Little
Milton Parish Council
Minutes of Council Meeting held on 13th January 2010
Present:
Cllr Stuart McGill
(Chairman)
Cllr Barry Coward
Cllr
Cllr. David Wakeling
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
No
members of the public
01/10/10
Apologies
for Absence:
Cllr Mabel Wood (recovering from surgery), Cllr Tim Robinson, John Nowell-Smith
and David Turner
02/01/10
Declaration of any personal or
prejudicial interests of members
Cllr
Stuart McGill declared a personal interest in the Village Hall and the IPS. Cllr
03/01/10
Approval of Minutes
The
Parish Council RESOLVED to approve
the minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 9th December 2009 as a true record
of the meeting and the Chairman signed the minutes.
04/0110
Matters Arising.
New
Refuse Collection system
The
Clerk reported that he had informed Mr Fred Thompson-Brown on the Council’s
position following the survey of residents of
The
Clerk informed the meeting that the Christmas and subsequent refuse collections
had been severely disrupted by the weather and had received a number of calls
from residents seeking information. Although the situation was unusual he
requested from SODC that if the designated collection day was going to be missed
that a note should be sent to Parish Clerks with the relevant information. The
Clerk stated that he had used an existing email distribution list to inform
local residents of the situation and that this had been well received. He stated
that he intended to invite residents to supply their email address if they
wanted the up to date information on the refuse collection. He also informed the
meeting that a link had been put on the Council website for the latest
information on refuse collection.
05/01/10
Recreation Ground
The
Chairman informed the meeting that the Council had received request from
Windmill Landscapes to tender for the grass cutting of the recreation ground.
The Clerk also informed the meeting that he had contacted
The
Clerk reported that he had contacted Sweepfast in respect of the drainage of the
MUGA as a result of a complaint made by one of the regular users. Sweepfast have
made arrangements to inspect the MUGA and submit a report.
06/01/10
Car Park and other related matters
The
Chairman invited Cllr. Barry Coward to up date the Council. He reported that
Carroll and Partners had done further work with Southern Construction on an
alternative solution to the £10,000 option that they considered would be a more
suitable and better wearing surface for the car park. Cllr Alison Shelton
suggested that a local resident who had expertise in this matter should be
approached and invited to a Council meeting to clarify the various options that
the Council need to consider. The other matter of concern that the Council
discussed related to the management of the project. The existing offer by
Carroll and Partners was considered to be rather expensive Therefore
the Council wished to seek an opinion elsewhere as to whether or not Carroll's
fees are reasonable in the circumstances. The Council RESOLVED that
it would seek a meeting with the local resident to review both the project
options and the project management issues before finalising its decision. Cllr
Barry Coward stated that he would speak to Carroll and Partners to seek further
information on the specification that they had recommended.
07/01/10
Finance
The Council RESOLVED to approve the following expenditure:
Colourplus
– January 2010 newsletter
£264.32
Carroll
and Partners – Consultancy services re Car Park
£759.00
Raymond
Fergusson –Three Villages Car Scheme July – December 2009
£51.00
The
Chairman informed the meeting that the bank reconciliation of the current and
reserve account were available for inspection.
The
Chairman informed the meeting that a letter of thanks that had been received
from Oxford Association for the Blind in respect of financial donations made by
the Council.
The
Chairman referred the Council to the papers issued by the Clerk that detailed
the latest outcome for 2009-10 and a forecast for the next three years. The
Council RESOLVED to maintain the
precept for 2010-11 at £10,500. This was considered necessary until the Council
has completed the work on the car park and discharged its responsibilities in
respect of the “old” Post Office.
08/01/10
Planning
P09/W1028
& P09/W1031/LB:
The Council noted that planning permission had been refused by South
Oxfordshire District Council.
P09/W1115:
13 Chiltern View: Replacement of oil tank
The
Council noted that planning permission had been granted by South Oxfordshire
District Council.
The
Clerk informed the meeting that he had not yet submitted a retrospective
planning application in respect of the sign for the Pine Lodge.
09/01/10
New Village Shop & Post
Office/Post Office Re-Instatement
The
Clerk stated that he had informed the owner and his agent of the Council’s
proposal to make a one-off payment in settlement of the Council’s liability in
accordance with the lease agreement. Although there has been no formal response
the indications are that this is likely to be acceptable. The Council RESOLVED that it should be invoiced for the work appertaining to the
Council in order that it can recover the VAT.
The
Clerk stated that Council had not yet received a letter from Stockers, the IPS
solicitors, detailing the tenancy arrangements between the IPS and the Post
Office.
10/01/10
Correspondence
Morgan
Cole
The
Clerk informed the meeting that the Council had finally received, from Morgan
Cole, a copy of the lease, the Deed of Rectification and updated Land Registry
Title documents in respect of the lease between the Parish Council and the
Village Hall.
SODC:
Confirmation of Tree Preservation Order
The
Chairman reported that SODC had confirmed the Tree Preservation Order 78/2009
after the consultation period had expired.
SODC:
Green Infrastructure Strategy Consultation
The
Council noted that SODC are carrying out a consultation looking at its newly
proposed Green Infrastructure Strategy (GI Strategy). The consultation period
lasts from 4 January to 1 February 2010.
Little
Milton Shop
The
Chairman informed the meeting that Little Milton Shop had requested that it
proposed to illuminate the Pine Lodge sign between 3.45 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. in
the winter in order to inform passing traffic of the existence of Village Shop
and Pre-School during the hours of darkness. The proposed lighting will use
solar power energy and will be very low level to minimise light pollution. The
Council RESOLVED to accept the
request
11/01/10
Exchange of Information
OALC:
New Clerk Mentoring Scheme
The
Clerk informed the Council that he had offered hi s services to OALC in respect
of their initiative to support new clerks through a mentoring scheme.
Community
Emergency Plans
The
Clerk stated that he had been approached by a resident to consider the
establishment of a Community Emergency Plan. The Clerk offered to provide the
Council with a draft document based on the OCC Guide to Producing a Community
Emergency Plan.
Spring
water in
Cllr
David Wakeling highlighted the problem of sheet ice caused by the freezing of
the spring water that has been discharged on to
12/01/10
Date of Next Meeting
The
Parish Council will meet at
Parish Forum
There were no matters raised.
The meeting finished at 9.34 p.m.
Signed
by
Chairman…………………………………………………Date…………………………………………