Minutes of Town Council meeting held on Monday, 1st July 2024

Mere Town Council

Town Clerk – Mrs. L. C. Wood

Minutes of a meeting of Mere Town Council held on Monday, 1^st July 2024 at 7.00 pm at Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere, Wiltshire.  BA12 6EW.  The meeting will consider the items set out below. 

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

Public Participation Session

Mr. Alex Allen spoke in support of Minute No. 452 b)

445. Apologies for absence received from Cllrs. Nick Beale, Philip Coward & Clive Hazzard. RESOLVED to note the apologies.
446. Declarations of Interest

• The Chairman, Cllr. John Jordan, declared a personal interest in Planning Application PL/2024/05324
• Jeans declared a pecuniary interest in Minute Ref: (Finance)

447. Minutes – RESOLVED that the Minutes of the ANNUAL Town Council meeting held on Monday, 13^th May 2024 and the Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday, 10^th June 2024 be approved as a correct record.
448. Matters Arising from Public Session

• None

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

• None

450. Reports & Consultations
451. a) Wiltshire Councillors Report – Cllr. Jeans said that he had written an extensive report in Mere Matters which members could refer to.

*b) Project Co-Ordinator’s Report to include update on AIM event (attached) – members noted the report and the Chairman encouraged those members over the age of 50 to take part in activities such as axe throwing, rock climbing, karate, fencing or Tai Chi.  He said that a leaflet would be coming out soon and asked for volunteers to help on the day and also with delivery of the leaflets.

451. Planning
452. a) Applications for consultation response:

Cllr. Glen Ings in The Chair

RESOLVED to recommend this application for approval.  Having declared a personal interest in this planning application, Cllr. John Jordan took no part in voting or discussion.

Cllr. John Jordan resumes as Chair.

It was pointed out that the original change of use approval of this barn was granted on condition that it was a live/work unit i.e. the residential use in this isolated rural location was only acceptable on the basis that the proposal comprised a mixed business/residential use and it would appear that the above application is now going to reduce the amount of business use and increase the amount of residential use.  RESOLVED to recommend approval of the application.  [In order not to compromise his position as Wiltshire Councillor, Cllr. Jeans abstained from voting on this matter.]

It was pointed out that this planning application was considered at the Town Council meeting held in May but there would appear to have been some amendments made, possibly in relation to serving the correct notices on owners in reference to a flying freehold attached to the property.  RESOLVED to reiterate the Town Council’s previous consultation submission on this application but to include details of the previous use and history of use as a shop.

RESOLVED to recommend this application for approval.

1. b) Report on Planning Service Stakeholder meeting held on Tuesday, 25^th June 2024 – Cllr. Rachael Hansford reported on the meeting she had attended in Trowbridge which explained things like the investment in extra staff and restructuring of the planning department and in particular the enforcement officers: there was a focus on how we can help with enforcement with photos, what3word locations, diaries of activities etc. They touched on Neighbourhood Plans which caused a level of mixed feelings from the audience. Cllr. Rachael Hansford had prepared a written report which the Clerk said she would be happy to distribute to members upon request.
2. Highways, Rivers, Footpaths, Traffic & Transport
3. a) To identify jobs for the Parish Steward, Sparkle Team and MyWiltshire reports – there was a discussion about the poorly covered graffiti on the bypass bridge.

*b) Highways Improvement Request Form for 20mph and 7.5 tonne weight limit for Limpers Hill – Southbrook Road. (redacted form attached) – the Clerk clarified that she thought this request related to the road from the A303 turning to Burton and through to Limpers Hill and Southbrook.  Cllr. Jeans said that the main issue with any speed limit was enforcing it and he questioned whether the police would be able to enforce it.  Cllr. Jeans also said that he understood that 20mph speed limits either needed natural or man-made traffic calming measures in place to stop people from speeding.  There was a long discussion on the likely costs of providing a speed limit and it was confirmed that the Town Council would need to pay 25% of these costs.  It was agreed, that the Council discuss this matter at a future meeting but in the meantime we should try and seek a qualified opinion on the likely costs involved from a Highway Traffic Engineer to help with any discussion/decision on this and Cllr. Rachael Hansford also felt that some kind of traffic count would be helpful too although the Clerk said that this would probably require a formal traffic assessment.

453. Buildings, Open Spaces, Play Areas, Sports Grounds, Car Parks, Allotments & Cemeteries
454. a) Unauthorised access gates on Town Council land – the Clerk pointed out that she was aware of a gate from a property leading into the Recreation Ground which hadn’t been authorised and pointed out that there were others in different locations and she thought it might be prudent to write a letter asking on what basis they had created this access and whether or not they thought they had a legal right to do so or an ancient right to do so or should we get some legal advice to find out what we can legally do. Could we create a permissive pathway? Could we simply block the gates up for one day a year to remove any prescriptive rights?  It was agreed that the Clerk would seek some legal advice and write a specimen letter for councillors to consider.
455. b) Report on scoping meeting with representatives from Charles Coles Family Funfairs and RA/Insurance – deferred.

*c) Mere Town Clock – report, recommendations and quotation from Cumbria Clock Company to get the clock striking again. (email attached) – members noted the information in the report.  The Chairman said that although the clock is currently working, the strike train is not working and there is damage that needs to be repaired in order to get it working again. The Clerk summarised that this additional work would bring the total cost to £5775 + the cost of hiring a cherry picker.  The terms for guarantees were included within the report.  The notion of an electric clock or an electronic chime was briefly discussed but members unanimously voted to proceed with this work on the basis that the clock is an important aspect of the history of Mere and that it should be striking with the original bell hammer.

Emergency Item – David Hytch – EV chargers for Salisbury Street Car Park

The Clerk had been in communication with Mr. David Hytch, Technical Director of Pluscharge and there were a few decisions that needed to be made to progress the installation of the EV chargers in the Salisbury Street Car Park– the Clerk read out the notes provided by Mr. Hytch and it was RESOLVED to delegate authority to the Chair & Clerk to agree these points

454. Finance, Policy & Resources

*a)  Payments – To review and authorise schedule of payments (attached) – members authorised the schedule of payments.

1. b) To note the reconciliation for May 2023; the Chairman confirmed that he had verified the bank reconciliation against the bank statements and signed accordingly.

455. General Items

*Briefing Note 24-13: Housing Land Supply and Housing Delivery Test (attached)

*Briefing Note 24-14: Solar Together, Scheme 3 (attached)

456. Future meetings and events

The Chairman reminded members about the Activities in Mere event 9-11^th August & Cllr. Rachael Hansford reminded members about The Proms in Mere event on 13^th July to mark the restoration of St. Michael’s Church Tower.

457. Future agenda items

Does Mere want a 24-hr cashpoint machine?

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