Parish Council of Langton Matravers
www.langtonmatravers-pc.org
Minutes of a meeting of Council held in the Village Hall on Thursday, 11th February at 7.00pm
Present Cllr P White, in the Chair, and Cllrs, J Bradford, P Bradford, P Loudoun, and Mrs V. Murray. 

1.	Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mrs P. Kwantes, M Kirby, M Lovell and N Priddle. 
2.	Declarations of interest: There were none.
3.	Public Discussion period:
The Meeting was adjourned for discussion.
There were no comments from the public.
The Meeting was reconvened.
4.	Matters arising from the Public Discussion: There were none.
5.	Planning Matters:
	(1) There were no comments from the public concerning Plan 0043, submitted by Mr B Young; Site temporary agricultural workers dwelling and 6 mobile free range chicken houses. Nursery Bridge Farm, Valley Rd, Langton Matravers.
 (2) Determine Council’s comments on Plan 0043; 
On the proposition of Cllr J Bradford it was agreed that; 
“The Parish Council has no objection.”
	(3) Planning Decisions that affected the parish this month.
	There were none.
 	(6) Any other Planning Matters: There were none. 
6.	Minutes of the last Meeting, held on the 14th January 2010 were confirmed and signed.
7.	Matters arising from the Minutes:
	(a)  Item 7 (a); Parish Council elections. The Clerk reported that, after further enquiries by Cllr M Kirby, John Parker of DAPTC had stated that Peter Aston of PDC and Cllr N Priddle were correct in saying that if someone had lived for a year within 3 miles (4.8 km) of the parish they could stand for the  Parish Council.
	(b) Item 15: The air raid shelter near Marble quarry. The Clerk reported that he had written to Ms A Jeenes at the NT to ask her permission for it to be moved. 
	(c) Item 17: The accident hotspot at Coombe Orchard. The Clerk reported that the Chairman and Clerk had met with Steve Howard of DCC Traffic Division on site. After a great deal of discussion regarding the number of accidents there and the difficulty for pedestrians crossing Valley Road Mr Howard agreed to investigate the following points:
	Re-aligning the entrance to the village from Valley Road, so that drivers would have to slow down to make the turn. The Chairman suggested that creating an island between the exit and entrance lanes would help the visibility of drivers exiting onto Valley Rd.
Fitting kerbstones along the edge of the bend of the road from Gully and alongside Coombe Orchard and re-painting the white line outside Gully.
Creating a new section of pavement to run from the pavement on the north side of Coombe Hill to the edge of Valley Road in the hope that pedestrians would cross at that point, which provides better visibility for them in both directions. 
There was no hope of a controlled crossing at this point as DCC only construct about 4 a year throughout the county and the junction did not meet the criteria.
There was also no likelihood of a crossing guard being allowed to assist the children crossing at school times as, again, the junction did not meet with the criteria required.
Mr Howard also pointed out that visibility for pedestrians and drivers exiting from Coombe Hill was further hampered by the profusion of signs. He suggested moving the 30mph speed limit signs about 10 metres further up the hill, having illegal signs removed and stopping local organisations from placing temporary advertising signs there in future.
The Clerk was instructed to write to Andy Ackerman of DCC to ask that these works be carried out.
The Clerk reported that Mr Howard had also said that he would arrange for the yellow zigzag lines outside St George’s school to be extended and for the crossing guard signs to be removed.
 
8.	The Clerk’s Report for the period 8. 01.10.- 4.02.10. was received.
9.	Matters arising from the Clerk’s Report:
(a)  Item 28: Windmill Lane. The Clerk reported that he had received a letter from Miles Butler’s office, which outlined what DCC considered to be the timetable of the Council’s claim. The letter would be circulated after the Meeting.
(b) Item 30: The Clerk reported that Cllr Lovell would arrange to have the allotments registered with the Land Registry.
(c) Item 37: Signs at the railway crossing on Windmill Lane. Cllr J Bradford reported that he had found a sign and it simply stated “Beware of the trains.”. Cllr J Bradford felt that this further supported the Council’s view that this was a recognised public path. 
10.	Chairman’s announcements;
	The Chairman, Cllr P White, announced that he had spoken to Mr & Mrs Arnold regarding the World War 2 bunker on their land and they were happy for it to become a listed building. He suggested that the Council should apply to English Heritage. Cllr J Bradford agreed but asked that listing also be requested for the pill box on the west boundary wall of Leeson Park. The Clerk was instructed to ask Mr B Cullimore of Leeson House for permission to apply for the pill box to be listed and if given to then write to English Heritage asking for them to consider the buildings for listed building status.
	Cllr P White read out an email from Arne Council asking all local councils to email Jim Knight MP in support of funding being provided to complete the installation of signalling for Swanage Railway so that it can be connected to the mainline at Wareham. The Clerk was instructed to send an email of support. 
11.	Financial Matters:
	(1) The following additions to Council funds since the last Council Meeting were noted:
	£651.00 for the rent on 14 allotments.
	 £15.00 for the old postbox.
	 £840.00 from James Smith Funeral Directors for the purchase of a burial plot and the interment 	of 	the late Mr Donald Porter.
	 (2) Note the following Payments by Cheque, already authorized, since the last Meeting:
	£59.38 to The Federation of Burial & Cremation Authorities for annual membership.
	£40.00 to Open Spaces Society for annual membership.
	£50.00 to N Donald Book-keeping for 2 internal audits.
	£481.90 to J. Bellucci, for Clerk’s salary for December.
	£1.58 to HMRC for employer and employee’s NICS for December.
	£10.00 to Langton Matravers Village Hall Committee for December Council chamber.
	 (3) The following payments by Direct Debit were noted:
  £32.23 to XLN Telecom for phone and broadband.
(4) Any other Financial matters.
There were none.
12.	Cemetery matters:
	(1) Council cemetery. 
(a) Quotations for paths. The Council received 3 quotations for relaying the paths: £5,650.00 from 	Minster Macadams: £5,800.00 from MA Hart and £11,577.00 from Dorset Works. It was 	unanimously agreed to accept Minster Macadams quote and the Clerk was instructed to write and 	arrange a start date.
(b)  Vehicle track at north gate. The Clerk was instructed to write to the NT to ask for a donation 	towards the track being repaired.
(c)  Siting of the new seat on the western wall. The Clerk reported that Mr N Read who was building 	the stone wall had seen the new seat and in his opinion it should not be built into the wall. He 	suggested that it be sited in front of the wall. It was agreed to defer the matter until the measurements 	of the seat were known.
(2) Closed cemeteries: 
Nothing to report.

13.	Allotments. 
	(a) Rent. It was agreed that in future the rent and water charges for the allotments must be paid by 	tenants within 	30 days of the commencement of each rental period.
 	(b) Rabbit proof fencing. It was agreed that the Council would buy the fencing and pay half each with 	the LMAA of 	the nett price. Volunteers would erect it. It was also agreed that this would be the last 	financial contribution the Council would make other than for general maintenance and repairs. 
14.	Affordable housing update. 
	Nothing to report.
15.	Bus shelters at Capton Field and Steppes Hill. The Clerk reported that he had contacted DCC to ask about grants and they were £800 towards an open shelter and a £1000 towards a closed shelter. The Clerk was instructed to find out the approximate cost of wooden and stone shelters.
16.	 Signage at Acton and on the B3069. The Clerk reported that he had been contacted by Mrs Timings, because of the number of large vehicles that tried to reverse down The Lane. This particular problem had worsened with the increased use of satnav, which gave drivers the impression that they could reverse down there even when they could not. The Council was very sympathetic, but felt that, as The Lane is National Trust land, there was nothing it could usefully do. It was suggested that those affected could get together to purchase a sign themselves and erect it on private property. Regarding extra signage on the B3069: DCC had assessed the road within the last two years and it was felt that they would not be prepared to do so again.
17.	The date of the next Council Meeting was confirmed as Thursday the 11th March 2010.
19.	Items for the next Agenda;
	(a) Bus shelters.
	(b) Cemetery seat.
20.	There being no further business, the Meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm.

Signed……………………………..(Chairman).               Date…………………………..