Little
Milton Parish Council
Minutes of Council Meeting held on 14th April 2010
Present:
Cllr.
Cllr.
Barry Coward
Cllr. Alison Shelton
Cllr. Mabel Wood
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
Mr David Turner (
Mr
John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)
There
was one member of the public present.
The
Chairman welcomed back Cllr. Mabel Wood who was attending her first meeting for
four months due to a hip replacement.
01/04/10
Apologies for Absence: Cllr
Tim Robinson; Cllr David Wakeling
02/04/10
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 a personal interest in the IPS and Cllr Mabel Wood a personal
interest in the village hall.
03/04/10
Approval of Minutes
The
Parish Council RESOLVED that the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting, held on
10th March 2010 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.
04/04/10
Matters Arising.
Charges
re Dog Bin Emptying
The
Chairman read out a letter from the Head of Commercial Services at SODC in
response to the Council’s letter of 10 February 2010. The letter explained
that an error had occurred in respect of the charges and that the necessary
corrections had been made that resulted in lower ongoing charges for the
service. It also acknowledged that any significant changes to the cost of
services provided by the District Council need to be consulted on well in
advance of budget setting.
OCC
Highways
The
Council noted the Clerk’s letter to Mr Tim Wilde at OCC Highways that
summarised the major issues covered by his visit on 17 March 2010.
20
mph Speed Limits
The
Chairman informed the meeting that an email had been received from Mr Anthony
Kirkwood of OCC Environment & Economy, Road Safety. The letter explained
that our request for the consideration of a 20mph outside the school would not
go forward to formal consultation until OCC had evaluated the benefits of a
large scale 20mph project in
Community
Action Plan
The
Chairman informed the meeting that Mr Steve Willis had made a proposal to the
Council as to how to take the project forward and has agreed to attend a future
Council meeting to share his ideas with Council members. The Clerk was asked to
liaise with Mr Willis.
05/04/10
Annual Parish Meeting
The
Council RESOLVED that the Annual Parish meeting would be held on Wednesday
May 12 prior to the monthly Parish Council meeting. The Clerk was asked to make
the necessary arrangements to provide suitable refreshments. The Clerk informed
the meeting that the May Council meeting would incorporates the Annual Meeting
of the Council at which the Chairman is elected for the next year.
06/04/10
Summoning of members by email
The
Clerk explained that the summoning of members to attend the Council meetings
requires that it shall “be left or sent by post to the usual place of
residence of every member of the Council.” He explained that the use of email
was an acceptable means of communication but it required the Council to formally
accept it. The Council RESOLVED that the proper officer (the Clerk) should use email to
summon Councillors to attend the meeting unless a Councillor specifically
requests that the summons is left or sent by post as stated in Schedule 12 of
the LGA 1972 para 10 (2) (b).
07/04/10
Recreation Ground
The
Clerk stated Berinsfield Community Business would cut the recreation ground and
triangle for the current financial year as a result of
Following
a request by the Recreation Ground Committee the Council RESOLVED
to have an annual weed and feed for the recreation ground. The clerk was
asked to arrange it through Berinsfield Community Business as it was best value
and would co-ordinate the work with the weekly grass cutting.
The
Clerk informed the Council that he had completed a Statutory Off Road
Notification (SORN) for the mower. After a brief discussion the Council RESOLVED
that the mower should continue to be used to cut the track/footpath between the
church and the recreation ground.
08/04/10
Car
Park and other related matters
The Chairman invited Cllr
Barry Coward to update the meeting on the re-surfacing the car park.
Cllr.
Barry Coward re-iterated the decision by the Council to pursue a suitably
drained non-permeable surface. Our preferred supplier, Spade Oak, have drawn up
a proposed scheme that meets the Council’s objective and this proposal needs
to be agreed with SODC Planning. Although OCC preferred a SUDS compliant
solution the cost of such a scheme is beyond the Council’s finances but the
Council RESOLVED to conduct a number of soil tests to support the proposed
scheme as the land is believed to be sandy and drains well. After this work has
been concluded the Council will set up a meeting with SODC to review and agree
the proposal.
The
Chairman reported that he had been informed by Jeremy Mogford that the work on
the hedge would commence on Thursday 15 April.
09/04/10
Finance
The Council RESOLVED
that the following expenditure should be paid:
SODC:
Dog Hygiene bin emptying: 1 April – 31 Dec 2009
£44.54
Clerk’s
expenses; 2009-10 (authorised
in March 2010)
£86.94
Colourplus-
April 2010 newsletter
£241.90
Alan
Stone: repair to barrier to car park
£487.63
Glasdon
Southern
Electric: final account re Old Post Office
£12.22
OALC:
Annual subscription 2010-11
£130.30
ORCC:
Annual subscription 2010-11
£30.00
CPRE:
Contribution 2010-11
£29.00
The Council RESOLVED
to take advantage of a three year long term agreement in respect of the
Council’s insurance. This has the effect of reducing the premium for 2010-11
from £634.42 to £602.70 and not attracting any insurer increases for the next
three years although there will be increases due to any index linking
The Chairman read out a
letter from the governors of
The Clerk reported that the
Council had received the audit timetable for the year ending 31 March 2010. The
Council is required to submit additional information as part of a 5% sample of
Councils. The Clerk stated that the Annual Report would be approved at the
Council meeting on 9 June 2010 and that he had arranged for Mr
The Clerk informed the
Council that the Communities and Local Government had issued a further borrowing
approval for the six months from April 1 2010.
10/04/10
Planning
P10/W0074: 2 Chiltern
View: Single Storey Side Extension
The
Council noted that planning permission had been granted by South Oxfordshire
District Council
The Chairman informed the meeting that the Council had received a
response from SODC in respect their decision to change the rules regarding the
referral of planning application to the Planning Committee. The Clerk stated
that he would circulate a copy to members.
The
Clerk informed the meeting that SODC Planning had accepted that permission would
only be needed for the Pine Lodge sign if it required illumination.
11/04/10
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 and Cllr Alison Shelton declared that they 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. The matter will be
considered at the next Parish Council meeting.
12/04/10
Correspondence
The Council noted that the AGM CPRE (Oxfordshire Branch) would take place on Wednesday May 5th 2010.
The Chairman read out a letter from the Chair of Governors, Little Milton School informing the Council that Cllr Alison Shelton had recently resigned from the governing body of Little Milton School having served for more than four years as a Parish Council sponsored governor. The Council were asked to consider nominating a new sponsored governor or if agreeable to nominate an existing governor, who is resident in Little Milton. As not all Councillors were present the Council RESOLVED to establish the position of Cllr Tim Robinson and Cllr David Wakeling before responding to the Chair of Governors.
13/04/10
Exchange of Information
Mr
14/04/10
Date of Next Meeting
The
Parish Council will meet on Wednesday
14th May 2010 at 8.15 p.m. in The Pine Lodge Little
The
meeting finished at 9.40 p.m.
Parish
Forum
There were no matters
raised
Signed
by
Chairman…………………………………………………Date…………………………………………