Memorial Hall Time 2pm

1. Apologies Steve Hunt (Youth), Jenny Winslade (Buses). Angela Peskett and Shan Edwards (West Moors Parish Council, invited but unable to attend).

2. Review of minutes/actions from last meeting.
These were agreed and signed by Roger.

Outstanding Actions.

a) Speed Indicator. Roger reported that this had operated successfully in Pinehurst Road and although it had been turned through 180 degrees, this time it was intentional in order to measure speeds from the opposite direction. Item closed

b) Extra Bus serving West Moors
No further news from DCC or Nordcat Buses. Roger reported that the last Transport TAG had been poorly attended. ACTION Agreed to revisit this matter. John B to write to Nordcat.

c) Moving the pedestrian crossing from outside the old post office. No further news. Parish Council are chasing this up. No further action at this time

d) Village Christmas evening. Confirmed that this will take place on Friday 4th December and it was agreed that this year the LAG will not be manning a stall.

3. Correspondence
None.

4. Feed back from Dorset Area Parish and Town Council AGM held on 4th November in Dorchester.
Penny and John B confirmed that the item requiring the DAPTC to take some action regarding unelected bodies obtaining funding, had been discussed. Result was a much watered down amended resolution-Namely:-
‘That the DAPTC write to the County, Borough and District Councils requesting that any unelected action groups or partnerships, as a precondition of seeking funding, seek the support of elected Parish and Town Councils.’

Penny and John B had no problem in supporting this amended resolution, which was the action they were asked to take in advance of the AGM by West Moors Parish Council.

5. Reaction to letters from resigning members of the Parish Council.
With the approval of the author’s, copies of the Statement from the ex Chairman of West Moors PC, and a letter from another Councillor were circulated. Both expressed concern over the influence that the LAG seemed to be gaining within the Parish Council. It was felt by LAG members that these documents illustrated the misconceptions held by some Councillors regarding the legitimacy of the LAG and concerns about its intentions.

LAG members took exception to the comment from an ex Councillor that the LAG was intent upon ‘Council Bashing' this being a term used at LAG meetings. John B explained that as Secretary he had attended every LAG meeting to take the minutes and had never once heard this expression, or anything like it being used. He put it down to rather colourful emphasis of a point.

It was agreed that if the PC and the LAG could cooperate over issues, then the fears expressed would largely disappear as new members joined the Council. Support for this concept was expressed by John P, the Acting Chairman of the Parish Council.

Simon explained the way in which the Parish Plan process worked and acknowledged that when selling the new concept to Parish Councils the matter could have been better handled. The decision was taken at the time to exclude elected bodies in order to get ideas and proposals directly from the public. There are moves afoot to agree a protocol for any new Parish Plans which it was hoped would avoid any future misunderstandings.

Roger, Pete and John B explained how the West Moors PP had been produced following an extensive questionnaire sent to all village residents. This followed an Open Day held in the Hall. A Parish Councillor (Barry Wye) had been an active member of the Steering Group. However when presenting the draft to the Parish Council they were surprised at the somewhat lukewarm reaction to the document. It transpired that the PC saw their role only as following up on actions in the Plan where they felt that they agreed and had influence, rather than supporting the whole document. This uncertainty regarding future progress was the main reason why the Steering Group evolved into the LAG, when the opportunity was also taken to recruit new volunteers from the village.

Simon advised that some communities had followed this route by agreeing their own written constitution, whereas others had remained affiliated to EDCP. He confirmed that LAG’s TAG’s and PACT’s were seen as a natural progression in the PP process.

Carol was critical of the way in which the PP process had been introduced and had reservations about unelected bodies receiving support from the District Council.

Judith queried the need for this type of exercise as it had not reached North Norfolk whilst she was living there. Simon explained that it was introduced following a Government White Paper which had recommended more of a bottom up, rather than a top down approach to Local Government. The process was covered by the Local Govt Act 2000.
Simon conceded that there had been problems, not just in West Moors, but in other East Dorset Parishes. EDCP is addressing the concerns, but the fact remained that Parish Plans were being rolled out right across the rural community and the District Council are committed to supporting this initiative.

It was agreed that co-operation between the LAG and the PC was essential and the fact that three members of the LAG were now Parish Councillors could only assist to overcome any difficulties.

6. Pursuing outstanding PP Action Points.
Simon advised that funding to assist with a revisit to Parish Plans might be available once 4-5 years had elapsed from the original start dates. He asked to be kept informed if West Moors intended to follow this route. A copy of the review conducted by the village of Broadmayne was circulated as an example of the form that this might take. It was agreed by LAG members that this was something that they may wish to consider and that it might be an opportunity to introduce some new blood into the LAG, or turn the whole thing over to a new set of volunteers. ACTION LAG to discuss at a future meeting.

7. Future of LAG if members join Parish Council.
John B confirmed that under the present LAG constitution no more than five LAG members could be in both groups. At the moment there were three members who operated on both groups. (A couple of attempts by an additional LAG member to join the PC had been unsuccessful.) LAG members had agreed that as five represented only a third of the total number of Parish Councillors this did not seem unreasonable. It was agreed that applying to become a Parish Councillor is a personal choice and being accepted on to the council is a decision that can only be made at a full Parish Council meeting.

If the decision is taken to revisit the Parish Plan then a new Steering Group or LAG will be required to take this action.

8. Chairman’s Report
Nothing further to report, other than to thank Simon and the invited Parish Councillors for attending the meeting.

9. AOB
Pete enquired if funding might be available to provide some sort of facility for those youths aged between 12 and 17 who do not attend the Youth Club. Some sort of meeting place/coffee bar that was available during the evening would be ideal. ACTION Simon and Pete to see if EDDC had any funding available for this type of project.

10. Next Meeting.
To be advised, but the point was made that afternoon meetings usually precluded those LAG members with day time jobs from attending. It was agreed that the LAG should resume advertising meeting times on the Village Notice board so anyone interested could attend.


The meeting ended at 4.30 pm.