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Parish Council Minutes July 2004

Home > Parish Council > Minutes > July 2004

The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 14th July 2004 commencing at 7.30 pm.
The Vice-Chairman, Cllr Mrs J Nudds presided; present were Cllrs M Day, C Hill, Mrs M Metcalfe, C Sleigh and M Williams with G Russell in attendance. Also present for part of the meeting were County Cllr John Howell, District Cllr John Cotton and three residents, Chris Vernon, Stephanie Forman and Julia Fenton

1 Apologies for Absence
Cllr Mike Smith and Ken Bryan.

2 Public Participation
Chris Vernon in his capacity as Chairman of the Sports Club described the serious damage being done by the rabbits living on and around the recreation ground. The Clerk said that he had received a letter from David Rippington, secretary to Dorchester CC, which also stressed the need for the Council to take urgent action.
The Council agreed to ask Graham Howard to undertake the task of trying to reduce significantly the number of rabbits by shooting them. The Council understood that he has the necessary public liability insurance cover for this purpose.
Cllr Sleigh has discussed this matter with Graham Howard already and said that Graham will carry out the shooting for about an hour after darkness and that the gun will be extremely quiet. There will be no lights other than those necessary for aiming the gun (infra red?) and the dead rabbits will be removed after each shooting session.
The Council recognised that this is a potentially dangerous activity and asked Graham Howard to discuss the safety procedures he would undertake. The residents in the area of the Recreation Ground will need to be told in advance what is going to happen.
Stephanie Forman and Julia Fenton presented the ideas that have been put forward for a Dorchester Festival in September 2005. The intention is partly to celebrate the end of the Abbey fund raising process and partly to attract a large number of people to Dorchester, not just the Abbey, but the Guest House, Village Hall, pubs and so on where they would be able to view a wide range of events. The Parish Council gave its blessing to the project and said that it would consider an appeal for funding in due course. It stressed the importance of planning the car parking facilities. County Cllr Howell asked if the Festival Committee would consider running an event that would appeal to teenagers.

3 Declarations of Interest
Cllr Mark Williams said that he would have a personal and prejudicial interest in any discussions that the Council would have about Berinsfield Community Business (BCB) and its request to make an extra charge for the recent removal of grass-cuttings from the Abbey closed churchyard.

4 Minutes of the Meeting held 2nd June 2004
It was agreed that there should be an addition as follows:
On page 2 para 7 (iii) Cemetery add 'after Cholsey last year'
It was proposed by Cllr Bryan and seconded by Cllr Mrs Nudds that the Cemetery Buildings should be stabilised and used for the display of memorial plaques. This was carried unanimously.
The amended minutes were approved and signed.

5 Matters Arising from the Minutes
a. Parish Notice board
It is understood that Pete Smith is progressing this matter
b. Dorchester celebration
The recently distributed Dorchester News had carried an invitation to all residents for the service in the Abbey on 5th September.
c. Conservation Area character study: Dr Katherine Baird had advised the Clerk that the draft of the new studies of the Dorchester and Overy conservation areas would soon be available and that the Parish Council and other interested parties would be asked to comment as quickly as possible.

6 District Councillor's Report
Cllr Cotton said that the District Council was pleased at the inspector's award of "good" status but would try to reach the top grade next time.
He said that the first part of the Local Plan enquiry had nearly finished. it is rumoured that the inspector will call for additional sites to accommodate up to an additional 2,000 homes.
Cllr Cotton urged the Council to participate in the Conservation Area Character Study consultation process.
In response to a question from Cllr Sleigh John Cotton said that the District Council does have a policy that sets out the number of car parking spaces that should be provided although this varies for any given type of property. He said that the Parish Council is right to consider the impact of car parking of any planning application and that he should be informed specifically about any application that the Council is opposing on these grounds.

7 County Councillor's Report
Cllr Mrs Nudds thanked John Howell for the County's recent action to fill in the Bridge End potholes. Cllr Howell said that he had recently spent some time with the County Highways team at Drayton and had put forward the several requests that have come from the Parish Council. He said that the engineers did not feel that the state of Bridge End is bad enough to warrant complete re-surfacing and that, although the need to reduce traffic speeds in Abingdon Road is recognised, it is not considered an urgent enough problem to receive significant funding from the County. There is, however, an interest in working with the Parish Council and District Council to improve the parking area in Bridge End.
Cllr Howell said that Oxford City Council is appealing to SEERA about the need to extend new housing projects into the Green Belt. In the regional minerals strategy PAGE has had some success in getting the quotas reduced and has been given a seat at the Examination in Public that will start in October. The whole Parish is receiving a new leaflet drop, door to door, which explains the status of the PAGE campaign.

8 Correspondence and Other Business
i). Sports Club & Playground;
The Council's decision to ask Graham Howard to start shooting the rabbits had been dealt with earlier in the meeting. Cllr Sleigh said that he had been asked by the school to mark out a running track 80m x 6m and just could not find an area that large which was clear of rabbit scrapes and larger holes.
The School had supplied feedback to the original play area proposals. These included a suggestion for 'hopscotch' to be marked out in the new footpath from Drayton Road and the idea of a pitch for 'mini-football'. Feedback from the Fete included the suggestion of a climbing wall and two parents had put their names forward to assist in fund raising. The revised quote from Wicksteed is £33,000. Cllr Williams said that he would try to obtain some quotes for work that should be undertaken at the Pavilion in the interests of helping the Council to set up a maintenance programme that would be budgeted over the next few years.
ii). Footpaths;
Although the Clerk's request to Roy Tudor Hughes that his boundary hedge be cut back had been successful, the same request to Mrs Clerc had met with a refusal to do the work before August. The Clerk has written to Mrs Clerc explaining that the work is important to prevent larger vehicles, particularly the refuse lorry, from going onto the Village Green, but she had not replied. It was agreed that the matter should be referred to the highways inspector.
County Countryside Services have done some clearance work behind 14 Watling Lane and from Drayton Road towards The Hurst. A representative will be visiting Rotten Row and High Street barriers this week and will also look at the garden rubbish that has been reported behind 41 Martins Lane. It was suggested that the handyman be asked to clear this area.
iii). Cemetery;
Only one of the Herringcote residents has so far written to the Clerk and Mr and Mrs Thompson of 8 Herringcote wanted the trees and shrubs left alone rather than pruned. The Clerk was asked to contact Sally Greenaway and ask for more residents to make their views known. Cllr Day said that Gilbert Hobbs has now made contact with him about what ditch clearance work he could undertake. Cllr Mrs Nudds asked all Parish Councillors to have a look at the area before the next meeting. A quote for clearance work has been received from Scion. If it is decided to go ahead quotes could be obtained from Gilbert Hobbs and BCB.
iv). Allotments;
Creation of the access to 51 Watling Lane has been completed and there had been very little comment from residents.
It was agreed that Mark Townson had settled very well into his job as the Council's 'Allotment Manager'. The Clerk said that he had been asked to organise a skip in the near future. The new mower is now properly and securely stored.
v). Parish Plan;
Cllr Williams said that each working group is finalising its recommendations in the light of the findings of the Parish Plan questionnaire. In order to obtain the outside funding that has been promised the Parish Council would need to adopt the working groups' recommendations as official action plans before the end of August. They would therefore be an important part of the agenda for the August Council meeting.
vi). Car Parking;
The Clerk reported that the car parking action plan had been agreed by the working party at its meeting on 13th July and circulated copies.
Cllr Hill proposed that the Parish Council should adopt the policy of always taking the impact of car parking into account whenever it was asked to consider a planning application. This was agreed.
vii). PAGE
The minutes of the most recent meeting are being circulated. An acknowledgement of the Council's response to the proposed alteration to RP99 Waste and Mineral Policies has been received
viii). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk
a. BCB had written to the Clerk asking if it could make an additional charge to the Council to cover its costs in removing grass cuttings from the Closed Churchyard. Normally grass cuttings are left behind. After explaining the situation Cllr Williams, the Business Director of BCB, left the room and took no part in the decision making process. The Council decided that it did not feel under any obligation to accept the additional charge and the Clerk will communicate this to BCB as soon as possible.
b. The Hurst Water Meadow Trust has asked for a contribution towards hedge restoration and wildflower planting. It was agreed that the Trust's share of the "Miss Marple" production company's money could be used for this purpose.
c. The Clerk reported a letter which he received from Sandie Griffith concerning parking in Manor Farm Road. This will be circulated.
d. The District Council, with the Sports Club's approval, will again be using the Recreation Ground for cricket coaching this summer.
e. The Clerk reported forthcoming licence changes at the Co-Op and The Chequers.
f. The Clerk said that the new Watling Lane streetlight is now in position. A resident has pointed out that the benefit of this light would be improved if a tree on the nearby allotment is cut back.

9 Planning
a) Applications
PO4/W0651/LB Overy Manor
Alterations to store
There were no strong views.
PO4/W0699 43-45 High Street
Subdivision and refurbishment of dwelling into two one-bed roomed and one two bed roomed dwellings
The Council recommends refusal as the scheme represents over-development of the site which will bring additional car parking pressure in an area of the village where the demand is already high. Cllr Cotton will be informed of the Council's strong views on this matter.
PO4/W0726 54, High Street
Erection of single garage
There were no strong views.
b) Report on planning decisions, amendments etc
The Council noted that an appeal has been lodged concerning the refusal of permission for new house at The Barn, Abingdon Road.
14 Rotten Row PO4/W0551/LB
Bedroom into bathroom
Listed building consent granted 5th July
Co-op PO4/W0457/A
Erection of signs
Advertising consent granted 15th June
Co-Op PO4/W0514 Satellite dish
Application withdrawn

10 Finance
a). Bank balances
Current Account at 30th June £3,505.15
Reserve Account at 30th June £38,839.55
The producers of "Miss Marple" are paying a fee of £1,000 to the Parish Council plus a further £1,000 divided equally between the School, the Pre-School, the Hurst Water Meadow Trust & Dorchester Festival
b). The following accounts were approved for payment:
HLB AV Audit £141.00
Transpiration Ltd (Park 'n ride 12th June) £58.75
Glasdon UK Limited £1,057.76+
Bruce Ferriman (Pavilion) £575.75
Scion Estates (grass cutting) £1,288.47
J B Pratt (gates) £100.17
Thames Water £37.82
Total Pest Control (moles) £141.00
SODC (Dog hygiene bins) £228.21
GGD Russell (Clerk’s salary) £305.00
GGD Russell (Admin. expenses May-July) £98.65
Geoff Willis (Handyman - 6 weeks to 9/07/04) £266.75
MG Print Services (Dorchester brochure) £1,200.00
Information Commissioner £35.00
Print-Mart (Invitations to Dorchester Celebration) £38.00

+The Council noted that £498.97 had been received from the Richard Muspratt Memorial fund to pay for one of the benches purchased from Glasdon.

c). Audit
The auditor's report is satisfactory except for comments about lack of Internal Auditor and Risk Assessment. A model financial risk assessment has been received and will be circulated with the suggestion that it be adopted for future years.
The public notice advertising completion of the audit will be posted for 15 days with copy of Annual Return as endorsed by the auditor.
The Council approved and accepted the auditor's report.

11 Village Maintenance
In the absence of the Chairman it was agreed to postpone discussion of this item.

12 Date of Next Meeting
This was confirmed for 11th August.

13 Any Other Business
a. Cllr Mrs Nudds said that the trees adjacent to 72, High Street need cutting back since they are obscuring the arrival of oncoming buses.
b. Cllr Hill said that the film crew from the "Miss Marple" production company had inconvenienced someone attending the memorial service of the late Jane Grey.
c. Cllr Hill said that the Bridge underpass needs tidying.

The Meeting closed at 9.30 pm.

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