CouncillorsParish Council - Meetings minutes
19 February 2009 - 8pm
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting at
8.00 p.m. 19 February 2009
in the Village Hall Committee Room
Present: Councillors - Carol Manley (Chairman), Geoff Herbert,
Co-opted Members-, Len Hands, Rukshana Master, Vanessa Relleen.
Parish Clerk - Freda Collins
Cllr Mike Bennison
1 member of the public
1. Apologies for Absence
Anthony Sheppard for personal reasons
Audrey Cartwright who was on holiday.
These were accepted
2. Declarations of Interests
Cllr Carol Manley declared that she is on the Committees of Claygate in Bloom, Claygate Allotment Holders Association and the Claygate Flower Show.
Rukshana Master declared that she is on the Committee of Claygate in Bloom and the CVA.
3. Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the meeting of the 11 December 2008 have been circulated. They were confirmed by the meeting and signed by the Chairman.
4. Actioning of items from previous minutes
Re AP65 Cllr Manley &
Re AP87& Re AP88 tree work to The Green. The work has been carried out, the work inspected and a bill for £552 paid.
Re AP13- seat at village hall. The seat has been replaced and the plaque will be restored in due course.
Re AP16- Cllr Manley to liaise with the School about a litter campaign. This action is on-going
Re AP 19 funding from SW Trains re the station gardens. It was agreed not to proceed with this action.
Re AP20- CPC to take over maintenance of the new bed at the entrance to
Re AP22-fence at Youth Club The Club is pursuing other projects at the moment, but is looking at a sturdier fence.
Re AP26- display of home composting CAHA have agreed to carry out a display. The Flower Show was suggested. Cllr Manly will liaise with CAHA about where and what help they will need.
Re AP27- new bin at station EBC have offered a new bin when the next batch is received or the re-positioning of the existing. It was noted that the bins do not seem to be so full.
All other action points have been actioned or are agenda items.
5. Vandalism, Graffiti, Fly tipping & Litter
Len Hands gave a report to the meeting.
5.1 Vandalism
i., The seat outside the village hall has been replaced
ii. The problem of the accumulating dumped rubbish in the grounds at the front and side of the empty house in
iii. The damage to the bus-stop timetable holders at the Youth Club and across the road from the Griffin PH has been rectified.
iv. No further reports of damage at Bosch’s dental premises in
v. Two fire extinguishers were stolen from the Youth Club and emptied around the village. The extinguishers have been located, returned to the Youth Club and refilled.
5.2 Graffiti
i. The railway bridge at the far end of
5.3 Fly tipping
Instances of fly tipping in
5.4 Litter
i. Litter still appears regularly and particular at weekends especially if the weather has been fine. Len deals with most of the litter such as drinks cans, bottles and cartons.
ii. Dog fouling is still a problem.
iii. The litter bins in The Parade have been replaced by twin container bins for general rubbish and recyclables. The appearance of the bins is poor. There are different designs but CPC was never consulted on the design. When they were first installed they were overflowing, but now seem to be emptied more regularly. All the bins in Claygate are due to be replaced with the dual bins.
Len was thanked for his report, he then left the meeting.
6. Finance report
6.1 There was no report from Cllr Sheppard.
6.2 £816.50 has been spent on tree work at
6.3 Funding has been received from SCC from Cllr Mike Bennison for the HGS projects. Cllr Bennison was thanked for this support. Cllr Manley will need to keep SCC informed of how and when the money will be spent.
7.
It is hoped that both The Green and Applegarth will be done in March.
i. The Green
It is planned to continue the restoration of The Green with CIB. Vanessa and Cllr Manley met with Nick Hourhan from Springreach Nurseries. A previous planting scheme for The Green had been devised by Vanessa, Jean Griffiths and Cllr Manley, but Cllr Manley asked Nick to produce a scheme as well. The fence at the pointy end is broken; it is not know who is responsible for maintenance.
AP29 Cllr Manley to speak to Cllr Huddart about the fence.
ii. Applegarth
The fence at the back of the bed needs replacing. It is not know who owns the fence. It was agreed that Cllr Manley will speak to Ian Gayton at EBC. Colin Flexman may be able to assist if this is not the responsibility of Ian Gayton. If EBC are not responsible then SCC will be informed via the website. There are many patches of brambles growing into the bed from the farm side. It was agreed that Cllr Manley will contact Slough Farm and ask them to grub out the brambles.
AP30 Cllr Manley to action
iii. Glebelands
Although this is not in a central area of the village, it does need work. It will be a big undertaking, so Nick advises it should be done in 3 stages.
iv.
This can now be done, but the planting will have to wait until the tarmac is laid. Cllr Manley to contact Cllr Sheppard who had details of the contractors.
AP31 Cllr Manley & Sheppard to action
v.
The design by Selina Botham has been accepted. CPC will provide the funding. CIB will carry out the work.
We await the quotes from Springreach.
8.
8.1 The maintenance costs have increased by 5% as agreed at the 6 Nov PC meeting.
8.2 The Meadow Road green needs tree work. Vanessa got quotes last year. She will bring them to the next meeting.
8.3 The Clerk, Cllr Manley and Paul inspected at the HGS sites in October and looked at areas to be improved. Both car park gardens have open spaces which require extra planting. It was noted that planning permission is being sought for an extra house behind the one in
8.4 The bed at the recreation ground has had some extra planting.
9. Village Flower Beds
i. A volunteer is tending to the
ii. It was noted that The Firs verge is looking attractive as the snowdrops are in flower.
10. Claygate in Bloom
Vanessa Relleen gave a report:-
i. They plan to put out the same number of hanging baskets, with the panniers from last year plus two extra on the railings on the corner of
ii. The tubs will be replanted for summer.
iii. The HGS at
iv. The Scouts want to celebrate their centenary will a special flower bed on The Firs. The design is still under discussion. It was noted that Youngs have plans to extend the Foley Arms. If permission is given, it is not known when building work will start, or if the work will affect the area. Youngs may include landscaping of the area.
AP32 Cllr Herbert to discuss these matters with Youngs
v. The CVA has agreed that the best place for a memorial for Jean would be at the Foley end of The Firs. They would like a deciduous, semi-wild, white flowering tree such as rowan or cherry. They would also like a plaque. CPC would also like to contribute towards this memorial. CPC has the power to provide trees, so the CVA will provide the plaque. It was agreed that Cllr Manley would propose the purchase of a tree at the next PC meeting in March.
AP33 Vanessa and Cllr Manley to research the purchase of a tree.
vi. It was noted that Cobham is no longer taking part in
AP34 Vanessa to action.
vii. It was noted that Mary Sheldon of Hersham in Bloom would like to contact CIB.
AP35 Cllr Herbert to give VR details to Mary Sheldon
viii. CIB has put themselves forward as a charity to Waitrose.
ix. Vanessa has tried to contact
It was noted that Cllr Bennison is delighted that CIB is continuing. He believes that Jean would have wanted this.
11. Recycling and Waste Management
11.1 The dual public litter bins (one side waste, one side recycling) have been introduced. Initially there was a problem with the frequency of emptying, but now they are being emptied more regularly. They will eventually replace all the existing bins. It was noted that they of formal design which does not suit the rural nature of the village. It was agreed to ask EBC if there are different designs.
AP36 The Clerk to ask Joanna Williams at EBC.
11.2 It is noted that there are always cigarette ends outside Somerfields shop. CPC have already written to Somerfields about this problem. It was agreed to ask Colin Flexman to speak to Somerfields. EBC may even be able to supply a special bin fixed to the wall next to the shop. It was also noted that the alleyway next to Threshers also has a quantity of cigarette stubs.
AP37 The Clerk to ask Colin Flexman at EBC
Post meeting note; Colin will ask Paul to take a look.. EBC do have bins but would require a commitment from Somerfields management to empty the bin if one was installed. This would have to be a long term commitment.
EBC already had an 'agreement' with someone in the Threshers alleyway over a ciggie bin supplied by EBC for that location. Paul kindly dealt with this also, so Colin will check with him.
12.1 Volunteers will be taking photographs of housing styles to show at the displays in March. The VDS team will then be able to get feedback on the different designs of houses. The photos will be displayed at the village hall and other locations. EBC have been invited. As part of the input into the Local Development framework they need to visit areas in the Borough.
12.2 It is hoped that the rough VDS documents will be ready about May. Formal help has been obtained from a planner and an architect who are residents.
12. Spring Clean Day
It was agreed to set the date as 25 April 2009. Cllr Manley will check with Cllr Sheppard that this date is OK.
A local resident has complained about the build up of litter behind the locked gate at the station. Cllr Manley will speak to the Ticket office Clerk to obtain the key.
Cllr Bennison suggested purchasing a leaf blower to help with clean up days. Cllr Manley will research costs. It was agreed to go ahead and purchase a blower if it costs under £100 as there is money in the budget for tools.
AP38 Cllr Manley to action the above.
Cllr Manley will coordinate the Spring Clean.
14. Matters for the Courier and Website
14.1 Cllr Manley has completed the article for the Courier; she will send a more detailed report on the HGS to the website.
14.2 The date for Spring Clean Day should be sent to the website.
AP39 Cllr Manley to action both the above.
15. Matters for information only
None
16. Date of next meeting
Next Meeting: Thursday 8.00pm on the 23 April 2009 in the Village Hall Committee Room
…………………………………………………………..Chairman…………………………Date