DORCHESTER ON THAMES
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Parish Council Minutes September 2005
Home > Parish Council > Minutes > September 2005
The Monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 14th September 2005 commencing at 7.30 pm.
The Chairman, Cllr K Bryan presided; present were Cllrs. M Day, S Gibbons, C Hill, Mrs M Metcalfe, Mrs J Nudds and M Williams and County Cllr J Howell with G Russell in attendance.
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were accepted from Cllr C Sleigh who was on holiday.
2 Declarations of Interest
None
3 Minutes of the Meetings held 10th & 31st August 2005
These were approved and signed as true records of the meetings.
4 Matters Arising from the Minutes
i. The wording to be carved on to the Mike Smith memorial seat was agreed subject to the approval of Pat Smith.
ii. Members of the Council signed a card for Olive Bevan who is celebrating her 100th Birthday
iii. The Clerk reported that the District Council has been delighted with the positive feedback from parish councils which took advantage of the ‘Free trees’ scheme and has said that the offer is likely to be repeated in 2006.
iv. Cllr Mrs Metcalfe and the Clerk will attend the Town and Parish Council Forum at Crowmarsh on 20th September.
5 County Councillor's Report
Cllr Howell said that he had received an encouraging response from County Highways with regard to the resurfacing of the car park and the possibility that the whole of Bridge End would also be resurfaced was very much linked to this project.
The next phase of minerals planning is under way with two documents concerning the consultation due to be received very soon. Cllr Howell said that he would be able to advise the Council as to how it should respond. The timetable is due for completion in 2008, a year later than scheduled. Consultation will also shortly commence concerning the allocation of new housing within the County for the period 2016-2026. Cllr Howell said that he would organise a seminar for all the parish councils within his division when this process starts.
Cllr Howell said that the recent newspaper reports about a link road being built from Didcot to the Golden Balls roundabout were alarmist. This proposal is one of many ideas being considered for implementation in 2026 and beyond. It is highly unlikely to be taken forward.
Thames Travel is withdrawing from the 107 bus route which will be put out for tender again.
In response to a question from Cllr Hill, Cllr Howell said that the way to keep up the momentum behind the campaign for action at Bridge End is for more letters to be written by local residents, the PCC and others.
6 Correspondence and Other Business
i). Sports Club Pavilion & Playground;
The recent report from the RoSPA inspector has again recommended that a sign be erected with wording along the lines of that set out in RoSPA’s information sheet 10 dated October 2004. The Council has already received a quotation from Chris Drewett Signs Ltd amounting to £499 plus delivery and VAT and it was agreed to accept this quotation
It was noted that there seemed to be another outbreak of myxomatosis in the area. Peter Keable will be asked to cut the Recreation Ground’s perimeter hedge.
ii). Footpaths;
The Chairman has spoken to the owners of Plough House and the shrub which had been growing over the pavement has been removed.
The Council noted the emergency closure of Footpath 4 by the County Footpaths Officer who had been concerned about possible danger from falling branches. The officer had arranged for remedial action and the path had now been reopened.
The Clerk said that he had reported the removal of the cycle barrier at the Samian Way entrance to the Allotments. The County advised against immediate replacement of this barrier suggesting that it would be better to review the matter again in a year.
The Council agreed that there are several footpaths in need of tidying up: the underpass at Bridge End, Cheyney Lane, the pavement opposite Meadside and the path linking Bridge End with Samian Way. It was also suggested that the footpath leading from the bus stop outside Morrisons to the underpass should be signed.
iii). Cemetery & Closed Churchyard
Quotes have been received for the removal of ivy. The one from S J Baker Tree & Garden Services is £80 plus VAT, slightly less than BCB. It was agreed to give S J Baker the job.
BCB will be asked to provide a quotation for cutting back the berberis hedge.
iv). Allotments;
The Council noted that owing to increased demand more allotments may need to be cleared for letting. At the moment there is no requirement for an allotment holder to be a resident of the Village but this will have to kept under review.
v). Parish Plan;
Cllr Williams said that the youth meeting is being rearranged, the final Parish Plan document is almost ready for publication and he will be preparing the Council’s claim for a rebate from ORCC on part of the expenditure so far incurred.
vi). Other letters to Chairman and/or Clerk
a. The Clerk had received a letter from Susan Jupp about residents being careless when putting out black sacks. He will mention this matter in the Parish Council notices in the next Dorchester News.
b. Don McGregor had written about the War Memorial thanking the Parish Council for the refurbishment and asking for the Council to make a £100 annual grant towards the cost of providing plants and flowers etc. The Council noted that in previous years the amount spent had been significantly less than this figure, mainly because of the generosity of some local residents. This year the figure was somewhat higher because of the need to replace plants which had been damaged in the course of the refurbishment. The Council agreed that it preferred to continue to pay for plants as required, rather than allocate a set amount of expenditure.
c. No-one was available to attend the ORCC briefing meetings being held on 23rd and 26th September concerning Defra’s proposals for a new Rural and Social Community Programme.
d. Trevor Gwynne had written to the Clerk on 12th August saying that he would visit the Village during the following two weeks in order to determine the viability of re-instating the drainage ditches or part(s) thereof within the following two weeks but no comments had been received so far.
e. At the beginning of August an officer was appointed to investigate the possible breach of planning regulations off Drayton Road with a report to follow in about four weeks. No comments have been received so far.
f. Rev Sue Booys has asked the Parish Council and other Village associations etc to suggest a hymn or reading for the Trafalgar Commemoration service being held on 23rd September. Cllr Hill had suggested Nelson’s Prayer; other suggestions will be most welcome and are required by the end of the month.
7 Planning
a) Applications
There were none received this month.
b) Report on planning decisions, amendments etc
PO5/W0819 9 Oxford Road
Change of use from existing agricultural land to domestic garden
Planning permission was granted on 31st August
The Clerk circulated the draft of a letter to Adrian Duffield which he had prepared following comments at the August Parish Council meetings about the need for the District Council to consider the several planning applications, which would have an impact upon the character and infrastructure of Dorchester, not in isolation but all together, having regard to their accumulative nature. The text was approved.
8 Finance
a). The Council’s bank balances were as follows:
Current Account at 30th August £1,479.58
Reserve Account at 30th August £42,240.19
b). Accounts approved for payment:
Berinsfield Community Business- grass cutting/footpath £293.75
Cathy Pepper –flower bed at war memorial £47.88
Scion Estates – removal of barrier £108.10
Abingdon Stone & Marble Ltd – war memorial £1,092.75
GGD Russell – clerk’s salary £361.86
Admin expenses August/September £121.75
Geoff Willis Handyman – 5 weeks - (August £204.75) £264.00
Easily Limited (Village website server extension 1 year £46.94
Playground Management Ltd £76.38
The Council also noted expenditure on new traffic cones amounting to £187.76
The Clerk reported that in return for offering facilities to the new production of
Poirot the Council had received a payment of £1,200 from Granada TV (not included in above current a/c balance).
c). Financial statement April – August
The Clerk presented an analysis of the Council’s expenditure for the period. It was agreed to hold over discussion of this matter until the Council’s meeting in October when the figures for the half year would be available together with a comparison of actual expenditure against budget.
9 Bridge End Car Park
Following a site meeting held on 8th September, Dave Baldwin for Monson Engineering had proposed that his company would firm up the sketch scheme produced in 1999 with particular reference to matters which had been raised in Brian Short’s letter dated 7th December 1999, the Dorchester Conservation Area Management Plan, produced by SODC in May 2005, and the effective drainage of the area. He quoted a fee of £425 for carrying out this work and this was approved unanimously.
10 By-pass junction
The County Council has advised the Clerk that its records show eight accidents in last 3 years but all involved a car turning right out of the junction colliding with a car (motorbike in one case) heading towards Berinsfield roundabout and none involved a car turning right, off the by-pass into Henley Road travelling towards Dorchester. It was suggested that a cause of these accidents might be that the size and position of the illuminated bollard on the traffic island just before the by-pass
The Council agreed to ask the County to replace the two signs marking the entrance to the village with new signs that would be placed on the correct boundary of the Parish. By a narrow majority the Council agreed that these signs would simply say Dorchester-on-Thames with no additional symbols or ‘welcome’ message added.
11 Review of Concessionary Fares
The District Council is reviewing the present scheme of half-price bus travel and concessionary fare travel tokens to take into account the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s introduction of free local bus travel for elderly and disabled people with effect from April 2006. Comments are required by October 7th and councillors who wish to put forward a view will do so before the end of September so that the Clerk can submit a co-ordinated response.
12 Bus Services review
In addition to the comments minuted under County Councillor’s report (above), the Council agreed that improvements to the by-pass bus stop are desirable, including the provision of a passenger shelter and much improved access and street lighting.
13 Date of Next Meeting
The date of the meeting was set for 12th October, County Cllr Howell gave his apologies in advance.
14 Any Other Business
a. The area around the public lavatories in Bridge End needs clearing of weeds. The District Council will be asked to do this.
b. Cllr Williams said that at the most recent PCC meeting Rev Sue Booys had said that the Parish Council should not be reluctant to present ideas for any improvements in matters concerning the Abbey operations. There will soon be a new person providing a central contact point for all bookings and matters including parking.
c. Cllr Hill said that he had heard that a new site for travellers has been agreed for a location in Little Wittenham. No-one else had heard about this and Cllr Hill said that he would try to find more information.
d. Cllr Mrs Nudds said that action is needed to tidy the old garage site on the High Street. The height of the weeds at the front of the site is blocking the view of drivers coming from the direction of Bridge End.
e. Cllr Day said that there were several parts of the village which need tidying, including the area at Waterloo.
Meeting closed at 9.18 pm
Revised 12/06/2005 © 2005 DOTWeb