PARISH COUNCIL OF STANDLAKE

Minutes Tuesday 19th May 2026 at 7.30pm

 

Present: 

 Mr J. Clements - Chairman

 Mr. D. Jeffcoat – Vice Chairman

 Mr. B. Smith.

 Mrs. A. Knipe.

 Ms. F. Smith

 Mrs. J. Macdonald.

 Mrs. C. Swan - Clerk

 

WODC Cllrs. Mrs. Sandra Cosier, Mr. Steve Cosier, and members of the public.

 

1.    Election of Chair: Mr James Clements was nominated by Mr David Jeffcoat. Fiona Smith nominated Jenny Macdonald. James Clements received four votes and took the chair.

Acceptance of Office of Chairman: Mr James Clements accepted the Office of Chairman.

2.    Election of Vice Chair: Mr David Jeffcoat was nominated and agreed unanimously.

Acceptance of office of Vice Chairman: Mr David Jeffcoat accepted the office of Vice Chair,

3.    Acceptance of Office Councillors: Fiona Smith, Anita Knipe, Jenny Mcdonnald, Barry Smith accepted the Office of Councillors.

4.    Apologies: none

5.    Declarations of interest: none

6.    Appointment of Committees or Working Groups and representatives: The following appointments were made:

 

Playground inspections –James Clements

Village hall –David Jeffcoat

Nature recovery – Jenny Macdonald

Allotments - Jenny Macdonald

Speed watch – Anita Knipe

Flooding/Sewage – Fiona Smith

St Giles & standlake Village 800th Anniversary - Jenny Macdonald & Anita Knipe

Finance Working party –David Jeffcoat, James Clements, Fiona Smith, Claire Swan

 

7.    Public Items: The Church Warden came to discuss the mowing schedule and suggested that the church would prefer the Parish Council to pay the invoices directly to the Contractor.

Speed watch volunteers have completed the details for the consultation with Oxfordshire County Council and other interested parties. They have requested that the Parish Council consider applying for a SID with Oxfordshire County Council.

 

8.    County & District Councillors Reports: presented by Cllr Steve Cosier

District Councillor Re‑Election: Sandra Cosier has been re‑elected as West Oxfordshire District Councillor for Standlake, Aston & Stanton Harcourt with 981 votes (50% of valid ballots). She expressed thanks to residents and confirmed her commitment to working with local parish councils.

The Downs, Standlake: Cllir Sandra Cosier and the Clerk have been in correspondence with WODC’s policy team following resident concerns about early consultation activity by developer Mac & Mic. WODC advised that developers are increasingly bringing forward proposals on sites identified as potentially suitable in the longer term due to national housing pressures. Standlake representatives made clear that The Downs is not suitable for large‑scale development, citing:

·         limited road capacity

·         existing drainage and sewage pressures

·         constrained school places and services

·         landscape and character impacts They emphasised the need for a fair and transparent process and confirmed that residents expect their concerns to be fully considered.

Croudace Application – Aston: The Local Planning Authority has extended the determination period to 22 June to review flood‑risk information. The applicant has already been advised that refusal is likely due to conflicts with heritage and landscape policies. Despite significant concerns raised during the statutory consultation period, the applicant has been allowed to exceed the standard 8‑week timeframe. Parish representatives have urged the LPA to refuse the application without further delay under Section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, noting that extensions should only be used where they may change the outcome. Concerns remain about inaccuracies in the applicant’s technical submissions, and new evidence cannot be introduced at appeal under the revised system.

9.    Planning:  - 26/00255/FUL 48 Abingdon Road Standlake Witney, change of use of land to enlarge domestic garden and erection of detached 3 bay car port. Closure of existing vehicle access and replacement with new pedestrian access, creation of separate new vehicle access with dropped kerb, and associated works. – NO objection

 

10.  Minutes: – Agreed Minutes from 21st April 2026. The clerk agreed to circulate the final copy of previous Minutes along with the agenda for the coming meetings

 

11.  Matters arising from previous minutes:

      Flood/sewage: No update

Speed watch/Roads; A request for more volunteers from the village. The clerk agreed to add an advertisement to the Facebook group.

Recreation ground – agreement to pay the annual inspection costs, but no agreement for the additional costs requested by ROSPA for a meeting with the inspector.  It was also confirmed that the benches were the responsibility of the Parish Council. Councillors agreed to meet and discuss priorities. Basketball hoop backing boards are not compatible with the current stands, and the contractors are pursuing a refund. The Clerk agreed to pick this matter up and source an alternative supplier for the correct backing boards.

Bike racks – The manhole cover has been raised to allow for the installation of the bike racks which should be installed in the coming week, subject to confirmation by Absolute Solutions.

Environment – no update

Speed watch signs – Clerk to order

New Website – Parish Online have been approached and have initially quoted £350 ex VAT – however a discount is available to the Parish Council of £100 off the first year and an additional discount via OALC. There would be an additional cost to migrate to  new.gov.uk email addresses which would have better protection. The Parish Council owns the existing domain, and the renewal of email hosting is £74.99 which Councillors agreed would need to be continued for the time being. Mr James Clements will investigate if the Parish Online service could use our existing emails.  

Car park security: James Clements is investigating a suitable camera which can be installed without power. Fiona Smith suggested that James investigate farming cameras and will forward details.

Car park repairs: The work previously agreed is to be carried out on the 20th of May 2026. David Jeffcoat has notified the school. Fergal Contracting have offered to help re gravel the churchyard paths.

Notice Board: New noticeboard is in place.

Council Phone: An alternative phone is being sought due to the current phone being unresponsive at times.  James Clements will investigate.

St Giles & Standlake Village 800th Anniversary update  

12.  Churchyard Mowing: Barry Smith agreed to meet with the contractor and request a quotation for a more appropriate cutting schedule and associated costs.  It was agreed payments would continue monthly.

13.  GDPR: The GDPR Documents previously circulated were adopted.

 

14.  Correspondence:

A request received from the Village Hall Management for replacement of the Defibrillator Pads £81.48 was approved.

15.  Accounts: Current position received and for approval/payment.

For payment/approved: (* already paid)

*

C Swan salary

585.93

EE Mobile

15.60

David Bevan - additional hours

255.39

Absolute Solutions sports field, green, strim, mow

370.00

HMRC

146.60

Jakes Mowing

372.00

Village Hall rental PC meetings

66.00

AGM embroidery Volunteer Hi Vis tabards

65.00

Absolute Solutions parish council noticeboard

252.65

Absolute Solutions horse signs

75.00

 

Approved unanimously

16.  Insurance Premium – Councillors unanimously approved the Premium and a 3-year term.

 

17.  Bank Mandate Changes: – It was agreed to remove Mr David Bevan and Mr Brian Parnham from the Bank Mandate and replace Mr Parnham with Mr James Clements. Adding Ms. Fiona Smith as an officer was unanimously agreed.

 

Date of the next meeting – The clerk highlighted an opportunity for Councillors to attend induction training which will be held on the same date as the next meeting. Therefore, the Clerk will investigate online group training, and agreement was reached to delay the start of the Parish meeting until 8.15pm on 16th June 2026.