At the December meeting of East Williamston Community Council, the following matters were discussed...

The East Williamston sign has not been repaired and it not likely to be as it is still legible. The plaque for the oak tree at the Jubilee Park will very soon be in place.

The Station Road works are nearly finished with a letter of thanks sent from the Council.

A defibrillator sign has been ordered, with Cllr Strydom contacting Tony Wall of the First Responders about a new defib for Hillrise or somewhere suitable. Mr Wall has offered to hold another training session in the New Year, and can then discuss where is best to locate another defib, with grant funding to be sought for this.

The verge at Broadmoor has not been cleared. Cllr Hopkinson to get pics to send to SWTRA.

A letter has been sent to Clare Williams about 30mph limit on Cold Inn Road.

The Council will remind PCC about the new kerbing at East Williamston and make enquiries with Marc Owen about this.

It was resolved that a site visit to Templebar Road be held on December 8 with Mark Hooper from PCC, with regards to the Speed Signs.

Draft budget for 2023-24: The Clerk had previously circulated financial information to assist in drawing up a budget and had supplied a budget sheet with the current budget, estimated income and expenditure to March 31, 2023 and last year’s expenditure.

The Clerk and members then drew up a draft budget with a total income of £36,882.92 approx as the Council Tax Base Rate figure had not yet been received from PCC. This equated to an increase of £1 in the Precept to £33 with planned expenditure of £43,700.00 as per appendix 1. This equates to an approx precept income of £30,862.92 plus other income of £6,020.00. The shortfall of £6,817.08 would be taken from reserves. Budget figures to be sent to Members once the Council Tax Base Rate figure is received.

It was resolved that the above budget figures be sent to Members once the Council Tax Base Rate is received from PCC. The Precept to be increased by £1 to £30 per household.

Play area - The inspection reports had not been received to date. Cllr Ian Wilkinson had inspected all sites and suggested that we obtain quotes from James Horton for the replacement of the platforms on the multi-play units at Broadmoor and Pentlepoir.

Work needed to be carried out on the swings at East Williamston Park, so Cllr Wilkinson will contact the handyman to look at this work. The platform on the multi play could be reversed to save replacing it.

Cllr Wilkinson will arrange to meet with James Horton when he does the safety surfacing at Broadmoor.

County councillor for the ward Cllr Jacob Williams reported that about six or seven streetlights in a row had stopped working along the main road through Wooden, near the vicinity of the Valley Road junction.

The street lighting engineer investigated and confirmed that there was a fault on the underground street lighting cable, and this was promptly fixed.

The following matters were also raised at the meeting: Cllr C Hopkinson reported a pothole in Templebar Road outside Dorchester Cottage which should be reported to PCC.

Cllr Hopkinson had also been speaking to the engineer about Saundersfoot Road and PCC have agreed to put posts on the verge to stop vehicles parking there when visiting the Chinese restaurant.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 12 at the Community Hall at 7 pm.