Parish Council Minutes

Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on 10th March 2010

in Pine Lodge, Little Milton   

Present:                                                 

                                                                Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

                                                                Cllr. Barry Coward

                                                                Cllr. David Wakeling

                                                                Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

                                                       

                Mr David Turner ( County Councillor )

                                                                Mr John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)

                                                          

There were no members of the public present.

01/03/10     Apologies for Absence:      Cllr. Mabel Wood (recovering from surgery); Cllr Tim Robinson; Cllr Alison Shelton

02/03/10     Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members

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

03/03/10     Approval of Minutes

The Parish Council RESOLVED that the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting, held on 10th February 2010 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.

04/03/10     Matters Arising.

Charges re Dog Bin Emptying

The Clerk informed the meeting that South Oxfordshire District Council had acknowledged that an error had been made in respect of the recent invoices in respect of charges for the emptying of dog bins. As a result new invoices will be issued and the correct charges are significantly below the current charges. The Council accepted the new position but expressed their disappointment that the letter sent from the Council had not been formally responded to. The matter had been pointed out to the District Councillor.

Water in Gold Street

The Chairman read out a letter from OCC Highways in response to the Council’s letter of 16th January 2010. The Clerk reported that as a result of the letter he had set up a meeting with Mr Tim Wilde of OCC Highways on 17 March 2010 to review a number of highway matters appertaining to the village. Mr David Turner stated that he would actively support the Council in its efforts to address the water leaking on to Gold Street .

Community Emergency Plan

The Chairman informed the meeting that two residents had expressed an interest in supporting the Council develop a suitable Community Emergency Plan. The Clerk stated that he had already supplied copies of the OCC guidelines and will follow up the matter with the residents.

05/03/10     Recreation Ground

The Chairman explained that since the February meeting QCS had decided not to proceed with the transfer of the Grounds Maintenance service as operated by Enterprise to Oxfordshire County Council. As a result the Clerk had made contact with Berinsfield Community Business and had received a verbal quote. The Clerk had also received a quote from Windmill Landscapes. The Council expressed their satisfaction with the work that had been done by Enterprise and RESOLVED that the clerk should establish whether Enterprise could supply the grounds maintenance service direct to the Council before it decided to place the grounds maintenance contract for 2010-11.

06/03/10     Car Park and other related matters

The Chairman asked Councillor Barry Coward to report to the Council on the work that had been done since the February Council meeting. He reported that considerable progress had been made following the advice received from Carroll & Partners as well as Oxfordshire County Council Highways. He also reported that he had spoken to South Oxfordshire District Council planner. He informed the meeting that OCC preferred a permeable surface but would accept a surface that had adequate drainage that met the Sustainable Urban Drainage requirements (SUDS). Cllr Coward indicated that the cost of a permeable surface was outside the budget constraints that the Council had set for the project and therefore was recommending to the Council that it pursued a suitably drained non-permeable surface. The Council RESOLVED to accept the recommendation and ask their preferred contractor to update the quote to meet the new requirements as specified within the report to members.

The Clerk informed the meeting that he would request that the Borrowing Approval from the Communities and Local Government that lapses on the 31st March 2010 be rolled over for a further six months from April 2010.

The Clerk reported that he had spoken to Mr Jeremy Mogford about the height of re-layered hedge and subject to an inspection by his hedge expert it was likely to be about three feet in height.

07/03/10     Finance

                    The Council RESOLVED that the following expenditure should be paid:

                    

                Clerk’s Salary & Editor remuneration                                                                                               £2,833.00               

 Colourplus – March Newsletter                                                                                                           £254.66  

 Carroll & Partners – consultancy                                                                                                     £1,151.50

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:

                Oxford Green Belt Network                                                 £15.00

                Oxfordshire Business Education Alliance                                        £50.00

The Council declined to support South Oxfordshire Ryder-Cheshire Volunteers and St John Ambulance as they felt they did not meet the criteria for determining requests under Section 137.

                               

The Council RESOLVED to accept the Risk Analysis for 2009-09 that was presented by the Clerk.

The Council reviewed the effectiveness of the Internal Audit carried out by the current Internal Auditor and RESOLVED that they were satisfied with his competence and independence and that he had full access to all the records of the Council to allow him to conduct an effective audit.

08/03/10     Planning

                    P10/W0074: 2 Chiltern View: Single Storey Side Extension

The Council RESOLVED that this application should be recommended for approval by South Oxfordshire District Council.

The clerk reported that the retrospective planning application re Pine Lodge sign was still outstanding. He informed the meeting that he had spoken with an officer at SODC Planning regarding the information required.

The Chairman informed the meeting that the Council had not yet received a formal response from SODC to the letter that the Council sent in respect of the changes to the procedures for referring planning applications to the Planning Committee.

09/03/10     IPS Lease

The Chairman referred to the email received from Paul Brame of Morgan Cole in respect of the tenancy arrangement between the IPS and the Post Mistress. The Chairman declared that he had a prejudicial as well as a personal interest and as a result the Council could not consider this agenda item as there were insufficient members to form a quorum.

10/03/10     Correspondence

                    There were no matters of correspondence for consideration.

11/03/10     Exchange of Information

Cllr Barry Coward informed the meeting that Mrs Teresa Quested had been appointed Chair of the Village Hall Committee with Mrs Chris Coward as Secretary. This followed as result of resignations from the committee.

County Councillor informed the meeting of forthcoming changes to some local speed limits that include the motorway bridge on the A329 moving from a 30 mph to 40 mph and the road past the Belfry also going from 30 to 40 mph.

The County Councillor also reported that Oxfordshire County Council had given planning permission for the Children’s Centre within Great Milton School and that there was a further application for temporary parking.

The Clerk reported that he had received an email from Little Milton School governors requesting financial support for the publication of Little Milton School News that is published three times a year. This item will be included in the April agenda.

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had attended an OALC training session on Meetings and Minutes and as a result each Council member has to give their approval to receive the summons for the Council meeting by email rather than a hard copy. The Clerk stated that he found the meeting to be very informative.

The Clerk informed the meeting that he was assisting in the collection of information for a Neighbour hood Action Group consultation.

                                                 

 

12/03/10    Date of Next Meeting

The Parish Council will meet on Wednesday 14th April 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 9.25 p.m.

Parish Forum

                There were no matters raised

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