Little Milton Parish Council
Minutes of Council Meeting held on Wednesday 10th Jan 2007
Present:
Mr Stuart McGill (Chairman)
Mr Simon Oddie (Vice Chair)
Mrs Mabel Wood
Mr Tim Robinson
Mr Barry Coward
Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)
Mr
David Turner (County Councillor)
Mr
John Nowell-Smith (District Council
Member)
One
member of the public
01/01/07
Apologies for Absence: Mrs Alison Shelton
02/01/07
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 and a prejudicial interest in
agenda item 13.
03/01/07
Approval of Minutes
The
Parish Council approved the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 13th
December 2006 as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.
04/01/07
Matters Arising.
Triangle
of land adjacent to Wells Farm Cottage
The Clerk reported that after a few false starts the application form and
its relevant appendices to register the
triangle of land as a village green had now been completed and that an
appropriate notice will be published in the
Abingdon Herald and Oxford Times.
OCC Highways
The Clerk informed the meeting that the warning sign for the school
adjacent to the crossing on Church Hill
will be re-positioned within the next few weeks.
Street Lighting
The Clerk requested that the Council give consideration for the need of
two street lights adjacent to the crossing
at Cremar Cottages as one light had been out of action for a few weeks. He
explained that he had spoken to an officer within OCC Street Lighting Department
about the matter. The Council agreed that
a request should be made to OCC to only have the street light closest to the
Village Hall entrance and disconnect the
other light. This would maintain a degree of consistency as there is only one
street light for the crossing on Church
Hill. (Action Clerk)
05/01/07
A329 Advisory Group
The Chairman informed the meeting that there was a scheduled meeting with
the Head Teacher of Little Milton School in
January to review the School’s Travel Plan in order to explore the possibility
of restricting the use of the slip road off
the Haseley Road into Gold Street for pedestrians and cyclists.
(Action Mrs Alison Shelton)
06/01/07
Youth Shelter
Mr Stuart McGill stated that he had not managed to progress this item
since the last meeting.
07/01/07
Recreation Ground
The Clerk reported that he had discussed the proposed budget for 2007-08
with Mr Mark Willis and that it would be
considered by the Council when it sets the precept for 2007-08.
08/01/07
Finance
The Council approved the following
expenditure:
Lee &
Pembertons Post Office rent (Section 137)
£75.00
Colourplus
December 2006
£219.08
January 2007
£185.03
£404.11
Three Village
Hospital Car Service
Thelma Blake
£37.00
Sylvia Kirby
£1.00
Ann Price
£2.00
Fleur Hughes
£4.00
£44.00
The Clerk opened the discussion on the 2007-08 Precept by reminding the
Council that this agenda item did not include any reference to the proposed
Shop/Post Office as it was covered under a separate agenda
item. The Clerk circulated a set of papers detailing the level of Precept
per Band D equivalent for South Oxfordshire as well as for other comparable size
villages, a projected level on income and expenditure up to 2009-10 and a
detailed analysis of the budget for 2007-08. The Clerk pointed out
that reserve levels would be used to fund foreseeable costs in respect of
the car park, replacement of bulbs for the MUGA and the restoration of the
current Post Office after the expiry of the current
arrangement and this would result in an anticipated reduction in reserves
of £10,000 by March 2010. The Council gave due consideration to the budgeted
level of income and expenditure for 2007-08 and unanimously agreed to maintain
the precept at £10,000. Mr Barry Coward highlighted the need to
monitor the financial performance of the Village Hall as it could be
perceived that the Parish Council were bearing an undue cost if at the same time
the Village Hall were accumulating significant reserves. It was agreed that this
matter should be considered at a later time.
09/01/07
Planning
P06/W1187/AG: Warren Barn Farm: proposed erection of free standing
steel portal framed building
The Chairman informed the meeting that the development that had been
requested did not need to be determined by
a planning application.
10/01/07
Correspondence
Oxford Green Belt Network (OBGN)
The Chairman read out a letter from OBGN inviting the Council to support
it in defending the Green Belt at the forthcoming Examination in Public (EIP) of
the South East Plan and to show that support by attending
the EIP in Reading on 28th February 2007. The Clerk stated that he
would make a suitable response in support
although at this time it was unlikely anyone would be able to attend the meeting
in Reading. (Action Clerk)
Oxfordshire
County Council – Invitation to Reception
The Chairman informed the meeting of an invitation by the Chairman of
Oxfordshire County Council to a reception at County Hall on Wednesday 28th
February for the Chairman and one other Parish representative. The purpose of
the reception is to thank Parish Councils for their commitment to their community and to Oxford.
Oxfordshire
County Council – Future of Primary Education
The Chairman read out a letter from OCC in respect of a consultation on
the future of primary school provision
in Oxfordshire. The Clerk explained that he had already responded as a result of
an earlier communication by OALC as initially Parish Councils had not been
invited to comment at stage 1. The Clerk
stated that he would circulate his initial response and ask for any additional
points from Councillors by 31st
January 2007. (Action Clerk/Councillors)
11/01/07 Village
Hall
Mr Stuart McGill informed the meeting that the Village Hall Management Committee had agreed to apply to the Parish Council to extend the Village Hall. He also explained that it would be necessary for the Trustees to seek clarification from the Charities Commission as to the scope of their current ccharitable objects in respect of any future use by the proposed shop/Post Office.
He also informed the meeting of recent social events in the hall.
12/01/07
Village Shop/Post Office
The Chairman introduced Mrs Paula Cameron and invited her to address the
Parish Council in respect of the proposed
Village Shop/Post Office. She stated that she was a member of the Steering Group
that had been set up for the project. She
explained that she had done some preliminary work in formulating the
basis of a business plan for the new venture after she had visited the
Tackley shop as well as a the village shop
in Clifton Hampden. Mrs Paula Cameron circulated a schedule of preliminary
capital costs of the building and its fixtures and fittings. The statement also
included a possible source of funding. She the issued
a further schedule that showed a possible model of sales, gross margin and
overhead. The Council
raised some points of clarification on cash flow projections as well as
the level of working capital that might be
required. There were also questions on the assumptions made in respect of
business rates and rent. It was recognised that this was a very preliminary
exposure to work that is currently being worked on
to develop the business plan. The Clerk asked about the status of the existing
lease and was advised by the Chairman that
owners of the Post Office were happy to extend the current arrangement for a
further year until October 2008. The Chairman also advised the meeting
that he could not envisage any building work starting before April 2008.The
Council members expressed their thanks for the work that
had been done.
13/01/07
Consideration of Financial
Implications in 2007/08 of the Proposed Shop/Post Office
Mr Stuart McGill handed the chair over to Mr Simon Oddie and left the
room as he had declared a prejudicial
interest in this item.
The Council members deliberated over the information that had been
presented under agenda item12 and concluded
that there was no requirement to change the Precept that had been set earlier in
the evening as no capital expenditure would be incurred in 2007-08.
14/01/07
Any Other Business
Mrs Mabel Wood requested that the Clerk contact OCC Highways in respect
of a damaged drain cover opposite the Lamb. (Action
Clerk)
15/01/07
Date of Next Meeting
The
Parish Council will meet on Wednesday
14th February 2007 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 10.20 p.m.
Parish Forum
No matters
were raised