Parish Council Minutes

Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on 11th March 2009

in Pine Lodge, Little Milton 

 

Present:                                                      Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

                                                                Cllr. Mabel Wood

                Cllr Alison Shelton              

                                                    Cllr. David Wakeling

                                                                Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

 

                                                                David Turner ( County Councillor

                                                                No members of the public                                                  

 

                

 

01//03/09    Apologies for Absence: Cllr. Barry Coward, Cllr Tim Robinson, John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)

 

02/03/09     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.

 

03/03/09     Approval of Minutes

 

The Parish Council RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 9th February 2009 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed the minutes.

 

04/03/09     Matters Arising.

 

HGV traffic volumes on A329

Mr David Turner commented on the HGV vehicle count that had been provided by Mr Peter Ronald of OCC and highlighted that the “hamburger” roundabout at Headington was completed in December 2006. This suggested that the volume of HGV vehicles on the A329 since December 2006 had been broadly static and did not support the claims of Stadhampton Parish Council . Mr David Turner agreed to write to Stadhampton Parish Council . The Council RESOLVED to support any initiative on this matter proposed by Mr David Turner if the situation required a co-ordinated response.

 

Old Field security

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had raised the issue with SOHA and as a result there had been a visit to Old Field by one of SOHA’s technical officers and that SOHA had contacted the Area Crime Reduction Advisor for Thames Valley Police for a full survey of the area and to provide SOHA with recommendations for improving the security. The Clerk also stated that he had informed Abi Derbyshire our local Community Police Officer of the situation.

 

New Waste Collection Service

The Chair reported that he and the Clerk had attended a presentation on the new system at SODC on 5th March 2009. The proposed changes will be extensively communicated by SODC in the forthcoming months. The Chairman informed the meeting that the Council had already been in touch with SODC to arrange a visit to the village to review the areas that need to be carefully examined to ensure that the new system does not cause unnecessary problems.

 

OCC Highways

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had raised a number of issues with OCC Highways and that he had followed up the progress on them with Tim Wilde at OCC. The continuing water leakage on Gold Street will hopefully be addressed within the 2009-10 maintenance budget. The loose material from the road close to the traffic lights on Church Hill will be swept up but it is unlikely that the road surface itself will be addressed at this stage. The large number of pot holes is a concern and particular attention was drawn to the two major pot holes on the road from Blenheim Lane to Rofford.

 

 

 

05/03/09     Youth Facilities

                   

The Chairman informed the meeting that he had distributed the questionnaire drawn up by Kevin Brophe of OCC but that he had included a covering letter to parents. This matter will be kept under review.

               

06/03/09     Recreation Ground

 

The Chairman reported that an order had been placed with Sweepfast to carry out a deep clean of the carpet court in the Multi Use Games Area.

 

The Clerk reported that he had not yet received a quote from Isis in respect of their grass cutting services for 2009-10. However the indications were that it would increase by around 6%. The Council will decide the placement of the grass cutting contract at the April meeting.

 

The Chairman informed the meeting that the recreation ground committee had discussed the possible disposal of the tractor mower that was currently garaged in Warren Barn. The Council RESOLVED not to sell the mower this year but to use it to maintain the permissive footpath leading up to the recreation ground. The matter will be kept under review.

 

07/03/09     Finance

 

                    The Council RESOLVED to approve the following expenditure:

                                Colourplus – February Newsletter                                    £259.79

                                                       - March Newsletter                                       £259.79                                   £519.58

Morgan Cole- Legal Fees                                                                                                                    £2,242.50

                Clerk’s salary & expenses + remuneration of editor                                                                       £2,800.27

Andrew Marsden : VAT adviser                                                                                                        £70.40

Society of Local Council Clerks – portfolio fee                                                                               £15.00

                                                                                                               

The Council RESOLVED not to support the financial appeal from South Oxfordshire Ryder-Cheshire Volunteers following an exchange of correspondence.

 

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:-

 

                                Homestart - donation                                                                                          £50.00

 

The Chairman informed the Council of a letter received from Thame Citizens Advice Bureau expressing their thanks for the Council’s donation.

 

The Bank Reconciliations at 3rd March 2009 were made available for inspection by the Council.

 

The Clerk reported on his meeting with Andrew Marsden , a VAT consultant, as the Clerk had concerns that the level of business supplies made by the Council would require the Council to register for VAT. The VAT in respect of Local Authorities is different to that of normal businesses and the advice received was that the Council should seek to register for VAT as the income from its advertising and court hire was at a sufficient level.

 

The Council RESOLVED to accept the Risk Analysis for 2008-09 that was presented by the Clerk.

 

                                                                                               

08/03/09     Planning

 

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

The Council noted that planning permission had been granted by South Oxfordshire District Council

 

The Chairman briefed the Council on the up to date information on the electronic options as SODC seek to improve their methods of consultation on Planning. There is no intention to stop the current paper system that is currently used. The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should send a letter to SODC in support of the current system as they did not believe that a change to electronic consultation would be practical for small councils.

The Chairman informed the meeting that the Council had received revised plans for Penn House from the applicant’s architect. The Council RESOLVED not to discuss the plans as they can only comment on plans received from SODC. The Clerk was asked to communicate this to the architect.

 

09/03/09     Correspondence

                   

SODC: Redevelopment of Oakley Wood Recycling Centre: Information

The Chairman informed the meeting that the Oakley Wood Waste Recycling Centre would be closed from 23 March as part of the County Council’s on-going improvement programme for Oxfordshire’s Waste Recycling Centres. It will be closed for approximately three months.

 

OCC: Locality Primary Review: Action

The invitation to attend a Primary School Review did not apply to Little Milton as it had already been covered in an earlier review for the schools in the Wheatley area. The Clerk had spoken with Little Milton School who supplied the information in respect of the Primary School Review programme.

 

Invitation to Raymond Blanc 25th Anniversary: Information

The Clerk reminded Council members of their invitation to attend the 25th Anniversary celebration issued by Monsieur Raymond Blanc OBE.

 

10/03/09     Power of Well-Being

 

The Clerk informed the Council that the training for Well-Being would take place on Wednesday 8th April starting at 5.45 p.m. and would take approximately 2 hours. It was very important that at lease five Council members attended the session.

 

The Clerk also stated that he had completed the CiLCA module and that it would be submitted for assessment within the next two days.

 

11/03/09     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.

 

The Clerk explained that the Council were not quorate as there were only two members available to consider the agenda item. However as the Proper Officer of the Council he stated that following the agreement between Parish Council and IPS solicitors he had instructed Morgan Cole to issue the lease to the IPS solicitors for signature by his clients and this would allow the IPS to start any work on the site as there was pre-requisite that a signed lease existed before the commencement of any work. The Council would formally ratify the lease at the earliest opportunity.

 

Cllr Stuart McGill and Cllr Alison Shelton rejoined the meeting 

 

12/03/09     Exchange of Information

 

Cllr. David Wakeling expressed the concerns of a resident about the speeding around the bend past the school. The Clerk stated that he had also spoken with the resident and suggested that he wrote a letter to OCC Highways with a number of possible options including a 20mph at the school.

 

13/03/09    Date of Next Meeting

 

The Parish Council will meet at 8.15 p.m. on Wednesday 8th April 2009 in The Pine Lodge Little Milton unless there is a need to convene any planning or other meetings.

 

The meeting finished at 9.55 p.m.

 

Parish Forum

                There were no matters raised.

 

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