Milton-under-Wychwood Parish Council Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 21 st June 2017at 7.30pm in the Village Hall Present: DCllr Haine (JH), Cllrs Pratt (JP), Rawlins (PR), Smith (CS), Chairman Trotman (CT), Young (PY); Parish Clerk: J. Miller; 4 members of the public. 1. Apologies for absence: PW due to unforeseeable transportation issues. 1 of 5 2. Declaration of Interests JH declared an interest in any matter related to planning; JP noted his interest in the planning application 17/01291/OUT. 3. Proposal to approve the minutes of the May AGM It was moved to approve the draft minutes for the May AGM. Vote taken; all in favour, motion approved. The April minutes were amended following unanimous approval to add the mistakenly omitted list of those present at that meeting. Both sets of minutes were signed and dated by CT. 4. Matters arising from the May meeting Village website: PY expressed concern about the PC maintaining editorial control over website as suggested in May s meeting for which he was absent. He considered this could jeopardise the independence of the website. JP expressed reservations if PC choose not to monitor the website content in case of misuse since it will be retaining ownership of the domain name and be responsible for the content. The PC was reminded that the decision was to review the new management after one year. It is not yet known whether the handover has taken place from Tim Jones to the new manager. Clerk is awaiting a reply from TJ. 17/01291/OUT planning application: Discussion about the short notice the PC had to respond to this application. There was differing opinions between those present and those absent at the meeting at which a vote was taken about whether the correct response was submitted to WODC but Chairman was satisfied that the PC made the best decision possible given the information available to them at the time of the meeting. 5. Public session for all items related to this Agenda None. 6. To receive the following reports: 6.1 Chairman s Report (CT) CT welcomed LL in what was her first Milton PC meeting. Village Green trees: Tree work has now finished on the Village Green including the removal of the cherry tree. This tree will be replaced with a prunus kanzan by the WI in commemoration of their centenary. Church wall: Awaiting 2 more quotes from contractors who both also suggested replacing the whole wall rather than patching to ensure a uniform look. They expect the work to take around 3 months during the summer. CT tabled the idea of considering that this work be carried out in the next year given the 6 month waiting time for a contractor. Church path: Awaiting start date from contractor. Internal audit: CT thanked the Clerk following a satisfactory internal audit and review undertaken by the Finance committee. PC website: CT thanked PY for his work on the PC website. Allotment shooting rights: Having explained the history behind the shooting rights arrangements, CT confirmed that shooting on allotments would remain prohibited. 6.2 District Councilllor s Report (JH)
2 of 5 JH informed the PC that the Local Plan would be inspected on11th July and decision would follow, though not immediately. The WODC have submitted an objection to the OCC Unitary Council bid but it is understood that a decision about the matter would be delayed several months though there is some suggestion that Unitary Council models are not currently favoured by Government. 3. County Councillor s Report (LL) LL expressed thanks to the electorate for voting her into the position. LL reported that following the recent disaster at Grenfell Tower, the fire inspection team are examining similar apartment blocks in Oxfordshire. LL has written to Highways about the flashing lights outside the primary school to clarify why they are not in use and to request a quote for new lights as well as suggesting that the savings made from the still-vacant lollipop lady position could part fund the lights. She suggested that if the Wychwood PCs could contribute, OCC could possibly match fund to cover the cost. There is discussion about the closure of the A361 over the River Evenlode, through Burford to complete essential bridge maintenance work, as well as limitations on HGV transport through this area. Opening up the floor to the public, LL replied to queries about the poor state of the Wychwood village roads on the Tour of Britain route, by saying that it would need to be addressed with the Tour organisers. Discussion will continue about alternative HGV routes and LL had been told that the vacant lollipop position is due to lack of interest rather than OCC s failure to appoint. 7. Review of internal audit 2016-17 (JP) JP reported on the review of the Internal audit (required for Annual return) circulated by Clerk. Areas reviewed included the independence, competence, effectiveness and scope of audit. The Finanace Committee met with Clerk on 15/06/17 to scrutinise the internal audit report recommendations which included the budgetary process and the format of the end of year accounts. There were no criticisms, only suggestions for improving clarity of financial processes. JP proposed to adopt the review of the internal audit. Vote taken, all in favour. Motion carried. 8. To approve the PC Insurance schedule for 2017/18 PC approval sought to approve proposed schedule but due to insufficient time to scrutinise the detail, Finance Committee sought authority from PC to check documents thoroughly and make any amendments before schedule is accepted prior to next meeting. Vote taken, all in favour. Motion carried. 9. Funding for School warning lights (CT) CT had circulated briefing notes regarding the school speed warning lights provision. It was proposed to agree in principal to make a donation equal to that proposed by Shipton PC subject to confirmation that PC have powers to incur this expenditure. 10. To approve the Community First proposal for Neighbourhood Plan package (PY) PY had circulated notes relating to the proposed CF scheme of works. PY outlined reasons for accepting the CF proposal. There was discussion about the details of the proposal, clarifying that the PC have not yet approved to proceed with the NP having only completed the initial survey to gather levels of interest and that full and comprehensive breakdown of every stage and cost related to the NP, as well as what grants will be secured is necessary. It was suggested that the appointment of CF as the provider was just one part of the process. It was therefore proposed to accept CF package as the preferred provider for the NP. This acceptance is non-contractual at this stage and is subject to further information about the grants available and the likelihood of receiving these grants which would then allow the PC to be clear on how much total expenditure will be incurred. The information gleaned will then provide the PC with sufficient information
3 of 5 to make a decision on whether to proceed with contractual agreements, as an Agenda item in July. NP committee to ensure these details are provided for the July meeting if a proposal to proceed with the NP is to be made. 11. Planning applications (PY/PW) Please refer to www.westoxon.gov.uk/planning for further details of the following applications. Proposal made to approve the applications below and vote taken: 11.1 17/01708/FUL High Fields, Church Road No objection 12. Correspondence All postal and email correspondence received was circulated to the PC prior to the meeting. Reference was made to a letter received about speeding on the Lyneham Road and it was referred to Speedwatch. 13. Village Green Tour of Britain: MSA will not cancel sports clubs meeting on the morning of the Tour of Britain cycle race which will pass through the village so that players will be able to support the cyclists. Fair: JH will confirm booking of Hatwells fair in August. Grasscutting: CS to ask KG to strim around the hard play area. Informal BMX tracks are overgrown and untidy but this appears to be discouraging use of the ramps. To be reviewed in July. Play area seating: Total cost early estimates are around 11,500 which would include youth seating area. It was suggested that an activity for youth such as a BMX track might resolve the problem of the anti-social behaviour in and around the children s play areas. Maintenance: Rocking horse needs to be repainted. CT to ask if Milton Volunteers can carry out this work. Enclosed play area equipment needs to be cleaned as well which will also be a job for MV. 14. To approve a discretionary payment to the bodies collecting funds for the survivors of the Grenfell disaster (CT)
It was proposed to offer an exceptional donation of 200 to the British Red Cross Appeal for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. Vote taken, all in favour. Motion carried. 15. Accounts (JM/JP) 15.1 To approve May income, June expenditure, and to sign cheques Expenditure was approved and it was noted that VAT for Clerk s new hardware should be recorded. Adjusted bank balance at 31 st May 2017: 107,165.67 4 of 5 June expenditure Clerk salary 644.87 PC laptop, hard drive storage, anti-virus and Office software 632.88 Clerk stationery 15.99 Lengthperson salary 190.53 Lengthperson materials 3.51 Paint for seats 21.24 Summer newsletter 62.64 Village Green trees maintenance 2,232.00 PC Website design and hosting fee 519.00 Village Hall rent 2017-18 319.00 Internal audit 2016-17 295.16 Grasscutting 1,410.00 British Red Cross appeal for Grenfell Tower victims 200.00 May income TOTAL 6,546.82 pizza van rent 25.00 TOTAL 25.00 15.2 To sign May bank statements CT signed the May bank statements. 15.3 To approve the 17/18 budget and revised 3 year rolling plan It was noted that the rolling plan budget is an estimate and not binding. It was also noted that the church wall expenditure will use a large portion of the reserves as predicted following initial estimate for work. Proposal to approve the budget with adjustments following the internal audit and updated rolling plan. Vote taken, all in favour. Motion carried. See PC website for document. 16. Public session for non-agenda items Weed spray: Clerk to inform Complete Weed Control that the fete is to take place on Saturday 1 st July. Planning application 17/01708/FUL: Neighbour informed PC that the development would affect the light on their solar panels.
Speedwatch: Faulty equipment is impeding the progress as well as the necessary visibility of the speed monitor operators which causes drivers to slow down. 5 of 5 17. Any Other Business Agenda: PY suggested a new monthly Communication item on the Agenda. Website: PY explained that he has yet to set up the function on site which records the number of hits the site gets. Asked that all documents are sent to him in pdf. or jpeg. Format with consistent titles for uploading. Tour of Britain: JP attended the first committee meeting. PC should expect a request for funding from the Tour committee towards the celebrations planned. Illegal trading: Reports of the illegal trader offering a tool sharpening service from his van on Shipton Road despite requests not to trade last summer. Cemetery: Pathways in need of weeding. Shooting rights: PR advised the PC that advice given by Bruern estates regarding the agreement between the PC and the estate for shooting rights was not quite accurate. CT closed the meeting at 9.22pm.