The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 13^th December 2006 commencing at 7.30 p.m.

The Chairman, Cllr Ken Bryan presided; present were Cllrs Mrs M Metcalfe (Vice-Chairman), 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 was County Cllr John Howell and three residents.

1          Apologies for absence

None; all Councillors were present

2.         Declarations of Interest

Cllr Chris Hill declared a prejudicial interest in Planning Application P06/W1220 7, Bridge End which is his own home. He said that as Treasurer of the local branch of the Royal British Legion he would not be involved in approving the Council’s donation to the Legion. Cllr Stevenson said that he had written to the Council in connection with a business project. He would have a prejudicial interest when this letter is discussed.

3          Minutes of the Meetings held 8^th & 28^th November 2006

The Minutes were approved and signed after a note was inserted confirming that the Clerk would write to Dr Pritchard explaining that the Council could not commit itself to making a contribution towards the cost of buying land.

4     Matters Arising from the Minutes

a. The Queen Street flood prevention scheme is in place and seems to be an improvement. The Clerk will write to the owners of The White Hart thanking them for their co-operation.

b. The Clerk said that he had reviewed the security and accessibility of the Council’s electronic data in the case of an emergency. Simon Ratliff has been consulted and suggested the purchase of an external back-up hard-drive for around £100. This was approved.

c. The Police Environmental Visual Audit has been postponed until New Year.

d. Fred Cherrill has been given the go-ahead to proceed with the High Street bus shelter repairs.

e. The Village Christmas tree will be decorated in the next few days. A new set of lights has been required. The Clerk will write to Rick & Claire Houghton to thank them for donating the tree.

f. Thames Water has repaired the broken pipe in Drayton Road.

5     District Councillor's Report

District Cllr John Cotton has sent apologies.

6     County Councillor's Report

County Cllr John Howell commented upon the Bridge End car park surface being completed although not yet marked out. The top-dressing of Bridge End as a whole will take place next year.

The County Council has recently been assessed by the Audit Commission. The final rating is awaited with a grading of ‘excellent’ hoped for.

The area around Dorchester has been excluded from consideration by the Minerals Forum as a possible site for extraction in the foreseeable future. Cllr Howell said that he welcomed the interest shown by the archaeologists from Oxford University as this made future minerals extraction even less likely.

7          Correspondence and Other Business

i). Sports Club Pavilion & Playground;

Repairs to the Pavilion have now been completed. A further two down pipes are to be boxed in and a ramp for disabled access provided in time for the 2007 season. A quote from Scion is £535 and a second quote was requested from the contractor who provided the new ramp at the Village Hall.

Kevin Murphy has been asked to review the task of controlling the rabbits in order to indicate a ceiling of expenditure. The work is to be carried out in January.

Funding of the Play Area improvements: grants have been confirmed from SODC (£14,000) and TOE (£5,000). The Race night raised £1,600 and there have been several other private donations. The Parish Council has already provided £500 with the commitment of more to come if necessary up to a further £9,500.

ii). Footpaths;

Mark Sumner has said that the Overy kissing gates are on the County’s work list to do after winter clearance has been completed. If the Council can say that there have been complaints or find any reason for the project to be given higher priority the work could be done more quickly. It was agreed that the stability of the fence along the Mill garden is still a problem and Mark will be told this.

Mark Sumner is happy for the Parish Council to carry out any clearance work that it has identified as being required e.g. Albert Place.

From the Public Transport team at Speedwell House Steve Hayes has promised that the footpaths from the by–pass bus stops will be cleared soon, the handrail replaced and signage installed.

Scion has quoted £210 for new supply of gravel across and to the side of the Allotments. It was agreed that a quote should be obtained for similar work on Malt House Lane and alongside the Cemetery between Martins Lane and Drayton Road.

There was still no action or news of action from the County Council about repairs to the footway between Meadside and the Bridge or to Watling Lane. Cllr Mrs Nudds commented that Watling Lane is dangerous to all, be they pedestrians, cyclists, drivers of vehicles or pushers of prams.

iii). Cemetery;

A quote for sundry work has been received from BCB following a site meeting earlier in the day. Although items which involve work on the trees remain uncosted it was agreed that the rest of the work should proceed. There will be further discussion about what needs doing to the ditch.

iv). Allotments;

BCB will provide a quotation for clearing the uncultivated area on the northern side of the Allotments although the Council noted that this area may be selected for excavation by the team of archaeologists from Oxford.

v). Hidden Britain;

Cllr Williams will attend the next project meeting to discuss possible variations/additions to the schemes which have been selected to receive grant aid. The Village brochure reprint has now been received. Three boxes have already been distributed but several remain in the Village Hall awaiting better storage if available.

The stages now in progress are design and production of the orientation boards and the touch screen information kiosk in the Abbey. Two more walking guides are also to be produced. All the work that was being undertaken by the late Brian Oliver has now been allocated to others.

vi). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk

a. A letter had been received from Mark Stephenson and Cyd O’Brien asking for the Council’s support for the sale of organic produce on a weekly market stall to be sited within the village and the idea received general approval.

b. Gillian Johnson has asked that the Parish Council be made aware of her appreciation for everything that it does to make Dorchester such ‘a special village’.

c. The Council noted that at its meeting on Thursday 7 December, South Oxfordshire District Council had agreed to award the new contract to clean its public toilets to Cannon Horticulture.

d. The Council agreed that it would support the idea of a Village Newcomers evening.

e. The minutes of the recent Rivers Users meeting have been received. Cllr Hill will try to attend the next meeting. It was noted that some residents have expressed concerns about the welfare of the local population of swans. Information about charities who specialise in swan rescue will be obtained.

f. The Council noted that the electoral register now received for 1^st December 2006 showed 839 electors compared with 826 in 2005.

g. The Council noted the recommendations contained in a letter from Adam Dawson to Cllr Day about trees in the Closed Churchyard. Cllr Day will obtain prices from Paul Jenks and report back.

h. Details about a play provision survey being carried out for the Big Lottery Fund were passed to Cllr Gibbons for completion by 31^st January.

8          Planning

a)         Applications

P06/W1077/LB & P06/W1078 Cranmer Cottage, 90 High Street; Demolition of car port & garden shed. Elevational alterations to north elevation, new boiler house to north elevation. AMENDMENT

The Council had no strong views about this application

P06/W1220 7, Bridge End; Two storey side extension and single storey rear extension.

The Council had no strong views about this application

P06/W1267/LB 37, High Street; Replacement of part glazed front door with new hardwood painted door.

The Council was concerned that the proposal would change the character of the property to an unacceptable degree.

b)         Report on planning decisions, amendments etc

Mr Fisher has written to the Council about new planning proposals for The Chequers and the land adjacent to it. This will be circulated to all councillors and a copy forwarded to Cllr John Cotton.

9          Finance

a). Bank balances

Current Account at 30^th November                   £22,518.40

Reserve Account at 30^th November                  £33,185.85

It was agreed that there should be a transfer from Current to Reserve of £10,000

The following accounts were approved for payment:

SODC – Dog hygiene bin service                                                 £127.54

BDO Stoy Hayward LLP (Annual audit fee)                                £411.25

Scion Estates Limited (Grass cutting)                                            £245.35

Total Pest Control (UK) Ltd                                                        £176.25

M & M Skip Hire (Allotments)                                        £158.63

Artisan Litho (Village Brochure)                                                £1,448.00

Transpiration Limited (Park ‘n ride services)                                 £370.13

Royal British Legion Donation                                            £50.00

Margot Metcalfe (Hidden Britain expenses)                                    £40.00

Easily Limited (domain name extension)                              £10.56

Open Spaces Society (annual sub.)                                                £30.00

Oxfordshire Playing Fields Association (annual sub.)           £30.00

GGD Russell – Clerk’s salary                                                      £401.82

GGD Russell – admin & travel expenses Nov/Dec                       £148.70

Geoff Willis Handyman – 5 weeks - (November £312)    £305.00

Berinsfield Community Business Grass Cutting                  £135.13

Reading Extinguisher Services (Pavilion annual service)       £86.72

Berinsfield Community Business Cemetery                                   £223.25

b). External Auditor’s Report. Year to 31/3/2006

The Council noted the completion of the audit and the approval by the External Auditor of the Annual Return without qualification.

The notice of completion of audit has been displayed as required and no residents have asked to see the accounts in detail.

10        Car Parking & other Highways maintenance matters

The Bridge End work commenced almost one week ahead of schedule but there has been no news from the Highways Inspector about several other matters which in the opinion of the Parish Council require urgent attention. The Clerk will follow this up and report at the January meeting.

11        Oxford University Archaeological Project

A preliminary meeting has been arranged with Professor Chris Gosden and his team. This will take place on 19^th December and is primarily intended to discuss the team’s logistical requirements and the areas where the first surveys will be made.

12        Precept for 2007/8 (to be confirmed at January meeting)

The Chairman will be absent from the January meeting so it was agreed that the Clerk should provide him with the information that would be needed to discuss the matter informally in advance. This should include the current year’s budget, the Clerk’s estimate of current actual expenditure and the state of the Council’s reserves.

13.       Any Other Business.

a. Cllr Mrs Metcalfe said that ideally another storage place should be found for the new Village brochures. She said that congratulations should be given to Cllr Gibbons and his group of playground fund raisers with publicity for the scheme to be in Dorchester News when the time is right.

b. The Council would like to hold a discussion about the reorganisation of Town & Parish Councils, proposed in the White Paper of October. Any more information about briefing meetings organised by OALC would be helpful.

c. Cllr Stevenson talked about providing ‘carbon calculators’ to residents. This is in the form of an A5 piece of paper which can be circulated with Dorchester News. It could also be a suitable topic for discussion at the Annual Parish Meeting. He will provide more information.

d. Cllr Hill said that there is a broken section in the chain surrounding the war memorial. The Chairman said that he would organise an on-site welding firm to call.

e. The Chairman reported that although there were no development sites within the Parish itself there are some that have been identified in Berinsfield and one right on the edge of the Dorchester boundary on land adjacent to the Cheshire Home. More information should be obtained as soon as possible.

 

The Meeting closed at 9.31 pm