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Parish Council Minutes April 2007
Home > Parish Council > Minutes > Apr 2007
The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 11th April 2007 commencing at 7.30 p.m.
The Vice-Chairman, Cllr Mrs M Metcalfe, presided; present were Cllrs M. Day, S Gibbons, C Hill, Mrs J Nudds, M Stevenson and M Williams with G Russell in attendance. Also present for part of the meeting were County Cllr John Howell and four residents.
1 Apologies for absence
Apologies from Cllr Ken Bryan, who is unwell
2 Declarations of Interest
There were none
3 Minutes of the Meeting held 14th March 2007
The Minutes as circulated were approved and signed
4 Matters Arising from the Minutes
a. Location of David Johnston Memorial seat; the Clerk reported that the family was not keen on the idea locating the seat outside the old Cemetery Building and will come back with their own alternative suggestion.
b. Housing Register: the Clerk has been in contact with the Housing section of SODC. It is not possible to get a breakdown of how many Dorchester residents or people with Dorchester connections are on the Register until the Council’s new system is up and running next month. The present numbers of all who have included Dorchester as a place they would like to live are 175 in search of one-bed property; 75 in search of 2 beds and 50 in search of 3 beds.
c. The Council noted that the theft of bicycles is continuing. Mrs Julie Taylor had hers taken from the Abbey porch on Sunday. A robbery from the gift box in the Abbey has also recently been attempted. All these incidents have been reported and the Clerk will put a notice in Dorchester News warning bicycle owners to be careful.
d. Revival of the project for parking off Henley Road; the Clerk has located the papers from 2002/3 and passed them to County Cllr John Howell during the meeting.
e. The new litter bin outside the Co-Op store is now in place.
f. The Clerk confirmed that responses have been sent to both the Minerals and the Waste Site local consultation programmes. Both have been acknowledged.
5 County Councillor's Report
County Cllr Howell reported on his efforts to maintain a service along at least part of the X15 route between Wallingford and Witney. This is due to cease on 2nd June. All bus services in this part of the County are due for review next year and Cllr Howell said that he would like to have a discussion about this matter in the near future. The forthcoming Annual Parish Meeting offers an opportunity to raise the matter with residents.
Following further meetings with Cllr Howell the organisers of the main group of motor cyclists who meet at the Berinsfield roundabout have said that they will use posters, leaflets and their own marshals in an effort to control the minority of riders who persist in their anti-social and dangerous behaviour. Cllr Howell said that the Police have also promised that they will be taking action from the middle of April.
6 Correspondence and Other Business
i). Sports Club Pavilion & Playground;
Wicksteed Leisure is due to start work on the Play Area very soon and hope to finish by the end of the month. Equipment is to be stored in Cllr Bryan’s drive. The location for the new goal mouth has been agreed.
The Clerk reported that Scion have been asked to expedite the provision of the disabled ramp access
It is now too late in the year for the recreation ground’s perimeter hedge to be cut but Peter Keable is on notice to undertake the work in the late summer/early autumn.
Cllr Hill asked if there was any news about when the archaeological digs might start and the Clerk was asked to ensure that Cllr Hill received copies of all correspondence about this project so that he could keep the Sports Club informed.
ii). Footpaths;
Nothing to report
iii). Cemetery;
The Council noted a letter received from the department headed by Rt. Hon. Harriet Harman concerning the safety of memorials. Although the safety of memorials is important the Minister recommends that burial authorities should show sensitivity towards the families of those graves needing remedial work to make them safe.
The Clerk has received a request from the Hurley family for a commemorative tree planting and the suggested location was approved.
The Council was told that in recent weeks there have several occasions when vehicles have gained access to the area near the old cemetery gatehouse building. It was agreed that if possible the gate near Belcher Court should be closed so that cars and vans are prevented from passing while still allowing access for prams and bikes.
iv). Allotments;
Nothing to report
v). Hidden Britain;
The orientation boards have been delivered and their erection will be arranged as soon as possible. The Clerk has made contact with Paul Berry, owner of 4 Beechcroft who lives in Brazil, seeking his approval for the placing of one of the boards in front of the leylandii at the edge of his front garden
i). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk
a. The Council has been asked if it has any objection to the removal of the willow tree outside 50 Watling Lane. This tree is close to the street light and associated power lines and both SODC and the residents have agreed to the tree’s removal. The Council agreed that the tree should be removed. The Council further agreed that it could see no particular merit in planting a replacement in this part of the village.
b. The County Council has agreed to supply a solar-powered street light to illuminate the steps leading up from the bus stop on the southern-bound carriageway of the by-pass. The Clerk has met on site with Alan Cockbill from the County Council and agreed that the light should be located near to the top of the steps.
7 Planning
a) Applications
PO6/W0685 Amended; Dorchester Sailing Club, Abingdon Road
New Building and Demolition of part of old building.
The Council’s planning group had agreed that it had no objection to the amended proposal. Approval has been sent to SODC and a letter of support to the Sailing Club.
PO7/W031 Amended The Chequers Public House, 20 Bridge End
Erection of a pair of semi detached houses & associated garages. Alteration to access.
&
PO7/W0030/LB amended The Chequers Public House, 20 Bridge End
Demolition of 20th century extensions. Pub use retained car park layout revised & demolition of sectional garage building.
The Council has received further representations from neighbours of this site, all of which are opposed to these proposals. Based upon the additional information now received, the Council sees no reason to change its view that both of these applications should be refused.
PO7/W0189 & PO7/W0190/LB Cranmer Cottage 90 High Street,
Demolition of annex and link and erection of replacement annex.
The Council had received several comments about these applications and decided that much of the argument both for and against the proposals is of a specialised and technical nature. The Council therefore decided to take no strong views and to request that the District Council give careful considerations to the representations that have been made.
PO7/W0289 Copse to NW of Manor House off Manor Farm Road
Demolition of single garage & construction of double garage.
The Council had no strong views on this application, accepting that the District Council will determine the application as it considers appropriate.
PO7/W0345 1 Crown Lane
Extension, porch and pitched roof to replace flat roof.
The Council recommended approval for this application as being an enhancement to the property.
PO7/W0252 Ditch South of Henley Road
Clean out existing fishery and enlarge proposed enlargement of existing fishery.
The Council recommended that this application be refused. It has concerns about development of any kind in this area and is worried by the lack of parking facilities for visitors. The apparent lack of full consultation with neighbouring residents is to be questioned.
b) Report on planning decisions, amendments etc
P07/W0066/LB 36, High Street; Replace casement kitchen window.
Consent granted 28th March
P07/W0109
Thatchers Cottage, 15 Queen
Street, Dorchester-on-Thames,
Extension & alteration to existing garage & formation of terrace area adjacent
to house. Reinstatement of vehicular access.
Consent granted 27th March
P07/W0141/LB
Thatchers Cottage 15 Queen
Street Dorchester-on-Thames
Internal alterations to existing cottage.
Consent granted 4th April
8 Finance: Bank balances & Accounts for Payment.
Bank balances
Current Account at 30th March £16,213.35
Reserve Account at 30th March £23,538.67 (interest earned £158.71)
The following accounts were approved for payment.
Photocast Products (fingerpost) £1,494.01*
Pryorsign (orientation boards) £5,663.50*
Berinsfield Community Business (Sign installation) £264.38*
Grundon Waste Management (TOE funding condition) £550.80
C Brown (repair to War Memorial chain) £40.00
SODC (Cemetery Rates 2007/8) £127.87
Thames Water (Sportsground £40.74 Allotments £25.07) £65.81
OALC (annual subscription) £179.28
Town & Country Memorials Ltd £105.00
Scion Estates Limited (footpaths gravel) £611.00
SPISE (subscription) £30.00
GGD Russell – Clerk’s salary £401.82
GGD Russell – admin & travel expenses April £98.40
Geoff Willis Handyman – 4 weeks - (March £263.50) £201.50
£9,833.37
*These items subject to Hidden Britain grant
9 Car Parking & other Highways maintenance matters
Bridge End: The Clerk confirmed that the £3,000 Environmental improvement grant from SODC has been received. He understood that the balance of work (marking of bays etc) in Bridge End car park will be finished shortly. Brian Purcell-Smith, from County Highways, does not wish to manage the whole project so it may be necessary to spend some of the SODC money to get everything finished – for example the turfing, tree-planting and the replacement of the handrail and the wire fence at the underpass end.
It was agreed that Cllrs Hill and Stevenson would meet and recommend what further action the Council should take. Cllr Stevenson said that he would put in some posts which would prevent cars from parking on the area that is supposed to be grass.
Watling Lane: Colin Crump of Aztec Plant Services, who was introduced to the Council by Cllr John Howell, has been to review the state of Watling Lane and his report and recommendations are awaited.
10 Village Carbon Project
It was agreed that Chris Goodall, author of the recently published book ‘How to lead a low carbon life’ should be invited to speak at the Annual Parish Meeting in May after which volunteers would be invited to form a steering group to suggest further actions which could be taken by residents of Dorchester
11 Proposal for Disabled Car Parking Space – Queen Street
It was understood that this space has been requested by the School but the reasons for making the request are unknown. Without hearing a good case presented for the provision of this space the Council agreed that it would oppose the suggestion.
12 Any Other Business
There being no further business the Meeting closed at 10.00
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