Little
Milton Parish Council
Minutes
of Council Meeting held on Wednesday 9th February 2005
Present:
Mr Stuart McGill (Chairman)
Mrs Isabel Fox
Mr Barry Coward
Mrs Mabel Wood
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
Mr John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)
Apologies
Mrs Alison
Shelton
Mr Simon Oddie
Mr David Turner (County
Councillor)
2 members of the public
1/01/05
Minutes
The
minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 12th January 2005 were accepted as
a true record and signed by the Chairman.
2/01/05
Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members
Mr
Stuart McGill declared a personal interest on item 6 on the Agenda.
3/01/05
Matters Arising
Steps
adjacent to Coopers site Old Field/ Path adjoining Chiltern View
The
Clerk reported that he had informed OCC Highways department of the Council’s
concerns. The matter is being investigated and an update will be given at the
next meeting. (Action Clerk)
Three
Villages Car Scheme
The
Chairman informed the meeting that he had received further information from Miss
Thelma Blake that indicated a shortfall of funding for the year 2004 of £37.50.
The Council agreed to pay this sum. The Council confirmed that it would
subsidise the scheme at the rate of £1.00 for hospital and other health visits
and 50p to the Surgery.
Progress
on Post Office financial performance
The
Chairman stated that a meeting had taken place with the Postmistress. The
financial position of the Post Office is still precarious and desperately needs
more villagers to use its services. Mr John Nowell-Smith offered to insert an
article in the Tiddington Newsletter to increase the awareness of the services
offered.
Letter
to SODC re The Barn, South Lodge
The
Chairman read out an e-mail received from SODC Conservation in response to the
letter sent by the Council seeking clarification on the apparent lack of action
in respect of the poor state of the barn. The e-mail set out the options open to
the District Council. The Parish Council expressed the need to have a site
meeting with SODC Conservation. (Action
Clerk)
Vacancy
for Parish Council nominated Governor
Mrs
Isabel Fox reported that an application in respect of the vacancy for the Parish
Council nominated Governor had been received from Mrs Alison Shelton and that
the governors were delighted to accept it.
4/01/05
A329 Advisory Group
The
meeting was advised by Mr David Taylor that there had been no meeting of the
A329 Advisory Group since the last meeting. He informed the meeting that the
specification of the lighting at Cremar Cottages was correct. The lighting on
Church Hill was anomalous as there should be two lights for the crossing but
only one was ever connected. The Council accepted this situation.
Mr
Mark Platts informed the meeting that the work on the build outs should start
within the next four weeks and that the design concepts for the centre of the
village would be part of the County Council’s programme for 2005-06. He also
reminded the Council about the availability of ‘Flashing Speed Warning
signs’ from the County Council. The Chairman requested that the A329 Advisory
Group should consider their suitability and make a recommendation to the Parish
Council. (Action Mrs Alison Shelton)
5/01/05
Recreation Ground
The Chairman reported that the
floodlight problem had been resolved but the use of tokens made the system
vulnerable to petty vandalism. This issue is still under consideration with the
contractors. The Chairman highlighted that the Council had incurred a cost of £117
as a result of the initial vandalism. A large proportion of the electricity bill
is also caused by the same, because the lights were left on for 24 hours on two
occasions because of the vandalism to the token meters.
It was agreed that a suitable comment should be included in the next
publication of the Newsletter. (Action
Clerk)
The Council agreed to a further
treatment to eradicate the mole activity.
The Chairman reported that a gate had been removed from the play area and
replaced with standard fencing. He thanked Mr David Taylor for his help in this
matter.
6/01/05 Village Hall
The Clerk issued a status report on
the Village Hall project prepared by the Chairman of the Village Hall. The key
points were as follows:
·
Putnam & Sons are the preferred
ground-works contractor
·
Work in hand to seek approval for
the contractor from WREN and SODC
·
Work to be completed by end of
April,2005
· Although the capital project has not yet been finalised, the indications are that the total cost should not exceed the original budget.
·
The recent appeal raised
approximately £6,600 against our target of £5,000
·
The Committee are still seeking
sources to fund activities and equipment for activities
·
A local resident is helping the
Committee in the design of the kitchen
The Council agreed to be the third party funder for £5,500 in respect of the grant from WREN. It is a condition of that grant that in order to fund 100% of the anticipated costs for an agreed item WREN will fund 89% provided that there is a third party funder for the 11%. The £5,500 is already assumed in any borrowing that the Council may be required to apply for.
7/01/05
Finance
The
Council approved the following expenditure:
Colourplus – January/February 2005 (£216.20 +£227.01)
£443.21
Grove Electrical Engineering Ltd
£117.03
Southern Electric
£66.05
Mr Mark Willis
£19.95
The
Council discussed an application for a financial contribution towards a project
being run by Oxfordshire County Council in respect of children with Special
Educational Needs. The Council had now been informed that on this occasion no
village children were involved in the project. Mrs Isabel Fox proposed a
donation of £25 but this was rejected by a majority of the Council members.
8/01/05
Planning
P05/W0020 –Willowbank, High Street, Alterations and extension to provide
ground floor accommodation
The Council recommended approval of this planning application.
9/01/05
Correspondence
The
following correspondence was briefed by the Chairman:
ORCC: – Calor Oxfordshire Best Kept Village
The Chairman briefed the Council on this annual event. In order to enter
the competition there is a need for someone to co-ordinate the activities. The
Council agreed that an entry should be included in the next Newsletter inviting
a broader village involvement. (Action
Clerk)
OCC: Transport Network Review
The Chairman invited Mr Mark Platts to monitor the Network Review
programme as he had been involved in the past. It was agreed that the report
should be circulated to members before it is passed to Mr Platts.
OCC: Consultation draft Rights of Way Improvement Plan (RoWIP)
It was agreed that the report should be circulated to members.
SODC:
Environmental Improvement Schemes
The
Chairman briefed the meeting on grants that are available for local
environmental improvement schemes but any grants must be matched by local
funding. The Council did not consider that there were any suitable projects for
the current financial year, 2004-05.
OCC: South East Plan
A debate of the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) plan will
take place on Wednesday 23rd February, 7.00 p.m. – 9.30 p.m. at Didcot
Football Club. The importance of the plan was reinforced by a letter from the
leader of SODC, Ann Ducker. The Clerk informed the Council of the full report
that has been received from SEERA as well as ancillary information relating to
the plan. It was agreed to circulate this information to Council members.
SODC: Easter Activities Programme
The Chairman reported that SODC were attempting to co-ordinate all Easter
Activity programmes within the District and were requesting information on any
such activities within the village. It would appear that there are none.
OALC: An Introduction for Councillors and Clerks
It was agreed that the Clerk should attend a one day course at Didcot on
Wednesday 23rd February on the roles and responsibilities of clerks and
councillors as well as an introduction to law and procedures for local councils.
The cost of the course is £35 +VAT.
ODPM: Green Flag award Scheme
It was agreed that the letter from the ODPM should be circulated to
members.
Letter from Mr D. Taylor
The Chairman read out a letter that Mr David Taylor had sent to Southern
Electric Contracting regarding the repairs carried out to the footpath between
the electricity sub station in Chiltern View and Old Field. He considered the
work to be of a poor standard and in places uneven. The Clerk reported that he
contacted OCC Highways who had inspected the site. They accepted that there were
places that were uneven but in general terms believed that the path was safe.
The Council asked the Clerk to write a letter to Southern Electric Contracting
in support of the letter sent by Mr Taylor. (Action Clerk)
10/01/05 Any Other Business
Mrs
Isabel Fox expressed her concern that the field on the Wheatley Road had been
ploughed and as such the existing footpath across it was inaccessible. The
Council agreed to contact Mr Emmett to ensure that the footpath is reinstated at
the earliest possible time. (Action Clerk)
Mrs
Mabel Wood highlighted the gap in the hedge at the top of the Wheatley Road
which she considered presented a danger to motorists on the bend. Although there
is a chevron on the bend the Clerk was asked to contact OCC Highways to review
the situation. (Action Clerk)
Mrs
Mabel Wood expressed her concern that the Millennium bench at the Cross required
some attention. The Clerk was asked to approach Mr Alistair Morris to see
whether he could carry out any repairs. (Action
Clerk)
The meeting was closed at 9.20 p.m.
11/01/05 Date of Next Meeting
The Parish Council will meet on Wednesday
9th March 2005 at 8.00 p.m. in Little
Milton School Library unless there is a need to convene any planning or
other meetings.
Parish
Forum
Mr David Taylor requested that the
Parish Council develop a plan now to relocate the Post Office as the current
lease expires in 2007 and he felt that the matter could not be left. The
Chairman explained that when the new Village Hall is built the next project is
to address the relocation of the Post Office. It was agreed that Mr Stuart
McGill would provide the Council with an outline timetable for the relocation of
the Post Office. (Action Mr Stuart
McGill)
Mr Mark Platts highlighted that the
road down to Warren Barn was being used by motor cyclists. He considered that
this was potentially dangerous to pedestrians using the path. The Clerk was
asked to establish the status of the path i.e. was it a designated footpath, and
report back to the next meeting. (Action
Clerk)