Minutes of a meeting of the STANFORD IN THE VALE PARISH COUNCIL held on Tuesday 5th April 2005 in the Millennium Hall.

 

There were no questions from Parishioners but Cllr.Gill asked that he might comment before the meeting that he thought that the Chairman was over verciferous when speaking to Councillors. The Chairman  disagreed , with the support of the Councillor concerned. Chairman explained that he acted to remain within and comply with law and the matter had concerned finances. Cllr.Gill said he was quite happy with the finances but felt it was not necessary to raise voices.

 

Present:          Mr.P.G.McMorrow(Chair)               Mr.P.Gill

                        Mrs.G.McMorrow                             Mr.M.Mullen

Mr.M.Isaacs                                      Mrs.L.Miles

 

                              Mr.R.Sharp(District Councillor) Mr.D.M.Dew(Clerk)      

 

  1/04/05   Apologies: Mr.S.Bambury(Business)          Mr.G.Hughes(Medical)

                        Mr.B.Burls(Private)                  Mrs.F.Shires(Holiday)

                        Mrs.A.Fitzgerald-O’Connor(County Councillor)

                        Ms.C.White(Internal Auditor)  

 

2/04/05   Declaration of Interest by Councillors on any Agenda Item

 

            Cllr Isaacs – Item 8 Planning

 

3/04/05   Minutes of Meeting 2nd February 2005

 

                        Present – delete Mrs.L.Miles

            6/02/05 bullet point 8 change to AERIAL

            8/02/05 Change to PLANNING

            Following these amendments

            ON THE RESOLUTION OF Cllr GILL

            SECONDED BY Cllr Mrs McMORROW

            IT WAS RESOLVED that the minutes be approved and signed as a true record

 

4/04/05   Report of County Councillor

 

            Nil

 

5/04/05   Report of Clerk

 

·        Another dog owner has been reported for not bagging dog mess

·        Radio waves – Numerous incidents reported of non starter cars, car alarms, loss of TV reception. It was suspected that “radio hams” were the problem. They are aware of the feeling in the village and are attempting to resolve the problem before someone “ takes the law into their own hands”. The Government Agency concerned can only act upon disrupted Radio/TV reception as can the District Council environmental officers.

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·        Reports that dog owners are entering the recreation field via the Football Club double gates which are often left open during the week.. The Dogs Prohibited signs have disappeared from this gate.

·        Despite several requests there is an outstanding account with Uffington Juniors FC for hire of floodlights amounting to £98. There is a legal obligation upon councils to collect money outstanding and this has now had to be carried over as a debit from last years accounts. It was approved that a final letter be sent to Uffington Juniors FC prior to any legal action.

·        Accounts 2004/05 now closed surplus of £5900 compared to the previous year deficit of £19800

·        Hills , through Oxfordshire CC had provided a very comprehensive report regarding the proposed extension of Bowling Green Farm Quarry. The Chairman and Clerk gave a précis of the proposal and commented that Hills had always been exemplary within their operations at this site.

 

5/04/05   Report of Chairman

 

·        16 May 2005 reception at Defence Academy Shrivenham. Will attend along with others who wanted to attend

·        Internal Auditor has almost finished the accounts

·        The Government appointed Auditor has requested a statement of accounts

·        Salaries – new legislation had set guidelines for Clerks salary. For Stanford this equates to over £22000 per annum according to OALC. The Clerk has refused to accept this increase for the good of the village and has opted to accept the £1000 pa that was budgeted.. Councillors agreed that the amount budgeted should be paid and Cllr Isaacs proposed a vote of thanks to the Clerk for this action. Proposal seconded by Cllr Miles and carried. Clerk thanked Council for the increase and repeated that there was no way in which he would have burdened the parish with the recommended increase.

·        Damaged verges – Cleanaway  deny responsibility – Clerk to contact District Council again

·        Forest Green – Provision of dog/litter bins, seats, playarea responsibility of David Wilson Homes – Clerk to contact

·        Apology regarding play equipt. The Puppet should be a Crazy Springboard

·        Complaints regarding vans parking on pavements causing restricted passage for elderly  – Huntersfield/Glebe Road – Clerk to contact PC Holder

·        Due to the proposed extension of Bowling Green Farm Quarry a grant from Hills had been applied for in respect of financial compensation

·        Best Kept Village Competition – a year book is being produced containing 100 best villages in UK – Stanford has made it to the last 150 so far and expects to be in the final line up.

·        Sponsorship – M.Cox  will be providing diesel for the mowers along

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 with Cobra Pumps.. M.Cox (Challow Garage) Challow Station will also

 be providing the servicing of the mowers and the Council’s gratitude is    extended to these companies.

·        Attended OPFA seminar at Steeple Aston where huge amounts of earth had been moved to counteract a slope in recreation ground. The FC paid £40 per match. An amphitheatre had also been built.

·        Had mentioned this due to the fact that developers wished to develop Old Mill Nursery Site and were seeking the support of the Council. It was a 9 acre site of which 3 ½  acres were marshland. There was a possibility that there could be something in planning gain for the Parish such as office space , secure storage.

Cllr Gill said that due to previous complications regarding this site , discussions should involve the whole of the Council

Cllr Isaacs wanted to know what is in it for the village

 

Cllr Miles reported that the “Life Education Van” required financial help in order to visit local schools. It dealt with drug problems etc. It was suggested that any donation from the PC would be small as it was taxpayers money, but that the Public Purposes Charity should be approached

Cllr Gill spoke about the damage/ruts as previously mentioned and that the Handyman had expressed his concerns. His estimate of monies remaining for skatepark equipt.was £3000 although the new equpit suggested was £2000 leaving £100 for future projects. Chairman said following discussions with skateboarders perhaps there should be discussions with them before purchasing new equipt.

 

7/04/05   Correspondence

 

·        Vale of WHDC – Tree work approval

·        Vale of WHDC -  Naming & Numbering Mill Farm

·        Vale of WHDC – Parish Boundaries – not affecting Stanford

·        DEFRA – Quality Parishes

·        British Legion/Churches Together – New format for Remembrance Services

·        Independent Advice Centre – Disappointment at not receiving a grant – Decision reiterated

·        Parishioner – Unable to deliver Parish Newsletter due to disagreeing with “naming and shaming” article – Council had approved the article

 

8/04/05   Planning applications

 

            District Councillor left the meeting during this discussion

STA/7904/30 Land East of Ware Road SIV – AH Willis and Sons Ltd – Erection of B2 and B1 industrial development with ancillary offices with builders yard and parking – No objections but consideration be given to landscaping. bund due to closeness of village and the tarmacing of service roadsDCHH  

 

 

 

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ON THE RESOLUTION OF Cllr.Mrs McMORROW

SECONDED BY Cllr.GILL

IT WAS RESOLVED that this decision and those of the delegation committee be approved

 

9/04/05   To approve monthly statement of accounts

 

            ON THE RESOLUTION OF Cllr ISAACS

            SECONDED BY Cllr MULLEN

            IT WAS RESOLVEDC that the accounts be approved

 

10/04/05  To authorise accounts for payment                               April        March

 

            D.M.Dew                                 Salary & Expenses                   822.18      669.96

            J.Northcote                              Salary                                       124.80      124.80

            Allianze Cornhill                        Mower Ins                               202.08

            OALC                                     Membership Fee                      361.98

            Cotswold Playgrounds  URC VAT                               437.50      587.00

            D.Rolls                         Salary                                       158.63

            R.Dew                                     Computor                                                  637.72

            Handy                                      Litter Picker                                               21.95

            Viking Direct                            Office Supplies                                96.26        ORCC                                     Best Kept Village                                    12.00                               

            ON THE RESOLUTION OF Cllr  Mrs McMORROW

            SECONDED BY Cllr  GILL

            IT WAS RESOLVED that the payments be approved

 

11/04/05 Report of District Councillor

 

Disappointed with budget cuts, services being cut, loss of bus tokens. He was not aware that DC would not give grants for play equipt. Cllr.Gill questioned the grant of £400000 towards Abbey Gardens Abingdon. Cllr Sharp said that this was the new leaders first budget and the finances differed by £2 million to the forward plan. Would the government proposed Senior citizen free travel have to be financed by DC ?

Cllr Isaacs asked if anyone had “ fallen on a sword” because of the changes Cllr Sharp said as reported before there were changes loss of 2 directors, 4 assist directors

 

12/04/05   Recreation and Leisure report

 

  • Goal posts will be ordered this month
  • Grass cutting has started again and I will assist D.Rolls as necessary but primarily on the Recreation Field
  • I have discussed the issue of litter collection at the Recreation Field with the Clerk – Ms Northcote should be checking each week

 

 

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  • Cllr.McMorrow will be able to give us an update on the timescale re:the Youth Shelter improvements and the aerial runway
  • The Football Club has asked to place a container on the edge of their car park area to store equipment during renovations of the Club House. I have said this will be in order as long as they keep areas tidy and safe for the general public
  • If there are any idea/changes you would like to see implemented please let me know

 

13/04/05   Date of next meeting

 

            27th April 05                 Annual Parish Meeting

 

            11th May 05                 Annual Meeting of Parish Council

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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