Little Milton Parish Council
Minutes of Council Meeting held on Wednesday 14th June 2006
Present:
Mr Stuart McGill (Chairman)
Mr
Tim Robinson
Mr
Barry Coward
Mrs Mabel Wood
Mrs Alison Shelton
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
Mr
John Nowell-Smith (District Council
Member)
No
members of the public
01/06/06
Apologies for Absence: Mr Simon Oddie, Mr David Turner (County
Council Member)
02/0606
Declaration of any personal or
prejudicial interests of members
Mr
Stuart McGill declared a personal interest in the Village Hall, Orchard Pre
School and Post Office agenda items.
03/06/06
Approval of Minutes
The
Parish Council approved the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting, the Annual
Parish Council Meeting and the Ordinary Council meeting held on 10th May 2006 as
a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.
04/06/06
Matters Arising
Triangle
of land adjacent to Wells Farmhouse
The
Clerk reported that he had discussed the OCC response to the Council’s
application to register the land as a village green with Mrs Victoria Robinson.
She had offered to give the Council legal guidance before the Council re-submit
the application. The evidence statements will need to be completed again as well
as the need to delineate the locality within the stricter legal definition
required within the application. The clerk will progress this item. (Action Clerk)
Site plans for lease documents
The
Chairman informed the meeting that he believed that the site plans submitted
with the planning application in respect of the proposed extension to the
Village Hall could be used to substitute the location plan within the leases for
the Village Hall and the Orchard. The Clerk stated that he would examine the
supporting documentation and report back to the next Council meeting. (Action
Clerk)
Conditions
of Service for Parish Clerk
Mr
Barry Coward will liaise with the Clerk to adapt the model contract of
employment for consideration by the Council. (Action
Mr Barry Coward/Clerk)
05/06/06
Housing Site Allocation Plans
Mr
Barry Coward informed the Council that he had chaired a meeting with
representatives of the School, the Orchard Pre School, the Church, the Village
Hall and the Post Office that considered the need to increase the number of
houses in the village in order to ensure its sustainability in the future. The
meeting did not consider any specific proposals but was an exercise in obtaining
views as to whether additional houses would impact on the sustainability of
those specific organisations or service providers. The consensus view was that a
marginal increase in houses would have little effect on the future
sustainability of the village and that a more critical factor was the quality of
the service provided. This was particularly relevant to the school and the
Orchard Pre School as they believed that they needed to appeal to other users’
out-with the village. The Council concluded that it was premature to call a
Parish Meeting to consider the matter further. However it was agreed that the
Council should consider establishing a Parish Plan and that the Clerk would
provide background information into the process at the next Council Meeting. (Action Clerk)
06/06/06
A329 Advisory Group
The
Clerk reported that Mr Peter Ronald of OCC Highways had requested a site meeting
to discuss the issues raised following the Council meeting of the 10th May 2006.
The meeting was also attended by Mr Stuart McGill and Mr Mark Platts of the A329
Committee. The key action points of the meeting were:-
·
The
damage to the wall on the Haseley Road and the uneven footpath needed to be
addressed specifically to Mr Brian Purcel Smith of OCC Highways Maintenance.
·
The
restricted use of the slip road into Gold Street from the Haseley and the
extended footpath between Chiltern View and the traffic lights should be part of
Little Milton Schools Travel Plan as there was funding available to support such
initiatives. There was no funding now available from OCC for Community Safety
Schemes.
·
The
signage approaching the build-outs would be reviewed and any temporary signs
would be removed but any other signs could only be removed it their removal did
not contravene any Highway regulations.
·
It was
recognised that a minority of drivers approached the build-outs without giving
the necessary priority. It was agreed that a white line will be painted on the
road as well as a yellow hatching to indicate to drivers not to encroach on that
part of the road. It is hoped that this will create a perception that two
vehicles should not attempt to pass at the narrowest part of the build-out.
The
Council discussed the need for the A329 Committee to report to the Council their
action plan for the coming year so that the Council were fully aware and better
able to provide the necessary support as well as to avoid any duplication of
effort. It was agreed that Mrs Alison Shelton would raise the matter with the
Chairman of the A329 Committee. (Action
Mrs Alison Shelton)
07/06/06
Recreation Ground
The
Chairman reported that the recreation ground was now being cut on a weekly and
that it had received a Spring Feed and Weed from Lawn Solutions. The Chairman
highlighted a potential issue in respect of parking facilities when there is a
major event in the hall as there was a need to use the recreation ground for
parking. Although this was not a frequent occurrence there was a need to
establish some clear guidelines to ensure that the work being done to improve
the surface of the recreation ground was not undone.
08/06/06
Finance
The Council
approved the following expenditure:
Colourplus –
June Newsletter
£225.50
Lawn Solutions
– Feed & Weed
£256.00
OALC – Annual
subscription
£119.85
Oxford Green Belt
Network (Section 137)
£15.00
SODC – Eco
sacks (retrospective approval)
£15.00
Spadework UK Ltd
– grass cutting May
£401.57
Smith of Derby
– Clock maintenance
£182.13
Mark Willis –
boundary flags
£22.00
The
Council agreed to make a £25.00 donation to Thames Valley Crimestoppers in
respect of a local crime campaign. This donation is a section 137 expense.
9/06/06
Planning
P06/W0297
– Little Milton Village Hall; extension to Village hall re Post Office and
other ancillary purposes
This planning application has been granted by SODC.
P06/W0226
– Land adjacent to Plough House; to create an agricultural vehicular access
This planning application has been refused by SODC.
10/06/06
Correspondence
OALC
Annual General Meeting
The
AGM will be he held on 27th June 2006. The clerk highlighted that
there was a resolution for OALC to relocate its office and become the employer
of OALC staff. At present OALC share the site at Jericho Farm with ORCC.
South East England Regional Assembly Plan Consultation Period
The Council agreed that the clerk should submit a response by 23rd June
2006. (Action Clerk)
CPRE Annual General Meeting
The
Chairman informed the Council that the AGM was to be held on July 8th
2006. He also highlighted other events that were being organised by CPRE during
June and July.
Childline Midlands & East Anglia
The Chairman read out a letter from Childline that thanked the Council
for their donation of £38.
Charter 88
Charter
88 is campaigning for the support of the Sustainable Communities Bill which
includes measures that give Parish Councils and local people powers over how to
protect their communities from further decline, by introducing mechanisms for
‘government from the grass roots’. The Council agreed that the clerk should
write to Mr Boris Johnson asking him to support the Early Day Motion No 641. (Action
Clerk)
OCC News
The
Chairman read out a recent communication from OCC in which they offered to
support for projects to improve access to the countryside.
OCC
Meetings with Towns and Parishes
The
Chairman informed the Council that the meeting with Local Councils in South
Oxfordshire would be held on 27 July at Guildhall, Abingdon.
OCC
The
Chairman read out a letter from the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council that
requested that local councils should consider lobbying the Government over its
decision not to extend the Post Office Account card after 2010. The Council
agreed that it should record its concern. (Action
Clerk)
11/06/06 Village
Hall
The Chairman gave a brief report on the Little Milton Village Hall Annual General Meeting at which Mr Richard Allison stood down as Chairman. The Council agreed that the Clerk should send a letter expressing the Council’s appreciation for all his hard work and commitment over the past two years.
The Chairman informed the Council that the Village Hall committee had applied for a Premises License under the Licensing Act 2003.
12/06/06
Village Shop/Post Office
The
Chairman reported that Mrs Annie Rogers had provided her annual accounts for the
past four years to allow a better understanding of the financial performance of
the Post Office and shop.
The
Council had a short discussion on the possible ways that the “new business”
could be structured. The Clerk stated that it was very important that the
ownership of the business was clearly understood. The Parish Council has powers
to support a village shop under Section 137 LGA 1972 as well as the power to
purchase property under Section 124 LGA 1972 but cannot run a business. Mr
Stuart McGill stated that he would circulate information on a model of operation
produced by ORCC. (Action Mr Stuart
McGill)
13/06/06
Any Other Business
There were
no matters raised.
14/06/06
Date of Next Meeting
The
Parish Council will meet on Wednesday
12th July 2006 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 9.58 p.m.
Parish Forum
No matters
were raised