Author: Sonya Ward

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Duchy Manor,

Springfield Road,

Mere

Warminster,

Wiltshire

BA12 6EW

Phone: 01747 860701

e-mail: lindseywood@merewilts.org

www.merewilts.org

7^th May 2025

Dear Councillor,

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

Before the meeting there will be a public session to enable the people of Mere to ask questions of, and make comments, regarding the Town Council.  Questions not answered at this meeting will be answered in writing to the person asking the question, or may appear as an agenda item for the next meeting.  Members of the public are asked to restrict their comments, and/or questions to three minutes.

Please Note: By entering the meeting room you are consenting to the use of your name being recorded in the Minutes.  The meeting may also be recorded by the press or members of the public.  Any person or organisation choosing to film, record or broadcast any meeting of the Council or its committees is responsible for any claims or other liability resulting from them so doing and by choosing to film, record or broadcast proceedings they accept that they are required to indemnify the Council, its members and officers in relation to any such claims or liabilities.

Any person who may find difficulty in access to the meeting through disability is asked to advise the Clerk by email (lindseywood@merewilts.org) at least 24 hours before the meeting so that every effort may be made to provide access.

Yours sincerely,

Lindsey Wood,

Town Clerk & RFO

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

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

REPORTS FROM LOCAL POLICE REPRESENTATIVES

AGENDA

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

3. VOTE OF THANKS TO OUTGOING CHAIR

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

5. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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

6. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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

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

7. MINUTES – To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 7^th April 2025 ( attached)

8. STANDING ORDERS – To approve and adopt the Standing Orders for Mere Town Council (attached)

9. FINANCIAL REGULATIONS – To approve and adopt the Financial Regulations for Mere Town Council (attached)

10. INTERNAL AUDITOR – To appoint an Internal Auditor

11. COMMITTEE STRUCTURES – To review Committee Structures and appointment of any committees in accordance with standing order 4 and, if appointing committees, to consider Terms of Reference and membership.

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

13. STAFFING PANEL – To appoint members, including the Chairman to serve on the Staffing Panel

14. APPEALS COMMITTEE – To appoint members, including the Chairman, to serve on the Appeals Committee

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

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

16. ASSET REGISTER – To review the Town Council asset register for 2025/26 (attached)& Asset Management Policy (attached)

*17. INSURANCE POLICY – To review the Council’s Insurance Policy and discuss/decide on alterations. (see Clerks Report)

18. BANKING AND FINANCIAL POLICIES
19. To review the Council’s banking and signatory arrangements including Draft Business Debit Card Policy (attached)
20. *To approve the schedule for Standing Orders and Direct Debits (in Clerks Report)
21. *To approve membership and subscriptions for the council year (in Clerks Report)

19. POLICIES

To review and decide on amendments to Council policies:

1. Scheme of Delegation (attached)
2. Draft Safeguarding Policy (attached)
3. Investment Policy (pending review)
4. Reserves Policy (pending review)
5. Governance & Management Risk Register (pending review)

20. MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL

To fix the dates and times of ordinary meetings of the Council and Committees (if any) for the ensuing year.

21. 21. Matters Arising from Public Session

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

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

23. Reports & Consultations
24. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report

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

25. 25. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
26. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports.
27. b) Wiltshire Council – Highways Capital Programme 2025/26 – the Cabinet Member for Highways, Street Schene and Flooding has approved the funding allocations and scheme lists for 2025/26. For further information please see page on Wiltshire Council’s website: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?id=2135&LLL=0

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

27. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (attached)

1. b) To note the bank reconciliations for March 2024; the Chairman to sign and verify against the bank statements seen
2. c) The Heritage Revival Fund has been created to help communities across England rescue and repurpose neglected historic buildings.

28. General Items

29. Future meetings and events

30. Future agenda items

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

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

If you are reading this before the 1st of May then I hope that you have been able to register to vote and will be voting.  There are candidates to choose from in both the Unitary (Wiltshire) and Town Council elections.  The returning officer and team are efficient and you should be able to find out the results within a couple of days at most. The Town Council Office will publish results.

My apologies for not getting the Chairman’s report in last month, I shall be brief this month.  My first task is to thank the volunteers who went out to Litter Pick, one and all.

At the last town council meeting we discussed:

• The plans for the Annual Town Meeting, which will have happened on the 23rd April.
• Planning applications.
• A request to use part of the Salisbury Street car park for a small funfair on the evening of the Mere Carnival.  We turned the plan, as presented, down and asked the Carnival and Funfair to consider something taking less of the car park.
• We adopted the recommendations of a working group meeting on the effectiveness of our Internal Control Measures.
• Heard from our Clerk on the allotment rent audit.

The next Town Council meeting will be on 12th May, with the newly elected Town Councillors attending.  The Venue will be the Andy Young Pavilion.

On Thursday 1st May, elections will take place for 98 unitary Wiltshire Councillors and across the Parish and Town Councils in Wiltshire.

Information for candidates is published on Wiltshire Council’s website Local elections – Wiltshire Council

The Town Clerk is happy to give further information to Town Council candidates on request. Please email lindseywood@merewilts.org or phone 01747 860701

South Parish Notice Of Election

South Unitary Notice Of Election

Statement of Persons Nominated for Parish Councils

Wiltshire Council has published the draft Gypsies and Travellers Development Plan Document which sets out the vision and framework to allocate land for Gypsy and Traveller communities in Wiltshire.  Comments are invited during the consultation period which runs to 5pm on Friday 4^th October.

The Gypsies and Travellers DPD and supporting evidence documents are available to view and download at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planning-gypsy-travellers  and people can also download a representation form and a simplified guidance note from this page.

Here is a link to the recent NPPF webinar from Wiltshire Council: National Planning Policy Framework webinar, 14 August 2024 – YouTube

Mere Town Council has requested, through Wiltshire Council’s Local Highways & Footpath Improvement Group (LHFIG) process, that the 30mph speed limit currently in place on the C59 Shaftesbury Road, Mere be extended to cover the section of road currently subject to a 40mph speed limit to ensure that there is a consistent speed limit in place along the road.

An independent speed limit assessment arranged through the South West Wiltshire LHFIG considered the introduction a 30mph speed limit to be appropriate for the length of road in question when assessed against the criteria for introducing a 30mph speed limit detailed on DfT Circular 1/13 Setting Local Speed Limits.

The Traffic Regulation Order currently being consulted upon proposes the extension of the 30mph speed limit to cover the length of the C59 Shaftesbury Road currently subject to a 40mph speed limit.

Deposit copies of the Order, plans and Statement of the Council’s Reasons for proposing to make the Order may be inspected at the offices of Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge during normal office hours. Details of the proposed scheme may be seen at Mere Library, Barton Lane BA12 6JA during the hours of 10am to 7pm Monday, 9.30am to 5pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10am to 2pm Wednesday and 9.30am to 1pm Saturday until 23rd September 2024.   Details of the proposed scheme may be seen at Mere Town Council offices, Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere BA12 6EW during the hours of 10 am to 3 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays.  Documents can also be viewed online at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/troconsultations

Comments on the proposal together with the reasons for which they are made should be sent in writing to reach the Sustainable Transport Group, by email to TrafficOrderConsultations@wiltshire.gov.uk or via the website by 23rd September 2024 quoting reference LJB/TRO/MERE30.

During August this year Mere Town Council will be organising an event that promotes activity and fun.

The Activities in Mere (AIM) event will take place between 9^th and 11^th August and will encourage, this year, the over 50’s in Mere to try or retry sports and leisure activities, some of which will be adapted to promote participation.  We hope that the event will not only encourage people to try something new, but that they may boost the membership of clubs and societies in Mere, as well as promoting health and wellbeing. We are providing this event using funds we have obtained from the Wiltshire Towns Fund.

More details will be provided in the coming weeks, in the meantime we would be grateful for any offers of assistance to help organise or provide a sport or activity. For further information please contact Roger Pipe, Project Co-ordinator at Mere Town Council Tel 860701.

Each month, the Town Council looks at planning applications and we decide on our support or objection with reasons.  I must make it clear that the decision is made by the Wiltshire Planning team based on planning regulations but they do take into account comments made by us and by interested parties.  Your voice can be heard on planning applications so do take the opportunity to go to the Wiltshire website and add your comment.

Feedback from residents has prompted us to consider a new approach to the format of the Annual Town Meeting. This will take place on the Wednesday, 24^thApril from 6 to 8 pm in the foyer at Duchy Manor where we will be providing information boards with details of the various groups in Mere such as the Carnival and the Link Scheme.  There will be information boards, and councillors to talk to, on the work of the Town Council and how this relates to the work of Wiltshire Council.  There will be boards with ideas and future plans with space for your comments and, importantly, a suggestions board where you can add your suggestions.  We are hoping that this format will give residents more of an opportunity to ask questions, comment and generally participate, rather than at a formal meeting.  We are required to have some formalities and so at 6:15, I shall give the Chairman’s report and minutes from last year.  Comments posted on the boards will be gathered together to form minutes and will be considered at our next council meeting.

In our last meeting we considered the implications of Martyn’s Law (which relates to the protection of premises in acts of Terrorism) for Mere and commented on the public consultation website.  We also took note of the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s Community Safety plan. One interesting fact is that they are attending fewer emergency callouts and spending more time going out to residents and companies to discuss safe measure in the home and business.

As a result of a recent announcement made by Gillingham Town Council that their cemetery is now closed for new burials as they have run out of space, Mere Town Council has taken the decision not to permit any burials for non-residents.  This means that if you do not live in Mere, you will not be able to be buried in Mere cemetery unless you have already purchased a plot.  This decision has been taken to preserve our cemetery space for Mere parishioners.  We will, however, still permit the purchase of cremation plots by non-parishioners, at double-fees as per the previous policy.

I was determined not to mention it but must say…    ….I do hope that, after this wet winter, we are spared the April showers!

John Jordan

Chairman, Mere Town Council

for information on Town Council activities, minutes, agendas, etc lindseywood@merewilts.org 860701 merewilts.org

Due to the fact that the Clock Tower is a Listed Building in the centre of the town which is in the centre of the Conservation Area, the Town Council has a policy for the erection of display banners on the Clock Tower.   The Town Council will only permit a maximum of 4 banners for community/charity events held within the town per year.  The four banners for 2024 have now all been allocated as follows:

• Mere Spring Fair & Family Fun Day – 20^th April 2024
• Proms in Mere (Tower Stories project) – 13^th July 2024
• Activities in Mere (Activity event for weekend of 9^th – 11^th August)
• Mere Annual Carnival – 14^TH September 2024

Lindsey Wood

Town Clerk

March has been described as a month pulled back by winter’s cold and forward by spring’s warmth, this year I think we would all ask for it to be either, but dry! At the last Town Council meeting we heard from a group of councillors about ways in which we might make the most of the grounds and open spaces available to us in Mere.  There are a great many activities which take place here from archery to tennis and much more, but we will be looking to extend what is available to residents.  Our plan looks to find enthusiasts in activities which do not already have a place on the Mere calendar and to hold an event later in the year for others to try these activities out, watch this space for news of what will happen.  One such newcomer, which you will have seen information about on these pages, is pétanque and we shall be improving the facility on the old swimming pool site.

I have been to the LHFIG (Highways) meeting where, with our Project Co-ordinator and our County Councillor, we were able to put forward plans to make Hazzards Hill, Edgebridge and the end of Manor Road safer places for all road users.  This is one step in a process which can take some time, but we will keep engaged until we realise our aim – of safer roads in Mere.

I had asked for suggestions for the commemoration of 80^th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June and am pleased to report that we have had representations and will be holding a quiet tribute at the War Memorial.  Though it will not be large, in the way of some recent commemorations, it will be important and will mark this day with due respect.

While it is not our business to provide banking in Mere, we are concerned about news that the Lloyds Bank mobile service is due to end in May.  My thanks to Ted Hanson for drawing our attention to this.  Here is a link to the information about this: https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/mobile-branch/closures.html.    If this change is going to affect you then do contact Lloyds Bank. If you let us know as well, we would then make a representation from the Council about the impact on the community.

The Town Council has embarked upon a joint project with Wiltshire Council to make improvements to the footpath running from Clements Lane to Angel Lane – which is to be named ‘Eric Mitchell Way’.  Work will start on 4^th March which will mean that the footpath will be closed for the duration of the works.  The official footpath closure is for 8 weeks but we will endeavour to re-open the footpath as soon as it is safe to do so.

John Jordan

Chairman, Mere Town Council

for information on Town Council activities, minutes, agendas, etc lindseywood@merewilts.org 01747 860701 merewilts.org