Little
Milton Parish Council
Minutes
of Council Meeting held on Tuesday 11th October 2005
Present:
Mr Stuart McGill (Chairman)
Mr Simon Oddie
Mrs Isabel Fox
Mr Barry Coward
Mrs Mabel Wood
Mrs Alison Shelton
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
Mr
John Nowell-Smith (District Councillor)
Mr
David Turner (County Councillor)
2
members of the public
01/10/05
Apologies for Absence: None
02/10/05
Declaration of any personal or
prejudicial interests of members
Mr Stuart
McGill declared a prejudicial interest in the Village Hall agenda item.
03/10/05
Approval of Minutes
The
Parish Council approved the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 14th
September 2005 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.
04/10/05
Matters Arising
Triangle
of land adjacent to Wells Farmhouse
The Clerk
reported that he had processed the application but was still waiting to complete
the necessary statements from local residents to support it. He suggested that
the Council purchase a publication from the Open Spaces Society that would allow
the use of a standard form that could be used for evidence statements. The Clerk
will actively seek to submit the application by the next meeting. (Action Clerk)
BT
Telephone Box
The Clerk
informed the meeting that he had received a letter from English Heritage that
stated that our application was being assessed and that we would be advised of
the decision in due course.
05/10/05
A329 Advisory Group
Mrs
Alison Shelton informed the meeting that the A329 Advisory Group had not met
since the last meeting. Mrs Isabel Fox expressed her concern that there had been
no meeting following the letter from OCC detailing their assessment of two
proposals for the centre of the village. The content of the letter had been
considered by the Council at their September meeting. The Council agreed that a
meeting of the A329 Group should be convened and any outcome reported at the
next Council meeting. (Action Mrs Alison
Shelton)
06/10/05
Recreation Ground
Mr
Mark Willis was invited to report to the meeting. He stated that the expected
expenditure on the recreation ground and play area was very close to budget
although there were some over or under expenditure on individual items. He
highlighted the need for the Council to consider the need to assess the
recreation ground as it was deeply rutted in places and this was impacting on
the mower. The recreation ground committee will present a recommendation to the
Council.
The
Clerk asked for clarification on the project to replace the siren system for the
MUGA floodlight warning system. Mr Mark Willis reported that he was still
awaiting the electrical wiring diagram from the electrician that installed the
current system.
07/10/05
Finance
The Council
approved the following expenditure:
Colourplus - October Newsletter
£261.06
SODC – Dog hygiene bin emptying £38.03
OPFA – subscription (Section 137)
£25.00
Mrs Hue Williams Post Office Rent (Section 137)
£75.00
C Putnam & Sons -
Car Park
£3019.75
Open Spaces Society – publication
£5.00
Style Seating – chairs
£2944.60
Style Seating – chairs
£859.11
£3,803.71
It
was agreed that a Direct Debit should be set up with the Public Loans Board in
respect of the half yearly repayments of the loan taken out be the Council.
08/10/05
Planning
P05/W0984/LB
– Post Office Cottage
The
Council recommended that the application should be approved.
P05/W0869
– Orchard House: Windmill Hill
The
Chairman informed the meeting that the application had been approved by the SODC
Planning Committee.
The
Council agreed that the Weekly Receipts List could now be circulated
electronically to members.
The
Chairman read out a letter that had been received from Mr Adrian Duffield in
reply to the letter that had been sent by the Parish Clerk. It was agreed that
Mrs Isabel Fox would consider the reply against specific planning applications
and report back to the Council. (Action
Mrs Isabel Fox)
09/10/05
Correspondence
SODC – Local Plan 2011: Proposed
Modifications
The Chairman informed the meeting that SODC had modifications to their Local Plan 2011 following the Inspectors Report in June 2005. It was agreed that the report and other documentation would be circulated to members.
OCC – Oxfordshire Structure Plan 2016: Notice of Intention to adopt
The Chairman informed the meeting that OCC had adopted the Oxfordshire Structure Plan 2016 without proposing further modifications.
OCC – Minerals and Waste Development
Framework Statement of Community Involvement – Consultation Draft
As part of the new planning system brought in by the Government last year OCC have produced a Statement of Community Involvement. This will form part of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework, which will replace the existing Minerals and Waste Local Plan. It was agreed that the report and other documentation would be circulated to members.
OCC
– Consultation questionnaire re New Housing to 2026 in Oxfordshire under the
South East Plan
The Chairman informed the meeting that OCC will be consulting on options for accommodating new homes with particular focus on the 8,000 homes that are estimated to be built on greenfield land in Central Oxfordshire. It was agreed that the report and other documentation would be circulated to members.
ORCC
– Annual General Meeting
The Chairman invited members to consider attending the ORCC Annual General Meeting on Friday 2 December 2005.
Letter
from Mr Boris Johnson M.P. re The Sustainable Communities Bill
The Chairman read out a letter received Mr Boris Johnson in response to the Council’s letter requesting him to support the Early Day Motion 641 and the Sustainable Communities Bill. His letter stated that he would fight to ensure that, real power is devolved down to local people.
OCC: Oxfordshire Transport Co-ordinator
The Council agreed to give general support to the
continuation of the role of Oxfordshire Transport Co-ordinator. The Clerk was
asked to write a suitable letter. (Action
Clerk)
SODC:
Appointment of New Monitoring Officer
The Chairman informed the meeting that Margaret Reed had been appointed the SODC Monitoring Officer following the departure of Marie Ainsworth.
SODC:
Extension of trial composting scheme
The Clerk informed the meeting that SODC were extending its service to compost garden waste from the kerbside until Friday 23 December. To encourage residents to use this scheme it has reduced the cost of the paper composting sacks from 65p to 30p. However the green plastic sacks are no longer available.
SODC:
Contract for emptying and disposal of waste from dog hygiene bins
The Chairman informed the meeting that SODC had awarded the contract for the emptying of dog hygiene bins to Canon Horticulture from the 1 January 2006. As a result the cost has been reduced from £2.49 per week to £1.39.
10/10/05 Village
Hall
Mr
Simon Oddie chaired this agenda item as Mr Stuart McGill had declared a
prejudicial interest.
Mr
Richard Alliston informed the meeting that the number of outstanding items was
now very small and that the hall was now in frequent use and the feedback had
been very positive. The overall funding requirement from the Parish Council,
excluding the secondary budget and car park, was £29,689. The clerk agreed with
this figure. It was expected that the project would be closed at the November
Council meeting as by then the final grants would have been received and any
outstanding issues resolved.
Mr
Simon Oddie extended his thanks on behalf of the Council to Richard and the rest
of the Committee for their hard work and the delivery of an excellent facility
for the village.
The
Clerk circulated a forecasted Cash Flow of the Parish Council up to March 2006.
This forecast an increase in reserves and this would be taken into account when
the Council set its precept for 2006-07.
It
was agreed that the consideration of how we should finance the future
maintenance of the car park should be postponed until a decision is made on the
establishment of a Village Shop/{Post Office adjacent to the village hall.
11/10/05
Village Shop/Post Office
The
Chairman reported that he was meeting with Jane Barker of ORCC on Thursday 13th
October to explore the opportunities that exist in setting up a Village
Shop/Post Office adjacent to the new village hall. The Chairman was asked to
clarify the planning position, with Jane Randall of SODC, for any new building
as it was not part of the planning permission for the new hall. The Chairman
also stated that he would have the analysis of the questionnaire available for
the next meeting. (Action Mr Stuart
McGill)
12/10/05
Any Other Business
Mrs
Isabel Fox put forward a proposal to reduce the need to formally consider each
item on the agenda, particularly those items under Finance and Correspondence.
After a discussion the Council agreed that it maintain its current process but
ask the Clerk to distinguish between those items that were for information and
action. (Action Clerk)
Mrs
Mabel Wood raised her concern that the bend at the top of the Wheatley Road was
now more dangerous due the fact the farmer had made an opening in the hedgerow
to access his field. The Clerk was asked to bring this to the attention of the
Highways Department. (Action Clerk)
Mrs
Alison Shelton expressed her concern about the long term future of the Lamb. It
was agreed that the Clerk should write to Punch Tavern inviting them to a future
Parish Council meeting to discuss our concerns. (Action
Clerk)
13/10/05
Date of Next Meeting
The
Parish Council will meet on Wednesday 9th
November 2005 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 9.40 p.m.
Parish Forum
Mr David
Turner advised the meeting that he had had further discussions with Mr Peter
Ronald of OCC re the proposed footpath in front of the Cooper Houses. If the
cost came below £10,000 it was hoped that the project could be progressed more
quickly. He also reported that the crash barrier at Little Milton School was
being extended on Wednesday 12th October 2005.