Details of the information that is available under the Freedom of Information Act

Community Involvement  - Statement  of Intent

EXTRACTS FROM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

The Council meeting held on Wednesday 13th July was attended by six Councillors, the Clerk, the County Councillor, 2 Community Police Officers and three members of the public. The following are extracts from the minutes that the Council need to approve at the September meeting.

Community Police

The Chairman welcomed PC Mel Stafford and PCSO Chris Ratcliff to the meeting. PCSO Chris Ratcliff explained that their attendance was part of the new approach to interface with Parish Councils rather than the Neighbourhood Action Groups. The PCSO stated that the crime in Little Milton over the past three months had been very low. The Council had no matters to raise with the officers. 

Permitted Footpath- installation of kissing gate

The Chairman invited Mr Charles Peers to update the Council with the latest information on the installation of the kissing gate. He reported that he expected the gate to be installed during week commencing18th July 2011. 

Millennium Plaques at the Cross

The Clerk informed the meeting that the re-polished plaques had been re-fitted on the wall opposite the Lamb by Alan Stone. 

Crossing at Chippinghurst

The Chairman welcomed Mr Harry StJohn and Mr John Orchard and invited them to address the meeting on the footpaths and proposed river crossing at Chippinghurst.

Mr Harry StJohn informed the meeting that the proposed reorganisation of the Rights of Way in the Chippinghurst area as well as Little Milton and the proposed crossing of the River Thame dated back to 1994 when Little Milton Parish Council had made a formal application to the County Council. The matter has been on file with the County Council since its filing and has now become an active item for consideration. However before the matter can be considered the County Council needs to determine whether an application, by a Mr Crawley, on an existing right of way across the river at Chippinghurst is valid. Mr Harry StJohn considers it a beneficial exercise to re-visit the case for the reorganisation of the footpaths as that proposal has wide support of local land-owners, the County Council and adjacent Parish Councils.

In the discussion that followed the Council expressed some concerns about the proposed elimination of footpath 280/3 within the package of measures but RESOLVED to carry out a field visit to familiarise themselves with all of the proposed changes. The Council also RESOLVED that the Clerk should present a history of all the correspondence in order that the Council had a full history of all the events.

Planning

P11/W0814: Warren Farm: Single storey lean-to day room extension

The Council RESOLVED that this application should be recommended for approval by South Oxfordshire District Council.

Review of signs within the village

The Chairman thanked Cllr. Kate Daunt for the work she had done in providing a schedule of signs within the village. Cllr. Kate Daunt used her computer to display the various signs pointing out the issues that she had identified. A total of sixty one signs were listed and the problems could be summarised as follows:

• Visibility of road traffic signs due to overgrown vegetation
• Damaged road traffic signs
• Damaged /dirty street signs
• Duplication of signs
• Absolute requirement of road traffic signs to meet legal requirements of OCC Highways
• The positioning of commercial advertising boards
• Number of No Cold calling signs

The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk would seek a visit by OCC Highways and SODC to review the Road Traffic signs and street signs with a view to having the issues addressed and the Council would review the number of No Cold Calling signs. The Council recognised the sensitivity of the advertising boards as they wanted to support local businesses but also needed to strike a balance to ensure the overall wellbeing of the community

Exchange of Information

Cllr. David Wakeling highlighted the challenges that Little Milton School were facing as they addressed the problem of car parking due to the ever increasing growth in pupil numbers. Although it was a school responsibility the Parish Council were being asked if they had any ideas that could help the situation. The use of the Parish Council car park was not considered a realistic option as it was already heavily used by The Orchard Pre-School and customers to the shop. However an issue that was raised by Cllr. David Wakeling related to the general safety of the children using Gold Street as he highlighted the lack of a warning sign for vehicles approaching Gold Street from Ditchend. The Council RESOLVED to include this matter with the schedule of other items for Road Traffic signs to be reviewed with OCC Highways.

Cllr. David Wakeling also highlighted the concern of parents as they encountered over-grown hedges and he asked the Council to request residents to be aware of the issue and take the necessary action.

The Chairman stated that Community Planning within the Localism Bill was vey different to the Community led planning exercises that were being developed by some Parish Councils. The Chairman informed the meeting that he would investigate with ORCC more about the process of Community led planning and report back to the Council at the September meeting.

The Chairman informed the meeting that the Council had received a letter from a resident expressing their delight of the additional buses provided by the 104 Bus service but more importantly highlighting the dangers of encountering the A329 to pick it up at the Wheatley turn. The Chairman informed the meeting that the Clerk had already contacted Mt John Wood at OCC urging him to consider having the pick up point at Old Field.

The Parish Council will meet on Wednesday 14th September 2011 at 8.00 p.m. in The Pine Lodge Little Milton unless there is a need to convene any planning or other meetings.

Please note that the complete minutes of the Council are now included on the Council website www.littlemilton.org.uk  after they have been approved by the Council.

Freedom of Information Act – Parish Council Publication Scheme

The Freedom on Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides rights of public access to information held by Public Authorities. The Parish Council adopted a new publication scheme on 1st January 2009. A version of the Publication Scheme will be available on the Council Website www.littlemilton.org.uk

Residents can see the records of the policies and practices of the Parish Council

including minutes, financial information and responses to planning consultations, on request from the Parish Clerk.

Current Council members