WEST HAGBOURNE PARISH COUNCIL                                                          MINUTES

 

 

Meeting in Hagbourne Primary School                                                             12th July 2007

East Hagbourne

 

 

Present:  Phil Taylor, Marion Judd, Sue Totterdell, John Thornhill, Tom Barker

 

 

There were no members of the public present.

 

 

1.         Minutes of meeting on 10th May 2007

 

            The Council passed the minutes as a true and correct record.

 

2.         Matters arising

 

            There were no matters arising

 

3          Annual Return

 

a)         The Council accepted the reports of the internal auditor.

 

b)         The Council approved the Statement of accounts and the Annual governance statement included in the Annual Return.

 

4          Land opposite Horse and Harrow

 

Phil Taylor has made an offer (by email) to Greene King for the purchase of the land but there has been no response.  The Council will now write to Greene King formally to repeat the offer to stimulate a response.

 

a)         The Council decided to compile a database of funding sources for capital (i.e. building works) and for other projects.

 

b)         The Council decided to fund the cost of the site clearance and seeding out of the Council’s reserve unless an alternative source of funding becomes available (e.g. a grant).  In reaction to the unanimous views of the Parish Meeting.

 

            The Clerk was requested to ask Scion Estates to quote for strimming the weeded grass area and was authorised to spend up to £150 on the work.

 

c)         The Council decided to refer in future to any building constructed on the site as a ‘meeting room’.

 

5          Annual Parish Meeting

 

The amount of traffic through the village was an issue raised at the Annual Parish Meeting.  The Council decided to re-visit all means of reducing traffic.

 


6          Clerk’s Contract of Employment

 

a)         The Council approved the contract of employment for the post of Clerk to the Council and the specific contract of employment of the current Clerk.

 

b)         The Council decided to consider travel, mileage and subsistence expenses incurred by the Clerk in future ‘annual budgets’ to bring the budget in line with the Clerk’s contract of employment.

 

7          Traffic issues

 

a)         The Council decided to compile a list of all outstanding items of Highways maintenance in the parish and to keep drawing them to the attention of Oxfordshire Highways until the works are carried out.

 

b)         The Council requested the Clerk to request urgent repairs to the granite sett kerb in Main Street as the dislodged setts are a serious hazard.

 

c)         The Council decided to remind Patrick Greene about his promise to help the village get responsive speed warning signs at the approaches to the village and to maintain the condition of its potholes.

 

d)         The Council decided to formally invite the Police Community Support Officer to the next Council meeting.

 

8          Planning applications

 

a)         Listed building consent for the repair of timbers and wall panel on gable end of building and strengthening a beam at Wycherts, Main Street

 

            Tom Barker declared an interest and took no part in the discussion

 

            The Council considered the planning application should be approved and decided to advise SODC accordingly.

 

b)         New access to York Farm through existing gateway off Brook Lane

 

            The Council considered the planning application should be refused and decided to advise SODC that the Council’s views as expressed in its letter dated 26th June still apply, and the Council felt the use of the Byeway linking to the existing roadway would be a better solution.

 

9          Village maintenance

           

a)         Work to ditch in Moor Lane

 

Rowan Napper has advised that his charge for digging out the bottom of the ditch and clearing the remaining vegetation would be £250.  The Clerk was requested to request a formal quotation.  Mr Cocozza, the riparian owner, has agreed to contribute towards the cost of clearing the ditch and Phil Taylor will advise him of the likely total cost.

 

The Council authorised expenditure of up to £350, once the quotations have been received, to finance the cost of the work pending the contribution from the riparian owner.

 

The Council decided that due to the deteriorating condition of Moor Lane, any work beyond Enard Cottage could only be carried out with a grant.  The Village Appearance Group will be asked to investigate whether suitable grants are available, perhaps by designating the work as a nature project.

 

b)         Poor performance of the grass cutting contractor

 

The Clerk advised the Council that many of the areas were not cut in May and following a formal complaint the Council has not been invoiced for the work that was done.  The June cut was apparently only completed satisfactorily after a further formal complaint had been made.

 

The Council decided to continue to monitor the contractor’s performance closely and to pay for the June cut as invoiced.

 

c)         Footpaths around the village

 

The Chair referred to an email received recently from Michelle Lightfoot about overgrown footpaths and reported that many of the paths have now been cleared by the relevant owners.  Marion Judd has been required by Highways to clear the overhanging planting outside her property and the Clerk was requested to ask Michelle Lightfoot to cut back the vegetation between her hedge/fence and the pavement. The newsletter will be used to remind everybody of their responsibility to keep footpaths clear of hedges and overhanging plants.

 

10        Finance

 

a)         Monthly report on expenditure

 

The Council accepted and approved the attached monthly report.

 

b)         Cheques

 

            The Council approved the cheques drawn during May and June in accordance with the attached schedule.

 

            The cheques on the attached schedule were signed.

 

11        Communication

 

An anonymous letter received by the Clerk about speeding traffic was read out to the Council.  The letter identified some specific vehicles from within the village.

 

The Council was pleased to have had this drawn to its attention and decided to write to the households affected in Manor Close and York Road.  The Council also requested the Clerk to report the complaints to the Police and consult the Police Community Support Officer about what other action the Council should take.

 

12        Minutes of Annual General Meeting

 

            A spelling mistake in item 10(b) was corrected and the Council then passed the minutes as a true and correct record.

 

 

Meeting ended at 21.40pm

 

 

 

Date of next meeting – 13th September 2007 at 7.30pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

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