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Parish Council Minutes March 2004

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The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 10th March 2004 commencing at 7.30 pm.
The Chairman, Cllr Mike Smith presided; present were Cllrs K Bryan, M Day, C Hill, Mrs M Metcalfe, Mrs J Nudds, C Sleigh and M Williams with G Russell in attendance. Also present were County Cllr John Howell and District Cllr John Cotton. The Chairman welcomed Cllr Howell to his first meeting of the Parish Council since the by-election.

1. Apologies for Absence
None - all members of the Parish Council were present.

2 Declarations of Interest
The Clerk reported that the Monitoring Officer had informed him that it was necessary for Councillors who declared an interest to state the nature of that interest and that these details have to be recorded in the Minutes.

3 Minutes of the Meeting held 11th February 2004 (circulated)
It was agreed that the draft Minutes should be altered to reflect the Council's decision that the School should be warned in writing about the dangerous condition of the grass on the Recreation Ground so that there is a record that this warning had been given, rather than relying upon the verbal warning that the Clerk had already given to the Head teacher. After this correction had been made the Minutes were approved and signed as a true record.

4 Matters Arising from the Minutes
i) The Clerk confirmed that the Andersons have been sent a completion statement by Franklins concerning the vehicular right of way to 51, Watling Lane. The statement included Franklins' fee of £1,250 plus VAT.
ii) Brian Short has confirmed to the Clerk that he has asked colleagues in Highways to look again at ways of solving the problem of flooding in Queen Street.
iii). The Council's insurance policy does not provide any cover for 'street furniture'. It was agreed that the Clerk should enquire about the cost of including such cover.
iv) Brian Oliver had attended a meeting about Broadband with representatives of the Baldons and Berinsfield and the successful campaign team from Clifton Hampden. A report of that meeting has been supplied for the Council.
Cllr Williams said that he understood that the Nuneham exchange has in fact already been upgraded to take Broadband, as this was necessary to facilitate a community ICT project in Berinsfield, which delivers Broadband for the Oxfordshire Community Network on the back of a BT product. It might be possible to find a way to get BT to lower the threshold.
v) The Clerk will write to village businesses such as The White Hart, Hallidays, The George and the Co-op requesting that each of them contribution towards the cost of producing the Village brochure last year with a suggested figure of £150 each. Other businesses: The Fleur de Lys, Chequers, Kruschko and Dorchester Antiques would be asked to contributed £50 each and the Abbey PCC will also be asked to contribute. vi). There had been no comments from either Katherine Clarke or Hugh Macmillan about the review of bus services
vii) It was agreed that representatives from RAF Benson be invited to attend the Annual Parish Meeting on 5th May. The Clerk said that the base has put in place a system of informing him of its plans for night flying, supplied every week by e-mail so that the Village notice boards could be used to warn residents.
vii) There had been some recent tidying up of the High Street garage development site. Cllr Cotton told the Council that the developer and the District Council have now reached agreement on a procedure to test for contaminated soil.
viii) The sewage leak in Wittenham Lane has been repaired. One of the contractor's vehicles had damaged the street sign for Watling Lane - a new one has been ordered.
viii) Brian Purcell-Smith has confirmed that he has asked colleagues for a report about the safety of the tree in The Limes.

5 District Councillor's Report
Cllr Cotton said that the South Oxfordshire District Council had managed to limit its increase in Council Tax to 2.59%. The new budget included money for carrying out works which would reduce the risk of flooding in some areas and for a feasibility study and the development of a business plan for setting up a wireless Broadband service for the whole District. He said that there are plans to introduce Police/Community Liaison officers who would patrol Wallingford and the surrounding villages.
Cllr Cotton said that the success of the Council in streamlining the planning process had attracted a central government grant of £500,000. This money was, however, 'ring-fenced' and could only be used for making further improvements to the process.

6 County Councillor's Report
Cllr Howell said that he had been in office for just three weeks. The officers in charge of producing the County's new structure plan have reported that there were 1,900 letters from private citizens objecting to the proposal for house building south of Grenoble Road and 400 objecting to the proposals for sand and gravel extraction in the Stadhampton/Berinsfield/Drayton St Leonard/Warbourough/Benson area.
The officers have removed the housing proposals from the draft but retained the sand and gravel proposals.
Cllr Howell explained that both of these issues still have to be considered by the full Council and would be subject to a public examination later in the year. It was important, therefore, that more letters be written to members of the County Council and that the campaigns continued.

7 Correspondence and Other Business
i). Sports Club & Playground
The Council reluctantly agreed to spend up to £100 on further work to the tractor shed roof and it was agreed that the specifications of this type of building/repair work need, in future, to be more clearly defined.
The Sports Club has paid the Council £101.52 as its contribution to the cost of water and power supplies in 2003.
The Clerk is to find out when the rabbit control people are planning to return. It was understood that the trapping of moles had been successful in both the Recreation Ground and the Cemetery.
The Chairman will speak to David Joseph and Alan Smith about re-fixing the litterbins in a concrete base.
The Head teacher has been conducting research amongst the Village school children to obtain their ideas about improvements to the Playground.
Cllr Sleigh said that he would try to find out the source of some storage units that have suddenly appeared in the Pavilion
ii). Footpaths
Peter Pritchard has organised a working party for spreading bark along the Drayton Road - Hurst footpath on 13th March.
The Parish Council asked the Clerk to draft a letter about the Russells' hedge, which would be circulated for approval by the whole Council.
The County Footpaths Officer has been to inspect the Overy path in the past day or two and her report is awaited. Countryside Services have said that the waymark for Footpath 24 (High Street - Crown Lane), in the form of an engraved brass disc, will be supplied at no cost to the Parish Council and the Clerk was asked to convey the Council's wish that this mark be put in place as soon as possible, with the traditional fingerpost marker being installed at the Queen Street end.
The Clerk said that, through the District Council's Public Amenities department, he had sent a request to Grundons to ask the drivers of the refuse collection lorries to be careful that they do not drive over the edge of the village green at Bridge End.
iii). Cemetery
Cllr Day said that Scion Estates have undertaken some hedge trimming work around the boundary of the Cemetery and the Council gave its approval for the pollarding of the two horse-chestnut trees by Paul Jenks.
iv). Allotments
Mark Townson of 38 High Street has been appointed as the Parish Council's main contact. The Allotments Society has asked if the Parish Council would purchase a 'Flymo' or similar to cut the grass on the Allotment paths but the Clerk was asked if he could also obtain a quote from Scion Estates for doing this work.
v). Parish Plan
The Parish Plan questionnaire has now been distributed via 'Dorchester News' with the completion of returns set for early in April.
vi). Car Parking
The County Highways Department has no money to pay for the widening of Bridge End but is willing to advise and produce an estimate for the cost of such a scheme.
A copy of the calendar of Abbey events was supplied to all Councillors.
vii). PAGE
It was agreed that the campaign of lobbying County Councillors by letter would be supported.
A copy of the Revised Minerals Strategy document from SEERA has been received and will be circulated.
viii). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk
a) Fencing alongside ditch by Drayton Road
The Council agreed that the handyman be asked to remove the safety fence and stakes. Establishing ownership of the ditch is problematic. It is not registered and councillors felt that it would be unwise to act as if the Parish Council has any proprietary rights.
b) Village Fete
It was agreed that the Parish Council will take a stall on 3rd July and the County Council road safety team has been invited to participate as well.
c).Consultation on Oxfordshire 'Compact''
Details will be circulated
d) Waste Collection Service 2004/5
The Council noted that the village skip service at the closed end of Oxford Road would not resume this year.

e).Waste Reduction packs
It was agreed that the Council would assist in the distribution of these packs.
f) Thirteen Parishes Meeting 15th March
No one is able to represent the Council at this meeting and apologies will be sent.

8 Planning
a) Application
PO4/W0110 The Barn, Abingdon Road; Erection of detached two storey house and detached double garage on adjacent land.
Rejection of this application, proposed by Cllr Day and seconded by Cllr Bryan, was agreed by 5 votes to 2 on the grounds that the proposed development is in the Green Belt, outside the boundary of the Village, and is of a scale and design that is felt to be unsuitable in that location. It was understood that concerns about environmental impact have also been raised by others.
b) Decisions, amendments etc
7 Manor Farm Road; PO4/W0046
Planning permission granted for extensions and conservatory, 2nd March 2004

The Copse to west of Manor House, Manor Farm Road; PO3/W1007
Planning permission granted for double garage, 20th February 2004

Co-op -Store, High Street; PO3/W1008/LB
Planning permission and Listed Building consent granted for refit and new fascia, 6th February 2004

Lakeside Farm, Drayton Road;
The appeal against the rejection of planning permission for a row of 2-bedrom properties has been dismissed. The Inspector's report will be circulated.

It was agreed that the Clerk would retain on file for five years details of all planning applications received by the Council. Non-contentious applications may be disposed of after that period has expired.

9 Finance
a). Bank balances
As at 27th February there was a Current A/c balance of £949.57 and a Reserve A/c balance of £14,697.63
A transfer of £1,000 from Reserve A/c to Current A/c was agreed.
b). The following accounts were approved for payment:
Tom Cottrell Landscapes (grass in Abbey churchyard) £658.00
St John's College (Christmas trees) £188.00
Thames Water (half year Cemetery rate) £25.00
GGD Russell (Clerk’s salary) £305.00
GGD Russell (Admin expenses three months) £136.80
Geoff Willis (Handyman - 4 weeks to 5/03/04) £154.00
Print Mart (Parish Plan questionnaire) £301.20)
c). Audit
The Clerk reported that the Auditor has asked if there are 'covenants' preventing the sale of the basketball court, recreation ground and street lights and queried whether insurance values represent market values. He is taking advice on these matters from the County Council and OALC

d) Financial Risk Assessment
A draft, with thanks to Warborough Parish Council), was circulated for further discussion and comment at a future meeting.

10 Date of Next Meeting
It was agreed that the next meeting would be held on 14th April 2004. Since all Councillors have now had the opportunity to look at catalogues of seats/benches, it was agreed that the Council should make its selection at the next meeting. The Clerk was asked to confirm how much money remains in the 'Millennium Reserve Account'.

11 Any Other Business
a) Cllr Mrs Nudds said that she wishes to give up her responsibilities for footpaths in the Parish and also that she did not wish to continue as the Parish Council's representative on the Parochial Church Council. She asked other councillors to consider whether they would be willing to take over these responsibilities.
b) Cllr Sleigh said that earlier in the day he had attended the funeral of the late Richard Muspratt, former landlord of The Plough. He said that he and several other villagers wished to subscribe to a memorial seat in honour of Richard.. He asked if the Parish Council would have any objection if this seat were to be located on the triangular area of grass opposite The Plough. The Council confirmed that it had no objection at all to this idea.

The meeting closed at 9.45 p.m.

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