Milverton Parish Council Report

December 2015

The Chairman gave a report on a meeting with the SCC Highways Traffic Engineer to discuss speed in the village and how to control it. The meeting focussed on the Wellington Road/Sand Street and Wood Street. Unsurprisingly there are no easy answers and options for traffic calming are limited, it was also pointed out that traffic calming measures like chicanes and priority arrows had to be accompanied by an array of signs and lights that were likely to be quite intrusive in the Conservation Area. Overall the Wellington Road was not felt to be wide enough to support a scheme although the roundels on the road would be repainted and SCC were amenable to the Parish Council's suggestion a flashing speed sign and the installation of Village Gates. These are verge mounted fence sections which are painted white and provide an 'entrance' to a village. In other parts of the country they have been successful in reducing entrance speeds. In Wood Street too options were limited. The Traffic Engineer felt that the parked cars acted to calm speeds but acknowledged that there was often a difference between residents perceptions and reality. He agreed to install a loop to measure speed so that an accurate picture could be built up.

Under planning Councillors approved an application for a pedestrian entrance onto Wood Street and commented on the creation of a menage at Screedy and the construction of a first floor to the Cobbleside annex.

Councillors also considered a series of consultations from TDBC and SCC. These include the TDBC Asset Transfer policy which will be debated in full at the next meeting. There were also two serious consultations from SCC relating to a reduction in funding for rural transport. Councillors voted unanimously to oppose further cuts in bus services. With traffic congestion in Taunton and Wellington growing daily it seems very odd to be cutting public transport and forcing more people into cars. Similarly SCC is consulting on cutting subsidy to Community Transport like Wivey link. This service is a lifeline for many elderly and vulnerable residents and Councillors again voted unanimously to oppose these cuts.

It was reported that Vodaphone had successfully installed four mobile phone signal boosters in the village. Councillors were also relived to hear that most of the village was now able to access Superfast Broadband although this was 16 months after the exchange was upgraded. However, there is no news on when, if ever, outlying areas and Fitzhead will get connected.

In November the Parish Council spent £1305 on grasscutting, salaries, election expenses, a wreath and repairs to play equipment.