| January 2010 |
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HOOK NORTON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF HOOK NORTON PARISH COUNCIL HELD IN THE MEMORIAL HALL ON THURSDAY 14th JANUARY 2010 AT 7.30pm Present: Councillors: Timms [Chairman], Walsham [Vice Chairman], Brotherston, Hayward, Jelf, Leader, Millar, Richardson and Shepley-Cuthbert; there were no members of the public in attendance. 1. Apologies for Absence were received from Cllrs Kane and Stubbs [business commitments], and both District Cllr Irvine and Ken Porter [Parish Clerk] were unable to attend due to the inclement weather. In the absence of Mr Porter Cllr Jelf took the minutes.
2. Chairman's Announcements The Chairman in wishing everyone a Happy New Year thanked all present for making the effort to attend the meeting, considering the severe weather conditions.
3. Minutes of previous meeting, 9 December 2009, and matters arising It was proposed by Cllr Walsham, and seconded by Cllr Brotherston, that the minutes of the previous meeting be accepted as a true and accurate record and this was passed unanimously by those present at that meeting. There were no matters arising not covered elsewhere in the agenda. 4. Declarations of Interest Cllr Millar declared a personal interest under “Cemetery & Allotments” as an Allotment Holder and Cllr Jelf as our County Councillor declared an interest under item 11. 5. Report by Planning Co-ordinator on planning applications received In the absence of Cllr Stubbs the Chairman reported that there have only been five new applications to consider since the last PC meeting and there were no objections to any of these. We also received an amendment to the Stanton application which dealt with our concerns and we were therefore able to change our view and support this. In the same period there have been twelve decisions from CDC; in the case of 13 The Shearings the felling of the beech tree, which we had objected to, was not granted but the other work, to which we had no objection, was approved. We did object to the felling of the acer at Talbot End, which has been approved, and the works at Talbot End which have also been agreed. In view of the fact that CDC appear to be taking little notice of the Parish Council’s comments and/or objections in regard to planning applications Cllr Shepley-Cuthbert is to seek an appointment for members of the PC to discuss this important issue with the Chief Executive of CDC.
6. To invite members of the public to comment on planning applications There were no members of the Public present on this occasion.
7. Report of Working Groups (a)Recreation & Open Spaces Group – Cllr Leader reported that due to heavy commitments Paul Cooper had been unable to carry out repairs to the damaged wall in the play area, therefore we will need to go out to tender for the work. A figure of £5000.00 is to be included in the precept for this essential safety work. In regard to finance, the fund raising is progressing well and therefore a survey will be conducted in the village in late February to ascertain the views of residents on what they would like to be incorporated in the play area.
(b)Cemetery & Allotments – Cllr Brotherston raised the issue of a review of the allotment rents since they had remained unchanged for a considerable period. Currently they are £15.00 per annum for a whole plot and £7.50 for a half plot. Administration is exactly the same for both types of plot in terms of time and he therefore recommended that this be reflected in the new rates which he proposed as £20.00 and £12.50. In addition he felt that, as the collection of rents puts the greatest administration demand on the Clerk, an administrative fee of £2.50 be charged on the first & second reminder letters to be sent to tenants. If payment has not been received after the second request it is to be considered that the tenant no longer requires the plot and accordingly it will be offered to the next person on the waiting list. These proposals were seconded by Cllr Richardson and carried nem con. It was felt that in order to assist tenants in paying we should include Bank details of the Council on Invoices. (c)Environment – Cllr Hayward reported that Ben Acreman has quoted £400 to trim the beech hedge at The Avenue. He has been asked to proceed but thinks there may be a TPO and, if so, it will probably be 2 months before this can be completed. The gates at Sibford Road will be re-hung by Mr Beck; those at South Hill still seem to be in sound condition but the posts at Station Road are rotting and will need attention, but not until the next financial year. The working group will carry out an inspection of walls for which we are responsible once the snow has melted. It will also be necessary to ask OCC to review the roads at that time as some new potholes are apparent, particularly on Netting Street/High Street. OCC report that a significant number of villages have agreed to have their lights switched off overnight and they hope to deal with those in Hook Norton by the end of February. The Low Carbon Group’s bid for an LC Communities Challenge grant was unsuccessful as these were granted on a regional basis and a group from West Oxford apparently had a better bid. It goes forward to the second stage where it will be competing against many more projects. However the affiliation scheme is building up with more people switching to renewable electricity supply and phone co-op. A recent survey has highlighted poor levels of loft insulation in many houses and there is scope for improvements if funding is available.
(d)Hook Norton War Memorial Hall – Cllr Walsham reported that although there had not been a meeting of the working group the meeting with the regular users of the Hall had taken place on 16 December when the past year and future plans were discussed. The hall is financially viable and although we have lost the Cubs they have been replaced by a regular dance group. He further reported that we will replace the two electric heaters nearest to the stage as soon as possible.
(e)Norman Matthews Community Hall – Cllr Jelf reported that following discussions with the Head of Property at OCC we have obtained a 50% reduction in the lease termination fee to £500.00, this to include the £300.00 which would have been due for the last two years of the lease. The proposal by Cllr Jelf that we accept this offer was seconded by Cllr Brotherston and carried nem con. 8. Report on District Council Matters In the absence of District Cllr Irvine the Chairman referred to the document received from her on the revised bin collection schedule for CDC. It was noted that at present Hook Norton did not appear on the list. 9. Report on County Council Matters Cllr Jelf had nothing new to report on this occasion. 10. Finance/Schedule of Receipts and Payments for authorisation by the Council In the absence of Mr Porter, the Chairman presented the schedules of receipts and payments and sought approval was sought to pay the cheques itemised on the schedules totalling £1469.69 for the PC and £223.45 for the MH, together with a further cheque for £538.65 from the PC account in Favour of Watson petroleum for a delivery of oil to the Memorial Hall and a further cheque for £850.00 from the Memorial Hall account to the painter and decorator. Cllr Shepley-Cuthbert moved acceptance of the payments detailed and this was seconded by Cllr Walsham and approved unanimously. (i) Precept 2010/11 The Clerk had submitted a budget showing a deficit before Precept of a little over £52K. It was therefore proposed by Cllr Jelf, and seconded by Cllr Timms, that we should apply for £52K, which represents an increase of £4000 [8.33%] or a little under £4 per household. This was approved 11. Gritting of roads in the village The subject was fully discussed and in order to ensure that this situation does not arise again it was proposed by Cllr Shepley-Cuthbert that a letter be sent to OCC outlining our concerns and putting forward suggestions as to how the use of local farmers etc could help prevent the extreme conditions which have prevailed recently. The proposal was seconded by the Chairman and carried nem con. Cllr Shepley-Cuthbert will draft a letter and, to have the greatest effect, the Chairman further proposed that this letter be sent to all Parish Councils in the Deddington Division asking for their support by countersigning the letter. It was agreed that this be done and County Cllr Jelf was asked to contact each of the Parish Councils in the Division to seek their support. Reverting to the present situation Cllr Jelf advised the meeting that he had received many Emails and telephone calls calling for grit bins at strategic places. As a result he proposed that a further 5 bins be ordered, the siting of which to be determined by Cllrs Hayward and Jelf. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Millar and carried nem con. 12. Correspondence Cherwell District Council: (i) Cherwell Local – Resource Point – a free online central facility for Cherwell businesses to offer unwanted/unused furniture or other resources to benefit charitable institutions including village halls. For details contact cherwell-local.com/site/resource-point/index.htm. 13. Questions and Comments from Members of the Public Not applicable 14. Date and Time of Next Meeting As previously agreed there will not be a meeting in February and accordingly the next will be held on Thursday 11th March 2010 in the Memorial Hall commencing at 7.30pm The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 8.40pm
Dated 11th March 2010 |
