Agenda item

1.  Would it be possible to have an organisational chart for the Council?

See section 1 How the Council Works in Parish Information Pack

2.  What roads are the Council responsible for?

3.  It appears that the potholes were worse this year (2023) than last year (2022).

4.  Do you work around the winter for potholes?

See section 11 Highways in Parish Information Pack.

5.  I raised a Fix My Street issue today and it was rejected and closed straight away.  What do you do when your response is insufficient, how do you escalate it?

See section 11 Highways in Parish Information Pack.

6.  Should we go to the Highway inspector or directly to Fix My Street?

See section 11 Highways in Parish Information Pack.

7.  Would it be possible to add information about timescales and priorities for issues reported on Fix My Street?

8.  Weeds growing into highways and pushing pavements apart is a growing problem.

9.  We understand that the council has been trialling a new system through Clean and Green and no longer uses chemicals to remove weeds and vegetation?

10.What are the different methods used during the trial and how much do each option costs in comparison?

11.I would like to compliment the Highways team for the work and responses.

12.Fix My Street – because the pinpoint of the map is so specific, when we submitted a request for road markings repainting, the team only did the section that was specifically marked and left the areas that were still needed.  How can we identify a wider location on the map to ensure that all the works are completed?

13.Compliments to the team who clean the gullies. 

14.The interactive map of the gullies also is really good. 

15.Comment made about the road maintenance in B&NES being noticeably better than across the border in Mendip.

16.Hedge management - responsibilities and legal processes for landowners.  Are you able to confirm when hedges are cut back and the enforcement in place if 14-day or 28-day notices have been ignored?

See section 16 Trees and Vegetation in Parish Information Pack.

17.When traffic lights and equipment are left at the side of roads, it can give the impression of neglect.  How do we report? 

See section 11 Highways in Parish Information Pack.

18.Both the Chew Valley and Shoscombe thanked the team for the improvements in place to alleviate flooding issues.

19.You say that you manage 119,000 square metres of highway – how many kilometers of road is that?  How long would it take you to resurface it all?  I am very concerned about recent promotion applauding yourselves on how much you’ve done when to resurface all the roads would take 50 years.  I am concerned that we are not doing it fast enough as a nation.  The Timsbury to Paulton route through Radford was closed for a week.  There is a 50 yard patch of resurfaced road, then 10 yards not touched, then another 50 yards resurfaced – why have you left 10 yards?

20.Are you responsible for Truespeed and City Fibre?

21.We had no notice on works undertaken by a utility company – they said it was an emergency but no-one believes this.  They feel it was a little job on a slow leak they could achieve on a Friday when another job finished early.  Do you have to believe companies when they tell you they have emergencies?

22.WECA are pushing improvements to bus stop etc on the A367 and A367.  We own one street light in our Parish (Dunkerton and Tunley).  It is by the bus stop on the A367 so part of a strategic scheme.  It is not working – we want to get it fixed but can’t – something to do with Volker.  Why is that one light ours?  We are told it is about legislation in 1957 but isn’t it time that the Council took on all the Parish street lighting?

23.In Southstoke, it took Volker a long time to address issues with street lights – the service from them is very poor.  B&NES have now taken these street lights on.

24.We’ve had issues with Volker referring issues to Western Power, only for them to refer it back to Volker (Peasedown St John).

25.Why are there no job finished reports on Fix My Street?

26.A section of the A367 floods (Peasedown St John) very badly when it rains – I don’t think there is a drain there – it’s very dangerous.  (It’s on the side heading towards Radstock close to the turn off into Peasedown).

1.  What are the planned installations for Keynsham this year?

2.  My comment is that people had to sell their electric cars because the public charging points in car parks were being used more.  The number of electric cars compared to public charging points available is not enough as more people are now buying new electric cars.

3.  Who will fund the EV charging points?

See section 11 Electric Charging points

4.  How many charging points could you fund?

See section 11 Electric Charging points

5.  Will you get more funding next financial year? How can we access funding for additional electric vehicle charging points?

See section 11 Electric Charging points

6.  What are the implications of planning in relation to an EV charging point on a listed building?

7.  Do we know how many people have EV cars in the BANES area?

1.  Would it be possible to have an organisational chart for the Council?

See section 1 How the Council Works in Parish Information Pack

2.  Compliments to the waste team.  They have been excellent.  The webpages and service is excellent and we are kept up to date with disruptions.  The social media pages are excellent.  You manage expectations really well, giving honest information and reasons why you are not able to do something.

3.  Agree, the service is excellent. 

4.  Waste services in the Somer Valley were praised for their excellent kerb collection service, despite the challenges of busy and narrow roads.  Jenny Taylor, a vehicle loader, was specifically recognised for her high-quality work.  However, it has been observed that when a different vehicle is used for collections, there is an increase in waste spillage onto the road.

5.  What is the latest on the recycling centre in Bath regarding a new site and when are you starting in Keynsham?

6.  Concerned about the traffic impact across the villages if the Odd Down site for the Bath recycling centre comes forward?  Will all operations be transferred?

7.  As a Keynsham resident we are very happy.  No issues very good.

8.  What is happening about the shop at the Keynsham recycling hub?

9.  How is the Keynsham recycling hub going?

10.  Will it sell toys, furniture, nick-nacks?

11.  Will there be somewhere on site that can fix things too?

12.  I had a plastic watering can that had to be thrown away simply because it had been used for petrol (Priston).

13.  What do you do with plastic waste recycling?  Does anything go abroad?

14.  As a parish we have difficulty with a particular location and dog poo.  We were planning to buy a new bin but were told that B&NES would not collect the recycling/waste from that bin.  How can we address the issue?  (Bathford). 

15.  We had a similar issue in West Harptree - not just dog poo, but bottles and cans which were then going into the lake.  The issue was that the land was owned by Bristol Water.  We have dealt with it by having a household waste bin provided by the Parish Council and then we take the waste to a public location.  You need volunteers to help. 

16.  South Stoke has doubled in size.  We want to put new bins in but are not sure whether B&NES will collect the rubbish.  We are currently negotiating with the landowner. 

See section 14 Waste Issues in Parish Information Pack

17.  Do you have a shortage of drivers and do you train them?  Can you force them to stay with you?

18.  The first Clean and Green visit to Chew Magna was a great success.  It would be great to know how to schedule further work and view the areas already on the schedule. 

See Section 17 Clean and Green Initiative in Parish Information Pack

19.  Clean and Green initiative – how can I make a request for work in the scheme?

See Section 17 Clean and Green Initiative in Parish Information Pack

20.  I’ve got feedback on Clean and Green from Farmborough, Clutton and Chelwood.  We were not that impressed – not by the standard of the work but by the fact that we were invited to put forward a list of tasks which were then ignored.  The focus seemed to be on the highly visible places.  We all have street sweepers and wanted the Clean and Green teams to tackle jobs that they would not ordinarily undertake, rather than duplicating.  Please could there be more communication with Parishes in advance – when I called to discuss I was informed that the team had already decided what they would be doing.

See Section 17 Clean and Green Initiative in Parish Information Pack

21.  We have narrow pavements due to green verges, do you have someone who can deal with this?

See Section 15 Grass Cutting in Parish Information Pack

22.  What is the cost of collections for a parish council if they introduce wheelie bin recycling in playground and parks?

See section 14 Waste Issues in Parish Information Pack

23.  Public place recycling relies heavily on the public sorting items correctly into the designated receptacles. When a mess is created at these recycling points, the cleansing team is required to clean it up. The different commodities can be puzzling, as only specific types of glass can be recycled due to their density and treatment methods. It would be beneficial to provide more education on which items can and cannot be recycled, along with the reasons behind it.

24.  Fly tipping has been reported at the quarry in Stowey, with a variety of items accumulating, including a gas canister. Despite reports being made on fix my street, it appears that the landowner is not taking any action to address the issue. How can this be escalated? 

See section 14 Waste Issues in Parish Information Pack

25.  We emailed asking about cleaning fingerposts but received no response.  Probably because they are not on a main route (Priston).

26.  Will there be any more free trees?  We got some last year and it was good to see cardboard tubes with them rather than plastic (Priston).

27.  We have a community orchard but a lack of volunteers (Dunkerton & Tunley).

1.  Planning enforcement – we have a number of long standing cases and some of them do not have reference numbers.  Do we need to re-register the ones that do not have reference numbers? 

See Section 5 Planning Enforcement Enquiry in Parish Information Pack

2.  Should you be recruiting more staff to help with the backlog?  We have asked for enforcement to come to scrutiny.

3.  Is the backlog going down?

4.  Is the issue recruitment or budget? How can we help you?

5.  How can parishes escalate issues around planning enforcement and receive feedback on current issues? 

See Section 5 Planning Enforcement Enquiry in Parish Information Pack

6.  We have an issue with an application, as it came under a household application which meant that it wasn’t eligible for Biodiversity Net Gain.  Don’t understand why?

7.  What percentage of pre-applications proceed with an application?

8.  Pre-applications could come to the parish council to assist and then we can liaise with the applicant. 

9.  Sometimes the issue is that the applicant doesn’t agree with the pre-app advice and the applicant doesn’t follow the advice.

10.  One applicant can to the parish council at pre-app stage and got upset with he parish council regarding their comments. 

11.  Pre-app advise isn’t always comprehensive enough.

12.  There is a standard 21 day response for planning applications.  In Saltford more than 99% of cases we request an extension.  Are you able to provide a permanent extension to 28 days for all parish councils?

13.  What are the timescales for updating neighbourhood plans and how does this fit into the new local plan?

14.  When should parishes be renewing a made plan during the Local Plan process?

15.  Has there been any changes of direction on the local plan following consultation?

16.  Parishes want regular updates on CIL payments received from developers.

17.  Where properties are identified as being not in use what can be done to force owners into acting on work that is required?

18.  Do B&NES have any schemes to install solar panels on schools or similar?

19.  A new farm building has been built in Priston parish which proposed solar panels but the Council did not support this.  It was an opportunity from the Duchy that the Council did not take up.  We commented on it as a Parish Council and were ignored.  We also commented on another building potentially being developed for housing and were ignored.  We had spent weeks analysing information and previous applications.

20.  When is a Neighbourhood Plan taken into consideration by a case officer? 

21.  Parishes often specify the need for smaller dwellings in their Neighbourhood Plans but an application for a pair of semi-detached dwellings was turned down in Chew Stoke while a resubmitted application for a four bed detached was approved.  The two semi-detached would have been better.

22.  What is the turnaround time for planning applications?  It seems to take months and can be hard for parishes to track (Peasedown St John).  What is the problem? 

See Section 3 Planning Enquiries in Parish Information Pack

23.  Our community hall in Peasedown St John is not well insulated.  Do you have to meet certain criteria on this before having solar panels?