STANDLAKE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a Meeting of Standlake Parish Council, held in the Village Hall, Standlake, on 13^th November 2007 at 7.45 pm

Present:

Mr. E. F. Tolputt Chairman

Mr. C Naylor Vice Chairman

Mrs. J. Bayliss

Mrs. S. Berrill

Mr. J. Rippin

Mrs. J. Perry

Mrs. B. Smith, Ms. L. Bickley

1. APOLOGIES were received from Mr. R. Reddy:

2. PUBLIC ITEMS there were no members of the public present.

3. MINUTES

Minutes of the meeting held on 9^th October 2007, copies of which had been previously circulated to all members, were agreed as a true record and signed by the chairman.

4. MATTERS ARISING

Flooding July 07 – The Environment Agency has surveyed the river banks and further progress is awaited. The clerk has still not received any reply from Thames Water despite two hastening emails. This afternoon, Mr. Tolputt, Mrs. Smith and the clerk met with a WODC civil engineer, Mr. Nick Hands; his remit is to examine what flood prevention action needs to be taken and to coordinate with the various agencies. It was explained to him what had been done and the lack of response from Thames Water and he will be examining the whole situation in Standlake.

A415, Newbridge – The Newbridge committee has met with OCC (Cllr. Ian Hudspeth – Cabinet Member for Transport, Mr. Peter Brown - County Bridge Engineer and Mr. Roger O’Neill – Local Transport Plan)and members of Northmoor and Kingston Bagpuize Parish Councils. Briefly, OCC apologise for the lack of consultation and will not let it happen again, they will examine other options other than a new crossing and they gave a provisional timetable for the full consultation process. The full minutes are being circulated in draft form and when they are approved by all parties they will be published. In the meanwhile a draft summary of the meeting is attached to these minutes.

Traffic/Speeding – Mrs. Bayliss noted that speed camera signs had appeared on three 30 mph signs on the Abingdon Road; it is clear that these are not authorised signs. It was decided that no action was required.

Highway Maintenance – nothing further to report at this meeting.

Footpaths –.The Butts has been cut, but the nettles and undergrowth had already begun to die back. Mrs. Perry suggested that the path be treated with weed killer at the beginning of the growing season and she volunteered to do this if the council provided the weed killer. This was welcomed and will be done.

Playground/Recreation Ground & Maintenance – Mrs. Perry said that another grass cutting is required and she was told to go ahead. Mrs. Perry has ordered the replacement swings and they will be installed by Johnson Engineering. After some discussion, it was decided that, as no further additions were planned in the near future, the recreation project fund, standing at some £1858 would be used to pay for the bark surface and the new swings as the maintenance fund had been exhausted.

Graveyard Extension – After further delays at our solicitors, Mr. Tolputt has hastened them and they now estimate that completion will occur before Christmas.

Neighbourhood Policing – nothing to report at this meeting.

Willows on riverbank – Two estimates were obtained and M & G Pascoe’s was the lowest by some £400. at £1480. Mr. Tolputt and the clerk authorised the work to commence and it will be completed in the next week.

Bike Jumps – Mr. Naylor met with the young people and their parents and the jump track was constructed over the half term. Some 20+ youngsters were involved and the facility is proving very popular. Mrs. Perry has some minor points about the track and Mr. Naylor will discuss these with those concerned.

Memorial Bench – The bench, in memory of the late Mr. Len Smith, has now been erected at the entrance to The Butts.

5. CORRESPONDENCE - See attached correspondence record.

A letter has been received from Mrs. Crossly of Rack End who is asking for a grant towards her son’s sports education. It was decided that the council could not support grants of this kind to individuals. Mrs. Perry will pass the letter on to Mr. Perry who is chairman of the Poor’s Allotments Charity to see if they can help. The clerk will inform Mrs. Crossly.

Applications for grants from Volunteer Link Up and West Oxon Citizen’s Advice Bureau were considered and grants of £25 and £50 respectively were agreed (to be paid in December).

6. PLANNING - See attached planning record..

7. ACCOUNTS –BUDGET 2008/9 click here for balances

The external auditors have completed the 2006/7 audit and have no comment; the auditor’s report and certificate was presented to the council and unanimously approved.

The following accounts were approved for payment:

Squeaky Clean Services - flood clear up	110.00
M J Giddings - playground bark	954.10
Standlake Village hall - hire for 30/10	9.00
Standlake PCC - churchyard upkeep 2nd half	275.00

8. BUDGET 2008/9

The clerk presented a new draft budget to reflect the October discussion. He pointed out that this current year would result in an overspend, primarily because of unforeseen playground maintenance/repairs and the urgent necessity to pollard and make stable willows opposite the church. This, coupled with the necessity to make provision for the completion of the churchyard extension and likely loan repayment for the building of the extension, an increase in provision for grass cutting, ditch/hedge maintenance adjacent to the recreation ground and a grant to the village hall would result in a much higher Precept than in the past. This was discussed and accepted as necessary by the meeting.

The clerk’s salary was discussed in the light of last year’s agreement to review the payment and increase it towards the national standard rate; it was agreed to set the salary for 2008/9 at £4750, an increase of £500 p.a. and the intention is further increase in 2009/10 to the full rate.

Mr. Tolputt will obtain estimates for the ditch/hedge maintenance and the final budget and Precept will be set at the December meeting.

9. MEMBER’S REPORTS

Mrs. Berrill tendered her resignation from the council as she and her family will be moving out of the village. On behalf of the council Mr. Tolputt thanked her for her support and wished her well. The clerk will inform WODC Electoral Services.

Mrs. Bayliss reported damage to the footpath outside Yew Tree Cottages. The clerk will inform OCC Highways.

Problems with a sewage manhole cover at Heyford Close have been reported to Mrs. Smith and she will contact Thames Water. Mrs Smith attended a meeting at OCC concerning the weighting factors to be applied to future bus service grants. How this will be applied is vague at the moment but will need monitoring. The clerk has a copy of the weighting factors which will be held in the bus file.

Ms. Bickley has a meeting with TVP next week and will report bac. She also informed the meeting of a useful website for checking local statistics; it is at www.oxfordshireobservatory.info.

Mrs. Perry has had a request from the Tennis Club to place another bench at the courts; this was approved. She also noted that areas of Church Lane were obstructed; Mr. Tolputt will investigate.

10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Tolputt reminded the meeting that the December meeting would be primarily for paying accounts due, finalising the budget and setting the Precept; any non urgent business will be carried over to the January meeting. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9:50 pm.

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

CORRESPONDENCE RECORD 11/07
DATE	SER		TO/FROM		TOPIC		ACTION		FILE
	A		Volunteer Link Up		Request for donation
	B		CAG Oxon		Newsletter
	C		OCC		Whats On Autumn/Winter 2007
	D		WODC		Response to review of polling stations and places
	E		OALC		Winter General Meeting agenda
	F		OCC		Fire Authority plans – consultation document
	G		ORCC		Changes to rural post office network
	H		ORCC		Review of primary education in Oxfordshire
	I		The Theatre, Chipping Norton		Brochure
	J		Mrs C. Crossley		Appeal for funding son at sport
	K		West Oxon CAB		Request for donation
	L		WODC		Flood Protection Products Fair 16 Nov 2007
	M				Clerks & Councils Direct magazine
	D
	O
	P
	Q
	R
	S
	T
PLANNING APPLICATIONS/CORRESPONDENCE RECORD No: 11/07
DATE		PLANNING Number		DETAILS		COMMENTS		REPLY BY
		07/1520/P/FP		Grant of permission – single story rear extension – Old Well Cottage, 2 High St
		07/1587/P/FP		Grant of permission – erection of garage/garden store – Kingston, The Downs
		07/1529/P/CM		Grant of permission – continuation of development of Waste Transfer Station, Plot j, Lakeside Industrial Estate
		Notification		Standard planning application form
		07/1847/P/PF		Erection of porch and 2 story rear extension – 25 High Street
		07/1858/P/PF		Erection of single storey extension – Old Well Cottage, 2 High St
		07/1853/P/S73		Continuance – Standlake Arena, Witney Road