Breinton Parish Council – December update
At their recent meeting, Breinton Parish Council identified the level of precept for 2018/19, which will be charged with the council tax, from April 2018. There will be an £800 increase to bring the annual amount to £12,265, being an increase of 7%.
There are 2 main reasons for this increase – the main one is that the lengthsman grant (given by Herefordshire Council / Balfour Beatty) for pothole repairs etc. will be discontinued after April 2018. Therefore all such works will have to be funded from the precept. To a lesser extent, we have plans to install interpretation panels and seats at various locations throughout the parish and it is prudent to increase reserves to help cover any maintenance and the future replacement cost of all our capital items.
The Breinton Parish Footpaths Officer has asked the Parish Council to remind the public that when walking along the footpaths, please make sure you ensure that all gates are closed after you have gone through them. This is especially relevant to ensure that livestock are kept within the fields they should be, and that they do not escape, which could lead to them wandering onto roads, or causing damage in other fields.
Bill Wiggin MP recently commented in the Hereford Times that he felt that the number of options for the route of the Western Relief Road should be reduced from 6 to 2 potential routes. Breinton Parish Councillors wrote to the MP asking on what basis he had come to this conclusion. Mr Wiggin MP subsequently responded to say that he had asked “only for the removal of routes that would fall foul of government planning regulations”. There is currently an on-going assessment of the environmental, biological and other matters, for each of the route options by Herefordshire Council. This will be followed by a consultation period with residents, probably early in 2018, before the route will be determined in the Hereford Area Plan.
Parish Councillors consider that all the evidence should be made available during the consultation period, and it is not appropriate to exclude any of the options at this premature stage.
Finally, with the current cold snap the lanes of Breinton are unlikely to be gritted by Herefordshire Council. There are several grit bins around the parish (and the Parish Council will endeavour to get a couple more), so please do not hesitate to spread the grit to make the lanes safer for all road users. The grit is to be used for the public roads only, and not for private driveways or paths. Do not worry, if you do spread grit on the lane and there is still an accident, you will not be pursued for causing an accident or injury. This grit is available for members of the public to use as there is unlikely to be anyone from Herefordshire Council coming round to spread the grit.