Minutes
Monday 9 th December 2024 7:30 pm in Othery Village Hall
1 – Apologies:
Cllr Betty: Cllr Atherton:
2 – Present:
Cllrs Tizzard: Jennings: Jones: Selway: Wright: Cllr M Martin:
3 – Declarations of Interest:
These will always be declared at the agenda item when appropriate.
4 – Certifying the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 11th November 2024:
Agreed as a true record of the meeting
5 – Public question time and Neighbourhood Watch/Crime report and an update from Cllr Matthew Martin:
Cllr Martin reported that there is to be a meeting on Thursday where he can find out a definitive date for the road resurfacing in Othery and possibly when the 20mph area will be put in place.
6 – Matters Arising:
Village signs: Work in progress. Emergency Plan: All completed and will be ready for the February meeting and Cllr Jones will circulate it before the meeting.
7 – Playing Field:
Cllr’s Selway & Tizzard Inspection Update: Work in progress.
8 – Cemetery:
Cemetery wall damage: Cllr Betty reports that Towens are now saying that they want to know the dates when the Cemetery wall was damaged so that they can look through their records to see who was driving on that date. Cllr Betty knows that one of the dates was when there was a funeral at the Cemetery so he will look up that date and submit the information to Towens. In his opinion they are employing delaying tactics. New access through car park to ext. area. Work in progress. It was accepted that dogs should be on a lead when in the cemetery.
9 – Highways:
The defective manhole cover has been replaced. The footways throughout the village are in poor condition and a walk through the village to document the problems will be undertaken next year including the overhanging vegetation.
10 – Community Speedwatch:
With now two more volunteers approved getting teams together will be easier.
11 – Planning notice:
Planning application number: 34/24/00009/JMS. Proposal: Erection of an agricultural building. Location: Land to the South of, Smallmoor Nurseries, Glastonbury Road, Middlezoy, Bridgwater. The Parish Council’s views have not changed so no further comments are required.
12 – Financial Matters:
Set the Precept @ 3%. The clerk will circulate the spreadsheet when it arrives from The Somerset Authority. He will also circulate the CIL spreadsheet which is ring fenced money in the Parish Council budget.
Expenditure:
- Salary £ 268.24
- Salary administration £ 14.40
- Royal British Legion £ 25.00
- Crisis for Christmas £ 25.00
- G Wagen James £ 314.10
Income
All Financial matters and the precept agreed unanimously.
13 – Correspondence:
Nothing new.
14 – Correspondence for Circulation:
Already circulated by email:
15 – Urgent Matters at the discretion of the Chairman:
There is concern that in the community there are residents on low income and vulnerable and if identified they could be signposted to the village agents who should be able to assist. There is a damaged bin by the school which needs repairing and the High Street sign is still missing. The clerk will notify The Somerset Authority. With village having such poor broadband reception it was suggested that the Village Hall could terminate their contract with BT and have one of the broadband satellite systems for villagers to be able to use in an emergency.
Charity for January Evie’s Gift.
CLOSE
Date and time of the next meeting: Monday 10th February 2024 7:30 Parish Council Meeting.