Present: Mr Lemon, Mrs Dudney, Mrs Brew, Mrs Comyn, Mr Garman, Mr Pearson, Mr Beese, Mr Hatfield, Mr Evans and Mrs Evans – Clerk.

Apologies:  Mrs Zweck, Brigadier Hall and Mr Veysey.

The Minutes:  The minutes of the meeting of 6^th January 2009 were adopted unanimously, proposed by Mrs Dudney, seconded by Mrs Brew.

Matters Arising:  There were no matters arising to discuss.

Planning Matters:   See attached sheet.

Village Seats / Notice Boards:  Three quotes for their repair have been received.  It was decided to accept the local quote from Burbage, but to exclude the notice board which would be allocated to the joiner who had quoted. The badly damaged wooden seat in East Grafton would be replaced with a reclaimed metal one.  Mr Hatfield agreed to obtain the price changes with Mrs Dudney and to organise the purchase of the seat. During the rebuilding work the bench outside the Coronation Hall will be removed for safe keeping by Mr Hatfield.

Coronation Hall:

Land in front of the Hall – The transaction is now complete.  Trustees Land needs to be registered and the strip of land to the Sub Station is to be included in total package although the Electricity Board will have permanent access.  Mr Lemon to write a letter of thanks to Mr Peacock.

Have your say meeting – The Hall was open to the public from 3pm to 8pm on 11^th February when alternative external wall colours and roof tiles were on view.  Members of the public were asked to give their views on the design and plans for the Hall.  A report of this meeting is included in the minutes of the Management Team meeting on 17^th February.  

Management Team meeting on 17^th February.

The Minutes of the Coronation Hall Management Team’s meeting held on 17^th February were read. The Parish Council. as Trustee of the Coronation Hall. discussed the details of this meeting and unanimously agreed to recommendations made by the Management Team.  The minutes are attached.

Grant application to the Big lottery

Mr Lemon reported that he had sent the details for the grant application to the Big Lottery on 27^th February.

Water and insurance

Mrs Dudney will arrange for the Water Meter to be read.

Insurance on the Hall will transfer to Carty’s on 9^th March when Grafton Parish Council will cancel their building insurance.  Public Liability and Loss of Income insurance policies will remain.

Public Relations

The Parish Council wishes to make sure that the building works do not disturb the residents living close to the Hall. Mrs Brew and Mrs Comyn will organise a letter to all local residents advising them that the work is to start imminently and what they are advised to do should they be unreasonably disturbed.

Thames Water Leak:  The poor communication from Thames Water during the recent water incident was discussed.  Mr Lemon said that he had sent an e.mail to Chief Executive suggesting they kept their customers updated during an emergency via their web site.  Mrs Dudney regularly up-dated Grafton web site with information as she received it.

Smart Water launch:  This liquid shows up under ultra violet light and is used to mark items of value.  Mr Garman has agreed to attend a meeting in Devizes on 17^th March for further information and will advise further at the next meeting.

Wiltshire County Council Area Boards report: The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 3^rd February to discuss whether Grafton Parish should apply to move to the Pewsey Area Board  were read and are attached to these minutes.

Mrs Brew advised latest handbook is not a complete version and that comments are not required until April 2009.    The final decision as to whether Grafton moves from Marlborough to Pewsey is expected end of May/early June 2009.  There is a public Area Board meeting in Pewsey in March which she will attend.

Parish Steward:  The monthly meetings have been cancelled until all pot holes caused by bad weather have been repaired.  Mr Evans has notified relevant department of all pot holes in the parish.

Grafton Parish Web Site:    Mrs Dudney is keen that this is used more by residents.  A trial to direct people to the website for minutes and agendas, rather than the noticeboards, will commence.

Defibrillator Scheme:  Mrs Brew went through a short overview of the scheme and the plan.  Two volunteers from the parish, Mrs Sue Vallis and Mr Phil Baldwin have been helping to get the scheme up and running.  Mr Baldwin very kindly produced a Logo for the scheme, which is currently called ‘Grafton Parish Community Scheme’ because it covers not only public access defibrillators, but also First Aid and Emergency training and Community First Responder.  Any suggestions for a name for the scheme were requested.  The same overview will be presented at the APM Meeting on 24^th March 2009.  The council showed support for the plan.

Speeding Traffic:  Mr Garman advised that during the recent Speed check only 2 tickets for speeding were issued along with a few warnings and that the average speed was 31 mph.  It was decided that the next step regarding further action was to discuss the matter at the next school meeting as the safety of the children is the primary concern.  The situation will be subject to on-going review.

The meeting closed at 8.45pm

Dates of next meeting          AGM at the Grafton School at 7.15pm on 24^th March 2009.