2024-09-10 Draft Mins Jn V1

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BRADFORD ON TONE PARISH COUNCIL
Clerk: Joy Norris
Email: hello@bradfordontone-pc.gov.uk

Minutes of a meeting of Bradford On Tone Parish Council held on 10th September 2024,
commencing at 7.30pm in Bradford on Tone Village Hall, Bradford On Tone.
Present
Chair: Councillor G Robarts
Councillors: D Smith and leigh Sidhu
In Attendance:
Cllr D Mansell -(Somerset Council)
Miss J Norris (Clerk)
6 Members of the public attended the meeting.

91/2024
Chair’s Announcements
The Chair provided a general update including:
• The External Audit email logging the notification of exempt status
• The defibrillator has an updated electrical certificate
• Dr Herdman will check the defibrillator regularly. and he will let the Parish
Council know when anything needs replacing
• The defibrillator was replaced 3 years ago
• On 21 September St Johns will be running a session how to do CPR and using
defibrillators in Wellington
• The area around the War Memorial has been tidied and will be done again
before Remembrance Sunday
• The new map of the parish has now been put up by the phone box
• The next Local Community Network meeting is on 23 September at Wellington
Rugby Club starting at 6.30pm. Councillor Robarts had attended the AGM
remotely but it was-not easy to hear some of the speakers.
• Since agenda was published a diversion notice has been advertised for footpath
WG 4/1; representations must be made by 01.10.2024.
92/2024
Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Venn and Leaney
93/2024
Declarations of Interest/Dispensations
No Declarations of Interest were received at this stage of the meeting.
94/2024
Minutes
Consideration was given to the draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9 July
2024

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RESOLVED to confirm the draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9 July 2024
as a correct record.
95/2024
Public Participation
This agenda item enables members of the public present at the meeting to raise matters
which are relevant to Bradford on Tone and / or the work of the Council.
Speaker 1
The Insurers of the village hall are pursuing the felling of lime trees in church yard as a
cause of subsidence; this will be discussed at the forthcoming village hall AGM; residents
are asked to attend so the views of the community can be provided to the insurers.
96/2024
Co-Option
Consideration was given to an application from Mr Dean Smith to be co-opted onto the
Parish Council.
Dean Smith introduced himself and gave information about his current volunteer roles in
the village and also a little about his professional life as a chartered surveyor.
RESOLVED to co-opt Dean Smith onto the Parish Council.
Councillor Smith signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
97/2024
Reports from Somerset Council Councillors
Councillor Mansell provided an oral report about activities at Somerset Council which included:
• The financial crises is ongoing
• Reserves have been dropped to a minimum level
• Assets are being sold to keep the Council going – whilst this is not a long term solution it
is helping in the short term
• The whole organisation is being re-structured starting at the top and working
downwards with a target to cut staff by approx 1000 which is a quarter of the workforce
• An interim Chief Finance Officer has been appointed who will have a small finance team
• A lot of staff are leaving for other jobs
• The director levels have been restructured and the appointments made with the
number of directors being reduced from 7 to 4
• There number of staff tiers will be reduced from 7 tiers to 6 tiers
• By end of the year the wage bill should be reduced by £40million
Discussion included
• Where will the public notice a change in service delivery?
• Planning is struggling to recruit and retain staff
• Social care and education are mandatory services but Somerset Council is looking at
how services can be provided differently
• How many county farms may be sold?
• £20m assets owned by Somerset Council are likely to be sold
98/2024
Police Reports for July and August 2024
The police reports and blogs for July and August were noted with interest.
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99/2024
Financial Matters
The following matters were considered:
(i)
Bank Reconciliations
(ii)
To consider and approve items for payment (that the Clerk has checked for
accuracy).
and Hobbs
(iii)
Budget Monitoring
RESOLVED
(i)
To note the bank reconciliation to 30 April 2024
(ii)
To approve the payments detailed in the table below
(iii)
To note budget monitoring report
Payee

Items

Invoice
Date

Mr D Richards

Utility key (for
Heatherton Park
noticeboard
Hall Hire 09.07.2024
Cut back and
clearance around
war memorial and
weed spray
Salary and
Associated costs July
& August
Website updates

Bradford on Tone
Village Hall
Mr N Richards

Miss J Norris

Mr E Ryan,
Slashdotdash
Parochial Church
Council
Hobbs Electrical
Contractors Ltd

Grant for grounds
maintenance
Electrical Safety
inspection –
defibrillator

Invoice No

Net

VAT

Total

25.01.2024 18802

£1.80

£0.36

£2.16

01.08.2024 17/2425

£9.00

0

£9.00

06.08.2024

£290.00

0

£290.00

£765.28

06.08.2024 INV-0370

£62.40

£765.28

0

£500.00
25.06.2024 3810142

63.60

£62.40
£500.00

12.72

76.32

100/2024
Planning Applications
Consideration was given to the Parish Council’s response to planning applications :
• Application 07/24/0006: Hawksbit Farm, Oake Road, Bradford on Tone
Full Planning Permission
Change of use and conversion of agricultural barn into 1 No. dwelling with
associated works including demolition of adjacent barn and residential park home
A site visit had taken place immediately before the meeting and the Chair thanked the land
owner for enabling the visit.
RESOLVED that the Parish Council has no objections to the application but would like to see bat
boxes and infrastructure for an electrical charging point included in the conditions.
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•

27/24/0029 Oake View Farm, Oake Road, Oake
Variation of Condition No. 02 (approved plans) of application 27/22/0012 for the
addition of freestanding brise soleil, balcony and louvres required for solar shading
(please note this is not in Bradford on Tone Parish Council area)

RESOLVED that the Parish Council has no comments at this time.
•

07/24/0015 Stoford Manor, Stoford Lane, West Buckland
Full Planning Permission
Proposal: Change of use of the first floor to an office, removal of stairs to the front
and alterations to lean-to on the Coach House, construction of natural swimming
pool within the walled garden, erection of garden store and replacement of former
glass house with the erection of an annexe for ancillary accommodation
• 07/24/0016/LB: Stoford Manor, Stoford Lane, West Buckland
Listed Building Consent
Change of use of the first floor to an office, removal of stairs to the front and
alterations to lean-to on the Coach House, construction of natural swimming pool
within the walled garden, erection of garden store and replacement of former glass
house with the erection of an annexe for ancillary accommodation
Note: Application 07/24/0015 and 07/24/0016 were taken together
RESOLVED that the Parish Council has no comments at this time.
•

07/24/0017/CQ Ford Farm, Oake Road, Bradford on Tone
Prior approval (resubmission of 07/24/0001CQ)
Proposal: Application for Prior Approval for proposed change of use from
agricultural building to 1 No. dwelling house (Class C3) and associated building
operations

RESOLVED that the Parish Council has no objections to the application
101/2024
Review of Financial Regulations
To review the Parish Council’s Financial Regulations in the light of the new model code
published by the National Association of Local Councils.
RESOLVED to defer this agenda item to a future meeting.
102/2024
(i)
•
•
•
(ii)

Dog and Litter Bins
To confirm locations for
Moving existing bin at Back Lane
Installation of a new bin at Back Lane
Replacement bin at Bradford Bridge
To approve a budget for the purchase and installation of new and replacement dog
/ litter bins.

RESOLVED
(i)
To pay for the purchase and installation of a new bin at the South end of Back Lane
(ii)
That the bin should be of the type fixed to a post
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(iii)
(iv)

That initially the Parish Council pays for the bun to be emptied once a week
That the other possibilities regarding bin type and location are kept under review including initiating discussions with land owners,

103/2024
Road Safety
Following informal comments made to Councillors, the Council considered what
information and evidence would need to be collected and collated in order to establish
any need and feasibility of road safety measures such as 20mph zones and speed
indicator devices.
Issued discussed included:
• Concern about the amount of vehicle movements particularly in the longer term and
especially if there are more large residential developments at Cotford, Oake and
Bishops Lydeard
• Any speed limit needs to be enforced
• Volume of traffic is as much a concern as traffic speed
• Speed Indicator Devices may be a useful deterrent – there was some investigation into
this about 5 years ago
• Cameras either side of the bridge may help to prevent the recurring damage
• When the Comeytrowe planning application was considered the traffic survey had to
cover the Heatherton Park junction
21:28hrs RESOLVED to extend the duration of the meeting for 10 minutes until 21:40hrs
Council discussion then continued
• Could representation be made for a bypass to be put in the new Local Plan
• Need to identify what problem the Council is trying to solve – speeding or amount of
traffic
RESOLVED that the Parish Council should try to establish the level of support within the village
for support for road safety schemes including a 20mph zone.
The meeting closed at 21:40hrs

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