Draft Minutes CORSCOMBE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 11.5.23

Draft Minutes

CORSCOMBE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

7.30pm on Thursday 11th May 2023

9 members of the public were present as well as Tessa Safadi (Parish Council Clerk) and Parish Councillors Deborah Childs, Henry Lovegrove, Roger Hallett and Elizabeth Southern

Councillor Henry Lovegrove chaired the meeting which opened at 7.30pm and ended at 9.00pm.

1. INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME

 

2. TALK BY CHRIS LODER, MP FOR WEST DORSET

 

Chris Loder introduced himself and talked about areas of importance that he is focussing on.   These were environmental and social care issues.  An important environmental focus was clean water and sewage discharge.  The needs of rural homes not on gas was also discussed with a focus on moving rural areas away from oil and towards sustainable energy such as solar panels.  Mr Loder is not an advocate for inland wind farms but agrees they are an important option for individuals in rural areas to back up solar panels in low output months.

Residents had the opportunity to then aske Mr Loder questions.

Q – Energy certificates for listed buildings, there are plans to require all  houses to have a grade C energy rating or above by 2028.  This is not possible for listed buildings with the current restrictions on renovations.  This could leave owners in a potential situation where they will not be able to sell, rent or live in such properties.

Q – Post offices were noted as important hubs for local communities and often incorporated into village shops. At present the post office only pays such venues for handling transactions.  Is there scope for the Post office to do more to support such outlets?

Q – Need to look again at housing policy in rural areas especially with a changing demographic.  A move to smaller developments dispersed through the county rather than larger developments near existing large urban areas.

If residents which to ask further questions or follow up on the points raised, they can do so by contacting Mr Loder at  hello @chrisloder.co.uk

3. APOLOGIES

Cllr. Rix, Cllr. Penfold 

4. RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE 2022 MEETING

The draft minutes  were read out and approved. 

5. MATTERS ARISING

There were no maters arising. 

6. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL

This was read out by the chairman. See appendix 1 attached.

7. REPORTS FROM CORSCOMBE ORGANISATIONS

Reports were presented from;

Village Hall –  2022 has been a year of getting back to some normality.  The Committee have been busy ensuring that the Village Hall is properly maintained.  In order to ensure that the Committee has funds it has continued with various fundraising activities including the Big Breakfast on the first Saturday in the month. As a new activity we started the Pop up Bar which has run once a month.  For three months by kind permission of Saul and Eva Harvey we were able to run the Pop up Bar from the Fox which proved very popular.  We would like to express our thanks to all who have supported these events and made them worthwhile.  We are open to new ideas for events to maintain income streams.

Bell Ringing  – the Bell ringers marked the 250^th birthday of the Bells at St. Marys Church on the 12^th of April with a full peal being undertaken by a visiting bell ringers.

Community Theatre (HCT) – A small number of local volunteers with the aim of bringing a variety of high-quality professional shows to our community at a subsidised cost through our collaboration with Artsreach, Dorset’s rural touring organisation and to perform our own amateur productions when possible.  Please contact Deborah Childs Chair of HCT at savagedebs51@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved.

Village Fest –  Following dissolution of CorscombeFest Ltd as a consequence of Covid  a small group of volunteers got together under the guise of the former Corscombe Fundraising Committee to resurrect the village fete on 10 June 2023.

Parish Rights of Way Group –  Following the launch in May 2022, the first print of the Walks Guide was taken up very quickly and the decision was made to print a second batch of guides.  Guides are still available.  A dozen self-closing gates were purchased by the Parish Council in 2022, with match funding from Halstock Village Trust. These were installed by the Dorset Council Ranger’s team, to replace stiles.

Knit and Stitch  –  a new club that has been set up. See the May chimes for full details.

History group – The history group has restarted.  Researching the life in the village over the years.  A focus at the moment is to look back at the previse coronations.  To find out more please contact Freda Hennessy on 01935 891448

Where available written reports can be viewed by requesting copies from the Clerk Tessa Safadi  Tel. 01935891068

Yoga – nothing to report, group is still going strong. Contact Natasha hope at natashahopeyoga@outlook.com 

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The Clerk to the Parish Council asked for information on local clubs so that details can be put on the Corscombe website. 

Clerk to the Council: Tessa Safadi, Tel: 01935 579783

Email: CHparishclerk@gmail.com

 

 

Appendix 1

CORSCOMBE HALSTOCK & DISTRICT PARISH COUNCIL

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED MAY 2023

1. This was a relatively quiet year for the Council, allowing it to consolidate its work supporting and representing its community.
2. Particular areas of investment have been:
3. Deployment of new defibrillators in partnership with the local First Responders
4. Installation of additional grit bins
5. Fingerpost renovation
6. Extending the grassed area at Corscombe Playground.
7. The Council has explored avenues to formally adopt the Green Pond at Halstock, which have proved difficult, but remains committed to the future upkeep of this area.
8. It has fed into the Dorset Deserves Better campaign and continues to support efforts to mitigate the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
9. It continues to maintain the Corscombe Playground and provide open spaces at Primrose Corner and the Halstock Roman villa site.
10. It has continued to feed into the Dorset Council planning process by representing local views on planning applications and reporting potential planning breaches.
11. Finally we have to congratulate our Clerk, Tessa Safadi, who has continued to provide excellent service and has now achieved her CILCA qualification, which could enable the Council achieve Power of General Competence status after the next Parish Council election.

Henry Lovegrove

Chairman        11 May 2023