Hook Norton Parish Council

HOOK NORTON PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF HOOK NORTON PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT THE MEMORIAL
HALL ON THURSDAY 4th SEPTEMBER 2003 AT 7.45pm

Present: Councillors: Williams [Chairman], Clay, Cooke, Hayward, Housby, Millar, Terry, Withey and Young together with District Councillor Gasson, Mr Porter [Parish Clerk] and twelve members of the public.

1 Apologies For Absence

Were received from Cllrs Fry [holiday] and Jelf.

2 Chairman’s Announcements

Cllr Williams reminded members that the clerk is to be on holiday for three weeks and that Cllr Fry is also on holiday until 20th September. However Cllr Fry will be preparing the agenda for the next meeting and items to be included, together with committee minutes, should be sent to him.

3 Minutes of previous meeting, 7th August 2003, and matters arising

Cllr Cooke asked the clerk whether he had spoken with CDC to obtain advice on promoting a new byelaw for the Recreation Area. Mr Porter informed the meeting that he had spoken to officers at CDC on several occasions and had eventually been pointed in the direction of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He had contacted that Department and just received some guidance notes which he would pass on to Cllr Cooke. The minutes of the previous meeting were then agreed as a true and accurate record, proposed by Cllr Withey, seconded by Cllr Terry and passed unanimously.

4. Declarations of Interest

None

5 Report by Planning Co-ordinator on planning applications received

The Chairman referred to a letter received from Mrs G M White regarding an application she has made to replace an extension. The Parish Council had objected and had sent its response within the 21-day time limit. As such it is not in a position to change its reply and Mrs White should make her representations to the Planning Department at CDC. Cllr Millar briefly referred to applications currently outstanding [see attached schedule] and informed the meeting that no objections had been raised to those from C E Moore, Mrs Lucy Sealey, and Mr and Mrs Stubbington. There was a brief discussion on new applications by Mrs Geis and L S Stirling, on which there were no objections, but it was decided that it would be necessary to have a planning meeting to discuss an application by Mr and Mrs Lloyd for the erection of a house with detached carport and new access.

6 To invite members of the public to comment on planning applications

There were two questions from the members of the public on the Moore application and Cllr Millar explained that this appeared to be luxury residential development and that any suggestion that it would be for commercial use would require a separate application.

7 Report of Committees

Finance Committee – Cllr Clay referred to his report and a supplementary which he had raised after Cllr Jelf had reminded the PC that it is committed to sharing the cost of the new gates at the entrances to the village to the extent of £1600. £500 of this will come from the residue of the Jubilee grant from CDC but the PC is within budget as the projected cost of the repainting of the Memorial Hall has come from MH funds. Recreation Committee – Cllr Cooke reported that the original quote from Trevor Stewart for the repairs was £2897 but she had been able to negotiate a reduction of a further £75 so the work will now cost £2822 and has commenced.

Environment and Open Spaces Committee
Cllr Hayward referred to the minutes of the committee [attached] and reported that they had held a most constructive meeting with Mr Bickley who has the grass-cutting contract. He also mentioned that the clerk had received a further call from Mrs Ives about the headstone on the grave of Mr and Mrs Wyatt which should have been laid flat. It was agreed that members of the PC would deal with this immediately. Mr Hayward also stated that he had received some photographs from Chris Hobbs, who will deal with re-laying part of the dry-stone wall at the cemetery and that they are available for councillors to look at.

8 Schedule of Receipts and Payments for Authorisation by the Council

Mr Porter presented the attached schedules of receipts and payments, including a supplementary list of payments. Cllr Cooke was not prepared to accept a payment of £20 to Mr Marshall until she was satisfied that it had been authorised prior to 17th July. Cllr Withey proposed that the schedules be accepted with the exception of this item which could be discussed under Item 19 of the Agenda. This was seconded by Cllr Young and passed unanimously.

9 Hook Norton War Memorial Hall

There had been no meeting in the past month and, in the absence of Cllr Fry, there was nothing to report.

10 Norman Matthews Community Hall

The Chairman provided minutes of a meeting held on 26th August and was able to report that OCC have eventually committed themselves to providing a doorway from the library to the hall. It has been agreed to launch an appeal on Saturday 18th October for funds to buy equipment so that the whole community may use the Hall.

11 Report on District Council Matters

Cllr Gasson reported that the only issue relates to the new Recycling Scheme which has now been underway in the village for 4 weeks. To date it has gone reasonably well and he has received a lot of comments both for and against. As anticipated the main concern remains the fortnightly emptying of the green bins. There has been a massive demand for blue wheelie bins and CDC has run out of stock. Already the results are showing a very significant increase in recyclable waste, which is encouraging.

12 Report on County Council Matters

In the absence of Cllr Jelf there was nothing to report this month.

13 Sports and Social Club

In the absence of Cllr Fry Cllr Millar reported that Cllr Fry had noted a comment in the minutes of the Design Team to the effect that a grant release of £27K had a caveat “in partnership with Parish Council”. Cllr Fry had been in contact with Rebecca Watts of the Design Team to seek clarification of this comment, as the PC knows nothing of any partnership. Cllr Fry had also spoken with CDC pointing out that this seemed at odds with the fact that the PC had objected to the latest proposals. CDC was unable to comment. It was difficult to take this matter forward due to a lack of information and Cllr Hayward proposed that further enquiries should be made of CDC. This was agreed and the Chairman will write to CDC.

14 Ironstone Hollow Landscape Barrier

The clerk referred to the letter of 6 August from Mr Everitt, representing the residents concerned, fundamentally disagreeing with the valuation received from Anker & Partners and offering £10,000 for the area to be purchased. The clerk referred to the note in the February minutes which stated that he had taken advice and that “the land must be sold for value”. As such the PC declined to accept the residents’ counter-offer. Cllr Housby proposed that, if the residents are prepared to fund a further two valuations, and if these fundamentally differ from Ankers’ valuation, the position will be reviewed. This was seconded by Cllr Clay and passed unanimously.
Discussion then passed to the future use of the barrier area if the purchase did not proceed. However it was felt to be premature to discuss this until the sale position has been resolved. Cllr Hayward reminded the PC that other residents, Mr and Mrs Summerell, of 18 Ironstone Hollow, have also expressed a wish to purchase a part of the barrier and it was felt they should liaise with the owners of 14-17 in order to defer costs.

15 Development at The Maltings, Sibford Road

The clerk had written to CDC about the unsightly steps leading from houses at The Maltings and their reply, together with a copy of a letter from OCC to Ambrosden Court asking for removal of the steps, has been circulated. Cllr Millar wondered if there had been any further development and asked the clerk to send a chaser.

16 Correspondence

(a) Letter from Banbury Town Council inviting members to attend a training seminar on “Declaring Interests”.
(b) Reply from BT informing PC that notwithstanding its representations they still intend to remove the payphone on Southrop Road as usage is less than 5% of what they normally expect from a public payphone. An application for another payphone in the area of The Bourne was also rejected on the basis that usage of payphones in Hook Norton is exceptionally low.
(c) Letter from CDC seeking response on key priorities identified by Public Health Resource Unit. It was generally felt that those priorities identified were self-obvious and the exercise seemed pointless.

18 Questions and Comments from Members of the Public

One resident questioned whether the only payphone to be removed was that in Swerford Road and the clerk assured him that was the case. Another parishioner expressed the view that the Ironstone Hollow Landscape Barrier is a barrier and not amenity land for public use. Barbara Hicks mentioned that the contractors have just tidied the grass verges at the entrance to the village, which has left a great deal of litter exposed.

19 Date and Time of Next Meeting

Thursday 2nd October 2003 at 7.30pm.

There being no further business the Chairman thanked the members of the public for attending and closed the meeting at 9.20pm, whereupon the Council considered a Confidential item in closed session.