The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 11th June 2008 commencing at 7.30 pm. The Chairman, Cllr K Bryan, presided; present were Cllrs. Mrs M Metcalfe (Vice-Chairman), M Day, S Gibbons, Mrs J Nudds and M Williams with G Russell in attendance and one resident.

 

1          Apologies for absence

Apologies were accepted from Cllrs. Chris Hill and Mark Stevenson, County Cllr John Howell and District Cllr John Cotton, all of whom had other engagements. Mark Stevenson and John Howell are both candidates in the current Parliamentary by-election for the Henley constituency.

2          Public Participation

Mr Philip Collings of Cranmer Cottage, 90 High Street asked the Parish Council to support his application for Listed Building Consent (P08/W0610/LB).

3          Declarations of Interest

None

4          Minutes of the Meeting held 7th May 2008

The minutes as circulated were approved and signed as a true record.

5          Matters Arising from the Minutes

a. The Clerk reported that the planning application P08/W0412 for Pippins, 5 Orchard Haven, which had been carried forward from last meeting because the consultation still had some days to run, had been passed around the planning group. The plans proposed an extension of the existing garage and conversion of part of the garage to shower/dressing room with a single storey extension to rear. The Council had advised SODC that it had ‘No Strong Views’.

b. County Highways has completed the tree works described at the May meeting and confirmed that the trees in The Limes are in their programme for later this year.

c. Cllr Stevenson had circulated his comments about the Bus Strategy consultation.

d. Thames Water’s paper about resources management is being circulated. The period for comment ends 27th August. Cllr Mrs Metcalfe said that she would read the paper and inform the Council if there are any implications for Dorchester on Thames.

6          County Councillor's Report

County Cllr John Howell had sent his apologies for absence but through the Clerk he asked the Council to note various matters:

(a) Watling Lane: Cllr Howell thinks that we have got as far as we can over Watling Lane without a face-to-face meeting between the residents and the county council officers. He will try to put this in place.

(b) Cllr Howell is aware that there are some problems with the timing of certain buses in the new timetables and he is trying to resolve them. He has spoken to the bus information officer about how difficult it is to understand and link the bus timetables now that there are more operators involved. The officer is willing to come out and discuss this and see what can be done by way of an information master sheet. Cllr Howell will arrange this and the Parish Council will inform all bus users of the opportunity to meet the officer to voice their problems.

(c) The resurfacing of Jemmetts Close has taken place but not that of Drayton Road. Cllr Howell will enquire about the status of this project and also of the repairs to the footpath between the bridge and Meadside, and the drop kerb opposite The Limes.

7          Finance

Balance on NatWest Current Account at 30th May                   £22,963.60

The following accounts were approved for payment:

Total Pest Control (Moles June – August inclusive)                         £176.25

Southern Electric (Pavilion – actual reading)                                     £20.44

Robert Acton Product Developments (long-armed litter picker)  £94.00

Berinsfield Community Business grass cutting April                         £428.00

Berinsfield Community clearing Drayton Road ditch              £82.25

SODC – dog bin service 13 weeks                                                £203.94

ORCC annual subscription                                                               £20.00

GGD Russell – Clerk’s salary                                                        £425.43

GGD Russell – admin (May & June)                                                £85.20

Geoff Willis Handyman – 5 weeks - (May £247.50)                      £322.50

The Parish Council agreed to give a grant of £165 to the Pre-School towards the cost of the new entry door for its building. This is 50% of the total estimated cost.

Subject to Cllr Gibbons examining the existing strimmer to confirm that it is indeed beyond repair, the Council agreed to purchase from Lister Wilders at Crowmarsh a Stihl FS 87 ‘brushcutter’ at £319.15 including VAT. This is a more heavy-duty product that the one it is replacing.

8          Correspondence and Other Business

i). Sports Club Pavilion & Playground;

The Clerk said that Total Pest Control has reported that the problem with rodents does not seem to be too bad. They advise one more treatment and then the expenditure ceiling of £300 will have been reached. It was noted that the visiting fisherman seem to be making more thorough efforts to clear their rubbish away.

The Play Area notice board addition will be fitted soon. Two new parking direction signs have also been ordered.

Following further discussions between the Chairman and Mike Stimpson from the Sports Club the Council agreed to accept Pete Smith’s quotation for the new doors and windows, with the Sports Club agreeing to pay half the cost of the windows.

Further groundwork has been done to make good the surface of the area of archaeological excavation in 2007. This has improved but work is ongoing.

ii). Footpaths;

The Handyman will clear the footpath between Bridge End and Wittenham Lane.

iii). Cemetery;

Comments about the standard of housekeeping and grass cutting have been passed to the new contractors, Berinsfield Community Business.

iv). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk

a. The Chairman and Cllr Day will represent the Council at a Neighbourhood Watch meeting on 17th June and the Safer Communities meeting on 25^th June.

b. The County Council has indicated that planning applications now need to be made in a standard format and preferably on line. The Parish Council wishes to retain the paper-based methods of consultation since this is more convenient in meetings.

c. The District Council’s Open Space Sport & Recreation Study will be circulated. Dorchester has been included in Wallingford area and existing provision of facilities has been analysed to try and identify any under provision or sub standard quality.

d. Details of the bus timetable changes, which have caused great confusion, will be circulated. The notice in Dorchester News regarding where to find service information has been updated.

e. The Council is unable to attend a Rural Affordable Housing event on 2nd July.

f. The newsletter about the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Plan will be circulated.

g. The Council is being invited to comment in SEERA’s consultation on changes being proposed on how they calculate the amount of ‘land-won aggregates’ (sand, gravel and crushed rock) that each minerals planning authority is expected to provide. Consultation end s 8th August. Cllrs John Howell and John Cotton will be asked if they can advise the Parish Council how to respond.

h. The Council noted a communiqué from South East Sustainable Futures Group listing four issues which have been identified as priorities for action because the region is currently underperforming in each. These are achieving sustainable levels of resource use; reducing greenhouse gas emissions; preparing for the impacts of climate change and ensuring that deprived people get better opportunities.

This will be circulated and Cllr Stevenson asked to comment with, perhaps, the Carbon Group making recommendations.

9          Planning

a. Applications

P08/W0525 4 Jemmetts Close

New dormer window in front slope. Formation of additional car parking space and vehicular crossover at side of property

A decision of ‘No strong views’ has already been sent in because the planning sub-group had no major objection. Consultation ended 30th May

P08/W0525 77 High Street Dorchester on Thames

Erection of a two storey extension.

The Council agreed to recommend approval with the recommendation that the new extension should be built to a high standard of sustainability.

P08/W0610/LB Cranmer Cottage, High Street

Renovation of historic derelict outbuilding. Demolition and replacement of modern link to main house. Demolition of coal shed and construction of single storey extension.

The Council agreed to recommend approval. The pre-planning reports following detailed study of the building by experts had resulted in sensible proposals.

b. Other Planning matters

The Council noted the following planning decisions:

PO8/W0318 Sunnyridges, 81 Abingdon Road; Detached garage.

Planning permission granted 7th May

P07/W1413 & P07/W1436/LB The Chequers, Bridge End

Change of use to private dwelling and new garage; demolition of toilets, modern extensions and detached garage.

Planning permission and Listed Building consent given by the Planning Committee on 14th May with a large number of conditions attached.

P06/W0535 Land between 32 & 36 High Street.

The applicant’s appeal following rejection of the proposal by SODC has been turned down. A large number of comments by the inspector could inform an alternative proposal in the future.

P08/W 0426/LB 31 High Street; the application to replace sealed up front door with timber-framed sash window has been withdrawn.

 

The Council noted that following a neighbour’s complaint, Mr and Mrs Peter Crawshaw, the owners of 18 High Street – the newly converted property next to The White Hart – had been advised that they should discuss their chimney extension with the Conservation Officer. To date they have apparently not done so.

10        Repairs to Watling Lane

The issue continues to be one concerning the insurance cover required to cover public liability. Cllr John Howell has offered to try to organise a meeting between County officers and representatives of the residents.

11        Archaeology on the Allotments

The Parish Council has been asked by Department for Culture Media and Sport if it has any comments on the application from Oxford Archaeology for scheduled ancient monument consent. A nil response is taken as meaning ‘no objection’.

The plan is for preliminary work to start next week with the dig itself commencing by the end of June. Details have already been circulated to councillors. The Clerk will contact Stephen and Lucie Hall to see if their field could be made available.

12        Any Other Urgent Business

a. The Council noted that Cllr Mrs Margot Metcalfe had been interviewed that morning on BBC Radio Oxford about the Hidden Britain project. The Clerk had made a recoding of the interview.

b. Cllr Day told the Council about proposals for an audit of every tree in the Parish, noting its condition and importance to the community. This project cannot be carried out without volunteers. It will be on the agenda for the July meeting.

c. The Council noted that the Thames Path sign by the Thame stream bridge is still missing.

d. Visitors are still parking on the new ‘build-out’ outside 1a High Street. Some ‘no parking’ signage will be investigated.

e. Councillors commented on the return of the nuisance of noise from motorcyclists gathering at Fox’s Diner on Monday evenings. This will be brought to County Cllr John Howell’s attention.

 

The Meeting closed at 9.05 pm