North Nibley Parish Council Meeting

1st October 2025

My informal notes from last Tuesdays Parish Council meeting that I attended along with SDC Cllr. Braun.

I noticed a splendid mosaic on the wall of the village hall for the first time. I'm certain that it's a recent addition and took a quick photo on my way in.

No members of the public present this months meeting.

It's always a pleasure listening to Cllrs rattling through the action points from prior meetings. It appears that the Black Horse was not successful in bidding for some grant money for their car park. Not really a parish council issue as it's private land but good to see a level of support and collaboration. Some discussion of a worsening water leak close to Highlands Drive. The actual source of the water and therefore responsibility is murky but steps are being taken to progress. Brief talk of the recent Bio Blitz, bench on the knoll and bench for the play area. War memorial needs a clean and risk assessment for the closed churchyard.

I ran through a quick recap of the October SDC Councillors' report which had only just been received; this parish meeting is very early in the month. Not directly related to SDC but I noted (via the Police & Crime Panel) that the IOPC has now completed its independent investigation of Chief Constable Rod Hansen and has concluded that there is a case to answer and he will face a gross misconduct hearing. This will enable the allegations to be formally considered. The hearing will be arranged at a neutral venue in the next few months according to Police regs. Also, there was a BBC Panorama airing that evening which exposed a number of concerning behaviours by officers serving at Charing Cross Police station. One of those officers subsequently transferred to Gloucestershire Constabulary so action will follow.

Cllr J Smith has had success in arranging an informal event on 19th November with neighbouring parishes, positive responses from Dursley, Wotton, Kingswood, Hillsey & Tresham. The Clerk reported on a few items not covered by agenda. Myself, Catherine and Linda need to send some photos (that we like!) for inclusion on the parish web site. Precept payments have been released. New bank account. A discussion about siting a new defibrillator at the school. However there maybe building works happening. Consensus seemed to be to go with it. An intrim report is due for the audit, everything OK just a bit slow, I think.

Discussion on planning application at Basset Farm converting agriculture buildings into one dwelling. Dog kennels in close proximity but that activity will cease and being returned to paddock. Council agreed to submit no comment.

Cllr J Smith had to report the unfortunate news that the council had lost £8k of grant funding for the play area. It seems that there were terms in the original application from some three years ago that had been overlooked. However, the fund can be reapplied for when the play area is ready to proceed. These set backs are all too common in local government and they can be very demotivating. Hey ho, lessons learnt. On a positive note the rest of the project is almost ready to go. Myself and Cllr Braun left the meeting soon after 10b on the agenda for a quick catch-up.