DRAYTON ST LEONARD PARISH COUNCIL
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CHAIRMAN |
CLERK |
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Mr Simon Richards Manor Farm Cottage Drayton St Leonard Wallingford Oxon (01865) 891717 simon.richards@draytonstleonard.co.uk |
Mrs Lucy Cook The Old Cottage High Street Drayton St Leonard Wallingford, Oxon (01865) 891660 lucy.cook@draytonstleonard.co.uk |
Minutes of the Parish Meeting held at 8.00pm on Friday,
21st November 2003 in the Village Hall
Present:
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42/03 |
Apologies Apologies were received from John Cotton and Roy Tudor-Hughes. |
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43/03 |
Declaration of interests in matters arising in the agenda Item 4: Simon Richards declared that he is a Director and Shareholder of the company which supplied the Public Access PC. |
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44/03
Action |
Report on actions outstanding from previous minutes Resolution of public access PC disconnection problem: David Watkin reported that, whilst not admitting liability for the fault, the call charges incurred had kindly been met by the suppliers of the equipment, Cablecom. The resulting accounts for the Public Access PC were briefly reviewed (attached)and it was agreed to discuss the future of the project in more depth at the next meeting. Lucy Cook to invite David Wiblin to present wi-fi broadband technology as an alternative way to promote internet accessibility for villagers. David also took the opportunity to remind villagers that they can register their interest for broadband services on the BT website. BT operate a system whereby a critical number of users must register an interest before they will consider providing broadband to more rural areas. A realistic and achievable target has now been set for the Chalgrove/Stadhampton/Drayton St Leonard exchange. Fly-tipping: Ann Speirs reported that SODC had continued to respond when notified of fly tipping in the village approach roads. A slight decrease in fly tipping had been noticed in recent weeks. |
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45/03 |
Finance A payments and receipts account was presented for the financial year to date (attached). It was agreed by all that sufficient funds are available to meet the remaining financial commitments for this year. Approved Payments |
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To whom paid BT RoSPA SODC C Healey L Cook DSL Village Hall |
Services Public Access PC call charges Play Area Inspection Parish Council Elections Public Access PC electricity Clerks salary Village Hall rent and refurbishment |
Cheque no. 169 170 171 172 173 174 |
Cost £50.63 £72.26 £360.74 £39.00 £220.00 £230.00 |
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The budget for 2004/2005 was set by all present (attached) and a precept agreed of £1900. |
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46/03 |
Report from District Councillor, Mr John Cotton. John’s written report is attached. |
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47/03 |
Report from County Councillor, Mr Roy Tudor-Hughes. A report was not available. |
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48/03
Action |
Update on PAGE activity George Farrant reported that SODC have received the PAGE objections and commented on the professionalism of the campaign’s response. On behalf of PAGE, he thanked everyone who had leant their support to the campaign so far, but reminded everyone that the campaign is not over yet and that maintaining a level of awareness in the public domain would be critical over the coming months. Members of the public are invited to continue signing the petition and writing letters of objection to the press. George Farrant to ensure objection letter appears again in the next village newsletter. It was agreed by all present that contributions to PAGE had already been made by individuals wishing to support the campaign and that a further donation by the Parish Council was not required at present. |
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49/03 |
Report on impact of new insurance requirements for bonfire night Charles Dickerson reported that all new insurance requirements had been met at this year’s bonfire night and that the evening had, yet again, been a great success. George Farrant reported that the size and construction materials of the bonfire would be more closely monitored in future years, to ensure the safety of both spectators and neighbouring properties in the event of strong winds. |
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50/03 |
Tree Planting Project Charles Dickerson reported that the initial phase will be a small project to plant on Manor Farm land. It is envisaged that no further volunteers will be required to assist. |
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51/03 |
Planning Planning Decisions Lucy Cook reported that the following planning decisions had been made by SODC since the last meeting: PO3/W0851 Willowbeck House (re-build) REFUSED PO3/W0419 3 College Cottages (extension) REFUSED PO3/W0732 Four Winds House (garage extension) APPROVED Bailiffs Cottage has been added to the list of Grade II buildings of special architectural or historical interest by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Planning Observations The Parish Council reviewed their procedure for making observations to SODC on planning matters. It was agreed by all present to conduct a one year trial of the following procedure: When the Parish Council are asked by SODC for their observations on a pending planning application, a public meeting will be held on the next available Wednesday evening at 9.30pm in the Village Hall. There will be two opportunities of 5 minutes for the public to speak: the first for the applicant and the second for a representative of the immediate neighbours. If the immediate neighbours cannot agree on one representative, they may put forward two, but must share the allotted five minutes. Applicants and neighbours may decline the right to speak. The procedure is very similar to that adopted by many parish councils in the area. |
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52/03 |
Administration Review of postbag To reduce the time involved in circulating post amongst parish councillors, all councillors will meet every 2nd Wednesday of the month to review jointly. This is not a public meeting. Public Meeting dates for next year The Parish Council will meet at 8.00pm in the village hall on the following dates 2004: Tuesday 10th February Tuesday 11th May Tuesday 10th August Tuesday 9th November Village Volunteers Councillors would like to publicly thank the following people for their voluntary services to the Parish Council during the year: Mick Brown for maintaining the War Memorial Doug Stevens for care of the churchyard Kevin Loveridge and Donald Davis for mowing the new football pitch David Herlihy for masterminding the installation of the new play area |
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Report from John Cotton, District Councillor:
There are a few points I would have raised had I been there:
1/ Willobeck - As the PC will know, I moved refusal on this one and it was
turned down. I did that with a heavy heart as I was well aware of the PCs
support and Ann spoke well in favour. However, I am convinced that a better
design can and will come forward, hopefully with a slightly reduced volume.
I accept that the applicants will have been very disappointed, but I have
spoken to Mrs Cox since and she was taking a positive view. If they take on
board the comments made at the committee, I have no doubt that a future
application will be successful.
2/ Comprehensive Performance Assessment - this is the new version of Best
Value and SODC is due for it's review early in the new year. We've just has
a sort of pre-test which went reasonably well. The assessors have passed on
some advice which will be implemented and, hopefully, a good CPA can be
achieved. A score of Good or Excellent should mean more freedoms for the way
in which the council operates and hence we will be better able to address
the specific needs of SO.
3/ The 2nd draft of the local plan attracted over 1000 responses. There will
be a couple of changes following the consultation, but nothing of particular
note.
Regards
John