Local Parish Council Members for 2023
Mr Jonathan Perry - Chairman
Mr John Walker - Vice Chairman / Tree Warden
Mrs Patricia Hollard - Footpath Warden
David Williams - Highways & Potholes
Mr Roger Beale - DWPFT Liason
Mrs Patricia Amos
Ms Nicola Handlay - Treasurer & Website
Mrs Sue Osborne - SDC Representative
Meetings take place bi-monthly at Speke Hall on a Monday unless otherwise noted
NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY 24 MARCH 2025 AT 2.30PM IN SPEKE HALL​
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF DOWLISH WAKE PARISH COUNCIL HELD IN THE SPEKE HALL ON THE 20th JANUARY 2025
In Attendance: John Perry John Walker Pat Hollard Pat Amos Roger Beale David Williams and two members of the public
Apologies: Nicky Handlay and Sue Osborne
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Minutes: The minutes having been previously circulated were approved and signed by the Chairman
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Matters Arising: The chairman had contacted the Rolaff’s at the Old Rectory regarding the complaints about the anti- social behavior of the camper in their orchard. The problems arising had now been resolved and the camper has moved out.
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Planning; The pruning of the Yew trees in the churchyard had been approved as had the cutting down of the leylandii at Bridge Cottage. The Sterling’s who live in Oxenford gave a presentation of the plans for the improvements they wished to carry out on their house. These had yet to be submitted to the planning department but the parish council agreed that thet would support these when submitted.
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Finance: The setting of the 2025/26 precept was discussed and the need for extra funding should the council stop cutting the grass in the village. It was proposed by John Walker and seconded by David Williams that the 25/26 precept be increased from £4200 (24/25) to £4500. In the absence of the treasurer no bank details or payments due were available. We would continue with our present insurers for the time being although the Ecclesiastical had been recommended.
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Highways: David Williams will contact the Council regarding the poor surface of the recently tarmacked road to get their opinion as to whether this was satisfactory. He would also follow up as to whether the church wall adjoining the road needed safety work done on it. He will also ask that the broken concrete posts and railings by the stream going out of the village to Cudworth be replaced. Various pot holes including the one in Mill Lane has been filled. The flood guage was on order.
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Footpaths: Pat Hollard gave a resume of work which will be done when Joshua Brown can fit it in i.e, further steps at the sewer works, new gates at the boundary with Cricket Malherbie, Hopalong Stalls , Long Elms and on Mrs Coates boundary with the Rich’s Field. The Rich’s were reluctant to replace the stiles to their land on the path to Bonners Leaze but Mr Perry said that he was more than happy to have one on his land into his orchard. John Walker asked if the dangerous stiles at Kitchell’s could be replaced by gates and it was agreed that this would be a good thing. Mr Perry gave a report oh his meeting with Daniel Gordon the footpath officer who was very supportive of the work we had done and would continue to do so subject to his budget. The problem with the footpath at the Mill had been discussed with him and the recent accident caused by the dangerous gate noted. Daniel said that he would go back to his boss and see if some enforcement efforts could be made and a new gate installed. The problem with the footpath at Moolham was discussed and full details of the position had been given him to see if he could help with this.
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Tree Warden: Nothing to report;
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Boundary Review: In view of the fact that our ward was to remain the same we had no comments to make. It was thought that Sue Osborne would do this if she felt it necessary.
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Devolution: It was agreed that the proposed Heart of Wessex regional mayor linking Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire was a crazy idea. This idea only seems appropriate for larger urban areas.
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Local Council Network: No meetings had been attended but from minutes it would appear that due to cut backs that road drains would either be cleared on a yearly, two yearly or four yearly cycle depending on the flood Pisk of those drains. As a result of our flooding problem’s we would need our drains to be cleared annually.
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Resilience Group: John walker said that he didn’t have the time to attend these meetings and was not sure if they were relevant to our parish. He asked if any other councillor was willing to do this but there were no offers.
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Banking Hub Ilminster: Following a letter from our MP it was generally agreed that this was a good thing but the Council though it most important to support the Post Office who were offering banking services. It was however felt that another ATM would be helpful.
Correspondence: Over 40 emails had been received since the last meeting. Mr Perry went through the most relevant.
County Councillor Report: Sue Osborne who was not at the meeting had been unable to circulate a report due to ill health.
Public Participation: Nothing was raised other than that of planning which has been previously mentioned.
AOB: Roger Beale as the Playing Field representative asked when the next grant would be given. This would be discussed and made at our March meeting. Details of the timing of previous payments was not available in view of the treasurer not being at the meeting. It had been reported that the Pack Horse bridge was slippery. This would be looked at to see what could be done about it.
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Next Meeting: 24th March at 2-30pm in the Speke Hall
MINUTES OF DOWLISH WAKE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE SPEKE HALL ON THE 23rd OF SEPTEMBER 2024 IN THE SPEKE HALL
In Attendance: John Perry John Walker Pat Hollard David Williams Nicky Handlay Pat Amos Roger Beale and Sue Osborne (County Councillor)
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on the 23rd September having been previously circulated were approved and signed.
Matters Arising: Mr Perry reported that he had pruned the maple tree near the Cidermills and was pleased with the outcome which has given the tree a much better shape. He also said that in memory of his late mother he had also replaced the notice board.
Planning: The council supported the improvements to Mill House Moolham and noted the many details they had to go through for what was a relatively small application. A garage had been erected at Brook house which would appear to have no planning approval. The chairman was asked to look into this and find out the position.
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Finances: Payments made since the last meeting were insurance £381.88, village website £129.60, Joshua Tree Services hedge cutting at the Green £175.00 and Bei Looker footpaths £170.00. Mr Perry said that he would contact Nat West for the bank statements for the old parish council account. Total balances for both accounts at the day of our meeting were £5342.60.
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Highways: David Williams said that he had contacted the Council regarding the white lining before the surface dressing was applied which seemed to make no sense. The flood depth sign had still to be installed.
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Footpaths: The chairman gave an update on the Moolham footpath. Little progress with Somerset Council had been made and a decision had to be made whether we try and get this reinstated or leave things as they are which is loosely defined as permissive with no long term rights of access. The Parish Council was unanimous that this should be reinstated and that Somerset Council should help to expedite this on the grounds that, they as a previous council, made the mistake of delisting this portion of the footpath without realizing what they had done.
Pat Hollard gave an update of various works carried out which included steps at the Sewer Works.
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Tree Warden: John Walker had nothing to report.
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Resilience Meeting: John Walker had attended this and although good meaning he did not think that our council had a lot to gain from it.
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Local Council Network: Nicky had been unable to attend any meetings but had circulated notes of these meetings to all councillors.
Correspondence: Our new MP Adam Chance had written to us saying that he was there for help if we need him. It was noted that he receives up to 7000 emails a month! There were numerous emails received from the County Council which were not relevant to us.
County Councillor: Sue Osborne gave an update of the dire financial circumstances the Council found themselves in with many redundancies and cut backs planned. Property previously purchased as an investment would have to be sold at a loss. The Council was short of planning officers and generally found themselves in a difficult position.
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AOB: Whilst grass trimming Martin Crabb noticed that the retaining Church Wall next to the road looked to be in a dangerous state. David Williams said that he would contact Highways about this. We could in future ask Joshua Tree Services to cut back any growth which could disturb the wall.
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Next Meeting: This was fixed for the 18th November at 2-30pm. The January meeting to be decided then as some councillors were on holiday in January.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DOWLISH WAKE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON THE 22ND JULY 2024 HELD IN THE SPEKE HALL
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In attendance: John Perry, John Walker, Pat Hollard, Nicky Handlay, David Williams and Roger Beale. Members of the public attending were Sue Combes and Neil Hatherley
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Apologies: Pat Amos and Sue Osborne
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Minutes: The minutes of the March 2024 meeting having been previously circulated were agreed and signed.
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Matters arising: The tree stump on the road to Cudworth has been cut back and is no longer dangerous. The flood gauges will be installed when the road surface dressing has been completed. It was yet to be ascertained who was responsible for the upkeep of the brook wall leading to the Old Parsonage.
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Finance: Josh Brown’s bill for cutting the hedge on the green was approved as was the website cost and annual insurance:
Highways: The surface dressing was yet to be done but it was noted that the Council had made an excellent job of patching up. The road to Oxenford from Rich’s farm was not part of the works to be carried out.
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Footpaths: Mrs Combes was not happy with the direction the finger post outside of their property pointed to. She said this had led to people walking off the footpath across their property. As the fingerpost had been installed at the Footpath officer’s recommendation the council suggested that a separate finger post be installed on their property clearly pointing out the direction. The footpath to Moolham Mill continued to cause controversy. The County Council did not wish to reinstate the error which had removed it and was of the view that as this had continued to be used since 1976 there was in effect a permissive right over it. Their reason being that there were 100’s of similar footpaths going through the system which would take years to deal with. The members of the parish council reserved their judgement on this. Mr Hatherley had on occasions put up a sign saying “This a permissive path from here to the bridge over the Dowlish Brook.It may be closed at times. There is no right of way.”. the parish council said he had no right to do this as it is by rights a permissive footpath and he or no one else owns this.
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Tree Warden: John Walker noted that the chestnut trees on the Cudworth road were still in a dangerous condition. He had seen the ash trees at the Mill and had agreed with the owner that these were diseased and also in a dangerous condition.
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Local Council Network: Nicky had been unable to make any of the meetings but thought there was not a lot of out come from these.
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Correspondence: We continue to get numerous emails but few of these were relevant.
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County Councillor: Sue Osbornes report had previously been circulated and no issues were raised from this.
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Public Participation: They had previously spoken in the footpath’s discussion.
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AOB: The phone Box had now been repainted. John Walker said he would attend the Ilminster Resilience group meeting and report back at the next meeting.
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Next Meetings: Monday the 23rd September at 2-30pm, Monday the 18th November at 2-30pm
Minutes of Dowlish Wake Parish Council Meeting & AGM held on the 20th May 2024 in the Speke Hall
In attendance: John Perry, John Walker, Pat Hollard, Pat Amos, Roger Beale, Nicky Handlay and three members of the public.
Apologies: David Williams
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Officers: Officers were proposed and seconded en bloc as the previous year:
John Perry Chairman and Acting Clerk, John Walker Vice Chairman and Tree Warden, Pat Hollard Footpath Warden, Nicky Handlay financially responsible person and LCN representative, David Williams Highway Officer, and Roger Beale Lawrence Kellett Playing Field representative.
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the meeting of the 18th March meeting having been previously circulated were approved and signed.
Matters Arising: Work on the phone box was in hand as was the new notice board. David Williams was to be asked to approach Highways regarding the dangerous tree stump on the bends to Cudworth.
Planning: Planning applications for Old Orchard, Church Lane and Oxenford Farm had been received and circulated. There were no objections and the plans were supported.
Annual Accounts and Governance Report: Nicky Handlay our FRI went through the income and expenses for 2023/24, balances in hand and the governance report and it was agreed that all aspects of the Councils finances had been dealt with correctly and that the report should be signed as such.
Finance: A balance of £1998.88 was carried into the new financial year. Payments due and approved were Bei Lokker £170, domain hosting £120 and insurance £381.69. Our 2024/25 precept of £4200 had been received. Following a question from Pat Hollard the council confirmed their financial commitment towards footpath expenditure for the coming year.
Highways Report: In David Williams absence there was no report.
Tree Warden: John Walker had been asked to look at an ash tree at the Mill which was suffering from ash die back disease as it was in the conservation area.
Footpath Officer: There was a lengthy debate about the footpath at Moolham CH26 which was essentially a cul de sac as a result of an error in 1976 when Yeovil District Council agreed a diversion order on footpath CH23 in front of the Dairy House and inadvertently or otherwise continued it up the drive to the highway. Mr Neil Hatherley the owner of Moolham Mill spoke to the meeting and said he was not against a footpath continuing up the drive but didn’t want a finger post at the highway junction encouraging walkers. It was also established that the drive was not owned by anyone or registered with the Land Registry. It was agreed that the chairman contact Robert Coate the councils rights of way officer and ask the Council that as this was of their making they should sort it out on our behalf and have the necessary part of footpath CH23 up the drive reinstated. The Coombes had complained that the finger post pointing to the footpath across their property had been incorrectly installed. Pat explained that this pointed to the stile and as such was correct. It was not our fault if people incorrectly walked off the footpath across their land.
Flooding: Higher flood gauges warning of flooding were required as the previous ones were covered when it flooded! It would also probably be helpful if there were flood warning signs.
Local Council Network: Nicky Handlay had been unable to go to the last meeting. She did however say there was a lot of discussion with very little outcome.
Correspondence: We continue to be inundated with emails which are irrelevant to our council.
County Councillor’s Report: This had been circulated pre meeting and no further comment made.
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Public Participation: Mr Neil Hatherley spoke about the footpath at Moolham as previously mentioned in this minute.
Other Business: Mario Ruiz had asked if something could be done about the public footpath by Perry’s Cider alongside the stream to the Old Parsonage as part of the stone wall was falling into the stream and eroding the footpath. The chairman said he would find out who was responsible for this work.
Next Meetings: Monday the 22nd July and Monday the 23rd September. Both to be held at 2-30pm.
Minutes of a meeting of Dowlish Wake Parish Council held on Monday the 18th March 2024 in the Speke Hall
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In attendance: John Perry, John Walker, Pat Amos, Roger Beale, David Williams and Nicky Handlay
Apologies: Pat Hollard and Sue Osborne
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on the 22nd January having been previously circulated were approved and signed.
Matters Arising: Any matters arising to be discussed in our following meeting.
Governance: The question of who can speak at our meetings was discussed. For clarification purposes our meetings are not public meetings but members of the public and others have a statutory right to attend as observers. They have no legal right to speak unless the Parish Council Chairman invites them to do so. It was unanimously agreed that this policy be adhered to at all future Parish Council meetings.
Planning: There were no planning matters to discuss.
Finance: There were no bills to pay. The next expected bill was for insurance. The current bank balance was £2085.92 which means we go into the next financial year in a healthy position. The feared Council budget cuts that might affect us are not to be brought in until 2025/26 which means we have good time to plan for how they will affect us. Somerset Landscapes will in future offer some of these services but obviously at a cost.
Highways: David Williams gave his report. Pothole’s had been successfully filled, the drain at the dangerous Ludney bend was to be jetted and the road markings in the village were to be redone in the following financial year. David said that he had a good working relationship with Highway’s .It was also reported that surfacing work on the roads in the village was to be carried out in the new financial year.
Tree Warden: John walker said that he would contact BT re the tree stump which they cut back and is protruding out into the road on the bend to Cudworth and could cause damage to passing vehicles.
Flooding; David Williams had heard back from Highway’s who said they will put new flood gauges at the Packhorse Bridge ford. The Council are to jet out the drain outside Bridge Cottage after the Hinds reported that this was blocked and could cause flooding problems to their property.
Local Council Network: Nicky Handlay had little to report but asked if the Parish Council would pay for a course which would help her carry out her duties at a cost of £40. This was agreed.
Dowlish Wake Website: It was agreed that Nicky put our Parish Council Agenda on this in future. Our Minutes currently go on this.
Correspondence: Although there had been many emails received these did not relate directly to our Council other than those of a general nature re budget costs and flooding.
County Councillor Report: This had previously circulated.
Public Participation: There were no members of the public present.
Any Other Business; Roger Beale agreed to be our representative on the Lawrence Kellett Playing field replacing Nicky Handlay. The village notice board needs replacing. Mr Perry said he would look into this, Roger Beale said that he had arranged for the Phone Box to be refurbished.
Next Meetings: Monday 20th May 2024 at 2-30pm and Monday theJuly 22nd at 2-30pm. These dates to be put in the Web.