Parish Council Minutes

Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on 14th January  2009

in Pine Lodge, Little Milton 

 

Present:                                                       Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

                                                                Cllr. Barry Coward (Vice Chairman)

                 Cllr. Mabel Wood

                 Cllr Alison Shelton              

                                                    Cllr. David Wakeling

                                                                Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

 

                                                                John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)

                                                                David Turner ( County Councillor

 

                                                                One member of the public   (Part Meeting only)                                            

 

                   

 

01//01/09    Apologies for Absence: Cllr. Tim Robinson

 

02/01/09     Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members

 

Cllr. Stuart McGill declared a personal interest in the Village Hall and prejudicial interest in the Lease between the Parish Council and the IPS, Cllr Alison Shelton a prejudicial interest in the Lease between the Parish Council and the IPS and Cllr. Mabel Wood declared a personal interest in the Village Hall.

 

03/01/09     Approval of Minutes

 

The Parish Council RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 10th December 2008 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed the minutes.

 

04/01/09     Matters Arising.

 

The Clerk reported that the pot holes at the entrance to the car park had not yet been repaired. The Chairman stated that he would take the matter up with Mr John Riddy as well as seeking an alternative contractor for the work.

 

05/01/09     Youth Facilities

                   

The Chairman informed the meeting that the questionnaire had not been distributed. The Council agreed that it would be better to target household with young people and a list of possible households had already been drawn up for a previous exercise. This would be made available to the Chairman.

               

06/01/09     Recreation Ground

 

Mr Mark Willis reported that there was an intermittent problem with the MUGA lights and that the matter had been referred to the electrician. The other outstanding matter in respect of the MUGA related to the fitting of a new token box as a result of vandalism. The box had been purchased and was waiting to be fitted. There was a discussion on the possible alternatives to the maintenance of the MUGA surface and the Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should make some enquiries and report back to the Council.

 

Mr Willis highlighted the mole activity and the Clerk reported that he had spoken with Mr Peter Ilbury who had indicated that he would address the problem.

 

Mr Willis requested that the Council replace the existing brick meter building with something suitable for purpose when the new extension is built by the IPS. The current unit is inadequate. The Council RESOLVED that this would be addressed.

 

07/01/09     Finance

 

                    The Council RESOLVED to approve the following expenditure:

                        Colourplus – January Newsletter                                                                        £247.13

James D’Albiac - 3 months rent to 31st March 2009                                              £75.00  

R.Fergusson – Three Villages Car Service (6 months to 31 Dec 08)                        £35.00

Brown & Co – Land Registry Plans                                                                    £672.75

Morgan Cole – Interim legal fees re Lease with IPS                                            £1172.50

                               

The Council declined to support a financial appeal from Oxfordshire Business Alliance.

 

The Council noted a letter of thanks from Air Ambulance Berks/Oxon/Bucks in respect of a financial donation.

 

The Clerk presented the December bank Reconciliations for inspection by Council members.

 

The Clerk presented a budget for 2009-10 and after due consideration by members the Council RESOLVED to set the precept at £10,500. The Council set the precept after taking into account the known levels of income and expenditure and the likely levels of future expenditure. The Council anticipate that the current levels of reserves will reduce quite considerably in 2009-10.

                                                                           

08/01/09     Planning

 

                    P08/W1347/LB & P08/W1348: Pear Tree Cottage Haseley Road

The Council RESOLVED that these applications should be recommended for approval by South Oxfordshire District Council.

 

These applications were revised plans as a result of the applicant withdrawing the original plans and the Council RESOLVED that the District Councillor reserve the position that the applications could be considered by the SODC Planning Committee if the officers recommend a refusal.

 

09/01/09     Correspondence

                   

The Chairman read out a letter from Stadhampton Parish Council in which they were seeking support in working together with other adjacent parishes to see if anything further could be done to reduce the number of HGV’s travelling through the area. The Council RESOLVED to ask County Councillor David Turner to set up a HGV traffic count to establish some hard data and if necessary seek the re-instatement of the Five Village action group that was disbanded towards the back end of 2008.

 

The Council RESOLVED to circulate the Communities in Control consultation document on recommended practice on local authority publicity.

 

The Chairman read out a briefing document issued by SODC on the new waste service that is scheduled to start in South Oxfordshire in June. There was some confusion as the information appeared to be different to that understood by our District Councillor. The Clerk was asked to seek clarification.

 

10/01/09     Lease between Parish Council and IPS

 

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

 

Cllr Barry Coward took the Chair.

 

The Chairman reported that agreement had been reached with the IPS over the Heads of Agreement but there was an outstanding issue over the restrictive covenant. The Clerk reported that he had spoken further with Mr Emmett and that on the advice of his solicitor he had no objection to the proposed development on the site. The Clerk stated that this matter had been communicated to Morgan Cole. The Clerk also advised the Council that land registry plans had been drawn up by Brown & Co. The Council reviewed the plans and RESOLVED not to allocate specific parking to the lessees of the site as they considered that such an arrangement was not practical and could prove difficult to enforce. The Chairman asked Cllr. Stuart McGill if the IPS had any points to make. Cllr. McGill stated that there was nothing to report on the Heads of Agreement but he pointed out that any drawdown of the grants was dependant upon a signed copy of the lease. The Chairman reported that he hoped the Lease would be finalised by mid February at the latest and hopefully sooner.

 

11/01/09     Exchange of Information

 

County Councillor David Turner stated the level of Road accidents had reduced and that a revised set of accident statistics was being issued. Cllr. David Turner also reported that increased funding by Oxfordshire County Council meant that from January 2009, all children are entitled to a full-time school place for the whole academic year in which they turn five.

 

Cllr. Barry Coward informed the Council that he would miss the February and March Council meetings for personal reasons. Cllr. David Wakeling informed the Council that he would be unavailable for the February meeting. As a result the Clerk was asked to seek a dispensation from SODC to allow the Council to conduct business where the Council did not have a quorum of members. This would only be a potential issue in respect of the Lease between the Parish Council and the IPS.

 

12/01/09    Date of Next Meeting

 

The Parish Council will meet at 8.00 p.m. on Wednesday 11th February 2009 in The Pine Lodge Little Milton unless there is a need to convene any planning or other meetings.

 

The meeting finished at 9.40 p.m.

 

                Parish Forum

                Mr David Turner outlined some safety statistics for the County that he would copy to the clerk

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