LIDDINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the annual meeting held on
Wednesday 4th June 2025 at 7pm in the Village Hall
Present: Councillors Aftelak, Bunney (Chair), Poppleton, and Wilson
Also present: Ward Cllr G Sumner and three members of the public.
1.
APOLOGIES
Resolved: Laura Evans, Clerk (unavailable). Apologies were not received from Cllr Pike.
2.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr Poppleton declared an interest as Treasurer for All Saint’s Church.
3.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
Resolved: The Minutes of the Full Council meeting held on 7th May 2025 were approved and signed as a true
record. Agreed. Proposed by Cllr Poppleton. Seconded by Cllr Wilson. Signed by Cllr Bunney.
4.
MATTERS ARISING (10 MINUTES)
To consider any matters arising from the minutes that are not covered elsewhere within the agenda.
Local bus service – Cllr Sumner reported having spoken to Nigel Hale at SBC and is awaiting a reply.
Speed sign – Speed sign data sent by Cllr Wilson to Cllr Ward this evening so no chance to have done anything
with it at the moment. Max speed 90mph. Average speeds fluctuate much more. Speed sign at the bottom also
registers speeds in opposite direction. Cllr Sumner will open up a conversation with the Highways team. 2 new
speed signs are awaiting installation. 1 can go on the post already in site by Hillside.
Action: Cllr Wilson to send further data from speed sign at the top of Purley Road as soon as possible. Also to
suggest Cllr Poppleton is trained up on the sign by the resident who currently changes the battery and extract
information.
Cllr Bunney to sort a date for installation and let other Councillors know.
Footpaths terms of reference – done.
Newsletter – done.
Allotments – extra water container to be done later in the year. Nothing further to report at present.
7.
PUBLIC SESSION (15 MINUTES)
Roundabout idea sent by email. Cost is going to be quite prohibitive. Example given of one done 9/10years ago
elsewhere costing £45,000/£50,000. Lots of residents want it to be gone and have done stupid things to show it
doesn’t slow down the traffic. No physical measures are now available. Crossing point would have to be moved
either way up or way down the hill from its current place if a mini roundabout were installed. The process is Cllr
Sumner gets rest of speed data as above, rubber strips are installed to find out volumes of traffic etc, then scheme
costed. If some of the Cil money could be used, then this might help. Realistic timescale – could be 1-2 months
before data analysed.
20mph speed limit – officer being chased as it has to be done by November this year before survey results expiry.
Footpath sub committee – B4192 verge clearance done initially by resident and Cllr Poppleton. Further verge
clearance work done a week later. Next group will be after the fete. Litter picking has also carried out in various
areas. Meeting today with SBC. They made various comments/suggestions reference wilding the verges. They
have also confirmed the right-hand side on the way down Purley Road is probably owned by a farmer and is not
SBC land. Maps are being sent to confirm boundaries on both sides of the road.
Budget to be presented at the next Parish Council for re-wilding.
Action: Parish Clerk to add the budget for rewilding to the next agenda
Page 1 of 3
Minutes – June 2025
8.
WARD COUNCILLOR REPORT (10 MINUTE)
Biogas – planning committee next Tuesday. Cllr Sumner has reclused himself from the committee to speak against
it. Aerial drone footage clearly shows the area is countryside. This development appears to be ‘green washing’.
Grid connection needed at the site as the biofuel is fed into the grid somewhere else. The green bio fuel is just .01%
of the total gas – the rest is from fossil fuels. This is at odds with developing in the countryside.
Action: Cllrs Wilson & Bunney to attend the planning committee as Liddington Parish Council representatives.
Someone needs to ask permission to attend. Public are allowed to attend without booking. If Liddington Chat admin
is happy then publicise meeting and send out image. Cllr Bunney to ask the admin of Liddington Chat and send
something out if agreed, together with the image from Cllr Sumner showing clear countryside. Cllr Poppleton to
contact a resident to talk about judicial review citing it’s not green gas and an area of outstanding natural beauty.
9.
Planning
(a)
(b)
(c)
To consider any planning applications:
The meeting noted that no applications had been received.
To note any comments submitted between meetings:
The meeting noted that no comments had been submitted.
To note any decisions:
The meeting noted that no decisions had been received.
10. FINANCE (10 MINUTES)
(a) To approve payment of the following invoices:
Resolved: Cllr Poppleton proposed approval of the invoices, standing order, recurring payment and ratification of
the payments made between meetings. Cllr Wilson seconded the proposal and was unanimously agreed
• HMRC- Tax Month 02 – £56.60
• The Play Inspection Company- £108.30
(b) To approve payment of the following Standing Orders:
• Adams & Watt June Installment – £816.80
• Adams & Watt Dog bin emptying – June – £14.30
(c) To approve the following Direct Debits:
• Three Mobile phone bill – £3.00
(d) To approve payment of the following recurring payments
• Unlimited webhosting – (18/06/2025- 17/07/2025) – £5.99
(e) Bank charge
• Lloyds bank charge (10/04/2025-09/05/2025) – £4.25
(f)
To ratify payments made between meetings
• Salary May – £226.00
• Gallagher- Insurance Renewal- £903.09
• Royal Mail- Newsletter Distribution – £392.10
• Mike Horan Printing- Newsletter printing- £65.00
• Royal Mail- Boundary Map confirmation- £11.70
(f) To receive the monthly account reconciliation.
13. VILLAGE MATTERS (15 MINUTES)
a) Medbourne Lane Landslips. Nothing further
b) Liddington.org website update. Nothing further. Action: Cllr Poppleton to progress
c) CiL Money. New bench down Purley Road. Bins in Chiseldon Road. Road layout possibly. Action: Clerk
to advise if CiL money can be used for the road layout if anything can be done.
d) Newsletter – nothing needed at present
e) Lyden Magazine. Nothing further. The Lyden team are meeting tomorrow to provide feedback on notes
from Cllr Poppleton. Action: Clerk to keep on agenda.
f)
Litter problem Ridgeway – Quotations circulated before the meeting for litter bins. Earth Anchors chosen.
Action: Clerk to order. Signage – Cllr Poppleton talked to SBC footpath people. Wording needs to
encourage people rather than order them to do something. Needs to be concise. Action: Cllr Poppleton to
progress.
g) Christmas Tree – nothing further. Action – Clerk to report back on feedback from Adams and Watt about
type of tree.
Page 2 of 3
Minutes – June 2025
h) Signpost update – The Street signpost will have to be a rebuild. Cllr Bunney has spoken to Adams and Watt
who have a carpenter who could cut out the holes required as that’s a major part of the work. Action: Cllr
Bunney to progress.
i)
j)
Defibrillators – nothing further to report. Action: Cllr Bunney to progress.
Village Hall – Emergency use. SSSE have a scheme whereby they will fund solar cells for public buildings
like village halls for emergency purposes. Would need to put together an emergency plan – there is an
expert in village on emergency plans for nuclear power stations so he could help set up an emergency plan
for the village. Too late for 2025. Scheme running for next 2/3 years. Next time would be June 2026.
Action: Cllr Bunney to speak to resident and Swindon Borough Council.
14. COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS (10 MINUTES)
Councillors who have attended meetings on behalf of the Parish Council or who are responsible for local schemes,
amenities and projects will have the opportunity to provide an update on progress made.
Allotments (AP & GW). All looking ok. One plot where nothing has happened for a year. The resident was spoken
to at renewal time and 3 months later still nothing is done. The agreement states the Parish Council can give the
holders one months’ notice and if no material difference is made then the plot can be taken back. Action: Cllr
Poppleton to speak to the allotment holder to that effect.
Playing Field (CB) – Play Park Inspection Report. The playground was inspected 28th May 2025. Lots of low-level
items that need to be sorted on the Play Park Inspection Report. Action: Cllr Bunney to draw up an action plan of
work based on the report.
Village Hall Committee – none.
Swindon Local Council Forum (CB & GW). No meeting was held.
Parish Chairs/Clerks Engagement Meeting. No meeting was held.
Purley Road Bench – Cllr Bunney gave out details of replacement benches. Action: Cllr Bunney to send round an
email with 3 quotes.
15. PARISH MAGAZINE (5 MINUTES)
The meeting agreed to put the following in the Parish Magazine:
Biogas (after meeting on 10th)
Footpaths
Bench
Speedwatch
Cllr Poppleton to write article and send to Clerk
16. CORRESPONDENCE
The meeting noted that no correspondence had been received.
17. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION/FUTURE AGENDA
To receive information on matters not covered elsewhere & to receive future agenda item
The meeting closed at 9pm
Signed………………………………………………………………………………Date…………………………….
