Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on Wednesday 11th May 2011

in the Pine Lodge Little Milton

 

Present:                                                       Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

                                                                    Cllr. Barry Coward

                                                                    Cllr. Mabel Wood

                                                                    Cllr. Bertie Bright

                                                                    Cllr. David Wakeling

                Cllr Alison Shelton

                Cllr Kate Daunt   

                                                    Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

                                                               

Member of the public: One (part meeting only)                                                           

 

ANNUAL MEETING

 

01/05/11 Election of Chairman of Council

Cllr. Stuart McGill invited the Council members to nominate a member for the position of Chairman. Cllr, David Wakelin proposed Cllr. Alison Shelton but she declined to accept the position. Cllr. Mabel Wood proposed Cllr. Barry Coward. The Chairman asked if there were any other nominations but there were none. The Chairman asked the members to show their approval and the Council RESOLVED that Cllr. Barry Coward be appointed chairman for the forthcoming Council year.

 

02/05/11 Acceptance of Office of Chairman

               Cllr. Barry Coward signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Chairman.

 

03/05/11 Election of Vice Chairman of Council

The Chairman proposed Cllr. Alison Shelton as Vice Chairman and as there were no other proposals the Council RESOLVED that she was appointed vice chairman for the forthcoming Council year.

 

04/05/11 Appointment of Recreation Ground Committee 

The Council RESOLVED that the existing Recreation Ground Advisory Committee to the Parish Council be asked to carry on in their role of providing a support and advisory service to the Council. The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should be advised of any matters that require the action of the Council.

 

The Clerk informed the Council that the Advisory Committee was not a formal sub-committee of the Parish Council and therefore did not require to operate within the Parish Council procedures.

 

05/05/11 Appointment of representative to the Village Hall Management Committee

The Chairman asked Cllr. Mabel Wood if was prepared to be the Council’s representative to the Village Hall Management for the forthcoming year. Cllr. Mabel Wood stated that she was and the Council RESOLVED that she be appointed the Council’s representative.

 

06/05/11 Review of existing Standing Orders and Financial Regulations

The Clerk informed the Council that he proposed to circulate a set of revised Standing Orders issued by the National Association of Local Councils as well as a set of Financial Regulations and these would replace those currently adopted by the Council.  

 

07/05/11 To review and make arrangements to reaffirm the Council’s eligibility to exercise The Power of Well Being

The Clerk stated that he Council’s eligibility to exercise the Power of Well Being ceased to exist on May 4th 2011 the day before the election and if the Council wished to exercise the power it required 80% of the Council members to have attended a suitable training course on the Power of Well Being. The Council meets all the other criteria. The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should contact OALC to provide the necessary training.

 

08/05/11 Set the dates, times and place of the Ordinary meeting of the Council

The Council RESOLVED to meet on the second Wednesday of each month, accept in August when there is no meeting, at 8.00 p.m. in the Pine Lodge. However the Council recognised the need to ensure that as far as possible there would be a quorum when confirming the date.

 

ORDINARY MEETING

 

09//05/11 Apologies for Absence:

 

                Mr Stephen Harrod, District Councillor

                Mr David Turner, County Councillor

 

10/05/11   Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members

 

Cllr. Alison Shelton declared a personal interest in the Little Milton Shop, Cllr Mabel Wood declared a personal interest in the Village Hall and Cllr Bertie Bright declared a personal interest in the Village Hall.

 

11/05/11   Approval of Minutes

 

The Parish Council RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 11th April 2011 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed the minutes.

 

12/05/11   Matters Arising.

 

OCC Highway matters

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had received confirmation that OCC Highways would not restrict the access to the lay-by at Frogmore after a request from the Council to give it some consideration after the recent fly-tipping. The Council RESOLVED to monitor the lay-by and if necessary request South Oxfordshire District Council to consider some level of surveillance.

 

The Clerk reported that he had formally requested OCC Highways to re-paint the wooden gates at the entrances to the village and that he would keep the matter under review.

 

Permitted Footpath- installation of kissing gate

The Clerk reported that the kissing gate had not yet been released by Le Manoir and stated that when it was available for installation he would contact Mr Charles Peers so that he would instruct Mr Ganly to its exact location on the Wheatley Road.

 

Thames Water- Stadhampton Road

The Clerk stated that he had contacted Thames Water again in order to establish the progress on the damaged sewer that they had referred to. It transpires that Thames Water had confused an issue in Great Milton and had mistakenly referred the matter as a Little Milton incident. Thames Water concluded that infiltration was not proved as the flooding occurs in rainfall “events”. The ground level where the floods occur appears to the lowest point on the Rofford Lane Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) hence whenever the level builds up this area may flood. The capacity of the SPS at Rofford Lane may also require an investigation but this has not been confirmed to date.

 

Millennium Plaques at the Cross

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had made an enquiry with Bronze Restorations about the deterioration of the Millennium plaques at the Cross. The company had responded and it would appear that plaques could have been exposed to a fruit based substance and it has caused the discolouration. The estimated cost of restoring the plaques was around £1,000. The Council RESOLVED that the responsibility of maintaining the existing feature rested with the Council. However they asked the Clerk to explore other alternatives so that the Council could review a range of options before making any final decision.

 

Platform for Parish Council Website

The Council RESOLVED that it would change the existing software used to update the Council website to a widely used content management package. This would afford more access to designated people to all or part of the site. The budget price would be around £400. The current web-master Mr David Haenlein would coordinate the work in conjunction with the Clerk.

 

13/05/11   New Council Members

 

The Clerk issued a copy of The Good Councillor’s Guide (3rd Edition) to all the Council members and stated that it was essential guidance for local councillors. The Clerk also issued a copy of the 2011-12 Budget as well as a short paper of Guidance Notes for Council members.

 

The Clerk gave each Council member a Register of Interests Form and requested that it be completed within twenty eight days of their election and returned to the Clerk. 

 

14/05/11   Crossing at Chippinghurst

 

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had proposed to Mr Harry St John that he should delay his presentation to the Parish Council on the proposed reorganisation of the rights of way in the Chippinghurst area until the County Council had determined the application by Mr Crawley on an existing right of way. The Council RESOLVED that it was happy to maintain its support for the proposed scheme that was broadly similar to one that had been supported by a previous Council in 1994. The Clerk was asked to inform Mr Harry St John.

 

15/05/11   Community Emergency Planning

 

                The Clerk reported that he had spoken with Mr Ian Travers Smith at the Emergency Operations Centre of OCC and he had confirmed that the basic framework of the plan that had been completed was adequate at this stage. The Clerk stated that he had included a section within the plan on Snow as well as updating the contacts to include The Lamb and Age UK. The Council RESOLVED that Cllr Barry Coward should replace Mr Stuart McGill on the Emergency Management Team as result of the recent Parish Council election. The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should send a copy of the amended plan to OCC for approval.

 

16/05/11   Recreation Ground

 

The Chairman informed the Council it had received a written offer for £150 for the Wheelhorse mower. The offer was to purchase the vehicle as seen. The Council RESOLVED to accept the offer as it recognised that the mower required further maintenance and servicing and the offer was seen as a fair one.

 

Mr Mark Willis reported that the recreation ground committee would pursue a lower cost approach to remedying the poor drainage on the surface of the MUGA football court. He stated that the lamps on the floodlights would be switched during the summer months.

 

The Chairman informed the meeting that the Annual Inspection of the play-area and MUGA by Digley Associates were scheduled for July.

 

17/05/11   Finance

 

The Council RESOLVED to approve the following expenditure:

Colourplus: May 2011 newsletter                                                                                                                    £267.42

SODC: Dog Bin empting quarter to 31 March 2011                                                                                     £11.66

Came & Company – council insurances 1 June 2011- 31 May 2012                                                      £595.35

HMRC: VAT due for quarter ending 30 April 2011                                                                                     £1111.02

 

The Clerk informed the meeting that the cost of the un-contested election was £100 as against the budget of £600.

 

                The Council RESOLVED that the authorised signatories for the current Mandate for the current account no 68536348 held with NatWest should be changed to add Cllr Bertie Bright and Cllr David Wakeling and remove Cllr Stuart McGill.

 

18/05/11   Planning

                   

P11/W0501: Ostler’s Brook: Demolition of conservatory and replace with two storey extension.

The Chairman read out an email from an adjacent neighbour that expressed some concern about the design of the roof. The Council discussed the application and although they had some concerns about the scale of the development relative to the site and the proximity of the adjacent property it RESOLVED that it had no strong views on the application and accepted that SODC would determine it as it considered appropriate

 

19/05/11   Annual Parish Report

                   

The Chairman asked for any comments on the Parish Council Report for 2010-11 that had been prepared by the Clerk and had already been distributed prior to the meeting. The Council RESOLVED to accept the report as written. The Clerk stated that it would be distributed as a separate report with the June Newsletter.

 

20/05/11   Correspondence

There were no matters under this agenda item.            

 

21/05/11   Exchange of Information

 

Cllr. Alison Shelton informed the meeting that the hedge and verge had been cut by resources provided by Mr & Mrs Jeremy Mogford. The Council RESOLVED that a letter of appreciation should be sent by the Clerk.

               

A council member expressed their disappointment at the poor attendance at the Annual Parish Meeting as he felt that a number of people had put in a lot of effort on the night. The Clerk stated that the meeting was a legal requirement. The Council RESOLVED that it would review the publicity given to the meeting prior to the Annual Meeting in 2012.

 

22/05/11    Date of Next Meeting

 

The Parish Council will meet at 8.00 p.m. on Wednesday 8th June 2011 in the Pine Lodge Little Milton unless there is a need to convene any planning or other meetings.

 

The meeting finished at 10.00 p.m.

 

 

Parish Forum

                There were no matters raised

Signed by Chairman…………………………………………………Date…………………………………………