Parish Council of Langton Matravers
www.langtonmatravers-pc.org
Minutes of a meeting of Council held in the Village Hall on Thursday, 9th October 2008 at 7.00pm
Present Cllr M Kirby (Chairman) in the Chair, and Cllrs, J Bradford, P Bradford, P Loudoun, M Lovell, Mrs V Murray, N Priddle, and P White. 

1.	Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mrs P. Kwantes.
2.	Public Discussion period: 
The Meeting was adjourned for discussion.
(a)	Mr I Mackenzie spoke with reference to his application on the Council’s behalf to have Windmill Lane designated a public footpath. He asked that the Council consider asking for a restricted byway instead. He asked if any elderly parishioners would be prepared to make a statement if they remembered Windmill Lane being a public footpath and said that Mr Helfer of Knitson Farm, and Mr R Saville would be giving sworn statements to that effect. The Chairman then thanked him for all the work he had already done and Mr Mackenzie left the Meeting.
(a)	CPSO Ian Leslie gave a brief update of the Policing activities in the village. 
(b)	Cllr P Bradford attended the September Meeting of PACT. Issues discussed included; the St George’s School Walking Bus, vehicles speeding through the village, and vehicles parking on the pavements, especially between the Old Cemetery and Crack Lane.
The Meeting was reconvened.
3.	Matters arising from the Public Discussion:
Cllr. J Bradford felt that the Council should accept Mr I Mackenzie’s advice and apply for a Restricted Byway. Cllr P Loudoun said how impressed he was by the amount of work Mr I Mackenzie had done and was inclined to go with his recommendation. Cllr Mrs V Murray agreed. Cllr M Kirby felt the Council should know more about who would be able to use a Restricted Byway and the matter was deferred until the next Meeting to give the Clerk enough time to contact Mr I Mackenzie and ask him. 
4.	Planning Matters:
	(1) There were no comments from the public concerning Plan 0633, submitted by Mr J Garrett; Make alterations to existing dormer window in western elevation (Retrospective). Serrells Mead Cottages . 
.	(2) Determine Council’s comment on Plan 0633; 
	On the proposition of the Chairman it was unanimously agreed that;
	“The Parish Council has no objection.”	
	(3) There were no comments from the public concerning Plan 0634, submitted by Mr J Garrett; Make alterations to existing dormer window in western elevation (Retrospective). Insert new window in northern elevation at ground floor and make internal alterations. Serrells Mead Cottages (2).
	(4) Determine Council’s comment on Plan 0634;
	On the proposition of the Chairman it was unanimously agreed that;
	“The Parish Council has no objection.”	
 (In all the above voting Cllr M W J Lovell abstained as a member of the Purbeck District Council’s Planning Board).
 (7) The following Planning Decisions were noted:
 (a) Plan 237, submitted by Mr Young; to demolish existing agricultural buildings and erect new agricultural building at Nursery Bridge Farm, Valley Rd – Refused.
 (8)Any other Planning Matters;
 (a)The Chairman read out a copy of a letter Mr E Cassidy had written to PDC Legal Services saying that the replacement trees at Malthouse Lane should be reinstated in the same place as those which were illegally felled. The Clerk was instructed to write a letter, with a copy to PDC Chief Executive Mr S Mackenzie, supporting this view.
(b) The Chairman then read out a letter from the Chairman of Church Knowle Parish Council seeking the Council’s views on setting up district-wide organization of Parish Councils to ensure that PDC improved its planning functions, in particular planning enforcement. Cllr P Loudoun said that he felt that strong planning enforcement was needed, especially with the Conservation Area Review. It was unanimously agreed that the Clerk should write a letter of support to Church Knowle PC.
5.	Minutes of the last Meeting, held on the 11th September were confirmed and signed.
6.	Matters arising from the Minutes:
(a) Cllr P Bradford said that the police had met with residents of Steppes and were trying to arrange a day for a clean up. Unfortunately, Raglan Housing did not attend the meeting.
(b) The Clerk read out a letter from Mr N Randall of PDC Waste Management, refusing the Council’s request for another litter bin in the playing fields. Cllr P Bradford said that PDC came to inspect the amount of litter left on a weekday, but most problems occurred at the weekend.
(c) The Clerk reported that he had written again to Wilts & Dorset regarding the bus stop on Coombe Hill, but again had received no reply.
(d) Conservation Area Review Meeting. Cllr Kirby attended the PDC Policy Group Meeting and expressed the Parish Council’s unhappiness with the review. The Clerk was instructed to write to Mr M Sturgess of PDC and ask if there had been any changes made to the Review subsequent to his meeting with the Parish Councillors.
(e) Parish office phone bill: Cllr Kirby had spoken to Nildram who informed him that BT would not change the account from business to personal unless an individual was prepared to take on responsibility for the account and billing.
7.	The Clerk’s Report for the period was received.
8.	Matters arising from the Clerk’s Report:
	(a) Cllr Kirby announced that the Alliance & Leicester account was now viewable online.
(b) The Clerk read out parts of a letter from Mr & Mrs Pring, complaining to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of St George’s First School about parents parking outside the school. Cllr P Bradford said that the matter had been raised at the recent meeting of PACT and it was felt that there was no case for Residents Only parking as it was felt that cars parked in the High Street served to slow down traffic. Cllr M Lovell said that DCC had agreed to increase the distance of the school lines outside the Malthouse School. Cllr J Bradford said that Mr & Mrs Pring’s suggestion that the playing fields should regularly be used as a car park could well open the door to future housing development on the site.
(c) Cllr J Bradford also said that the double yellow lines in Durnford Drove were very faded and people regularly parked on them causing obstructions to other vehicles. The Clerk was instructed to write to Mr Tony Burt of DCC to ask that they be repainted. 
9.	Chairman’s announcements;
(a)The Chairman announced that he had received an invitation for two to the opening of the Purbeck Film Festival.
(b) He also announced that he and Cllr Mrs P Kwantes had attended a Chairman’s seminar, which had been quite interesting, particularly with reference to the declaration of councillors interests, which he would like to add to the Parish Council’s agenda.
(c) The Chairman then read out a letter from Mr B Davidson of PDC, offering to arrange a meeting with councillors to discuss the possibility of the Parish Council taking on the responsibility for the public toilets at Putlake.
10.	Financial Matters:
	(1) The following additions to the Council funds since the last Council Meeting were noted:
 £5,500.00 from PDC as second half of the Council’s precept.
	£80.00 from James Smith, for monument to the late J & N Smith.
£10.00 from Becky Travers for additional inscription on bird bath memorial to A&S Walbridge.
	£550.00 from Mr RF & Mrs HD Hayward for the purchase of a burial plot J8
£160.00 from The Reverend JE Cocke for a memorial to his late wife, Mrs Joan Cocke.
(2) The following Payments by Cheque, already authorized, since last Meeting, were noted:
 £372.52 to J Bellucci, Clerk’s back pay.
£10.00 to Langton Matravers Village Hall Committee, for hire of August Council Chamber.
£36.00 to Post Office Ltd, for 100 first class stamps.
£15.99 to Nildram for broadband connection.
£1.08 to J Bellucci, ex Post Office, for recorded delivery postage.
£73.60 to Dorset County Council for copies of maps re. Windmill Lane claim.
(3)The following payments by Direct Debit were noted:
 £72.00 to PDC for September Business Rates for office/toilet block.
(4)Any other Financial Matters:
 There were none.
11.	Cemetery Matters:
	(1) Council cemetery.
(a) Cllr Loudoun said that he intended to get a digger to clear the land to prepare it for the new wall. 
(b) Mr I Travers has now retired as the Council’s Caretaker. Cllr P Loudoun said that the post should go out to tender and that a notice should be placed in The Dubber. Cllr Kirby said that he would draw up a new contract.
	(2) Closed cemeteries.
Cllr P White said that the length of the grass in the cemetery was disgraceful and it looked as if it hadn’t been cut for 4 to 6 weeks. Cllr M Lovell promised to speak to PDC about it and the Clerk was instructed to contact them to make sure it was cut soon.
12.	Allotments.
Cllr Kirby announced that there would be a meeting of the Allotments Committee on the 15th October at 7pm.
13.	Affordable housing;
The Chairman announced that he had received a copy of a letter to Raglan Housing Assoc., from a new tenant at Steppes, complaining that when they were offered their house no mention was made of the plans by Raglan to significantly reduce the size of the garden to create space for the extra houses Raglan has planned for the area.
The Chairman also said that he had seen Raglan’s 1992 Planning Application, which specified that those houses would be built in stone to hide earlier dwellings which had been built in brick. However, their latest Planning Application specified that they wanted to build new dwellings in brick, which would hide the earlier houses, which were built in stone.
He added that Mr Cronk of Raglan Housing had said that he wished to speak to the Parish Council about Raglan’s latest Planning Application, but had still not given the Council a date. 
14.	Donation to St George’s First School for High Visibility jackets; Cllr. P Bradford said that a donation was no longer required as Karen Jaggs, PDC Community Safety Officer, had made a donation for the full amount.
15.	Play Area Lease; the Clerk was instructed to email RJ Walker to try and arrange a meeting at the Play Area with Councillors to inspect the existing fence.
16.	SEC contract; the Clerk was instructed to find out how many footway lights there were in the parish. The Clerk was also instructed to write to SEC to report that the light at Court Pound was broken.
17.	St George’s First School Governor; The Chairman announced that the Council’s representative on the Board of Governors had resigned and therefore a new Governor was required. The school had asked that it be a Councillor from either Langton or Worth Matravers. He asked if any Councillor would be interested and, on receiving no volunteers, said that he would ask Worth Matravers Council. 
18.	Office post box: the Council were undecided whether to have a letter box fitted in the door or buy a new, more secure, post box.
19.	Parish Plan: the Chairman wondered how far the Parish Plan had progressed and asked that it be put on the next agenda for review.
20.	Cemetery notice case; the Chairman said that he would like another notice case at Steppes/Coombe Hill for those parishioners at that end of the village who did not visit the Post Office.
21.	The date of the next Council Meeting was confirmed as the 13th November at 7 pm.
22.	Items for the next Agenda;
	Affordable Housing update.
	Public Green status for the playing fields.
	SEC contract.
	Review of the Parish Plan.
	Public toilets at Putlake.
23.	There being no further business, the Meeting was adjourned at 9:30pm.

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