Minutes for the Parish Council meeting 29.9.25

Corscombe, Halstock and District Parish Council
Draft Minutes for the Parish Council meeting
7.30pm on 29th September 2025
Meeting was held at Corscombe Village Hall.

Councillors present: Richard James (RJ), Nigel Clarke (NC), Roger Hallett (RH), Grant Prior (GP), Deborah Childs (DC), Garry Arnold (GA), Helen Sherwood (HS), Richard Fry (RF), Mark Caddick (MC), David Hallett (DH) and John-White Hamilton (JWH)
3 members of the public

1. To receive and accept apologies and declarations of interest.
   Apologies from Cllr. Lovegrove. No declarations of Interest.
2. To approve the draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on the 28th of July 2025 (A)
   Proposed Cllr. Clarke and Seconded Cllr. Caddick Approved 9/11
3. To discuss matters arising from the minutes not covered in this Agenda.
   To encourage remaining councillors to complete the Small Councils survey.

Public period for comments on issues on the agenda
Archived miscellaneous documents are stored in the Cabinet in Corscombe Village Hall. The cabinet is not locked but the Village Hall is. More recent documents are stored with the Clerk until they are bound and sent to the Dorset History Centre. Many thanks to Freda for all her hard work.
Dorset Cllr. Chris Kippax
The draft Dorset Local Plan is now open for comment, it focuses on important areas such as economic development, affordable housing, and transport. A key area is the identification of possible sites to meet the government’s target for Dorset of 55,182 new houses from 2026-2043. It will be finalised in 2027 after further on-going consultations.
The current 15-year plan was drawn up in 2012. Cllr. Kippax was asked how Dorset Council was tracking progress against the current plan. He will look into this.
Dates to note re Dorset Local Plan – Forum at Digby Hall Sherborne 7th October 2-7pm to look at proposed draft plan. Deadline for on-line survey is the 13th of October.
https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/dorset-council-local-plan-options-consultation-2025

Reports from Dorset Council Councillor and Police Liaison
No major issues to report re police liaison. However please note change of meeting times.

Locations for the two new mobile police stations will be posted soon.

4. To note the statement of expenditure to date and bank reconciliation (B) and to approve the schedule of payments since the last meeting. (C)
   Scheduled payments since 28.7.25 Gross 2780.71, Net £2681.44
   Bank reconciliation and scheduled payments noted and approved once appendix C VAT figure is corrected.
   Proposed Cllr. Prior, seconded Cllr. James Approved 11/11
5. To approve a savings account for the Parish Council (D)
   It was agreed that the Clerk would look into a Capital on tap business savings card and if not suitable would apply for the Unity Trust account 30-day access.
   Proposed Cllr. James, seconded Cllr. Fry approved 11/11
6. Note External auditors report (E)
   Noted. Point raised re clerk’s email address has been noted and acted on – see item 7.
7. Parish Council email address – to discuss the move to a .gov.uk email address (F)
   Proposal to move to a .gov.uk email address for the Parish Clerk as provided by Cloudy IT.
   Note – Councillors did not feel it was necessary to provide .gov.uk email accounts for councillors only for the Clerk as per current legislative requirements.
   Proposed Cllr. Caddick, seconded Cllr. Arnold approved 9/11
8. To note/receive a maintenance update for the playground and outdoor gym (Verbal) The outdoor adventure trail has now been removed. Fencing still needs to be addressed but not urgent.
9. Highways and Rights of Way updates (verbal)

A concern was raised by residents (enquiry reference number with Dorset Council is 1294351) and relates to an issue at Toller Down. The hamlet consists of 7 households and farms and relates to safety concerns for residents and visitors access the main B3163 road (Toller Down Gate to Beaminster). The exit is causing a danger to residents emerging into the road and there have been a series of accidents. Dorset Cllr. Kippax has been kept informed and a meeting has been arranged between residents and the Road Safety Technical Officer to look at safety options such as SLOW signage on the road and cutting back the hedge row to allow improved visibility.
The Parish Council strongly support this request.

9.1 Fingerpost and signs update
The Halstock sign on Adams Green has still not been replaced. The clerk has spoken to Adam Frost, Dorset council, it should have been delivered but nothing has come through. Action: – Clerk to chase sign.
Action: – Clerk to chase highways re request for ‘beware horses’ signs on Adams Green.
Fingerpost progress to be looked at again in November.
Action: – Cllr. Clarke to provide a list of finger posts, note repair/renovation needs and progress of work.
9.2 Road Closure concerns
There was general concern raised over the number of road closures either running back-to-back or parallel with each other over the last 6 months. Dorset Cllr. Kippax was asked to look into this with highways to see if a more cohesive approach to road closure could be looked at that minimised the effect on residents and local businesses.
Action. Cllr. James to provided Cllr. Kippax with some specific examples.
9.3 20mph Speed zone Halstock
It was noted that Dorset Council is supportive of 20 mph zones. Five Dorset towns and villages will be getting new 20mph zones this autumn, following applications by their local councils and strong local support. These schemes are the result of a thorough process that begins with community interest. Each application is carefully assessed against clear criteria to ensure a 20mph scheme will give the maximum benefit for the affected communities.
It is importance to note the difference between a 20mph limit which is an area where the speed limit has been reduced to 20mph, but there are no physical measures to reduce vehicle speeds within the area. In contrast, 20mph zones use traffic calming measures to make the zones self-enforcing.

There is an impact to calming measures such as speed humps and gates in terms of possible disruption to the movement of large of vehicles such as the school bus, tractors etc.
Action: The Clerk will ask Tony Hill to look at this issue and see if speed watch feels this is something the Parish Council should support in Halstock.
9.4 Noticeboard – to approve the purchase of a replacement noticeboard near the Fox Inn Corscombe (G)
The cost of solid wood noticeboards was considered but the Parish Council thought the cost was too prohibitive. The council also looked at aluminium and it was agreed that we would go for the cheaper aluminium framed noticeboard. The noticeboard will remain unlocked so locals can also place notices.
Action: The Clerk will look at the Greenbarns aluminium noticeboard and has been authorised to spend up to £600.
Proposed Cllr. Arnold, Seconded Cllr. James approved 10/11

10. To consider and note planning applications and decisions. (H)
    The concern raised over the new entrance opposite Buttercup Cottage was raised with the Parish Council who has contact planning and Highways for advice. As yet no feedback.

10.1 Enforcement update (verbal)
No current issues to report back on.

11. To receive and note training update (Verbal)
    The Clerk attended the following course ‘Breakthrough communications – Communicating with your Community part 1’ Which proved to be useful in helping the Parish Council to meet its commitment to improve communication with residents. The main point was the change in communication strategies and demographics with social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook , TikTok etc becoming more prevalent. See item 2 below.
12. Surveys and communication strategies (Verbal)

The Clerk had a stand at the Corscombe Fete but due to weather did not attend the scaled back Halstock fete.
The main feedback which is very limited and in no way statical is
Word of mouth or contact with the Clerk Web sites- Village and Parish Council Noticeboards Facebook Village WhatsApp Other
5 4 but very rarely and only 2 of these use the Parish Council website 6 4
Corscombe has always favoured WhatsApp over Facebook 8 1 – Chimes
but noted that this is normally 2 months behind information posted.

The Clerk is now posting on the village Facebook site in Halstock and Village WhatsApp in Corscombe and is creating a newsletter for each Parish Council meeting to run alongside the minutes. Presenting the key points from the minutes in this newsletter format has been well received.
The Parish Council has a dedicated page on the New Halstock Village website and there is also now a news page on the Parish Council website.

13. First Aid Courses – update (Verbal)
    The first aid courses run in Corscombe and Halstock in September were well attended by residents. Many thanks to St Johns Ambulance for running these courses for us.

Action: The Clerk to look at arranging further courses in 2026 for those residents who were unable to attend the dates in September. The Clerk will also look at setting up a buddy WhatsApp page for residents to use to call for local assistance within the villages if they are faced with a medical situation.

14. Roman villa site maintenance (Verbal)
    Maintenance of the fenced public access area of the Roman Villa site was raised as a concern as it is very overgrown and difficult for public access. Richard Storrie very kindly offered to clear the area. The remaining area is licenced to Mr Dare. See map below.
15. Correspondence to be discussed and noted. (Verbal)
    None
16. Website update (Verbal)
    The update to the Parish Council website has now been completed and has a new section for news items.
17. Bus service Update
    Postponed as Cllr. Lovegrove was absent.
18. Climate and Ecology emergency action to be noted
    Big Green Day in Beaminster was a success.
19. To consider urgent matters to report from members and items for the next meeting.
    The Parish Council was very sad to hear of the passing of Diana Stains who was involved with the Parish Council both as a councillor and more recently as the contact for the PROW.
    The Parish Council under its Power of Competence will be making a donation of £50 to one of Diana’s requested charities, Dorset Wildlife Trust.
    Proposed Cllr. James, seconded Cllr. Childs approved 10/11

The Clerk has purchased three sealed plastic bins to store the most current Parish Council documents covering the last 5 years.

The meeting closed at 9.30 pm
Date of next Parish Council meeting will be the 24th of November 2025 Halstock Village Hall.
Clerk to the Council: Tessa Safadi, Tel: 07595598995 Email: chparishclerk@gmail.com