Minutes of the Wardington Parish Council Meeting
Location: Wardington Memorial Hall
Date: Tuesday, 6th September, 2016 (7:30pm)
In Attendance: Mr G Page (Chair), Mr I Franklin, Mrs A Pasco, Mr A Crossley, Mr G Martin.
Mr K Atack (District Councillor), Mr B Jarrett (Clerk)
Parishioners: Mr A Steven.
Apologies: Mr N Bankes, Mr M Patterson.
1. Minutes of previous meeting. (26st July, 2016) Approved and signed.
2. Matters arising from previous minutes.
2.1 HS2 Update
Mr Jarrett reported that the Action Group met with OCC (Highways), on the 16th August, to discuss the mitigation measures being proposed by HS2. These proposed measures consisted of carriageway widening, LGV high containment kerbs, vegetation clearance, and traffic calming measures. None of the measures were accepted by the Action Group as resolving the issues.
In summary the concerns raised by the Action Group were :-
1. The width of the A361 through Wardington
2. Exiting and accessing driveways
3. Danger to pedestrians crossing the A361.
4. Narrowness and proximity of the footpath to the A361
5. That there has been no environmental assessment of the impact of the substantially-increased HGV levels on Wardington.
6. Widening the road would result in the increase of speed of vehicles.
7. Capacity of the A361 in Wardington.
8. The use of minor roads as ‘rat runs’, avoiding the A361, through Wardington and Williamscot.
9. The whole situation of the A361 between Banbury and Wardington
10. To consider the feasibility of a bypass
OCC said that HS2 need to convince them that the proposals are deliverable and that they fully address the concerns to safety and congestion. HS2 has not yet met their requirements. All parties are awaiting any recommendations from the House of Lords Select Committee, expected later in the autumn.
2.2 The wardington.net website
Mr Steven gave councillors details of what was involved with running the village website. This covered the required infrastructure and associated costs. He also expressed that he was keen on receiving feedback from both the WPC and parishioners in respect to the website presentation and content, and would welcome any suggestions for improvement.
Mr Jarrett reminded council that with the new ‘Transparency’ code for small parish councils there is a requirement for the Parish Council to publish on a website certain information during the year and that the use of the village website was a preferred alternative to the parish council operating its own website.
It was agreed to support the proposal to make a payment of £10 per month for the use of the Wardington.net website.
2.3 Pond Opposite Chapel Cottages
Mr Jarrett reported that CDC has made the decision not to include ‘the Pond’ as an asset to community value(ACV) as it does not meet the specified criteria.
Mr Page had also informed Council that he had withdrawn his application to the Land Registry for official title to the Pond. This was due to local objections. Mr Page, who had maintained the upkeep of the Pond for the last twenty years plus, wanted it made known that as from the 1st September 2016 he has relinquished all upkeep and maintenance of the Pond. He is still waiting for his solicitor to clarify any on-going liability.
As the WPC had voted, at the council meeting on the 21/06/2016, against responsibility and upkeep of the Pond, the village would need some other party, perhaps the CLP, to pick up responsibility for the Pond to avoid it falling into neglect.
A copy of both the CDC decision and Mr Page’s letter will be published on the Wardington.net website.
2.4 Warbler Printing, presentation and costs.
The latest issue of the Warbler was a colour issue and received many positive comments regarding its presentation. Council expressed concerns over the cost, as this one issue cost around the same as all issues for the previous 12 months. This was a ‘bumper’ edition with more pages than normal, covering the Fete and Beer Festival. It was commented that there were perhaps too many photographs. Council requested that the Warbler take measures to restrain costs and consider the number of pages and perhaps a mix of colour and separate black and white pages.
3. Planning
New:
1. 16/01682/LB – Mr Graham Osbourne. Lower Lodge, Williamscot. Demolition of existing flat roof extension to listed building and construction of new single storey extension over similar area with a gain of 21m.
2. 16/01700/F – Mr & Mrs N Douglas, Post Box Cottage, Wardington Demolition of conservatory and outbuilding and erection of new kitchen extension.
Decisions:
1. 16/00152/TCA – Mr R Harwood, 2 Manor Flat, Upper Wardington Leylandii – Reduce height to waist level NO OBJECTION
2. 16/01378/TPO Mr Ian Fuller, Stonebrook House, Williamscot. To fell 4 Poplar trees. PART GRANTED / PART REFUSED (2 ONLY)
4. Finance.
4.1 External Audit
Mr Jarrett reported that the external audit, for the year ended 31st March 2016, had now been completed and that there were no matters arising. The Audit report and certificate were approved and accepted by the Parish Council.
4.2 Invoices – Cheques for authorization.
100843 Diane Malley – Payroll services 34.00
100844 Parish Printing Magazine – Warbler 368.00
100845 E-Scapes Landscaping Ltd – Grass cutting 942.30
100846 Clerk’s Pay – Aug 2016 415.91
100847 PAYE – Aug 2016 104.00
100848 BDO – External Audit 237.00
100631 Playsafety Limited – Play Area inspection 105.00
4.4 Playground 200 Club draw.
100632 £20 Mr P Turnock
100633 £10 Mrs E Norriss
5. New Business
5.1 Play Area Inspection
The report has been received from Playsafety following the RoSPA inspection. This has been circulated to councillors. Some problems were highlighted, including the decay in the fencing, some bolts needed tightening on three pieces of equipment and one piece of equipment (the Toddler 1 bay 2 seat), showed corrosion in the cradle top frame. The fence is in the process of being replaced, half of the fencing has already been replaced this year. Mr Page said that he would investigate the other findings.
6 A.O.B.
6.1 Mr Atack raised several issues before departing to another meeting:
6.1.1 Warbler: 2 more copies were required for Williamscot.
6.1.2 Local Plan: Mr Atack raised the issue of continuing interest in the Cluster arrangements originally set up by CDC Planning, whereby the interaction across the parishes is a common thread / theme. He suggests that a formal meeting be organised for say October / November so as to review what is happening across the villages with input from CDC Planners, as to the future based on the results of the original workshop, happenings since and whether a formal discussion group should be set up.
6.1.3 Drains in Williamscot: The drains on the approach road to Williamscot and through the village need attention, either being broken or full of vegetation and / or mud or both. These must be reported.
6.2 Correspondence:
6.2.1 Fairport tickets: Mr Atack had forwarded an e-mail from Anna Biondolillo explaining that due to unexpected success in a jumping competition Bridget and Julietta Elworthy were unable to use their Fairport tickets and could they receive a refund. As this had been such a late request and no process to reallocate the tickets, council agreed, regrettably, not to allow a refund.
6.2.2 Save the Horton General Hospital: A letter has been received from the ‘Hands off the Horton’ campaign regarding the plans to downgrade the children’s and maternity services. The letter requests support from the parish council and parishioners to keep these services. Details to be published on the website.
6.2.3 Horse Droppings: Mr Page raised the issue of ‘horse dung’ being left on the footpaths. Horse riders must take more responsibility and kick aside the dung and leave the footpaths clear.
6.3 Grass Cutting near the Hare and Hounds : Mr Page said that he had been unable to speak with the grass cutting contractor regarding this, but would do so.
6.4 Omlet direction sign: Mr Franklin raised the issue again regarding a sign directing commercial traffic to this business. This had been requested some time ago but nothing has been done. Mr Franklin commented that often it causes chaos on the A361 with drivers trying to locate the business. Omlet to be contacted again in respect of erecting a sign.
6.5 Notice Board: Mr Crossley asked again what the situation was with replacing the notice board near the Plough Inn. Mr Page added that this was in hand and the person who had agreed to build the notice board would do so in the near future.
6.6 The Warbler: Ms Pasco raised a couple of issues from the last issue of the Warbler.
1. There was a page devoted to’ Help’ in the winter’s severe weather. This was a duplication of the Wardington Parish Council Emergency Plan and the editor needs to be aware of this.
2. The map of the village with house names was very useful but what would also be helpful would be a map showing postcodes. This will be investigated.
The meeting closed 9:05pm
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, 11th October, 2016 at 7:30pm in the village hall.
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