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Minutes of a Town Council meeting held on Monday, 2nd July 2025

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

 

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 2nd June 2025 at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW

Present:  Councillors Sandra Catley (Chair), Rachael Hansford (Vice-Chair), Debbie Beale, Aubrey Colman, Philip Coward, Rodney Coward, Sam Dean, Clive Hazzard, Ray Hill, Glen Ings, John Jordan, Alan Mead & Steven Pester.

Public Participation Session

  • None

 

Reports from local police representatives

  • None present

 

  1. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Nick Beale & George Jeans.

 

  1. To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests from Councillors on matters to be considered at the meeting.
  • Clive Hazzard declared a pecuniary interest in Minute Ref: 40a) [Payments – recipient]

 

  1. Minutes – RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 12th May 2025 be approved & signed as a correct record.

 

  1. Matters Arising from Public Session
  • None

 

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

*a) Mere Cemetery Ancestry & Heritage Project and potential funding opportunity: The Heritage Revival Fund has been created to help communities across England rescue and repurpose neglected historic buildings.  (Project brief prepared by the Clerk in 2016 attached)

Cllr. Jordan said that he had seen this project brief some time ago and was happy to volunteer to do a bit of work on it with others that he had in mind.  Cllr. Mead said that he would like to get involved in this project.  Cllr. Hill said he had reservations about leaving a debt or large maintenance costs for the Council to pick up in future years.

 

  1. Reports & Consultations
  2. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – None received. The Chairman announced the names of the new Area Board Chair, Cllr. Pauline Church and Vice-Chair, Cllr. Nabil Najjar & LHFIG representative, Cllr. Bridget Wayman.

*b) Project Co-Ordinator’s Report (attached) – Having read the report Cllr. Jordan said that he was interested to see that if we attract the right sporting bodies we may be able to get some capital funding for the MUGA.  Cllr. Hill said he was aware that our MUGA was not big enough for football training and at the moment the football club pays to train in Gillingham and said that if there is plenty of money going then let’s make it bigger.   It was generally felt that the Council should aim to attract as many sports as possible for the refurbishment of the MUGA and that the lighting system should be improved.

 

  1. Planning
  2. a) Applications for consultation response:

 

Application No: PL/2025/04535
Application Type: Prior notification: Development by telecoms operators
Proposal: The removal of existing 20m monopole, 3 no. antennas and 3 no. dish. Proposed replacement with 22.50m monopole, 3 no. antennas, existing 3 no dish to be re-supported on replacement monopole and ancillary development thereto including existing equipment cabin upgrade.
Site Address: Land adjacent to Charnage Quarry, Off the A303, Charnage, Warminster, BA12 6AP
Planning Register Link: https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0iQ300000EJNqT

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

Application No: PL/2025/04320
Application Type: Lawful development: Existing use
Proposal: The erection of a dwellinghouse and the use of outbuildings and land for purposes ancillary to the residential use. Change of use of a building to a dwellinghouse (The Bungalow) and the use of land for the stationing of a caravan for permanent residential occupation independently of Three Oaks Farm.
Site Address: Three Oaks Farm, Gillingham Road, Mere, BA12 6LH
Planning Register Link: https://developm ent.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0iQ300000E8x1K

The Clerk said that as far as she was aware, the Town Council was being asked to confirm whether or not it believed that the development was immune from enforcement due to the passage of time and that planning permission is not required for the abovementioned developments because they have already been in place for so long.  The Clerk said that as far as she could remember, the owner started living in a caravan on the site approximately 30-35 years ago.  The Planning Authority took enforcement action for the unauthorised use of the site for residential purposes which was eventually taken to inquiry and the Human Rights Act which had only just come into force in 2000, was applied and the owner was allowed to stay living in the caravan on the basis that the owners children were now in school and so they were allowed to stay living on the site until the youngest child had finished school.  As this was 25 years ago, it must be the case that the youngest child has finished school.   The Clerk said that as far as she was aware there had been a great deal of enforcement activity over the last 25 years relating to unauthorised residential use and unauthorised business use.   Members of the Town Council were not aware that there was any residential activity on the site other than the one occupied caravan/unit which was only authorised for a defined period.

RESOLVED to reply that the Town Council is unable to confirm that the development is lawful due to the amount of time it has been there as the Town Council was only aware of one unit of residential occupation which was authorised for a limited period of time.  The Town Council is cognizant of the fact that there had been a great deal of planning enforcement activity for the site over the last 25 years although we have not been privy to the detail, investigations or findings of this enforcement activity.

 

 

Application No: PL/2025/04203
Application Type: Full planning permission
Proposal: Construction of an outdoor equestrian arena/manege with pedestrian access
Site Address: Burton Grange, Burton, Mere, Warminster, BA12 6BR
Planning Register Link: https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0iQ300000E4xxV

 

 

RESOLVED to recommend approval of the above application.

 

  1. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
  2. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward and MyWiltshire reports.
  • Clean dirty road direction signs including the ones that say Mere Museum and other local facilities -Cllr. Jordan
  1. b) Manor Road & Angel Lane priorities for Highway Maintenance for Mere? – RESOLVED to send a letter to Wiltshire Council to support Cllr. Jeans in asking for Manor Road and Angel Lane to be treated as priorities and also to ask the Chair to speak to Cllr. Jeans regarding the highway surface issues along White Road and Hazzards Hill and how best to request that these are attended to.

 

  1. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
  2. a) Re-location of Town Council’s Honours Boards – RESOLVED to relocate the two Town Council’s Chair’s Honours Board from the Lecture Hall to the Duchy Manor site in order to make it easier for them to be updated and also so that people can view them when they are attending meetings here etc.
  3. b) Castle Hill & Long Hill
  • Environmental Stewardship Scheme & scrub management
  • Replacement/repair fencing
  • Grazing

The Clerk said this item had been raised because she wanted Councillors to be aware that the Town Council has entered a legal agreement a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme with Rural England for scrub management in order to restore Chalk grassland.  The Clerk advised members that the Town Council has to supplement the goat grazing with manpower but has not supplied the manpower over the last 3 or 4 years because our grounds staff keep being asked to do other jobs. The Chair has been to Seeds4Success who have said that they may be able to do some manual scrub management and fencing repair work.  Cllr. R. Coward corroborated the Clerk’s assessment of the situation and said that something needed to be done soon to manage the scrub regrowth and also there was a lot of dead ash trees on the hill.  Cllr. R. Coward proposed that the Council should engage contractors as the work would be too much for Seeds4Seccess to get on top of.  With regards to fencing, a number of stakes have rotted off and need replacing but the wire looks pretty good and he said that fencing repairs should also be contracted out if Seeds4Success cannot do the work.  Cllr. Coward said he would be happy to walk round and survey the stakes and liaise with a contractor and also to walk around with Jaki.

  1. d) Car Park Sponsorship update (see Minutes December meeting) – The Chair said that she and Cllr. Jeans had agreed that they would get together and visit the businesses to see if more sponsorship could be generated.

*e) Proposed works on adult football pitch to be carried out by Mere Town Football Club (see Clerks Report) – RESOLVED that the Football Club be authorised to carry out the works, as detailed in the Clerks Report on condition that all vehicular access is made from the Duchy Manor site.

 

  1. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – RESOLVED to authorise the payments as shown on the schedule of payments (attached) and including two extra invoices (Jeans Electricals and Wendy Hill Cleaning).  Cllr. Hazzard, having declared a pecuniary interest in this item, left the room whilst the matter was discussed and took no part in discussion or voting.

  1. b) To note the reconciliations for April 2025 – the Chairman confirmed that she had verified that the bank statements accord with the reconciliation for April 2025 and had signed the reconciliation accordingly.
  2. c) To report on delegated decision on insurance quotation assessment – Woolley & Wallis provided us with new property reinstatement valuations which has increased the value of our assets and it also included a valuation of our walls which came to £752k. The Clerk gave a detailed report of the insurance quotation comparisons. The delegated decision was in favour of Gallagher insurance but without insuring the walls.

*d) To note and approve the End of Year Budget/Expenditure report and associated financial summary documents (attached) – RESOLVED to approve the End of Year Budget/Expenditure report.

*e) To approve the Town Council’s Reserves Policy 2025/26 (attached) – Cllr. Colman raised an error in the Policy report.  Cllr. Jordan said he was worried about increasing the general reserves and explained why he thought the general reserves were also built into some of the earmarked reserves.  He said that increasing the general reserves in this way would have too much of an impact on the precept.  RESOLVED not to adopt the policy at this moment but to consider it again when carrying out the budget/precept meeting in October/November this year.

*f) To approve the Town Council’s Investment Strategy 2025/26 (attached) – RESOLVED to adopt without amendment.

  1. To approve the transfer of £75,000 from our National Savings Account into our Lloyds Bank general account
  2. To approve the transfer of £50,000 from the Lloyds Bank general account into our CCLA Public Sector Deposit Fund Account

RESOLVED to approve the above transfers.

*g) To approve DRAFT Vexatious Complaints Policy (attached) – Cllr. Colman said that it didn’t conform to other Acts and suggested that he would go through it with the Clerk for consideration again at a future meeting.

*h) Wiltshire Towns Programme – Action Plan for 24/25 and 25/26 (attached) – now had funding for both years and this is the action plan we put forward to get the funding and so we need to make sure we carry out these actions although there is one that we cannot do because it is no longer taking place i.e. the art installation on Castle Hill.  Cllr. Rachael Hansford proposed that the Town Council should organise a Halloween Event for Mere for teenagers.  She said that people already come to Mere for Halloween because it is such a good atmosphere in Mere and a lot of people go to a lot of effort.  Cllr. Colman suggested a craft market in the town and said that there was a lot going on for younger people and not a lot for older people in the town. Cllr. Ings said that he was not aware of any events that the Town Council had put on for young people and yet we put on an activities weekend for older people last year. It was agreed that both Cllr. Colman & Cllr. Hansford submit a report for their proposed activities for the Council to consider at the next meeting and decide which should be put forward to Wiltshire Council for funding.

Cllr. Jordan explained how the funding would be spent for the walking events.

*i) SSEN funding (see Clerk’s Report) & PCC Community Action Fund 2025 (see Clerks Report)

It was agreed that Cllr. Rachael Hansford would talk to David Hytch regarding the possibility of applying for the SSEN funding for EV chargers and possibly solar panels for the public toilets.

With regards to the PCC Community Action Fund – The Chair informed members that there is a lot of crime issues going on in Mere that people don’t hear about.  She said ‘we have got knife crime, drug abuse, violence, County Liners and people that have been cuckooed and young people are getting pushed into selling drugs and we have drug dealers in Mere that are increasing their network.’  It was suggested that the Town Council might use the money to get educational speakers to come and talk to the schools/youth clubs and parents to raise awareness and/or pay someone to open a drop-in centre for people to access help and advice.  Members asked why the police weren’t doing anything about these problems.  RESOLVED to invite the police to the next Town Council meeting in order to discuss these problems and ask them how we could bid for this money in a way that would be really helpful.  In the meantime, it was agreed that the Chair, Cllr. Dean and Cllr. Pester would get together and produce a report that could be distributed to councillors for the next meeting.

 

  1. Audit and Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2024/25

*a) Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2024/25

  1. To receive and note the Annual Internal Audit Report – the Final Report following the end of year Internal Audit Review carried out by the Internal Auditor Katherine Houlihan on 27th May 2025, had been distributed to members. A copy of Page 3 of the AGAR, completed and signed by the Internal Auditor was also distributed to members prior to the meeting.  The Clerk explained that due to an oversight the Noice of Conclusion of Audit for 2023/24 had been published on the website but for some reason the External Auditor’s Report and Certificate was not on the website which meant that the Town Council had not complied with the publication requirements for 2023/24 AGAR.  The Clerk also pointed out that the Internal Auditor had not been able to answer ‘Yes’ to assertion C as although the Town Council had reviewed their Internal Controls in April 2024, which covered many of the financial risks that the council faces, it had not approved the full risk assessment and risk register until May 2025 which was outside the period of this review.  The Clerk also pointed out that the other issues raised by the Internal Auditor i.e. Incorporating the Debit Card Policy into the Financial Regulations and adopting a Reserves Policy were underway and would be addressed over the course of the next few months.
  2. To approve the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1) – Points 1 – 9 of the Annual Governance statement 2024/25 (Section 1 of the AGAR) were read out to members and members answered ‘yes’ to each of the statements except statement 5 as the full risk assessment and risk register had not been approved until after the period of review (as explained in 41a)i)   The Annual Governance Statement was signed by the Clerk and by the Chair in the presence of the Town Council.
  • To approve the Accounting Statements (Section 2) [attached] –The Accounting Statements 1 – 11a & 11b (Section 2 of the AGAR) were approved by the Town Council. Confirmation of approval of the Accounting Statements was signed by the Clerk/RFO on 20th May 2025 and by the Chair in the presence of the Town Council at the meeting on 2nd
  1. To set the commencement date for the exercise of public rights – the Clerk confirmed that, as required by the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2015, the Town Council must now publish Sections 1 & 2 of the AGAR and the Notice for the Commencement of the Period for the Exercise of Public Rights and a sufficiently detailed explanation of the reasons why we have answered No to assertion 5 in Section 1. Publication is on the Town Council’s website: www.merewilts.org .  The Clerk anticipated that the commencement date would be 27th June 2025.
  2. To note other information to be sent to the External Auditor and required by External Auditor as part of Intermediate Review 2024/25 – the Clerk pointed out to members that because the Town Council had income exceeding £200k we were required to have an Intermediate Audit Review which required providing extra information to the external auditors. The extra information to be submitted for the 2024/25 intermediate review applicable to Mere Town Council is:
  • A copy of the relevant minutes and agenda papers from the meeting at which the annual review of risk management arrangements during 2024/25 was discussed
  • If the 2023/24 external auditor report included any ‘except for’ matters, copies of minutes and any agreed plan showing the corrective action taken to address these matters

 

  1. General Items
  2. a) VJ Day in 2025 will be observed on Friday, August 15th.This marks the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the Allies, effectively ending World War II – the Chair explained that she would be meeting with Stuart Walker who is the Royal British Legion representative and would report back to the next Town Council meeting.

 

  1. Future meetings and events

*a) Invitation to attend Safer Together: Strengthening Community Safety Through Partnership & Anonymity (virtual briefing hosted by Crimestoppers) – 12th June 2025 at 17.30 Online  (see Clerks Report) – the Chair said that she would register to attend this briefing.

 

 

  1. 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.

  • None requested

 

*Further information on these items enclosed/attached

 

 

Meeting closed at 8.49 pm

 

 

 

 

 

MERE PEACE MEMORIAL SPORTS AND RECREATION GROUND

Registered Charity No. 1093497

 

For Trustees to consider the following:

 

RESOLVED to approve payment to Mere Town Council for maintenance charges               £16752.34

as per Recreation Ground Summary in End of Year Budget/Exp report