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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 8 January 2007
PRESENT: M Durham in the chair, Mrs. A. Burns, E S Daffern, A N Whiting and Mrs A Zinovieff; the Clerk in attendance. C/Cllr Mrs Judith Heathcoat also attended. 1. APOLOGIES D/Cllr Roger Cox
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 11 December 2006 were confirmed. 3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES a. Fire Safety Risk Assessment. To enable the use of candles in the Reading Room during Yoga sessions and at parties, the following amendment was proposed: ‘There is to be no smoking and no naked flames save for those organizations that have appointed a named Candle Officer who will be responsible for siting the candle or candles in a non dangerous place and will be responsible for extinguishing the candles before leaving the premises.' Proposed: A. Zinovieff Seconded: E. Daffern This amendment was adopted unanimously. Appropriate amendments will be made to the Reading Room booking form and the Fire Risk Assessment form will be attached to future booking forms.
b. Holloway/Highworth junction road signs/road accidents. Mrs. Heathcoat reported that the re-location and improvement to signage on the Faringdon to Highworth road at the junction to The Holloway discussed at last month's meeting were in hand. The chairman invited comments from the floor and it was generally agreed that the main cause of accidents in The Holloway was motorists driving too fast. It was felt that motorists were using the village as a short cut. More signs were suggested such as Village Access only, Single Track, Slow down for horses and walkers and that all signs should be at the top and bottom of the road. It was understood that any form of speed restriction, narrowing or obstructions in the road required street lighting. Mrs. Heathcoat agreed to check the ruling and report back. It was felt that the passing places, (originally cleared by WI members some time in the distant past) should be made wider and more distinct. (not necessarily by present day WI members). After much discussion it was agreed unanimously that a one-way system would not help but probably encourage speeding cars and would be detrimental to the villagers. The Chairman asked for a show of hands from members of the village, who attended the meeting in large numbers, and they unanimously supported the motion that there should not be a one-way system. Mrs.Heathcoat stated that the junction at the top of The Holloway is statistically a safe junction (this is worked out on numbers of deaths and hospitalization) and she would contact the Chief Engineer to arrange a site meeting with herself and Mr. Durham. - c. Footpaths and Hedges. Mrs. Heathcoat said that actions were in hand.
- d. Chowle Farm "Faringdon Business Park" sign. It was reported that R. Cox had contacted Paul Yaxley at the Vale and was awaiting a reply.
- e. Old Willow Lamps. It was reported the R. Cox had contacted Paul Yaxley at the Vale and was awaiting a reply.
- f. Village Flooding. Mrs. Heathcoat was looking into this matter.
- g. Village Parking Obstructions/Village Road Map sign. Mr. Durham had spoken to the residents concerned who were aware of the problem.
- h. Draft Park Constitution. The Park Committee's comments had been circulated to The Parish Council and Mr. Durham suggested both groups needed to meet and to discuss the proposals together before moving forward.
4. READING ROOM HIRE It was agreed that the Drop-In should continue to use the Reading Room free of charge. The PCC should pay the normal hire rate.
5. PLANNING APPLICATIONS - a. GCO/1927/11 - Willowdene - vacating the business - update. Roger Cox is looking into the matter.
6. CORRESPONDENCE Parish Council approved payment of the following bill: British Gas £76.72 - b. Bank Reconciliation as at 31 December 2006. This had been circulated prior to the meeting and accepted.
c. ORCC County Council Review. Mrs. Heathcoat pointed out that this is only a review looking at over/under-subscribed Village Schools. The Parish Council had no comments to make.
7. OTHER BUSINESS a. Neighbourhood Watch. Mr. Daffern reported that the police had visited Cherry Orchard and an illegal motorized scooter had been removed. He also reported a vagrant had been sleeping in the Church Porch and the police had moved him on.
b. Mulled Wine Evening. The Parish Council congratulated the Park Committee on raising £100 at the Mulled Wine Evening.
c. Gent's Toilet Door. Mr. Durham and Mr. Daffern both tried the door independently and found it to work OK.
- c. Music System. The Parish Council thanked Mrs. Heathcoat for her offer of a music system for the Reading Room and thought it would be a useful addition. However, concerns were expressed that it should be used sensitively with restrictions on its noise level and a time limit so as not to cause offence to villagers. A notice making these restrictions clear would be placed in the Reading Room.
e. Path across Siberia. Concern was expressed again about the condition and diminishing width of this path. Mrs. Heathcoat reported that she had walked all round Siberia on December 28th and had a site meeting with the County Council. She asked that villagers be patient but that the path would need to be adopted by the ORCC before funds were available.
c. Next Meeting. The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday 5th February 2007 at 8.00pm.
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