Village news

“Second Saturday” Church Building Maintenance Mornings

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Sutton Benger Church

Sutton Benger Church

Following on from the hugely successful recent graveyard clean up Saturday mornings, it has been decided to also regularly hold “Second Saturday” Church Building Maintenance Mornings, to carry out a number of essential jobs on the fabric of the building.

The first of these mornings is planned for Saturday 9th April 2016 (with further ones planned for every 2nd Saturday of the month).

Your historic church building needs you: volunteers are welcomed to join us – tools will be provided, or bring your own. Basic DIY skills and enthusiasm warmly welcomed!

The maintenance day will run from 8 until 12 – stay for as little or as long as you can – refreshments will be provided.

Clerk’s Report: March 2016

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Notes from the Parish Council (PC) meeting held on Wednesday 9th March.

Six Councillors, the Parish Clerk, 10 members of the public and Wilts Cllr H Greenman attended the meeting.

Finance

Annual Maintenance contracts for the Gossip Areas, to include grass cutting, and the Bus Shelter were approved for 2016-17.

A Community Grant of £500 was approved for the PCC for maintenance of the churchyard.

The PC agreed to give the VHMC the old 3-door wooden noticeboard, currently situated at the Playpark.

Planning Applications

Consideration was given to 4 planning applications:

  1. 16/01017/TCA at All Saints Church
  2. 16/01238/FUL at 19 Queens Close
  3. 16/01508/FUL at 1Chestnut Road
  4. 16/01892/TCA at 4 Church Piece. The PC resolved to make no objections to any of the applications.

New Councillor

Mr Leigh Varnham was co-opted onto the Council – he was warmly welcomed by all present.

Highways and Transport

Cllr P Jones has again raised the following issues with Richard Dobson, Wiltshire Council: the gully clearing at the B4069/B4122 junction, the missing 50mph repeater sign and the re-surfacing of the B4069.  The large pothole on the High Street opp. Manor Farm Drive has been reported and passed to the Contractors.

Crossing on the High Street – Cllr P Jones agreed to measure the High Street to see if a suitable site was available for a pedestrian crossing on the High Street before carrying out our own informal pedestrian count.

Community Asset Transfer of the flowerbed on the High Street – Wiltshire Council have advised that a Section 96 Licence allowing maintenance of it would be appropriate but the PC wished to proceed with a CAT to have total ownership if possible.

Parking Spaces at College Green – Cllr H Greenman agreed to investigate the possibility of securing funding for extra car parking spaces at College Green.  The PC fully supported this matter and would help in any way it could.

Annual Parish Meeting

The Council will be inviting the following to give presentations at the APM:

  • Meril Morgan, Wilts Council Arts Development Officer on the S106 Arts Contribution of £24,000 awarded to the village. If you would be interested in joining a small team (4-5 people) to discuss possible Arts Projects for the village please contact the Clerk.
  • Daniel Everett. Flood Drainage Engineer, Wilts Council on the flood mitigation works in Seagry Road and the High Street

The Annual Parish Meeting will be held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 13th April 2016 starting at 19:30. This will be your chance to get an update from village organisations, including the Parish Council, about what has happened in the last 12 months and their plans for the future.  There will short presentations with ample opportunity to ask questions during the meeting followed by light refreshments and informal discussion afterwards.

Next Parish Council Meetings

The date of the Annual Parish Meeting is Wednesday 13th April 2016 and the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council is Wednesday 11th May 2016 both in the Village Hall, starting at 7.45 pm.

Clerk’s Report: December 2015

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Parish Council Latest News from Linda Bragg, Parish Clerk – December 2015

There is no Parish Council Meeting in December but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy….

Salt Bin – We have purchased a new high-capacity salt bin to ensure that the village has adequate supplies before the weather deteriorates.  It has been installed at the Village Hall on the left-hand side of the entrance (where the old recycling bins used to be).

B4069 Weight Restriction –Wiltshire Council is considering the implementation of a permanent 18 tonne weight restriction (except for access) for the route from Draycot Cerne to Lyneham.  However, prior to any final decision being taken, it has been decided that an informal pre-consultation process should take place, to ensure that there are no issues with the proposal and the Parish Council (PC) were asked to comment by 6th January 2016.  We have fully supported the proposal.

Draycot Cerne Chapel – Work was completed in early December 2015 on the new roof for the Draycot Cerne Chapel of Rest.  The result of the hard work by a small team of volunteers that set up a charity to repair and maintain this important and much loved, albeit abused feature of the DC community.

Many people don’t realise, but when the tiles were stolen from the roof, it became apparent that the chapel and graveyard is owned by the people of the village. It was given to the village in the late 1800’s. In the past it has always been maintained by village residents on a voluntary basis and since the early 1980s this has been done almost entirely by Rueben Couzens, to whom we are indebted.  The PC were pleased to support the repair of the roof by granting the Friends of Draycot Cerne Chapel £500 under the Community Grant Fund.

New Benches on the Rec – The PC has purchased two new benches costing £1,128, which are now installed on the Playing Field.  The benches were donated to the Sutton Benger Village Hall as part of the playground renovation project.

Arms Farm – the Appeal was Dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate on the 11 December 2015.

Read the Planning Inspectorate’s full decision. PDF icon

Vacancies – there are currently 4 vacancies on the PC and it would be great to have some new Councillors to join us.  If we cannot fill the vacancies there is a danger that Wiltshire Council may have to make direct appointments of people (from outside our community) as parish councillors.  Please contact the Parish Clerk for more information or tel: 07757 351584.

Overgrown Hedges –Land owners (including Wiltshire Council) and occupiers are required by law to trim any hedge or grass next to a road, footway, cycle way or public right of way where the growth is preventing the passage, or affecting the safety, of the highway user, including cyclists and pedestrians.  Report an Overgrown Hedge, Verge or Footpath to:

Wiltshire Council Highways / Street Care Service – 0300 456 0105

Email: localhighways@wiltshire.gov.uk

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/roadshighwaysstreetcare/mywiltshireregister.htm

Or via the MyWiltshire app – available to download at both the App Store (for iPhones and iPads) and from Google Play™ (for Android phones).

The next Parish Council Meeting is on Wednesday 13 January 2016 at the Sutton Benger Village Hall, commencing at 7.45pm.

We would like to Wish You All A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Draycot Cerne Chapel of Rest Has its New Roof

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Draycot Cerne Chapel of RestIf you’ve driven down the Draycot Straight during the hours of daylight you can’t have failed to notice that, after being in a state of disrepair for a number of years, the Draycot Cerne Chapel of Rest has a new roof.

This was completed in early December 2015 as a result of the hard work by a small team of volunteers that set up a charity to repair and maintain this important and much loved, albeit abused feature of the DC community.

Many people don’t realise, but when the tiles were stolen from the roof, it became apparent that the chapel and graveyard is owned by the people of the village. It was given to the village in the late 1800’s. In the past it has always been maintained by village residents on a voluntary basis and since the early 1980’s this has been done almost entirely by Rueben Couzens, to whom we are indebted.

The situation highlighted the need for a formalisation of the ownership of this village asset for a number of reasons. One of the fundamental issues is that the building was not insured and you cannot insure something you don’t have a legal claim to, i.e., a tenancy or legal title. The team set upon the road to achieve legal title of the property to be able to repair it, insure it and secure its future as a village asset for generations to come.

The charity was established, which subsequently made a successful claim to the Land Registry to hold the title of the chapel and cemetery.  This will give current and future residents control and security of what is our only communal asset, and primarily our ability to be in charge of our own place of rest for evermore, for those already resting there and those whose wish  to be there at some point in the future.

The Friends of Draycot Cerne Chapel’s sole purpose is for the maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery and chapel.

The target is £15,000 in order to get the roof repaired and to pay for insurance for several years. Whilst the team have raised the funds to repair the roof, which was the primary objective, the target has not been met and there are a number of other jobs that need doing. It is hoped that people may still be kind enough to donate in the future.

The Parish Council was pleased to provide £500 under the Community Grant Fund scheme to be used towards the repair of the roof.

For more information, or to make a donation, please contact the Trustees: Philip Greenhill, Richard Dutton or Jeremy Bent or by post to: Friends of Draycot Cerne Chapel, C/O Lake Farm, Draycot Cerne, Chippenham, SN15 4SQ.

NDP Consultation Meeting 23rd Nov 8pm

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Parish of Sutton Benger Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP)  

Consultative Meeting – 23rd November 2015 – SB Village Hall (8pm) 

Dear Parishioners

We are now in a position to report on the findings gathered during the Public Open Meeting that was held on the 30th September 2015.

We are therefore hosting a further meeting in the Sutton Benger Village Hall at 8pm on Monday 23rd November. The meeting will last for no longer than ninety minutes and will include Agenda Items such as:

  • Detailed report on information gathered at the meeting on the 30th September
  • Brief discussion regarding the initial Scope of the NDP
  • Call for volunteers to form working groups to address the areas within the initial Scope

The initial response has been amazingly positive and we hope that this continues until the NDP is finalised.

We look forward to meeting with all who are able to attend on the 23rd November.

Kind regards

 Baz Worth / Chairman of NDP Core Group

For additional info please contact us by email