Hook Norton Parish Council

HOOK NORTON PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF HOOK NORTON PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT THE MEMORIAL HALL ON THURSDAY 11th MAY 2006 AT 7.30pm

Present: Councillors: Brotherston, Clay, Fry, Hayward, Riley, Swainbank, Timms, Walsham and Young, together with District Councillor Gasson, Mr Porter [Parish Clerk] and two members of the public.

The Parish Clerk welcomed those attending and opened the meeting as the first item on the Agenda was the election of Chairman.

1. Election of Chairman

Cllr Young proposed that Cllr Timms be re-elected Chairman and this was seconded by Cllr Walsham. Cllr Timms agreed to stand for a further term. As there was no other nomination Cllr Timms was duly elected Chairman unanimously. Cllr Timms mentioned that he will not be available to chair the July meeting.

2. Apologies for Absence

Cllrs Jelf and Millar sent their apologies.

3.Minutes of the Meeting of 13th April 2006 and Matters Arising therefrom

The minutes were agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting, proposed by Cllr Hayward, seconded by Cllr Young, passed unanimously. The clerk reported that CDC’s Standards Committee had met on 24 April 2006 and granted all named parish councillors dispensation to deal with matters relating to the Memorial Hall [Item 3]. Arising from this Cllr Clay mentioned that the Day Care Centre has recently been advised to become a limited company, of which he is now a director. Cllr Fry asked whether there had been a response from Royal Mail regarding the siting of the post box [Item 17(v)] and clerk confirmed that he had nothing further but would pursue the matter. The Chairman also confirmed that he has not received any response from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the issue of Affordable Housing [Item 15]. Nor has he had even an acknowledgement from the Banbury Guardian, who claim no record of the copy letter, and a further copy has been submitted. Cllr Young expressed regret at the unfortunate absence of Cllr Jelf as he wished to ask if he had had any success in his approach to Highways about the state of the roads around Hook Norton.

4. Declarations of Interest

Cllr Fry declared an interest in the item relating to the Shoppers’ bus but as he is the source of information on this issue it was agreed that he could be present but not participate in any voting [Item 18].

5 Election of Vice-Chairman

Cllr Fry nominated Cllr Walsham and this was seconded by Cllr Young. Cllr Walsham confirmed that he would be prepared to stand and he was duly elected unanimously.

6 Appointment of Working Groups

Each committee has a maximum number of five members and will appoint a Chairman from within at the first meeting. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council are non-voting Ex-Officio members of all the committees. After discussion it was proposed that the groups remain as currently constituted and this was agreed. The members are:
Environment and Open Spaces Committee
cCllrs Brotherston, Hayward, Millar and Riley
dRecreation Committee
eCllrs Young, Jelf, Swainbank and Walsham
Memorial Hall Committee
fCllrs Fry, Clay, Jelf and Young.
The Chairman suggested that the groups should meet a minimum four times in each year and that minutes should be submitted to the clerk in time to be distributed with agendas, which will save time on reports at PC meetings. This was agreed. All Working Groups should meet before the next PC meeting.

7 Appointment of Chairman of Finance

Cllr Timms thanked Cllr Clay for continuing in this role and proposed that he be re-appointed. This was seconded by Cllr Walsham and passed unanimously. Cllr Clay reminded the PC that he cannot convene a Finance Committee meeting until the working groups have met and appointed chairpersons.

8 Appointment of Planning Co-ordinator

Cllr Young proposed that Cllr Walsham continues in this role and this was seconded by Cllr Timms and passed unanimously.

9 Appointment of 4 representatives to the Management Committee of the Norman Matthews Community Hall

It was agreed that the existing representatives be re-appointed and Cllrs Clay, Jelf, Timms and Walsham were duly elected.

10.Election of Trustees to the Heath Allotment Trust

Cllr Clay informed the meeting that he was not aware of any representative having completed their term of office. After discussion Cllr Hayward proposed that all representatives resign and offer themselves for re-election. This was seconded by Cllr Walsham and agreed and Cllrs Jelf, Timms and Young were re-elected along with Ray Gasson and Pauline Walters.

11.Appointment of 4 Councillors to be empowered to sign cheques on behalf of the Parish Council and Memorial Hall Trust

Cllr Fry proposed that Cllr Walsham replace him as a signatory to both accounts. This was seconded by Cllr Swainbank and passed unanimously. Cllrs Clay, Jelf, Timms and Walsham were duly appointed to sign cheques.

12Report of Planning Co-ordinator on planning applications received

Cllr Walsham referred to the schedule of matters outstanding and reported that there have been two meetings since the last PC meeting in which a total of 12 applications have been considered. All received no objections with exception of Shearings, Queen Street, where it was felt that the proposed front extension is excessive in size and inappropriate and will create further street parking in an already congested area opposite the Post Office. The front wall has already been demolished and the PC has insisted that it be re-instated to its original condition using natural materials. One new application had come to hand on the day of the meeting, being a re-submission of an earlier application from Mr Faulkner, of 10 Beanacre, to remove a eucalyptus tree in the garden of 11 Beanacre. As the original application to remove two trees had not met with objections this too was approved.
(i)Application by Baptist Church for Dropping-off Point and Turning Circle
Cllr Clay reported that the original application had been submitted with the support of OCC who were to fund the matter. The previous arboricultural officer at CDC had supported the proposals but his successor objected and as a result the Church had been told that the application would be rejected. As a result it was withdrawn and a meeting arranged with representatives of the Planning Department, which took place earlier today. Following lengthy discussion it appears that the new arboricultural officer has been persuaded of the argument for the improvements and it is hoped that the re-application will be successful.

13To invite members of the Public to comment on Planning Applications

There were no comments from the members of the public present.

14Report of Working Groups

Recreation Group – Cllr Young reported that the two new pieces of equipment have been installed at a net cost of £1485. Despite our best efforts to keep children off the items for 48 hours while the concrete dried one child did manage to access one item as a result of which it is slightly loose. However it is hoped that it will pass muster, although it will be checked at the time of the next RoSPA inspection. The height of the aerial runway must be raised before the next report, together with some remedial work on the small slide for which a second quote is to be obtained.
Environment & Open Spaces – Cllr Riley reported that a letter has been sent to the Allotment Association to inform them of the availability of the extra land. John Blackham enquired about the water on site and Cllr Riley had clarified with Joe Williams that the Fire Service can continue to top-up the tank at present. The clerk has written to John Harris to confirm that his rent will be reduced. Cllr Young expressed the view that he should be allowed to cut the grass now growing, which will make cultivation easier for whoever takes over the land in due course. Cllr Riley then reported that he has discussed the cemetery wall with Dennis Mill who has agreed to drop his price to £61000. It will be June before we know whether our application for a grant from SITA has been successful, following which the money should be available within six weeks. It will therefore be possible to start work in July with the first phase paid from resources, the second phase to be covered by the grant if we are successful. If the work is to commence at that time it is also necessary to make application to Highways for road closure. There followed a lengthy discussion on whether the PC can afford to proceed if the SITA grant is not forthcoming. Cllr Hayward pointed out that we will know the result of the grant application before work starts on the second phase. Cllr Riley then proposed that we obtain authority to close the road and instruct Mr Mill to start work in July with a view to completing phase 1. If the grant comes through in the meantime he will then be instructed to continue with phase 2. However if the money is not forthcoming then phase 2 will have to be put on hold until further funding becomes available. This was seconded by Cllr Hayward and passed unanimously. Cllr Riley also reported that our engineer had located two small leaks in the water supply at the cemetery, which have been repaired. He commented that the pipes are galvanised and wearing and may need to be replaced in the near future. It was also reported that a litter-bin has been placed at the bottle bank by Cllr Young, who had found a spare one at the rear of the Memorial Hall. Mr Marshall will be asked to empty this with the bins in the Recreation Area.

15Hook Norton War Memorial Hall

In the absence of Cllr Jelf Cllr Fry referred to the minutes of a meeting held with representatives of the user groups on 27 April. He has subsequently spoken with Mr Hibberd, who is about to go on holiday, and the various small jobs detailed in the minutes will be discussed on his return. Subsequently it was discovered that the new hand dryers had been wired in to the same circuit as the wall heaters and this required money placing in the meter to operate. This has been remedied but has required the installation of a new fuse box. There was some concern voiced that this had been authorised without due approval but, on reflection, it falls within the agreed limits for each of the working groups. Concern was voiced that the kitchen extension cannot possibly proceed if there are cash flow problems as a result of re-building the cemetery wall but the clerk pointed out that grants have been sought for the full cost of the extension. The Chairman suggested that the MH accounts should be presented to the next meeting for formal approval.

16Report of Finance Committee

Cllr Clay had nothing to report on this occasion.

17 Schedule of Receipts and Payments for Authorisation by the Council

The clerk presented the attached schedules of receipts and payments for approval and Cllr Young proposed acceptance of the items of expenditure detailed, totalling £3027.04 for the PC and £162.10 for the MH, and this was seconded by Cllr Fry and unanimously approved.

18 Shoppers’ bus and related matters

Following on from the concern expressed at the previous meeting, when the concessionary fare scheme was discussed, Cllr Fry reported that numbers using the shoppers’ bus do seem to have fallen back since the winter when the average was 25 per trip, to about 17 more recently. Accordingly he has written an article for inclusion in the next Newsletter stressing the need for parishioners to use the service if they wish it to continue. District Cllr Gasson added that the concessionary fare scheme is on the agenda for a meeting of the Executive of CDC on 15 May when he anticipates that a proposal to extend the free travel scheme on all routes between Cherwell and adjoining districts will be approved. This might further impact on the shoppers’ bus. The service was originally set up for elderly villagers to get into Banbury, but has extended over time to encompass young mothers and children. It was agreed that the service cannot continue if parishioners are deserting it to make use of the concessionary scheme. After discussion it was agreed to report the situation in the next Newsletter and encourage parishioners to “use it or lose it”. The position will be re-evaluated at the August meeting. Cllr Fry also informed the meeting that, as he expects to move away from the village shortly, it will be necessary to find somebody to collect the fares and this will also be mentioned in the Newsletter.

19Correspondence

(i) OCC – Highways – Funding for Transport Schemes – lack of government funding suggests that priority will be given to the urban areas. Clerk to draft a response;
(ii) CDC - Cherwell Site Allocations – response to our submission following last month’s meeting;
(iii) CDC – Revised Calendar of Meetings 2006/7;
(iv) CDC – Environment Forum – Water – Forum to take place at Bodicote House on 23 May at 7pm;
(v) Office of Deputy Prime Minister – Local Authority Byelaws – Discussion Paper;
(vi) CDC – Legal Services – charging rate for using CDC’s legal team £74 + VAT per hour;
(vii) West Oxfordshire District Council – Draft Statement of Community Involvement.

20To invite Questions and Comments from members of the Public

One resident attending expressed her support for the shoppers’ bus, which she regarded as a lifeline. The Chairman expressed thanks for her views but pointed out that the PC has to be able to justify the operating costs to the majority of council tax payers. However he stressed that it is not the wish of the PC to see the service fold.

21Date and Time of Next Meeting

Thursday 8 June 2006 at 7.30pm

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the public meeting at 9.15pm