Odstock Parish Council
An Ordinary meeting of Odstock Parish Council was held on 1 September 2021 in the Nunton Recreation Field Pavilion.
Present: Edward Riley (Chairman), Jackie Owen (Vice-Chairman), Colin Berry, Sally Nelson, Nigel Start, Richard Parsons (Clerk), Wiltshire Cllr Richard Clewer and no members of the public.
Apologies Received and Accepted: Thomas Newman and Hazel Docherty.
36/21 Open Public Forum: None.
37/21 Declaration of Interest: None. Members were reminded to review the LGA Model Councillor Code of Conduct 2020 which can be accessed at www.odstock.info/conduct/ and satisfy themselves with the details listed in the Wiltshire Council’s register of
members interests database at www.odstock.info/roi/.
38/21 Minutes of the Annual OPC meeting held on 21 June were unanimously approved and signed by the Chairman.
39/21 Community Initiatives:
a) Radnor Hall Committee: Cllr Nelson agreed to act as the OPC representative. There are as yet, no plans to resume Car Boot Sales on the Nunton Recreation Field. The Radnor Hall Committee AGM is scheduled for 7 September.
b) Vicarage Garden at Nunton: The Longford Estate will reinstate the seat following essential ground work.
c) Defibrillator Proposal: There was unanimous support for this and costings will be prepared for a future meeting. Wiltshire Cllr Clewer stressed the importance of understanding the implications of the annual costs and Cllr Nelson agreed to thank the parishioner for their suggestion and will ask her to propose
a project which will encompass all three villages. In Cllr Docherty’s absence, she was volunteered to take the lead on this project.
d) Jubilee Gardens: Littering and parking issues are beyond OPC’s control. Volunteers will clear any litter as required. Cllr Newman will be asked to propose some measures which will help to discourage this unfortunate behaviour.
40/21 Nunton Recreation Field:
a) Field and Pavilion Access: The Chairman and Cllr Nelson agreed to act as the points of contact for those wanting to use these facilities. It may be necessary to review OPC’s Policy Statement for use of the Pavilion and Nunton Field.
b) Tennis Courts: In response to a parishioner’s request for OPC to consider a project to install Tennis Courts on the Recreation Field, a discussion revealed considerable support. However funding in the region of £30,000 and the landlord’s permission are likely to be substantial hurdles to overcome when progressing a project of this nature.
41/21 Transport, Roads and Footpaths:
a) Wiltshire Council Highways: Cllr Start has had a constructive meeting with the Parish Steward in his role as parish liaison coordinator. Future visits will begin with a meeting where the Priority Worksheet will be discussed.
b) Nunton Drove: A parishioner’s Highways Improvement Request concerning how HGV vehicles are negotiating the corner opposite the dairy entrance was considered and the Chairman suggested that the definitive map will show a wider verge than the parishioner has accounted for. A Wiltshire Highways engineer will be invited to comment.
c) A338 Junction: A parishioner’s Highways Improvement Request concerning the length of the slip road in use by vehicles approaching the Nunton junction from the south was considered. The parishioner’s suggestion for improvement will be endorsed by OPC and will be referred to the Wiltshire Council
cabinet member for Highways.
d) CATG: Cllr Berry reported that the £7,000 OPC contribution for the Nunton Footway Project will receive matched funding from CATG and the project will now go forward as a ‘substantive CATG bid’ before 17 September.
e) Speed Indicator Device: In conversation with the CATG Highways engineer, other parishes have employed a variety methods in an attempt to slow traffic through their villages. Where there are no street light poles, more substantial poles can replace existing road sign poles, strong enough to support an SID. For
example, there is a school warning sign between Odstock cross-roads and the school which is one of the sites suggested by the CSW Team leader. The Chairman identified a site in the lay-by opposite the Vicarage Garden and another site halfway along where the Nunton footpath project will be installed. The SID will work
in both directions at this site. Another parish has overcome the need for an approved contractor to move an SID by mounting the SID on private land. Wiltshire Council has provided practice notes for the deployment and operation of SIDs. The Chairman will liaise with the CSW Team leader to finalise the precise site
locations.
42/21 Planning: No new Planning Application to consider.
43/21 Reports and Correspondence:
a) Southern Wiltshire Area Board: The next virtual meeting will be held on 9 September.
b) Pandora Technologies Ltd Radar Speed Signs: This email was circulated to all OPC members on 31 August.
c) Chalke Mobile CiC: This email was circulated to all OPC members on 17 August.
44/21 Finance:
a) Cashflow Budget: This is one of the many ways that OPC’s finances can be viewed. OPC’s accounts are prepared on the Income & Expenditure basis which avoids listing recoverable VAT as income. The budget lists the category of income and expenditure items, the previous years actual results, the year to date results, an estimate for the rest of the current financial year and an estimate for 2022-2023 on which to base OPC’s precept requirement.
b) Earmarked Reserves: OPC has accumulated a maintenance fund of £4,000 and a capital fund of £4,000.
c) Payments: The following were approved:
R Parsons – Office Expenses BACS £161.02p
Hill Fencing Ltd – Odstock Gate Posts BACS £408.00p
R Parsons – Clerk's salary (June) BACS £272.80p
Bawden Contracting Services Ltd – Grass Cutting (May, June) BACS £442.80p
Nunton Farm – Annual Rent BACS £400.00p
Nunton Farm – Hedge Cutting BACS £168.00p
Wessex Water – Nunton Field Water Supply DD £17.24p
R Parsons – Clerk's salary (July) BACS £272.80p
Southern Electric – Nunton Field Electricity DD £55.09p
Firstalpha ICT Consult – Web & IT Development BACS £120.00p
R Parsons – Clerk's salary (August) BACS £272.80p
Bawden Contracting Services Ltd – Grass Cutting (July, August) BACS £442.80p
Earl of Radnor 1989 Set. – Annual Rent DD £10.50p
R Parsons – Office Expenses BACS £104.47p
R Parsons – Clerk's salary (September) BACS £272.80p
45/21 Any Other Business (for information only): 1. Cllr Berry will be replacing 12 steps on the Jubilee Gardens bridge which he built in 1999. He also reminded members that the Bus Shelter at Odstock Cross-roads will soon need some major reconstruction. 2. Cllr Start has engaged with a Landscape & Planning Officer at the AONB over his plan to have some of the overhead electric cables put underground by way of a Landscape Improvement Scheme with SSEN.
46/21 The next scheduled OPC meeting is on Wednesday, 1 December 2021.
The meeting closed at 9:15pm
Signed without amendment by the Chairman, Cllr Edward Riley, as a true record on 20 October 2021.
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