Ilmington

The divisional engineer had said that the gully emptier would be visiting the village in April to cleanse all the gullies as part of its routine cycle.

He should be told that there were bad potholes in Back Street, by Hobdays Bank, in front of Dowler's farm and in Front Street by the Upper Green.

With regard to the sewage problems at the bottom of the village, Severn Trent had written to say that the possibility of constructing a manhole in the highway verge was progressing.

Parish councillors were not happy about this and wanted to see a plan of what was proposed before any action was taken.

A representative from Severn Trent will be asked to the annual parish meeting on May 9 to explain the position.

The chairman reported that he had rung the electricity company about the chestnut tree on the Upper Green that was overhanging its wires, and staff had agreed to come and look at it.

The divisional surveyor had been told by the county council legal department that it had received a complaint about trees being planted on the highway verge.

The department was worried about the care of the many trees which had been planted recently as a millennium project and whether it would be responsible for them.

The chairman had explained that most of the trees had been planted in hedges with the farmers' permission, and that they would be looked after by those who had bought them and by the parish council.

The clerk reported that she had received two letters from GPU Power Distribution, saying that it had been inundated with inquiries and would write again as soon as the necessary information was available on how many times the supply to Ilmington had been interrupted during the past 12 months.

Mrs Joan Hughes reported that both Mr Derek Chapman and Mr Peter Coupland had received replies, giving all the information asked for by the clerk.

GPU should be asked why private individuals should be given this information and not the parish council.

There had been another breakdown the previous week at the bottom end of the village.

The situation appeared to have got worse since the Armscote Road and some of the Bennett Place houses had had night storage heaters put in.

GPU should be asked to check whether the system was overloaded as a result.

The district landscape and recreation officer had sent details of the district amenity verge mowing schedule, giving dates for the completion of each district wide cycle.

This started in April and continued until the following February.

It was felt that mowing in winter was unnecessary and district coun C J Saint agreed to take this matter up with the district council.

With regard to planning matters, the parish council had no representations to make on an application for the installation of a back up generator at the CTI site, Larkstoke; for an extension to form additional living accommodation at The Old Wharf, Armscote Road; or for the replacement of two dilapidated outbuildings with a single wooden one at Orchard Cottage, Frog Lane.

A notice of permission with conditions had been received from the district council for the construction of a conservatory at Pippin Cottage, Front Street, and a notice of refusal for a new vehicular access to Hobdays Field, Mickleton Road.

The clerk reported that the fountain by Loreto Cottage was completely blocked with mud and should be cleaned out.

She also reported that the hedge round Clifford's orchard, opposite the entrance to Frog Lane, was overhanging the road and making it difficult to turn into Frog Lane.

The chairman agreed to speak to the owner.