STANDLAKE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a Meeting of Standlake Parish Council, held in the Village Hall, Standlake, on 12th February 2008 at 7.45 pm

Present:

          Mr. E. F. Tolputt                                          Chairman

          Mr. C Naylor                                                Vice Chairman

          Mrs. J. Bayliss

          Mr. J. Rippin

          Mrs. J. Perry

          Mr. R. Reddy

                   

Mrs. B. Smith, Ms. L. Bickley, Mr. C. Mathew, Mr. N. Clack (Rack End), Mr. C. Hulme (Abingdon Road) Mr. G. Hill & Mr. M. Rice (OCC Trading Standards) Mr. A. Lowe (from 8.15pm)

 

Mr. Tolputt said that in view of the business to be conducted, and those wishing to speak who had other commitments, he would amend the order of business from that on the agenda.

1.          APOLOGIES - there were no apologies

2.          CO OPTION OF MR. A. LOWE AS COUNCILLOR

The clerk confirmed that WODC had informed him that no election had been requested for the vacancy of councillor and the council were authorised to co opt. Mr. Tolputt formally proposed that Mr. Lowe be co opted as Parish Councillor; Mr. Naylor seconded and this was passed unanimously. On Mr. Lowes arrival at the meeting he signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and was given the Declaration of Members Interests form to complete which he will return to the clerk in due course.

3.          OCC TRADING STANDARDS – REPORT ON NEWBRIDGE LIMIT ENFORCEMENT

Mr. Hill gave a background to Trading Standards (TS) in the county explaining that the department was short staffed for the work required. He acknowledged the shortcomings in the past and the lack of communication regarding the enforcement action and promised that he would endeavour to rectify these.

The current situation at Newbridge is that enforcement there is a high priority and there are currently 10 prosecutions pending for hearing at Banbury Court on 10th March with a further 27 prosecutions being processed. These were invariably against individual drivers as opposed to companies. Violations by foreign registered vehicles presented a challenge in identifying the driver and were rarely successful.

He explained the long process required to bring a successful prosecution and confirmed that no ‘warnings’ were now being given – an infringement of the limit will lead to a prosecution – and, while the system could obviously not catch all offenders, the problem has been reduced. Prosecutions leading to fines (up to £1000, but typically £350 -£400) could only be implemented by TS, but if the police were involved then a fixed penalty of only £60 would result. The problem, quite clearly, was one of availability of TS staff to carry out the monitoring and reporting. In reply to a question regarding number plate recognition cameras, Mr. Hill agreed this would be a good solution and would raise it with OCC but he asked that the council also lobby OCC on this matter.

As to reporting of violations by residents, to be of use in bringing a prosecution this had to follow strict guidelines which are summarised as follows: the sighting must be of the vehicle on the bridge itself (i.e. between the ‘Weak Bridge’ signs); the completion of all the information on a ‘Neighbourhood Weight Watch Incident Report’ (copies of which were distributed); the person making the report must be willing to make a witness statement (which TS would arrange to take down) and appear in court if necessary. Mr. Rice stressed that it was also important to get the information to TS as soon as possible. Any previous sightings reported to TS in the past that do not conform to these criteria are null and void and Mr. Hill apologised for inaccurate information being given on this procedure in the past.

Mr. Tolputt thanked Mr. Hill and Mr. Rice for their attendance and they left the meeting at 8.25pm.  

4.          PUBLIC ITEMS

Mr. Tolputt closed the meeting at 8.25pm and invited Mr. Hulme to speak, Mr. Clack declining to do so. Mr. Hulme (81 Abingdon Road) wished to bring to the council’s attention his objections to a planning application for an extension to 83 Abingdon Road. He produced photographs to stress his contention that the proposal would be over dominating, result in a loss of privacy and natural light. Mr. Tolputt said the council would take note of his comments when it came to discussing planning applications later in the meeting.

Mr. Hulme, a civilian employed in TVP Traffic Management, wished to comment on the Newbridge weight limit enforcement from the police point of view. He said that the fixed penalty was £30, not £60 as stated, and as such was not a deterrent. Regarding the use of number plate recognition technology, he stated that there was no legislation in place to allow the use of this technology for weight limit enforcement. He confirmed that anyone reporting a violation must be prepared to appear in court and, as far as foreign vehicles and drivers were concerned, it was very difficult if not practically impossible to pursue a violation report.

Mr. Tolputt reopened the meeting at 8.45pm

5.          MINUTES

Minutes of the meeting held on 8th January 2008, copies of which had been previously circulated to all members, were agreed as a true record and signed by the chairman.

6.          MATTERS ARISING

Flooding July 07 – The latest meeting with the Environment Agency (EA), Mr. J. Kingswood, was held at Mr. A. Lists’ palatial caravan in Rack End on 28th January; Mr. Rippin, Mrs. Smith and the clerk attended. Survey for the line of the bund has been carried out and agreement was reached with Mr. List on behalf of the residents as to the removal of trees etc. Mr. Kingswood said that as a result of surveys and replies received the letters sent to residents by EA, the sensible course of action at this time was to run the bund as far as 41 Rack End. The timetable depended much on the weather because access by contractors, for purposes of tendering for the contract, to the north east bank was not possible with the current wet state. Pressed by Mr. List, Mr. Kingswood, gave as firm assurance as he could that if conditions meant the extension of this project into the new financial year then the money would still be available to complete the job.

Mrs. Smith reported that she and Ms. Bickley had expressed dissatisfaction at WODC over the lack of progress in production of an adequate report on the summer flood events. In particular, the interim report (see correspondence file) hardly mentions Standlake and there is no evidence of the action plan promised. It was agreed that the Head of Street Scene at WODC (Mr. Phil Page) should be invited to attend a council meeting to explain the situation. Mr. Tolputt, Mr. Rippin and the clerk, stressed that it should be made clear that no interference from WODC should be allowed to affect the working partnership established between the Rack End residents, the council and the EA. However, any help in  persuading Thames Water to directly address the problems of sewage flooding in the High Street would be most welcome. The clerk will make these points to Mr. Page and invite him to attend the April meeting.

A415, Newbridge – Mr. Mathew reported that he had met with Cllr. Ian Hudspeth (OCC Cabinet Member for Transport) and Mr. Steve Howell (OCC Head of Transport) on 30th January and discussed the Newbridge situation. Mr. Mathew hoped that a result of this meeting would be closer cooperation by OCC with Standlake and the other parish councils on this matter. A letter has been sent by Mr. Howell (which the clerk confirmed had been received) stating this and offering monthly updates on progress. Mr. Mathew left the meeting for another appointment before the general discussion.

After Mr. Mathew had left, the matter was discussed further. In his letter, amongst other statements, Mr. Howell offers a new era of cooperation, apologies for past oversights in consultation and promises monthly updates on the progress of the Newbridge situation. The clerk reminded the meeting of the background to the letter and referred to the meeting held with OCC on 30th October 2007. At this meeting OCC (Councillor Ian Hudspeth and Mr. Peter Brown) also offered apologies etc. and, amongst other promises, agreed to add the clerk and Col. Terry Kirkpatrick (Northmoor resident and consultant civil engineer) to the distribution list for minutes of the OCC Newbridge Project committee. To date, no such promise has been kept despite receiving, in mid January, email confirmation from Cllr. Hudspeth that this would still be done. After discussion, it was agreed that the clerk would, while welcoming any genuine consultation, ask for the promise of sight of the project minutes to be upheld.

Traffic/Speeding – Enforcement action has been carried out by TVP on the Abingdon Road recently.

Highway Maintenance – An email has been received from OCC Highways (Mr. Paul Wilson) apologising for the lack of action and pleading a number of excuses; action is promised by the end of February.

Footpaths –Nothing further to report at this meeting.

Playground/Recreation Ground & Maintenance – Mrs. Perry reported that there would be a delay in the installation of the new swings as the wrong spare parts had been delivered. She also noted that the bike jumpers were using wooden pallets for jumps and leaving them on the tarmac surface; this was not in the agreement allowing a bike jump trail. Mr. Tolputt and Mr. Naylor will contact those concerned.

Mrs. Perry reminded the meeting that regular checks were carried out at the recreation ground and playground to ensure safety of equipment etc.  and new volunteers were required to carry these out. Mr. Tolputt and Mr. Naylor volunteered.

Graveyard Extension – Mr. Tolputt expressed his utter frustration with the process of completing the purchase/lease. Despite his, and the council’s solicitors, chasing the diocese’s solicitors and addressing the Archdeacon directly, no final paperwork has been received and no explanation has been forthcoming.

Neighbourhood Policing – Mr. Rippin has arranged for the PCSOs to hold a surgery in Standlake at the Methodist Chapel on Wednesday 20th February between 3 and 4pm.

7.          CORRESPONDENCE - See attached correspondence record.

8.          PLANNING - See attached planning record.

The application for alteration and extension at 83 Abingdon Road (08/0093/P/FP) was considered to be over dominating with loss of privacy and daylight to No 81. The clerk will write objecting under Local Plan policy H2 5.41.

Final planning application has been made for the proposed gravel extraction at Stonehenge Farm. The council has already made its objections to this scheme and Mr. Naylor will look at the summary of the environmental impact statement to ensure the comments are still valid.

9.          ACCOUNTS click here for balances

The clerk informed the meeting that the village hall improvement scheme again required the issue of cheques. A grant of £3300 for the improvement project has been received from WODC. The effect on the council balances by payment of these accounts is neutral; the balance above £3300 being covered by the VAT reclaimed on behalf of the Village Hall committee.

The following accounts were approved for payment:

AVT Communications Systems Ltd – village hall improvements  4568.64

The Terracotta Shop – village hall improvements                         403.03

10.       MEMBER’S REPORTS

Mr. Lowe said that he would be setting up a flood management team as soon as possible. His primary objective was to have an organized response, as it was obvious that during the July 07 flooding there was no shortage of volunteers, but a lack of coordination. The clerk has an outline of a Parish Flood Plan prepared by the EA and will forward this to Mr. Lowe.

11.       ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The clerk reminded members that the next meeting would be on 18th March. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 10.00 pm.

 

 

 

 

....................................................................................... Chairman                  ............................................................................ Date

CORRESPONDENCE RECORD   02/08

DATE

SER

TO/FROM

TOPIC

ACTION

FILE

 

A

OCC

Home2School Newsletter

 

 

 

B

OFPA

Playing Field magazine

 

 

 

C

Communities & Local Govt

Consultation on conduct of local authority members

 

 

 

D

WODC

Interim Report 2007 Summer Floods

 

 

 

E

WODC

Licensing Act 2003 – statement of policy and guidance

 

 

 

F

Audit Commission

Appointment of BDO Stoy Hayward as external auditor

 

 

 

G

OCC

Oxon public transport guide

 

 

 

H

WODC

Dance directory

 

 

 

I

WODC

Parish Link Magazine

 

 

 

J

WODC

Heritage Grants 2008/9

 

 

 

K

OCC (Head of Transport)

Newbridge – Proposal for a Replacement  statement of commitment to communicate with PC

 

 

 

L

 

Clerks and Councils Direct magazine

 

 

 

M

 

 

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

 

 

O

 

 

 

 

 

P

 

 

 

 

 

Q

 

 

 

 

 

R

 

 

 

 

 

S

 

 

 

 

 

T

 

 

 

 

PLANNING APPLICATIONS/CORRESPONDENCE RECORD No: 02/08

DATE

PLANNING Number

DETAILS

COMMENTS

REPLY BY

 

OCC

Stonehenge Farm gravel extraction

 

 

 

07/2101

Withdrawal of Malthouse Farm application for 20 residential units etc.

 

 

 

07/2127/P/FP

Grant of permission – change of use from Methodist church to dwelling

 

 

 

07/2187/P/FP

Grant of permission – erection of single story extensions – Chervil Cottage

 

 

 

07/2156/P/FP

Grant of permission – erection of rear conservatory – 25 Aston Road

 

 

 

08/0066/P/FP

Erection of single storey front extension, conversion of integral garage to playroom – Kingston, The Downs