Parish Council of Langton Matravers
www.langtonmatravers-pc.org
Minutes of a meeting of Council held in the Village Hall on  Thursday, 13th September 2007 at 7.00 pm.
(Present: Cllr N E Priddle (Chairman) in the Chair; Cllr P E Loudon (Vice-Chairman), Cllr Mrs V C Murray, Cllr Mrs P M Kwantes and Cllrs. J Bradford, P J Bradford, P White and M W Kirby).
1.	Apologies were received from Cllr M W J Lovell, who was attending another Meeting.
2.	Public Discussion Period: There were no matters raised.
3.	There were no Matters Arising from the Public Discussion. 
4.	Planning Matters:
	(1) There were no comments from the public concerning Plan 558, submitted by Mr & Mrs Woolland of Leeson  
                 Coach House, to demolish existing garden store and erect a detached garage and workshop.
	     A Revised Plan had been received two days prior to the Meeting, and a telephoned request from the Planning 
                 Officer that this should be substituted. This new Plan was passed around.
	(2) On the proposition of Cllr White, it was unanimously agreed that “The Parish Council has no objection.”
	(3) There were no comments from the public concerning Plan 628, submitted by Mr & Mrs Gillingwater of 57 High 
                  Street, to add new ground-floor window and roof light and make internal alterations.
	(4) On the proposition from the Chair, it was unanimously agreed that “The Parish Council has no objection.”
	(5) Notification was received that the Appeal against planning refusal at ‘Yards Brake‘, Valley Road, had been 
                  rejected.
	(6) Recent Planning Decisions in respect of the parish were noted:
	(a) Mr Varney’s application to rebuild the workshop was approved. However, the Clerk announced that a mistake 
                 on the plan meant that this application would be received again next month.
	(7) Cllr Kirby revealed that the Ship Inn had been sold to a developer. It was agreed that nothing could be done 
                  by the Parish Council if a commercial venture ceased.
5.	Minutes of the last Council Meeting, held on Thursday August 9th, having been distributed to 	members prior to the 
            Meeting, were, on the proposition from the Chair, unanimously confirmed.
6.	Matters Arising from the Minutes:
	(1) Item 6(1). The Clerk announced that a reply had been received from the Highways Maintenance 	Technician of  
             DCC, concerning the possibility of parking on the large verge near the south end of 	Crack Lane, which indicated  
             that the original letter had not been carefully read. The matter had been 	referred to the County Councillor. 
             Some discussion followed as to whether the strip of land for setting back the hedge and widening the verge on the 
             east side of the lane had been purchased by 	DCC.
	(2) Item 6(3). The Clerk reported that Mrs Stone had telephoned to say that her Group was in 	agreement about the additional seat. However, she stated that Lovells Quarries had offered to donate a seat, and she promised to find out what kind of seat this would be.
	(3) Item 6(7). The letter had been written to Mr Travers and the strimming had been started. The corner marker post had, however, not yet been installed and Brian Audley had not yet been with his machine..
            (4) Item 6(14) The booklets from DAPTC had been distributed to Members.
	(5) Item 6(17). The Clerk reported that all the relevant information about an Assistant Clerk had now been obtained from DAPTC. He suggested that he should compose a notice for the ‘Dubber’ in conjunction with Cllr 	Kirby, and that this should be delivered to Councillors with the Agenda before the October Council Meeting, when it              could be discussed, amended and finally authorized to go to print. This was unanimously agreed. The Clerk thanked  Cllr Kirby for his invaluable assistance with the IT work and a vote of thanks by Council was recorded.
	(6) Item 8(2). The work for the Windmill Lane application is still on-going.
	(7) Item 10(4). A Copy of Council’s Resolution on the Fidelity Guarantee Insurance had been sent to the District Auditor.	
	(8) Item 10(5). The bill for the Bye-Election had still not been received.
7.	The Clerk’s Report for the period from 3.8.07 to 6.9.07 was received.
8.	Matters Arising from the Clerk’s Report:
	(1) Item 1. The RoSPA Report on the Play Area. The Clerk pointed out that there were some items which were the concern of the School Governors (i.e. the projecting stone paves at the gate into the Field; the closing mechanism of the gate into the Field; and the position of the Litter Bins). It was agreed that a gentle letter should be sent to the Chair of  the School Governors concerning these matters. There were, however, other matters which Council needed to address: 
           (1) The Movement Clash across the path of the Swings; (2) The painting of the top of the legs of the Swings; (3) Protective surface under the Swings; (4) Seeding around the springs of the balance beams; and (5) The obstacle in the free space/fall area at climbing wall to timber elements under deck. It was agreed that the obstacle should be seen to by            Hand Made Places who had installed it. It was also agreed that the gates to the fence around the swings should not be replaced, but that a barrier of similar fencing should be erected across the entrances, allowing entry/egress obliquely.
	(2) Item 3. It was agreed that a letter should be sent to Mr Fenton about the overhanging Cherry Tree outside ‘Bombadil Cottage’.
	(3) Item 10. It was agreed that a letter should be sent to Mr O’Connell concerning the foliage overhanging the narrow footway between Crack Lane and Putlake Farmhouse.
	(4) Item 17. It was agreed that the Questionnaire concerning comments on the current Council Tax should be left to individual Members to complete and return if they so wished. 
9.	Chairman’s Announcements:
	(1) Larger commercial waste recycling bins would be provided shortly.
	(2) The overgrown public footpath through the Marble Quarry had been cut.
	(3) David White of the National Trust had agreed to look into the matter concerning the Ash trees which are threatening the north wall of the Old Nonconformist Cemetery.
	(4) Complaint received concerning the fact that there are no passing-places on the approach lane into Acton. It was agreed that a telephone call should be made to DCC concerning this, as it might be a danger. Cllr Bradford had  provided two excellent maps which illustrated the problem clearly.
10.	Financial Matters:
	(1) The following additions to Council funds were noted:
	     £370.00 from J Smith (Funeral Directors) for Plot & Burial of the late Mrs Sylvia Haughey.
	     £80.00 from J Smith (Funeral Directors) for memorial to the late Mrs Jacqueline Humphrey.
	(2) The following payments by cheque, already authorized, were noted:
	     £6.30 to DAPTC for postage of 8 booklets for Councillors,
	     £64.63 to Purbeck Housing Trust for RoSPA Inspection of the Play Area,
	     £500.00 to Ian Travers for 5 Visits to the Council’s Cemetery,
	     £10.00 to Village Hall for use of July Council Chamber,
	     £59.45 to BT for Office Telephone Bill,
	     £15.00 to Scott estate No. 4 for annual rent of Toilets/Office Block site,
	     £10.00 to Village Hall for use of August Council Chamber.
	(3) The following Payments by Direct Debit were noted:
	     £69.00 to PDC for September Rates on Toilets/Office Block.
11.	Cemetery Matters:
	(1) The Council’s Cemetery:
	Chairman said he thought that Council owed it to the Parish to make sure that the proposed stone wall at the west perimeter should be of good quality stone. Quotations would have to be obtained from two or three of the excellent stone-wallers in the area.
	(2) The Closed Cemeteries:
	Chairman reported that the stump of the tree growing from a grave in the Nonconformist sector had been ground  out. Several more monuments had been straightened, some having been dowelled and fixed. A lot of work had been done to remove earth, & stones, and hollows filled up and re-seeded. The Clerk reported that many parishioners had remarked to him how much tidier these Cemeteries looked and wished thanks to be recorded to Cllr Priddle and his volunteers. A vote of thanks was recorded.
12.	The Revised Code of Conduct:
	(1) On the proposition from the Chair, it was unanimously agreed that the two additional Clauses should be included.
	(2) On the proposition from the Chair, it was unanimously agreed that Council should accept the Revised Code of  Conduct and that individual Members would sign to this effect. The Clerk agreed to have the Acceptance Register ready for signatures at the October Council Meeting.
13.	Affordable Housing:
	Chairman read a letter from Mr Cronk of Raglan in which he said that he would rather his Association used a site with which the Parish Council was happy. He also reported having spoken to Miss Louise Carmichael of the National Trust             concerning the long-term renting of land near the Capstan Field Estate for Affordable Housing. She had foreseen no difficulties, but would want to know exactly where the proposed site would be, and who would be doing the work. 
            Chairman also reported that the District Councillor had told him that he was not at all sure that Raglan was the best provider.
14.	Off-Street Parking:
	Cllr White offered to ascertain if the strip of land for the widening of the verges at Crack Lane and the provision of Passing-Places had been actually purchased outright from the Encombe Estate. No further action would be taken until Cllr Lovell reported back from DCC Officers.
15.	Condition of the existing Raglan Housing at Steppes.
	Cllrs J Bradford and Kirby reported having been contacted about the litter and rubbish in the vicinity of these dwellings. A reported sighting of a rat had been investigated. It was agreed that the District Councillor should be told of this.
16.	The date of the next Council Meeting was confirmed as Thursday October 11th at 7.00 pm.
17.	Additional Items for the next Agenda:
	(1) Street Light outside Putlake Farmhouse and Footway Light outside ‘Weathertop’ were burning continuously.

There being no further business, the Meeting was adjourned at 8.37 pm.

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