Parish Council Minutes

Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on Wednesday 9th July 2008

in Pine Lodge, Little Milton 

 

 

Present:                                                      Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

                                                                Cllr. Mabel Wood               

                                                    Cllr. Alison Shelton

                                                                Cllr. Barry Coward (Vice Chairman)

                                                                Cllr. David Wakeling

                                                                Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

 

                Mr John Nowell Smith (District Council Member)

                                                                David Turner ( County Councillor )

 

                                                                Six member of the public

 

                   

 

01//07/08    Apologies for Absence: Cllr. Tim Robinson,

 

 

02/07/08     Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members

 

Cllr. Stuart McGill declared a personal interest in the Village Hall and Village Shop/Post Office agenda items and Cllrs. Alison Shelton and Mabel Wood declared personal interest in the Village Hall agenda item.

 

03/07/08     Approval of Minutes

 

The Parish Council RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 11th June 2008 as a true record of the meetings and the Chairman signed them subject to the following corrections:-

The payment to Colourplus should have been for £351.52 for the June newsletter and the Cllr. Mabel Wood’s had a personal interest in the Village Hall and not the Post Office.

 

04/07/08     Matters Arising.

 

OCC Highways

The Clerk reported that the OCC Highways had completed their work on the Haseley Road and the results to date would indicate that the problem with the spring water had been resolved. However the Council RESOLVED to monitor the situation before requesting the removal of the yellow salt bin. The drains on the High Street adjacent to the Lamb have been schedules for attention by OCC Highways .

 

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had spoken again with OCC Countryside in respect of the overgrown bridleway between Little Milton and Great Haseley and that he had been assured that it would be cut back in the near future.

 

Quality Parish Council

The Chairman was delighted to inform the Council that it had been accredited Quality Status following a meeting at the Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils on 4th July 2008. The Chairman expressed the Council’s appreciation to the Clerk for all his hard work in helping the Council achieve this status. Didcot Town Council is the only other council in South Oxfordshire that has Quality Parish Status.

                                     

05/07/08     Youth Facilities

 

The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should contact Mr Kevin Brophy at OCC for the forthcoming events programme. The Council also RESOLVED that it would like to set up a youth event in order to find out the sort of activities that would appeal to them as a better way to take this initiative forward. The Clerk was asked to raise this with Mr Kevin Brophy as it was considered that the help of a professional youth worker would be beneficial.

               

06/07/08     Recreation Ground

 

The Chairman read out a report from Mr Mark Willis. The report stated that the faulty light in the MUGA had been repaired and that new bark had been delivered and spread in the play area. The Council appreciated the work that had been done and asked the Clerk to communicate their appreciation to him. 

 

The report highlighted that two tables and a waste bin had been removed to accommodate the recent rose Ball but at the time of writing the report had not been reinstated and that as a result of the delay there had been some damage done to the equipment. Cllr. Alison Shelton informed the meeting that she had organised that the items would be re-fixed at the weekend. However the Council RESOLVED that consideration should be given to where the equipment is re-sited to avoid the removal of the equipment at a future date. Cllr. Alison Shelton stated that she would take this into account.

 

07/07/08     Finance

 

                    The Council RESOLVED to approve the following expenditure:

                                Colourplus – July Newsletter                                                                                      £246.13

                        Mr R Fergusson – Three Villages Hospital Car Service                                                       £53.00

              

The Council RESOLVED that in accordance with its powers under Section 137 of the LGA 1972  to incur the following expenditure which in the opinion of Little Milton Parish Council is in the interests of the area or the inhabitants and will benefit them in a manner commensurate with the expenditure:-

 

Mr James D’Albiac – Rent for Post Office 1July – September 30 2008                                               £29.38    

                                                                                           

08/07/08     Planning

 

P08/W0666: 16 Old Field: Two Storey Side extension

The Chairman outlined the planning application to the Council and after some initial views were expressed by members the Chairman invited the residents from Old Field to express their concerns. The residents expressed major concerns over the number of parked vehicles, the dependency of the occupants of the surrounding bungalows on carer access and the current use of the property as one of rented out rooms. These factors they believed made the proposed extension to be inappropriate. The Council members agreed with the views expressed by the residents and RESOLVED to recommend to SODC Planning that the application should be refused planning permission.

 

P08/W0746 Cremar Cottages: Two storey rear and side extension and porch

          The Council RESOLVED that this planning application should be approved by South Oxfordshire District Council

 

09/07/08     Correspondence

 

Society of Local Council Clerks

The Chairman briefed the Council on the forthcoming National Conference of the Society of Local Council Clerks and RESOLVED to fund the clerk’s attendance at the Open Day for Smaller Parishes at a cost of £30.

SODC: Free Tree Scheme

The Chairman informed the Council of the SODC Free Tree Scheme. The Council discussed the possibility of a tree planting project for the recreation ground but RESOLVED to seek professional advice from SODC Forestry & Countryside. The Clerk was asked to take up the matter with SODC.

 

Letter from Resident

The Chairman read out a letter from a resident in respect of the Wheatley Road as they had concerns about certain aspects of its safety due to vehicles accessing the Warren Barn Trading Units. Mr David Turner offered to pursue the matter with OCC Highways .

 

10/07/08     Extension to Village Hall

 

At this point in the meeting Cllr Alison Shelton and Cllr Stuart McGill declared a prejudicial interest in the next point on the agenda and vacated their places at the Council table.

 

Cllr Barry Coward took the Chair.

 

 

The Chairman outlined the key points of the Shop Project Options paper that had been circulated to Council members in advance of the meeting. The Chairman of the Shop Steering Group stated that he expected the application to register the IPS to be submitted in the near future and that most of the key committee members had been identified. The Chairman of the Shop Steering Group also confirmed that there were sufficient volunteers to help run the shop and that there were sufficient people with the requisite skills on the management committee of the IPS to see the project through to successful completion.

 

The Clerk informed the Council that on advice from the National Association of Local Councils it did not have the necessary powers to build the extension under current legislation and would require the Power of Wellbeing to build the extension for the purposes of a shop/post-office. He reported that the latest information on Wellbeing was that it was unlikely to be made available to qualifying Councils before September 2008. The Clerk also informed the meeting that he had written to Mr Emmett in respect of the Restrictive Covenant and had advised him of the Council’s plans for the site.

 

The Council RESOLVED to adopt option 4, the Parish Council builds the extension and the IPS equips it for a shop/post-office. This decision was made after asking the Chairman of the Shop Steering Group if a delay in the project was acceptable. The Council also RESOLVED to ask Cllr Barry Coward to continue to lead the project on behalf of the Council. Although the building would be delayed it was recognised that there were a number of actions where the work could start immediately.

 

Councillors Stuart McGill and Alison Shelton re-joined the meeting.

 

11/07/08     Exchange of Information

 

Cllr. David Wakeling highlighted a number of statements that were included in the recent by-election party political material that had caused the school some concern. Although this was not a Parish Council matter the comments were noted by the District and County Councillors .

 

12/07/08    Date of Next Meeting

 

The Parish Council will meet on Wednesday 10th September 2008 at 8.00 p.m. in The Pine Lodge Little Milton unless there is a need to convene any planning or other meetings.

 

The meeting finished at 10.05p.m.

 

                Parish Forum

                There were no matters raised

 

 

 

 

 

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