Parish Council Minutes

Little Milton Parish Council

Minutes of Council Meeting held on Tuesday 9th October 2007 at 8.00pm

in Pine Lodge, Little Milton

Present:

Cllr. Stuart McGill (Chairman)

Cllr. Mabel Wood

Cllr. Alison Shelton

Cllr. David Wakeling

Mr Raymond Fergusson (Parish Clerk)

Mr David Turner ( County Councillor )

Mr John Nowell Smith (District Councillor)

There were no members of the public present

01/10/07 Apologies for Absence: Cllr. Barry Coward, Cllr. Tim Robinson, County Councillor David Turner and District Councillor John Nowell Smith.

02/10/07 Declaration of any personal or prejudicial interests of members

Cllrs. Stuart McGill and Alison Shelton declared personal interest in respect of the Village Hall and Village Shop/Post Office agenda items. Cllr. Mabel Wood declared a personal interest in the Village Hall agenda item

03/10/07 Approval of Minutes

The Parish Council RESOLVED that the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting, held on 12th September 2007 as a true record of the meetings and the Chairman signed them.

04/10/07 Matters Arising.

OCC Highways

The Clerk reported that significant progress had been made by OCC Highways in clearing the outstanding items. In respect of the surface water between Haseley Road and Gold Street a site visit has taken place and a course of action agreed to improve the situation. The Clerk also informed the meeting that a number of street signs had been removed to reduce the “clutter” as well as the re-positioning of the school sign at the bottom of Churchill.

HGV Survey on A329

The Clerk informed the meeting that Mr David Turner had arranged a meeting to review the recent survey results on Thursday 11 October.

05/10/07 Youth Shelter Follow Up

The Clerk informed the meeting that he had arranged a visit of the ActiveTEN20 bus on 22^nd November between 5.00 pm and 6.30pm. and that the information had been included in the newsletter. He explained that he had invited comment on the timing of the visit but so far there had been no response. The first visit is at no cost to the parish but funding would be necessary if further visits were deemed to be beneficial.

06/10/07 Recreation Ground

The Clerk briefed the Council on information he had received from Mr Mark Willis. He reported that the grass cutting was coming to an end but that the moles on the recreation ground had been very active. Mr Willis proposed that the Council require a more systematic approach to controlling the moles and he recommended that the Council approach Spadework UK Ltd for a quotation for an annual contract. The Council RESOLVED that this was the best way forward and that Mr Willis should obtain the necessary quote.

07/10/07 Finance

The Council RESOLVED that the following expenditure should be paid:

Colourplus – October Newsletter 2007 £219.08

Isis Accord – grass cutting September 2007 £166.03

R.Fergusson – expenses re Clerk/newsletter £105.49

08/10/07 Planning

PO7/W0765 & W0764/LB: Brookside Cottage Haseley Road : Demolition of existing conservatory and replacement with sun room. Construction of extension to utility room with cloakroom and entrance lobby. New external stone screen wall and replacement windows. The Council RESOLVED that these planning applications should be approved by South Oxfordshire District Council.

P07/W0839 & W07/838/LB: The Lamb High Street : Forthcoming Planning Committee at SODC

The Chairman outlined the Council’s position on the forthcoming Planning Committee at SODC. The Council would be represented by Cllr. Tim Robinson as well as a spokesperson from Punch Taverns.

09/10/07 Correspondence

OALC: Training Course on Freedom of Information Act

The Council RESOLVED that the Clerk could attend the training course on Tuesday 13 November 2007.

ORCC: Parish Plans

The Council RESOLVED to defer the consideration of a Parish Plan to a future Council meeting.

SODC: Review of Concessionary Travel Scheme

The Chairman informed the Council of the review of the Concessionary Travel Scheme being undertaken by SODC. A key recommendation is to change the commencement time for use of bus passes from 9.00 am to 9.30am. Under the current bus timetable this would have no impact on our residents.

10/10/07 Village Hall

The Clerk briefed the meeting on the progress that has been made by representatives of the Village Hall, the Shop steering group and the Parish Council. A number of matters have been clarified and a set of minutes of the meeting held on 20th September 2007 will be issued to Council members after they have been approved at the meeting of the interested parties in late October.

11/10/07 Village Shop/Post Office

The Chairman informed the meeting that the grant application to the Lottery Fund had been turned down but that other avenues of funding were now being sought. A possible source would be Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN) who recently made a National Award to the trustees of the Pine Lodge at a ceremony in London .

12/10/07 Exchange of Information

Cllr. David Wakeling reported to the Council on the meeting held on 2nd October at SODC in respect of proposed Green Belt proposals following the Examination in Public (EIP) stage of the South East Plan. The Council noted the concerns that were expressed by the District Council on this matter.

The Chairman expressed a view that the Council should consider some landscaping of the village with an emphasis on the entrances. This matter will be considered at the next Parish Council meeting.

13/10/07 Date of Next Meeting

The Parish Council will meet on Wednesday 14^th November 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 9.30 p.m.

Parish Forum

There were no matters raised

Signed by Chairman…………………………………………………Date…………………………