Minutes of the Meeting held at The Flyford’s Hall on Tuesday 16th July 2024
Present
David Waide
Andrew Short
Richard Davey
David Rhodes
Sadie Densham
Alison Crickmore
Mark Broughton-Taylor attended as clerk
Linda Robinson - District and County Councillor
1. Apologies
Richard Croxton
2. Declaration of Interest
Andrew Short declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 14 – Planning application W/24/00828/FUL
3. Public Participation
Smartwater signage had appeared in the Flyford Flavell but it is not very obvious. A report was received from the NW co-ordinator which is recorded later in the minutes.
It was reported that sign on New Hill was obscured by undergrowth. The clerk to report this to the lengthsman.
Concern was raised about parking in Flyford Flavell by parents of school children. This is a perennial problem and Cllr Robinson promises to raise the matter at the next governors meeting.
The clerk was asked to refer the matter to the authorities for more consideration.
4. Minutes
The minutes of the meetings on May 21st were accepted with one minor correction.
Proposed Sadie Densham
Second David Rhodes
All in favour
The minutes of the meeting on 25th June were accepted
Proposed Ricard Davey
Second Sadie Densham
1 abstention otherwise all in agreement
5. Matter Arising
The chairman asked that a condition be added to the planning compendium concerning bird boxes and swift boxes in particular.
The matter of the footpaths officer to be included in a future agenda.
It was agreed to investigate the provision of ‘poo bags’ adjacent to the bins on the green as dog fouling still persists.
6. Transport and Highways Plan
It was reported that 85 names had now been collected on the petition for the reduction of the speed limits on Radford Road. Cllr Robinson suggested that this would not be enough and suggested that more names should be added from outside the parish. She promised to arrange for the petition to be handed in to full council when it was ready.
The possibility of ‘sharks teeth’ was discussed to help slow traffic coming into the village. Cllr Robinson thought that this could be funded by her in the near future. The parish council asked her to look into the feasibility of this as a matter that could be effected relatively quickly.
Councillors discussed a draft report from Roy Fullee concerning measurers to be taken in the parishes. Other suggestions were made to refer back to Roy Fullee were:
- 40mph buffer on Radford Road not long enough
- White line for pedestrian pathway to be painted on Bishampton Lane
- Replace the roundels on Radford Road
- 4 poles and 2 VAS
- Do we need street lighting for speed bumps and chicanes
- What width of verge is required to erect ‘gates’ at the entrances to the village?
7. Flyford Green
David Rhodes reported that the raised beds were excellent this year but the amount of wild flowers that had come up were slightly less than last year.
The new benches were being well used.
The management group have tried to avoid using plastic guards on the new trees and most of the new planted trees were in good condition but two seem to have been damaged and have died. There is still a stock of trees so these can be replaced.
The quarterly inspection of the play equipment is due before the end of July.
A meeting of the management group will be convened shortly. Cllr Robinson mentioned that there was funding available for some projects.
8. Flyford Pond
An email had been circulated before the meeting explaining the issues with registration of the pond. It was agreed to suspend the process for adverse possession at the present time and the Green Committee was asked to obtain a quotation to fence the pond.
Proposed David Waide
Seconded Richard Davey
All agreed
9. Bio - Diversity
The clerk explained that he had intended this matter to be a discussion about the recently circulated document ‘ Barriers to Community Energy Projects’ but agreed that the agenda was misleading. This item to be brought back for the September meeting.
10. District/ County Councillors Report
County Hall
WCC bosses have released a statement confirming County Hall remains closed after legionella, the bacteria that causes legionnaires' disease, was found in the water.
County Hall, where Worcestershire County Council is based and RAAC has also been discovered was closed last month after the bacteria was found. County Hall is also where births, marriages and deaths are registered.
Entry into the building was strictly controlled as council bosses say the closure was enforced as a precautionary measure.
Paul Robinson, chief executive of Worcestershire County Council, said: “County Hall Offices which includes the Lakeview Café are closed today until further notice as sampling has returned a detection of legionella in parts of the water system.
"As a precautionary measure, I had instructed staff to work from home or from an alternative venue, while further investigations take place." Latest news is that many will relocate to the Countryside Centre , Wildwood, Pershore Civic Centre and the Hive for at least three months.
I went into the new offices at Wildwood last week and was surprised to see how much work has gone into getting alternative working space ready for staff. Even the Lakeside café has re located to there though not for the public.
COVID
Face mask rules have been reintroduced at Worcestershire acute hospitals after a rise in the number of patients developing Covid-19. The trust said it was currently treating 69 patients with Covid 19 the highest number since December 2023. The policy applies to staff, patients and visitors visiting and covers all clinical areas at Redditch’s Alexandra, Kidderminster and the Worcestershire Royal hospitals. Staffordshire has 101 infected patients. The measure has been applied with immediate effect and will stay in place until further notice. It is thought this could be a new variant so it is a sensible precaution to protect vulnerable patients in hospital.
School Transport
The deadline to apply for school and college transport for the 24/25 school year is 31st July 2024.
Applications may not be assessed before the start of the new school year if they are received after this date. Visit our website to find out more and check eligibility worcestershire.gov.uk/SchoolTransportApplication
Potholes
County Highways say they have a duty to maintain adopted roads across Worcestershire but can only fill in potholes if they know about them worcestershire.gov.uk/council-services/travel-and-highways/report-road-or-path-issue/report-pothole
Or call them on 01905 845676
Did you know that we maintain 3,000 miles of public rights of way? From a blocked footpath to a broken gate, you can report an issue here: worcestershire.gov.uk/council-services/travel-and-highways/report-road-or-path-issue
You can indicate the location of the problem on a map to help our inspectors locate and assess the issue.
Second Rural Grass Cut
The warm wet Spring has triggered increase grass growth and that weather looks set to continue. Therefore the second cut of the rural network will commence this week much earlier than usual. C and U classification roads will be done first. If you spot a particular issue please report it on line or let me know so that I can pass it on to my Highways liaison officer.
Wychavon helped celebrate Armed Forces Day recently and are proud to be part of the Armed Forces Covenant ensuring fair treatment for our heroes and their families. As part of this Covenant we work with partners including WCC and voluntary and charitable organisations to support veterans.
Willow Court Carpenter Opportunity
We are still searching for former members of the UK’s Armed Forces to be part of a project to restore a historic Droitwich Spa farmhouse to its former glory.
Two full-time trainee carpenter apprentice posts are available as part of the Willow Court Farmhouse restoration project. The positions are being offered specifically to ex-service personnel as part of Wychavon’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, which pledges extra support to veterans to ensure their service to their country does not leave them at a disadvantage. An outside shot of Willow Court Farmhouse.
Anyone who is a working-age veteran, living in the area and within travelling distance of Droitwich Spa with an interest in carpentry or construction, is being urged to apply for the role. wychavon.gov.uk/news-and-alerts/unique-training-opportunity-for-armed-forces-veterans?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3Kxy4YeHKgFrK9Ai4V_2H6At7hJSTKAePMsu1hrXtbWjBNnW_n0Tfh1TQ_aem_bjFoij_awHFDqhIpeXHHHQ
11. Local Police Office and Neighbourhood Watch
The following report was received from Jane Hand:
Smartwater
The signage has now been delivered and installed in the village, because of our limited “street furniture”/signposts, the signage is quite limited. I discussed this with the We Don’t Buy Crime team who came from Shropshire last week to install the signs, they agreed but didn’t want to install more signage without checking first with the Parish Council as some villages don’t like too much signage. There are also limitations to where signage can be placed by highways regulations.
The We Don’t Buy Crime team have offered to return in August and place more small signs throughout the village.
Grafton Flyford, North Piddle & Libbery
The email to The Flyfords residents was issued last week and unfortunately only a very low number of requests have been made for Smartwater. This seems unusual based on the amount of queries I received doing the Flyford rollout. I recommend we send out a series of Email reminders and follow this up with a mail drop to anyone in the villages who haven’t registered.
Planned Events
Following the postponement of the event I was trying to organise for June, this will now be scheduled for mid September. I intend to include Home Security, Bike & Tool Marking. The location will be the Flyford Village Green and I hope to also canvas for outstanding Smartwater registrations at the event.
Kington & Dormston
As previously reported, some residents from Kington & Dormston have disputed the Parish Boundary. I have now received confirmation from the Neighbourhood Watch Network Administration and my NHW boundary is correctly aligned with the Worcestershire Parish Boundary plan. I have advised residents who are still unhappy to liaise with the Parish Council directly. I have also been advised to remove any residents who are not part of The Flyfords from my NHW Scheme – there is no restriction on the number of NHW schemes a resident can join, however, I feel it unnecessary to exclude anyone from my group currently as the objective is to ensure residents are informed of local crime.
Following on from the report it was agreed that the email sent to residents of Grafton Flyford, Libbery, and North Piddle was not definitive about the timing of next steps. It was agreed to recommunicate to residents once the Smartwater marking event timing has been agreed."
12. 80th Anniversary D - Day Landings
To report that the renovation of the Flyford Favell war memorial had been completed. Alison Crickmore provided an electronic copy of a dossier that Viv Wall had compiled in 2014 when the memorial was last repaired. This provides information about the memorial and the lives of those who are commemorated on it. This will be added to the website and a copy provide to the ’Past Protectors’.
13. Communication
It was agreed to create a quicker way of confirming the minutes so that they are available sooner.
It was agreed to put a full set of typed minutes in the phone box in Flyford Flavell.
It was agreed to see if a minute button could be added to the Facebook Page to make it easier to access the minutes
Look at ways of making the website more user friendly.
Alison Crickmore agreed to help with the website.
14. Any Other Business
Two planning applications have been received since the agenda was published. These were discussed informally but the comments will be posted on to the planning portal in the usual way.
W/24/00828/HP - Church Farm Cottage, Flyford Flavell
W/24/01254/HP - Harkaway Cottage, North Piddle
6. Date of Next Meeting
10th September, 2024