Author: Lindsey Wood

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held at the Andy Young Pavilion, Springfield Road, Mere, BA12 6EW on Monday, 4^th April 2022 at 7.00 pm. 

Present: Councillors Lesley Traves (Chair), Kate Symonds (Vice-Chair), Louise Bennett, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward,  Rodney Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, R. Hill, Glen Ings, George Jeans, John Jordan & Eric Mitchell

Also: David Hytch, Spence Gunn & Claire Shaddick

Meeting convened at 7.00 pm with Public Session

David Hytch – had a conversation with Cllr. Jeans about the provision of electric charge points.  I also talked to him about the fact that in areas where there is a low grid supply there are options involving battery storage.  Mr. Hytch said that electric vehicle charging points are lacking in Mere and we should take as many opportunities as we can to improve the situation.

Clive Hazzard said that he was pleased to see that roadside ditches had been cut out in various pleases but noted that Wiltshire Council were going to close some roads for maintenance and felt that it would be a good idea for them to dig out the roadside ditches at the same time.  Cllr. Jeans said that he would suggest this to the Highways Authority.

Apologies for absence received from Councillors Debbie Beale, Nick Beale,

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

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

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

• Clive Hazzard declared a pecuniary interest in 136a)

129. Minutes –RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 14^th March 2022 be approved as a correct record on proposal made by Cllr. R. Coward, seconded by Cllr. A. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 14.3.22

130. Matters Arising from Public Session

• None

131. Matters Arising from previous Meetings
132. a) Report on the receipt of information and co-ordination of efforts to help people from Mere that wish to take in Ukrainian refugees to their homes – (Minute No. 118) – Cllr. Mrs. Hansford said that nothing is really happening at the moment but Mere will be ready when things start to move. The Clerk informed members that Wiltshire Council was aware of 136 Wiltshire households who are offering homes through sponsorship to Ukrainian refugees and around 1,500 who have applied through the Government website after the Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched and the number is growing every day.
133. b) Mere Car Club – report on decision made by Wiltshire Council’s South West Wiltshire Area Board (Minute No. 119 ii) – Cllr. Jeans reported that the Area Board had approved the grant of £10k towards this project with strong support. The Clerk read out an email from John Price (Estates Surveyor at Wiltshire Council) which stated that he was reviewing the draft leases for the car parks and needed a specific authority to include the car charger spaces.  His report is going to need to refer to the length of lease to be granted and his understanding is that Econetiq needed a 15-year agreement.  Should he make the lease 15 years or would 20 be better?  Members generally felt that it would be better for Mere to have the lease as long as possible.
134. c) Platinum Jubilee Celebrations – report from Jubilee Committee and to agree final decision on location of beacon and other updates from Committee and Town Clerk. (Minute 119b) – Committee upset that its not going to be on the hill. No-one got time or ability to do paperwork but we can do the manual work to get the beacon on the hill. GJ prepared to propose we have it on Castle Hill and that the committee get the funds to pay people to get the beacon on the hill which is what they have offered.  RESOLVED that the Town Council’s admin team carry out the necessary paperwork to have the beacon on the hill i.e. correspond with Historic England and carry out Risk Assessment and that the Jubilee Committee arrange for the manual work in order to get the beacon on Castle Hill.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a unanimous vote.
135. d) Response from Wiltshire Council and contractors relating to the provision/installation of solar powered street lights at Duchy Manor and the provision/installation of conduits/ducts (Minute 123b) – The Clerk said that she had mentioned to the contractors about the possibility of installing solar powered street lights if the Town Council purchased the lights but the contractors were concerned that this would require planning permission. Meanwhile, Cllr. Jeans had expressed concerns to the planning officer regarding insufficient lighting and they had included extra lights in their approved scheme but the Clerk pointed out that these were around by the MUGA and not near the pavilion or office which is where the lighting was needed most. Jeans had also provided the Clerk with copies of his correspondence with Wiltshire Council relating to his concerns about the lack of EV points in the parking scheme and whether they might be willing to put in conduits for a battery storage EV charger.   Cllr. Jeans said that there is a possibility that the contractors may install the ducting but there would be a cost associated with doing this and he wanted the Town Council to agree to explore the costs.  RESOLVED to authorise Cllr. Jeans to explore costs.
136. e) Update on minor refurbishments for Public Toilets (Minute 123e) – the Clerk reported that everything is now in place. The new signage is up and the footfall counters were installed on Friday, 1^st April when we actually completed the changeover from the gents to the ladies block of toilets. The Clerk said that she would like to get the exterior windows and doors painted this year and think that this is a job that our street orderly can do as part of his town centre enhancement work.  We may, however, need some woodwork replacing for the toilet windows.  The Clerk also explained that there was an issue with the hand-wash unit which is really past its sell-by-date and, in her opinion, is not fit for purpose.  She had asked Wallgate for a quotation to replace this with a new unit and would come back to the Town Council when the quotation costs were known.
137. f) New format for the Annual Town Meeting and councillor leads (Minute No. 125) – The Chairman said that she was hoping that councillors would open the discussions on the specific discussion items (numbered 6 – 12) on the agenda and asked for volunteers. With regards to the fact that organisations and groups were not being asked to present reports at the Annual Town Meeting this year, it was agreed to invite those organisations to submit a written report if they wished to which could be attached to the minutes and reproduced on the Town Council’s website.

132. Reports & Consultations
133. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans reported that with reference to the outline planning application for the development of the old Beaumonts site in Woodlands Road which had still not yet been determined, he was aware that Wiltshire Council were considering a viability assessment which had been submitted on behalf of the applicant to determine whether or not the project could support a S.106 agreement which included an affordable housing contribution. Jordan asked if Cllr. Jeans had raised the matter he brought up last month about Wiltshire Cllr. Mark McClellan’s walking/cycling route in Hilperton. Cllr. Jeans said that he would have pursued this but could not recall the response.

133. Planning
134. a) Applications for consultation response:

The Chair explained that each of the houses on that corner had parking spaces further up the hill but the person who bought No. 2 sold the house without its parking space and has kept the parking space which is the location for this planning application.  She said that this planning application has actually deprived No. 2 of a parking space and she was concerned that the parking spaces for this planning application are going to be unviable due to accessibility issues.  The remaining land adjacent to the site is parking for Nos. 3 & 4.  The site abuts Linden Barn. Cllr. Jordan said that he was familiar with the plot as he walked past it every day and confirmed that the whole plot was slightly larger than his front room and he finds it quite remarkable that they can get a house & 2 parking spaces on this site.  Cllr. Rodney Coward added that the second bedroom is only 6 ft square.  It was confirmed that it would be necessary to dig down considerably in order to construct the house with its front door on Castle Street.  RESOLVED to recommend refusal of the above planning application for the following reasons on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. |Colman and carried with a vote of 10 for and 2 abstentions.  Also RESOLVED to ask Cllr. Jeans to request that this planning application is called into committee if the planning officer is minded to recommend approval.

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.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.  However, the Clerk was asked to add the following Informative:

As this property is in a development that was designed in consultation with the Duchy of Cornwall, the Town Council believes that the applicant is required to seek permission from the Duchy of Cornwall before carrying out any works to the exterior of the property

The Clerk pointed out that the above application had been submitted by the Town Council in response to the Tree Inspection Report and as such, she recommended that the Town Council should decline to submit a consultation response.  Members were happy that no comment should be submitted.

134. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
135. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports – the Clerk reported that with reference to progress relating to the reinstatement of the faded yellow lines in Salisbury Street outside the Lecture Hall, Wiltshire Council had confirmed that this work had been added to their ongoing maintenance list but that refreshment of restrictions for Parking Services are prioritised as and when other lining works are scheduled in that area to minimise resources and costs. The works are carried out on a priority basis where highway safety lining takes precedence over parking. For instance, STOP markings, give ways, speed roundabouts etc.  Therefore, it is difficult to provide us with an exact date when the work will be carried out.

*b) To approve ‘What do I do if I get Flooded?’ document (attached) – members thanked the Town Council’s admin team for producing this document and requested that it be published on the Town Council’s website.

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

*a) Report on informal meeting held with Mere Pre-School representatives on their suggestion to swap premises – prior to the meeting papers had been distributed to members relating to proposals from Mere Pre-School asking for the Town Council to give careful consideration to exchanging premises and a report of an informal meeting with pre-school representatives and Town Council representatives held on 29^th March.  The Chair said that following our meeting the pre-school representatives had been to see the Headteacher at Mere School, Catriona, who had given the Town Council the following statement “I admire the desire and vision to develop the provision that Mere Pre-School is providing for the benefit of young families in Mere.  However, knowing the complexities of the building and leases, the lengthy period of negotiation and planning relating to the school expansion works and the significant costs associated with moving into the Town Council offices, this is not an initiative I can support and I have shared this opinion with the manager and Mrs. Faulkner-Bryant.  The organisation needs to consider other, more appropriate and better value options and I have discussed some ideas with them.  The school is more than willing to help in any way possible.” The Chair said that the pre-school would very much like to be able to compete with Leaping Frogs in Zeals in terms of its child care provision and its facilities but feels that it is restricted in its present situation and premises and, at the meeting we held with representatives, we offered to help in providing information, possible sources of grant funding and/or contact numbers etc.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she was impressed with the approach and creative proposal that was put forward by the Mere Pre-school.

136. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – RESOLVED to authorise payments as listed in the schedule attached on proposal made by Cllr. Mitchell, seconded by Cllr. Ings and carried with a unanimous vote in favour.    Cllr. Hazzard, having declared a pecuniary interest in this agenda item, left the meeting room whilst this agenda item was discussed and took no part in discussion or voting.  Cllr. Jordan asked for it to be recorded that the Town Council was paying over £10k to Wiltshire Council in non-domestic business rates.

*b) To approve internet advertisement and candidate information pack for the position of Project Co-Ordinator –    The Clerk reported that both Cllr. Colman and she had been working on these documents and what we were really asking the Council tonight is whether or not they were happy with the wording for the job advertisement and the job description.  The Clerk said that she was liaising with the Human Resources Support Officer at South West Councils to whom we pay a yearly affiliation subscription for employment advice on wording and approval for the Application Forms and Candidate Information Pack.  The Clerk said that she assumed that the Town Council’s staffing panel would deal with the interviews – they are Chair, Vice-Chair, Cllr. Jordan & Cllr. P. Coward and asked if the staffing panel was happy with the suggested application closing dates and interview dates.  Members confirmed that they were happy withal the information provided and wanted to include the advert on Social Media Facebook Groups and the Blackmore Vale & Gillingham & Shaftesbury News as well as online on Indeed on proposal made by Cllr. Jeans, seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a majority vote in favour.  (Cllr. Hill abstained from voting).

1. c) To report on Allotment rent audit – deferred.
2. d) 2021/22 Annual Governance & Accountability Return external auditor instructions – the Clerk reported that she had received instructions from PKF Littlejohn LLP relating to the annual audit – the deadline for submission of the approved AGAR and supporting documentation is Friday, 1^st July 2022. As the income and/or expenditure is over £200k, Mere Town Council will be required to submit an intermediate review and will need to submit the information required for an intermediate review.

137. Future agenda items

NB – Please note that the next Town Council meeting will be the Annual Town Council meeting and will be held on 9^th May 2022

138. Emergency Item – Staffing matters

The Chairman reported that very regrettably, our Head Groundsman, James Suter, had handed in his notice of resignation this morning.  James has been with the Town Council for nearly 8 years and he will be sorely missed.  Cllr. Clive Hazzard confirmed that he had spoken with James to see if there was anything he could do to make him change his mind but that James had said that this was something he had thought long and hard about but his mind was firmly made up.  RESOLVED to offer the job of Head Groundsman to Simon at the Head Groundsman’s rate and advertise for a groundsman on proposal made by Cllr. Mitchell, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds and carried with a majority vote.  The Clerk said that she would speak to Simon who was currently on annual leave and would ask him to consider this carefully over the next 7 days so that she could then prepare the advertisement for the vacant position whether that be for a head groundsman or a groundsman.  The Clerk said that she was also aware that Gillingham Town Council were advertising for a groundsman and so she would check the rates/conditions that they were offering.

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 8.29 pm

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

For Trustees to consider the following:

Wiltshire Council – National Non-Domestic Rates for Recreation Ground                            £0.00

The Clerk asked Trustees to note that Wiltshire Council had applied mandatory and discretionary relief to the Recreation Ground owing to the charitable status.

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held at the Andy Young Pavilion, Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere.  BA12 6EW on Monday, 14^th March 2022 at 7.00 pm. 

Present: Councillors Lesley Traves (Chair), Kate Symonds (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Nick Beale, Louise Bennett, Aubrey Colman, Rodney Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Glen Ings, George Jeans, John Jordan & Eric Mitchell

Also: Spence Gunn & Claire Shaddick

Meeting convened at 7.00 p, with Public Session

Rachael Hansford said she wanted to make Councillors aware of the work that has been going on to collect items to help the people of Ukraine with Anne Rich from the Toddler Group & Jenny Bell co-ordinating efforts. I also wanted to ask the Council’s thoughts about co-ordinating the efforts for people who want to have refugees staying in their homes – she said that it seemed to make sense to co-ordinate it with the school and the doctors surgery who she has already spoken to and wondered about putting together a working party to support the people who want to bring refugees to Mere and I wondered whether we could do this under the umbrella of the Town Council or the Resilience Forum although it is better if the Council are supporting anything we do as a community.  Kate Symonds said that she understood that the advice given out by the government was for individuals to apply and they have to make the application themselves and someone comes out to see if their home is suitable.  She understood that Wiltshire Council would be the authority that would coordinate this.  Clive Hazzard made the suggestion that if Rachael Hansford wants to do this then the Town Council should give her the authority to make those enquiries and investigations as a Town Councillor and with the Town Council’s backing and also said that perhaps the Town Council should appoint her as the Councillor in charge of finding out how to go about applying to house refugees in Mere.  Rachael Hansford said she had already been doing some of the work in the background and there is an immigration consultant who lives in Mere and someone else who would help do the admin work.  The clerk pointed out that this was the public session and should be raised in the Council meeting if the Council is to make a decision.

Clive Hazzard pointed out that the yellow lines outside the Lecture Hall are still in need of repainting.

Eric Mitchell pointed out that there was a hedge along Shaftesbury Road that was obstructing the Highway and said that he would provide the Clerk with the address of the property.

Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Philip Coward & Raymond Hill.

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

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

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

• None Received

117. Minutes – RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 7^th February 2022 be approved as a correct record. Proposal made by Cllr. Aubrey Colman, seconded by Cllr. John Jordan and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 7.2.22

118. Matters Arising from Public Session

With reference to the discussion during the Public Session relating to the coordination of efforts to help people from Mere that wish to take in Ukrainian refugees to their homes, it was RESOLVED that the town Council supports Cllr. Rachael Hansford if she wants to use her role as a Town Councillor and the Mere Resilience Forum to help co-ordinate efforts and obtain information in which to advise residents.  Proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard.

*119.  Matters Arising from previous Meetings

1. a) Mere Car Club –

1. Report and analysis of survey results (electronic and paper) for suggestions for Mere Car Club and, if positive response received, to consider the plan for car park charging spaces and car parking replacement spaces, as identified by Cllr. Jeans.  (attached)
2. Also, to confirm support for option (subject to finer details being confirmed) of the car club being run as a Town Council project on the basis that Co Cars manage the club, leaving no/minimal admin for Mere Town Council.

Members noted that the responses to the survey represented only 2% of the population. Cllr. Jordan said that he took this as a massive ‘no’ vote and thumbs down when compared to the hundreds of people that voted on the Fives Court survey.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that the Fives Court issue was a high-profile campaign and there was a lot of work involved in that survey.  Cllr. Jeans responded that the Fives Court campaign did not achieve what it set out to do and this survey is different in that it has a definite end result.   The car club are happy to proceed on the basis of the survey results and this will enable us to get a public charge point – the whole idea is to get people into the town and get them to go to the pubs and shops etc.  Cllr. Jeans said “we have got to move towards electrification and this is an interim measure”. This is one of the three initiatives for the whole area from Wilton to Mere.   Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that she supported Cllr. Jeans and said that Wiltshire Council is looking to see what Town & Parish Council’s are doing to help with Climate Change and this is an initiative that shows that we are moving forward.  The Clerk said that, following some questions and concerns she had, she had raised some queries with Karen Linaker who had got answers from the chap who co-ordinates the Salisbury Co Car Club:

There are three aspects to the role of local co-ordinator:

1) operational: recruit, retain and supervise car a checker/cleaner, with support from Co Cars’ Fleet Manager and Customer Service staff based in Exeter; checkers/cleaners make sure the cars are safe! & clean, take the car for MOT and service, react to incidents, e.g. check the car if someone reports damage.  NB Co Cars use an app to prompt the designated checkers/cleaners to perform their tasks, and also to record completed tasks.

2) promotional: make sure everyone in Mere knows there’s ca car club, how it works etc; participating in local events where the car can be promoted, plugging the car in meetings; leafletting the area around the car station, or conducting surveys; all this with support from Co Cars’ Marketing Manager based in Exeter.

3) liaison: being the local contact for Wiltshire Council in case of any problems that need to be fed back to staff in Exeter; or relaying request to the Council e.g. the “car club only” road markings need repainting, the parking permit needs to be renewed.

                Age limited: The age limits are listed in 2.4 at https://www.co-cars.co.uk/terms-and-conditions: 21 and 75                 years. These are stipulated by the motor insurance. Co Cars appreciates that these age limits restrict the                 potential pool of users, but there is little choice of policies in the insurance market at present.

                When the car is out with someone that has hired it, how would we stop other people from pinching the                 designated co car space in our car park?!

                Parking bays are usually marked “car club only” on the tarmac. If it’s on the highway, then there will also be                 a Traffic Regulation Order and signage on a post. Experience shows that bays get pinched occasionally; this is                 mitigated by arranging permission to park at an alternative nearby location (e.g. Council car park, residential                 parking zone or private drive); users are also required to inform Customer Service of the ‘pinching’ so that                 the subsequent user informed of the current location of the car, and/or the cleaner / checker can be tasked                 to reposition the car.
            Cllr. Jeans said that he would be quite happy to take on the role of checker/cleaner.

RESOLVED to agree for the Car Club to proceed as long as it has a public EV charge point and that the running of the Car Club is not to be undertaken by the Town Council on proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a vote of 9 in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions.

*b) Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

1. Do we accept recommendations including conditions made by Historic England to be included in their advice that consent should be granted for Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent for the beacon on Castle Hill to be made to the Secretary of State?

With reference to the conditions imposed by Historic England, as outlined in the Clerks Report, Cllr. Rodney Coward said that he was not happy with all these restrictions – it would be too much mucking about and he had an alternative idea and suggested that the Town Council ask David Coward if the beacon can go up at Penn End.  Cllr. Hazzard suggested that the Town Council should go along with this suggestion.  Cllr. Ings said that although he supported Cllr. Coward’s idea, he thought he should ask the Jubilee Committee for their thoughts.  There was general support for Cllr. Rodney Coward’s idea but agreed that if the Jubilee committee felt very strongly that the Beacon has to go on Castle Hill then the Town Council would think again.

1. Purchase of flags & bunting – members were happy to purchase the bunting and flags as outlined in the Clerks Report. It was RESOLVED that it would be too time consuming to try and claw back some money by selling the flags and bunting and that the Town Council should just give it out to the community and local businesses.

• Suggestion by Town Clerk on gifting wild flower seeds to Mere School pupils – members thought the suggestion, as outlined in the Clerks Report was an excellent idea and agreed that the Town Council should purchase the seeds.

1. Update from Jubilee Committee – The Clerk reported that, following the request for the Town Council’s ground staff to prepare the church field she had been to view the site and had some concerns as to its suitability given the fact that there was a large low-lying branch from the London Plane tree which would reduce the amount of available space. However, she was arranging for a meeting with Jubilee Committee members where this would be discussed further.

*c) Climate Change Strategy –

1. suggestions for community survey & also Town Council strategy document – Cllr. Debbie Beale (information attached)

Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that the main outcome of the meeting was communication and she thought it would be a good idea to do some kind of survey in the community to find out what green initiatives people are currently doing and the ones they would like to do: i.e. Who’s got solar power, green energy, wind turbines, ground source heat pumps etc.    She also felt that, following this, there could be an opportunity to develop a town Climate Change strategy.

1. adoption of Wiltshire Council Climate Strategy – The Clerk confirmed that on 1^st February Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet had approved and adopted their Climate Strategy which would help to shape the next five years of Wiltshire Council’s carbon reduction and environmental plans.
2. invitation to WALC Online Event – Fighting Climate Change – (learn more about the actions that councils can take locally to fight climate change and discover how councils are already doing this successfully) Wednesday, 25^th May 2022 – 12.00 – 13.15 BST (£38.93 per ticket if paid by card.) – Cllr. Debbie Beale said that she would look to see if she can attend.

8. d) The future of Sheltered Housing at Lynch Close – update on communication since last meeting and report from Chair & Vice-Chair on meeting attended on 8.3.22. The Chairman reported that she and the Vice-Chair & Cllr. Jeans attended this meeting at Lynch Close with Wiltshire Council officers and residents. The meeting was well attended and the residents spoke well. Wiltshire Council said that they were committed to delivering high quality affordable homes and had a target of 1000 such homes and has been reviewing 21 schemes in Wiltshire.  The Chairman said that she thought change was inevitable at Lynch Close as the bungalows are 60 years old and need to be brought up to modern standards of insulation as part of the Council’s commitment to upgrade all council owned properties.  Doing nothing is not an option and, at this early stage, there is no way of knowing whether the bungalows can be upgraded.  The action of residents has made Wiltshire Council very much aware of their worries and has lead to Wiltshire Council giving firm commitments about how the process will progress – these commitments were clearly stated in a document that was given to all those at the meeting.  Thus, a decision will not, therefore, be made this spring.  To quote “Our priority, now, will be to provide quality specialist accommodation for older people in Mere at the Fives Court site.  Only when these homes are nearing completion will we finalise the review process at Lynch Close.”  Other commitments are stated in items 2, 3 and 4.  If moving out is necessary, Wiltshire Council guarantee an opportunity for residents to move back to the Lynch Close site.  Residents will be compensated and given plenty of notice.  The residents have organised themselves very effectively and have won the right to be consulted fully.  It was very clear that the majority of residents see no need for change.  Nor do they wish to move away from Mere.  The Council offered to take residents to view their flagship accommodation in Amesbury and look around and talk to its residents.  There was no suggestion that any of them would be moved to Amesbury or, indeed away from Mere, against their will.  In summary, because of this commitment to make the refurbishment contingent with the development of Fives Court, it is clear that the timetable has been moved much further into the future and gives the opportunity for residents to be re-housed temporarily within Mere.  The Lynch Close committee with the help of the Town Council will need to keep a close eye as to whether the Wiltshire Council commitments are adhered to.  Jeans said that he would be against any flats being built either in Fives Court or Lynch Close and informed members that he received more complaints about flats than any other type of housing problems.  He said that the flats at Lynch Close are disgraceful and they should be the properties that need knocking down but he was aware that some of them had been privately sold.  He also pointed out that it was his understanding that there would no longer be an option for any health and well-being facilities at Fives Court or Lynch Close as the clinical commissioning group has not come back and requested any space at Lynch close. Cllr. Jeans said that he felt that Lynch Close should at least have some facility to enable visiting health visitors but said that he would be doing more investigations into this matter.
9. e) Cemetery Wall- update on storm damage – the Clerk informed members that two builders quotations had been submitted to the Town Council’s insurance company and that the insurance company had, in fact, already paid out the sum being that of the cheapest quote. The Clerk had therefore instructed the builder of the cheapest quote to carry out the work at his earliest convenience and had relayed this information to the owners of the adjacent property.

120. Reports & Consultations
121. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – although Cllr. Jeans had no wish to add anything, Cllr. Jordan said that he was upset over reading a report made by Wiltshire Councillor Mark McClellan boasting about a costly cycling and walking route that Wiltshire Council had created in Hilperton. Jordan had been told that it was not possible for Wiltshire Council to spend money on creating a cycling/walking routes. Cllr. Jeans agreed to pursue this matter.
122. a) Government’s White Paper: Levelling Up the United Kingdom published 2.2.22 (the actual document is 305 pages so here is a link to the LGA briefing) – https://www.local.gov.uk/parliament/briefings-and-responses/levelling-white-paper-lga-briefing

The Clerk reported that the government’s long-awaited levelling up white paper was finally published in February.  The 300-page policy document sets out the government’s analysis of the scale and causes of geographic disparities across the country, as well as a programme of change to improve central and local decision making.   Of specific note to parishes – it states: Government will launch ‘a review of neighbourhood governance in England, looking at how to make it easier for local people and community groups to come together, set local priorities and shape the future of their neighbourhoods.  The review will also look at the role and functions of parish councils in England.’

121. Planning
122. a) Applications for consultation response:

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by councillor Debbie Beale seconded by councillor Nick Beal and carried with a unanimous vote in favour.

Cllr. Rachel Hansford aired concerns as to whether there actually was enough space for a bus to get around the car park. Cllr. Jordan said he thought it was a reasonably good solution to improve pedestrian safety but noted that there were no longer proposals to use the swimming pool site.  The clerk confirmed that a strip of approximately 1 m wide would be used from the swimming pool site in order to create a pedestrian footpath but that was all. RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. Jordan and carried with a vote of 9 for and 2 against. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

Cllr. Ings pointed out that these garages are not wide enough for modern vehicles.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Ings, seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a majority vote in favour.  In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Ings, seconded by Cllr. Debbie Beale and carried with a majority vote in favour. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

122. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
123. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports – Cllr. Debbie Beale said that on social media there had been lots of conversation regarding drain clearance. Jeans said that ditches between Burton, Southbrook and Limpers Hill had been cleared but he was aware that there was now water coming out of one of the ditches and onto the road in one location. However, he pointed out that this matter was being dealt with.  No other issues reported.
124. b) Report on CATG (Community Area Transport Group)meeting held on 23^rd February – Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that she was unable to attend the meeting.
125. c) Speed Limits on The Lynch – Rachael Hansford said that there was someone on social media who had raised concerns about the speed of vehicles travelling along The Lynch wondered if the Town Council had any thoughts on this. Cllr. Jordan said that the suggestion of putting a 20 mph speed limit throughout the whole of Mere has been discussed in the past and he confirmed that he had been through villages with 20 mph speed limits recently and he wanted to put a recommendation for a 20mph speed limit on all the roads feeding into Mere. Cllr. Jeans said that he had nothing against this proposal but pointed out that getting the funds would be extremely difficult and expensive. The proposal would need to be made to the CATG and the Town Council would be expected to make a 25% contribution. The Chairman asked for a show of hands in pursuing this matter further with the CATG: there were 5 in favour, 5 against and 2 abstentions.  The Chairman used her casting vote against the suggestion. It was therefore RESOLVED not to pursue this matter further.

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

*a) Report on survey of beech trees behind tennis courts in Recreation Ground – as carried out by Astill Treecare Ltd (report attached) and also to report on two other beech trees in Recreation Ground that have suffered storm damage this winter.  It was agreed to send the report to the Tennis Club but take no further action.  The Clerk also reported that in early October we lost a large limb from one of the beech trees further down this row (Tree No. 0939) and she asked the arboriculturist to look at this whilst he was there.  The Town Council RESOLVED to accept the arboriculturists recommendations and get a contractor to carry out a climbing inspection.

1. b) To explore the provision/installation of 1, 2 or 3 solar powered street lights for Duchy Manor to be purchased & installed in conjunction with school car park expansion project – the Clerk said that the new proposals for the car park did not include exterior lighting and she was keen to try and provide something nearer the pavilion and she therefore wondered about asking the contractors if they would install some solar street lighting columns if the Town Council paid for the columns and solar heads. Members agreed to this suggestion. Jeans also pointed out that, if the planning application had been submitted after June then they would have been required to install EV charge points and wanted to also suggest that we ask the contractors to install conduits for us to provide battery stored EV charging points.  Cllr. Jeans said that there is a resident who owns a company called “Plus Charge” and would be prepared to supply and install these battery stored EV charging points at no cost to Wiltshire Council.   RESOLVED to put both requests to the contractors.
2. c) Firework Display for Mere School – Cllr. Hazzard reported that The Friends of Mere School would like to run a community fireworks fundraising event for Bonfire Night and would like to hold this event at Duchy Manor Sports Ground. The Clerk had been to the Council’s insurance brokers for advice on responsibilities and passed on this advice to the school which was that the event organiser would be responsible for insuring the event as well as carrying out the risk assessment. Therefore, the school needed to determine and agree which party had overall responsibility for the event.  Members were happy to agree for the event to take place at Duchy Manor Sports Grounds on the basis of the advice passed on from the Clerk to the School.
3. d) Tree planting in Kingsmere Open Space – Cllr. Ings reported that the Jubilee Committee have received requests from four different groups who want to plant trees for the Jubilee. He had identified four trees for planting in this Open Space. The Clerk pointed out that one of the young beech trees planted in 2000 had died so that could be replaced and Cllr. R. Coward said that the little copse of fruit trees could be extended with this small number of trees.

*e) Tree planting in Mere for Queens Platinum Jubilee – Members noted, with interest, the information in the Clerks Report relating to the tree planting work being carried out by the Duchy of Cornwall and their offer of help.  Also, members considered the idea of using the Queens Green Canopy programme to plant the new hedge in the cemetery but agreed that the saplings would be unsuitable for this.  They did, however, agree that the Town Council should ask for a small pack to give out to parishioners to plant in their gardens/land.

1. e) Update on minor refurbishments for Public Toilets – the Clerk reported on work that had been carried out so that the current ladies toilet block can be made into a unisex toilet block, alongside the existing disabled toilet which is now a unisex accessible toilet:

• New lighting has been installed in both so that it is on a PIR and activated by movement, i.e. lights not on all night any longer (this is a Climate Change action)
• New toilet pans/seats have been installed in the old ladies block
• Drainage has been power washed through and checked with camera and confirmed that it is all clear
• Interior decoration in ladies block has been completed (walls, ceiling etc)
• Wallgate hand wash units have been serviced and confirmed that they are working
• Water refilling station has been installed (this is a Climate Change action)
• Uniform signage has been ordered for all doors and water refilling station
• Footfall counter will be installed as soon as signage sorted
• Once signage has been received and installed, we will transfer over the ladies toilet block and close the gents toilet block which can then be used for storage & caretakers facility.

We have, however, recently suffered a spate of vandalism in the accessible toilet:

• The baby changing unit which was mounted on the wall has been broken off the wall and vandalised two weeks ago.
• The soap dispenser which was also mounted on the wall was broken off & vandalised this weekend.

1. f) Flying or display & purchase of Ukrainian flag to show solidarity – members were happy to fly the Ukrainian flag on Castle Hill in order to show solidarity. However, it was agreed that the Union flag should be flown for the Queens Birthday on 21^st April and the St. Georges flag should be flown on St. George’s day.
2. g) Spring Clean – Community Litter Pick – Jordan said that it had been confirmed that Wiltshire will pick up all the bags of rubbish if given notice of the litter pick date and therefore he was suggesting that the Great British Spring Clean community litter pick should take place on 9^th April. The Clerk agreed to arrange for the grounds staff to deliver the materials and the risk assessment/insurance company notification and also agreed to co-ordinate publicity with Cllr. Jordan.

124. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (attached) – Cllr. Jordan raised a question about the payment to Mere School for office electricity wondering what the period of supply was for.

The Clerk explained that this was for electricity for the changing rooms, floodlights in the Multi Use Games Area and the Town Council office for the period 29.9.21 – 31.1.22 (4 months).  Cllr. Jordan said he was happy with that response as his concern was that it was for one month only.  RESOLVED to authorise payments identified in the schedule.

1. b) To review online banking payment controls – The Clerk explained that the Town Council moved over to online payments during the first COVID-19 lockdown as this saved the risks involved in having to get cheques signed by two councillors. However, the Town Council needed to review the current practice to be in accordance with regulations. This would involve the Town Clerk having the ability to set up payments and two councillors having the ability to authorise the payments as signatories (although this would be done via a SMS notification). Cllr. Jordan said that he would be happy to authorise payments and Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that she, too, would be happy although she pointed out that she did not bank with Lloyds.
2. c) Recommendations & finance options for purchase of tractors and possible implements – Cllr. Hazzard reported that he, with the help of Cllr. Mitchell had done some research and investigations and had shortlisted four different makes of tractor for consideration. All of them are 50 hp tractors and we have also ensured that all the tractors we have looked at are as environmentally efficient with the leanest and cleanest engines. All four tractors were very similar and all were fairly similar in price. Our grounds team, Simon and James, drove the tractors and had some adverse issues with one or two but by far the best was the John Deere and that is the tractor we would like to recommend for purchase. The cost of this machine is £32k and we have been offered £7.5K for our old Kubota tractor. Our ground staff would also like a front-end loader which will be very helpful with a number of other jobs. At a later date, it would also be possible to purchase a Power Arm side mounted flail in order to carry out our own hedge cutting which would save having to use a third-party contractor and enable the Town Council to be more responsive to requests from residents.  Hazzard said that the Town Council had a budget allocation of £10k for a machine which can be used as a deposit on a lease hire option. Cllr. Jordan said that it was not financially viable to take a lease hire agreement when the interest rates on borrowing money are so much higher than the interest rates on our reserves and he recommended that the Council should vire reserves and purchase the John Deere tractor and loader outright.  Cllr. Colman asked if the tractor would be able to cut the grass with the grass cutter we already have and Cllr. Hazzard confirmed that it would and would also act as a power base for other purposes.  Members were in agreement to purchase the tractor by some means and gave Cllr. Hazzard authority to make the purchase order.  The clerk agreed to look into options and make suggestions for the Council in order to vire reserves to pay for this machine outright.

125. General Items

*a) To consider draft agenda for Annual Town Meeting to be held on 20^th April (attached) – members considered the draft agenda for the Annual Town Meeting and it was agreed that the items highlighted in yellow should be removed from the agenda and the items highlighted in pink should be included in the agenda. RESOLVED on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Beale, seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a unanimous vote.

126. Future meetings and events
127. a) Wiltshire Council South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting – Wednesday, 16^th March 2022 at 6.30 pm at Wilton Community Centre, Wilton, SP2 0DG.

127. Future agenda items

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

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

For Trustees to consider the following:

1. a) Report on survey of beech trees behind tennis courts in Recreation Ground – as carried out by Astill Treecare Ltd (report attached) and also to report on two other beech trees in Recreation Ground that have suffered storm damage this winter.

Trustees of the Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground Charity were happy to endorse the decision made by the Town Council during the Town Council meeting of 14^th March (see Minute Reference 123a)

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 7 February 2022 at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, BA12 6EW

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

Also: Anne Rich,  Richard Jefferies,  Craig Bower, John Gammie,  Geoff Sams, Rose Heesom, Logan Lewis-Proudlock, + Spence Gunn & Claire Shaddick

Meeting convened at 7:02 PM

Public Participation Session

John Gammie – here on behalf of the Jubilee committee. I joined the committee last week to help advise them on road closures etc. The group have been trying to set everything up with no budget at all. During carnival our outgoings can run into thousands of pounds.  Is it possible for Mere Town Council to grant them some money to assist the committee.

Richard Jefferies – here to put a bit of flesh on the bones for that request. The Committee’s expenditure would be in excess of £3110 and that is for a minimum social get-together. We have been promised £200 from the Town Council and we have received pledges from businesses and individuals. Of the estimated £3110 expenditure we anticipate a shortfall of £860 we have applied to the area board for some funding but we are uncertain as to the amount, if any, that we are likely to receive we would therefore like to ask the Town Council to act as guarantor and to underwrite any shortfall in funding.

Anne Rich – also on the Jubilee committee. We are trying very hard with John Gammie’s help because we need to do this properly.  Not skimping on risk assessment and insurance and it is not cheap to do everything by the book.  We do not like to have to ask for money at this time after having had such an expensive few years.

Craig Bowers – moved here six months ago and bought property in Water Street and we also bought 4 acres of land to house rescue donkeys in Wet Lane.  Here to speak in support of my planning application which is for a field access so that we can move the donkeys down from Oxfordshire. At some stage we will be applying for planning permission for stables but that is for the future.

The Chairman explained that Christine Brown and Laura Young from Wiltshire Council would be joining the meeting electronically via Teams this evening to talk about and answer questions relating to the options for sheltered housing at Lynch Close.

Mr. Geoff Sams of 38 Lynch close explained that the residents of Lynch Close had formed a committee and, as Chairman of that committee, he asked for permission to read out the following statement:

“First of all, thank you for inviting us to your meeting.  I have come here today in the hope that you will be able to help the residents of Lynch Close with the threat from redevelopment of the bungalows.

Just a little history background – the residents were called to a meeting at the Community Centre on 26 September 2021 where representatives from the Council were in attendance (Christine Brown and Eamon McClelland). They said they were there to talk about the redevelopment of Lynch Close which could take the form of three options:

1. they would do nothing and carry on as we are
2. repair and upgrade the bungalows
3. move the residents out and redevelop the site

The thing is where would we go and would we have to leave the area?  Christine, at the meeting talked about the utopia build at the Council’s new place at Evergreen Court in Amesbury.  There were many other things talked about but the thing with this meeting was that it threw the elderly residents into a panic with the feeling that they were going to be evicted from their homes.  As this has proceeded the fear for residents has multiplied.  At the end of the meeting a survey was produced just for the residents of Lynch Close that we were asked to fill in.  Christine Brown later called another meeting on 9^th November 2021 with the results from the survey but unfortunately it meant little as no one at the meeting could make sense of it.  So now we are in a place of limbo not knowing what is going to happen to us. We formed a committee of Lynch Close residents to give Wiltshire Council officers and others a point of contact should they need to inform the residents of Lynch Close as to what is happening to us.  If this redevelopment goes ahead, it will not only affect Lynch bungalows but the other residents who also live on the estate and will have a knock-on effect with the residents of Water Street. I would just like to say that the elderly residents and the people of Lynch Close are a tight community and during the last 2 ½ years due to Covid have looked after one another. The community is a close-knit family and always have been – they look out for one another only a knock on the door away from help since the warden has been removed from Lynch Close. We are a in the twilight years of our life and have no wish to be uprooted from our homes and move on just to make way for progress as some see it. We are here today to ask the Parish Council for help and some guidance as to the way ahead. I don’t want to be insulting but I feel it is part of the parish council to help their parish residents in this matter. Thank you for your time and patience. In addition, there has been another survey sent out which has caused more worry to residents and that is a survey about decanting residents which we have been asked to fill in. It is basically a survey asking people how they feel about moving out of their homes and being moved to another site.”

Christine Brown (CB)- The Council is undertaking an options appraisal at Lynch Close as part of a wider review of the Council’s sheltered housing much of which was built in the 1960s and 70s.  There are issues with the stock: Access issues and the housing does not meet our commitments on sustainability. We have built some new sheltered housing in Amesbury and Devizes which are of a different standard. Due to these issues we’ve decided to undertake a review of our housing stock.  CB had prepared a PowerPoint presentation (as attached) and stated that there are four standard options:

• do nothing
• minor refurbished (occupants can remain in property)
• major investment and refurbishment (occupants cannot remain in property)
• redevelopment

We are also looking at Fives Court. Earlier thinking is that we will redevelop that site into one and two bed flats for older people.

Would like to offer assurance that we will keep residents involved all the way through

commitment to social housing in council ownership

committed to improve the standard of accommodation for older people

The options appraisal is being undertaken and no decisions have been made.

I understand the level of anxiety

With regards to the decanting survey – this has turned out to be an unfortunate coincidence.  This survey has been put out on behalf of the “Challenge and Change group” which is a group of residents who would like to find out what level of disruption residents would put up with before they feel it necessary to move out of their homes and the survey is being conducted of all of our stock throughout Wiltshire.

Geoff Sams said that in one of the meetings with Christine his wife asked the question in relation to refurbishing the bungalows “if we get moved out will we be able to move back?” the answer she received was “no there was a possibility that you would not be offered your home back”.

Christine responded that her memory of that was different but pointed out that there is evidence to suggest that when people are moved out they resettle in their new home and quite often do not want to move back again but she stressed that this is one of the issues she would hopefully be able to address.

Geoff Sams – mental health is a big thing at Wiltshire Council and we now have four residents who are under the doctors with stress and two residents that are cancer patients.

Cllr. Clive Hazzard (CH) – the people of Mere and, indeed the Town Council does not have much faith with Wiltshire Council due to the situation at Fives Court when we heard about the closure of Fives Court on the morning that it closed. What commitment can you give us that this isn’t a fait accompli. We are all for improving property but at what cost?  This is people’s homes we are talking about and we need more commitment to be kept more informed.

CB – We are at the very beginning of this process and you would have been one of our early consultees and we would have been in touch with you as a matter of course.

CH – at what point do we become involved. Maybe we should have been involved earlier as we now have residents asking us for our help as we are their elected representatives and we know absolutely nothing about what is going on.

CB – I can assure you that absolutely no decisions have been made. I am aware that it has caused a lot of concern and anxiety.  In relation to Fives Court, I am aware that Wiltshire Council only became involved when it became vacant.

Cllr. Philip Coward – It is quite understandable that the main concern of the residents is that they are going to get pushed out of their homes. Is there an option to develop Fives Court so that people can be moved to Fives Court as temporary accommodation before being able to move back to Lynch Close?

CB – It is certainly something that we are going to come back to the residents of Lynch Close about.

Cllr. George Jeans – I am aware that not one of the residents is prepared to move out I am aware that Wiltshire Council cannot force the residents to move out without obtaining a court order.  If you are going to redevelop Fives Court then I hope it will be done as a single-story development as it is in the centre of town and within the Conservation Area.   Also, Wiltshire Council currently has flats at The Yews and at Lynch close and they cause nothing but problems: the communal areas are always an issue and living above or below someone causes continual problems with associated noise levels.  Lynch Close is a very nice sheltered housing development the bungalows are low-density; they have an open environment and individual gardens – I don’t think any resident would want to move out of this environment into a high-density housing environment. Your picture at the beginning of your presentation showed what you described at access problems for the community centre but I want to point out that the community centre has a ramp as well as steps and so there aren’t any access problems – it is the same as the new building in Trowbridge which also has steps and a ramp.

Cllr. John Jordan – It sounded as though a decision had been made by Wiltshire Council on Fives Court – is it going to be housing and not something else because we understood there were proposals afoot for health & wellbeing facilities on the site.

Laura Young – at the moment we are only exploring the option of Residential Development but there is no definitive answer on that.  We have discussed the possibility of the site being used for a surgery with planners but concerns of traffic and parking were highlighted.

The Chairman closed the open discussion on this item and thanked both Christine Brown & Laura Young for giving up their time to attend the meeting on screen.

Apologies for absence received from Cllr. Louise Bennett

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

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

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

– None

109. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 10^th January 2022 be approved as a correct record. Proposal made by Cllr. John Jordan seconded by Cllr. Aubrey Colman and carried with a majority vote of those present on 10.1.22.

110. Matters Arising from Public Session

*a) Concerns raised by residents relating to ‘Options’ put forward by Wiltshire Council for the future of Sheltered Housing at Lynch Close (Clerk’s report attached) – following on from the discussion during the public session and due to the concern & anxiety being experienced by residents, it was agreed that the Town Council should write to officers (Simon Hendey, Mike Dawson, Christine Brown and Laura Young) at Wiltshire Council to request that a representative from Mere Town Council is invited to all future meetings with residents and is involved fully in any consultation meetings & discussions with Wiltshire Council Officers relating to proposals & decisions for the future of Lynch Close and Fives Court in Mere.  If, it should transpire that there are occasions that this might be inappropriate as the meeting would require the disclosure of confidential or exempt information; then, at the very least, our elected Wiltshire Council member should be in attendance.

Members also asked the Clerk to request that officers of Wiltshire Council refrain from using the words ‘stock’ and ‘decant’ from any future discussions with residents as these words are insensitive and offensive when talking about people’s homes.

111. Matters Arising from previous Meetings
112. a) Climate Change Strategy – suggestions for community survey & also Town Council strategy document – Debbie Beale asked for this matter to be deferred until next month so that a report could be distributed to members with agenda papers
113. b) Update on Platinum Jubilee Celebration preparations and application for Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent for brazier – In response to the financial plight of the committee, Cllr. Rodney Coward said that he was Chairman of the Forest Charity and that he was hoping that the Charity would provide a donation of somewhere between £200 and £500 from the Forest Charity funds. However, Richard Jefferies said that this still left the committee with an £860 deficit. R. Coward said that Wood Farm Clay shooting would donate £100 towards the event, Cllr. Nick Beale said that Lavender Lane would donate £100 towards the event and John Gammie confirmed that the Carnival Committee would donate £100 towards the event.  It was pointed out that there were other individuals at the Town Council meeting that had already pledged a donation towards this event.

The Chairman read out a report from the Jubilee Committee requesting that the Town Council attend to various matters:

1. a) Accept responsibility for dressing the town in flags and bunting for the period 2-5 June: Hazzard said that the Town Council once had flags on broomsticks and Cllr. Jeans confirmed that these were provided for the Golden Jubilee but people were asked to decorate their own properties. It was agreed that the Town Council should decorate the Town Clock and Cllr. Jeans said that he would like the town to provide flags.  Cllr. Mitchell said that he would donate £200 towards the provision of flags.
2. b) Many have expressed a desire to plant or pay for a tree to be planted but do not have the space. Could the Town Council take this on? The Clerk pointed out that the Town Council does not own any land that is suitable for planting trees and members confirmed that this was the case.  It was also pointed out that planting a tree is not always as straightforward as people think and is often quite costly.  Hazzard confirmed that the Town Council was purchasing a specimen tree to plant in Jubilee Gardens to commemorate the platinum jubilee.  Cllr. Ings asked for ‘Open Space at Kingsmere to be planted with trees’ to go on the next agenda.
3. c) We were disappointed that neither the Council nor the Church felt able to take on the very modest accountancy responsibility (hopefully accepting the SW Area Board grant). Luckily, the Carnival Committee has stepped into the breach. Jordan confirmed that, as Treasurer for the Carnival Committee, they will be providing the bank account and he will do the treasury for them.
4. d) In the lead up to 4^th June, will the Town Council allow the staff, James, Simon & Sam to help in the preparation of the Vicarage Field and putting up of flags and bunting: The Clerk expressed concern that the amount of work involved in this was unknown and therefore how much time would need to be taken to prepare the field but asked the Town Council to bear in mind that this would be during the busy grass-cutting season. Hazzard said that it should just be a case of going in the field with the topper.  Cllr. Ings said that it would be mowing the grass and making the entrance accessible.  The Clerk said that she would visit the site and assess this with the staff.
5. e) Allow the use of the cemetery car park for the car show: members were happy to grant permission for this use.
6. f) If there is a shortfall, will the Town Council underwrite the costs? Ings said “At the very worst, the Town Council might end up having to pay £860 + the £200 it had already promised.” RESOLVED on proposal made by Cllr. Jeans, seconded by Cllr. Jordan to underwrite the Jubilee Committee for any shortfall between grants and donations and expenditure up to a limit of £860.00.  Proposal carried with a unanimous vote.

*c) Mere School Expansion Project

1. Planning Application – Certification of Ownership notification – the Clerk reported that as Lessees of part of the building, the Town Council had received the Certificate of Ownership notification and had also received confirmation that a Certificate of Ownership notification had been sent to the Duchy of Cornwall.
2. Report on pre-start meeting held on 31^st January 2022 via Teams (report attached) – members noted the contents of the report.
3. d) What is the Town Council’s thoughts on taking on the freehold/leasehold of Mere Library and responsibility for running the facility?

Cllr. Hazzard said that he had an interest in this question as he was Chairman of the Museum Committee and would very much like to keep the museum.   It was pointed out that the structure itself was a Listed Building and, if it came down to an ultimatum then the Town Council probably ought to keep it rather than lose it as it is a great community asset.  The Clerk suggested that the Town Council might do a feasibility study on this and ask other Town & Parish Councils that have taken on the library service, what is involved and the level of resources that are needed.

1. e) Cemetery Wall – the Clerk confirmed that she had received one quotation for the repair of the wall following the storm damage. The insurance company had requested two quotations and the Clerk was awaiting the second quotation before she could submit the insurance claim.

112. Reports & Consultations
113. a) Report from Wiltshire Councillor – no report.

113. Planning
114. a) Applications for consultation response – (All applications can be viewed on Wiltshire Council’s Planning & Building Control Public Register – https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/ – type in the relevant

RESOLVED to recommend the above application for approval on proposal made by Cllr. Mitchell, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a majority vote in favour. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

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

• Pothole at Manor Road/North Road junction (Cllr. R. Coward)
• Mud and debris washed down at the top end of Burton Path (Cllr. Mrs. Beale)
• Clean road signs – locations to be advised (Cllr. Mrs. Beale)
• Issues with uneven tarmac along Castle Street (Cllr. Hazzard)

115. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
116. a) Suggestion for a dog ban (Public Spaces Protection Order) for Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground – Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she had asked for this to be raised as an agenda item because there was a recent incident reported on Facebook where a mother had found her toddler covered in dog faeces which provoked a lot of posts from members of the public. A lot of people were saying they couldn’t understand why dogs were allowed in the Recreation Ground at all. Mrs. Symonds said that she has found the Recreation Ground an invaluable area to walk dogs and she thought it would be impractical to ban dogs there.  Cllr. Colman said he walks his dog in the Recreation Ground twice a day and most dog owners are sensible and clear up after them.  Cllr. Hazzard pointed out that the suggestion of banning dogs from the Recreation Ground was raised 10 or 15 years ago at a public meeting and it caused a lot of upset for parishioners.  Cllr. Hill said that there were a lot of parents who take their children to the Recreation Ground and they take their dog along with them.  If we banned dogs from the Recreation Ground then the children would miss out.  Cllr. Jeans said that the real issue was training dog owners to clear up after their dogs and he said that the dog warden will go and tap on the door of anyone that is reported not to have cleaned up their dog’s mess.  Cllr. Mrs. Beale said she wondered if public opinion may have changed and whether it was time to do a re-consultation. The Chairman asked for members views on whether or not the Town Council should pursue this further -there were 3 in favour, 8 against and 3 abstentions.

*b) Rebuilding of Mere Youth Centre – report on meeting held at Mere Youth Centre on 18^th January 2022 – with reference to the report provided to members, members agreed that the Town Council should pursue the short term solution for the toilets i.e. to operate the girls’ toilets as unisex or gender neutral and to convert the boys’ toilets into an accessible toilet (without shower, hoists etc) and the Clerk was asked to obtain quotations/estimates for this work.  With regards to the longer-term goal, Cllr. Colman said that the Youth Club had obtained quotations to refurbish the existing building and the Clerk was asked to obtain a copy of those quotations.

1. c) Environmental Stewardship Agreement Extension 2022 – the Clerk confirmed that Natural England had offered the Town Council the option to sign up for the Environmental Stewardship Agreement for a further year and members authorised the Clerk to sign up for a further year.
2. d) Mere Electric Car Club Survey – the Clerk said that this matter had been raised to remind members that the deadline for completing the survey was 25^th A reminder would be posted on Social Media a week before the deadline.

116. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – RESOLVED to authorise payments as set out in schedule of payments (attached) on proposal made by Cllr. Mitchell, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote.

2. b) To set date, membership, venue & agenda for Working Group meeting to review and assess the effectiveness of internal control measures – It was agreed that the meeting would be held on 17^th March 2022 at 2.00 pm – membership of working group being Chair, Vice-Chair, Cllr. Colman & Cllr. Jeans.

*c) ‘Specification’ to form job advertisement for Project Co-Ordinator for Mere Town Council (as recommended/approved at Budget Meeting) – Cllr. Jordan said that reading all the agenda papers gives him an insight into how busy the Town Clerk is and the number of issues that the Town Council is involved in which confirms the need for a project co-ordinator to carry out all the other projects that the Town Council wishes to do which is why he had prepared this ‘specification’.  Cllr. Colman said that he had looked at this and that from a professional point of view he has concerns that there are issues that the Town Council needs to address.  Cllr. Hazzard said that the Town Council needed to offer the appropriate wage rate in order to get the appropriate applicants.   The Clerk said that she would do some work on the advert & rates and liaise with Cllr. Colman and try and have something to present to the council at the next meeting.

1. d) To consider setting a Draft Communications Policy – Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she would like to defer discussion on this matter. She said that she had attended some training on communications for Town Councils and it was clear that the right level of communication is not just about telling people what is going on it also about listening to what they have to say. She said that at the very least, we should have an email newsletter.

117. General Items
118. a) To set date, venue & agenda for Annual Town Meeting – it was agreed that the Annual Town Meeting should be held on 20^th April 2022 in the Grove Building

118. Future meetings and events

Mere Carnival Committee AGM – Monday, 7^th March 2022 at 6.15 pm

119. Future agenda items

• Firework Display for Mere School – Cllr. Hazzard
• Tree planting in Kingsmere Open Space – Cllr. Ings

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 8.48 pm

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

For Trustees to consider the following:

1. a) Suggestion for a dog ban (Public Spaces Protection Order) for Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground – Cllr. Rachael Hansford

Trustees of the Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground Charity were happy to endorse the decision made by the Town Council during the Town Council meeting of 7^th February (see Minute Reference 115a)

1. b) Rebuilding of Mere Youth Centre – report on meeting held at Mere Youth Centre on 18^th January 2022

Trustees of the Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground Charity were happy to endorse the decision made by the Town Council during the Town Council meeting of 7^th February (see Minute Reference 115b)

 Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held at 7.00 pm on Monday, 10^th January 2022 at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, BA12 6EW.

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

The Chairman convened the meeting at 7.00 pm, welcoming everyone to the first meeting of 2022 and wishing all a very Happy New Year.

Public Participation Session

Mr. Nick Beale spoke as a member of the general public in objection to the Planning Applications for Plot H, The Old Nursery Burton, Mere.

Mrs. Debbie Beale spoke as a member of the general public in objection to Planning Applications for Plot H, The Old Nursery, Burton.

Mr. Hazzard pointed out that the double-yellow lines outside the Lecture Hall are very worn and asked if the Town Council could ask for them to be repainted.

Mr. Jordan said that the paving around the bench at the bus stop, outside Balcony Cottages in The Square, was in a bad state and uneven and that someone had fallen there recently.  The Clerk said that the Town Council would bring this to the attention of Wiltshire Council as well.

Mr. Philip Coward said that the road outside Park Corner Farm, towards West Knoyle, was in a terrible state.  He pointed out that Wiltshire Council kept patching it but that the tarmac just comes out again.

Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Eric Mitchell and Rodney Coward

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

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

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

• Jeans said that for clarity he would like it Minuted that he had considered whether or not he had an interest in the planning application for F. J. Chalke & Son and the planning application for 11 Barnes Place and had concluded that he did not. However, he would abstain from discussion or voting on those two planning applications during the meeting.
• Councillors Nick Beale and Debbie Beale declared a pecuniary interest in planning applications PL/2021/11278 and PL/2021/11280

97. Minutes – RESOLVED that the Minutes of the town Council meeting held on Monday, 6^th December 2021 be approved as a correct record of proceedings on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with the unanimous vote of those present on 6.12.21.

98. Matters Arising from Public Session

• None

99. Matters Arising from previous Meetings

None

100. Reports & Consultations
101. a) County Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans reported on the winners of the Christmas light competition and requested that the names be Minuted:

1st: – Mr Bill and Mrs Kathleen Foster of 45 Bramley Hill

2nd – Mr Mick and Mrs Karen Hurst of 5 Denes Avenue

3rd – Mr Dick and Mrs Brenda Morris of 47 Downside Close

Highly Commended, Mr Geoff and Mrs Pat Sams of 38 Lynch Close

Cllr. Jeans confirmed that Wiltshire Council members would be voting whether or not to approve to tender for the replacement highways maintenance contract to commence on 1 April 2022 (the present contract is with Ringway who were drafted in after a fallout with Balfour Beatty): Cllr. Jeans said that he had asked if the intention was to continue to include the Parish Steward service within the contract and confirmed that he was told that it would. He said that there had been some criticism on social media relating to the fact that contractors had not moved the flower tub when they resurfaced the footway in The Square recently and upon taking this matter up with the Highways Authority Cllr.  Jeans said that he had been told it was our fault, we knew that the work was taking place and we should have used our initiative and moved the tub as they would not have wanted to take responsibility for breaking it.  Cllr. Jeans also confirmed that he would be installing the community’s speed indicator device along Shaftesbury Road but warned that it would be installed within a 40 mile an hour limit but the setting of the speed indicator device was 30 mph so it would flash when speeds of 30 mph were exceeded. Cllr. Jeans said that he was aware that the Carnival Committee was facing difficulties in that it was very short of members he pointed out that the Town Council have always convened the Carnival Committee’s AGM in order to have an official record of their committee members and financial status and he asked for this to continue.

19. b) Chairman’s Report on remote Introductory Meeting with the Leader and Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council – the Chairman reported that she and the clerk had attended a virtual teams meeting with the leader of Wiltshire Council, Richard Clewer and Andy Brown, the Deputy Chief Executive: she said that this was obviously an initiative whereby they were booking in slots with all Wiltshire Town Councils but Mr. Clewer said that he was keen to have a different relationship with town and parish councils and wanted to place more emphasis on partnership working. Their priority was how they could support High Streets & Wiltshire Council’s economy and they finished off by asking whether we thought there might be some appetite from the town Council in taking on responsibility for Mere Library. We took the opportunity to point out that we had experienced problems with legal work for leases i.e. car parks and toilets office and children’s centre and that we had asked for an asset transfers of the public toilets but were told that this would not be possible. The Clerk pointed out that she felt that Wiltshire Council were looking to offload assets that were a financial drain to them but not so keen to offload anything that may provide income. She confirmed that she had informed Cllr. Clewer that his question about the library would be raised as a future agenda item and advised members that it would be on the agenda for February. We were also invited to a physical gathering of Town Council’s which would be held later in January but we have subsequently heard that this has been postponed due to COVID-19.

101. Planning
102. a) Applications for consultation response – (All applications can be viewed on Wiltshire Council’s Planning & Building Control Public Register – https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/ – type in the relevant

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward seconded by Cllr. Ings and carried with a unanimous vote. In order not compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

Cllr. Hazzard said that he had made a site visit and confirmed that the proposal was to extend the workshops towards the bungalow on the eastern boundary.  As the bungalow was under the ownership of the applicant, Cllr. Hazzard could see no issues with the application.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. Mrs Beale and carried with a majority vote in favour. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

Cllr. Mrs Symonds said that she had made a site visit and felt that the application was probably an improvement. RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Nick Beale and carried with a majority vote in favour. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this planning application.

Having declared a pecuniary interest, Cllrs. Debbie Beale and Nick Beal left the room and took no part in discussion or voting on this planning application.  Cllr. Philip Coward said that he understood that this site had some special status relating to the aquifer due to its proximity to the pumping station. Members felt that this was an attempt at residential development through the backdoor. Cllr. Hazzard said that he felt the most important aspect of this planning application was the hazardous vehicular access onto and off the A303.  He said he would have thought that the Highways Agency would be making an objection.  Cllr.  Jordan said it was a nonsensical and ill thought-out application. RESOLVED to object to this planning application for the following reasons:

1. Dangerous and hazardous vehicular access – the only vehicular access is restricted in width and is unable to allow two vehicles to pass which may result in traffic having to stop on the A303. Traffic may also need to cross the westbound carriageway but this access is near the point that the dual carriageway becomes single carriageway and is also just past the brow of a hill and so visibility for oncoming traffic when coming out of this access is poor.  The A303 Trunk road has a high rate of Personal Injury Accidents and fatal accidents in the Mere area.  In the A303/A30/A358 Corridor Feasibility Study prepared for the Highways Agency in February 2015 by CH2MHILL it names Chicklade Bottom to Mere as being one of the three poorest performing sections of the A303 in terms of fatal accidents and that it was one of the worst performing sections in terms of the total number of personal injury accidents.  The Town Council fears that any development on this land that encourages the use of private vehicles will exacerbate the road safety issues on the A303 in this location.
2. Overdevelopment – The whole plot is about 40m X 57.5m and within that area the applicants intend to have a caravan parked on hard standing, 3 ponds, and a reed bed area, a worm farm area, a polytunnel and composting toilet & sink, a parking area for 4 bikes and hardstanding for 2 cars, an area for recycling bins and a tool shed with solar panels. The proposed development of this site would be unsympathetic to its natural landscape setting and would result in harm to the character and appearance of the area, and conflict with CS Policies CP51 and CP57.

3. Justification – In a recent planning appeal decision on an adjacent plot on this same site, the Planning Inspector stated that planning permission is not required for the use of the land for agriculture, the growing of vegetables and fruit, or as a nursery. However, It would appear that the scale of the horticultural/agricultural activity to be carried out on the site would be extremely small and although the applicants seem to place emphasis on increasing biodiversity and improving wildlife habitats on the site, there is no evidence to suggest that the amount of horticultural or agricultural activity taking place is sufficient to require the level of development proposed or to justify the requirement for a caravan, mains electricity connection, water connection or composting toilet to be provided within the site.  It is necessary to have flowing water for trout to survive and therefore it would not be possible to grow trout in ponds.  It is also necessary to have flowing water for a reed bed composting system to work.  Furthermore, the development of a reed bed composting system with or without flowing water would be a cause of concern for stream water contamination given the close proximity of the Ashfield Water.

4. Character & appearance – the site can be clearly seen from the public footpaths which run close to the southern & western boundaries of this site. The western boundary consists of a line of beech trees with are protected with a Tree Preservation Order.  There are concerns that any ground works relating to the development proposed for this site may cause harm to the root system of the beech trees.  The Town Council feels that this development would result in harm to the character and appearance of the area and conflict with CS Policies CP512 and CP57.  Security lighting on this plot is a cause of concern.  The area of Burton is on the edge of the Cranborne Chase AONB and the dark skies status of this area would be affected by security lighting that may be triggered at night, either by activity from the occupants or by wildlife.

5. Contamination of aquifer/groundwater – the site lies within the Environment Agency Source Protection Zone and the Town Council would be concerned about the effect that these proposals would have on the aquifer/groundwater. There is no historic evidence of this land flooding or of any water runoff causing flooding to the stream that runs to the south of the site or damage/pollutant to the stream.  However, the Town Council is concerned that the creation of ponds and a reed bed composting area without running water, could cause issues for groundwater and/or stream water pollution.  The Town Council would urge that an Environment Impact Assessment for Groundwater should be applied to this planning application.

Proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. Ings and carried with a majority vote in favour. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from discussion or voting on this planning application.  All members present voted in favour of asking Cllr. Jeans to call in this application to committee if he considered that the officers’ recommendation would differ with the Town Council’s submitted objection.

Having declared a pecuniary interest, Cllrs. Debbie Beale and Nick Beal left the room and took no part in discussion or voting on this planning application.  RESOLVED  Cllr. Mrs Symons proposed that the Town Council should object to the application above for the following reasons:

The land was historically used as an old horticultural site with greenhouses which stopped being used some 30 – 40 years ago and fell into decay.  Whilst the glass cannot decompose, the area had been left to nature during that time and had become a wildlife haven until it was sold off in small plots in 2020 and the land disturbed.  The bunds appear to have been made up of surface scrapings and the applicant suggests that the purpose is to help with land flooding and to create boggy ground.  There is no historic evidence or local knowledge of the land flooding and there is therefore no evidence to suggest that bunds are needed for drainage purposes and therefore they are not reasonably required or justified.  The Town Council is surprised at the following statement on the application ‘On buying the plot we did not realise that beneath the nettled, brambled overgrowth were literally tonnes of glass panes, metal support poles and brick pillars.’  The sale particulars of the estate agents that sold the plots clearly state that ‘the land was formerly a horticultural nursery’ and at any viewing of the site before purchasing it would have been very evident that the ground was contaminated with glass.   The Town Council feels that the appearance of these bunds which are visible from the public footpaths to the east and west of the site are out of character with the surrounding area and cause harm to the appearance of the area.  An enforcement notice against bunds on an adjacent plot within the site was upheld by a planning inspector on appeal in May 2021 and therefore this application, if approved, would set an adverse precedent.  The Town Council concludes that aesthetically the bunds are an unnatural landform and is unnecessary development that is detrimental and unsympathetic to its setting in the rural countryside and feels that the ground levels should be restored to match the profile of the land that existed prior to this unauthorised development taking place.

Proposal seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a majority of vote in favour. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from discussion or voting on this application. All members voted in favour of asking Cllr. Jeans to call in this application to committee if he considered that the officer’s recommendation would differ with the Town Council’s submitted objection.

1. b) PLANNING APPEAL DECISION – PL/2021/03847 – Highbrook, Mere BA12 6EA – APP/Y3940/D/21/3280158 – the clerk reported that she had received the inspectors decision on the appeal which was dismissed. The reason for dismissal was mainly due to its effect on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.

*c) Report + Q&A on CPRE’s Neighbourhood Planning Webinar held on 9^th November – Cllr. Rachael Hansford (report attached) – members discussed the report, stating that commitment to a Neighbourhood Plan would be a tremendous amount of work, not helped by the fact that the government kept overhauling the planning system.  Cllr. P. Coward asked if it would not be better for the town to have a design statement.  The Clerk explained that, as far as she was aware, design statements did not achieve the same amount of ‘gravitas’ as a Neighbourhood Plan because it was not approved by public referendum and was not given supplementary planning guidance status.  Cllr. Jordan said that he spent some considerable time with a gentleman from Gillingham who had created a design statement and after five years they got a neighbourhood plan and then their design statement didn’t carry that much punch. Having said that, it would be a good idea to have a Mere Plan which, if nothing else, would justify to the community that the Town Council thinks about how we want to see the future of Mere being shaped- similar to the document ‘Mere Parish Plan’ that was produced in 2005.  Cllr. Jeans said that he thought it was a good idea but pointed out that it is all very well saying you want to build there and you want this area to be used for housing and this area to be used for employment land but it doesn’t always happen, as is now evident with the employment land allocation between Quarry fields and Hill Brush. Cllr. Rachael Hansford suggested that she contact the Wiltshire Area Localism and Planning Group to find out more information on their purpose.

102. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
103. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWltshire reports – Cllr. Ings reported that the Parish Steward had filled potholes in Denes Avenue but the filling had since come out and now the road is left with potholes and lumps of tarmac. Ings also reported that the road near the roundabout area outside the Walnut Tree Inn is also very poor.

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

Cemetery wall – Cllr. Raymond Hill reported that the storms at the end of November had caused a tree to blow over from the cemetery into the garden of a property in Pettridge Lane and in so doing, had knocked a boundary wall over between the two properties.  The Town Council’s grounds staff have cleared up the tree but there is now the problem of the damaged wall to deal with.  Cllr. Hill has been to see the property owners who have confirmed that the wall on the opposite side of the garden is on their deeds. The wall that has come down lines up with the old wall that we had in the cemetery that we have subsequently removed and therefore Cllr. Hill deduced that the damaged wall belonged to the Town Council.  The property in Pettridge Lane is on the market and the property owners would like to have some confirmation from the Town Council that we will take responsibility for the wall (they are not necessarily expecting it to be done immediately but they want something to show potential buyers who may have concerns). It is a long patch of stone wall and we would have the option of repairing it with blocks on our side and stone facing on the property side as the wall can’t be seen from the cemetery but it would not be possible to replace it with a wooden fence. The Clerk said that she had made enquiries with the Town Council’s insurance company who had indicated that it may be possible to make a claim for the repair of the wall as being storm damage and they had sent the clerk the relevant papers to submit but the clerk could not confirm an insurance claim outcome at this stage. RESOLVED that the Town Council should write to the owners of the property telling them that we will take responsibility for the repair of the wall and that we should try and pursue an insurance claim on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward, seconded by Cllr. Ings and carried with a unanimous vote

104. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – RESOLVED to authorise payments as set out in schedule of payments (attached) on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs Symons, seconded by Cllr.  Nick Beal and carried with a unanimous vote.

*b) To approve and adopt Draft Document Retention Policy (attached) – RESOLVED to approve and adopt Document Retention Policy on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

*c) To approve and adopt draft Complaints Policy (attached) – RESOLVED to approve and adopt Complaints Policy on proposal made by Cllr. Rachael Hansford, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote

1. d) Is the Council happy for Cllr. Hazzard to investigate purchase and payment options for replacement tractor & implements? – Cllr. Hazzard said that given the concern for the state of the Town Council’s tractor he wanted the Council’s approval to investigate options for the council to purchase a new tractor. He said that it would be useful for the council to have a machine that is capable of being used for more than just grass cutting (something that we could perhaps over a period of time buy attachments for hedge cutting, woodchipping etc). Hazzard said it would be tricky to get three like-for-like quotes but with the help of Cllr. Rodney Coward and Cllr. Eric Mitchell he would do some research & visit outlets and retailers and bring the best options to the Council.  He would also provide potential payment options at this time.  Members were happy for Cllr. Hazzard to proceed as outlined above.

105. General Items
106. a) Flood Plan for Mere – Cllr. Jeans said that he had arranged for a meeting with Wessex Water but pointed out that recent heavy rain pointed out some problem areas. He said that the Highways Engineer has been really helpful and arranged for about 60 gullies to be cleared but it has been pointed out to him that the purpose of these drains is to take the water off the road and they are not there to protect property from flooding. Cllr. Jeans said that there is an area in Shaftesbury Road where a resident says there is a blocked culvert under the road and it is this sort of local knowledge that is really helpful. He said he was not sure how to move forward with this but felt that something should be done and suggested that this should be an item to be raised on the agenda every six months or so.  The clerk pointed out that she had carried out some work on a Flood Plan for a neighbouring parish and was aware that there was a template for a Flood plan on the environment agency’s website but she pointed out that the Flood Plan required community volunteers, a fair amount of work and placed a fair amount of responsibility on property owners.  The clerk also pointed out that advising members of the public to report blocked drains on the Wiltshire reporting pages was not necessarily appropriate as she had discovered that very often these reports were just marked as closed and no action taken. It was pointed out that there has been a fair amount of misinformation and confusion on this subject in social media recently and it was agreed that the Town Council should write an article “What do I do if I get flooded” on the website and that the chairman would also include this in her report for Mere Matters and that people should be made aware of their responsibilities.
107. b) Briefing Note No. 21-27 COVID-19 Update (attached) – noted

106. Future meetings and events
107. a) CATG meeting Wednesday, 23^rd February – Cllr. Jeans said it would be nice if someone could go and support the issue for Shaftesbury Road.

107. Future agenda items

• Cemetery Wall – Cllr. Hill
• Climate Webinar –– Cllr. Mrs. Beale)

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