Cllr. Lynam-Smith reported that Mr. Gordon Hunt, OCC Water & Drainage Engineer, had arranged for some of the major holes to be repaired but it was agreed that most roads in the Parish remain in a poor state and require attention.

Action: Clerk to write to Mr. Brian Short, OCC Area Engineer and point out that in many places pot holes constitute a danger to road users.

Page 188 Flooding Maps

Cllrs. Lynam-Smith and Belcher will arrange for interested residents to receive copies of relevant maps.

Page 188 Storage Container at 31. Sunningwell

The large container in the front of this property has now been replaced by a smaller one and it has been established that the owner is within his rights to retain it until such time as the renovation work on his property has been completed.

Page 188 The South East Plan

The Parish Council’s response, drafted by Cllr. Nichol, has now been submitted.

193

Members were surprised that there has been no reaction to the Oxford Times report of a firm of Government appointed Consultants who have undermined SEERA by recommending much more extensive housing for the South East. Cllr. Macdonald will raise this issue at the next SPADE meeting and establish whether some form of protest should be considered against this attack on the democratic process.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE OF VICE CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL

Following Cllr. Macdonald’s appointment, in her absence, as Vice Chair of the Council at the last meeting, she signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office which was witnessed by the Clerk.

6. CO-OPTION TO THE COUNCIL

It was unanimously agreed to co-opt Mrs Elizabeth Bennett to fill the current vacancy on the Council. She signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office which was witnessed by the Clerk.

7. THE PARISH PLAN

The Chairman said he would bring this item forward on the agenda to enable Mr. Duncan Graham, a resident of Bayworth, to present his ideas to the Council. Mr. Graham said that he was aware of the concept of a Parish Plan and had learned from Cllr. Macdonald that recent attempts to get this process underway in Sunningwell had floundered through lack of interest on the part of residents. He told members that there are a number of small initiatives taking place in Bayworth that would fit into a Parish Plan but he has now become aware of the geographical extent of the Parish which would clearly mean any attempts to produce a full Plan would be a big enterprise. Mr. Graham has arranged a meeting on the 16^th July for the residents of Bayworth which should indicate the level of interest in working together as a community and if this is successful then he hopes this might be the first move towards re-instating the Parish Plan Group.

Cllr. Nichol said that on the previous attempt, mainly Councillors and one or two committed residents had been doing the work – a situation that is clearly opposed to the Parish Plan concept. Cllr. Macdonald said that between 9 and 12 residents need to be fully committed for the process to work and in Sunningwell there had only been 3 people apart from Council members. The Chairman commended Mr. Graham for his desire to do something for Bayworth and said improvements for the neighbourhood could result from this without necessarily attempting to undertake a formal Parish Plan. Cllr. Nichol advised him to begin on this smaller scale and wait to see if the idea grows to encompass the whole Parish. It was agreed that the fact that the Bayworth Triangle Association already exists would help this latest initiative to get underway and that the South Hinksey Parish Plan developed from the Friends of South Hinksey Group.

Mr. Graham said that he will keep the Parish Council informed of the progress of the Bayworth initiative and the Chairman thanked him for attending this Council meeting.

194

8. FINANCE

a) Finance Sub-Committee Report

Cllr. Nichol said that the Sub-Committee had met earlier in the day to discuss the following items –

(i) appointment of litter picker – there had been just one response to the notice placed in the Sunningwell Scene – this from a 16year old girl – and there were a number of issues to be decided before a formal appointment can be made. The Clerk has sought advice from the OALC on any implications for the Council regarding this appointment and a reply is still outstanding. The application for a grant from Vale D.C. to help towards salary expenses is still to be heard. Members agreed unanimously that an appointment should be made, providing that the Vale D.C. grant is made available, and that it should be for a 3 month trial period initially. It was also agreed that a named Parish Councillor should supervise the progress of the work and Cllr. Bennett offered to undertake this task. Cllr. Nichol said he would provide a list of the duties of the Supervisor. Members agreed that a Contract will need to be drawn up specifying what type of litter is to be collected and what should be left for the Vale D.C. to move and that any work should be undertaken during daylight hours only. It was also acknowledged that whilst equipment has been supplied by Vale D.C. (jacket, gloves & litter picking sticks), it might become necessary to provide a trolley in the future.

(ii) notice board for Boars Hill – correspondence between Cllr. Ward and the Chairman of the Boars Hill Association had indicated that a Parish Council notice board would be a good idea but a site has still to be decided and negotiated with the landowner. Cllr. Ward said that she will make further enquiries about this.

(iii) future maintenance of Play Area – it was agreed that future Budgets will need to include an amount set aside for this purpose and that quotes will have to be considered to insure the refurbished equipment. Whilst the annual inspection is carried out by RoSPA it was recommended that more regular inspections are undertaken informally by Council members,

Action: Clerk to a) obtain insurance quotes based upon equipment values supplied by Cllr. Belcher and b) circulate inspection guidelines to members

(iv) Summer Fete – it was agreed that a donation of £100 be made towards the costs of the Fete arranged for the 5^th August.

b) Payment of Accounts

The following account had been paid between meetings

Cheque	Payee	Purpose	Amount	VAT
039	Windows 4U	Village Hall repairs	£1961.25p	£389.47

It was agreed unanimously to accept the following accounts for payment

195

Cheque	Payee	Purpose	Amount	VAT
040	Pat Romans	Clerk’s Salary/Expenses	£1302.90p
041	St. Helen Without PC	Photocopying	£17.43p
042	VHMC	Hire of Hall	£36.40p
043	Bayworth Chapel	Hire of room	£15.00p
044	Oxford Parchment Ltd	Printing Sunningwell Scene	£242.87p
045	Zurich Municipal	Insurance tax	£10.05p
046	John P. McCaffrey	Pond Clearance	£528.75p
047	Mrs May Hall	Sunningwell Fete expenses	£100.00p
048	Cllr. Lynam-Smith	Expenses	£10.29p

10. PLANNING

a) Application dealt with between meetings

SUN/17527/1 1, Beaulieu Court, Pen Lane, Sunningwell

Erection of a hardwood conservatory No objections

b) Warnborough Site – Richmond Villages Consultation

Cllr. Nichol said that the recent two day exhibition held in the Village Hall had been well attended and a lot of effort had been made by the representatives from Richmond Villages to persuade residents that this proposal for a Care Village would be good for the community.

Cllr. Ward pointed out that there are many issues to be considered about this proposal to accommodate probably well over 100 people (numbers were not specified) on this site within the Green Belt (described in the developers’ literature as a Brown Field Site).The idea of reducing the scale of the proposed development had been raised during the consultation discussion and the representatives had promised to go away and think about that. To have any chance of an application being successful the developers are going to have to prove very exceptional circumstances and Cllr. Ward feels there is little chance of them being able to over ride the current Green Belt policy. She pointed out that this will be a debate between the provision of required care accommodation and the protection of the Green Belt. With the proposed care likely to be very expensive, her priority will be to protect the Green Belt. Cllr. Macdonald was concerned that permission could create a precedent and there are many properties on Boars Hill with sufficient ground for further building.

Cllr. Nichol said that the site had been an eyesore for Boars Hill residents for a long time now and wondered what would happen about this if permission is refused. Cllr. Ward said that there was another company willing to buy the site in order to use the existing permission. Cllr. Nichol reminded members that once an application is submitted, it will be necessary for the Parish Council to consider all the implications in a totally objective way but so far the developers have approached Vale D.C. Officers informally about these proposals.

196

Cllr. Macdonald will mention the issue at the next meeting of OGBN and Cllr. Ward said that a similar proposal for Letcombe Regis (although this concerns an area of outstanding natural beauty rather than Green Belt land) is being considered by the Vale D.C. Development Committee next week.

c) Foxcombe Hill Farm

Cllr. Ward reported that Vale D.C. Enforcement Officers had so far failed to visit this site, which has disappointed her, but the intention is for them to look into the situation in the very near future.

10. MATTERS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

a) Bonfires

Cllr. Belcher referring to an article in the Sunningwell Scene written by someone adversely affected by the lighting of bonfires, said that he knows of several residents in Long Furlong Road who are being upset by them too. He would like the Parish Council to remind residents of the necessity to keep the welfare of their neighbours in mind if they are lighting fires on a regular basis. Members said that they understood current regulations allow for the lighting of bonfires at any time of day as long as this is not a regular occurrence. Cllr. Nichol said he will include an appeal in his next letter to the Sunningwell Scene and it was agreed that ‘bonfires’, ‘fireworks’ and ‘clearing ditches’ all call for regular reminders to residents.

b) HGV Warning Signs

Cllr. Nichol reported that following his correspondence with County Clr. David Robertson, he has now discussed the possible provision of these signs with Mr. Peter Ronald, OCC Area Traffic Engineer. Mr. Ronald pointed out that numerous Parishes in the County are requesting signs stating that their roads are unsuitable for HGVs and he will only consider providing these signs where roads are extremely narrow and where it is necessary to negotiate acute bends ie potential accident blackspots. However he agreed to send a member of staff to assess the situation in Sunningwell.

Cllr. Lynam-Smith said that the case for signs in the Parish is more obvious with the movement of traffic that the AbITS alterations in Abingdon are going to shortly create.

Action: Cllr. Nichol to send full details of what is wanted and why to Mr. Ronald.

c) Registration of Land

Cllr. Lynam-Smith said that she considered the delay over this process to be unacceptable and she was also concerned about the original documents she had left with the solicitor

Action: Cllr. Nichol to discuss the situation with Mr. David Hodson

197

11. CORRESPONDENCE

The following correspondence has been received since the last meeting

11.1 OCC Temporary road closure – Bayworth Lane

11.2 Temporary road closure – Sunningwell Road

11.3 Meetings with Towns & Parishes (Cllrs. Macdonald & Lynam-

Smith)

11.4 Local Transport Plan – information standards (Cllr. Ward)

11.5 Home2School Newsletter – Summer 2006

11.6 CAG – Waste Management Newsletter (Cllr. Macdonald)

11.7 RoSPA Play Area Inspection (Cllr. Belcher)

11.8 OGBN Newsletter – May 2006 (Cllr. Ward)

11.9 Open Spaces Magazine – Summer 2006 (Cllr. Macdonald)

11.10 Sunningwell School of Art - parking issues (Clerk for next agenda)

11.11 OCC Scrutiny Annual Report 2005/2006

11.12 May Drought Report

11.13 Newsletter – June 2006

11.14 Vale DC Meeting of Council & Committees

11.15 Course for Voluntary & Community Groups

11.16 VHMC Confirmation of final payment for repairs

11.17 OALC AGM 27^th June 2006

11.18 CAB AGM 29^th June 2006

11.19 Oxford Inspires Special Events Forum (Cllr. Woodward)

11.20 Primary Care Trust – Public Board Meeting – 22^nd June 2006

11.21 Summer Holiday Performing Arts Club – poster for display

11.22 Oxford Sustainability & Conservation Awards

11.23 Oxford City Primary Care Trust Meeting 29^th June

11.24 CPRE Oxford & its countryside in question debate 30^th June (Cllr. Bennett)

11.25 OCC Minerals & Waste Issues & Options Consultation Paper

(Cllr. Macdonald)

12. SUBCOMMITTEES/GROUPS

a) Flooding - Cllr. Lynam-Smith said that she has heard from Mr. Peter Dela, Vale D.C., that the pipe across the Cricket Field will be 9” rather then 6” in diameter. She was also able to report that Mrs Bowditch’s agent has given permission for a grid and holding basin to be installed which will aid drainage lost from The Quarry. Mr. Dela is also investigating the possibility of repairing the ditch around the northern perimeter of the village because if there are pipes there, they are not working. Cllr,. Lynam-Smith will submit a written update for the records in due course.

b) Poors Land Charity

Cllr. Lynam-Smith said that she has had to undertake the role of Acting Chair until the AGM in order for the Charity to be able to distribute bibles as usual to school leavers in the Parish. She had hoped to be able to advertise the work of the Charity by having some

198

space on the Parish Council stall at the forthcoming Fete but it was decided that the venue is not an appropriate one for Parish Council business.

c) Current membership of Sub-Committees

It was agreed to leave membership as reported in the last Minutes but to add Cllr. Macdonald as the representative on the OGBN Committee and Cllr. Bennett as the member responsible for Litter/Environment.

13. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

a) Cllr. Lynam-Smith reported that she had lost mail recently that she had posted at Bayworth and in Bagley Wood Road. Cllr. Bennett said the advice from Neighbourhood Watch is to constantly report concerns, however minor, as a way of getting something done.

b) Cllr. Macdonald said that the issue of light pollution had arisen during the recent Hedge Row Survey and it was agreed that this is an issue which the Vale D.C. Environmental Health Officers would be willing to investigate.

c) The issue of permanent car parking on the roads through the village was raised – a particular trouble spot being No. 31, Sunningwell where it is like negotiating a chicane It was agreed that this part of the village is unsafe because motorists are needing to reverse when meeting oncoming vehicles and residents drives have been blocked.

Action: Clerk to contact Community PC asking him to investigate the situation and attend the next Parish Council meeting to report his findings.

There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.55pm

Signed…………………………………….Date……………………………….

Chairman

Sunningwell Parish Council

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SUNNINGWELL PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 28TH JUNE 2006 AT BAYWORTH CHAPEL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SUNNINGWELL PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 28^TH JUNE 2006 AT BAYWORTH CHAPEL