Parish Council Minutes – June 2016

Minutes of the meeting of Bourtons Parish Council

Held at the Village Hall, Great Bourton on Tuesday 7^th June 2016

The meeting opened at 7.30pm.

• Present: Cllrs Mrs S Leszczynski [Chairman], C Upton, Mrs S Upton, A Johnson.

In attendance: District Cllr K Atack and S Bowen [Parish Clerk]

Apologies: Cllr Paul Wallace [work commitments].

• Declarations of Interest: None.
• Attendance: 1 member of the public was present.
• Minutes: The minutes of the April and May 2016 meetings were received and APPROVED.
• Progress reports :

• Footpaths: 

• Cllr S Leszczynski reported that footpath 138/7/1 had been strimmed and mowed by the OCC footpath maintenance team as promised after their major clearance in 2013, and thanks have been sent to Sarah Aldous, Rights of Way Field officer: Northeast.

• Road Defects:

• Cllr Mrs S Upton had contacted the Compliance Team regarding several issues and had been advised that the next scheduled Compliance inspection is not due until August.
• Several comments have been received regarding potholes and edge damage and to expedite reporting it was decided to request the assistance of residents in reporting these directly to either OCC Highways via their website or through Fix My Street.
• Cllr Mrs Upton is to draft a short article for the Broadsheet outlining the process and requesting assistance.
• It was also noted that the concealed inspection cover and damaged kerbing in Spring Lane, Little Bourton had been repaired to enable clearing of the drains to alleviate future flooding issues, but that jetting had not yet been carried out.

c]Defibrillators:

i]The Great Bourton inspection log book was reviewed and found to be complete. Following the previous report regarding condensation in the window of the box, Cllr C Upton has obtained details of suppliers of silica gel and it was AGREED that the Clerk would order such supplies.

ii)The new logbook for the Little Bourton machine will be created this month.

d) Website Development:

i] The new contractor has been appointed and initial work is proceeding.

ii) They are experiencing difficulty in obtaining the access codes for the old independent village website to enable historical material to be downloaded and used on our new site.  This will be expedited by the Chairman and Cllr Mrs S Upton.

iii) Cllr Mrs Upton also requested electronic copies of any old and recent photographs of the villages that could be used on the new website.  This will be mentioned in the Broadsheet.

e) Garners Field Development:

i] Contact has been made by the newly appointed developer, Hayfield Homes, requesting a meeting to discuss the specification of the new community hall.

ii) It was AGREED that the Clerk will contact both the new developer and the Landowner’s Agent with a view to arranging an initial meeting to understand the new developer’s plans for the site.  It is hoped that the new developer will want to hold a public meeting to present their plans to residents and this will be pursued.

f) Village Hall maintenance:

i] The repairs and painting have been completed but several comments have been received concerning the colour of the front doors, and it was AGREED that these will be repainted [at no additional cost] in a slightly less bright green.

g) Council Membership:

i) Following the resignation of Cllr Steve Hughes and the subsequent Notice in the Broadsheet, 1 expression of interest in joining the Council has been received.  It was decided to put a further notice on the Village Noticeboards with a closing date of Friday June 17^th.

• Playgrounds

Inspections have been carried out:

a] Little Bourton: Cllr safety inspection completed.  The Chairman noted that some of the equipment had become very stiff to operate and that lubrication had been carried out, but more was required.  The Clerk is to investigate costs of providing an annual service.

b] Great Bourton: Cllr safety inspection completed and all reported OK.  A litter problem was identified and tidying up undertaken.  The situation will be monitored.

c] It was AGREED that a new litter bin is to be purchased for the Little Bourton playground and this will be fixed to the shelter.  Clerk to arrange.

d] Further investigation has been undertaken by District Cllr Atack regarding the transfer of the balance of monies from the s106 contribution by the Avoncroft developer for the Little Bourton playground development.  This has been calculated to be circa £30k and this will be used to establish an appropriate regular servicing & maintenance contract for the equipment.  Clerk is to obtain costs and make arrangements.

• Allotments

a] All practical matters have now been agreed but it is with dismay that your Council has been advised that Mr. Hall’s solicitors are now disputing the legal costs incurred by the Council in responding to the many queries raised.

b] Our solicitor is trying to negotiate an acceptable agreement on costs and it was AGREED that the Council will make it clear that the move to the new Allotments site, requested by Mr. Hall was only agreed to if NO costs were incurred by your Council.  The Clerk was asked to make this clear to our solicitor and advise that only when confirmation had been received that all reasonable legal costs will be met will the contract be exchanged.

• Finance

• Outgoing payments to N Prickett [verge mowing £ 270], R Twynham [village hall repairs painting £1080], OALC [training course £78] and S W Services [grass mowing £340] were

APPROVED.

• The current statement of accounts was received and APPROVED.
• Cllr Mrs Upton confirmed that the Internal Audit has been completed satisfactorily and the report was APPROVED.  This will now be sent to the relevant authorities.
• Following initial difficulties in arranging electronic banking arrangements with our Bankers, Barclays, Cllr Mrs Upton was pleased to report that progress had been made and that the relevant documents and system should now be in place later this month.
• The 1% pay increase for Council employees negotiated by the Government and NALC was discussed and it was AGREED that this would be implemented, backdated to April 2016.

• Planning Applications.

a] 16/00609/OUT 3 house development at Crockwell Farm.  This was discussed and it was AGREED that no objections will be raised but that comments regarding the detailed site layout in relation to the Listed building be made.

b] It had been noted by Cllr Johnson and the Clerk that the potential development of 60 houses in Cropredy behind Station Road had been re-instigated and that a village meeting was planned later this month.  This is a matter of some concern to your Council because of the likely increase in traffic flows through Great Bourton.  It was AGREED that Cllr Johnson and the Clerk will attend the meeting to understand the proposals and develop and response should planning permission be sought.

• Correspondence

a] Various emails have been received regarding the Tree Preservation Order that has been granted in respect of trees in Crow Lane, and the likelihood of this being confirmed after the 6-month initial period.  It was AGREED that the Council would monitor the situation and review again before the 6 month period expires in October.

b] A letter has been received from CDC regarding their proposals for the future Unitary Authorities to replace OCC.  This will be reviewed by Councillors.

c] It was AGREED that Cllr S Leszczynski will attend the OCC Unitary Authority meeting on June 15^th to hear their latest proposals.

d] A letter has been received from Oxfordshire Countryside Access Forum regarding preservation of local rights of way.  This will be circulated to Councillors.

e]           Email re Filming for a school project was discussed: the chairman to reply.

• New Business

a] The process for managing the applications for Fairport 2016 tickets was AGREED and the Chairman, Cllr Mrs S Upton and the Clerk will be present in the Village Hall from 6pm to 9pm on Tuesday June 14th to accept applications and payment. Details and application forms were published in the June Broadsheet.

b]          CDC Parish Liaison Meeting: 8th June 6.15pm; Cllrs S Upton and S Leszczynski to attend.

c]           Cllrs discussed a report of damage to property in Buzzards Close LB caused by very large vehicles misdirected there. The clerk was asked to contact OCC Highways re the most appropriate vehicle size restriction notice for Chapel Lane.

12.     District Councillor Report

D.Cllr Atack had obtained, via CDC, details of the new owners of land west of the Bourton- Cropredy road where ragwort, which is poisonous to horses and some other animals, had been observed. This would enable concerned neighbouring landowners to report the matter to English Nature.

Date of next meeting – Tuesday July 5th 2016 at 7.30pm.

The meeting closed at 9.50 pm.

Signed   Cllr Sally Leszczynski: Date:

Chairman

Minutes drafted by Parish Clerk on June 8^th 2016