STANDLAKE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting of Standlake Parish Council, held in the Standlake Youth Club, on 8th November 2016 at 7.00pm.

Present:

          Mr. C. Naylor                                 Chairman

          Mr. P. Willis                                   Vice Chairman

          Mrs. B. Smith

          Mr. N. Owens

                                   

          Mr. D. Bevan                                  Clerk

         

 

1.          APOLOGIES – were received from Mrs. J. Clements, Mr. J. Hunt, Mrs. Fenton and Mr. Good.

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

3.          DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – there were no declarations of interest.

4.          PLANNING

16/00157/HHD:  Erection of two storey side and single storey rear extensions; 2 The Glebe: no objection

16/03523/HHD : Alterations and erection of two storey side and single storey rear extensions; 2 The Glebe: no objection

16/03394/HHD: Alterations and erection of two storey and first floor extensions, erection of detached garage; 129 Abingdon Road: no objection

Proposal for advice on development by Village Foundations Ltd. The clerk reminded the meeting of the correspondence with this company following their unsolicited enquiry regarding small scale developments in Standlake. After some discussion it was decided that, notwithstanding the council’s long standing commitment to the principle of ‘infilling’ and ‘rounding off’, it would be useful to listen to what this company has to say. The clerk will invite the company to give a presentation to the council at a meeting in the New Year.

5.          MINUTES - Minutes of the Meeting held on 11th October 2016, copies of which had been previously circulated to all members, were agreed as a true record and signed by the chairman.

6.          MATTERS ARISING

Traffic/Speeding Community Speedwatch – Mr. Naylor reported that a training meeting for use of the Speedwatch equipment (SID) was held in the Youth Club on Saturday 5th November with the PCSOs. The following information was given by the PCSOs: The presence of the Speed Indicator Display will moderate vehicle speeds; The registered keepers of speeding vehicles will receive formal warning letters from the police, and serial offenders may be subject to further action.

Mr. Naylor said that the statistics we compile will be used to confirm the magnitude of the problem in Standlake and strengthen our case for more effective enforcement action. Also, the advantage of this local action is that we can decide the Speedwatch locations ourselves, within guidelines set by TVP, and will be able to carry out more regular monitoring.

At the moment the SID has to be booked in advance as it is used by a number of other communities and it may well be the case that Standlake should consider purchasing a speed gun to enable more, random checks to be carried out.

The volunteers will be contacted via email by Mr. Naylor with a view to having the first session in the very near future.

Playground/Recreation Ground & Maintenance – Graffiti has been sprayed on the games wall of the multi play area. This has been reported to the police and quotations are awaited for removal. The clerk confirmed that this is covered by insurance but there is a £250m excess.

Glebe Lake - nothing further to report as Mr. P. Clements was not present.

Flooding/Sewers/Winter – it is noted that WODC are carrying out gutter/drain clearance around the village.

Footpaths – nothing further to report

Roads, Newbridge –. nothing further to report

Busses, Bus Stops –. nothing further to report

Highway Maintenance - nothing further to report.

7.          CORRESPONDENCE – requests for donation from Volunteer Link Up and Marie Curie Cancer. Agreed unanimously to donate £50 to Volunteer Link Up to be approved at next meeting.

8.          ACCOUNTS

For payment:

Victim support – grant                                                                     50.00

Ox Assn for the Blind                                                                       50.00

Churchyard upkeep – 2nd half                                                          600.00

 

For approval:                                                                                      

Absolute Solutions – p’ground new tunnel/ weeding                        580.65

Absolute Solutions – mowing/litter 2 Nov                                        330.00

                                                                                                                                                    

9.          BUDGET 2017/18 – the meeting reviewed the initial budget discussed at the last meeting. The clerk said that he was still not satisfied as to the final estimate of the closing bank balance, as there was still uncertainty as to final expenditure on grass mowing, tree maintenance and playground repairs (particularly in the light of the need to remove graffiti). The situation will, hopefully, be clearer in December and the budget and Precept will be set then.

10.       BT REMOVAL OF PAY PHONE BOXES – WODC have advised the BT are proposing removing a number of phone boxes throughout West Oxfordshire including the two in Standlake. The unanimous opinion was that with many residents now using broadband connection for phone service and considering the very patchy (or non-existent)  mobile coverage in the village the retention of a publicly accessible land line connection, particularly during power cuts, is essential for emergency calls. The clerk will convey this opinion to WODC.

11.       ANY OTHER BUSINESS –The clerk reminded councillors that the December meeting will be held on 20th December. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.30pm.

 

 

 

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