Author: Lindsey Wood

MINUTES of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 16^th January 2023 at 7.00 pm at the Andy Young Pavilion, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW. 

Present:  Councillors Mrs. Lesley Traves (Chair), Kate Symonds (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Nick Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward, Rodney Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, Raymond Hill (until 8.21 pm), Glen Ings (until 8.05 pm), George Jeans, John Jordan (from 7.10 pm) & Linden Stone.

Meeting convened at 7.05 pm with Public Participation Session

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the first meeting of 2023.  There were no members of the public present but there was an informal discussion about potholes and the MyWilts Reporting app and the poor state of Shaftesbury Road outside Two Counties Farm & Pettridge Lane.  Cllr. Jeans said that he had written to the finance officer at Wiltshire Highways asking for some money to be set aside to resurface the road outside Two Counties Farm.   The Chairman also took the opportunity to remind all members about the rules of debate/discussion at meetings and said that when a proposal is voted on and resolved, it should not be opened for discussion again.

Apologies for absence received from Cllr. C. Hazzard

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

• Philip Coward declared a personal interest in planning application No. PL/2022/09365 and in Minute No. 257a)
• Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 252b)

250. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday 5^th December 2022 be approved as a correct record (attached) on proposal by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 5.12.22. RESOLVED that the Annual Budget Committee approve the Minutes of the Annual Budget Meeting held on Wednesday, 23^rd November 2022 (attached) on proposal made by Cllr. Colman, seconded by Cllr. P. Coward and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 23.11.22. RESOLVED that the Staffing Working Group approve the report of the Staffing Working Group meeting held on Thursday, 1^st December 2022 (attached) on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 1.12.22

251. Matters Arising from Public Session

None

252. Matters Arising from previous Meetings (not covered by other agenda items)
253. a) Minute Ref: 241 a) Wiltshire Towns Programme – to approve Action Plan & Action Plan Funding (2 documents attached) – Cllr. Jordan thanked the Clerk for completing and submitting a technical document to Wiltshire Council relating to funding limits and confirmed that he and the Clerk had put together an Action Plan and a Funding Plan for the Actions identified. Jordan talked about the proposed actions and the objectives which were to increase footfall in Mere. There was a discussion about the payment to Visit Wiltshire which used to be paid by the Chamber of Trade and a discussion about boosting business presence on social media.  Cllr. Colman confirmed that the Chamber of Trade had not held a meeting for 3 years.  Members RESOLVED that these documents should be submitted to Wiltshire Council for funding from the Wiltshire Towns Programme without amendment on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward, seconded by Cllr. Ings and carried with a unanimous vote.
254. b) Minute Ref: 228d) Leases for Car Parks – The Clerk read out a series of questions/statements prepared by the Council’s solicitors and Wiltshire Council. Members specifically asked for up-to-date condition surveys of the car parks to be carried out for the new leases. It was also agreed to ask for a longer Landlord’s Break Clause of 6 months in respect of the Salisbury Street Car Park and the Clerk was requested to ask for clarification on responsibility for the three street lights in the car park as it was understood that the two nearest Dark Lane came under ‘Highways’. George Jeans, having declared an interest in the next matter, left the building whilst the matter was discussed:

Third Party Rights for the Salisbury Street Car Park – the Clerk pointed out that there are more third party rights than which we have received notification of and the solicitor’s advice was that it is imperative that the Council understands the rights that affect the lease before it’s signed and completed.  It was therefore agreed to submit a map with the Rights of way marked and photographs of the gateways and entrances where possible.

1. c) Minute Ref: 228e) Lease/licence for Car Club – The Clerk stated that the Car Club lease or licence progress has been protracted, largely because there seems to have been a lot of confusion and bad advice over how to deal with the license. However, it seemed that a way forward had recently been found and she hoped to be able to report more on this at the next meeting.

253. Reports & Consultations
254. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – No formal report but Cllr. Jeans said he would answer questions if asked.

*b) Report from Mere Town Council’s Project Co-Ordinator – & for Town Council to confirm that they are happy to accept the letter from C. G. Fry & Son as confirming permission to deviate from S.106 agreement in lieu of Deed of Variation (info in Clerks Report + letter from C. G. Fry attached) – The Clerk advised members that Wiltshire Council officers had stated that they would reluctantly accept that Mere Town Council is going to take the “riskier” option of accepting the letter from C. G. Fry & Son as confirming their agreement to deviate from the S.106 agreement in lieu of a Deed of Variation as long as this is clearly Minuted.  RESOLVED to accept the letter from C. G. Fry as confirming permission to deviate from the S.106 agreement* relating to Open Space Contribution.  Proposal made by Cllr. Philip Coward, seconded by Cllr. Jeans and carried with a unanimous vote.

*Section 106 Agreement: means an agreement dated 19 March 2015 and made between (1) The Hill Brush Company Ltd (2) C.G. Fry and Son Limited and (3) Wiltshire Council.

1. c) Report on SWW Area Board Meeting held on Wednesday, 14^th December – Cllr. Jordan had attended the meeting and reported that there was much discussion about speeds of vehicles through small villages. Jordan said that he did, however, invite those present to the New Year New Bottom walk.  He also thanked Cllr. Rodney Coward for his help with the walk.  Cllr. Jeans said that he had raised issues about the lack of response by the police to 101 calls.

254. Planning
255. a) Applications for consultation response:

Members made no comment on the above application as it had already been determined (approved) by the Planning Authority.

Members felt that the above application would be suitable for the allocated employment land and should provide some employment for the area.  RESOLVED to support the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a majority vote.  Having declared a personal interest, Cllr. P. Coward abstained from voting. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. R. Coward, seconded by Cllr. Sandra Catley and carried with a unanimous vote.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Sandra Catley, seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a unanimous vote.

The Chairman confirmed that she had visited the site with Cllr. Mrs. Symonds.  Cllr. Mrs. Symonds said that given that the bungalow is on a large plot, she thought that extending the bungalow to accommodate the needs of the applicant’s mother would be preferable to building a separate annexe with separate vehicular access.   The Chairman pointed out that she understood that the Planning Authority had a policy of not allowing self-contained annexe buildings but instead prefers them to be subservient and reliant on the main house.  Cllr. Jeans said that in these circumstances, the Planning Authority may add a condition or a legal agreement to ensure that the annexe is not sold off separately to the host property.  There was a long discussion on the legitimacy of the vehicular access off Woodlands Road.  Cllr. Jeans pointed out that the red line on the block plan and the location plan, showing the extent of the planning application, did not include the vehicular access and said that there was no blue line showing that the vehicular access out onto the highway was in the bungalow’s ownership.  It was pointed out that although ownership was not relevant in planning terms, it was mentioned in the Planning Statement that there was a separate vehicular access onto Woodlands Road and it would appear, from communication with the Highway Authority, that there was no approved license issued for an access in this location at the present time. RESOLVED to object to the above planning application on the grounds that the proposed annexe is not attached to the existing property and, being self-contained may not be ancillary to the residential use of the main dwelling and could therefore be sold as a separate dwelling in the future.  Furthermore, the proposed access onto Woodlands Road appears not to be within the ownership of the property or licensed/authorised with the Highway Authority.  Proposal made by Cllr. Colman, seconded by Cllr. N. Beale and carried with a vote of 6 for, 5 against and 3 abstentions. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

The Clerk confirmed that the previous application for this site, which was for the conversion of three barns into five dwellings has been approved by the Planning Authority so that was now a fall-back option but this application is for an alternative scheme which does not include conversion of the modern barn but instead, replaces it with a single dwelling.  The exterior design of the two existing stone barns will remain unaltered but the internal layout has been adapted to create two detached rather than four attached dwellings.  The Chairman pointed out that the new replacement dwelling would be much higher than the existing barn.   The Clerk read out the Town Council’s submission to the previous planning application which raised concerns about vehicular access points and additional traffic in the narrow lanes. Cllr. Rachael Hansford expressed the view that changing the number of dwellings from 5 to 3 is likely to make them more expensive and exclusive and therefore rule out much chance of providing homes for local families.  Cllr. Ings said he thought this new application was preferable to the older one and proposed that the application be approved.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Sandra Catley and carried with a vote of 9 for, 3 against and 1 abstention. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

303. b) Update on Enforcement Issues and further developments at The Old Nursery Site at Burton – Cllr. Debbie Beale said that she wanted the opportunity to update the council: “yesterday we had a new mobile home being delivered onto Plot M so there are now two caravans on this plot. The Planning Enforcement department has been involved and they have been active in taking plot owners to court for planning breaches and non-compliance. One of the plot owners has also purchased another plot and had a temporary stop notice issued because he was putting down foundations and digging a hole for a septic tank. Another plot further up also has enforcement action for a shipping container and static caravan and there are two families living on the land with approximately 50 pigs that quite often roam out onto the footpath.  Animal health are aware of the situation but now that the pigs have been moved further up the plot, there is concern about the possibility of them escaping onto the A303.  The access gate to the field from the A303 which belongs to the house owner that lives near the A303 has been damaged whilst manoeuvring these static caravans on site.  Wessex Water have now installed a standpipe as the occupiers were getting water from the river.  Debbie Beale said that she would pass on the contact details of the relevant bodies to Councillors for information.

Cllr. Ings left the meeting at 8.05 pm

255. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
256. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports – The Clerk reported that there was no Parish Steward service in January because all the Parish Stewards had been seconded to fill potholes. However, there is a Sparkle Team visit scheduled for Mere for the week beginning 23^rd Cllr. Jordan suggested that the Sparkle Team be asked to cut back overhanging foliage along Dark Lane.  Cllr. Mrs. Beale asked if we could request that they attend to a blocked drainage ditch alongside Footpath Mere 21 (the footpath that runs alongside the Pumping Station out to Burton Path).
257. b) Report on Teams Meeting with representatives from Options 24/7 to discuss bus improvements – Cllr. Debbie Beale reported that she had attended two meetings about buses; the first one was with Options 24/7 – the Gillingham to Mere bus has temporarily increased from2 to 8 buses per day but unfortunately it is not being well utilised so if we want any chance of keeping this improved service then we need to encourage more people to use it. The people at Options 24/7 are looking at improving connections between this existing service and other local towns such as Warminster, Shaftesbury, Wincanton & Salisbury. It is also possible that a bus to Stourhead could generate some footfall for Mere.  There was also a discussion about buses being supported/sponsored by supermarkets.  The second meeting was about DRT which is Digital On Demand Transport – having on-demand taxi buses to take people where they want to go.  The person who is involved in this is running a pilot project in Pewsey and is proposing to carry out a survey to see if it would be a suitable project for Mere.  Debbie Beale said that she would try and promote the increased bus service from Mere to Gillingham on Social Media and encouraged members of the Town Council to use it too.  Cllr. Sandra Catley pointed out that not everyone used social media and it might be prudent to do a leaflet drop also.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that the Community Accessible Transport bus comes into Mere from Wincanton.

256. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
257. a) Dead and dying trees in Mere Cemetery – Sandra Catley reported that she had visited Mere Cemetery with Brad Morton of BM Tree Co to inspect the yew trees. Mr. Morton believed that the trees had root rot caused by poor drainage on the planted area.  Mr. Morton had provided a quotation to fell the  3 affected trees and reduce the corresponding three trees on the other side of the footpath.  The Clerk explained that when the first Yew Tree had died, it had been examined in a laboratory by an ecology scientist who said that it had a disease.  Cllr. Hill said that Mere cemetery was known far and wide for its yew arch and he would hate to fell these yew trees without a second opinion.  RESOLVED to appoint the Town Council’s arboricultural specialist – Jonathan Astill – to provide a detailed assessment and report on the yew trees in the cemetery.

Cllr. R. Hill left the meeting at 8.21 pm

1. b) Damage to back wall at Castle Street Car Park – this item was for information only and the Clerk informed members that someone had driven into the back wall and caused damage which the grounds staff were going to repair.

Emergency Item

2028. c) Extension of Environmental Stewardship Scheme – The Clerk informed members that the Rural Payments Agency had offered the Town Council a 5-year extension on the Environmental Higher Level Stewardship Scheme for Castle Hill & Long Hill which would last until 30^th September 2028. The signed agreement would need to be returned by 31^st The agreement effectively states that the Town Council will be managing the grassland on Castle Hill & Long Hill during that period with goat grazing.  The Clerk expressed her concern that we do not currently have a formal agreement with a goat owner or grazing licence in place at the moment and explained the issues that had occurred last summer.  Cllr. Rodney Coward agreed to communicate with local goat owners and was given authority to seek a licensee for a grazing license.  On this basis, the Clerk was authorised to sign the ES Scheme agreement.

257. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (attached).  RESOLVED to authorise payments on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Nick Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.  Cllr. Philip Coward, having declared a personal interest in this item, refrained from discussion or voting.

1. b) To sign off latest bank reconciliation – The Chairman confirmed that she had examined the bank reconciliation and bank statements and signed the bank reconciliation accordingly.

*c) Matters Arising from External Auditor’s report 2021/22 – members noted the information in the Clerks Report and the Clerk confirmed that she had changed the details on the Charity Commission website in accordance with the advice from solicitors.

1. d) Confirmation of insurance policy adjustments – The Clerk confirmed that there had been various adjustments with the insurance relating to the tractor which the Clerk thought would result in a refund of insurance premium being produced.

*e) Notice from Wiltshire Council that it will seek to recover Election costs from May 2025 – members noted the information.

*f) To adopt recommendations made by Staffing Working Group meeting as shown in Report of Staffing Working Group meeting held on Thursday, 1^st December 2022 (Report attached) – discussed under Confidential Business at the end of the meeting.

*g) To adopt recommendations made by Budget Meeting, as shown in Minutes of Budget Meeting held on Monday, 23^rd November 2022 (Minutes attached) – RESOLVED to adopt the recommendations made by the budget committee as recorded in the minutes of the budget meeting held on 23^rd November 2022 (with no amendments) on proposal made by Cllr. Jeans, seconded by Cllr. Nick Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

290. h) To approve Precept on Wiltshire Council for 2023/24 – RESOLVED to approve a Precept of £186,290.00 for 2023/24 on proposal made by Cllr. Linden Stone, seconded by Cllr. Rodney Coward and carried with a unanimous vote. The Chairman was authorised to sign the Precept form for submission to Wiltshire Council.
291. i) Authorisation for grounds staff to convert mobile floodlight to mobile generator – The Clerk reminded members that the Town Council had purchased a mobile floodlight unit in 2007/08 which was now unserviceable. She explained that the grounds staff wanted to use this machine to make a generator and the surplus steel as a weight for the new tractor at minimal cost. Members agreed that this was a good and creative project and praised the grounds staff for their resourcefulness.
292. j) Report on interim Internal Audit – the Clerk confirmed that the first Internal Audit with our new Internal auditor was carried out in December. “The report came in today so I haven’t had time to study it but I do know that one of the main recommendations is that the Town Council should seek advice of a VAT specialist to ensure compliance.” The Internal Auditor had recommended the Parkinson Partnership and the Clerk confirmed that she had previously met Steve Parkinson who is very knowledgeable on Council VAT matters and asked members if they would be happy to follow up on this recommendation and get a quotation for the Parkinson Partnership to provide specific advice to Mere Town Council?  Members agreed to this.  The Clerk said that she would send out the full internal audit report with the next agenda papers for discussion during the February meeting.

258. General Items
259. a) Communication with local police –The Clerk informed the Town Council that she had recently received an email from Kevin Harmsworth who was the new Community Policing Team Inspector for the Mere Area and she confirmed that he would be coming to our February meeting. The Clerk had informed Insp. Harmsworth that she and Cllr. Jeans had been discussing our dismay over the lack of local police presence and Insp. Harmsworth had explained that we now have another new PCSO and he is coming in to meet me and the school this week. Nick Beale said that he had recently had a conversation with a police officer and asked why we no longer had a police presence at Town Council meetings and the police officer told him that Mere Town Council had specifically asked for NO police presence at meetings.  It was agreed to raise this with Insp. Harmsworth during the February meeting.
260. b) Judging of Xmas Lights – Cllrs Nick and Debbie Beale gave the following report as judges:-“A lot fewer lights this year but that is totally understandable with electricity costs but some amazing displays. Again we judged on Wow factor, Creativity and Effort. The winning entry 38 Lynch close was amazing, the effort and imagination involved was second to none. Second place 11 Denes Avenue was also very imaginative and we even saw the owner out in the rain putting a few finishing touches in place and making sure everything was working OK. Special recognition goes to 8 Denes Avenue, very hard to judge Denes avenue but we felt that these 2 just stood out a little more. We should mention the window displays down Mill Lane, they are beautiful, so much effort and definitely worth a look and the Link Scheme display in Downside Close.” The Chairman thanked Cllrs. Nick & Debbie Beale for carrying out the judges and confirmed that she presented the winner with the Mere Christmas Lights Shield for 2022 and a prize of a Christmas hamper kindly donated by the Hill Brush Co, Mere. Second place and Highly Commended (Special Recognition) will also receive a prize each.

First Place:  Mr Geoff & Mrs. Pat Sams of 38 Lynch Close, 2^nd Place Mr. Jake and Mrs. Susan Fricker of 11 Denes Avenue, Highly Commended (Special Recognition) Mr. Richard and Mrs. Rose Adams of 8 Denes Avenue

259. Future meetings and events

The Clerk confirmed that the Council had been asked to help publicise an event for Wiltshire Climate Alliance who were holding a meeting with workshop & fundraising party on Saturday, 4^th February at Devizes Corn Exchange.  (Non-members would need to pay £15)

260. Future agenda items
261. a) Protocol for dealing with Planning Enforcement issues
262. b) Suggestions for Town Council priority strategy

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 the Trustee (Mere Town Council) to consider the following:

*a) Questions relating to new lease for youth club building –

1. The current lease has expired but can be renewed either with a new lease of a Deed of Variation or a new lease.  This will depend in part on the length of new lease granted and in park on the new clauses/amendments that need to be made.
2. Mere TC (Trustee) are asked to advise on the length of a new lease, if this is more than 7 years it will need to be registered with Land Registry.
3. In addition the TC (Trustee) is asked to advise on the conditions of the lease, in particular who is responsible for external maintenance ( the existing lease is silent on this) and who is responsible for insuring the building?  Currently this is Mere TC (Trustee) but this is not recharged to the Tenants.  If it continues to be Mere TC (Trustee) should it be re-charged to the Tenant?
4. The lease is also not specific in respect of Health and Safety. The new lease needs to be more specific in respect of internal maintenance and seek confirmation that annual maintenance in respect of electrical, fire prevention and heating are being carried out.
5. The building is let by the Mere Peace charity, with no charge being passed on to the tenant.  Legal advice will need to be sought to ensure that the charity is allowed under its objectives to let the premises rent free.

Decision points

• Length of lease – The Trustee agreed that the lease should be a 25-year lease as this would give Seeds4Success more flexibility with fundraising.
• Rent free? – The Trustee agreed that the building should be rent free
• Repair and maintenance responsibilities – In view of the decision above, the Trustee agreed that the lease should apply full repair and maintenance responsibility to Seeds4Success
• Management of Health and Safety – In view of the decisions above, the Trustee agreed that management of H&S should be the responsibility of Seeds4Success

Submission of Annual Return for Mere Peace Memorial Sports & Recreation Ground for Financial Year End 31.3.22

The Trustee approved the submission of the Annual Return for the year ending 31.3.22

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 5^th December 2022 at 7.00 pm in the Andy Young Pavilion, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire, BA12 6EW. 

Present:  Councillors Mrs. Lesley Traves (Chair), Nick Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Rodney Coward, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, George Jeans, John Jordan & Linden Stone.

Also:  Quentin Skinner, Colin Liddell and Mr. Cardozo

Meeting convened at 7.02pm with Public Participation Session

Mr. Skinner, spoke in objection to Planning Application PL/2022/08186 and he said that the last time this site was subject to a planning application for one gypsy pitch in 2015 the WC highways office initially objected to the application on the basis of road safety because the visibility splays did not meet the criteria for the design manual.  However, about 3 or 4 weeks after that they had a change of mind and used a different manual MfS2 which had different regulations for different environments.  However, even using this it still didn’t pass the criteria for visibility and so they actually granted permission when they shouldn’t have done and that was for one pitch and now they are talking about 11 pitches.  The application should therefore be turned down on road safety grounds. Mr. Skinner also pointed out that there were a number of planning conditions attached to the previous planning permission for this site which have not been followed and one of these conditions is that the hedgerow must be kept to a height of 1m which, of course, has not happened but this too, means that the site can be seen.

Cllr. Jeans said that he understood that one of the conditions was to close up the vehicular entrance closest to Mere and this has not been done so now they have two entrances.

Mr. Liddell also spoke in objection to Planning Application PL/2022/08186 and pointed out that he was certain that a housing development would not be approved for that site and so therefore, could not understand, why a gypsy site should be approved.  Mr. Liddell also expressed concern about highway safety and pointed out the issue of flooding, saying that he has a photograph of that field completely flooded with swans on it and he said that the extra hard standing necessary to accommodate the extra pitches would make the flooding situation worse.

Mr. Cardoza asked if other planning applications in the vicinity would be taken into consideration and stated that there was a planning application for mobile homes being submitted in Gillingham.  Cllr. Jeans said that each planning application would be considered on its own merits but pointed out that a planning application for mobile homes would not qualify as a planning application for a gypsy and traveller site unless it was specifically titled as such.   The Clerk pointed out that Wiltshire Council had a separate planning policy for gypsy and traveller sites and a separate planning policy for housing development sites and that the two were treated quite differently.

 Apologies for absence received from Councillors Debbie Beale, Philip Coward, Raymond Hill, Glen Ings and Kate Symonds.

238. Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensation

• Hazzrd declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 246a) [Payments]

GJ had a personal interest but at a level

• Stone declared a personal interest in planning application PL/2022/07196

There were no requests for dispensation

239. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 7^th November 2022 be approved as a correct record on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 7.11.22

240. Matters Arising from Public Session

None

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

*Minute Ref: 228A) Wiltshire Towns Programme – to consider Wiltshire Towns Programme proposals for Action Plan (report attached) – Cllr. Jordan reported that several meetings ago he volunteered himself to apply for this funding.  Since last month’s report, he has held a Teams meeting with Wiltshire Council officers and found out that some of the things that the Clerk and I had talked about to enhance the town would be inappropriate for this programme  i.e. provide some extra parking, or provide a bus stop or perhaps to have a parking ambassador – unfortunately, they are thinking of short-term solutions to increase footfall in town centres.  They were, however, keen to support events and I therefore suggested that funding for a Film Week (organised along the same lines as the Literary Festival) might receive some support as well as signage for walks to encourage people to visit Mere for accessible walks.  In January the legal team will have some sort of grant agreement contract written up.  We need to produce a formal Action Plan and I have drafted some notes for you to consider as we will need to submit something firm by the middle of January.  Cllr. Jeans said he wanted to thank Cllr. Jordan and it was agreed to delegate the task of forming an Action Plan to Cllr. Jordan.

242  Reports & Consultations

1. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Jeans reported that Wiltshire Council will now collect small household batteries with kerbside recycling collection every fortnight.  These should be presented in a sealed clear sandwich bag, on top of your blue-lidded recycling bin.
2. b) Report from Mere Town Council’s Project Co-Ordinator (report attached) & consideration of future project priorities – Cllr. Jeans said that he wanted to thank Roger Pipe and said that he was unable to attend the LHFIG meeting is aware that Cllr. Nick Beale did attend and that Roger put forward a very good case and I am aware that the LHFIG meeting have made recommendations that a substantial amount of money should be put towards the Clements Lane/Angel Lane footpath improvement project so I would like to thank Roger for his input on this.

In the event that Roger finds himself with time between his projects or his projects reach a stage that can’t be progressed, it was thought prudent to identify other projects that he could progress as and when:

Future projects for consideration in order of priority:

1. Lease for Duchy Manor (old Children’s Centre)
2. Start work on options for reconfiguration of Public Toilets
3. Renew lease for Youth Club
4. Help Seeds4Success with options for re-arrangement of toilets in Youth Club Building

243. Planning
244. a) Applications for consultation response:

RESOLVED to recommend approval of these amended plans on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. R. Coward and carried with a majority vote.  Cllr. Linden Stone, having declared a personal interest, abstained from discussion or voting and in order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

The Chairman reminded members that a couple of months ago we had a planning application for the neighbouring property where they wanted to attach a 2-bed house to Number 4 Underdown Mead and although the Town Council did object to this application, the planning authority subsequently granted permission.  Cllr. Jordan also remembers that the Town Council objected to proposals to build a larger two-storey 4-bed property on the plot next door quite some time ago and this is significantly smaller but it is still yet another property.  It was noted that on the planning register two people had written in to support this planning application.  Cllr. Jordan said that the Town Council previously raised the argument that access was not appropriate from the lower Old Hollow Road but evidently this is not a problem for Wiltshire Highways.  Cllr. Jordan also said that the two proposed parking spaces look quite small.  Cllr. Colman said he felt that these proposals would be overdevelopment of the site; there is insufficient turning space for vehicles and water is likely to run off the hard landscaping onto the road at Old Hollow and exacerbate the drainage problems there. Cllr. Rachael Hansford said “everyone says they want smaller affordable properties for local people to buy and these are never going to be built on a greenfield site, they are always going to be squeezed in between other properties and on people’s gardens.  It is a 2-bed bungalow at the end of the day and we need these sorts of properties but every time we get a proposal for one, everyone complains that it is overdevelopment – we can’t have it both ways.”  Cllr. Sandra Catley proposed that the Town Council should object to the application on the grounds of overdevelopment of the site and unsuitable access.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Colman but was not carried with a vote of 2 for, 4 against and 3 abstentions.  Cllr. Nick Beale made a counter proposal that the Town Council raises no objection to the planning application.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Rachael Hansford and carried with a vote of 5 for, 2 against and 2 abstentions.  This second proposal was then presented to the Town Council as a substantive motion and this was carried with a vote of 6 for, 2 against and 2 abstentions. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

Cllr. Jordan felt that this was an enhancement and would not have an impact on any neighbours or the surrounding area.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a majority vote.   In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

Members were generally concerned about drainage, flooding, sewage disposal etc.  Cllr. R. Coward said he was fairly certain that planning permission for 10 houses would not be allowed on the site.  Cllr. Jordan said that he was concerned that there appears to be one rule for one and a different rule for others; his point being that there is a caravan park that has appeared on the other side of the road which, as far as he is aware, has not received planning permission.  Cllr. Sandra Catley said that she thought that vehicular access into and out of the B3092 would be very dangerous as vehicles travelled very fast along this road.  Cllr. Colman pointed out that there is an 8ft high wall being built on the entrance to the land at this moment which would present a danger as it would provide a visibility obstruction.  Members were doubtful as to whether the wall had received planning permission.  The Chairman pointed out that when planning permission was granted for the one Romany Gypsy pitch in 2014/15 there were several conditions attached to the planning approval notice and these conditions have not all been met and were certainly not met in the correct order.  She said that it is all very well to say that an enforcement officer will ensure that conditions are met, but the enforcement officer is severely stretched with all the breaches of planning rules that are taking place.  Cllr. Jeans pointed out that, unfortunately, Wiltshire Council had not met their target for allocated Gypsy & Traveller site provisions within the Core Strategy.  However, he also said that there were points within the Planning Inspectorates decision on the Appeal by Richborough Estates for the development of the site at Gillingham Corner which would be very relevant to this planning application too and one of those was the Heritage & Landscape impact.  Cllr. Jeans said that Wiltshire Council’s Core Strategy has firm policies about building where it is not suitable which would include on land that floods.  He also pointed out that this planning application would not be treated like a regular planning application in that he couldn’t “Call it in” to go to the planning committee as it would automatically be taken to strategic committee for determination and he therefore suggested that the Town Council, whether it supports or objects, might want to think about attaching conditions to the planning decision such as providing electricity to the whole site before it is developed and closing up the unauthorised vehicular entrance (as applied previously).

RESOLVED that the Town Council should object to the planning application on proposal made by Cllr. Colman, seconded by Cllr. Sandra Catley and carried with a vote of 7 for, 1 against and 1 abstention.

The Clerk was given licence to compile the objection submission on the basis of the following points:

• Hazardous vehicular access
• Insufficient drainage
• Flooding
• Sewerage
• Heritage & Landscape setting impact – harm on landscape when viewed from Castle Hill, Long Hill & Monarchs Way
• Addition of conditions as mentioned and as added in previous response in 2014.

244. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
245. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports – None reported.

*b) Request from Mere Rivers Group for help with maintenance of river and river bank along Waterside and response from Town Council’s insurers relating to enquiries –  Cllr. Hazzard said that he thought it would be nice to see something done about the river and wondered if the insurance company were actually aware of the size and flow of the river – he said they may be thinking that the term river refers to a large fast-flowing deep watercourse whereas in fact it is just a narrow stream with a few inches of water.  He said that he thought the Town Council could go back to the insurance company with further details of our proposals.  The Clerk said that if the Town Council were to carry out any work or were to oversee a volunteer group carrying out any work along Waterside then a Risk Assessment would be key and one of her actions would be to install some kind of grid to stop any sediment/weeds becoming dislodged and getting trapped under Yapp Brothers and causing flooding to property.  The Clerk said that she would prepare a more detailed proposal for work with Risk Assessment for the Town Council to consider at a future meeting before submission to the insurers.

*c) Response from Wiltshire Council’s Traffic Engineer on recently submitted Highway Improvement Requests:

• Driveway Protection Marking for Church Street
• Chetcombe Road Signage

Members noted the information in the Clerks Report.

245. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
246. a) Problems and issues relating to dead/dying trees in Mere Cemetery – suggest working group visit to make recommendations for future management – The Clerk reminded members that she had previously mentioned concerns over the dying yew trees in the cemetery but informed members that more yew trees appeared to be dying and she asked for Councillors to go and have a look. Sandra Catley & Aubrey Colman agreed to go and have a look at the yew trees.

Cllr. Hazzard said that the beech hedge for the cemetery extension needed to be planted before the growing season and asked the Council if they were happy for him to get a quote for this for consideration at the next meeting.  The Chairman said that she was happy for this although the Clerk said that, depending on the price, it may be necessary to get three quotes.

246. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (schedule attached) – RESOLVED to authorise payments on proposal made by Cllr. R. Coward,  seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a majority vote.

Cllr. Jordan wanted to thank the council team and Dan Weeks for organising and erecting the lighting and co-ordinating all of this with the Carnival Father Xmas event.

Cllr. Hazzard, having declared a pecuniary interest in this agenda item, left the room and took no part in discussion or voting.

1. b) To sign off latest bank reconciliation – the Chairman checked the bank statements against the bank reconciliation and signed the reconciliation in the presence of the Council.

*c) To adopt recommendations made by Budget Meeting, as shown in Minutes of Budget Meeting held on Wednesday, 23^rd November 2022 (Minutes attached) – deferred

1. d) To approve Precept on Wiltshire Council for 2023/24 – deferred

*e) Donation request from Mere Brownies & Rainbows – Cllr. Jordan said he was aware that the Forest Charity supported the Mere Brownies but he felt that this  was a worthy cause and suggested that the Town Council give a donation of £100.  Cllr. R. Coward said that he would like this increased to £200.  Cllr. Hazzard said that he had concerns that if the Town Council gave a donation to Mere Brownies and Rainbows then we would be setting a precedent for other groups in Mere to apply for donations and he thought that the Forest Charity would be a better avenue for this sort of funding.  Cllr. Jordan said that he would ask the Carnival to donate £100 to the Mere Brownies and Rainbows.  Cllr. R. Coward proposed that we should match this and further resolved that any other requests from other groups or organisations that may or may not arrive would be carefully considered on an individual basis.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Sandra Catley and carried with a majority vote and 2 abstentions.

1. f) To consider grant/donation for Mere Foodbank – the Clerk pointed out that the Town Council had given a £500 donation to the Mere Foodbank for the past two years.  She also pointed out that during the Budget Meeting discussions there had been a suggestion that this donation should be given by way of food vouchers.  Nick Beale said that there are 10s of thousands of charities that are struggling at the moment and felt that the Town Council needed to be careful about giving charitable donations using public money.  The Clerk explained that the Council has to give consideration to the legislation under S.137 of the Local Government Act 1972 when considering donations in that the Council should feel that the expenditure will be of direct benefit to the area or any part of it or to the inhabitants or some of the inhabitants.  Cllr. R. Coward said that the Mere Forest Charity donated £500 to Mere Foodbank but they insisted that the money was spent on food.  Cllr. Sandra Catley proposed that the Town Council should provide a S.137 donation to Mere Foodbank to be spent on food only.  Cllr. A. Colman proposed that the money should be spent on vouchers from a supermarket and the vouchers should be donated to the foodbank instead.  Cllr.Jeans felt that it would be better to hand them the money but insist that it is used within official foodbank procedures and protocol.  The Clerk pointed out that she thought that the sort of Foodbank that Cllr. Jeans was talking about no longer operated in Mere and that the Mere Foodbank was now more of a community foodbank staffed by volunteers to provide food for those in need – with most of the food being provided by local supermarkets.  The Clerk said that as far as she was aware, the voucher scheme foodbank that Cllr. Jeans was referring to was now provided to Mere residents by Gillingham Foodbank.  Cllr.Jeans said that this was incorrect and that the Mere Foodbank was governed by the same protocol and procedures and it was RESOLVED to provide a donation of £500 to Mere Foodbank on condition that it was used in accordance with the same protocol and procedures as the official foodbank schemes on providing food parcels.

247. General Items
248. a) Questions regarding Wiltshire Council offices and staff – A. Colman said that it is almost impossible to get hold of an officer at Wiltshire Council now and officers are working from home yet they don’t answer their phones and there are 200 empty desks at Wiltshire Council offices. Cllr. Jeans said that Wiltshire Council invested hundreds of thousands of pounds to go over to remote working. He agreed with Cllr. Colman and said that it is not working as people don’t answer their phones during normal working hours and said that he had taken up the matter with the leader of the Council.  RESOLVED to write an old fashioned letter to the Leader of the Council, Richard Clewer, and ask him to justify why council taxpayers money is being spent on these vast open spaces with no-one working at the desks and their policy to drive everyone away from using the phone but instead to make enquiries via the internet which never receive proper answers.  All agree.

*b) Gigaclear – Broadband network build update – Cllr. Jeans said that, unfortunately, they did not have the required permits and licenses required to dig up the roads and pavements.  He understood that work would re-start in January and meanwhile, the Gigaclear Community Engagement Manager would be communicating with Cllr. Jeans to ensure that working practises are more acceptable.

1. c) Does the Town Council want to set up a Working Group for Coronation of HRH King Charles III – it was agreed to raise this matter in the next Chairman’s report

*d) Annual Report from Seeds4Success (report attached) – no questions were raised.  Cllr. Jordan said that he attended the AGM and was very impressed with what they achieve and a lot of young people benefit from their efforts.  Cllr. Colman reported that he, too, attended the AGM and had asked for clarification/breakdowns on various accounting matters.

248. Future meetings and events
249. a) Invitation to SWW Area Board meeting – Wednesday, 14^th December 2022, 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm at Castle Meadow Pavilion, Castle Lane, Wilton, SP2 0HG & Invitation to see the Wilton Men’s Shed – Cllr. Jordan said that he would be attending this meeting to represent the Town Council.
250. b) To set date for January 2023 meeting – it was agreed that the next meeting of the Town Council would take place on Monday, 16^th
251. c) Judging of Xmas Lights – Nick Beale said that he and Debbie would be very happy to judge the Xmas Lights. Cllr. Jeans said that he had paid for the shield and prizes because the shield got lost last year.

Meeting closed at 8.46 pm

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

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 7^th November 2022 at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW. 

Present:  Councillors Mrs. Lesley Traves (Chair), Kate Symonds (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Nick Beale, Sandra Catley, Aubrey Colman, Rachael Hansford, Clive Hazzard, George Jeans, John Jordan & Linden Stone

Also:  Bill Coltham, Lesley Dixon, Nicholas Gosse, Spence Gunn, Mrs. A. Howell, Vernon Philips, Claire Shaddick, Ian Sheppard, Mike Warren & Mrs. Garbutt + others

Meeting convened at 7.02 pm with Public Session

Mrs. A. Howell said that she was aware the Council would soon be discussing its budgeted expenditure for the coming year and urged the Council to change the present arrangements for the public toilets in the Salisbury Street Car Park.  She also paid tribute to Ian Sheppard and Tony Barrett for their efforts in looking after Waterside and the wildlife therein in recent difficult times but suggested that the Town Council should make use of volunteers to look after areas of Mere, particularly the river and river bank along Waterside which was once a pleasant walk but is now unkept and in places the banksides are in danger of collapse.  Mrs. Howell said that Mere has a majority of retired and elderly residents and many are now feeling that too much is spent on underused children’s playgrounds in the country and not enough on the general environment and this includes Waterside and its river.

Bill Coltham said that he spoke last month about issues of parking around Bramley Care Home and reported that the situation hadn’t changed despite some communication with the Care Home manager.  Mr. Coltham suggested that the Town Council create a small working group with two or three residents and members to discuss with the new manager how to deal with the issue and how to monitor the issue.

Mr. Gosse spoke in support of agenda item 8b) and his Highways Improvement Request.  He said that the Town Council had previously acknowledged the dangers of Edgebridge/Clements Lane and the fact that there is not a pavement for pedestrians and he asked the Town Council to give assurances that they will urgently refer this matter to the Local Highways and Footpath Group (LHFIG) with a recommendation to take immediate action.

Mr. Dixon said that it was important to take other roads into consideration and any lorries must not be diverted into The Lynch.  He also pointed out that the 7.5-ton weight limit sign is out at Two Counties Farm and there should, perhaps, be one closer to Pettridge Lane as well.

Vernon Philips said that there were two specific highways matters which I have asked the Council to pursue.  Firstly, Gillingham Corner – the white lines on the T-junction have disappeared and when you are coming from the Gillingham direction it is difficult to see where you should stop to give way and also HGVs coming from a westerly direction and turning towards Gillingham just cut the corner because there are no lines to separate the lanes.  The other matter is the exit sign in the Salisbury Street Car Park which has fallen into disrepair – there is hardly a word that you can read.  The Clerk confirmed that both these issues had been reported to the Highways Authority on the MyWilts reporting pages.

Margaret Lawson-Smith said that Wiltshire Council had asked for comments from the public on the planning application for the Roman Catholic Church site and confirmed that she had informed the planning authority of what is being considered tonight with the congestion to take it into account when considering the access from the Catholic Church site in case it makes a difference to their decision on the number of houses.

Mike Warren added that any proposal that stops HGVs from using Pettridge Lane could divert them through Burton and Southbrook and said that it was no good stopping one issue in one location and creating the same issue in another location.

Clive Hazzard said that he wanted to congratulate the Friends of Mere School and all those involved in organising the firework event which took place on Saturday night.  It was a spectacular event and was extremely well attended and enjoyed by all.

Apologies for absence received from Councillors Philip Coward, Rodney Coward, Raymond Hill & Glen Ings.

224. Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensation:

• Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in Minute Ref: 228d)

225. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 3^rd October 2022 be approved as a correct record on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 3.10.22.

226. Matters Arising from Public Session
227. a) Parking issues at Bramley Hill/Kingsmere junction and update on meeting with Bramley House Manager – Cllr. Jeans confirmed that he had contacted Bramley House twice: he had left a message on one occasion and held a conversation with someone on the second at which he explained that the matter would be discussed at tonight’s meeting and he invited them to come along as he had thought that they might want to be involved. Jeans said that unless we can actually get them to agree to meet with us, I am afraid that we can’t do too much but I did leave a message clearly to say that the Town Council is taking it very seriously and that traffic management in the town is being looked at and that the Town Council may feel it is necessary to make some restrictions such as yellow lines. Cllr. Jeans added that communication with the police is not good at the present time and we are now forced to go through 101 rather than have a mobile number or email address for the local police.  However, he wanted to stress that the Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) does attend SWW Area Board meetings and I would urge the public to attend these meetings as it would be a good place to put your points of concern forward to the PCC.  The Chairman said she wondered if the Council had any thoughts about Mr. Coltham’s idea of setting up a working group.  Cllr. Jeans said he thought it was a good idea but it would be necessary to get Bramley House to communicate.  Mr. Coltham said that there was a new manager.  Cllr. Mrs. Symonds said that these problems were not new and over the years there have been a number of planning applications for Bramley House and the Town Council had made comment and highlighted the parking problems for each of these planning applications and although some of these planning applications have not been implemented, nothing has been done about the parking problems either.
228. b) Highway & Access issues relating to sale of plots and developments at The Old Nurseries, Burton – Cllr. Mrs. Beale reported that there were now about 20 plots having been sold off separately on this agricultural land and 4 of these plots were now providing living accommodation which were in the process of planning enforcement for breach of planning. Mrs. Beale said that as a Town Council we need to be influencing national highways because at the moment they are saying that once planning permission goes in for change of use then they can say no but when planning applications are not being submitted, they don’t know about it. Each of the four mobile homes has at least two vehicles associated with it and these are coming in and out of a dangerous junction several times a day.  The Clerk said that National Highways have agreed that the existing direct access does not meet current design standards and they have continued to highlight their concerns but in planning terms they don’t have grounds to object to the development that falls within the extant permission which is agricultural and horticultural.  However, there has to be a point where we can say – well OK but that extant permission was for one occupier of the site and now we have 20 and so that is 20 times the number of comings and goings.  The Clerk asked the Town Council if they felt there was any scope in contacting our MP and asking him to contact National Highways.  Cllr. Sandra Catley said that a planning officer had been out to the site today and was taking photographs and Cllr. Nick Beale said that the planning enforcement officers had been exemplary in coming out to deal with these breaches but their hands are tied and the enforcement process is mostly a legal one and is very lengthy and very costly.  Members were happy that the Town Council should write to the MP as suggested by The Clerk.
229. c) Traffic issues at junction of Manor Road/The Square – The Clerk confirmed that Rodney Coward brought this up last month who said that he had been approached by someone requesting a highways mirror on the other side of the junction. We know that the Highways Authority would never agree to this as these mirrors are not considered to be official but there are issues with the white line that goes down the centre of the road. Cllr. Jeans agreed that a white line in this location would help and he would be prepared to propose that this is taken to LHFIG although he is aware that there would then be a cost to the Town Council (Cllr. Jeans then explained the LHFIG Improvement Request process).  The Chairman read out an email from a resident regarding a sign that used to be on the corner where the old Lloyds Bank was (the sign was warning people that there was no pavement on the Manor Road part of the junction).  Cllr. Jeans said that he assumed that the sign was removed when Mere was bypassed and the A303 was re-routed and he pointed out that at this time there were cat’s eyes in the middle of the road, double-yellow lines everywhere and lots of signs that were subsequently removed.  However, he said that he would be happy to ask for the reinstatement of any measures might be necessary to make the junction safer.  Cllr. Jeans therefore proposed that the Town Council submit a Highways Improvement Request form to the LHFIG asking for a white line to be put down the middle of Castle Street/Salisbury Street, leading to the Manor Road junction and any other measures that might improve safety and that would be considered acceptable by the highways engineer.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

Owing to the presence of members of the public, the Chair informed those present that she would be changing the order of the agenda (the minutes have been published in the order of discussion)

227. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport

*b) Highway Improvement Request Form received from Mr. Nicholas Gosse:  To prohibit HGVs and large agricultural equipment from using Pettridge Lane and to add a prioritised single lane passing area with safe pedestrian crossing at Edgebridge – Cllr. Hazzard said: ‘We all know that the road there really isn’t big enough and man enough for a lot of modern HGVs and large agricultural equipment but sometimes HGVs and Agricultural equipment does have to use that road.  I don’t think any HGV driver in his right mind would choose to drive that way unless they needed to and the same with agricultural equipment.  Furthermore, I am not sure that you can ban these vehicles as they would be entitled to use the road for access in any case and so I don’t think you would achieve anything. Also, I have noticed some very large vehicles doing deliveries to houses and therefore it would be wrong to assume that all this traffic is going to industrial or commercial premises .  How we can get round that without knocking down a number of houses and getting an extra carriageway in, I don’t know, but how we can also ban these vehicles would be tricky because people would be very upset if they couldn’t get their telly or sofa delivered because HGVs had been banned.’  The Chairman said ‘we are starting from here – this is how Pettridge Lane is and it is how Mere has been built and I would be interested to know what other options these HGVs and Agricultural equipment have to get to the places they need to get to – there is no route that is any better.  We are a country town and were not built for these heavy vehicles.’  Cllr. Jeans reported that 25 years ago, when there were talks of building 15 houses on the Walnut Road development (there is now 47) we were told that there would be provision of a pavement around Edgebridge and an option to sling the bridge and at that time the Duchy of Cornwall owned a house that had the land that would have enabled the pavement and/or sling for the bridge but this has subsequently been sold and so we are working on providing an alternative route for pedestrians so that they don’t have to use that corner.   Development in the southern part of Mere has resulted in more traffic using Pettridge Lane and the only option I can see is to provide a footpath for pedestrians from this area to get to the centre of town.   We already have such a footpath – Right of Way 66 and 50 which runs around the back of Lordsmead Mill and leads past the cemetery to Angel Lane.  It needs resurfacing, widening, dropped kerbs and low-level lighting to make it accessible for all to use.  The Town Council has a project co-ordinator who is heading this project for the Town Council and as far as I am concerned this is the only option to provide safe pedestrian access into the centre of Mere.  As for the HGVs, I invite you along to the SWW Area Board meeting to ask the Police & Crime Commissioner and the Highways Officer what they think.  However, my understanding is that the highway is for everyone and it is not possible to prohibit certain traffic although you can, of course, have weight limits but they will still allow access.  I do believe, however, that in Bradford on Avon they have banned heavy vehicles from going across a historic bridge but I think that is exceptional and I cannot envisage any circumstances in which the Highway Authority would agree to prohibit HGVs from Pettridge Lane because then they would have to do it all across Wiltshire.  Cllr. Jordan expressed his frustration and said that at a pre-planning meeting with the man who owned Beaumonts, he expressed the Town Council’s concerns about extra traffic using Pettridge Lane, but the response received was that there used to be huge lorries moving very large chimneys from the factory.  Cllr. Jordan said that he had looked at the Integrated Transport Scheme Assessment Framework where the first factor for consideration related to the number of accidents and said that it seems to him that an accident has to happen before action will be taken rather than to conduct a risk assessment beforehand.  Cllr. Jordan also said that at a Core Strategy meeting, Wiltshire Council said that the improvement of footpaths, cycleways and public transport choices would provide better connectivity within the community and said that he had been trying, for some time, to get improvements for FP 66 and 50 and he thinks that our main objective has to be to try and secure a decent pedestrian access for people who live in this area to get to the centre of town.  The Chairman asked for a proposal as to whether the Town Council was prepared to support and submit Mr. Gosse’s Highways Improvement Request (HIR) form to the LHFIG for further action.  Cllr. Jordan proposed that the Town Council should submit Mr. Gosse’s (HIR) form but the proposal but did not receive a seconder.  Cllr. Jeans said that he didn’t think the submission was even feasible as it was not possible to ban HGVs and Agricultural Vehicles from the public highway.  Cllr. Hazzard proposed that the Town Council support the safety of pedestrians around Edgebridge and would ask that the residents support the Town Council’s project to take pedestrians away from the Edgebridge area but not support the banning of agricultural and HGVs.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds and carried with a majority vote in favour.

*c) Mere Rivers Group – update on Mere streams – Mr. Ian Sheppard had previously issued a report which was circulated to members.  However, he added that our streams, particularly the Shreen, is in a very sorry state on the back of the driest summer since 1884 and the lowest rainfall.  The Ashfield has been running beautifully all summer and the mill pond at Burton has been full and looks superb and that is because Wessex Water are pumping over 1m litres per day back into the stream as stream support.  As this is working so well, Wessex Water are proposing to do the same along the Shreen with the water being pumped back in somewhere near Steep Street.  However, because the streams were so low and the lack of rainfall, Wessex Water’s reservoir levels are down by 30% and they have had to resort to abstracting more water from Mere.  There is an agreement that when the water level reaches a certain low point they will only abstract 4m litres per day but their license from the Environment Agency allows them to abstract up to  9.5m litres per day and although we have had quite a bit of rain in the last couple of weeks, it will take months for the rain to fill up the aquifers but, Mr. Sheppard added, Wessex Water had assured him that as soon as the reservoirs at Yeovil & Winterbourne are back up to a reasonable level, they will stop taking the extra water from Mere.   It is good news that stream support for the Shreen is being proposed but in the meantime, when the river dries up, the banks dry up and fall in and the weed grows up and we end up losing some of the river bank.  The walk along Waterside has always attracted people to walk along there because it is so pretty but it is not pretty now, it is horrible.  The riparian owners have purposely let the weed grow to hold the water in and try and provide some water for the fish and wildlife but I would like to ask you for some help with the stream maintenance.  I know you say it is not your responsibility but Wiltshire Council say the same and I wonder who is responsible?  We have got a councillor that sits on both boards – surely you can find out who owns the river.  I am working with Hampshire CC who have published something on Riperian ownership and responsibilities and it looks like, if you can’t prove ownership then the Town Council will need to take on the problem as they are responsible for the town.  The Clerk explained that there was a liability issue and that some years ago, she was advised by the Town Councils insurers that they should not take on the liability for cleaning the river as it was not their property and not their responsibility.  Mr. Sheppard said that the riparian owners who do their bit and clean up their side of the river, then pile up the weed on the river bank and it is left there to rot away and this not only looks awful but it undermines the river bank and he asked if there was any chance that the Town Council could take away the river weed and put it on their compost heap.  The Clerk said that the Town Council doesn’t have a compost heap and also raised the point that there was Japanese Knotweed in the river some years ago and by picking up that, there could be a liability of moving this invasive weed around.  The Chairman said that she did walk along Waterside at the weekend and had taken some photographs.  She reminded people that, at one time, the Environment Agency had advised on the importance of leaving staggered weed patches along the river in order to benefit wildlife.  Mr. Sheppard said that some of the riparian owners do their bit, some don’t have big gardens and some don’t have bins but what do we do?  Can I also say that I think that this stretch of river, during the summer, is a very popular playground in Mere – all the kids are in the river having a lovely time in the summer.  Cllr. Mrs. Symonds said that she wanted to officially record thanks to Mr.  Sheppard & the rivers group for all the continuous work in keeping pressure on these agencies.  She said that the fact that we have this water recycling system coming to both streams is a great tribute for all your hard work.  Cllr. Hazzard suggested that the Town Council should discuss River Cleaning at the next meeting and asked the Clerk to contact the Town Council’s insurance company for clarification on liability issues in the meantime.

228. Matters Arising from previous Meetings
229. a) Wiltshire Towns Programme – Cllr. Jordan said that he had sent a copy of our draft Action Plan to Wiltshire Council for them to comment on whether he was using the right format and the right language but he was still awaiting a response from them. However, he said that his efforts in trying to get some money from Wiltshire Council for increasing footfall in Mere had paled into insignificance compared to the efforts of Philip Coward and Hillbrush for raising Mere’s status – as members of his family had been regularly sending him pictures of Philip Coward on billboards at various tube stations in London.

*b) Warm Spaces Scheme (Minute No. 204C) – With reference to the information in the Clerks Report, it was agreed that efforts should be made to publicise this scheme via social media and posters in show windows, noticeboards etc.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that the Mere Resilience Forum had applied for some funding from the SSEN following the extended power cuts after storm Eunice in February and she had pitched for funding to provide a Resilience Forum Co-Ordinator to work 2 hours per week.  She said that this application had been successful and a grant of £2320 had been received by the Town Council.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she had a friend who is a volunteer co-ordinator at the Balsam Centre in Wincanton who is interested in taking on the role for 2 hours pw on a contracted freelance basis.  The Clerk and I were thinking, that with the approval of the Council, she could co-ordinate things like this, finding out who needs help, speaking to the Linkscheme and do what we want to do with the Resilience Forum.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford proposed that the Town Council spend the SSEN grant funding on a freelance contract for 2 hours per week to co-ordinate the resilience forum for 1 year.  All in favour.  The Clerk confirmed that she had checked with the insurance company about the freelance contract for this purpose and they were happy with this.

*c) Report from Mere Town Council’s Project Co-Ordinator – the report had been distributed with the agenda papers and the Chairman confirmed that Mr. Pipe had made good progress with the consultation regarding the play area.  Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that there had been quite a few comments on social media regarding the Walnut Road play area project and Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she had responded on social media by telling those people who commented to contact Roger at the Town Council offices direct. Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that she had found it interesting, from reading this report, that a lot of people using the park were local, even if they were in the Walnut Tree.  Cllr. Colman asked if enquiries could be made relating to any warranties or guarantees that may have been placed on the play equipment in the Walnut Road Play Area when it had been constructed and he also asked about the commuted sum payment that had been made to the Town Council from the developers via the planning authority. The Clerk confirmed that the commuted sum payment had been used up on the maintenance of the play equipment and the site since the play area was transferred to the town council over 14 years ago.

*d) Leases for Car Parks & Public Toilets – The Chairman reported that she and the Vice-Chair had been into a firm of solicitors to sign the declaration relating to the lease for the public toilets and that particular lease had now been completed.  With reference to the draft leases for the two car parks, the Clerk confirmed that a summary of points to note with comments from the Clerk, Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, Cllr. Jordan and Cllr. Jeans had been submitted to members with their agenda papers.   Members agreed with the points to note on the Castle Street Car Park draft lease and had nothing further to add.  Members agreed with the points to note on the Salisbury Street Car park but some specifics were discussed further:

Landlords break clause – it was agreed to ask for this to be removed.

Restrictions as to sizes of vehicles & types of vehicles – The Clerk pointed out that the current weight restriction in the draft lease is likely to exclude even a large panel van let alone any HGVs.  The Clerk pointed out that there were large vehicles that needed to access the car park such as the mobile Breast Screening Clinic for the Doctors Surgery.  There was a discussion on the issue of campervans.  Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that we needed to think about any restrictions we might impose and whether this will have an effect on local people by forcing them to park on the road rather than in the car park.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford said that local businesses sponsor the car park on the basis that it is available for visitors to bring business into the town and so we either have to decide if we are happy for residents to park in the car park for long periods of time or to ask for a time restriction.  RESOLVED to ask for a 24-hour time limit imposed on all vehicles on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote.

Cllr. Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in the next aspect of this discussion and left the room.

Third Party Rights – it was agreed that the Town Council did not need or want to get too involved in who has third party rights across the Salisbury Street Car Park and where those rights are and that clauses 5.1 and 5.2 should suffice unless there is a problem.  However, it was agreed to ask for a point to be noted on the lease that if the Tenant (Town Council) has an issue with a Third Party Right or suspects that a Third Party Right may be breaching terms, then the tenant shall ask the Landlord (Wiltshire Council) to investigate.  Proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a majority in favour (1 abstention).

Cllr. Jeans was invited back into the room.

1. e) Leases for Car Club – The Clerk reported that she had attended a “Teams” meeting last week with the gentleman representing Econetiq and Wiltshire Council officers. It was clear that there had been communication problems and possibly some confusion over which Council was responsible for which part of this project. However, it was concluded, at the Teams meeting, that Econetiq would prepare a draft lease, naming Mere Town Council as client, so that we can send to our solicitor and it was promised that we would receive this by Friday 4^th November but it still hasn’t come.  The Clerk reported that a DNR application had arrived instead, with a request for a signature authorising Econetiq to communication with our electricity provider for the car park.  Members indicated that they were happy for the Clerk to sign this agreement.

229. Reports & Consultations
230. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Jeans reported that he was proceeding with the purchase of signage for White Road (the private part of the road near Mere School). He said that Wiltshire Council had agreed that they own it but it is a private road with a public footpath. Cllr. Colman raised a question about when Wiltshire Council staff would return to offices and working hours following the Covid pandemic.  It was agreed that this would be discussed as a future agenda item.

230. Planning
231. a) Applications for consultation response:

The Clerk reported that it seemed that this wall had been erected without planning permission and has subsequently been investigated by the planning enforcement officer.  The applicant is looking for a certificate of Lawfulness.  In other words, if the majority of the wall has been there since 2018 or is over the 4 year rule then enforcement action cannot be taken.  Cllr. Jordan said that he had walked past this property on numerous occasions but cannot remember if the wall was there in 2018 or not.  RESOLVED to send a ‘No Comment’ submission to the planning authority on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. N. Beale and carried with a majority vote. In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Sandra Catley, seconded by Cllr. Jordan 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 matter.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Mrs. Symonds, seconded by Cllr. Jordan and carried with a unanimous vote.

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

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

The Clerk reported that the Sparkle Team will be in Mere next Monday and will be working on the footpath from Pettridge Lane to Angel Lane.

• Colman reported that vegetation was obstructing a 20mph sign coming from Walnut Road to Shaftesbury Road.
• Mrs. Beale reported that the ditch system alongside RoW Mere21/10 (alongside the pumping station) needs to be cleared as the footpath is becoming flooded.
• Jeans asked if the Sparkle Team could cut the hedge at the back of The Yews so that it does not narrow the footpath along Waterside. Cllr. Jeans said that it is Wiltshire Council’s hedge but it needs cutting back severely as it narrows the footpath repeatedly.

1. d) Report on meetings held by Parking Working Group – It was apparent that the working group had split into two groups to carry out their site visits in separate areas. Colman had prepared a comprehensive report on the findings from his site visit and distributed this at the meeting. However, as it was 9 pm now and members had not had the chance to read the report prior to the meeting it was agreed that this item should be raised as an agenda item for the next meeting and that a combined report should be written up from the working party to distribute to members with their agenda papers.  Cllr. Jeans asked if it could be possible for items that he may have to declare an interest in, to be separated on the report so that he can leave the room whilst these items are discussed.

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

*a) To consider consultation and amendments to policy for parking at Wellhead Allotments car park in view of the size of vans now being parked therein – members agreed with the suggestions made by the Clerk, as distributed in the Clerks Report.  The Clerk said that she would like to consult with the residents before amending the policy and members agreed to this.

1. b) Report on Annual RoSPA Play Area Inspection Report – the Clerk reported that the inspection had taken place in September and the four reports had been received (Recreation Ground Play Area, Skate Park, Walnut Road Play Area & Castle Hill Play Area) and she was pleased to say that she could find no “High Risk” items having been identified other than the skate park and the aerial runway which are generally high-risk items. She reported, however, that there were one or two issues that had been raised as “Medium Risk” and she would work through the report with the grounds staff to take actions to repair, remedy or reduce the risk where possible.

233. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a) Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (attached) – RESOLVED to authorise payment on proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. N. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

The Clerk reminded members that they had approved the payment for the tractor some time ago but she had not released any funds to the vendor because the tractor had not yet arrived.

1. b) To sign off latest bank reconciliation – the Clerk reported that the bank statements had arrived today and therefore there had been insufficient time to carry out the bank reconciliation.

*c) Completion of the limited assurance review (external audit) for the year ended 31 March 2022 – members noted the information in the Clerks Report relating to the matters raised by the external auditor.  With reference to the issue regarding the sole charitable status and the subsequent correspondence on this matter, the Clerk said that, as suggested by the External Auditors, she would now need to seek legal advice and would think it prudent to appoint Wellers Hedley as they had specialist knowledge of charity/council relationships.  Members agreed with this conclusion.

234. General Items
235. a) Gigaclear – Broadband network build update – the Clerk said that an update had been issued by Gigaclear giving dates and locations of the places that they would be working on. The Clerk pointed out that they were in Church Street on Remembrance Weekend and has informed them that there would be a Remembrance Parade going along Church Street.

235. Briefing Notes

*Wiltshire Council’s Briefing Note No. 22-20 – Substantive Highways Scheme Fund Bid Application Process for Funding in 2023/24 – Noted

236. Future meetings and events
237. a) Mere Remembrance – Sunday, 13^th November – the Chairman said that she would be laying a wreath on behalf of the Town Council. The Clerk confirmed that a 20-minute road closure would take place. Jordan said that it was a shame that the Clock Tower bell would not be chiming.
238. b) South West Wiltshire Health and Wellbeing Group. Monday 21^st November, 2pm-3.30pm at the Enterprise Veterans Hub, Erskine House, Buckeridge Rd, Wilton, SP2 0FX.
239. c) Flood Warden Training Day 23.11.22 – Guildhall, Salisbury
240. d) Community Safety Partnership & SW Wiltshire LHFIG meeting, Wednesday, 30^th November, 14:00 – 16:30 at Nadder Centre, Tisbury. – Cllr. Mrs. Beale said that she was nominating Cllr. Nick Beale to attend the LHFIG meeting to represent the Town Council.

237. Future agenda items – None identified

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

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Meeting closed at 9.17 pm

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW on Monday, 3^rd October 2022 at 7.00 pm.   

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

From Wiltshire Council Simon Hendey, Rachael Swann & Laura Young

Also:  Bill Coltham, Vernon Philips, Geoff Sams + 3, Mr. & Mrs. S. Parton, Diccon Carpendale (Brimble Lea), Jack Glendinning, Shaun Nell

Public Participation Session

Mr. Coltham said that he had come along to talk to the Town Council about a recent issue relating to parking by Bramley House Care Home.  Mr. Coltham distributed a photograph over a recent incident involving a car parked across the junction between Bramley Hill and Kingsmere.  Mr. Coltham said he felt it would be a good idea for a representative of the Town Council to visit the new manager of the Care Home to discuss the issues & effects relating to off-street parking for staff and visitors.

Mr. Philips explained that he wanted to talk about Planning Application PL/2022/06955 and said he welcomed this development, in principle, but felt that, from the plans, the development looked quite dense and he could only see parking for 8 cars.  He felt that traffic management would be an issue and pointed out that traffic from the development site would be converging into the priority route system on Pettridge Lane and the plethora of HGVs and he wanted to recommend that a STOP sign should be introduced so that traffic needed to stop before joining Pettridge Lane.  Another recommendation he wanted to make was that contractor is required to bury the electricity supply cable which runs the whole length of the site.  He said that if the detail was improved, the development could enhance Pettridge Lane. Mr. Philips also mentioned that the footpath from Pettridge Lane to Angel Lane was becoming wild and overgrown with brambles.

Diccon Carpendale representing Brimble Lea said that he had come along to answer questions relating to Planning Application PL/2022/06955.

Shaun Nell wanted to talk about issues that are going on at The Old Nurseries in relation to planning applications and the issue of access.  The A303 is a strategic route and we have had issues due to the fact that the field has been divided up into a number of plots and numerous people are now getting access into and out of the site which sometimes involves stopping traffic on the A303.  On Friday a lorry got stuck, damaged our gates and had to reverse back onto the A303 and there was a near miss accident.  I would like to ask the Town Council to please take this into consideration when considering future planning applications for the site as, unfortunately, the Town Council recently considered two planning applications for the site, recommending approval of one and objecting to the second.  Sadly, the one that the Town Council recommended approval for was the one that has more cause for concern. 

Mr. Glendinning spoke in support of planning application PL/2022/07196 for solar panels at Mere Fish Farm.  He said that the solar panels would be fixed with giant screws that were screwed into the ground so there was no need for foundations and ground disturbance & impact on wildlife and fauna should be minimal.

Mrs. Debbie Beale spoke about the incident involving the mobile home trying to access the plots at Burton Field and explained the fact that it got stuck in the gates and caused an obstruction on the A303 which necessitated a tractor to pull it out and all this took place on a dark and wet night and was incredibly dangerous.  There was no support from the police despite them promising to come out.  Mrs. Beale said that she had sent many emails to Highways England and asked for support from the Town Council.

Mr. Clive Hazzard wanted to praise the Town Council’s groundsman, Simon, who has been working for most of the summer without full-time support and who also acted promptly and diligently following the announcement of the death of HM The Queen.

Mr. Rodney Coward said that he had been approached by residents about the dangers of coming out from Manor Road onto Castle Street/The Square requesting a highway mirror to be placed on the crossroads so that you could see if traffic was coming up from Salisbury Street.    

Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Mrs. Lesley Traves & Glen Ings.

209. To receive Declarations of Acceptance of Office and Register of Interest forms from newly co-opted members of Mere Town Council.

Sandra Catley signed her Declaration of Acceptance of Office.  The Chairman said it was extremely good to have two new people with two new perspectives to join the team.

210. 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 declared a pecuniary interest relating to third party rights in respect of the Salisbury Street Car Park Lease
• Jeans said that Wiltshire Council owned land adjacent to the site that was the subject of planning application PL/2022/06955.

211. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 5^th September 2022 be approved as a correct record on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Beale and carried with a unanimous vote of those present on 5.9.22.

Cllr. Jordan pointed out the importance of directing communication during a meeting through The Chair and or waiting to be invited to speak by The Chair and not with one another or over one another at meetings.

212. Death of HM The Queen, Succession and Change of Landlord – the Clerk reported on the protocols carried out by the Town Council, aka Operation London Bridge, following the announcement of the death of HM The Queen on Thursday evening, 8^th September. A new Union Flag was flown at half-mast that evening although it was raised again on Proclamation Day and re-lowered again thereafter (thank you to Cllr. Hazzard, Cllr. Jeans & Cllr. Ings for their help with this).  This did cause some concern on local social media pages as many didn’t realise the protocol in raising the flag for Proclamation Day.  We also placed a message on our website with an announcement from the Town Council and details about flags/Proclamation, condolence books and floral tributes.  These messages were repeated on social media pages (thank you to Cllr. Rachael Hansford) and a ghost page with official photograph was also placed on the website.  The book of condolence was laid out in the Clock Tower with the Chairman and Town Clerk having signed the first page.  The table also contained an official photograph of HM The Queen and a framed announcement with a black tablecloth and floral arrangement on the table.  The Chairman placed a floral tribute in Jubilee Gardens (we had four or five floral tributes).  I understand that there was also a condolence book in the Church and one in Mere Library.  There was a Church Service held on the Sunday and we arranged for the flag to be raised again and the book of condolence to be removed on the day after the funeral.  A letter of condolence was sent to The Private Secretary to His Majesty the King on behalf of Mere Town Council and the people of Mere.  We have received a letter from the Duchy of Cornwall informing us that the 24^th Duke of Cornwall has been succeeded by the 25^th Duke of Cornwall.

213. Lynch Close/Fives Court
214. a) Update from Wiltshire Council on work in relation to Lynch Close Sheltered Housing Option Appraisal and Fives Court site – three officers from Wiltshire Council were in attendance at the meeting: Simon Hendey, Director of Assets & Commercial Development said he wanted to make it clear that Wiltshire Council is committed to invest in Mere for the provision of affordable housing for older people.  He said: “We have received pre-application advice in relation to Fives Court so that we can get a better understanding of what we might be able to achieve on that site & we have had surveys undertaken on Lynch Close to inform the options appraisal that is being produced at the moment, we have distributed newsletters to Lynch Close, provided a commitment paper to residents at Lynch Close and we have held a meeting to answer residents questions, responded to individual emails and telephone calls.  We have made a commitment that we will provide regular newsletters to the residents and we believe that we will abide by the commitment paper.”

Geoff Sams, Chairman of the Lynch Close Residents Committee said that whilst we have had some information coming from the Council and attended some meetings we do feel that we have been left in the dark.  We are all elderly and we have some residents who are seriously ill and some that have mental health issues and this all started a year ago and during that time we have been wondering whether or not we are going to get relocated whilst you either reconstruct our homes or rebuild them and where would we be relocated?’  Mr. Sams pointed out that a year is a very long time to live with this level of uncertainty and anxiety and whilst communication has been better recently, the residents felt it was necessary to raise the issue with the local MP and to raise a petition amongst the residents of Mere.

The Chairman said that from a personal point of view, she wanted to commend the Committee for raising the profile of this issue which led to the creation of the commitment document issued by Wiltshire Council and is a great step forward.  Simon Hendey confirmed that surveys had been carried out in order to inform and develop options but there were no options for consideration at this point in time.  He said that the commitments paper had been made because Wiltshire Council respect all the issues that Mr. Sams has raised and want to work with the residents of Lynch Close so that they feel included.   There are a wide range of options that could materialise and as soon as they are known we will discuss them with residents and the Town Council.

Geoff Sams said that one of the issues of concern to residents was the question of whether they would be given the option to move back to Lynch Close should they be moved out due to a refurbishment proposal.  He said this question had been asked at a previous meeting by his wife and the answer received had been that this may not be possible. Simon Hendey replied “we understand and respect that any change will be of concern to people and encourage people to speak to us because we know that people need to be reassured and would rather that they speak to us rather than think the worst.  We want to work with you because you will be a good touchstone for us to understand the quality and type of accommodation that you think will be popular in Mere and that is the reason that we want to work with you on that and not in terms of something that you would be moved into.  We can’t force you out of your home – that can’t happen.  We want your experience and knowledge to develop Fives Court and if you want to move there afterwards, that would be your choice whether it would be on a permanent or temporary basis.”  There was a discussion between Cllr. Hazzard and Simon Hendey on communication with residents & Cllr. Hazzard said that he would have liked the residents of Lynch Close to have been given these reassurances a year ago.  Simon Hendey closed by saying that if anyone has concerns, it would be really helpful if people are told to contact us directly and we will do our best to reassure them.

Cllr. Rod Coward asked if there was a commitment to develop Fives Court before anything happens at Lynch Close and Simon Hendey responded that yes there was.  Cllr. John Jordan asked whether accommodation was now the firm option for the future of Fives Court and Simon Hendey responded that Wiltshire Council, as the landowner, would made a decision as to what it would like to see on the site and, at the moment, the Council wanted to develop a scheme for affordable accommodation for older people on the site.  However, the planning authority will control what development takes place there.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford & The Chairman asked for clarification as to social housing or affordable accommodation for older people. It was confirmed that ‘Social Housing’ is an umbrella term and within that is ‘sheltered housing for the elderly’ as well as rented housing for families but the rents are controlled at below market level.  The Chairman said that this implied that in fact the bungalow part of Lynch Close may not therefore all be for elderly people, should it be redeveloped.

Cllr. Jeans asked for three issues to be considered/explained in the future: 1) any redevelopment in this location is likely to cause a long-term disturbance to Water Street and The Lynch and he asked for consideration about timing to be given.  2) Explain to residents what would happen if they flatly refused to move out of their homes in Lynch Close and 3) I know that commitment has been made to make every possible effort to accommodate residents locally in the Mere area if they have to temporarily leave Lynch Close.  Could you please clarify what you mean by Mere Area because I think that Mere residents will view this as being confined within the Mere parish boundary but the term ‘Mere Area’ in Wiltshire Council language means something completely different.

Finally, the Chairman thanked Simon Hendey and his team for coming out to Mere tonight to talk to the Town Council and representatives from the Lynch Close residents committee.  She said that the discussion had been very useful and encouraging.

214. Matters Arising from Public Session

Various issues were raised during the public session that might need to be raised in the future:  The issue of Bramley House will be raised on the next agenda and also the highway problems associated with the development at the Old Nurseries at Burton as well as the problems with the junction from Manor Road out onto The Square.

215. Matters Arising from previous Meetings
216. a) Wiltshire Towns Programme (Minute 198a) – The Clerk said that she was struggling with this matter although she did manage to fill out the form on empty properties but could not understand the obscure form on footfall. Jordan said that he had worked hard on the Action Plan but whoever designed the template made it impossible to use. He said he was quite happy to press on with it.  He explained that the purpose is to try and get some grant money to help increase footfall for our retail outlets in the centre of the town and there is a lot of focus on empty property which we haven’t got either.  Cllr. Jordan said that he had asked for an extension to the deadline for the receipt of the Action Plan as this had already passed and he said he thought it was nonsensical to ask people to do this during the summer holidays.
217. b) Leases

Lease of Salisbury Street Car Park

Lease of Castle Street Car Park

Lease of Public Toilets in Salisbury Street Car Park

The Clerk said that since the last meeting, she had only had time to get her comments out on the Castle Street Car Park lease and had a couple of responses back from Cllr. Jordan and Cllr. Mrs. Symonds.  She said she would re fresh that to include those councillors’ comments for distribution along with the Clerks comments on the Salisbury Street Car Park and would encourage all members to come back with their comments on the leases so that the comprehensive document can be distributed again before the next meeting.  The Clerk said that the Public Toilets lease had been approved, the final document had been received and was waiting for the Chair & Vice-Chair to sign in the presence of an Official.

1. c) Car Club – Grant Agreement and Leases for Mere Car Club – The Clerk explained that the grant agreement was between Wiltshire Council and the Car Club but the licence with Econetiq was for the Town Council and had been sent off to our solicitors for comment and the Clerk understood that there was some urgency on this. Jeans said that he was hoping that Wiltshire Council would agree to an extension on this because it was possible that the grant funding could be lost. Cllr. Jeans explained the purpose and reasoning behind these agreements to the new councillors.

216. Reports & Consultations
217. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans said that he thought it would be highly unlikely that the Highways Authority would allow a mirror to improve visibility at the Manor Road/Square junction and the only way you would get one is if it was paid for privately and put on private property but even then, it is possible that the Highway Authority could come along and remove it because, statistically, these mirrors have proved to cause more accidents than they prevent. However, he had asked for a white line for the middle of the road near the junction to help guide the traffic on the correct carriageway. He had also asked for the white line at the Gillingham Junction to be repainted as it is now non-existent and he had asked the Parish Steward to remove nettles that are growing out on the pavement along Shaftesbury Road.  With reference to parking issues at Bramley Hill, “I have had meetings with the police who don’t want to know but I am happy to volunteer to go and see the Bramley House management and the Town Council could request for parking restrictions (yellow lines) to be put in place along there.  Also, I am appalled to hear of the situation along the A303 in connection with the Old Nursery site but I don’t have any connection with Highways England although I think the Town Council should make representations to them as we could have a fatality.”  Coltham said he was happy to go along with Cllr. Jeans to Bramley House.

217. Planning
218. a) Applications for consultation response:

The Chair confirmed that she had visited the site.  Cllr. Nick

Beale said that he was concerned as it seemed that every month or every other month, we received an application to convert an agricultural building into a house and it did seem to be becoming a bit of a farce.  Cllr. P. Coward said that whether we liked it or not, this planning regulation had been introduced to make use of redundant agricultural buildings.  Cllr. R. Coward said he was included to support the Class Q planning regulations if it helped to stop building on greenfield sites.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. C. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. J. Jordan and carried with a vote of 9 for, 1 against and 1 abstention.  In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

The Chair confirmed that she had visited the site and agreed that it would require no groundwork and would not be very obtrusive in the landscape.  RESOLVED to recommend approval on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward, seconded by Cllr. A. Colman and carried with a majority vote (10 for).  In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

Cllr. Colman stated that the footpath in front of houses 1 and 2 does not meet standard footpath width requirements and from the plans it looks as though the footpath disappears on the corner of plot No. 2.  No provision has been allowed for a footpath in front of plots 4 & 5.  The bin collection area which is outside plot 3 would only accommodate 4 bins whereas a bin collection area for the site would need to accommodate 7 bins and 7 boxes.  The application says that there are 12 parking spaces within the development but for an application of 7 houses, there should be a minimum of 14 parking spaces.  Some of those parking spaces are back-to-back but they are not deep enough and would necessitate cars coming out onto the highway and also the width of the parking spaces at 2.4m does not allow to open car doors when there are three cars together or one against a wall. There is no parking provision for visitor parking and there should be 2 visitor parking spaces on the development.  Also, the width of the development road on the estate should be at least 6m wide and any new development should have EV charging points included.  He also felt that solar panels or ground source heat pumps should have been included in the development.  He said that he believed these proposals would constitute overdevelopment and the number of dwellings should be reduced from 7 to 5.  Cllr. N. Beale said that he thought that all new development should include renewable energy solutions & EV chargepoints etc.  Cllr. Debbie Beale said that the Town Council’s climate plan would require all new development to meet these targets.  Cllr. Hazzard said that whilst he is not a planning officer, he did feel that the owners could have opted for two very expensive houses on that site but instead they have proposed 7 houses which should be more affordable and may provide homes for younger and/or local people and this should be acknowledged.  Cllr. R. Coward said that he had no issue with the number of houses but felt that it was necessary to provide at least 2 parking spaces per house and that solar panels should be incorporated.  Cllr. Jeans also asked for provision for fibre broadband to be included and pointed out that he thought a retaining wall would need to be provided on the site and reminded members that there had been issues with retaining walls in other developments.  He also said that there may need to be a transport plan for the development works as a lot of excavated materials will need to be moved from the site and if planning enhancements are offered, then we could suggest that the footpath from Pettridge Lane to Angel Lane could be improved.  Cllr. Jordan said that he was happy to see houses that may seem to be more affordable but felt that there might be one too many houses on the site and if there were just 1 house where plots 1 and 2 were shown, then the development would have a better feel.

Mr. Dicon Carpendale from Brimble Lea was invited to respond to these points:  He apologised and said he was not sure what had happened with the pavement around Plot 2 but was fairly sure that this would be revised and he agreed that the bin collection area close to the road should be made larger.  He said that there were actually 14 parking spaces within the development but pointed out that a lot of other issues raised by Town Council members related to highways and that the Highways Authority had not yet submitted their consultation response.  He thought that the intention was for the inner part of the site to be more of a shared surface space rather than an adopted road but they would need to see what the highway authority said about whether or not it was up to adoptable standards.  Mr. Carpendale felt that all the suggestions about EC charge points, solar panels etc were valid ones and he finished by saying that in view of the feedback he had received from the planning authority on various matters that there was likely to be further revisions.  On proposal put forward by Cllr. N. Beale, seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a vote of 10 for and 1 abstention it was RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above planning application with the following conditions and points of note.

Conditions:

Climate Strategy – Wiltshire Council’s Climate Strategy states that new development should be built to net zero carbon standards as soon as possible.  The Town Council would like this development to include solar PV or solar thermal panelling, Electric Vehicle charging points for each property and fibre broadband installed for each property.

Parking Standards – the Town Council would request a condition to ensure that this development meets Wiltshire Council’s Parking Standards and includes visitor parking provision.  Furthermore, pavements should include dropped kerbs to allow for wheelchair access.

Points of note:

• Bin collection area as proposed seems inadequate
• Pavement area around Plot 2 is too close to the corner of the proposed building and it would be necessary to get off the pavement and back on again to get to the rear of the plot.
• Transport plan for the development would be necessary as construction works will require removal of a lot of demolished and excavated material and delivery of construction materials throughout and access to Pettridge Lane is difficult with pinch points and no pavements around Edgebridge & Clements Lane.
• If a planning enhancement is sought, then the footpath from Pettridge Lane to Angel Lane (adjacent to this site) is in need of improvement.
• Retaining wall

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

Cllr. Jordan said that he had visited the site and noted that a neighbour had commented on the possibility of future windows.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application on proposal made by Cllr. P. Coward, seconded by Cllr. Debbie Beale and carried with a majority vote.  In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.

The Clerk read out that in the planning statement it correctly stated that planning permission has been granted for the construction of a dwelling under ref: 21/01202/FUL (decision date 16.6.21) and it says: “taking the project forward, two factors have been considered: first is in relation to the dwelling and in the approved position it takes the location of possible outside hay/store storage or further building and therefore the position for which permission is now sought replaces dilapidated redundant sheds and is in a better position.  The second issue that has come to light is in relation to potential employees and the accommodation should suit a family unit rather than a student.” 

The application is stating the need for the agricultural dwelling as necessary to employ a herdsman specific for the Dews Pasture site of the farm which is exactly the same as the reason or the agricultural dwelling in the statement for 22/01202/FULL.  However, the site for 21/01202/FUL is currently for sale on Rightmove albeit with an agricultural tie.  The Clerk said that this was confusing and expressed concern that approval of this planning application could provide with two properties for sale and not one of them providing a dwelling for a herdsman specific for the Dews Pasture site of the farm.

It was pointed out that sales information is not a planning consideration although members felt that point should be mentioned to the planning officer as an informative.  ON proposal made by Cllr. Hazzard, seconded by Cllr. Jordan and carried with a vote of 8 for and 3 abstentions, it was RESOLVED to approve the planning application with the following conditions:

• As this is a planning application revision and is, in effect, replacing a previously approved planning application that, as far as we are aware, has not yet been started but is still valid then any approval of this revision should be subject to a condition which revokes the previously approved planning permission (approved 16.6.2021).
• Any planning approval should be conditioned with an agricultural tie and should be tied to the farm known as Down View Farm so as it cannot be sold off separately.

Informative:

At the time of the Town Council meeting held on 3.10.22 the property that was subject to the 2021 planning permission was advertised for sale on rightmove.co.uk

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/127278407#/?channel=COM_BUY

218. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
219. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports. – Cllr. Jordan said that it was raised earlier, but just to reiterate that the path from Pettridge Lane to Angel Lane is a state and is always in a mess. The hedge belongs to Wiltshire Council and needs cutting back. Hazzard raised the issue of faded double-yellow lines in The Square and outside the Lecture Hall but it was pointed out that this has been reported on the MyWilts reporting page recently.  Cllr. Mrs. Beale reported that the residents of Burton have collectively paid for a new surface on the road alongside the river which is an unadopted highway but this has served to improve the footpath also.

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

220. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (attached) – Revisions to the schedule of payments were pointed out and the Clerk said that the arrival of the tractor had been delayed and that payment would not be made until delivery of the tractor was imminent. RESOLVED to authorise payments as itemised in revised schedule of payments on proposal made by Cllr. Colman, seconded by Cllr. Jordan and carried with a unanimous vote of those present.

1. b) To approve and sign off bank reconciliation – the Chairman checked the bank reconciliation against bank statements and signed in the presence of the Council.
2. c) Quotations for Internal Audit Service – the Clerk explained that she had received two quotations for providing an internal audit service but had been unable to secure a third quotation. However, as the year was progressing the Clerk was anxious to appoint an internal auditor for 2022/23 without further delay. The Council asked for details of the two quotations which were:
   • Bridget C. Bowen – £680 for 2022/23 based on a one mid-year review and a year-end review or for three years 2022-23 to 2024-25 based on one mid-year review and a year-end review each year

2022-23 – £650

2023-24 – £680

2024-25 – £715

Additional work, if required and pre-authorised by the Council, would be charged at £65 per hour

• Local Council Consultancy – £535 + VAT to include an interim and year-end review comprising of one or two on-site visits together with one or more virtual meetings. The internal audit work would be provided by Kate Houlihan who was a CiLCA qualified clerk with 20 years’ experience.

The Town Clerk was asked if she had a preference to which she replied ‘no’.  RESOLVED to ask the Local Council Consultancy to provide the Town Council with an internal audit service for 2022/23 on proposal made by Cllr. Jordan, seconded by Cllr. Debbie Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

*d) To adopt Dispensation Procedure Guide (Draft attached) – RESOLVED to adopt the guide on the condition that it is the Town Council and not the Clerk that makes the dispensation decisions.  Proposal seconded by Cllr. Colman and carried with a unanimous vote.

7. e) To set date, venue, membership of Annual Budget Meeting – it was agreed that the Annual Budget Meting would be held on Wednesday, 23^rd November at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor and that the following councillors would be invited to attend: Nick Beale, Aubrey Colman, Rachael Hansford, Philip Coward, Clive Hazzard, George Jeans & John Jordan. The Chairman & Vice-Chairman would attend ex-officio and the Vice-Chairman would Chair the meeting.

221. General Items
222. a) Report to the council on Mere Carnival 2022 – Cllr. John Jordan said he was very embarrassed because he had failed to thank the Hill Brush Company for their support in his written report and so he wanted to address that omission now as Hill Brush has always been very supportive of Mere Carnival. The Carnival raised £900 in donations on the night and had 31 entries with 3 floats. The Hot Rock Carnival Club stopped and played the National Anthem in The Square which was much appreciated.  The Golden Ticket of £1000 was won by someone local.  Jordan reported that it cost the Carnival Committee £2,900 to produce the Carnival.  He thanked the Town Council for their support and said he was looking forward to next year’s carnival.
223. b) The Queen’s Green Canopy Initiative – The Clerk reported that following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, and the wishes of His Majesty The King, The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) initiative will be extended to the end of March 2023 to give people the opportunity to plant trees in memoriam to honour Her Majesty. The Clerk reminded members that this had been discussed before and that the Town Council had acknowledged that they had nowhere suitable to plant trees but had, instead, communicated with the Duchy of Cornwall, who were planting plenty of trees in Mere. However, the Clerk was also aware that a resident of Mere had offered a small number of oak trees 18” high to anyone that wanted to plant one and the Clerk wondered whether the Town Council might like to plant one in the bottom of the cemetery as a memorial to Her Majesty the Queen.  It was unanimously agreed that one of these oak trees should be accepted and planted in the bottom of the cemetery but that a plaque should be ordered at a later date, once the tree had become established.

222. Future meetings and events
223. a) Invitation to attend Community First AGM on Wednesday, 12^th October 2022 at 6.00 pm at Devizes Town Hall.
224. b) Invitation to attend WALC AGM on Monday, 10^th October 2022 at 7.00 pm at The Clubhouse, Beckhampton Road, Avebury
225. c) South West Wiltshire Area Board meeting to be held on Wednesday, 5^th October at 6.30 pm at East Knoyle Village Hall – Cllr. Jordan said that he would attend the Area Board meeting on 5^th
226. d) Seeds4Success AGM on Saturday, 8^th October at 5.30pm at Zeals Green Pastures – Cllr. Sandra Catley said that she would attend this meeting.

223. Future agenda items

• None

All members and Clerk introduced themselves to new councillors.

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

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

Meeting closed at 9.09 pm

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

For Trustees to consider the following:

RESOLVED to approve the following payment on proposal made by Philip Coward, seconded by Debbie Beale and carried with a unanimous vote.

Water2Business          (supply to old cricket square -standing charge only)                         £16.41