Milverton Parish Council Meeting 7^th January 2013

Milverton Parish Councillors attended another marathon meeting last week discussing a range of topics from speeding traffic to a proposed solar farm.

The meeting was attended by 14 residents several of whom opened the meeting with questions. Concern was raised about the general state of the village particularly in the face of reduced weed clearance from Somerset County Council.

One of the meetings key items was to set the precept for 2013/14. In order to meet the requirements of the new Standards regime Councillors had to be given a 'dispensation' from the Clerk. This is because they are householders in the parish and are therefore deemed to have a personal interest in the level of Council Tax that is set. The 'dispensation' allowed them to discuss and vote on it. In the end Councillors voted to retain the same amount of Council Tax for next year at £12650. The Council will also receive a small grant from TDBC related to Business Rates.

Under planning Councillors had no objection to the change of use of the annex at Cobbleside.

Cllr Wren drew the Council's attention to the changes in transport arrangements for the proposed Solar Farm at Grange Fram. Instead of routing through Bradford on Tone the applicant was proposing to route all his lorries through Milverton. After due consideration Councillors decided to revoke their previous comments and object to the application which was due to go to the Planning Committee the following Wednesday the 9^th. (NB it was passed by the Committee but most of the traffic will now be routed through Nynehaed although 3 transformers will come through Milverton. Cllr Wren has sought a meeting to discuss how this will be done but is still waiting for the applicant to get in touch.).

The Clerk reported that he had approached the two unsuccessful candidates at the last election to see if they would be happy to be co-opted to replace Mr Cottrell. Unfortunately neither now had the time so Councillors were asked to come up with some alternative suggestions.

The electricity supply to the Preston Bowyer phone box has now been disconnected and a small sub-committee was set up to arrange its removal and re-siting.

Much of the meeting was taken up discussing road issues. Two residents from Butts Way who were new to the village asked what could be done to control excessive speeds in the lower part of Butts Way? The 20mph speed limit is routinely ignored and both agreed that an accident was almost certain. Representatives of Milverton Speed Watch were also in attendance and they will discuss with the Police whether a patrol in the narrow section could be operated safely. The Parish Clerk will also contact Somerset CC to see if a Speed Indicator Device could be deployed as well.

Another resident raised the issues of the permanent stream of water crossing the Wellington Road on the edge of the village. The drain is blocked which is making the water flow across the road. It is getting worse and will be a real hazard in very cold weather. The Clerk will talk to SCC again to see what can be done.

The Clerk was asked to contact TDBC about the storm culvert under the village to try and get an internal inspection done.

The meeting finally concluded at 10.40pm.