ASHMORE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held at
Ashmore Village Hall on
Monday January 17th 2022 at 7pm
Present:-
Chairman – Philip Hamilton (PH)
Councillors –Andrew Featherstone (AF), Gilly Forge (GF), Philippa Kelway-Bamber (PKB) Annette Ruff (AR) Sara Milton (SM)
Cllr Jane Somper
Clerk– Vivian Hitchmough
6 members of the public
2022.02 Apologies:- Constantine Lynsey
2022.03 Minutes of the meeting of Monday September 6th 2021 were agreed as a true record and duly signed.
2022.04 Matters Arising
Speed limits in village.
The Chairman and Cllr Milton had attended a meeting organised by Cllr Somper for villages with speeding traffic issues, who wished to apply for 20mph legislation. SM explained that the majority of villages had a higher priority than Ashmore, some situated on main roads and were struggling to achieve 20mph status. She said the issues needed to be evidence based, accidents etc and speed watch carried out by volunteers to prove speeding with the parish paying for the cost of the equipment. SM suggested revisiting the situation at a later date as traffic did appear to be lighter in the village of late. The Chairman said traffic was heavier around harvest time and the vehicles seem to be larger with operators often on their phones and he intended to speak to farmers in this regard. PKB said that tractors appear to be speeding but generally it is their size that give the appearance of speed.
2022.05 Declarations of Interest
None
2022.06 Updates from Officers
DAPTC - Nothing to report
Planning Officer - AF reported on one planning application at The Old Rectory which is transforming a garage into a holiday let. AF said he will send the application around to Cllrs.
Tree Officer - None
Pond Officer - The Chairman reported that Constantine Lindsey continues with general maintenance and has spread Aquaplancton to clear the water. He gave thanks to Paul Whetham and Constantine Lindsey for their hard work.
Playground Representative - Paul Whetham advised that the playground is in good order after the inspection.
Airfield Officer - The Chairman said the Gore Clump roadworks will be discussed later.
Defibrillator - AF reported that the defibrillator had not been needed and he updates the system every two weeks. The pads are coming to the end of their life.
AF reported that training may be organised again shortly and when asked about the light on the equipment in the telephone box AF said he will investigate timings.
2022.07 Dorset Councillor Jane Somper
Cllr Somper reported that she had been out with the Highways team on one of the gritting vehicles. She was most impressed by the skills of the operators in the monitoring of thickness of grit to be dispersed and the organisation needed to plan for the protection of 1100km of roadways.
£37.5m is earmarked over the next 5 years for SEND which is a strategy for children and adults with special needs.
£385k will be set aside for the Governments Brownfield Land Release Fund for North Dorset to redevelop these sites for housing, community buildings etc.South Walks House in Dorchester will become an NHS Outpatient Assessment Centre for 6 months.
Dorset Council has been awarded £98,000 to insulate the most poorly insulated rented homes in Dorset. Landlords will be able to apply for grants for insulation, solar and efficient boilers.
In the Dorset Local Plan discussions following the assessment of housing needs for specific groups there appear to be grounds to plan for alternative housing in our area rather than those arising from the standard Government approach. Cllr Somper said we need to challenge all assumptions to ensure that we have the right developments that reflect the demographics of our area.
There will shortly be information for parishes regarding the lighting of Beacons for the Platinum Jubilee.
Cllr Somper continues to carry out face to face meetings with residents and hold regular ward/village walks.
2022.08 Finance
The Chairman had circulated the need for a decision on the precept for 2022/23. AF said he was concerned that the application was too low making any unforeseen event difficult to fund. He suggested £2000 and this was proposed by AR and seconded by PKB
The Clerk will advise Dorset Council of this decision.
2022.09 OtherBusiness
The Chairman announced that Colin Elford had been awarded a BEM and he would like to send congratulations on behalf of the village.
PH proposed, AR seconded. The Chairman will write to Mr Elford.
The Chairman said there was a need to keep the existing junction operational during the C13/Gore Clump road works in order to prevent too much traffic passing through Ashmore. Cllr Somper said it had been a very tricky application with lots of interest and groups with vested interests in the application. She said that at its core it was a safety issue and there would be very little disruption to the C13 The area will be landscaped and for every tree taken down, two will be planted. The Chairman asked for a decision regarding signing the form as no objection. This was proposed by AR and seconded by SM.
2022.10 Questions from the public none
2022.11 Correspondence none received
2022.12 Items for the next Agenda none received
Date of next meeting
Monday 9th May 2022 at 7pm
The Chairman closed the meeting at 7.45 pm