Minutes of a
meeting of Standlake Parish Council, held in the Standlake Youth Club, on 12th
September 2017 at 7.30pm.
Present:
Mr. P.
Willis Vice
Chairman
Mrs. J Clements
Mr. J Rippin
Mrs. B. Smith
Mr. N. Owens
Mr. J. Hunt
13
members of the public
1.
APOLOGIES –apologies
were received from Mr. Mathew, Mr. Good, Mrs. Fenton.
2.
PUBLIC ITEMS –Mr.
Naylor asked if any members of the public wished to speak on any matter other
than the application 17/02568/OUT for a development on The Downs; none wished
to do so.
3.
COUNTY AND
DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORTS – none present.
4.
DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST – Mrs. Smith declared a non-pecuniary interest in application
17/02465/HHD – 97 High St.
5.
PLANNING
17/02340/LBC: Conversion of
loft. 17/02339/HHD: Conversion of loft. Locks Cottage 9 High Street Standlake:
Mrs F Gordon. No objection
17/02465/HHD: Proposed new
roof between two existing dormers: 97 High Street Standlake: Mrs Helen
Backhouse. No Objection
17/02457/FUL: Construction of
detached dwelling: Weavers Cottage 1 Chapel Lane Standlake: Mr and Mrs Paul and
Jenny Harflett. Objection: overdevelopment of site,
parking arrangements, proximity of adjacent property (The Chapel)
17/02568/OUT: Outline
application for the erection of up to 100 dwellings with associated access,
landscaping and open space: Land at The Downs Standlake: Mr Nevin
Holden. Mr. Naylor asked if there were
any supporters of the application among the members of the public; there were
none. Members of STAND group and other members of the public spoke objecting to
the application: Mr. Naylor then asked for comments from the parish
councillors. The consensus was that,
while provision of some affordable housing was needed, on balance this was
overridden by inter alia the scale of
the development, its effect on sewage/drainage, pedestrian access, traffic and
the very large possibility of further development on adjacent land. Mr. Naylor
proposed that the council object to this application and for the clerk to draft
the objection document for councillor’s consideration before sending it to
WODC; this was passed unanimously. Objection: see attached document.
17/02695/FUL: Demolition of
existing house and erection of two detached dwellings: 60 Abingdon Road: Mr
& Mrs M List. No objection.
6.
MINUTES - Minutes
of the Meeting held on 13th June 2017, copies of which had been
previously circulated to all members, were agreed as a true record and signed
by the chairman.
7.
MATTERS ARISING
Roads, Newbridge –There is a broken
signpost lying on junction by the village hall; the clerk will report this.
Footpaths –Mr.
Naylor has again attempted to contact the Lincoln Farm Park owner regarding the
entrance but has had no success; he will continue to attempt to make contact.
General Maintenance – It was decided that the work needed to repair and
maintain the ‘gates’ at the entrances to the village be deferred until the next
financial year and budgeted for accordingly. Likewise the commitment to cut
Hornsway
Traffic/Speeding – The clerk has discovered that the road monitoring cables noted in July
are placed there by commercial companies for their own use and the results are
not available for distribution. Mr. Naylor said he will be commencing further
speed checks using the SID equipment in the near future.
Playground/Recreation Ground – The recent RoSPA inspection
has not note anything of an urgent nature but the ‘monkey bars, are in need of attention. Mr. Hunt
remarked that he thought the council had employed Mr. Pascoe to regularly check
for maintenance issues: the clerk did not recollect this being a firm
commitment but will set this up with Mr. Pascoe.
Website’ village mail – Mr. Matt Parker (at the invitation of Mr. Hunt) spoke
of the website he had created for the village – standlake.online
– and stressed that he did not want to upset the status quo re the current website. His site had many features such
as automatically picking up events from published village calendars such as the
ODCC, LWTC etc.; also it could be used to help the standlakenews
email system. The clerk explained that, under the government Transparency Code
for Smaller Authorities the council was required to have its own website to
disseminate information such as finance, assets, minutes etc. and that this
should be under the control of the council. The current village website –
standlakepc.org.uk - set up by the clerk in 2001, fulfils this purpose and,
while welcoming any further method of publishing village information, he felt
that this should continue. Questioned by Mr. Hunt, Mr. Parker could not
guarantee maintaining his site indefinitely if work or other commitments
intervened but he was willing to teach someone to operate the system if
necessary. After some discussion, Mr. Naylor thanked him for his efforts and
the matter would be kept under review while maintaining the current system.
8.
CORRESPONDENCE –
there was no significant correspondence.
9.
ACCOUNTS – the
following accounts were approved for payment.
*Absolute
Solutions – mowing etc. 375.00
*ODCC
– grant for defibrillator 1000.00
*Absolute
Solutions – mowing etc. 375.00
*Absolute
Solutions – mowing etc. 360.00
*PWLB
– loan repayment 2142.96
Playsaftey – p’grounds
annual inspection 210.00
D C
Bevan – clerk salary& exp 1221.60
HMRC
– clerk PAYE 292.40
BDO –
audit fees 120.00
10.
AUDIT 2016/17 – AUDITOR’S
REPORT – The clerk presented the external auditor’s report on 2016/17 accounts.
There were no comments except for noting a discrepancy of one pound in a set of
figures; the clerk explained that this was due to two ‘rounded off’ figures not
agreeing and he was awre that this had occurred. Mr.
Naylor proposed that the auditor’s report be accepted and this was agreed
unanimously.
11.
VILLAGE CHRISTMAS
TREE –In past years the tree has been donated free of charge and set up and
lighting installed by The Gun Dogs shooting club. This source for the tree has
now terminated and the club has asked the council to contribute £100 to
purchase the tree; it was unanimously agreed to do this.
12.
ANY OTHER
BUSINESS – Mrs. Clements has had a report that a walker around Mr. Webb’s
fishing lake has been warned off by a person, who appears to be living there, accompanied
by an ‘aggressive’ dog: the clerk will contact Mr. Webb and establish the
rights of walkers. Mrs. Smith reports that the hawthorn hedge along the
footpath in front of 145 Abingdon Road is overgrown and causing an obstruction
to pedestrians. Mr. Naylor will speak to Mr. Cade, the property owner. There
being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.00 pm.
......................................................................................
Chairman
....................................................................
Date
Standlake Parish
Council – Objection to Application 17/02568/OUT Land at The
Downs Standlake
Standlake PC objects to the
application as follows:
1.
It is in
contravention of the emerging local plan; for specific details, see below*.
2.
It is in
contravention of saved local plan; specifically policies H4, H6, NE7, NE10 and
NE11.
3.
The development
would far exceed the capacity of existing sewage capacity as stated by Thames
Water. In addition, it would overwhelm the drainage system which has frequently
resulted in localised flooding. Neither of these vital considerations is
satisfactorily addressed in the application.*
4.
In a village of
some 560 dwellings this near 20% increase would represent an unacceptable
impact and would create a precedent which could potentially change the
character of the village permanently.
5.
If granted, this
application would set a precedent leading inevitably to further such
development on adjacent land; this land is in the ownership of the same
landowner on whose land this current application rests.
6.
The access out of
the development is on to a narrow minor road with poor sight lines. Furthermore, the pedestrian access, along the
road to the village facilities (over 1 mile), consists of, initially, an
unpaved grass verge followed by a single sub-standard footpath on the opposite
side from the development.*
7.
Given the lack of
work opportunities in Standlake, it is inevitable that yet more vehicular
traffic will be generated on local roads by at least 100 per day; in no way can
this be considered sustainable. It is inevitable that much of this traffic will
go in the direction of Oxford/Abingdon and will cause even more congestion at
the narrow, winding Church End. .* The local bus services have been severely
reduced with the direct link to Oxford being removed altogether. The remaining
‘rush hour’ timetable does not provide a flexible enough service for commuters
and, consequently, the proposed development will increase the need for travel,
not reduce it..*
8.
The development
would remove public views over hedgerows and open countryside onto prime
agricultural land; this is a vital part of the Standlake village identity.
9.
There is evidence
of an area of archaeological importance on the site.
10. *Many of the above objections are specifically covered
by the emerging local plan 2011 - 2031. They are, inter alia:
11. Policy CO10:” before any planning
permission is given for development WODC must “Ensure that land is not released
for new development until the supporting infrastructure and facilities are
secured.”.
12. Policy CO4: new residential development will be
supported …...where it will ”reduce the need to
travel”.