DRYBROOK PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 18^th June 2024 at 7.00pm at The School Room, Holy Trinity Church, Drybrook

Present:

Parish Councillors:          John Print (Chairman), Richard Moore, Dave Middlemiss, Michael Garland, Cathy Blake and Malcolm Jones

Also present:                    County Councillor Terry Hale

District Councillor Jackie Fraser

April Seabrook (Clerk)

4 members of the public

1. Apologies for absence

Cllrs Pat Weaver, Jacky Johnston, Roy Bardo and Pam Caton and District Councillors Shaun Stammers and Trevor Roach

2. Members of the public issues (15 minutes Standing Orders suspended)

None

3. County & District Councillor Reports

District Councillor Jackie Fraser informed Council that she had applied for a grant to get funding for the Drybrook Garden project.

Cllr Fraser also stated that she had attended a speed survey at Drybrook Primary School with the local PCSO.  The school children were carrying out the speed checks and there were quite a lot of cars breaking the speed limit.  She asked the County Councillor if speed signs could be made clearer outside the school and Cllr Hale said he would look into this matter for her.

Cllr Fraser also discussed the District Council’s Local Plan and informed Council that the public consultation would run from 8^th July until 13^th August 2024.

County Councillor Terry Hale informed Council that there had been a £10m underspend of the County Council’s budget for 2023/24, which was mostly due to the money that is being made selling the electricity that is produced at Javelin Park.

He also stated that £500K was going to be spent on 8 Find & Fix teams who will fix any smaller potholes that they find, £500K on refreshing white lines and zebra crossing markings in the County, £200k to cut back overgrown vegetation and trees, £200k on maintaining footpaths and £100k on increasing school safety programmes.

4. Declarations of Interests

Cllr Richard Moore declared an interest in item 7a, the planning application for Moorlands, Hazel Hill, Drybrook as it is the home of his relatives, and therefore he will not join in the discussion or vote on this matter.

5. Requests for Dispensations

None

6. Minutes of the Meeting held on 21^st May 2024

It was resolved to accept the minutes of the meeting, which was held on 21^st May, as an accurate record of the meetings, and were signed by the Chairman.

7. Planning matters
8. a) P0075/24/FUL – Moorlands, Hazel Hill, Drybrook – Erection of a single storey extension to the front elevation.

Decision:  No objections.

1. b) P0542/24/FUL – Wyndhurst, Larksfield Road, Harrow Hill, Drybrook – Erection of a residential single storey annex ancillary to the main house for dependant relatives.

Decision: No objections.

1. c) P0556/24/FUL – Seasons View, Larksfield Road, Harrow Hill, Drybrook – Replace existing wooden double garage with single-storey workshop/store with pitched roof and reduce the size of concrete base.

Decision: No objections.

1. d) Council noted the planning decisions of the Forest of Dean District Council. Appendix A

8. Donation Request from Drybrook Methodist Church

Council agreed to donate £350 to Drybrook Methodist Church for children’s summer holiday events.  Action: Clerk

9. Public Toilets

Cllrs Print, Middlemiss and Blake met with the officer who deals with public toilets from the District Council, where they were informed that the Lease between the Parish and District Councils had lapsed 7 years ago.  The Parish Council was also told that the building should be maintained by the District Council as they own the building, and that the Parish Council should only be dealing with the cleaning and locking and unlocking of the toilets.

Council agreed as the Legionella testing had not been carried out and there were safety issues about the building itself, the toilets should be closed immediately until these issues are resolved.

Council agreed that this item should be deferred until the July meeting, by which time more information should have been received from the District Council.                                      Action: Clerk and Cllrs Print, Middlemiss and Blake

10. Membership of GAPTC

Council agreed that as the annual subscription to join GAPTC was now £917.50 they weren’t sure if this was value for money and asked the Clerk to investigate joining only NALC instead, this will then be reconsidered at the July meeting.  Action: Clerk

11. District Council’s Local Plan

District Councillor Jackie Fraser informed Council that the amount houses that had to be built in the Forest of Dean district was decided by the Government and from 2020 until 2041 the figure was 6,500 new homes and therefore that is why Drybrook have been allocated 97 new homes in the District Council’s new Local Plan, although she disagreed with this figure.

Council agreed that each write down their own thoughts about their response to the Local Plan and this would be discussed again at the July meeting.                                                 Action: Parish Councillors and Clerk

12. Data Protection Policies

Council agreed to adopt the two Data Protection Policies, one for the general public and one for staff and councillors.  Action: Clerk

13. New Swings at Bracken Road Playing Field

Council agreed to defer this item until the July meeting as Council is waiting to receive a further quote.  Action: Cllrs Middlemiss & Print

14. Grant Request from Brierley Field Charity

Council agreed to donate £1,000 to the new Brierley Field Charity, as they had already budgeted this amount for the field and would help the charity to get set up.  Action: Clerk

15. New Financial Regulations

Council agreed to adopt NALC’s new Financial Regulations.  Action: Clerk

16. Councillor Reports

Cllr Print reported that he had been contacted regarding whether more salt bags were required for winter 2024/25, and when he went to check how many bags the Council had in storage, he realised that the weight of the bags had damaged the storage container, and therefore is going to purchase a sturdier one.

Cllr Blake informed Council that she would like a new salt bin to replace the one that had been removed and repositioned to a new location in the village.

Cllr Middlemiss reported that the first Farmers Market was going to take place on Saturday 22^nd July.

17. Clerk’s Report

The Clerk reported that:

Asked the grass cutting contractor to strim around the gate and stile at the playing field.

Reported overgrown ivy in the car park to the District Council.

Sent the VAT claim for 2023/24 to HMRC.

The audit papers have been sent to the external auditors.

18. Accounts/Finance

1. Council agreed the following payments and receipts:

Payments made since last meeting.