Aust Parish Council

 

LATEST NEWS  

  • Scroll down the page to the section on Council Meetings to find the most recently approved Parish Council minutes.
  • South Gloucestershire Council is co-ordinating information about events and services planned for next year and relating to the centenary of the start of World War I.  You can read a letter about it here and here is a form which organisations can complete and return to South Gloucestershire Council to notify any planned events.  The deadline for the return of information is 24 May 2013.
  • Here is advance news of an upcoming consultation on a Severn Estuary Flood Risk Management Strategy. The consultation period will last 8 weeks and will start in early May. A link to the consultation document will be provided here when the consultation period starts.
  • The Care Forum is now producing a Healthwatch e-Bulletin for South Gloucestershire, containing local, regional and national information on health, wellbeing and social care services.  You can access the latest e-Bulletin here.
    •
  • The local SORT IT! Centre in Thornbury now hosts 'Revive', a shop selling affordable items previously used but now unwanted by local residents.  This is part of the philosophy which promotes re-use over recycling and landfill.  If you're looking for some affordable furniture (kitchen chairs? waste paper baskets?), crockery, or miscellaneous items (mirrors?  a drum kit?), why not browse your local Revive Shop, run by SITA UK, with the support of South Gloucestershire Council.  There's plenty to see, all under cover, with free parking.  Read more about it here.
  • Avon and Somerset Police have alerted us to a newsletter called Senior Siren, produced for the local older adult population.  It contains a mixture of articles of general interest and some useful crime prevention and home/personal safety advice. You can see the latest issue of Senior Siren here.  You can also find back copies of the newsletter and other useful information on the website of the Senior Citizen Liaison Team - click here. 
  • Check out the latest details about M4 and M5 motorway closures here and here, as work continues to provide a 'managed motorway' system. 
  • A planning application for the erection of two 130 metre high wind turbines at Valley Farm, Ingst Hill in the parish of Olveston was sent in to South Gloucestershire Council in December. You can view the application online here.  The deadline for comments on the application was 25 January.  In October, Olveston Windfarm Action Group launched a weather balloon close to to the proposed site, at a height of 126 metres (the height originally proposed for the turbines), to give an idea of the visual impact of the turbines.  You can see here photos of the weather balloon taken by local residents from a number of different local viewpoints.  REG Windpower, the company which has submitted the planning application, has provided - as one of its 218 supporting documents - a map showing what they consider to be the maximum area within which the turbines could be visible. The green areas show places from where the tips of the turbine blades could be seen; the yellow areas show places from where the hub and blades could be seen.  You can see REG Windpower's map here.  Olveston, Aust, Pilning and Severn Beach, Alveston, Oldbury-on-Severn, Hill and Rockhampton Parish Councils oppose the planning application. 
    •
  • You can follow the progress of Avon and Somerset's recently elected Police and Crime Commissioner on the official PCC website here.
  • The South Gloucestershire Family Placement Team is keen to find local people who could act, on a regular basis, as carers offering short-term breaks for children or young people, especially children on the autistic spectrum. Share the Care allows people to establish long-term relationships with the children and their families but may involve as little as one weekend per month.  To read more about what is involved and to discover how you can find out more, click here.
    •
  • South Gloucestershire Council is committed to supporting the independence and well-being of older people and other vulnerable adults in the area.  They aim to help people live independently and, where possible, in their own homes and they provide some online guidance about the assessments and services provided.  You can see the range of information available here.  
  • You can view a poster here about Carers Groups in South Gloucestershire.  There 4 different kinds of groups now: All Carers groups, Dementia groups, Learning Difficulties groups and Mental Health groups.  No need to book.  You can just turn up.  It's a chance for carers to have a cup of tea and a chat and to pick up some information.  Check out the poster to discover how to find your local groups.  You might also be interested in South Gloucestershire's Disability Action Group newsletter for March 2012.
  • The South Gloucestershire LINk works to encourage and support people to get involved in shaping local health and care services; from helping to decide what services should be commissioned, to influencing how they are run. It approaches all relevant sections of the community for their views and experiences of local health and care services. It has powers to tell those who commission, run and scrutinise local care services, what local people have recommended, to help improve services and hold them to account. The March 2012 e-bulletin contains information about the LINk, LINk events and meetings (all of which are open to anyone to attend), news and information about the planning, commissioning and delivery of health and social care services in and around S.Glos, plus relevant regional and national information.
  • From 1 January 2012, there are new arrangements for the local registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships.  To read about the arrangements and to find the opening times of your nearest register office, click here.
  • The Council has been informed of some recent or upcoming changes to bus services.  You can also check out a wide range of bus times on the South Gloucestershire Council website.  If you are interested in the 622 route, times are available here.
  • The Parish Council has received a letter dated 7 September 2011 giving an update on plans for future NHS services in Thornbury, including plans for the Thornbury Hospital site.  Read the letter here.
  • The Parish Council has learned of a new website called Well Aware, which gives information about health, well-being and community services for everyone in South Gloucestershire, Bristol, and Bath & NE Somerset. The website, which is run by The Care Forum (a not-for-profit voluntary organisation and charity), gives information about 1000s of groups, organisations, activities and services.  It has a user-friendly format which makes it easy to find support for a friend, family member - or for yourself.
  • The Parish Council has received news of an Emergency Carers Service, provided by South Gloucestershire Council, which it thinks local residents would be interested to know about.  You can find out about the service here.

  

The civil parish of Aust 

This is a small rural parish with a large acreage but an electoral roll of only about 400. There are two very small parcels of registered Common Land in the parish. These are The Pound by the side of the Village Hall, Aust and The Pond in Rushen Lane, Littleton. Oversight and care of these sites are the responsibility of Aust Parish. The Council owns the nature reserve known as Woodwell Meadows in Field Lane, which was acquired with the help of South Gloucestershire Council recently.  It is managed by South Gloucestershire Council as a nature reserve, because of the interesting flora in the meadow. An article in Meeting Point, the community magazine, gives some information about the Woodwell Meadows nature reserve and its history.

Councillors aim to promote the wellbeing of the parish and protect parishioners' interests. Main tasks are reviewing Planning Applications and submitting written comments and recommendations when necessary, and monitoring the conditions of roads and rights of way.

Noticeable achievements in recent years have been obtaining speed controls through Elberton and Aust villages and a 7.5 ton weight restriction on Passage Road, Aust.

Council meetings are currently held monthly, on the second Tuesday of the month, with the exception of August and December, when there are no meetings.  The April Council meeting is held on the same evening as the Annual Assembly. 

Click here for our Model Publication Scheme, produced in February 2009, itemising how and where all parish information can be obtained.

You can read the Council's Standing Orders here and also the Council's recently adopted Code of Conduct.

 

Councillors

 

 

Chairman - Michael Hawkins

418249

Deputy Chairman - Ronald Gwyther

412258

John Alway

632591

John Pullin

633143

Stephen Meredith

411065

Peter Ellis

412463

Andrew Learmonth

631377

   

Clerk to the Council:

 

Tim Pyper, Stock Farm, Stock Hill, Littleton-on-Severn, Bristol BS35 1NL

email: austparishcouncil@googlemail.com

07802

419451

 
  

 

Council Meetings

 

Parishioners are welcome to attend Parish Council meetings.  Check out the Events page on this website for dates and times of meetings.   

You can read the most recently approved minutes of Aust Parish Council here. (These minutes are put on the website once they have been approved and signed as an accurate record at the subsequent meeting of each committee.) 

You can read the confirmed minutes for the 2012 Annual Parish Meeting, held on 17 April 2012, here.  You can also read the unconfirmed minutes for the 2013 Annual Assembly, held on 9 April 2013, here. (The minutes have to be approved at the 2014 Annual Assembly.)

 

Aust Parish Matters

Our local community magazine Meeting Point regularly publishes reports from Aust Parish Council.  Here is the latest report from Tim Pyper, the Parish Clerk:

Annual Parish Meeting

March 31 marks the end of the Parish Council’s financial year, and we will hold our Annual Parish Meeting at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9th April in Elberton Village Hall.  The annual meeting is your chance to raise any matter you wish with your Parish Council.  We hope to be able to give a report about the progress with broad band developments in South Gloucestershire.  

Planning matters

The past month has seen the site inspection and development control committee hearing on the application to use the building between Quarry House and the White Hart in Littleton for tourism.  The Council has considered applications by the traveller family living beside Sandy Lane, Aust for a certificate that they have used the site for long enough not to require planning permission, and for a new manège in Littleton.  Aust church has received a welcome permission to replace its lead roof with terned steel – good news as it will prevent further damage by theft of lead.  

Highway issues

We have been trying for some time to get the surface of the track from Manor Farm, Aust to the M48 slip road repaired.  It has been in very bad condition for ages.  It forms part of the national cycle network.  We have met with South Gloucestershire and the Highways Agency to seek a solution.  It seems that the road is on land belonging to the Highways Agency, and has not been adopted by South Gloucestershire as highway.  We have not persuaded either of these authorities to accept responsibility for this track, but will continue our efforts.