Minutes of a meeting of Standlake Parish Council, held in the Standlake Youth Club, on 14th November 2017 at 7.30pm.
Present:
Mr. C. Naylor Chairman
Mr.
P. Willis Vice Chairman
Mrs. J. Clements
Mrs. B. Smith
Mr. J Rippin
Mr. J. Hunt
Mr. N. Owens
Mr. D. Bevan Clerk
Mr. Good (WODC), Mrs. Fenton (WODC), Mr. J. Andreasen and Mr. P. Austen (SOS), Mr. A. Bateson (Planning Consultant), Ms. S. Woolford and two members of Newland Angling Club, Mr. P. Clements, 2 members of the public.
1. APOLOGIES –there were no apologies.
2. PUBLIC ITEMS – Mr. Naylor ascertained that the members of the public were, with two exceptions, there regarding the Spitfire Homes appeal and Newlands Angling Club. The two other members of the public were newcomers to the village and just wished to observe; Mr. Naylor welcomed them to the village.
Ms. Woolford spoke on behalf of Newlands Angling Club, whose lakes are off Heyford Lane, and explained that the club was improving and expanding its facilities including the building of a new clubhouse. The club has around 1,000 members and is involved in charity work, youth work, gives nature talks, improves the local water environment and holds duck races. Fundraising is ongoing and WODC has agreed to match money raised by the club providing it has the support of the Parish Council and this is the purpose of the presentation. Mr. Good endorsed this and said he was involved in putting the club in touch with WODC and suggested the Parish Council could offer a letter of support which would help in securing funding. The councillors agreed unanimously that this should be done and the clerk will send this to Ms. Woolford; she thanked the council and the group left the meeting at 7.35pm.
3. COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORTS – Mrs Fenton and Mr. Good had little to report from WODC except to say that in some areas the new refuse collection has experienced teething and these issues were being addressed. Mrs Smith pointed out that there were problems in Standlake, in particular, in Shifford Lane.
Once again, the Inspector’s decision on the Local Plan is thought to be imminent; as much pressure as possible is being applied but it is understood that the Inspector has to ensure the final plan is legally sound so that it cannot be challenged in the courts.
4. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – none made.
5.
PLANNING
17/02866/HHD Construction of two storey side extension. Ashbourne, The Downs Standlake: Mr Robinson. No objection.
17/03104/HHD: Construction of detached garage with log store: Orchard House 26 High Street Standlake: Mr and Mrs Nik and Belinda Dimmock-Smith. No Objection.
17/03382/S73: Non-compliance with conditions 5 and 6 of planning permission 07/1853/P/S73 to allow continued use for motor racing and to allow family members of Mr Keith Hook to carry out the use: Standlake Arena Witney Road Standlake: Mr Keith Hook. Object to permanent lease – reduce renewal interval to one year; comment on noise and traffic.
17/03218/FUL: Demolition of existing buildings and erection of new buildings, fencing and parking facilities to provide masons yard and workshops: Street Record Cotswold Dene Standlake: Mr Dean Ferguson. No Objection.
17/03474/FUL: Internal alterations to three bay garage to create self-contained annexe on first floor: Roseleigh Calais Lane Yelford: Mr Mike Newman. No Objection.
Spitfire Homes Planning Appeal: This is now set for 17 – 24th April 2018 and the question arises that should the council represent itself or agree to be represented by Mr. Bateson (Planning Consultant) who is acting for SOS? Mr. Naylor made the case that it made sense to join with SOS in this and this was unanimously agreed. Mr. Bateson agreed to this arrangement and asked for an email formally appointing him to act on the council’s behalf; the clerk will do this. Mr. Naylor said that this must involve costs and asked Mr. Andreasen what was the position with fundraising and he replied that, at present, the group were looking to raise another £1500 towards anticipated costs. Mr. Naylor proposed that the council should contribute towards this and it was agreed unanimously that the council should initially contribute £1000 (from the Community Fund budget) towards this figure with the option of increasing this as necessary. Mr. Andreasen thanked the council for this contribution.
The Downs planning application: this has still not come before the WODC Lowlands planning committee and Mr. Naylor expressed his concern about this; his enquiries have ascertained that the developers could now appeal on the grounds of ‘non determination’ and going direct to appeal at the Planning Inspectorate. Mr. Bateson confirmed that this was the case and the expiry date was 16th November, but he said if this happened it would merely have the same effect as WODC refusing permission. He also suggested that if this was the case then the Inspector may well decide to hear both this and the Spitfire homes appeal as one.
Mrs. Smith and Mr. Naylor have examined a request by WODC for the council to consider what it might spend of Section 106 funds which will become available for leisure and sport should The Downs planning application be approved. The consensus is that it is impossible to detail how any funds would be spent but WODC should be advised that the council want the funds to be allocated to Standlake to spend on playgrounds/recreation ground, Village Hall and various sports clubs. This was agreed and the clerk will inform WODC accordingly.
6. MINUTES - Minutes of the Meeting held on 10th October 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, Traffic/Speeding, Newbridge – Mr. Naylor attended the meeting with MP re traffic/speeding. Mr. Courts was made aware of the problems and agreed that they were difficult to address but he would help with letter to OCC. Traffic calming measures were discussed at the meeting but Mr. Naylor pointed out that physical measures (chicanes, speed humps etc.) had unintended consequences such as congestion and noise affecting adjacent properties. The meeting closed after 45 minutes as Mr. Courts had another appointment.
It was pointed from the floor that a survey showed that the quickest route from Witney to Oxford was the A415 through Standlake, the second being via the Eynsham toll bridge followed by the A40. It was suggested that a start could be made in Standlake by refurbishing the entrance gates and there were volunteers to help do this. The clerk said that the gates had been surveyed and some were in a rotten state and needed more than just painting; the council has scheduled this work to start in the spring and the cost will be included in the 2018/19 budget.
Mr. Naylor said the Speedwatch team had been out again and will do so again very soon. It was also noticed that a police speed check was carried out recently on the Downs.
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.
Playground/Recreation Ground – The clerk reported that our insurers were recommending a weekly inspection of playgrounds and this be recorded to support any claims that may occur; he said in his opinion this should be done on a rota basis. There was some discussion but it was thought that this was not necessary as Mr. Pascoe already looks at the equipment on a regular basis. Mrs. Clements (and Mr. Clements) volunteered to look at the Windrush Way playground.
8. CORRESPONDENCE – letter from chair Standlake VH committee re volunteers and funding. The letter deals with two topics: a request for the council to advertise, through the minutes, the lack of volunteers to serve on the committee and a loosely worded statement on the VH financial situation. It was agreed that the matter of volunteers would be noted in the minutes and the clerk will also add this to the home page of the website. There was some discussion regarding the VH finances but in the light of the lack of detailed information, or indeed a specific request for support, it was decided no action be taken at this time; the clerk will write to the VH chair and ask for clarification. .
9.
ACCOUNTS – the following accounts were
approved for payment.
J G Le Huray –
village Xmas tree 100.00
Santander - charge for refused payment 32.00
Abs Sols - p'ground
repairs 310.89
Abs Sols - mowing 01/11 340.00
Citizen's Advice - donation 50.00
Lexis Nexis - Arnold Baker council
administration book 64.60
D C Bevan - anti virus
software 39.99
The clerk noted that interest on the deposit
account was now only 0.1% ( an average interest of
only £1.14 per month) and said he proposed to close the deposit account and
just use the current account in future. There were no objections to this and
the clerk will proceed.
10. BUDGET
2018/19 – The clerk presented the initial budget, previously circulated to
members, and said that his proposals would result in a budget figure some £1500
less than last year. This took into account a new item to cover general maintenance
plus an increase to the grass cutting budget and offset by a reduction in
recreation ground maintenance and by the removal of a provision for extra
playground equipment which was removed to the community fund: this was agreed unanimously.
Mr. Hunt and Mr. Owens proposed that, in the light
of the discussions regarding appeals against speculative development, a further
£1500 be set aside as a reserve for this purpose; this was agreed unanimously
and will result in a budget figure (and Precept) approximately the same as last
year (£25,000). The final Precept figure will be set at the December meeting.
11.
ANY OTHER
BUSINESS
– Mr. Owens has recently reported two
instances of fly tipping in Martins Lane which had been dealt with by WODC. The
clerk thanked Mrs. Clements for taking the minute notes for this meeting. He
then reminded members that the next meeting would be on 19th
December and would deal with accounts, planning and any urgent business only. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.25 pm.
...................................................................................... Chairman .................................................................... Date