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GREAT COXWELL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held in the Reading Room at 8.00 pm on Monday 9 October 2006.
PRESENT: M Durham in the chair, Mrs A Burns, E S Daffern, A N Whiting and Mrs A Zinovieff; the Clerk in attendance. D/Cllr Alison Thomson also attended.
1. APOLOGIESC/Cllr Heathcoat and D/Cllr Cox sent their apologies.
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING The minutes of the Parish Meeting held on Monday 11 September 2006 were confirmed. . 3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTESa. Community Empowerment Award. The OALC President accepted the Community Empowerment Aware on Great Coxwell Parish Council's behalf at the NALC conference recently. It would like to arrange that it be formally presented to the Parish Council at its General Meeting on Monday 20th November. The Chairman and Vice Chairman will attend. It was also noted that the prize money would be sent to the Parish Council shortly.
b. Park Committee Meeting update. Mr Durham attended the recent Park Committee meeting. He presented a draft constitution, defining the committee's role and Mr Daffern has done one revision of this, incorporating feedback from the park committee. This will also be circulated to the Parish Council, once the park committee has checked it. The Chairman said that one or two members of the park committee felt that the Parish Council was being too heavy handed in its approach. He apologised if this was the impression given as the Parish Council wanted to give some structure and order to the way things were done, which in no way affected the great job and hard work carried out by the committee.
c. Temporary Road Closure update. The works have been put back to 16th October and Oxfordshire County Council has arranged to use the entrance of Adam Twine's field while the work is being carried out, which will enable the work to be done without the road being closed.
d. "Siberia" footpath update. Mrs Heathcoat has contacted the senior Highways engineer and put pressure on to improve the footpath. However, there is no schedule or timetable at this time but she will continue to chase this on behalf of the Parish Council. Mr Whinney said that farmers have been prosecuted for not keeping footpaths the correct width but Mr Durham pointed out that the footpath was still considered accessible and that as the footpath was a metalled one, it was not the responsibility of either the farmer or the golf course to maintain it. He had the utmost confidence that Mrs Heathcoat would put significant pressure to get improvements done to this footpath.
e. Reading Room Curtains. The repair to the curtains has been completed.
4. PRECEPT INFORMATION a. Risk Assessment. Mr Whiting has updated the risk assessment, following feedback from the Parish Council and copies have been circulated. Following further comments, Mr Whiting will arrange for the feedback to be incorporated and new copies issued. Pending these amendments the Parish Council unanimously approved the amendments.
b. Asset Register. Mr Whiting felt that the market value of the Reading Room should increase to £100,000 as the land could now be converted to a building plot. He also thought that the total loss/rebuild cost should increase by approximately 7% and that he would confirm this. This would be discussed at the next meeting.
c. Clerk's Remuneration. Mr Daffern proposed and Mrs Burns seconded that the Clerk's annual remuneration was increased to £7.85 per hour, in line with NALC guidelines and recommendations. It was also agreed that the telephone/internet allowance should increase from £33 half-yearly to £40.00 half-yearly. The Parish Council currently pays for 100 hours work per annum but this can be reviewed, if appropriate.
5. WEBSITE Mrs Burns is currently adding information to this, including photographs of the Tithe Barn and Church, information on the Parish Council and asking the WI if it is interested in adding information to it. The village newsletter will be added when available.
6. VILLAGE HOUSING MAPAfter much discussion, it was agreed that the best way of highlighting the village map site was to put a large notice above the map saying "village map". Mr Durham will speak to the Teagle family about this.
7. PARISH CLERK VACANCYThe Chairman announced that after seven years, the Clerk was resigning, with a view to leaving at the end of the year. A notice will be placed on the board inviting potential candidates to contact the Clerk for further information and Mrs Zinovieff will also arrange for it to be mentioned in the forthcoming newsletter. The Chairman thanked the Clerk for all her work over the years.
8. PLANNING APPLICATIONSa. GCO/8308/12-X - Pear Tree Farm, construction of 2 two-storey dwellings (Mr Daffern expressed a conflict of interest on this point and withdrew from the discussion). The Parish Council was pleased to note that the footpath was now included on the plans although it was pointed out that in the introductory report by the planning consultant it was a majority vote by the village and not 100% vote that was received. The Parish Council continues to support this application, subject to the complete relocation of the business.
b. GCO/6245/1 - Jemima, Puddleduck Lane - construction of a mono pitch roof over existing side extension. There was no objection to this planning application.
c. Partial Review of SE Plan - provision for Gypsy and Traveller Caravan sites. The Parish Council had no feedback on this document, of which one paragraph referred to the gypsy and traveller provision.
d. GCO/2087/20-X - cessation of existing lorry park use (Chowle Estate). This application has now been withdrawn.
e. GFA/19649 - Land Adjoining Coxwell House/Winslow - formation of access road and junction to serve up to 50 dwellings. There is a Development Control meeting on 16th October. The Parish Council will not attend as it feels it has expressed its views on this application in previous correspondence.
9. CORRESPONDENCE BillsThe Parish Council approved payment of the following bills:
C Latimer (Party in the Park costs) £826.00 British Gas (Electricity) £81.39 + VAT Royal British Legion (declared under S137) £20.00 Mark Denée (R Room and Park grass) £130.00 Clerk's remuneration increase (inc tel/internet allowance) £18.50
Items received: Donation from Philip Niass towards R Room cupboard £200.00 2nd half of Precept £1,300.00
The Clerk will write to Mr Niass to thank him for his donation.
Other a. Local Area Meeting for Village Hall Committees. Mr Daffern hopes to attend this meeting.
b. VWH Thames Water's Proposed Reservoir. The Vale has invited town and parish councils to send representatives to a meeting. The Parish Council was unable to attend.
c. Bonfire Night. The police have sent posters to the Parish Council and these will be distributed at the Drop In morning.
d. Parish Councils and Wildlife - a new legal duty. This leaflet will be circulated.
e. Update by D/Cllr Cox. The Clerk summarised Mr Cox's report from a meeting with the Police Community Support Officers and neighbourhood policing. The Clerk will circulate the note.
10. OTHER BUSINESS a. Neighbourhood Watch. Mr Daffern reported that someone had been wandering around the Laurels, asking to repair drives. This has been discussed with the police and the advice given is to be careful that callers are genuine.
Police have been very active on several occasions in Cherry Orchard this month, including a major visit.
b. Riding School Hedge. Mr Durham will speak to the Riding School about trimming back the hedge along the footpath at the back of the riding school.
c. Sycamore Tree near Reading Room lamp. Mrs Quartermain pointed out that this needs to be chopped down before it causes damage to the lamp. Her husband volunteered to chop it down.
e. Next Meeting. The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday 13 November 2006 at 8.00 pm.
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