Little Milton Parish Council
Minutes of Council Meeting held on Wednesday 8th Nov 2006
Present:
Mr Stuart McGill (Chairman)
Mr Simon Oddie (Vice Chair)
Mrs Mabel Wood
Mrs Alison Shelton
Mr Barry Coward
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
Mr
David Turner (County Councillor)
Mr
John Nowell-Smith (District Council
Member)
No
members of the public
01/11/06
Apologies for Absence: Mr Tim Robinson
02/11/06
Declaration of any personal or
prejudicial interests of members
Mr
Stuart McGill declared a personal interest in the Recreation Ground, Village
Hall and Village Shop/Post Office agenda items.
03/11/06
Approval of Minutes
The
Parish Council approved the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 11th
October 2006 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.
04/11/06
Matters Arising
Triangle
of land adjacent to Wells Farm Cottage
The Clerk reported that he had received no further communication from OCC
and believed that the application was now being
processed.
OCC Highways
The Clerk informed the meeting that he had received a reply to his letter
to Mr Peter Ronald of OCC Highways. Mr Ronald indicated that he was
investigating the hatching around the build-outs as it was not
what he had requested. He had also requested a volume and speed survey in
the centre of the village although this is
unlikely to take place until after the ring road roundabout work has been
completed. He is also investigating
the current position of the school sign on Church Hill.
ORCC – Thame Area Review of Subsidised Bus Services
The Clerk stated that he had sent off about fifty completed Local
Transport survey questionnaires to ORCC.
The results will be analysed by ORCC. The Parish Council will submit the results
to OCC as part
of their consultation on the Thame Area Review of Subsidised Bus
Services.
Installation
of CCTV camera
The Clerk reported that this matter was still be considered by Abi
Derbyshire of Thames Valley Police . The
Chairman informed the meeting that the Village Hall Management committee had
agreed to approach the Thames Valley Crime Prevention Team to give them advice
on the general security of the Village
Hall
05/11/06
A329 Advisory Group
Mrs Alison Shelton had nothing to report but stated that she would be
contacting Mrs Eve Hunter re the School
travel plan with particular reference to Gold Street. (Action Mrs Alison Shelton)
06/11/06
Youth Shelter
The Chairman reported that he had circulated a draft questionnaire to all
Council members in respect of the Youth
Shelter and had received comments from the Clerk and Mr Barry Coward. Mr Simon
Oddie suggested that a separate
questionnaire should be completed by teenagers within the village. (Action Mr Stuart McGill)
07/11/06
Recreation Ground
The Chairman reported that consideration had been given to a protective
surface for the designated area for car
parking on the Recreation Ground. The cost was around £1,600 but competitive
quotations were being sought. Mr Simon
Oddie suggested that professional advice should be obtained before any commitment is made. As this matter will be funded by the Village Hall
Management committee it is important that
the Parish Council give their consent before any work is started. (Action
Mr Stuart McGill)
0811/06
Finance
The Council approved the following
expenditure:
Spadework UK Ltd – grass cutting August
£100.39
Colourplus – October newsletter
£207.73
Colourplus – Printing of Travel questionnaire
£14.10
Mr Mark Willis – stretcher bar for MUGA
£19.82
Mrs Alison Shelton asked the members of the Recreation Ground Committee
to consider the creation of a gate at the
back fence of the MUGA. This matter had been raised before and in the light of
the recent expenditure for a
stretcher bar she felt that it should be considered again.
The Council granted a £50 donation to Age Concern Chalgrove under
section 137 of LGA 1972 but
decided not make a grant to the M40 Chiltern Environmental Group.
09/11/06
Planning
There were no planning matters for consideration.
10/11/06
Correspondence
South
Oxfordshire Site Allocations Development Plan Document
The Chairman commented that there had been some concerns expressed about
the recent document issued by SODC with particular reference to sites put
forward by landowners for possible development.
He stressed that although the document included such sites it did not
mean that such sites were suitable for
development. The Parish Council agreed to submit a questionnaire to SODC by
submitting a
completed questionnaire to the Clerk by 15th November. The
Chairman encouraged each member to submit an individual response as well. (Action all Councillors)
Winter General Meeting of OALC on 20th November
The Chairman informed the meeting of the forthcoming meeting and the
Clerk agreed to attend the meeting as
it included an item in respect of a recent White Paper on Strong and Prosperous
Communities. (Action
Clerk)
Countryside
Alliance: Rural Post Offices
The Chairman
read out a letter from the Countryside Alliance in which it highlighted the
threats facing Rural Post Offices. The
Council requested that the Clerk send a letter to Jim Fitzpatrick MP, the
minister responsible for Post
Offices, to let him know what our local Post Office means to our Community.
(Action
Clerk)
11/11/06 Village
Hall
The Chairman gave on brief report on the recent activities of the Village
Hall.
12/11/06
Village Shop/Post Office
The Chairman informed the meeting of
his recent query with Jane Barker of ORCC. The query centred
on the degree of financial support that the Parish Council could give
towards the proposed village shop/Post Office. The Clerk explained that the key issue was that of
ownership of the building. It would appear
that the Parish Council has no powers to give a donation to a village shop/Post
Office other than within its Section
137 powers. This is unlike the powers that the Council has in respect of Village
Halls.
Mr Barry Coward reported that he had not yet managed to meet with Mr Tim
Robinson to consider the implications for the Parish Council that the new
situation would present. The Clerk pointed out that the
presentation of the business plan was now critical as it could have
implications for the precept of 2007- 08.
13/11/06
Any Other Business
The Clerk expressed his appreciation of the Public Amenities at SODC who
had responded very quickly to a reported
incident of fly-tipping on the Wheatley Road.
14/11/06
Date of Next Meeting
The
Parish Council will meet on Wednesday
13th December 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 9.20 p.m.
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