Bishops Cannings Parish Newsletter · 2018. 11. 29. · 14 Bishops Cannings Parish Council December...

1 Bishops Cannings Parish Council December Newsletter

Bishops Cannings Parish Newsletter December Edition

To make it easier for the school and to avoid a clash with

the dedication event in Devizes

THE NEW DATE

is now to be exactly one calendar month later

on TUESDAY DECEMBER 11th at 3pm

Trees and seats are in place. There are three more Oaks to plant in early December.


Shots from the Chairman’s gun Many parishioners will be concerned about the Parish magazine’s failure to be delivered on time or at all recently. One reason for heightened concern will be that for the past ten years one Jim Hambleton has on his own endeavours taken the trouble to ensure that the magazine is delivered regularly and on time. The time has come for him to move onto pastures new and I have told him he needs a medal. In the meantime the Parish Council itself must take responsibility for the current muddle and will get a grip on this. I have pledged to carry out deliveries in Cannings Hill in the interim before we can find another to take on this responsibility and so if you see a strange grey haired man in a track suit sneaking in and out of your properties with some paper I am your man not some stalker from outer space.

We shall also miss the lively presence of Gary Mansell at our meetings. He has done all the jobs few people in the Parish are willing to do like clearing up litter and rubbish. He made arrangements to ensure that the playgrounds were brought up to scratch. Meetings were lively and stimulating and he and Sharon ensured we had good refreshments. The Parish Council will be a duller place without him. It also will be a duller place without that fountain of all knowledge Eric Clark, who served with distinction as parish clerk for at least five years to my knowledge acting that a modern and louder version of Jeeves to the Council’s Bertie Woosters.

What are we left with then? We are a rump of 3 councillors of those who were elected 18 months ago and four volunteers


plus a new clerk Zoe, who was ably chosen by a selection panel from five applications. It is a tough job being clerk and Responsible Financial officer in today’s world thanks to devolution. We are a group of diverse experience professional and otherwise. I as Chairman feel privileged to have these men and women on board but with such talent we need to do more. We need more councillors to be representative of the area although it is clear that members do feel that they represent the whole area other than just one or two hamlets as the efforts by Kevin Toft and Diane Carey (a retired councillor) to provide a suitable commemoration at Le Marchant Barracks have proved.

The previous two chairmen and at least two of the past four clerks were plagued by social media. I had this job 27 years ago. It was not a successful tenure of office and quite rightly I got booted out. We did not even communicate by email in those days. Today I feel like the equivalent of a teenage boy with elder brothers, who are heavy smokers. I promise to my parents that I will not become a smoker. What chance do I have? My sons advised me not to get involved with Facebook at all and I am sure if I did I would become an addict. Having seen what misery it has caused to officers in this parish it would be best to keep clear although we shall need to maintain a Facebook page and a website thanks to the good offices of David Ralph. There is plenty to do without that.

Having seen several Prime Ministers on the steps of 10 Downing Street making homilies and pledges only to be blown away by events, it would be a hostage to fortune to make any pledges except to do our best and invite others to join us. MJH 25.11.2018


KEEP YOUR VILLAGE MAGAZINE IN CIRCULATION!

URGENT APPEAL FOR VOLUNTEERS We know how much you all love to receive this monthly newsletter. In order to keep it in circulation we urgently need people to deliver it to their local area. For more

information please contact Zoe Meaden [email protected]

New Date for the Blessing of Revd. Beth’s

Reflection Area

Our sincere thanks to everyone for your kind understanding over the postponement of this event last month. We are now delighted to announce that we have a new date and you are all once again warmly invited to attend a short service of blessing for the newly planted reflection area at the school in memory of our dear Revd. Beth. The service will be led by Revd. Curtis and will begin in Bishops Cannings School Hall at 1.30pm on Friday, 7th December. We would love you all to join us for this special occasion which will be followed by light refreshments.

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Wallace, Bishops Cannings Primary School (01380) 860633


BISHOPS CANNINGS COMMUNITY

CHRISTMAS FAYRE

Planning is well underway for our annual Community Christmas Fayre in Bishops Cannings. Now a firm fixture in the parish diary - we will have all your favourites plus a few surprises for you to enjoy! This year’s event takes place on Saturday, 1st December between 9 am and 1 pm. Once again, we will be selling premium grade Nordmann Fir Christmas Trees in the Crown Inn car park. We are now well known for our very competitive prices and have the friendliest sales team plus a free delivery service for those customers living within the parish. There will also be bacon rolls, hot chocolate, mulled wine and a Christmas Hamper to win at the Crown Inn. As usual, St Mary’s church will be full of festive stalls selling a whole host of amazing hand-made and locally crafted products including: knitwear, candles, cards, ceramics, jewellery, chutney, chocolates, cupcakes, books, bags, wreaths and much, much more. Visit our wonderful Santa to hear a very special story in his now legendary and most magical Grotto. There will be craft activities, carol singing and tours of the Bell Tower – the view from the top of the tower is surely one of the wonders of Wiltshire! For early birds - why not enjoy a bacon roll for breakfast while you choose your perfect Christmas tree! And for the more energetic – a chance to take part in our

“Reindeer Dash” - a short family fun run from the church to the canal swing bridge and back. Free reindeer antlers for all who take part! And this year the chance for one lucky runner to win the “Cariad Cup” –

in memory of our dear friend and committee member, Reverend Beth Brown, who so loved and supported the Christmas Fayre.

So, make it a date and do join us again for the 7th annual Bishops Cannings Community Christmas Fayre! All proceeds go to our local community. We look forward to seeing you all

on Saturday, 1st December between 9 am and 1 pm. Admission is FREE


.


Your Councillors

Cllr Michael Hodge – Chairman [email protected]

Cllr Simon Casey – Vice-Chairman - [email protected]

Cllr Jenny Combe – [email protected]

Cllr Robert Jones – [email protected]

Cllr Kevin Toft – [email protected]

Cllr Neil Bridgen – [email protected] Cllr Chris Body – [email protected]

Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer

Mrs Zoe Meaden 21 Ash Drive North Bradley Trowbridge BA14 0SN Email - [email protected]


Floodlighting for St Mary’s Bishop’s Cannings

December 2018 2nd In memory of Kath Cleaver on her birthday 12th Benjie Jackson’s birthday 16th Archie Combe’s birthday 25th To Mary and Joseph a baby boy

Please contact Cllr Combe at [email protected]


BISHOPS CANNINGS VACANCIES PARISH COUNCILLOR

Bishops Cannings Parish Council are looking for people who wish to serve as a Parish Councillor.

Are you interested in local current affairs? Do you wish to serve your Community? Could you provide a voice for residents?

For further information please contact

Zoe Meaden, Parish Clerk on [email protected]


DRAFT Minutes

Meeting of Bishops Cannings Parish Council Held on Thursday 13th November 2018

in Bishops Cannings Village Hall at 7.30pm.

Present: Cllr Michael Hodge (Chairman) Cllr Robert Jones, Cllr Neil Bridgen, Cllr Jenny Combe, Cllr Kevin Toft (arrived at 8pm) WCC Cllr Philip Whitehead.

Also in attendance: Clerk Zoe Meaden, Christine Body and William Naesmyth

1. Apologies for absence Cllr Simon Casey due to military duties.

2. Disclosures of interest There were no disclosures of interest

3. Approval of the 13th September Draft minutes The minutes have been drafted. JC and RJ agreed that MH should sign the minutes. MH did so and handed them to ZM


4. Approval of the 11th October Draft minutes MH is unable to locate the minutes as they are on the Clerks laptop which SC has, he is away on military duties at present. ZM is to collect the laptop this weekend, she will locate the minutes and add them to the December agenda for approval

5. Chairman’s announcements MH welcomed ZM to the Parish Council as Parish Clerk. MH said that there had been a lot of good work on the memorial at Le Marchant Barracks, planting trees. The villagers have been extremely helpful, in particular Diane Carey.. JC extended special thanks KT and SC for their efforts towards the Parish Council and also thanked SC for his help in the acquisition of a new Parish Clerk.

6. Public questions, comments A member of the public raised a concern about the footpath. PW wants to have meeting with the Parish Council to discuss it. JC offered to take part and RJ also offered as he has a planning background. William Naesmyth asked why there had not been a Parish Newsletter in November. JC indicated that is was due to there not being a Parish Clerk in place. She is looking to have it reinstated in December.

7. Cllr Whitehead (Unitary) update


PW stated that they are budget setting at the moment. There will be series of public consultation events in Devizes, one of such is at Devizes Library on 26th November. They will be talking about requirements of the budget, they are almost ready to set the budget at £350 million pounds but they also need to make a cost reduction of £20 million. NB asked if central Government are likely to increase the budget. PW said that they are three years late with the final funding model. Bodies like the Metropolitan Police fared better as they manage more deprived areas and the bigger pressures are now focussed on the elderly population. The fair funding formula will attempt to correct that. They have just received 7 million pounds of funding to correct potholes. One off payments are not favoured as they skew the budget by using reserves, where ideally they would like to be planning 4-5 years ahead. JC asked what the outcome for the village would be after the car crash on the corner by the school. PW said that 98% of accidents are caused by the driver. He said that the statistics are that if three crashes happen in a period of three years the crash site would be investigated. PW said he would ask to see the accident report. JC said that the rumble strips have gone and the signs there are not visible. PW said that he would have all of that checked. NB mentioned that the road by the New Inn, the edge is crumbling away and there is a 10 – 15ft (?) sheer


drop should anyone drive off the edge of the road. PW recommended that the problem is recorded on the My Wiltshire App. MH talked about the traffic issues surrounding the school and parking arrangements at the Crown pub. Wadworth’s want to continue developments and will give us some land for parking but it will have to be for the school. PW said we could introduce a 20mph scheme with lights in operation between 8am and 9:15am and again in the afternoon when school finishes. He said that the school could gain funding for this but they need to have an up to date travel plan. The funding is provided by the travel to school initiative. NB suggested that we write to the school to ask them to update their travel plan. ZM agreed to draft a letter

8. Clerks updates ZM had no updates as she has only been in post for two days

9. Establishment of a Sub-Committee (closed to the public) to manage staff matters MH offered to be on the committee. KT suggested that the interviewing panel should form the group. JC and RJ agreed. MH said that a complaints policy would be drafted. SC is looking into the extra powers that can be adopted so the policy has not been prepared yet. To be added to the December agenda.


10. To consider the co-option of Christine Body. There was a unanimous agreement by all Councillors present and she was invited to join the Council

11. Review of DRAFT policies Deferred to December meeting

12. Review the Councils Standing Orders RJ said that we have a draft in place but there are changes to be made. RJ and MH asked for the standing orders to go to the Clerk. Also all policies will be reviewed in December for adoption in January

13. Review of the Councils Financial Regulations MH will review the financial regulations ahead of the December meeting

14. 2019/20 Precept MH asked ZM to share the precept application form and any supporting documents with him. There was a 28% increase on the precept for 2018/19 so that needs to be taken into consideration

15. Council’s Plans/Projects moving forward


KT said that the defibrillator is an ongoing project. There is now one in the Crown pub, one in Horton and a third in Coate. SC has spoken about arranging some training. The Heartbeat Trust run a training course on the use of them. MH agreed that is would be good to organise some training, KT indicated that SC is looking into it It has been identified that there was a Spitfire crash by No.2 School View on 1st June 1944. RJ has researched and found some details surrounding this. The plan is to install a tribute on the site, maybe in the form of a plaque. An article will also be written for the Parish Newsletter.

16. Update on Le Marchant Tribute KT said that there are three Oak trees to plant when they arrive in early December. Seats and majority of trees are in place. There is a temporary notice on the guard for the main Oak but notices need to go on notice boards. MH said that it is important to maintain the integrity of it by regular upkeep. JC and KT stated that the installation has been approved by WCC. There will be a dedication of the trees on 11th December at 3pm. The local school are writing poems. ZM suggested an article for the December Newsletter, JC agreed. KT said there is a notice on the boards advertising the event

17. Bee Bombs


The bee bombs are currently in the previous Chairman’s garage. CB offered to collect them.

18. To consider planning application 18/08771/FUL for the erection of an agricultural building at Hill Barn Farm, Bishops Cannings, and at the discretion of the Chairman to consider any other planning and related applications outstanding at the time of the Parish Council meeting No objections subject to a condition that the colour of the facing material needs to be agreed

19. Finance ZM discussed her salary payment during the handover period. It was resolved that a cheque would be issued to cover the period from 12th – 21st November for a sum of £158.77. Her December salary will also be paid by cheque. MH said that ZM had mentioned that her salary is paid by BACS at Luckington and Alderton Parish Council. MH suggested that the authorised signatories look at setting up online banking and an automated payment of salary. He asked ZM to investigate the process around this and she agreed. MH also asked ZM keep a record of her working hours in case she incurs overtime.


20. Matters for next meeting MH asked ZM to circulate the 2019/20 precept application form and supporting documents to the Councillors once she has collected the laptop, she agreed.

21. Correspondence received The Councillors discussed the correspondence received from Mrs Cooper regarding Aster Property advising her that she can no longer park her car adjacent to her property by the bridge in Little Horton. PW advised that it is a private issue and she will have to take direct action with Aster Property. MH has offered to review the title deeds. ZM will write to Mrs Cooper to advise her of this. Other matters discussed KT advised that there is an obstruction to a right of Way at the back of Bourton Green, footpath ref BCAN5 adjacent to 3 Bourton Green Cottage. Barbed wire fencing has been erected across the sliding gate meaning that it can’t be opened. MH said that it would be helpful if a swing gate could be installed. MH asked ZM to write to John Rider to request that he does so but before embarking on such a course, a review of photographic evidence and any changes in the law concerning disability access should be looked at. KT said that we may be able to obtain some funding from the Ramblers Association, he will advise further.


NOTES


A Christmas Poem It’s come again to the time of year when Christmas time will bring good cheer When families from far and wide will get together, don’t you fear For in a smelly cattle bier that little child you all must know Was born so many years ago Anon

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