The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 9^th January 2008 commencing at 7.30 p.m.

The Chairman, Cllr K 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, District Cllr John Cotton, Beryl Guiver, Senior Planning Officer from SODC and three residents.

 

1          Apologies for absence

None – all councillors were present

2          Declarations of Interest

None

3          Minutes of the Meeting held 12^th December 2007

The Minutes were approved and signed as a true record.

4          Matters Arising from the Minutes

a) The Clerk thanked Taz Evans and David Youngman for the electricity supply to the Village Christmas tree and Simon Ratliff for lending the cabling.

b). The Clerk has receiving glowing reports about the asset mapping system from Pear Technology. It was agreed that the Council should go ahead with the purchase of this software provided that the costs can be shared with Garsington Parish Council.

c). The Area Traffic Engineer, Peter Ronald, has made recommendations to improve road safety at the Bridge End/High Street and also at the Queen Street/High Street corner. The ideas have also been discussed on site visits by the Chairman and Cllr Mrs Nudds and there has been informal consultation with Mr and Mrs Dudley and Mrs Freebody. The Council agreed that Mr Ronald’s proposals should be approved subject only to Cllr Stevenson having the chance of making a site visit to the Queen Street/High Street corner on the following day.

d). Willoughby thatched cob wall: the Clerk confirmed that the Corrans have asked for guidance from the SODC conservation department.

e). Liz McGugan, Director of IJP Building Conservation Ltd, will inspect the damage to the Abbey boundary wall on 18^th January and make recommendations for repairs.

f). The solar light at the by-pass bus stop has been repaired.

5          SODC Issues & Options Consultation

Beryl Guiver, Senior Planning Officer from SODC, outlined the background to the present consultation process which concludes on 1^st February. Dorchester on Thames is now classified as a ‘larger village’ which could result in the District Council allocating a quota of new housing to be built within the village over the next 20 years. On the other hand Dorchester is within the Green Belt and has natural limitations of its outward development in the form of the rivers Thame and Thames and the associated flood plain. Three developments sites have been identified in Berinsfield.

There will be more dwellings built within the District as a whole. The purpose of the consultation is to give parish councils and residents the opportunity of suggesting where they should go and what provision should be made for additional employment opportunities and infrastructure. Any development which involved more than ten dwellings would have to demonstrate a ‘planning gain’ and officers are moving towards insisting that even smaller developments must also show a ‘benefit’.

Cllr John Cotton suggested that the Parish Council might wish to argue against its classification as a ‘large village’. Including all types of retail establishments in the figures gives a false impression of the services provided for residents, while the future of both the post office and the bus services are both under current review.

The Parish Council will hold a special meeting on 14^th January at which it will decide upon its response to the consultation. The Clerk will use the database of village residents’ email addresses to suggest that individuals may wish to make their views known. The Dorchester on Thames Society has said that it will take part.

6          District Councillor's Report

District Cllr Cotton had no further matters to report. Cllr Mrs Nudds asked whether the installation of a wind turbine on a house in Oxford Road needs planning permission. Cllr Cotton said that he would enquire.

7          County Councillor's Report

County Cllr John Howell said that his submission to the County Council’s review of bus services in the area had been similar to that submitted by the Parish Council. He hoped that money could be found to provide a proper pavement to link the Berinsfield Interchange bus stops with those of the X39 Wallingford to Oxford service.

He said that the County has agreed to progress the road safety improvements at the High Street junctions with Queen Street and Bridge End.

The County Council intends to honour the commitment that the rate of increase in its share of Council Tax will not be increased.

Cllr Day asked for an analysis of recent accidents at the junction of Henley Road with the by-pass. He said that he thought that the junction is badly designed especially for the visibility towards the traffic approaching from the Shillingford direction by drivers wishing to turn across the Oxford-bound carriageway. The junction is located just where vehicles travelling towards Oxford and wishing to pass a slower moving vehicle pull out and accelerate to overtake.

It was agreed that the Clerk would research what changes were made the last time that questions were raised about the safety of this junction.

Cllr Howell said that he and Mark Sumner have arranged to meet with Mrs Butcher during the coming month to discuss matters which have been raised concerning the footpaths and barriers at Overy.

8          Finance:

Bank balances

Reserve Account at 30^th November                              £23,894.86

Current Account at 30^th November                               £20,352.06

                                                                                    £44,246.92

The following accounts were approved for payment.

Transpiration Limited (park ‘n ride)                                                  £88.13

Reading Extinguisher Services (pavilion)                                         £157.22

Thames Water (Pavilion £69.57 and Allotments £62.89)                £132.46

Village Hall Committee (Meeting room hire)                                    £100.00

St John’s College (Bagley Wood trees)                                           £240.00*

SODC (Dog bin service 10/06 – 3/07)                                          £400.37

Easily Ltd (increased data transfer)                                                   £15.04

Easily Ltd (2 year domain name extension)                                       £10.56

GGD Russell – Clerk’s salary                                                        £425.43

Geoff Willis Handyman – 4weeks - (December £270)                   £270.00

                                                                                                   £1,839.21

*Half of this was paid by Dorchester Abbey PCC

It was understood that the marking of the Bridge End car park will be done during January; the cheque for £10,000 payable to the County Council will be retained until this work is done.

The Council has received an appeal from the Hurst Water Meadow Trust for a contribution towards the cost of a new mower. This appeal has been widely circulated and it was agreed that the Council should wait and see how others respond so that the degree of assistance that is required would be known before a decision is made.

Precept for 2008/9

The Council noted that based upon information supplied by SODC, Dorchester has the tenth highest Parish Tax per household out of the 87 towns and parish councils in the District (based upon Band D). However it was unanimously agreed to increase the Precept in 2008/9 to £37,750. This would allow for capital expenditure of £11,000 in the new financial year, which was allocated as £5,000 for improvements to street lighting and £6,000 for a replacement adventure play unit, and still allow the Council to maintain a reserve which was equal to approximately one year’s routine day to day expenditure.

9          Correspondence and Other Business

i). Sports Club Pavilion & Playground;

Behind Closed Doors have ordered the new shutters from the factory and expects to install them early in February.

The Clerk was asked to write to the Fishing Alliance that owns the lake alongside the Recreation Ground to ask if they would make a financial contribution towards the cost of controlling the rat population along the edges of the lake and the recreation ground.

The new play area sign will be erected on 14^th or 15^th January

ii). Footpaths;

There is a mud problem on the path to the by-pass bus stops. Chippings are available and Dr Pritchard has offered his help with driving the trailer. The handyman will organise a working party.

There is litter near the by-pass bus stops and the handyman has been asked to clear it this week. The litter on the path to Priests Moor Lane – just the other side of underpass – will also be removed by the handyman but the District Council will be asked to send a working party to deal with mess by the roadside at the Meadside lay-by and the Henley road junction. The cuttings from Mr Cook’s hedges are still lying in the road and are a hazard as well as being unsightly. An informal word with Mr Cook might help to resolve the situation

iii). Cemetery;

The site meeting to discuss headstone safety had been postponed due to bad weather. BCB were asked to supply a price for the paling fence.

iv). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk

a. The Clerk reported that quotes have now been received from three grass cutting contractors and the matter will be discussed at the February Council meeting.

b. Details about the SODC Community Safety Strategy Consultation will be circulated for discussion at the February meeting.

c. Cllr Williams will represent the Council at the Thirteen Parishes meeting with Ed Vaizey on Friday 11th January 2008.

d. Cllr Hill will represent the Council at the River Users Group meeting on Wednesday 23^rd January 2008.

e. There is to be a meeting organised by OALC on 14^th February for those parish councils who are affected by closures of local post offices.

f. Richard Anderson has asked if the Chairman will meet him to review the suggestion for a turning circle on the allotments near the Andersons’ home at 51 Watling Lane.

10        Planning

PO7/W1413 and PO7/W1436/LB The Chequers PH, Bridge End

Change of use from Public House to private dwelling and new garage. Demolition of toilets, modern extensions and detached garage. New access.

It was unanimously agreed that this application should be rejected. There has been no evidence that the marketing on the property as licensed premises has been adequately carried out and the permanent closure of the public house would represent the loss of an important village amenity.

Report on planning decisions, amendments etc

PO7/W1207/RET 1 Meadside; Replacement fence.

The Council noted that this application had been refused due to excessive height and therefore being detrimental to the semi rural character of the area.

Changes to referral of planning applications to Planning Committee

The Council opposed the suggestion that planning applications which were supported by the Parish Council but opposed by the planning officer should not automatically be referred to the Planning Committee saying that it believed that the suggestion reduced the influence that the Parish Council would have in the consultation process.

Details of the changes to the way in which planning applications are to be submitted from 5^th April 2008 were circulated.

11        Watling Lane repairs

The Council noted that Michael Rimmer and Chris Vernon are arranging for another meeting with some of the residents to establish what funds might be forthcoming. There will be a demonstration from another pothole repairer on 18^th January.

12        Area Bus review and Local Transport Needs survey

The Council’s report was submitted within the consultation period and the County’s official recommendations will be available in March.

13        Parish Plan Review

Cllr Williams reported that ORCC does not after all have a large amount of funding available for reviews and that Anton Nath is no longer in charge of this scheme. It was agreed that no further action should be taken.

14        Rubbish collections – assistance for elderly & disabled.

It was agreed that through Dorchester News the Clerk would advise residents that elderly and disabled persons could ask for assistance from the Council when putting out rubbish for collection. There is already some concern about the problems that will occur if wheelie bins become the norm for refuse collection and the Clerk was asked to find out the future plans for their introduction.

15        Any Other Business

a. It was agreed that the Abbey PCC and local businesses which were listed should be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of producing the Village brochure in order to provide funds which would go towards the cost of future reprints.

b. Cllr Hill said that he was still pursuing the idea of a flood defence barrier at the Bridge End car park but was finding it very difficult to make contact with the appropriate county officer. Through Dorchester News he would ask for volunteers to help plant the allocation of free trees from SODC and to carry out sundry clearing of weeds and rubbish.

c. The Council noted that a small white van had been parked in Manor Farm Road for a considerable period. It may have been abandoned and its presence has been reported to the Police.

d. Sewage leaks in Queen Street and High Street have been reported.

 

The meeting closed at 10.15 p.m.