Parish Council Minutes

Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on 10th February 2010

in Pine Lodge, Little Milton   

 

Present:                                                   

                                                                Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

                                                                Cllr. Barry Coward

                                                                Cllr. Alison Shelton

                                                                Cllr. Tim Robinson

                                                                 Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

There was one member of the public present.

01/02/10     Apologies for Absence:      Cllr. Mabel Wood (recovering from surgery); Cllr David Wakeling; Mr David Turner (County Councillor);Mr John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)

02/02/10     Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members

Cllr. Stuart McGill declared a personal interest in the Village Hall and the IPS. Cllr Alison Shelton declared a personal interest in the IPS.

03/02/10     Approval of Minutes

The Parish Council RESOLVED that the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting, held on 13th January 2010 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.

04/02/10     Matters Arising.

Water in Gold Street

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had written to Tim Wilde at OCC Highways in respect of the Council’s concerns about the water leaking on to Gold Street and requested that OCC Highways correct the problem in a similar way to the water problem on the Haseley Road at Four Trees. The letter also included a request to look at the possibility of installing additional salt bins at strategic points within the village.

Although there had been no formal response to the letter the Clerk reported that he had followed up with a telephone call to Tim Wilde. Any work in Gold Street will be done in 2010-11 as there is insufficient funding in this financial year. In respect of the salt bins the Parish Council must purchase the bins through OCC but require an agreement as to where they are placed. The current cost of a salt bin is £150.

Community Emergency Plan

The Clerk presented a summary of the key actions required to produce a Community Emergency Plan. It was based on the report produced by Oxfordshire County Council in April 2009. The Council RESOLVED that it should create a local plan that addressed a number of high level questions as a first stage and not attempt to produce a detailed plan.

05/02/10     Recreation Ground

               

The Chairman informed the meeting that OCC were not renewing the grounds maintenance contract with Enterprise and that discussions were well advanced to transfer the contract to QCS Grounds and Landscaping. The letter from QCS indicated that the current contract price would be maintained subject to an annual inflationary increase from 1 April 2010. The Clerk confirmed that he had also invited Windmill Landscapes to tender for the work.

The Chairman reported that Sweepfast had inspected the MUGA following the reports of poor drainage. Sweepfast have agreed to brush the pitch in the spring free of charge in the hope that this will remedy the situation. However if this proves not to resolve the problem then the recommendation is to refurbish the MUGA surface. Sweepfast also offered a moss/algae spray of the court at the same time as the brushing of the court.

The Clerk informed the Council that he had spoken to Peter Ilbury about the increased mole activity on the recreation ground and the need to maintain a control programme.

06/02/10     Car Park and other related matters

The Chairman thanked Mr John Lewis, a resident, for offering his support to the Council as it continued to address the work needed to resurface the car park.

Cllr Barry Coward updated the Council on the work that had been done since the January Council meeting. A

report had been circulated to the Council members in advance of the meeting. He referred to the additional work that had been done by Carroll and Partners to finalise a specification for costing by Southern Construction.

Cllr Tim Robinson stated the Council needed to live within its means and to set a budget for the project accordingly. The project would be funded from reserves with some borrowing and suggested a project budget of £20,000. The Council discussed the issue of project management fees and RESOLVED that these should be minimal if the project was properly specified.

As the options being proposed by Carroll and Partners were of an asphalt surface with a top dressing, the Council RESOLVED that it should ask Spade Oak to re-submit a quotation for the work. The Company had supplied an earlier budget price but it had not been pursued as the Council had initially moved towards a gravel solution.

The Chairman informed the Council that Jeremy Mogford had offered to re-lay the hedge adjoining the A329 as he felt that the current hedge was unsightly and a layered hedge would improve the site. The Council were very appreciative of the offer and the Clerk was asked to seek confirmation that the hedge was suitable for layering and the likely height of the new hedge.

07/02/10     Finance

                    The Council RESOLVED that the following expenditure should be paid:

                                      Colourplus – February Newsletter                                                                                    £264.32                   `                                

                                      SODC: Dog Bin emptying April – December 2009                                                              £66.54

                                      Oxfordshire Playing Fields Association: Membership renewal                                             £32.00    

                    The Council noted the Loan Repayment of £1,718.50 to the Public Loans Board due on 1 March 2010.

The Chairman read out a letter from SODC in respect of a change to the administration of the Dog Hygiene Service that has resulted in an 84% increase in the cost that has been retrospectively implemented from July 2009. The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should write to the Chief Executive of SODC expressing the Council’s disquiet on the lack of consultation and retrospective implementation of the change. The Council RESOLVED to seek a credit for the increase in the charges since July 2009 to December 2009.

The Clerk circulated a revised Risk Analysis format that will be used to document the Council’s risks in 2009-10.

08/02/10     Planning

       

The Chairman read out a letter from Steven Corrigan, the SODC Democratic Services Manager that detailed changes to the procedure for the automatic referral of planning applications to the planning committee. The changes have been made to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of running the planning service. The Council discussed the changes and were concerned that there had been no consultation with Parish Councils on the likely impact at a Parish level. The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should send a letter to SODC Planning expressing the Council’s concerns.

          The retrospective planning application re Pine Lodge sign is still outstanding.

09/02/10     New Village Shop/Re-instatement of Post Office

The Chairman informed the Council that following the quotes received to reinstate the Post Office an email had been received from the owner of Wall Street Cottage. The owner had reviewed the information supplied by the Council and had put forward a revised schedule of work that included items not included in the original quotations. The Clerk proposed that the Council should consider an alternative sharing of the associated costs where there was a shared responsibility. The Council RESOLVED to make a revised offer of £2,322 excluding VAT in settlement of its responsibilities under the lease and asked the Clerk to inform the owner. The Council felt that the offer was fair to both parties.

The Chairman informed the Council that the IPS had received a letter from the IPS solicitors stating that the letter between the IPS and the Post Mistress met the requirements of the lease between the Parish Council and the IPS. The Council RESOLVED that it should inform Paul Brame at Morgan Cole of the information.

10/02/10     Correspondence

                    ORCC: Community Led Planning Event

The Council noted the Community  Led Planning event scheduled for Saturday 6th March 2010. The Chairman stated that he had attended a similar event in the past.

                    ORCC: 90th Birthday

The Council noted the forthcoming 90th Birthday of ORCC and suggested that the IPS produce an article for the 90th Birthday Publication

                    ORCC Questionnaire

                    The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk should complete the Community Questionnaire produced by ORCC

                    NAG Consultation

                    Oxford Brookes University

The Council agreed to insert a short article in the Newsletter aimed at engaging local alumni from their previous institutions, with the aim of helping to strengthen the University’s relationship with its history through improving their contact with graduates who represent that history.

NSPCC

The Chairman read out a letter from NSPCC seeking support for the work they do by including some advertising in the Newsletter. The Council agreed to support their work.

11/02/10     Exchange of Information

The Clerk informed the meeting of a request from Cllr David Wakeling for the pavements within the village to be swept after the recent bad weather as a significant amount of grit from the road had been deposited on them. The Clerk stated that he take up the matter with SODC.

12/02/10    Date of Next Meeting

The Parish Council will meet on Wednesday 10th March 2010 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 9.35 p.m.

 

Parish Forum

 

                There were no matters raised

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