WEST HAGBOURNE PARISH COUNCIL                                                         MINUTES

 

Meeting in Hagbourne Primary School                                                 8th September 2005

East Hagbourne

 

 

Present: Phil Taylor, Marion Judd, Sue Totterdell

 

Apologies:  Bernard Mead, Keith Little

 

Public:  Mary Wiley, Eleanor Bowey

 

Cllr Patrick Greene attended for part of the meeting

 

 

Open Forum

 

1          Mary Wiley confirmed the History Group will make a contribution towards the new map board equivalent to the cost of the cheapest board quoted for.

 

2          Eleanor Bowey was concerned that now the dogs have been vacated from Thatch Cottage there is a nuisance of rats. She reported that dog ‘waste’ had been thrown in the ditch.

 

3          Keep Hagbourne Rural.  East & West Hagbourne Society agree with the sentiment of the campaign but feel they are not the right group to lead it.  Phil Taylor hoped that something could come out of the Parish Plan.  Maybe a lobby group (4 or 5 people) could be formed to increase the voice of West Hagbourne.  There is certainly wide support in the village for a bypass.

 

4          Sue Totterdell talked about the village plan ‘drop-in’ meetings planned at Hagbourne and Upton village halls.  She is trying to get plenty of representatives of village and appropriate outside organisations to be in attendance.  MP will also be invited.

 

5          Eleanor Bowey was concerned about condition of road through the village, but Phil Taylor thought it was now much improved.  Eleanor Bowey wants a one-way system in the village using York Road, but councillors present were not in favour.

 

6          Cllr Patrick Greene later reported that construction of the cinema in Didcot would commence at end of year. 

Plans have been approved for the arts centre.  Official opening of Orchard Centre would not take place until construction was complete. 

A traffic calming assessment was carried out outside Horse and Harrow on 6 July 2005 but results show no need for traffic calming measures.  (NB The Parish Council was unaware of this assessment and questioned the results).

The County Structure Plan was about to be adopted by the County Council.

The County Council will be carrying out a consultation on behalf of SEERA about the proposals for additional housing in the county after 2016.

Energy from waste.  Combined heat and power (incineration) is one of the County Council’s favoured options for refuse disposal. 

 


The Council meeting opened at 8.20pm

 

1.         Minutes of meeting on 14th July 2005

 

            An error in a reported item of expenditure was corrected.  The minutes were then passed as a true and correct record.

 

2          Matters arising

 

            The self watering system in the village garden had been turned off by person unknown.  It has now been reprogrammed to operate at midnight.

 

3          Planning applications

 

a)         Thatch Cottage.  Planning application P04/W0418/RET has been withdrawn.

 

b)         Land adjacent to Ash Farm – Phil Taylor withdrew from the discussion as he had a declared interest in the planning application.  Amended plans and elevations were considered and neither of the two eligible members present had any objection.  Keith Little and Bernard Mead had previously indicated that they were unlikely to have any objection.  However no formal decision could be made as there was not a quorum.  SODC would be advised accordingly.

 

4          Village maintenance

 

Land adjacent to Horse & Harrow

Phil Taylor has written to solicitors to Greene King to find out if offer of sale was still open and if ‘no development’ stipulation would rule out a village hall.  They have confirmed they are prepared to convey land to Parish Council for a ‘nominal sum’ and would have no objection to a village hall.

 

5          New village notice board and map

 

            A decision was taken to purchase a new map board in oak from Greenbarnes with plain engraved wording WEST HAGBOURNE.

 

6          Green waste collection in village

 

a)         Chilton Waste

Phil Taylor has arranged a skip to be provided by Chilton Waste on Saturday 10 September for two hours at a cost of £129.25.

 

b)         SODC waste collection

            The Clerk was asked to check with SODC about obtaining a stock of garden waste bags for sale to the public on behalf of SODC.

 

7          Parish Plan

 

a)         Sue Totterdell reported that village halls in East Hagbourne and Upton have been booked for ‘drop-in’ meetings.  Local organisations have been invited.

 

b)         It was agreed that £144 would be made available for the Parish Plan.

 


8          Traffic update

 

            The Parish Council will need to find out more about the traffic calming assessment carried out on 6 July (see open forum) as the results were surprising.

 

9          Storage of archives

 

It was decided to pay up to £10 per month to the former Clerk, Ruth Webb, in accordance with her request starting in October.  NB It was thought Ruth Webb is only asking for a nominal £5 per month in which case she will be paid the lower figure and she has indicated this is a limited facility.  This will be reviewed for next financial year.

 

10        Finance

 

Cheques raised:

           

Isis Accord June grass cut £155 56, Richard Evans gardens by bus stop £180.00, Ruth Webb allowance £360.00, BDO Stoy Hayward audit fee, Isis Accord July grass cut £155 56, Allowance & stationery £16.82.

 

New internal auditor to be sought.

 

11        Communication

 

a)         Newsletter

            Next issue before Parish Plan meetings

 

b)         Website

            Nothing discussed

 

c)         Correspondence

            SODC are arranging a public meeting about Conservation Area Character Appraisal management plan (telephone conversation)

            SODC consultation on concessionary fares (to be circulated)

 

d)         Parish Magazine

            Nothing discussed

 

 

12        Other business

 

            Phil Taylor to write to Vale of White Horse Council asking for Parish Council to be consulted on planning applications in Harwell (especially at AERA site) and Upton that are likely to affect traffic through West Hagbourne.

 

 

Date of next meeting – 10th November 2005 at 7.30pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairman………………………………………   date…………………………………..