All Agendas and Minutes at: shapwickparishcouncil.org.uk The discussion on flood risk and local community action links to Somerset Council’s plans to tackle the widely publicised budget deficit. In particular the Highways team are planning to reduce “Reactive Responses” to issues such as blocked gullies & overgrown hedges from April 2025 (they will however continue to undertake urgent safety work). It is suggested that this could be replaced by a combination of “highway stewards” (a service contracted by a group of towns / parishes), self-delivery or a parish price list. We will seek to keep up to date on this matter and engage with Somerset where appropriate. 2 S PR I NG I S SUE | APR I L 2 0 2 4 Shapwick Parish Council GRAHAM CROUCHER CHAIR OF SHAPWICK PC Play Area Phase 1: We have selected suppliers for Phase 1 of the Village Green Play Area and agreed on installation of a three piece swing set with safety matting plus one other piece of equipment for younger users, possibly a “trim trail”. Wherever feasible, we will employ sustainable materials. We hope that Phase 1 will be ready for July. Meanwhile April will be busy applying for grants to Phase 2 which is planned to be a play tower. Please watch out for requests for help and ways in which you may be able to assist with Phase 1. Parish Council: New Parish Councillors: We are very pleased to welcome Wendy Anderson and Tracey Lockyer as newly co-opted Councillors. Tracey and Wendy are already known to most villagers for their community activities. They bring new skills and knowledge to your Parish Council, increasing our contacts within the community. Please do support Wendy and Tracey in their new roles. Mill Lane planning application: Most people will know this application for 8 houses including 4 affordable homes has been refused by Somerset Planning Committee (see decision and grounds at: https://sdc.somerset.gov.uk/planning_online, entering application number 43/23/00008). Whilst this decision reflects the wishes of many villagers it does still leave an established need for affordable housing unmet and is perhaps something we need to think about as a community and revisit in due course. Community Group: At the February meeting Steve McAuliffe, villager and Director of Webglu, gave a very encouraging update on the development of the new Village website. This is planned to become a one stop portal for all Shapwick activities including the Parish and all the clubs and organisations linked to Shapwick. More on this soon! Prompted by recent flooding issues, in particular around Church Road, Kent Lane and Bridewell Lane, there was a constructive debate about how we could take local action to increase our resilience to flooding in Shapwick. Steve Polden has taken this challenge as part of the Sustainability group’s brief. Watch for meeting dates / communications where you will be able to contribute further to the debate. See p. 3 for the Sustainabilty Group. . In March, the PC recognised Sue Williams’ last Meeting as Parish Clerk after 24 years of fantastic service and support to many, many councillors and to the Shapwick community. Sue will be retiring from her role at the end of Shapwick Village Litterpick LORRAINE DAVIES A big thank you to the villagers who joined the litter pick on 25 February 2024. After a health and safety briefing we set off around the village and surrounding roads. Whilst the roads within the village were largely litter free we still managed to fill lots of sacks. Wendy Anderson, who The harvest... flytipping remains a problem It was great to see so many people getting involved in this very worthwhile project for the village. It was also lovely that villagers were able to stay a while after to chat over refreshments. Thank you again to all who participated! kindly donated her time and culinary skills, had sausage baps (sausages kindly donated by Paul Rogers) and refreshments ready for our return. Fortunately the rain held off until we’d finished. At the March meeting, the Parish Council and the Allotment Association signed a historic agreement. “Let a 100 flowers bloom” (Mao Zedong). Or maybe marrows? See p. 4! April. Thank you, Sue, from Councillors past and present and from the village!
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