CouncillorsParish Council - Meetings minutes
18 June 2009 - 8pm
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting at
8.00 p.m. 18 June 2009
in the Village Hall Committee Room
Present: Councillors - Audrey Cartwright (Chairman) , Anthony Sheppard, Geoff Herbert
Co-opted Members-, Len Hands, Vanessa Relleen.
Parish Clerk - Freda Collins
In the absence of the current Chairman, the Vice Chairman, Cllr Audrey Cartwright took the Chair.
1. Election of Chairman
Audrey Cartwright proposed Carol Manley.
Seconded by Anthony Sheppard.
There being no other nominations, Carol Manley was duly elected Chairman.
She was thanked for her work over the last year.
2. Apologies for Absence
Cllr Carol Manley who was on holiday
Rukshana Master who was on holiday
These were accepted
3. Declarations of Interests
Cllr Sheppard declared that he has a personal interest in the HGS items as he employs the contractor in a personal capacity.
Vanessa Relleen declared that she is on the Committee of Claygate in Bloom and the CVA.
4. Election of Vice Chairman
Carol Manley proposed (by proxy) Audrey Cartwright.
Seconded by Anthony Sheppard.
There being no other nominations, Audrey Cartwright was duly elected Vice Chairman.
She was thanked for her work over the last year.
5. Constitution of the Committee
All the co-opted members agreed to remain as part of the Committee.
They were thanked for their work over the last year.
6. Remit of the Committee
It was agreed that no changes are necessary at this time.
7. Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the meeting of the 23 April 2009 have been circulated. They were confirmed by the meeting and signed by the acting Chairman.
8. Actioning of items from previous minutes
Re AP16- Cllr Manley to liaise with the School about a litter campaign. Ongoing, but may be deferred until Sept term
Re AP22-fence at Youth Club ongoing. There is no decision yet from the Youth Club Committee on a replacement, the existing fence will be repaired.
Re AP26- display of home composting CAHA cannot attend the Flower Show on 18 July.
Re AP27- new bin at station monitoring of bins continues.
Re AP29- Re the post and rail fence at the pointy end of The Green. – this has been fixed by Andy’s Gardening Services as part of the work on The Green.
Re AP31-hardstanding at
Re AP32-proposed landscaping of Foley Arms area by Young’s- ongoing action for Cllr Herbert.
Re AP33- memorial tree for Jean Griffiths. -completed
Re AP34- planters and panniers of Cobham in Bloom. -completed
Re AP37- cigarette box for outside Somerfields. –completed, but Cllr Manley will monitor.
Re AP38- arrangements for Clean Up day. Thanks to good advertising and a sunny day, there was a large turnout of around70 people plus Scouts, Explorers, Beavers, cubs and Guides which enabled us to cover a lot of ground. Volunteers reported less litter than previously, but there were still the usual hot spots, and as they came back to the car park we made a list of them for next time. The common behind Foxwarren was one of them as Howard Dutton (Beavers) reported. Cllr Manley thanked Jo Williams for the Veolia 2-man team who were with us for the two hours and did a splendid job of picking up the black bags and also clearing fly tipping from the top of
Re AP39- articles for the Courier and website-done by Cllr Manley
Re AP44-History Soc knowledge of the fountain-they have no other information.
AP45- risk inspection to trees on
All other action points have been actioned or are agenda items.
9. Vandalism, Graffiti, Fly tipping & Litter
Len Hands reported to the meeting.
9.1 Graffiti
The only graffiti to be noticed was on a bus-stop timetable in The Causeway, but this has now been removed.
9.2 Vandalism
i. The pick-up truck which was parked in
iii. Concern has been expressed by a resident in
9.3 Fly tipping
Fly tipping of tree cuttings and logs in
9.4 Litter
i. Litter still appears regularly, particularly in Common Road and The Causeway. It was noted there is no litter bin at the bus stop.
AP1 The Clerk to request another litter bin for this location.
ii. Dog fouling is still a problem.
Len Hands left the meeting.
10. Flower Show
A theme was suggested of ‘Greening Claygate’. The following could be included;
· The Green renovation
· the renovation of the fountain light,
· Go Green in Claygate exhibition, with relevant photographs,
· the
· winning the awards from Calor village of the Year (Vanessa will obtained the certificates from Rukshana to use for CIB and the return for the Flower Show)
Claygate Gardening Society would like to put some photographs into the display. This was agreed- provided the Society mounts their own display. Cllr Herbert will invite Mark Howells, Crime Reduction Officer and a display from Neighbourhood Watch.
AP2 Cllr Herbert to action.
11. Finance report
Cllr Sheppard circulated a report prior to the meeting.
11.1 The Clerk brought various invoices to the meeting for approval; some of these proved to be invoices for CIB.
Those approved were :- £585.76 for plants, £1380 for work to The Green, £1,362.75 for hard surfacing at St Leonards Road, £79.11 for replacement plants.
11.2 The invoice is expected from EBC for the hanging baskets.
12. War Memorial
A request was put forward for CPC to fund two planters and plants, but this project has been completed by CIB.
13.
13.1 Work will soon be carried out on the HGS at Applegarth and
AP3 The Clerk to action
Post meeting note; action completed on 24/6/09
13.2 Research is being carried out into restoring the water to the fountain on The Green. Apparently two men were seen urinating into the fountain.
Post meeting note: This action re restoring the water was carried out by Cllr Huddart - The water is connected. A plumber has inspected and found two broken lead pipes due to frost damage. He suggests fixing these and replacing the ball valve . Information on feasibility and cost awaited.
13.3 The HGS contract must be put out to tender again this year. The contract is due for renewal in November. It was agreed that Cllrs Manley, Sheppard and A Cartwright will review the specs.
13.4 It was noted that Paul is not keeping up with the regular maintenance work.
AP4 Cllr Manley to speak to him.
14.1 The verge was mown on the 10/11 June; this is slightly later than usual, as Cllr Manley was waiting for EBC to flail the 1m strip. But EBC have experienced delay in setting up the contract, so our contractor mowed it all. Vanessa marked out the plants to be retained.
It was noted that some of the vegetation is getting very large. This should be pruned in order to preserve the light and security of the path. It was agreed that another inspection of the HGS sites is required.
AP5 The Clerk and Cllr Manley to action.
14.2 The Scouts centenary project garden will be planted in the Firs verge this weekend.
14.3 The memorial plaque for Jean has been put into the verge by her tree.
The report on any urgent tree works has not yet been received. This action is on-going.
16. Recycling and Waste Management
16.1 EBC is trying to push the brown-top bins by advertising them at half price. The bins are preferred to bags as some of the contractors have had problems lifting bags which are too heavy. These bags have not been emptied.
16.2 Rachael Wharton of EBC will be attending the July PC meeting to give a short presentation on Enhanced Waste Collection.
17.
At the last PC meeting, the Council declined to fund a battery collection box for Claygate. There are battery recycling facilities at the Civic Centre. It was agreed to advertise these facilities in the Courier and at the Flower Show. EBC has hand-outs about recycling. Cllr Herbert agreed to obtain some.
AP6 Cllr Herbert to action.
18. Claygate in Bloom
Vanessa Relleen gave a report:-
i. The plant sale to raise funds, raised £350. There are some plants left over, so another sale may be arranged.
ii. All the new beds and tubs have been planted.
iii. The portfolio has been finalised and sent off.
iv. The judging will be in the morning of July 8. The route begins at the village hall; the judges will then walk to The Green. Then they will drive to The Parade via the Scouts project and Jean’s memorial, through The Parade to the station, up the Hare Lane slip road to the school and then to the Vale Road allotments to see the bees. The route then passes the new
v. Francis Boff approached SW Trains about the station gardens. His contact appeared very keen to foster partnership schemes with SW Trains and local organisations. Claygate would be the first station to pilot such a scheme. Francis is waiting to hear further.
vi. Plants have been removed in front of the hoarding at the station and bark laid down, so that the contractors changing the advertising on the board now have somewhere to walk.
vii. Paul Dawson of
viii. The pointy end of The Green was cleared by Andy and then replanted by volunteers. The same night that the plants were put in, a couple were seen stealing the plants. A car registration number was obtained. Some plants had been uprooted but were left on the ground as the thieves had been disturbed, but many were taken. This has been reported to the Police and a crime number of EL094658 given. Police have taken statements from the owners of the car.
Cllr Herbert gave the report.
19.1 The latest draft has about 30 pages, but it expected that the final version will have about 50 pages. A draft copy will soon be circulated as a draft will be needed for the public meeting on 29 June 2009.
19.2 Cllr Manley has supplied information for the section on the Environment. She will be given the latest version to proof-read.
19.3 Because of the high costs of printing, it will not be possible to provide every home with a free copy. Copies will be available in key locations and it is expected that an electronic version will be available on the website. Hard copies will be available for purchase, but the cost may be about £15.
19.4 Different versions of the front page will be available for people to choose. Noel has the originals of the drawings using in ‘The Claygate Book’.
20. Garden Share Scheme
This scheme was advertised on the television recently. It assists those with large gardens unable to undertake the work and teams them with people who want to garden but do not have the land.
The web link is www.totnes.transitionnetwork.org/gardenshare/startupscheme.
It was agreed that before the Parish Council advertises the scheme, the website should be studied. This topic will be put on the agenda for the next meeting.
21. Matters for the Courier and Website
21.1 The Scouts centenary garden and the memorial for Jean will be mentioned in the Courier.
AP7 Cllr Manley to action
21.2 When the VDS draft is ready, this will need to be on the website.
21.3 The Courier is being delayed until after the Flower Show. It may be possible to publish some of the results.
21.4 EBC publishes a booklet called, ‘Healthy walks and cycle rides’. The walks starting in Claygate were pioneered last year by Jean Griffiths. The next one in July will follow the Heritage Trail. The Claygate walks will be an excellent topic for the website and Flower Show.
21.5 Also to be included:-
· Updates on the recent work and subsequent plant theft at the The Green.
· The
· The beds maintained by volunteers at the end of The Causeway and the Torrington Lodge verge.
22. Matters for information only
22.1 Copies of the Heritage Trail leaflet are running out. It will need to be agreed by the full Council to pay for a reprint. The leaflet will need updating before a reprint. This will be on the agenda for the Sept PC meeting.
22.2 Two volunteers have agreed to help water The Green, Christine Lowe and Neale Parry.
23. Date of next meeting
Next Meeting: Thursday 8.00pm on the 27 Aug 2009 in the Village Hall Committee Room
…………………………………………………………..Chairman…………………………Date