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Sunningwell Parish Council
DRAFT SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION AND APPROVAL BY THE NEXT PC MEETING
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SUNNINGWELL PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 28th OCTOBER 2009
Present: Cllrs E
Bennett (Chairman), D Graham, and J Russell. OCC Cllr Arash
Fatemian
In attendance: M W Rothery (Clerk)
107/09 Apologies for Absence
Cllrs T Foggin, H Lynam-Smith,
and C Wise.
108/09 OCC Councillor
Cllr Fatemian reported that the
repair of potholes was ongoing and asked that new ones be reported to him as
quickly as possible. He proposed to hold a surgery at Sunningwell Village Hall
on the second Saturday of each month, starting 14 November, at 4pm. OCC decided at the EGM in August
to hold theme debates on issues affecting Oxfordshire people. Members will be
able to ask questions of the Cabinet. Some changes in the responsibilities of
the Leader have been agreed. The council is likely to appeal the refusal of the
planning authorities to approve the proposed incinerators.
109/09 Public Forum
Mr Tim Law, who lives at The
Coach House at Bayworth Manor, asked the parish council to support his campaign
for a 30 mph limit on the road from his property to the nearby crossroads.
Notwithstanding that most of this length of road is in Radley parish, Members
agreed to write to OCC supporting this proposal.
110/09 Minutes of the parish council meeting held on 23rd September 2009
The Minutes of the meeting held
on 23rd September
2009 were approved, and signed by the Chairman.
111/09 Matters Arising from the Minutes
Minute 95/09 Flood Alleviation Scheme Peter
Dela of VWHDC had asked the parish council to approve a
proposal by Miss Bowditch’s agent to increase the diameter of the orifice to
the entry of the culvert from 400mm to 600mm; this would lower the designed
flow reduction from 80% to 50%. Members present felt that a 50% reduction in
flow would still be very significant and that unless Cllr Wise advised
otherwise, the council should agree to this.
Action: Clerk to ask Cllr Wise for his
comments, and respond to Peter Dela
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Minute 96/09 Sunningwell Flood Committee Bob
Nichol has confirmed that he had submitted the grant
application in respect of the additional projects.
Minute 101/09 Transport Needs Survey The questionnaire will have to
be distributed separately from the Sunningwell Scene in view of the deadline of
4 January 2010 set
by OCC for comments to be submitted on the review of subsidised bus services. Distribution
arrangements by councillors and the Clerk were agreed.
Minute 102/09 Redundant Red Telephone Box The Clerk reported that
he had been in discussions with BT, the planning authority and the electricity
company regarding the proposed adoption of the telephone kiosk outside Church
Farm in Sunningwell. The planning officer wanted to know what the kiosk would
be used for; BT had been unable to provide any information on likely power
consumption; however the need for power in the kiosk were it to be adopted was
doubted. Members agreed that in order to preserve this item of historic street
furniture, an application to adopt the kiosk but without electricity, should
now be submitted to BT. On adoption the plan was to seal up the door to prevent
vandalism.
Action: Clerk to
make formal application to adopt the kiosk without power.
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112/09 Land Surrounding the Village Pond
The Chairman reported that she
had received the result a search enquiry from the Land Registry. It was agreed
that this be discussed at the next meeting when Cllr Lynam-Smith was expected
to be present.
113/09 Land at the Cricket Field
Cllr Graham reported receipt of
an e-mail from Church Warden, Bob Evans. The PCC had been unable so far to
locate the original conveyance although they had copies. The PCC had been
advised that it was not legally possible for the Diocese to become involved but
that an application to the Land Registry to register the field with the PCC
could be made without any guarantee of success. The PCC had asked the parish
council to consider funding this application at a cost of £250 + VAT in legal
fees plus £50 for the registry fee. Members agreed that this would be a once
and for all opportunity to resolve the title issue, and agreed to advise the
PCC that it would fund the stated costs involved.
114/09 Children’s Playground
Cllr Russell reported that Geoff
Cross had repaired the footings to the swings so that the concrete base no
longer posed a risk to users. Mr Cross had also undertaken to source and spread
some additional bark chippings to improve the safety of the surface.
Cllr Russell reported also that
she had spoken with Sarah Twinn, who was obtaining some information from the
Clerk of Appleton parish council on their experience. Cllrs Bennett and
Russsell had recently attended a meeting of the Oxfordshire Playing Fields
Association and obtained much useful information about sources of funding and procedure.
115/09 Finance
(a) It was resolved to approve
the following payments:
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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1212
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B Cross
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Litter Warden (Oct, &
exp Jul/Sep)
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129.36
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1213
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John P McCaffrey
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Clearing out village pond
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525.00
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(b) The Clerk reported that the second half precept of £8,120 had been
received on 14 October.
(c ) It was agreed to convene a
meeting of the Finance Sub-Committee on Monday 23rd November, provisionally at
Sunningwell House, but to be confirmed on Cllr Lynam-Smith’s return from
holiday.
116/09 Planning
(a) The following applications had
only very recently been received with deadline for comments of 15 November :
SUN/21008 Demolition of existing
bungalow. Erection of four bedroomed
detached chalet bungalow. 10 Long Furlong Road, Sunningwell
SUN/21015 Proposed loft
conversion to form 2 bedrooms and bathroom. 3A Brumcombe Lane, Bayworth
Cllrs Bennett and Graham agreed
to visit the site within the next two weeks, and advise the Clerk of the
comments to be submitted, after consultation as necessary with other members.
(b) Consultation on the referral of planning applications to Development
Control Committee
The proposal by VWHDC to change
the current scheme of delegation so that planning officers would be able to
reduce further the number of minor planning applications being referred to the
Development Committee was discussed. Members strongly objected to these
proposals as in their view they will not achieve one of the stated objectives,
namely retaining democratic accountability. They were also sceptical that the
savings, being marginal, will be achieved as it equates to only about 25% of
the cost of a full time employee.
Members took the view that the
examination of planning applications is one of their more important functions.
It enables the collective view of the local community, who would be affected by
any development, to be made and presumably heard in a formal manner. This is an
important democratic function which the council feels would be lost under the
Vale’s proposal. Members feel this could be the thin end of the wedge in that
future developments could well see parish councils excluded completely from the
planning process.
Members were concerned that
planning officers may simply ignore, without due accountability, the pertinent views of the parish council in
their drive to become more cost-effective and meet government targets.
Action: Clerk to submit the parish
council’s comments on this proposal
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117/09 Correspondence
The full list of correspondence
has been circulated to members by e-mail.
118/09 Next Meeting25th November,
2009 in Sunningwell Village Hall.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.10pm
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