Latton Parish Council Meeting
13th July 2015
7.30pm in the Village Hall
Minutes
1.
Apologies: None
Present: Councillors Graham Blunden (Chairperson), Becky Baker, Chris Lennon,
Nick Kennington & Bev Blunden (Clerk)
Councillor Bob Jones & two members of the public were present.
2. Minutes from last Meeting on 11.5.15 were agreed by all & signed by Chairperson.
3. Declarations of interest – None
4. Councillor vacancies – There are 2 co-opted Councillor vacancies: contact Bev if interested.
5. Accounts – summary to date
Parish Council
£89354.88
Water Eaton Fund
£10055.56
Total (as at 30 Jun)
£79299.32
Action: All to investigate a possible savings account.
Solar Farm donation: Nick circulated a letter distributed by Castle Eaton Parish Council (who also received a
donation of £69,366) to their residents asking for ideas of how to spend the money. All agreed we would use
our donation towards projects supported by the Parish Plan, rather than distributing a letter to residents.
Clerk’s salary: all agreed the clerk should be paid an extra half hour per week from 1st July 2015 for keeping
the Parish Accounts.
Asset register: to be updated to include ownership by Parish Council of Latton playing fields
Transparency code: list of Councillor’s responsibilies circulated & agreed.
Action: Bev to publicise other documents on website & noticeboards, as required by code.
Internal audit cost - £36 from Whitehall Business Services. All agreed this was good value & the same
company be appointed next year.
6. Funding for play equipment – all agreed that a budget of £25,000 be set to upgrade & add to existing play
equipment. Deadline for all quotes to be obtained & circulated to Councillors is 10 August, so that a decision
can be made. Clerk’s note: since the budget has been agreed, a decision can be made by email due to the
validity of quotes (The one I have from Kompan is valid until 31 July) & so that the project can be completed
before the safety inspection in Sept.
7. Community Garden – grass cutting: due to lack of volunteers to cut the grass, all agreed the grass cutting
quote from ASW Gardening be put into place. It was also agreed that instead of having a grant for the
Community Garden, expenses would be claimed back from the Parish Council as needed.
Action: Bev to instruct ASW Gardening to do work.
8. Children’s event – rescheduled date for Magna Carta event: all agreed a future event, such as a Teddy
Bear’s picnic, be arranged. It was also agreed that instead of having a grant for this, expenses would be claimed
back from the Parish Council as needed.
Action: Becky & Chris to arrange an event.
9. Village Hall – cleaning rota: Chris agreed to continue with this
Open Day on 11 July: approx 20 people attended, with the general view that residents were in favour of selling
the Village Hall & reordering the Church. There was one objection to selling the Hall.
It was agreed that an Open Evening be arranged for those unable to attend on 11 July, for Thurs 23 July from
6.30-8.30pm. Graham, Becky & Jim would be there. Action: Bev to publicise & ask if representative from
PCC can be there. Chris to do posters & publicise on Twitter.
The next meeting to discuss future of Village Hall is 22 Sept at 7.30pm.
10. A419 Action Group update: The A419 NAG has recruited a number of new people to its group to help with
the campaign. The focus at the moment is on a survey of businesses operating in the vicinity of the concrete
stretch of the road. There was a press release recently about the business research which will be reported later
in the year.
11. Water Eaton issues: Water Eaton road has not been repaired by the solar farm as pledged & signs are still
present. Action: Nick to email Bob, so that he can address the situation with the solar farm.
Several grass areas in Water Eaton have not been cut by Wilts Council.
Action: Nick to let Bev know which areas have not been cut, so that Wilts Council can be contacted.
12. Weight limit update: this is complete after 5 years! To report offenders (vehicles with more than 2 wheel
axles) to Police, dial 101 & report their registration number.
13. Speedwatch update: there have been three sessions in June and in three hours volunteers recorded 35
vehicles speeding through the village, some almost twice the limit. All reports have been filed and the drivers
will be receiving letters and/or visits from Wiltshire Police. Chris has arranged for the device to be in Latton
during the last week in August.
14. Upper Thames Cross County Partnership: a recent meeting was held to discuss planning applications in
Cerney Wick.
15. Area Board Meeting – 22 July in Lyneham, CATG – not known, CWPT Meeting – 6 Dec
16. Latton Interpretation Board: full size draft was shown to all – several small changes were identified but all
agreed it was impressive. Action: Bev to contact Steve about changes & order final version.
17. Highways & Streetscene: contact Bev if there are any tasks to be done.
18. Broadband: plan to possibly upgrade parts of Latton not covered in the first phase has been deferred to
September.
19. Adopt a phone kiosk scheme & defibrillator: all agreed there were enough willing volunteers to take this
project forward. ACTION: Bev to purchase phone kiosk from BT for Latton Parish Council.
20. Xmas Tree Event – Fri 4 Dec: planning meeting to be held on Tues 8 Sept, 7.30pm at Latton Village Hall.
21. Planning Applications – none
22. Date of next meeting – Mon 14 Sept, 7.30pm at Latton Village Hall.