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13th March 2006 Open Spaces Committee
17-Mar-2006

Thakeham Parish Council

OPEN SPACES COMMITTEE MEETING - Monday, 13th March 2006


Meeting opened:         4.00 p.m.


Present                         Mr A Harwood                            Mrs P Maggs

Rev P Messenger                       Mr N Prince      

           

In attendance                 Mr J Denman                             Clerk to the Council

                                   


1.         Election of Chairman  

            Cllr Prince was elected to the Chair of the Open Spaces Committee.


2.         Election of Vice Chairman

            Cllr Harwood was elected as Vice Chairman of the Open Spaces Committee.

  

3.         Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Cllr Berry.

  

4.         Interests of Members

            No interests were declared.


5.         2006 Meetings

            A schedule of meetings for the remainder of the year will be agreed at the next meeting.

  

6.         Designation of Duties

Monitoring and focal point responsibilities were allocated as follows:

Bus shelters                              Cllrs Messenger and Harwood

High Bar Lane playground           Cllrs Messenger and Harwood

Toddler play area                       Cllr Maggs

Footpaths/trees                         Cllr Prince

Litter wardens                            Cllr Prince

Grass cutting                             Cllr Harwood

Street cleaning                          Cllr Harwood

 

7.         Play Area Safety Checks

7.1        Cllr Prince briefed the meeting on the legal obligations. Safety checks must be recorded and he presented a pro forma playground inspection and fault sheet. It was agreed that the litter warden with responsibility for the High Bar Lane playground be required to undertake a weekly inspection and complete these forms which will be sent to the clerk to instigate any appropriate actions and keep on file.

 

7.2        Cllr Prince had undertaken an inspection of the playground and the results were reviewed by the meeting. It was agreed that the clerk would contact Stuart Stone to effect the necessary work on the gate and fence and check whether HDC have any suitable equipment to level off the grass area.

 

7.3        Signs at the play areas were discussed and the clerk would initially seek advice from HDC.

 

•7.4               The clerk would also ascertain the form of inspection undertaken by HDC as regards the toddlers play area.

 

7.5        Cllr Prince will discuss any training needs with the litter warden. 

 

8.         Grass Cutting Requirements

These were reviewed and it was agreed that Cllr Messenger would produce and submit the agreed schedule to the clerk who would then request quotations from the existing contractor plus the churchyard contractor. Future invoices must show the dates work has been undertaken to facilitate monitoring.            

  

9.         Litter Wardens

Job descriptions were reviewed and it was agreed that the raking of bark chips requirement of Mrs Harman was not appropriate and it would therefore be deleted and replaced with the need to formalise the weekly inspection by completion of the inspection and fault sheets.

 

Pay rates were discussed and it was agreed that a recommendation be made to the Parish Council to increase the rate to £6.00 per hour effective 1st April 2006.

 

 

 

            Meeting closed:           5.20 p.m.

Date of next meeting:  Thursday, 18th May 2006 at 4.00 p.m. 

Approved