CIVIL PARISH OF OTHERY
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
MONDAY 9th MAY 2022 7-30 pm
The Village Hall Othery
AGENDA
1. Apologies. Samantha Newport:
2. Certification of the minutes of the meeting of Monday 8th May 2021: Agreed as a true record of the meeting
3. Clerk’s Annual Report: During the Municipal Year 2019-2021 Othery Parish Council during the dates have like all other Parish Councils communicated by email and held zoom meetings and face to face meetings to carry out their duties which has been challenging. Extra short planning meetings again using zoom or face to face were called but they were far from satisfactory in many aspects, but they complied with the rules in place as the time scale for a response to planning applications is now three weeks. District Councillor Perry and Betty have continued to support the Parish Council and attends meetings when she is available as has Cllr David Huxtable our Somerset County Councillor for this area.
MEMBERSHIP: The Parish Council has had one change since the last report For the first time in many years we had and election for membership of the Parish Council. Congratulations to the elected members and commiserations to the two not elected.
AUDIT: The accounts for the for each financial year have gone through with no comments after going through the internal audit by Alex Brown.
PRECEPT: The precept was set at £9900.00 with an on-paper increase of 1.2% but part of that increase is because the precept support grant which has been declining over the years is no longer available. The set rate for band “D” properties came in at an increase of 3.63%.
PLANNING: Eight planning applications, that include the double applications necessary for listed buildings, were considered during the year. Sedgemoor District Council no longer send out paper copies of the plans but by moving to the village hall when necessary, using their WiFi we can project the drawing on their screen which will; assist the debate.
PARISH CEMETERY: Mr Martin Pring of Middlezoy has been awarded the contract for the grass and hedge cutting as it was considered that his work during the last contract year was undertaken to a very good standard. He also undertakes at the Parish Council’s expense other work around the village which in the past was undertaken by either Sedgemoor District Council or Somerset County Council but because of the cuts they no longer undertake these works including the playing field.
NORTH LANE PLAYING FIELD: The Playing Field Committee has continued to maintain North Lane Playing Field to a very high standard as was shown in the inspection report and the disabled access is a great asset to the field.
ROAD SAFETY: The Council has continued to be vigilant in highlighting issues of road safety. Cllr Jones has had a good response from the Highways Contractor when problems with road maintenance have been reported. The Parish Council are waiting for SCC to undertake a speed survey through the village to give us the information needed to decide if we need to buy our own SID which members believe has helped slow vehicles down but the restart the Community Speed Watch is still work in progress.
OTHER INITIATIVES: Neighbourhood Watch and public order in the village. The Village Neighbourhood Watch scheme is still the envy of other villages. The village still rarely see the police which in itself is a good thing as it shows that Othery is a low crime area.
4. Public Question Time; No public present.
Election of Officers and Representatives for the Municipal Year 2022/2023
1. Chairman: Andrew Tizzard
2. Vice Chairman: Ella Jennings
3. Internal auditor: Alex Brown
4. Other signatory for cheques (in addition to Chairman, Vice Chairman and Clerk): No change
5. Cemetery Officer: Anthony Betty.
6. Highway’s liaison councillor: Vicky Jones
7. Representative on North Lane Playing Field Management Committee: Stuart Souter
9. Public rights of way Councillor: All members
10. Representative on Othery Village Hall Committee: Andy Wright
11. Community Speed Watch Co-ordinator: Christina Jones