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Sunningwell Parish Council
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SUNNINGWELL PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 25th JUNE 2008
Present: Cllrs E
Bennett, H Lynam-Smith, & J Russell. OCC Cllr B Johnston
In attendance: M W
Rothery (Clerk)
63/08 Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from
Cllrs T Foggin, D Graham and C Wise.
64/08 Declarations of Interests
Cllr Lynam-Smith declared a
personal and prejudicial interest in the surface water flooding project.
65/08 Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 28th
May 2008
The minutes were approved, and
signed by the Chairman.
66/08 Matters Arising from the Minutes
56/08 Parish Notice Board The Clerk reported that the delivery
period for the new notice board was 4/5 months. He had found a copy of the
parish logo on the files but it was of poor quality.
Action: It was agreed that Cllr Lynam-Smith would source new
professional quality artwork for the logo so that the logos on the three
existing could be replaced as offered by Harry Stebbings, and one provided
for the new notice board.
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56/08 Cricket Field The Clerk reported that a meeting with the
Church Wardens to discuss the proposed transfer of the cricket field to the
parish council had been arranged for Wednesday 30 July at 6.30pm in the church. The initial response of the church
wardens had been positive. The Clerk had spoken with Janis
Macknamara regarding the provision of a new burial ground. Ms
Macknamara had confirmed that the covenants on the cricket field precluded any
possibility of any part of the cricket field being used for this purpose; she
also confirmed that the parish council had a permissive power only to provide a
burial ground.
56/08 Dirty Water Flooding A copy of the questionnaire for
reporting sewer flooding incidents to Thames Water can now be accessed from the
parish website. Hard copies will also be distributed to selected properties in
the village, as it is important that Thames Water are continually informed
about sewer flooding problems. Action: Cllr Lynam-Smith
59/08 Draft policy on planning enforcement Cllr Lynam-Smith will
advise the Clerk of any comments that need to be submitted to VWHDC.
60/08 Roads The Clerk reported that a letter had been sent to OCC
Highways regarding the poor condition of the road through the villages. Cllrs
noted that some potholes had very recently been marked, possibly indicating
imminent repair.
60/08 Overhanging Trees It was apparent that much trimming had
recently been carried out, and was continuing. The progress would be monitored.
67/08 Flood Prevention Project
Cllrs Bennett & Lynam-Smith
had met with Peter Dela, the drainage engineer of VWHDC. Mr Dela confirmed that
VWHDC will take the project to sort out the canal basin and construct two
holding walls, subject to a contribution from the parish. The project will also
include replacing the stream culverts with larger ones to increase flow
capacity. Mr Dela will discuss the
problem of excessive surface water in Bayworth with Gordon Hunt of OCC
Highways.
Action: Clerk to inform the contractors
who quoted for the works.
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68/08 Thames Water’s
Draft Water Resources Management Plan 2010-2035
The draft plan was discussed. It
was noted that the view of VWHDC is that the plan does not demonstrate either
the need for the proposed new reservoir of the size planned, or its proposed
location. It was considered that Thames
Water’s plan for reducing leakage was not ambitious enough; it failed to
reflect the increasing cost of energy and long-term scarcity of water, which
would significantly change the balance of economic advantage towards more
spending on mains renewal, particularly in London.
It was considered also that the company was financially advantaged by adding to
its asset base to which the prices charged to customers is linked. It was
understood also additional water resources are available to London
from the rapidly rising water table in the city, and that more should be done
to take advantage of this.
Members felt that the reservoir
would be huge and visually intrusive to the villages, and that Thames Water’s
plan failed to assess the risks to the local micro-climate and to the local
ecology.
Action: Clerk to prepare a draft response
based on the above comments
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69/08 Finance
(a) The following accounts were
approved for payment, and the cheques signed:
Cheque no.
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Payee
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Details
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Total
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VAT
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1150
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B Cross
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Litter Warden - June
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94.04
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1151
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OALC
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Training course 2/7/08 (T Foggin)
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47.00
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7.00
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1152*
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Hodsons Solicitors
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Interim Fees a/c (net)
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16.88
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280.00
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1153
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Harry Stebbing
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Notice Board
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1251.38
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186.38
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1154
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BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
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Audit Fee 2007/8 accounts
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334.88
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49.88
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1154
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Nuffield Press
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Sunningwell Scene
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300.00
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(* cheque 1152 to be released only on receipt of further
information from Hodsons)
(b) The Clerk reported that BDO
Stoy Hayward had completed the external audit of the accounts for the year
ended 31 March 2008,
without comment. It was resolved to approve and accept the Annual Return. The
council was now required to display the formal notice of completion of the
audit and the availability of the Annual Return for inspection.
70/08 Planning
The following planning decisions
by VWHDC were noted:
SUN/KEN/20499 Construction of
ménage etc, on land adjacent to The Knoll House and Oakridge, Foxcombe Road,
Boars Hill PERMITTED
SUN/6450/2 New Boundary Wall,
Oakridge, Copse Lane, Boars Hill REFUSED
71/08 Correspondence
The full list of correspondence
received had been circulated to councillors by e-mail.
Item 58 Community Safety Forum,
Wantage, 3 July 9.30am
Item 59 Youth Development Partner
Workshop, 9 July, 1.30, Abingdon
Item 60 Draft Vale Sustainable
Community Strategy 2008-2016, Cllr
Johnson advised that there were no implications for Sunningwell
Item 65 SE Regional
Sustainability Framework Cllr Johnson advised that there were no
implications for Sunningwell
Item 66 Review of sub regional
allocation of primary land-won aggregates in the south east Cllr Johnson advised that there were no
implications for Sunningwell
Item 69 VWHDC Chairman Alison
Rooke wants to visit a parish event To
be invited to the Sunningwell Fete on Saturday 2 August
Item 70 TV Police, special event
for town and parish councils on policing issues, Oxford
Belfry, 21 July, 5.30 for 6
72/08 Other Business
The Clerk was asked to
investigate the possibility of putting the village footpath map on the website.
73/08 Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on
Wednesday 30 July at 7.30pm in
Sunningwell Village Hall.
74/08 Village
Hall Car Park
The council resolved to exclude
the public for the rest of the meeting, due to the confidential nature of the
business to be discussed.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.05pm.
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