3. Acceptances of Office
This was the first meeting of the Parish Council following the (uncontested) election on 6 May. The Councillors present each signed a formal Acceptance of Office form.
The Parish Council agreed that John Ordish, who was absent from the meeting, could sign an Acceptance of Office form at the meeting on 3 June.
4. Annual Meeting
a) Election of Chairman
John Little was unanimously elected to act as Chairman until May 2011.
b) Vice Chairman
Roy Williams was unanimously elected to act as Vice Chairman until May 2011.
c) Representative on the School Governing Body
Both John Little and Roy Williams are Governors for Aston & Cote Primary School.
d) Transport Representative
Roy Williams agreed to continue in this role.
e) Community Trust Representative
As John Ordish is continuing in his unrelated role as Community Trust Secretary it was decided not to appoint a separate Community Trust Representative.
5. Minutes of previous meeting – 1 April 2010 - previously circulated to all members were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. Proposed by Bob Jones, seconded by Roy Williams.
6. Parish Councillors - Disclosure of interests on agenda items
None.
7. Open session for public debate
At Jane West’s request it was agreed that the Clerk would contact the Planning Enforcement officers at West Oxfordshire District Council to ask about the progress on the enforcement action initiated at Chimney Farm Barns.
It was reported that John Ordish has spoken to John Pilling about the problem of cluster flies at the Parish Council office. Mr Pilling has agreed to liaise with Graham Sparrowhawk in order to assess the problem. Jane West informed the Parish Council that there had been an item about cluster flies in a recent edition of The Telegraph in which it was said that installing a low energy light bulb in attic spaces can help. Jane West agreed to send a copy of the article to the Clerk.
The dog bins around the parish appear to be getting quite full between collections. It was noted that they are emptied weekly. It was agreed that this issue would be kept under review.
8. OCC/WODC items
Charles Mathew, the County Councillor had offered his apologies for the meeting.
Hilary Fenton told the Parish Council that the next Planning Committee meetings at the District Council will be the first where members of the public will be entitled to speak.
9. Matters Arising from Previous Meetings
a) Cote Chapel
John Little, Fanny Sedman and Andrew Long met with Michael St John Parker on 11 May to discuss his role and Historic Chapels Trust’s future plans for Cote Chapel. Mr St John Parker wants to form a new committee with between 6 and 12 members to help with the day to day running of the Chapel. A notice about this will be put in the July issue of Voices. At the meeting John Little had said that the Parish Council will think of people who may want to volunteer – he asked Councillors to think of people who may be interested. Mr St John Parker had said that the sooner a committee is formed the better – he sees his role coming to an end when a new committee is established.
The maintenance of the graveyard had been discussed at the meeting – Mr St John Parker was told that the amount which the Parish Council can pay towards this is limited to £300 but that the quotation for the maintenance for the season is £460. Mr St John Parker had indicated that Historic Chapels Trust should be able to pay the difference. It was decided that the Clerk would write to Mr St John Parker to confirm the discussions related to the graveyard maintenance at the meeting and to ask for either Historic Chapels Trust to pay the difference between the actual cost and the Parish Council’s limit of £300 or to take on responsibility for the graveyard maintenance direct and request a grant of £300 from the Parish Council.
b) Request for new road signage into Chimney
Nothing to report .
c) Anti social behaviour
At the Annual Parish Meeting the Police Officer in attendance (PC Conner) noticed a motorcyclist driving around the field. Although the motorcyclist drove off when PC Conner approached, he spoke to the people who had been with him and told them to warn the motorcyclist not to repeat the offence.
10. Correspondence sent
Listed in the Clerk’s Briefing Notes previously circulated to all Councillors.
11. New Business
a) Annual Parish Meeting 2010
There was a brief discussion about this meeting which had taken place on 11 May.
The Clerk told the Parish Council of her unsuccessful attempts to find someone to speak about energy saving/climate change. She informed the meeting that the newly published update from ORCC states that they now have an officer (Tom McCulloch) tasked with supporting local communities on this issue. Whilst he was unable to attend the Annual Parish meeting, he would be happy to lead a public event/meeting on this issue. It was agreed that this was something to consider for the future.
b) Insurance renewal 2010
A report relating to the detail of the insurance renewal for 2010 was circulated with the Clerk’s Briefing Notes. Three competitive quotations had been obtained. It was decided to place the insurance with Came & Company at a cost for the year of £724.50. Proposed by Roy Williams, seconded by Bob Jones.
c) Oxfordshire County council review of subsidised bus services
Roy Williams informed the Parish Council of his attendance at the County Council run meeting on this issue on 11 May. He said that it is his view that current bus timings are not bad but that there is great desire for an evening bus service, on Friday and Saturday evenings at least. Mr Williams said that he believes that a round-robin service through the local villages should be cost-effective. At the meeting on 11 May there had been some discussion about whether the connections between the 18A and the 19 could be improved, with the 18A finishing at Bampton and connecting to other services there. There had also been suggestions that bus connections could take place in Eynsham or Witney instead. It was agreed that Roy Williams would prepare the Parish Council’s response to the consultation and submit it to the County Council.
d) Request from St Mary’s Church, Shifford for a grant towards the cost of churchyard maintenance
It was decided to award the requested grant of £200 – proposed by Roy Williams, seconded by Jane West.
e) Grant to Voices
It was decided to award the requested grant of £750 – proposed by Roy Williams, seconded by Jane West.
f) Subscription to NALC publication Local Council Review
It was decided to renew the Parish Council’s subscription to this magazine at a cost of £13.50 for one year. Proposed by Roy Williams, seconded by Fanny Sedman.
g) Revised Local Councils Accounting and Governance Guide
The Clerk informed the Parish Council that a new edition of this guide has been issued and she recommended that a copy be purchased at a cost of £22.00. This was agreed – proposed by Bob Jones, seconded by Fanny Sedman.
h) Vacancy on the Parish Council
As only 6 people stood for the 7 positions on the Parish Council in the May election there is a vacancy which can now be filled by co-option. John Little told Councillors that two local residents have expressed an interest in joining the Parish Council. It was agreed that he would ask them to send a short written statement to the Clerk by the last Thursday in May so that they can be circulated in the papers for the June meeting.
i) ORCC 90th birthday celebration
To take place on Saturday 3 July 2010. Anybody wishing to attend was asked to tell the Clerk by the RSVP deadline of 21 May.
12. Community Trust
John Ordish was absent from the meeting.
Bob Jones told the Parish Council that the grass cutting at the field has now started, with the third cut due shortly.
13. Parish Infrastructure
a) Great Brook
Oxfordshire Highways is in the middle of undertaking work to the trees on the Great Brook Road.
b) Gravel extraction
County Councillor Charles Mathew had informed the Parish Council that the Secretary of State is consulting on a partial review of Policy M3 of the proposed changes to the draft Regional Spatial Strategy. This relates to the volume of minerals to be extracted across the South East and the split of the volume around the counties. If the partial review is approved the volume of sand and gravel to be extracted from Oxfordshire would increase significantly. It was decided that the Parish Council would object to the partial review – it is not economical for minerals to be transported a long distance from where they are quarried and the revised amount suggested for extraction from Oxfordshire would far exceed the volume required for local use. It is not reasonable to keep blighting this area with more extraction than is required for local use.
14. PLANNING
PLANNING APPLICATIONS GRANTED
10/0210/P/FP 12 Foxwood, Aston
Erection of rear conservatory
10/0368/P/FP 37 Saxel Close, Aston
Replace existing flat roof over existing utility with new pitch roof and changes to internal layout, including part conversion of existing garage
PLANNING APPLICATIONS APPEALS DISMISSED
09/1253/P/FP 8 Foxwood Close, Aston
Erection of two storey extension, removal of garage and erection of replacement garage
A copy of the appeal decision was placed in the folder for circulation between the Councillors.
15. FINANCE
a) Account Balances – circulated in the Clerk’s Briefing Notes
Balance on Current Account at 30 April 2010 £ 9,499.12
Balance on Investment with WODC at 30 April 2010 £12,400.00
Total Cash Holding at 30 April 2010 £21,889.42
b) Bank reconciliation to 31 March 2010 Circulated in the Clerk’s Briefing Notes – noted.
c) Income & Expenditure Account for year ended 31 March 2010
Circulated in the Clerk’s Briefing Notes – received and approved. Proposed by Roy Williams, seconded by Fanny Sedman.
d) Accounts for year ended 31 March 2010 – Section 1 of the Annual Return. Circulated in the Clerk’s Briefing Notes.
It was decided to approve the return covering the financial accounts in Section 1 of the Local Councils Annual Return to the external auditors appointed by the Audit Commission. Proposed by Roy Williams, seconded by Bob Jones. John Little signed Section 1 of the Return.
e) Annual Governance Statement – Section 2 of the Annual Return
The Statement for completion by the Parish Council and a report thereon by the Clerk had been circulated in the Clerk’s Briefing Notes. The Council reviewed the statements to be made and confirmed that the answer in each case was “Yes.” Proposed by Fanny Sedman, seconded by Jane West. John Little signed Section 2 of the Return.
f) Internal audit report for year ended 31 March 2010
Copy circulated with the meeting papers. There were no issues raised by the internal auditor.
g) APRIL INVOICES
g) APRIL INVOICES Office Rent for May 2010– already paid by Direct Debit | 25.00 | LGA 1972, s111 |
PRESENTED FOR APROVAL AND PAYMENT AT 13 MAY 2010 MEETING
|
| Statute |
Clerk’s salary - H Sandhu | 298.41 | LGA 1972, s112 |
Ampm Technical Services – date change sticker for APM notice | 11.75 | LGA 1972, s111 |
Margaret Johnson Ltd – cupboard for office & boxfiles | 144.95 | LGA 1972, s111 |
Lynick Gardens – village grass cutting (2 cuts – 2 to date) | 836.03 | HA 1980, s116 & WMA 1923, s1 |
St Mary’s Church, Shifford – grass cutting grant | 200.00 | LGA 1972, s214 |
Aston Newsletter (Voices) grant | 750.00 | LGA 1972, s142 |
NALC – LCR magazine | 13.50 | LGA 1972, s111 |
Broker Network (Came & Company) – insurance for 2010/11 | 724.50 | LGA 1972, s111 |
John Little – reimbursement for flowers for Brenda Smith and Gill Long (retiring Councillors) | 75.00 | LGA 1972 s15(5)
|
Total | £3.054.14 |
|
It was resolved to make the above payments – proposed by Bob Jones, seconded by Roy Williams. The cheques were signed by John Little and Roy Williams.
14. External meetings
Roy Williams informed the Parish Council that he had attended a joint meeting with representatives from Clanfield, Alvescot, Black Bourton and Brize Norton Parish Councils who are working together on the issue of potential gravel extraction across the area. The whole area from Bampton and round Alvescot has been included as one of the potential gravel extraction sites being explored by Oxfordshire County Council. One factor which may help prevent this site from going ahead is that one of the deeper gravel areas which is owned by Hansons is near to the proposed major building extension at Carterton. This does not directly affect Aston, but it was agreed that Aston, Cote, Shifford & Chimney Parish Council should attend these joint meetings in order to show support to the neighbouring Parish Councils and also to keep in touch with developments on this issue.
Roy Williams then updated the Parish Council on the Parish Transport Representatives’ meeting which he had attended on 12 May. Oxfordshire County Council is taking over the administration of travel passes for pensioners from the District Councils on 1 April 2011. They plan to harmonise the start time for use of the passes across the County – by law the passes cannot generally be used before 9.30am but West Oxfordshire District Council has permitted their use after 9.00am. Mr Williams informed the Parish Council that he had pointed out the problems that making the start time later would cause for people living in the villages. At the meeting the Parish Transport Representatives were told that the structure of subsidised transport administration within the County Council is going to be changed significantly, although the detail is not yet clear. There was also some discussion at the meeting of train service developments in Oxfordshire.
Future meetings
The Parish Council has received paperwork relating to the next stage of the County Council Local Transport Plan review. Parish Council representatives are invited to attend a meeting on this next stage on 19 May. Roy Williams took the paperwork about the consultation and will consider attending this meeting.
Oxfordshire County Council has organised a meeting to follow up the Parish Council consultations on the proposals for Newbridge and to introduce the report which will be presented to the County Council’s cabinet on 22 June. The meeting will be on 10 June at Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor village hall. Two representatives from the Parish Council can attend – John Little said that he plans to go - one other Councillor can also attend. The Clerk was asked to reply to the invitation.
15. FOLDER – Roy Williams
16. Date of next meetings:
THURSDAY 8 JULY 2010 – Monthly Parish Council Meeting
John Little gave his apologies for this meeting