Minutes of the Meeting of Standlake Parish Council, held in the Youth Club, Church End, on 14th May 2024 at 7.30pm

Present:

          Mr. B. Parnham               Chairman

          Mr. Rippin                      Vice Chairman

          Mrs. A. Knipe

          Mrs. J. Macdonald

          Mr. D. Jeffcoat

          Mr. B. Smith

          Mr. D. Bevan                   Clerk

 

          OCC Cllr. Mr. D. Levy, WODC Cllrs. Mr. C. Maynard, Mr. S. Cosier, Mr. & Mrs. J. Ling, Mr. C. Potter

1.         APOLOGIES –Mr. J. Clements.

2.         DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – Mr. B. Smith. regarding 24/00884/S73.

3.         PUBLIC ITEMS – no members of the public wished to speak.

4.         COUNTY and DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS Newly elected councillor Steve Cosier said he was looking forward to working with the council. He was welcomed by Mr. Parnham and the council. Please see Cllr. Levy and Cllr. Maynard’s reports attached to these minutes. It was noted a meeting has been arranged with with TW on the 20th May and a report from the meeting is looked forward to.

5.        PLANNING –

24/00511/LBC: Internal and external alterations to replace front and rear dormer windows, two ground floor and one first floor windows on northwest elevation, and a door on southwest elevation: Bracken Cottage 63 High Street Standlake: Mrs Caroline Power. Mr Jeffcoat commented that this application had been approved earlier in the day by WODC.  Therefore no further discussion or decision was needed.

24/00732/HHD: Erection of garden room/gym: 86 High Street Standlake Witney: Georgina Crumlish. No objection.

24/00884/S73: Variation of condition 2 of planning permission 20/03451/FUL to allow design changes to Plot 1. 20/03451/FUL: Construction of two, 4 bed dwellings. 138 Abingdon Road Standlake Witney: Mr and Mrs Ling. No objection.

24/00925/FUL Construction of car port. (Retrospective). The Old Bell 21 High Street Standlake Mr T Fletcher. No objection.

6.             MINUTES - Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 9th April 2024, copies of which had been previously circulated to all members, were agreed as a true record, and were signed by the chairman.

7.        MATTERS ARISING

Sewage/Flooding – Nothing further to report other than Cllr. Maynard’s report.

Roads/Speedwatch/20mph – Mrs. Knipe reported the following:  Speedwatch: During April 18 sessions were held.  153 offenders reported to TVP.  We are still seeing an average of 1% offenders in the 30mph zones but 26% in the 20mph zones with one offender recorded at 50mph. We do need additional volunteers and a recruitment campaign will take place shortly.

White Lining/Dragon Teeth Marking: OCC has confirmed that 'Dragon Teeth' lining as you come into the 20mph zones has been approved and will be undertaken shortly.

Dialogue continues with regard to other traffic calming measures but of course funding is the major issue.

Playground/Recreation Ground – Mr. Clements (not present) has identified two minor items in the Windrush Way play park; a quote will be obtained from Absolute Solutions. The clerk and Mr. Clements met with a representative of Redlynch Leisure to examine the safety surface around the climbing boulder in the Rack End recreation ground. The surface is in poor condition, much patched and it has shrunk around the edges thus causing a trip hazard. The clerk described the options for edging repair and a new surface which would not involve complete removal of the existing base and presented a quote of £3907.00 to carry out this work. This was accepted and the clerk will put a S106 request to WODC to fund the work.

Mr. Rippin said the old goalposts needed replacing with more modern posts and nets. It was agreed this needed doing and Mr. Rippin will obtain a quote.

Mr. Jeffcoat said that a panel on the roundabout in the Rack End playground was damaged and needed replacing. It is the same type of panel that was recently fitted on another part of the roundabout and Mr. Rippin was asked to order the replacement.

Environment/Nature Recovery Network - Mrs. Macdonald reported the following - Nature Recovery nationally are recommending "No Mow May" as an initiative to protect and encourage food sources for insects and invertebrates.  We would like villagers to embrace this initiative.  The Coronation planters are settling well and will be replenished with new plants shortly. LWVP (Lower Windrush Valley Project) is currently without a project officer.  Dan Levy has pursued this matter with WODC, who state that the role is being restructured, and that advertising for a new member of staff will happen soon.  The project Officer will have responsibility for managing the Bird Hides etc in Standlake and at Rushy Common. This post has been vacant for approximately 10 months, and we hope to see the post filled soon. Dog/litter bins are now being emptied on a regular basis. The village litter pick produced 30 sacks of litter and Mrs. Macdonald thanked all who took part – 30 residents in all.

Car Park – Mr. Parnham noted that the police had increased the frequency of vehicle patrols in response to his request.  After discussion it was decided that no further action was needed at this time, but the matter will be kept under review. Regarding the surface at the entrance to the car park, no further action was possible yet due to the continuing rainy weather, but this will be kept under review.

8.         CORRESPONDENCE. – no correspondence.

9.         ACCOUNTS – The clerk reported that the accounts were in a satisfactory condition and within budget.

Received: Precept 1st Half -£15,000; WODC S106 grant for playground repairs and refurbishing. - £904.76

The following accounts received were approved: (paid*)

Amazon - speed gun case                                               £25.94*

Absolute Solutions - playground refurb                       £904.76*

Absolute Solutions - mowing                                        £370.00*

C Cleland - churchyard mowing                                    £372.50*

Absolute Solutions – mowing                                       £370.00*

10.       AUDIT FY 23/24 - The clerk formally presented the Annual Governance and Accountability Report (AGAR) which had been distributed to councillors beforehand. This was accepted unanimously, and the relevant sections were signed by the clerk and the chairman.

11.       VILLAGE HALL S106 MONIES – As Village Hall representative on the council, Mr. Jeffcoat presented a list of proposed future expenditure on improvement projects at the Hall. He asked the council for their support in approaching WODC to ascertain if any of the proposals would qualify for support from the S106 money allocated to Standlake. It was agreed that this be done, and the clerk will liaise with Mr. Jeffcoat in approaching WODC.

12.       WRITE OFF OLD LAPTOP The clerk asked the council to approve the write off of the old laptop which has been replaced. This was agreed unanimously.

13.       SCOUTS FIREWORKS SATURDAY 2 NOV 24 Request to hold this annual event was approved unanimously subject to the usual conditions.

14.       DATE OF NEXT MEETING - Mr. Parnham said that the next meeting will be held in the Youth Club on Tuesday 11th June 2024 at 7.30 pm.

15.       There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.20pm.

 

Chairman   ....................................................................  Date …………………………………………………

 

County Councillor’s Report – Dan Levy.

Spring appears finally to have arrived, after what seems like non-stop rain.

Can I take the opportunity to thank everyone for voting in the district council elections on May 2, and welcome Steve Cosier as your new district councillor alongside Charlie Maynard. Lysette Nicholls was an excellent champion for residents in her 4 year term, and I am sure Steve will live up to her example.

Roads The dry weather means that much needed work can be done, and there will be a set of road closures and road works. I know that there are numerous areas where road surfaces need to be fixed, and there is a huge backlog. As you may recall, we estimate it would cost in excess of £40m per annum just to keep things from getting worse. We have received approx. £22m from central government, added an additional £5m in the recent County Council budget, and so there is still a large annual shortfall. Please keep reporting on FixmyStreet.

We are still waiting for confirmation of funding from government agency Homes England for the HIF2 scheme for the A40. Unfortunately, the previous administration assumed that this funding would automatically appear at the same time as funding for the “Science Corridor” which paid for the Park and Ride. It has not. No County Council council taxpayers money has been spent on the Park and Ride.

In order to complete the Park and Ride, and build the bus lanes, we need government to step up. It is clearly extremely annoying to have the P&R nearly complete but unusable, but the buck stops at Whitehall.

Strategic Active Travel Network OCC has approved its map for a ‘Strategic Active Travel Network (SATN)’. The map anticipates key direct walking and cycle routes between settlements in Oxfordshire and

towns/villages in neighbouring counties. Cabinet approved progressing to ‘stage 2’ – translating the straight-line network into on-the-ground alignments, design and costing. An example is ensuring that there is a useable, direct, safe route between Brize Norton and Witney, which is currently a scary prospect for people who would prefer to cycle.

Vision Zero. Mission to eliminate road deaths: A package of measures aimed at eliminating deaths and serious injuries on Oxfordshire’s roads by 2050 (‘Vision Zero’) have been approved. Each 2 year there are currently approximately 30 deaths and 245 serious injuries on Oxfordshire’s roads. The programme has £4 million in funding for projects to be delivered by 2026.

Community transport grants 2024-25: OCC is inviting parish/town councils to bid for community transport grants from a pot of £150,000. Applications from successful bidders in 2023- 2024 will not be considered to give opportunity for other areas to benefit also.

Oxford United Stadium: ‘Heads of terms’ and subsequent legal agreements have been agreed between Oxfordshire County Council and OUFC for the lease of land near Kidlington owned by OCC and proposed to be the site of OUFC’s new home. This was not a straightforward negotiation as we needed to ensure the club could never again face the sort of situation that it and other clubs have faced when the playing and ownership interests are separated. The club has made a number of valuable pledges to the community and these have been included in the contracts. The next step is for the football club to get planning permission from Cherwell District Council.

As ever, please contact me with any queries, issues, complaints and anything else.

 

District Councillor’s Report – Charlie Maynard

Local district election results Thank you everyone who voted on May 2nd. The results were as follows:

Steve Cosier                     Liberal Democrat            860

Lysette Nicholls               Conservative                    672

Marion Harley                 Labour                              97

Alma Tumilowicz             Green                                48

 

I’m delighted that Steve won and that the Standlake, Aston and Stanton Harcourt ward now has two Liberal Democrat councillors. We will both do our very best to serve you all. I’d also like to give Lysette my thanks for her good work to everyone in the ward over the last three years. It’s highly likely that alliance between the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens will continue. We believe that residents support having parties and councillors working together to achieve results.

Chapel Lane Many congratulations to everyone who gave input into the proposal to build at Chapel Lane. Particular congratulations to Paula Gaffney for her intelligent and resourceful approach of digging boreholes and renting an automated water logger which took water level readings every 15 minutes, 24/7. This was key to the decision made and I expect will now be replicated in many other places.

Thames Water We will be meeting with them on Monday 20th May. A key priority is to get some better feedback to our questions than we have to date and to get a date set for monitors to be added throughout the Standlake catchment. That will not be easy.