbie Beale requested that a Victorian-style street light be considered or something more appropriate.  RESOLVED to support the addition of an appropriate lamp (with shield) subject to the Town Council’s financial contribution being agreed.

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

*a) To consider appointing a QS to provide an estimate and specification for the Public Toilet project (report attached & layout plan attached) – Cllr. Hazzard said that he was staggered at the costs given by the specialist public toilet fitters.  Cllr. Colman felt that specialist public toilet fitters were essential and that the Town Council should even go so far as getting a maintenance contract and a cleaning contract so that we had the whole package deal.  He also said that it appeared that some of the amendments to the layout plan, previously agreed by the Council had been ignored.  The Chairman pointed out that this layout plan had been used simply as an illustrative drawing to enable a Quantity Surveyor to provide a figure so that we can do a public consultation in order to apply for a loan.  The Chairman pointed out that it would not be possible to apply for a loan for a maintenance contract or cleaning contract.  It was agreed that, if necessary, three toilets would be sufficient.  Cllr. Jeans was adamant that one of the toilets needed to be chargeable so that people could pay to use it at night.  If it is three toilets, we felt that there would be one that is clearly marked as ladies, one that is clearly marked as a radar/disabled toilet and the other one could be free for all to use during the daytime but would be open during the night with payment.  This toilet being labelled “unisex”.  Agreed that a Quantity Surveyor be appointed to provide the details that would be necessary to go to public consultation in order to apply for a loan from the Public Works Loan Board.  Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting as he lived so close to the public toilets.

1. b) Update on clock chiming repair – The Clerk reported that Peter from the Cumbria Clock Company came out on 14^th March, part of the striking mechanism was jamming up the clock and so this part has now been taken out and taken away for remodelling. The clock is working now and Peter is hoping that when it is remodelled and refitted both the clock and striking mechanism will work. Our clock is over 130 years old and Peter said that he could provide a price for an electric clock and pointed out that electric clocks also go wrong and when they go wrong it is often necessary to replace the whole clock and not just a cog or an arm.  The Clerk pointed out that the Cumbria Clock’s invoice had not yet been paid and would not be paid until everything they were charging us for was working properly.
2. c) Community Garden Proposals for Fennel Road – the people who were considering Fennel Road for this opportunity have now decided that this is not a viable option and have requested that they are now included on the waiting list for a suitable allotment instead.

400. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – Having declared a pecuniary interest in this item, Cllr. Jeans left the meeting room whilst this matter was discussed.  Cllr. Hazzard raised a question on the cleaning of mop heads invoice from Jeans.  The Clerk explained that the mop heads were no longer cleaned commercially as she had found a source to buy mop heads in bulk so it was cheaper to throw away mop heads than it was to have them cleaned.  However, she was dismayed to receive invoices two years after the event and invoices that spanned a period of two years.  RESOLVED to authorise schedule of payments (schedule attached).

1. b) To note the reconciliations for February 2024 – the Chairman confirmed that he had signed and verified the reconciliations against the bank statements & he had verified the Clerk’s monthly salary payment.

*c) Review and assessment of the effectiveness of Internal Control Measures – the Clerk explained that the Town Council has to confirm that it has reviewed, annually, the effective of our systems of financial control and those systems include our internal controls which are things like our financial regulations, standing orders, internal auditor, external audit, asset register, policies, budget controls etc.

RESOLVED to approve the recommendations of the working group as outlined in the Minutes of the meeting held to review and assess the effectiveness of Internal Control Measures held on Thursday, 21^st March 2024.

RESOLVED to approve the draft Statement of Internal Controls 2023/24 without amendment

RESOLVED to approve the Annual Investment Strategy without amendment

RESOLVED to approve the Asset Management Policy and members agreed to set £250 as an appropriate minimum value for single assets and collective assets.  It was pointed out that the last building valuation was carried out in 2014 and as it says that they will be revalued every 10 years, it follows that this will need to take place during this financial year.

RESOLVED to approve the Fixed Asset Register 2023/24 without amendment

*d) To report on allotment rent audit (in Clerks Report) – members noted the information in the Clerks Report.

1. e) 2023/24 Annual Governance & Accountability Return external auditor instructions – the Clerk explained that instructions had been received from the external auditors. The Council is within the parameters for an Intermediate Internal Audit. This year we will need to provide supporting documentation for the precept.  We will also need to report on any ‘Except For’ matters, copies of minutes and any action that we have taken.  The Clerk said that she did make an error on the asset register valuation last year which is one of the reasons why she has reviewed the asset register this year.
2. f) To sign the Grant Agreement for the Provision of the Wiltshire Towns Programme – Activity Generation Allocation Funding 2023-2024 – In the absence of the Vice-Chairman, it was agreed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman should sign this document as soon as possible.
3. g) Cleaning of office/Andy Young Pavilion – the Clerk pointed out that Mrs. Beaumont used to clean the pavilion 1 hour one week and clean the offices and foyer here at Duchy Manor 1 hour the next week but she has now retired and the Clerk has found a local cleaning contractor who is willing to do these tasks for £15.00 per hour although she has said that it may take her longer than one hour per week in the initial stages. RESOLVED to proceed with this cleaning contract on this basis.

*h) CCLA – to make formal resolution to invest £100,000 into the CCLA Public Sector Deposit Fund and to authorise signatories and account operators. RESOLVED to authorise the investment of £100,000 into the CCLA Public Sector Deposit Fund on proposal made by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Traves and carried with a unanimous vote.  It was agreed that signatories be Councillors John Jordan, Lesley Traves, George Jeans and the Clerk, Lindsey Wood.

401. General Items
402. a) Briefing Note 25-06 – Management of Council business and publicity during the pre-election period (attached) – The Chairman pointed out that there is an election taking place for the Police and Crime Commissioner and so this information is relevant in the run up to the election.
403. b) To change date of June 2024 meeting – RESOLVED to change the meeting to 10^th June as the Clerk is not available on the first Monday. The Chairman said that the agenda would be sent out on 20^th May and so if anyone wanted anything to go on the agenda then they needed to get it in early before 20^th
404. c) Blue Plaques for Mere – potential signs and sites – the Chairman said that he had taken some advice on blue plaques from the archivist for the Mere Historical Society who has made some suggestions: Farley Rutter, William Lander, William Barnes, Harrison Birtwhistle, Eve Grey (actress)

George Jeans suggested Isiah Jupe should be remembered somehow and Vivien Leigh who lived in Woodlands Manor.  Cllr. Mrs. Symonds suggested Julia Chaffyn-Grove.

RESOLVED that the Chairman should find out if the owners of the properties identified would be willing to have a blue plaque and then seek approval from any existing family members if they would be happy to have a blue plaque to commemorate their ancestor.  RESOLVED to authorise the Chairman to proceed with the next step in this process.

402. Future meetings and events

• Annual Town Meeting to be held on Wednesday, 24^th April 2024 at Duchy Manor at 6.00 pm
• Cranborne Chase National Landscape Annual Forum – Tuesday, 16^th April 2024 – 9.30 am – 4.00 pm. Dinton Village Hall (booking required)
• Operational Flood Working Group on 17^th April in Warminster

403. 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, 13^th May 2024

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 8.31 pm

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

Trustees RESOLVED to approve the following payment:

Water2business – standing charge for water supply to old cricket club site            £34.53

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a working group meeting held on Thursday, 21^st March 2024 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 2024
• schedule for Internal Control Measures

It was pointed out that the Council’s Risk Management is currently undergoing a major review as the Town Council has just appointed Guardian Advisors Ltd to analyse the Town Councils needs and requirements to create a functioning Health & Safety management system and provide support, advice and training where needed.  The Schedule for Internal Control Measures highlighted the Internal Control Measures & Risk Assessments that were likely to be reviewed in the next year.

One or two minor amendments were made to the Statement of Internal Controls and members were happy to present these to the Council for adoption and signature. (Draft Statement of Internal Controls 2024 attached)

In view of the decision made at the Town Council meeting held on 15.1.24 (Minute Ref: 362f) it was agreed that an amendment should be made to the Annual Investment Strategy in order to accommodate the investment to be made into CCLA’s Public Sector Deposit Fund.  (Draft Annual Investment Strategy attached)

In respect of the ‘except for’ matter that was raised by the External Auditor in September last year, the Clerk confirmed that following discussion with the Internal Auditor, she was currently revising the Council’s Asset Register and Asset Management Policy which would also be presented to the Town Council for approval/adoption at the next meeting. (Fixed Asset Register 2023/24 + Draft Asset Management Policy attached)

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 31.3.2024.

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 4^th March 2024 at 7.00 pm in the Andy Young Pavilion, 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, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward, Rodney Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Raymond Hill, George Jeans, Linden Stone, Kate Symonds & Lesley Traves

Mr. David Leaky, John Wright +  Lydia Dunne

Public Participation Session

Lydia Dunne from Whiteacre Planning representing Craig Bowers who has two planning applications on the agenda tonight spoke in support of the applications.   “We understand that there has been concern about the site at Wet Lane and at Woodlands Road and we have been working hard with the planning officer to resolve the issues & both applications have now been revised and the revisions include the following at Wet Lane:  The application at Wet Lane is only for the erection of a timber building for use as a welfare building for making cups of tea and toilet provision and this also now includes changes to the previously approved building for agricultural & equine use which has larger overhangs than that which was approved and it has moved slightly.  The application at Woodlands Road has also been revised following discussion with the planning officer and now includes only changes to the agricultural building and the surrounding hardstanding and the toilet and shipping container that were previously on the plans have now been removed.  A toilet will be included in the agricultural building rather than it being a separate unit.”

David Leaky summarised an email that he had sent out to all members of the Town Council and said that he thought the “resurfacing of Footpaths 50 & 66 is terrific.  We all hope that the drainage works well too.  The issue that we and a lot of other residents of Mere are exercised about is the possibility of putting lights around the junction of footpaths 50 & 66 around Meads House, Lordsmead Mill and Lordsmead House.  I would also like to suggest to the Council that something could be done at Edgebridge to mitigate the risks to pedestrians crossing Edgebridge where there is no footpath and I would urge the council to consider doing something imaginative which would be of real benefit.”

John Wright asked the Town Council to complain to Wiltshire Council about the fact that Pettridge Lane had not been resurfaced properly, resurfacing small areas but not the areas with the potholes.  He also suggested that it would be helpful to have a street light on Pettridge Lane where the pavement ends on one side of the road and you need to cross the road to join the pavement on the other side.

Debbie Beale said that she was surprised and disappointed to see the notices protesting about the lighting on footpath 66 and said that she was under the impression that parishioners were happy about the lighting on the footpaths and having heard a summary of what happened at the meeting on 12^th February, she gathered that this was not the case and felt that the Town Council should look again at the lighting in consultation with the residents.

Kate Symonds said that it was her understanding that this Council has agreed to only install the low-level electrical lighting at the present time because “we know that the Lordsmead Area and the rest of the path have technical difficulties and may raise differences of opinion and so these are areas that we can discuss in the future as we have not decided on any of those things and so there will be plenty of opportunity to gather information, consider more schemes and go out to public consultation.”

Nick Beale said that he felt that the Town Council had failed to let the public know exactly what is going on with the lighting of footpath 66.  He said that he was under the impression that the public are happy about the lighting and yet “I heard that at the meeting held last week no-one was in support of the lights and when we walked down there today and saw all the posters on the wall, I feel we are not going to put ourselves in a good place if we just go ahead with these lights without taking any notice of the people that live there.”

Lesley Traves pointed out that the plan to do the path and the lighting has been going on since her time as Chair of the Town Council in 2021, it has been discussed in numerous meetings and it has been mentioned in Mere Matters on many occasions.  She had attended the information meeting last week and hadn’t seen any of the people that were in attendance at any other meetings.  She said it was wrong to say that we have let people down and would be more accurate to say that people had let themselves down by not taking any notice of what is going on.

David Leaky said that the Council did send a letter to him and to his neighbours and so they were consulted but he does not follow Mere Matters, Mere Mutters or the Town Councils minutes and so he was not aware of what was happening.

Glen Ings said that the timber street name sign at the end of Denes Avene (Manor Road end) has both posts snapped.

Clive Hazzard said that the Clock in The Square occasionally works but seems to be not working more often now and I wonder if we could ask what the price of a new clock would be – perhaps we could get likeminded people to donate towards a new clock.

Lesley Traves pointed out that whilst Planning Application PL/2024/01520 is for her address, the application has actually been submitted by her neighbour and relates to “our tree that spreads over his lane.”  She pointed out that she had no objection to the application.

John Jordan informed members that he was organising a spring litter pick and invited all to join him on Sunday, 24^th March at 11 am starting from Castle Street Car Park.

The Clerk reported that two councillors helped with the removal of some estate agents’ boards recently and she had been asked by a resident to say thank you.

Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she attended a Social Media Course online and she has a recording of it if anyone wants to see it.  She also pointed out that individual members can publicise and promote the work of the Town Council on their own social media outlets i.e. advertise meetings.

378. Apologies for absence were received from Cllr. Sandra Catley.

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

• Mrs. Traves declared a pecuniary interest in planning application PL/2024/01520
• John Jordan declared a personal interest in planning application PL/2024/01520
• George Jeans declared a personal interest in planning application PL/2024/02044

380. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 5^th February 2024 be approved as a correct record with the following addition to Minute 370b) … Cllr. N. Beale disagreed with the discussion.

381. Matters Arising from Public Session

The Chairman said: “We have had a fulsome discussion about the footpath lighting and no decisions have yet been made on the solar lighting.  The highway improvement suggestions that we have put forward to the LHFIG for Edgebridge have been approved for future funding by both the LHFIG and the Area Board – this includes ‘Pedestrian in road’ signs (both directions), SLOW road markings with rumble strips and the Town Council will need to fund 25% of this project.  I would like to thank Cllr. Jeans for being persuasive at the Area Board meeting.  I think there would be little to amplify the comments – I have been doing some consultation and I have quite a pile of comments from members of the public and I have now been out on three occasions to talk to members of the public most affected by this – there are one or two that disagree but on the whole the feelings were positive.  I feel it would be best if we have an opportunity to look at alternative methods of solar lighting and we will defer that until another meeting after we have been able to see the benefits of the first phase of the project.”

Cllr. Beale asked for clarification on the decisions and what work was taking place on fp 50 and fp 66. The Chairman explained that as had previously been agreed by the Town Council, both footpaths were being resurfaced and footpath 66 was having electrical bollard lighting installed.  A decision on the lighting for footpath 50 had not yet been decided although it was thought that this would need to be solar as electrical lighting was too expensive.  Cllr. Beale said he had heard that there were about 30 people at the meeting last Monday and that none of them agreed with the work that was taking place. The Chairman reiterated that he had carried out extensive house-to-house consultation where most of the feelings were positive.  He said it was wrong to say that the people at the information meeting last week did not agree with the work that was taking place because no poll was taken at that meeting as it was an information meeting only.

Cllr. Philip Coward said that the lighting in the particular area that everyone is getting excited about has not yet been decided on and this is all getting blown up out of all proportion

Cllr. Philip Coward said that with regard to the water on the footpath – he recalled that both he and Cllr. Raymond Hill installed a perforated pipe with stone in the ditch that was on the hedge side of Fp 50 some years ago and so it may be that this drain is in fact now blocked.

Cllr. P. Coward said that in order to answer Mr. Wright’s comments, he wanted to point out that it is fast becoming a full-time job trying to get Wiltshire Council to do something and it is becoming very frustrating.  He also pointed out that you could not have one way priority traffic around Edgebrige without having traffic lights and the costs of that would be prohibitive.

Cllr. Jeans wanted to praise the work carried out by the Town Council’s grounds staff in cutting back the obstructed hedgerow on the pavement outside the houses along Clements Lane and this means that the pavement is now more usable – particularly whilst the footpath is closed.  He also said that he appreciated that there is a Wiltshire Council failing that the area on Pettridge Lane where you need to cross to reach the pavements is dark and asked for this to be a future agenda item.

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

*a) Annual Town Meeting – suggestions for alternative structure and content of meeting (see Clerks Report) – Members felt that it would be a good opportunity to display some visuals to people and also to use the meeting as a public consultation exercise for Town Council priorities.  It was agreed that this meeting should be publicised and advertised as much as possible.  There was a long discussion about how to advertise this event – Mere Matters, Mere Mutters, Posters, Noticeboard, Post Office window etc.  Cllr. Rodney Coward said he was sorry to say that the population was apathetic – we heard this evening from a resident who didn’t read Mere Matters, Mere Mutters, didn’t look at the Town Council’s website to read the minutes and didn’t even bother to stay for the meeting.

383. Reports & Consultations

*a) Community Governance Review – Public consultation meeting (see Clerks Report + 3 attachments) – as reported previously, the electoral review committee commission have recommended that the boundary is changed and this area of land should be included within the Mere parish boundary.  This is now subject to public consultation with opened on 12.2.24 and is open until 18.3.24 culminating in a public meeting that is to be held in Mere Social Club on 18.3.24 at 7.00 pm.  Within the briefing note sent out with your agenda papers, you will be able to make your responses to the consultation.

694. b) Report on SWW Area Board meeting held on Wednesday 28^th February at Wilton Community Centre – Chairman reported that he had attended the meeting and George Jeans and Roger Pipe were also representing Mere. Sounds Better gained £1000 grant funding to provide a singing & breathing project to support residents with lung health conditions in the Mere & surrounding areas. Seeds4Success gained £10,000 for delivering projects in the area. The Area Board also supported the following recommendations made by the LHFIG for Mere – Replacement Street nameplates costing £694.50 and signing and lining improvements at Edgebridge costing £1275.
695. c) Report on LHFIG meeting held on Wednesday, 7^th February – this meeting was attended by the Chairman, Roger Pipe & George Jeans. A number of proposals from Mere were added to the list and most of them were agreed to or at least it was agreed to implement research into them.
696. d) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Jeans reported that at the last Area Board meeting, committee members considered the Wiltshire Highways Maintenance Programme 2024 – 2030. A considerable sum has been added to the Highways Budget but this sum of money is insufficient to maintain the county’s highways. The draft maintenance programme does not, in the committee’s opinion, address the priority needs of the area and therefore it has been agreed that committee members would drive around these roads and others that committee members put forward in order to assess a priority order.  Cllr. Jeans confirmed that he had requested that the following roads from Mere be investigated: from West Knoyle through to Mere, Pettridge Lane, Manor Road, Angel Lane.  Cllr. Jeans also reported that at the Area Board meeting, Inspector Ricky Lee explained that it was possible to approach PCSO’s to report incidents – this fact seemed to be at odds to advice that had previously been given to the Town Council.

*e) Project Co-Ordinator’s Report (report attached) – members noted the information in the report.

*f) Martyn’s Law: standard tier consultation.  Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill – Standard Tier: Government consultation begins 5.2.24 and ends 18.3.24 (see Clerks Report) + https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/martyns-law-standard-tier-consultation – the Chairman explained that this applied to events for 100 to 800 people in a building and also outside but not if they comprise a public park, public garden or recreation or sports ground, where no payment is taken for entry nor any check carried out.  However, the Chairman said that he would let the Carnival and School firework organisers know about this.

*g) Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Authority – Consultation on draft Community Safety Plan 2024-28 (see Clerks Report) – the Chairman said that he noted from the Consultation that the Authority were carrying out more safety visits and the number of emergency call outs had reduced.

384. Planning
385. a) Applications for consultation response:

Cllr. Glen Ings in The Chair

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

Cllr. John Jordan resumes as Chair

The Clerk pointed out that the Highways Authority were concerned about the water that was now discharging onto the highway.  Members could not understand the need for the long access road when there was a perfectly good access gate to the field already and the planning consultant said that the track is part of the planning application but the access is not and the existing gate was not in the best location for his use of the land for various reasons.  The Chairman reminded members that they had previously objected to this application and it was RESOLVED to reiterate the relevant issues, taking into account the amendments and additional information, from the Town Council’s previous objection submission with flexibility to reflect the views of the meeting tonight and following advice on relevant planning policies & regulations.  Also RESOLVED to ask Cllr. Jeans to call this planning application into committee.  [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

Cllr. P. Coward raised the point that retrospective planning applications only serve to cause annoyance and it is disgusting that this is the same applicant who is just trying to ‘pull a fast one’. The Chairman said that the barn is larger than the approved plans, and that there appears to be other buildings on the site that do not have planning approval and are not the subject of this application.  Nearby residents are upset that buildings and tracks have appeared and that this site is now developed to a much larger extent than the little barn for 4 donkeys that they were originally told would be there.  Cllr. Jeans reminded members that this site has got planning permission for equestrian use.  It was RESOLVED to reiterate the relevant issues, taking into account the amendments and additional information, from the Town Council’s previous objection submission with flexibility to reflect the views of the meeting tonight and following advice on relevant planning policies & regulations.  Also RESOLVED to ask Cllr. Jeans to call this planning application into committee.  [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.

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

• Broken road name sign at Denes Avenue

386. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
387. a) Request to replace existing polytunnel with greenhouse (acrylic) 10ft X 6ft 6” on Wellhead allotments – RESOLVED to approve.

*b) Update on licence agreement with Econetiq for EV chargers in Salisbury Street Car Park (see Clerks Report) – RESOLVED to proceed in order to try and get this resolved.  Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting although he did not consider that he had an interest to declare in this matter.

Cllr. Hazzard raised the opportunity to sing the praises of our grounds staff, making councillors aware of how capable and resourceful they are and that they have carried out a lot of machinery repairs, conversions and engineering works during the wet weather.

Emergency Item

Cemetery concerns – the Clerk informed members that Gillingham Town Council had made an official announcement that their cemetery was now full up, they can still bury in plots that have been pre-purchased but they cannot accept new burials.  The Clerk said that she was suggesting that members may want to review our own regulations in view of this information.

RESOLVED to amend our burial regulations to allow burials for Mere residents (within the parish boundary) only or those that have left the parish through illness or in need of care outside the parish or those that have been forced to move by the housing authority (as may be the case with Lynch Close).  Cremation plots can still be used by those outside the parish subject to double-fees as is the current case.

387. Finance, Policy & Resources

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

*b) To note the reconciliations for January 2024; the Chairman to sign and verify against the bank statements seen the Chairman confirmed that he had signed and verified the reconciliations against the bank statements & he had verified the Clerk’s monthly salary.

1. c) Grant for Defibrillator for Walnut Road/Woodlands Road area – the Chairman confirmed that the Clerk had applied for a grant for a new defibrillator. Unfortunately, we did not receive the full grant but we did receive a grant for half the price of a new defibrillator. “I have talked to Mark & Sam of the Walnut Tree Inn and they have agreed that it could be installed on a wall outside the Walnut and Mark & Sam will provide the electricity for the cabinet etc.  David Drewett has kindly agreed to carry out the weekly & monthly checks on the defibrillator.”  RESOLVED to proceed with the purchase (at half price) of the defibrillator and to install this on the Walnut Tree Inn.

388. General Items

*Briefing Note 24-02: Septic Tank Upgrade Communications Campaign – Revamp Your Tank (attached)

*Briefing Note 24-03: Community Governance Review (attached)

*Briefing Note 24-04: Development of Cultural Strategy for Wiltshire (attached) – the Clerk had attended an online briefing about this and explained that Wiltshire Council want to identify what is going on in the County

389. Future meetings and events
390. a) Activities In Mere (AIM) event planned for August 2024 – planning and funding – The Activities in Mere (AIM) event will take place between 9^thand 11^thAugust and will encourage, this year, the over 50’s to try or retry sports and leisure activities.  Some of which will be adapted to promote participation.  We hope that the event will not only encourage people to try something new, but that they may boost the membership of clubs and societies in Mere, as well as promoting health and wellbeing. We are using the Wiltshire Towns Programme money to pay for an organiser and Roger Pipe, our project co-ordinator has agreed to do this.  If money is forthcoming next year, we will look at providing a similar event for the younger age groups.

*b) Police Drop-In surgery at Mere Police Station – Saturday, 9^th March 2024 between 18:00-19:30 (see Clerks Report) – noted.

390. Future agenda items

• Footpaths/lighting

391. Staffing matters – the Clerk informed members that our existing toilet had resigned as she is now going to retire and Sam Doman, our Town Enhancement Worker who has been providing holiday cover for the toilet cleaning is going to take it on permanently under a 3-month probation period. He will be cleaning the toilets during the evening as he locks the toilets rather than during the morning which is better as there won’t be wet floors.

Meeting closed at 8.53 pm

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