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Parish Council Minutes November 2006

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A Special Meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Abbey Guest House on Tuesday 28th November 2006 commencing at 6.30 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 were two residents.

1 Apologies for absence

None; all Councillors were present

2 Public Participation

Mr and Mrs Booth, applicants for planning permission at Rose Cottage, offered to answer any questions that councillors might have concerning their application.

3 Declarations of Interest

There were none.

4 Planning Application:

P06/W1135 Rose Cottage, 10 Wittenham Lane; Alterations & extensions

After discussion about whether or not the Council should hesitate to approve an application which would have the effect of removing another small-scale property from the Village’s already reduced stock of smaller properties, it was agreed that such matters were best left with those with the statutory responsibility for setting planning policy. The Council agreed that it had no strong views about the application.

5. Request for re-burial of Alfred Lammer

The Clerk was asked if he could ascertain the cause of the late Mr Lammer’s death and to state that his remains would need to be re-buried in Dorchester Cemetery contained in a wooden coffin. This can only take place after Mrs Lammer has become resident in the Village, probably early in December.

6 Any Other Business.

a. Bridge End Car Park; The Clerk reported that following the meeting between ISIS Accord and Gordon Hunt it had been decided to provide the re-surfaced area with filter drains so that the water will drain back into the enlarged grass area.

b. Telecoms mast proposed for Abbey Tower; the PCC is collecting more data.

c. Play Area Equipment Appeal; a grant of £5,000 has been awarded by TOE.

d. New tree in Tenpenny; Cllr Mrs Nudds reported that the tree had been damaged.

e. Field off Overy Lane; The Chairman, accompanied by Richard Douglas, is to meet Mr Cook at some time in the near future. A letter has been received from Peter Pritchard, as Secretary of the Hurst Water Meadow Trust, asking if the Parish Council would make a contribution towards the purchase of the field. It was agreed that the Council is not at present in a position to make such a commitment since there are many other projects which also demand Council funding and the Clerk will write to Dr Pritchard explaining this.

It is possible that this field might be used for event parking but the Council is aware that use of the field for this purpose might disqualify the project from receiving grants to which it would otherwise be entitled.

The consultation with residents about various event parking options within the Village will be held over for the time being.

f. Drayton Road flooding; this is thought to be caused by a burst pipe rather than a newly active spring. Thames Water has been asked to attend.

g. Cllr Williams asked if the December Council meeting could discuss the matter of variations and additions to the original Hidden Britain project.

The Meeting closed at 7.15 pm.

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The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 8^th November 2006 commencing at 7.30 p.m.

The Meeting observed a period of silence in memory of Brian Oliver, who had served as Parish Councillor from 1999 to 2003 and who, amongst many other contributions to the Village, was a key member of the team that had prepared the Parish Plan. At the time of his death he was working on many aspects of the Hidden Britain project.

1 Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were accepted from Cllr John Cotton.

2 Public Participation

Mr Collings explained the reasons for his applications for Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent at Cranmer Cottage, 90 High Street. He confirmed that parking spaces will be retained on one side of the property.

Mr Fisher urged the Council to continue its opposition to changing the status of The Chequers and the development of new dwellings on land within its curtilage.

3 Declarations of Interest

There were none

4 Minutes of the Meeting held 11^th October 2006

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

5 Matters Arising from the Minutes

i. The Chairman had attended the meeting of the River Users Group on 19^th October. The Environment Agency did not send a representative but it was understood it had no plans to dredge the River Thame to make it more easily navigable up to Dorchester Bridge. The Agency would like to put pressure upon riparian owners to clear trees which obstruct the river and hoped that a boat turning area could be provided at ‘Waterloo’. It had been suggested that the access to Dorchester via the River Thame could be better signed and that the lock keepers between Abingdon and Goring should be supplied with brochures about the village. The next Users Group meeting will take place on 25^th January and Cllr Hill said that he would attend.

ii. Cllr Stevenson had been unable to attend the Oxford Green Belt AGM.

iii. There had been further discussion about alternative village car parking arrangements and it was agreed that residents should be consulted when the new electoral register is available at the beginning of December. The Chairman and Clerk will visit the area of grass at the top of The George car park to assess whether that might also be an option.

iv. The Clerk had not made contact with the Bakers about the Council’s wish to maintain the riverside at Waterloo. It was pointed out that no maintenance work would now take place until next March. Father John had told the Chairman that the Catholic Church owns this area and Cllr Bryan had said that if that were the case the documents and any other evidence of ownership would need to be shown.

6 District Councillor's Report

Apologies had been received from Cllr John Cotton

7 County Councillor's Report

County Cllr John Howell said that he had received many replies to his survey about motor bikes. He would continue to accept them until the end of November. He went on to describe other matters of County Council business including the possibility of improvements to transport infrastructure in the Oxford area and the County’s opposition to the plan for a new reservoir to the west of Abingdon, which would be contained within an embankment standing 80’ high.

The public enquiry into the South East Plan is progressing, with a paper from the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) asking that the County’s insistence that there should be a link between the provision of new housing and the provision of associated infrastructure should be removed as ‘unrealistic’. Consultants have recommended a further 50% increase in the number of houses to be built whereas the County’s view is that the number of houses already planned is going to be difficult enough to absorb. The section of the South East Plan which deals with Oxfordshire will begin its examination in public in February 2007.

8 Correspondence and Other Business

i). Sports Club Pavilion & Playground;

The Clerk reported that one 14 year old, thought to be responsible for damage to the Pavilion, is to be prosecuted and that a companion to this youth has been given a final police warning.

Scion has been given the go-ahead to make repairs to Pavilion gutters, the back door, front boarding and replacement of glass with polycarbonate.

The Clerk will progress the application for approval of the doors with roller shutters. It was agreed that BCB should be given approval to proceed with the work to reinforce the surface at the vehicular entrance to the Recreation Ground and the Clerk will advise when this can be done with minimum disruption to parking arrangements.

The Chairman has recently visited the residents at 2 Oxford Road and agreed that the Council would attend to the trees which overhang that property. Paul Jenks is to be asked to carry out this work but it was reported that he is injured at present.

The Chairman said that he and Cllr Hill had visited all those living in properties adjacent to the Recreation Ground and received their approval to proceed with a programme to control the rabbit population by gassing the burrows. Precautions must be taken to protect children and it was noted that the Pratts have a pet rabbit. The Clerk will contact Kevin Murphy to agree a maximum budget for the work.

ii). Footpaths;

The Clerk reported that he had requested a quote for the re-gravelling of paths and had discussed with the Handyman the clearance of Albert Place. County Cllr Howell has been told about the County’s inaction on Meadside/Dorchester Bridge footway.

The Footpaths Officer will be asked to say when the work at Overy Mill will be completed.

iii). Cemetery;

The Clerk is working with Town and Country Memorials to produce a leaflet about the new memorial plaques. The Council approved the sample plaque that had been produced and which would now be photographed for the proposed brochure.

A meeting will be organised to identify those graves which are not being maintained in accordance with the Council’s regulations.

iv). Allotments;

A skip has been ordered for the period 10^th – 20^th November and Mark Townson has organised working parties to clear the area.

v). Hidden Britain;

It is believed that all the scheduled work can be completed but the project will be three months behind schedule because of the need to find new people to replace Brian Oliver. Simon Ratliff is to take over as webmaster of the village website while Phil Harley is taking on the design of the touch screen information presentations. Cllr Mrs Metcalfe asked for comments about the village website layout and content.

The Dorchester brochure is about to be reprinted again, with amendments to bring the information up to date. It will be partly funded by the Hidden Britain grant.

The Clerk was asked to talk to Simon Ratliff about ensuring that the Council’s computer based records would be available relatively easily should the need arise.

vi). Other letters to Chairman and Clerk

a. The Council noted that it is the District Council’s intention to retain more control of the distribution of travel tokens next year.

b. No-one is available for the OALC Winter General Meeting on 20^th November.

c. The Council has been advised by BCB of a grass-cutting price increase by 3.6%.

d. With effect from 13^th November there will be an official Temporary Closure of Footpaths 22 & 29 while essential maintenance work is carried out at Days Lock.

9 Planning

a) Application:

P06/W1135 Rose Cottage, 10 Wittenham Lane; Alterations & extensions

P06/W1134/LB Rose Cottage, 10 Wittenham Lane; Demolition of existing extensions and outbuildings, alterations and extensions

The papers supporting these applications had only just been received and the Council’s recommendation is not required until 27^th November. It was agreed that the planning group should circulate the documents for comment and that should the matter be considered controversial a special meeting of the Council will be held.

P06/W1078 Cranmer Cottage, 90 High Street; Elevational alterations to north elevation, new boiler house to north elevation

P06/W1077/LB Cranmer Cottage, 90 High Street; Demolition of car port & garden shed, elevational alterations to north elevation and new boiler room

The Council agreed that it had no strong views about these applications.

b) Report on planning decisions, amendments etc

Chequers site

The intentions of the new owners are still unknown since no planning application has been received. The original application has not been withdrawn, however, and it appears that some work on site has started. The Clerk was asked to warn the County Archaeologist about this It was agreed that the planning group should make an inspection visit to the site and that the Council should discuss its attitude towards the future of the site at the next Council meeting.

Lantern Cottage:

Fielding & Morrison are almost ready to submit plans. They have told Clerk that they have not been much involved in the work carried out so far, which is being done by Mrs Tudor-Hughes and the builder Nigel Sullivan-Webb, who is also a business partner. This involves mainly electrics and central heating although the appearance of a dormer window has raised concerns. The Clerk confirmed that the SODC Planning Department is aware of the situation.

High Street Garage Development Site.

Richard Spratley, for the developers, has told the Clerk that he does not think that the location of the telephone pole will be moved after all. He has said to BT that he is certainly not prepared to pay for this work because the present location of the pole is the best available, in his opinion.

PO6/W0994; 6 Monks Close;

Proposed single storey side & rear extensions & alterations.

Planning permission refused 1^st November 2006.

PO6/W1010; Sunnyridges, 81 Abingdon Road Dorchester-on-Thames

Single storey pitched roof extension, new dormer windows and pitched roof front entrance canopy. Planning permission granted 30^th October 2006

10 Finance

a). Bank balances were reported as:

Current Account at 31^st October £24,201.31

Reserve Account at 30^th September £33,185.85

The VAT rebate received in month amounted to £5,922.75. A transfer from Current to Reserve Account was agreed.

b). The following accounts were approved for payment:

Scion Estates Limited (Grass cutting) £33.66

Dorchester Abbey PCC (photocopying) £3.20

Berinsfield Community Business (grass cutting – Oct.) £158.62

Southern Electric (Pavilion) £46.24

GGD Russell – Clerk’s salary £401.82

GGD Russell – admin expenses October/November £92.10

Geoff Willis Handyman – 4 weeks - (October £227.50) £312.00*

*includes 20 hours associated with car parking duties (£130)

Cones for parking control costing £362.18 had been purchased in the month.

It was agreed to make the following donations

Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance £50.00

South & Vale Carers Centre £50.00

NASIO Trust (“Noah’s Ark”) in memory of Brian Oliver £100.00

11 Bridge End Car Park & other Highways maintenance

At the Bridge End car park drainage has become an issue. Highways drainage expert, Gordon Hunt, believes that more flooding will result from reducing the porous area but there are two possible solutions – both within the £30,000 budget. One is to have ‘block paving’ which is porous – more expensive per sq. m but cuts down need for new gulley – the other is for filter drains with water draining back into the enlarged grass area. A meeting had been held between Gordon and ISIS Accord, the contractor, with more news due by this time next week.

County Cllr John Howell has now been brought in to try and solve the complete lack of response from Highways about all other matters: the footway to Meadside, Watling Lane repairs and general maintenance issues reported in the all village survey.

12 Play Area: New Equipment Appeal

Decisions are expected from SODC and from TOE by the end November and by WREN on 12^th December. A fund raising ‘Race Night’ will be held in the Village Hall on 8^th December. Donations received to date amounted to £2,500.

13 Queen Street flood prevention

The work start date is imminent.

14 Didcot Area Housing

Thirteen Parishes Group meeting will take place on 13th November and the Chairman and Cllr Mark Stevenson will represent Dorchester. There is to be a public exhibition at Long Wittenham on Saturday 18^th November.

Cllr Howell said that SODC believes that it will receive extra money to spend on Didcot’s infrastructure development if more houses are built. The new plan may involve expansion to the north of the town because the whole of the usable development area to the west has been allocated for the expansion which has been approved to date.

15. Any Other Business.

a. The Clerk said that he had been asked to assist in the Police Environmental Visual Audit on Tuesday 14^th November.

b. Two wreaths have been obtained for use on Remembrance Sunday. The barrier chain can be removed and a paving stone will be placed on the flower bed to facilitate the laying of the wreaths.

c. The Chairman will have a look at the state of the High St bus shelter which has been reported by Fred Cherrill as being in need of repair.

d. Cllr Hill reported that the Council has been offered a ‘substantial’ sized Christmas tree for outside the Co-op from Rick and Claire Houghton of Plough House.

Cllr Day said that a tree of 20’ height would be required and it was agreed to accept the donation as long as this specification is met.

e. The new parking space for use by disabled drivers has been marked out near The White Hart. The Clerk was asked to find out if there are restrictions on the length of time that a qualified vehicle can be parked in that space.

f. There is some doubt as to what refuse may be recycled through the green box scheme and the Clerk will clarify the system in the next Dorchester News.

g. Cllr Hill reported that the Sports Club Quiz Night had been fully sold with all 18 tables occupied and that £700 had been raised.

The Meeting closed at 10.02 pm

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