Parish Councillors:
- Philippa Carter
- Sandy Timms
- Mark Tribe
- Peter Rance
District Councillor:
- Tom Simcox
Parish Clerk:
- Angela Barnes
Members of the Public:
- Laurence Mellor
- Sue Mellor
- Sue Richards
- Anne Smith
- Richard Smith
- Paul Jackson
- Dick Crampton
- Rob Morgan
1. APOLOGIES:
CCllr Rodney Rose.
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING:
The recorded Minutes from the Meeting held on 9 May 2016 were agreed, duly signed, dated and filed.
3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
There were no declarations of interest.
4. CO-OPTION:
Ongoing.
5. FINANCIAL REPORT:
The Clerk reported that the bank balance was £56,393.73 and that there were no payments to approve. The Income is as follows:
£100.00 M Atwell (contribution to the stone purchased to repair the wall at the Pound)
£100.00 Village Charity (contribution to the stone purchased to repair the wall at the Pound)
£1,000.00 Village Charity (contribution towards the cost of the drainage of the cricket square /wicket)
6. COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT:
Apologies received.
7. DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORT:
Cllr Simcox reported on devolution and a document that had been prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers. He reported that this would be presented in July and would then go out for consultation for 12 to 14 weeks to parish councils and other bodies. He reported that nothing would be actioned until 2019.
8. PUBLIC TIME:
Please refer to Item No. 11 Planning
9. DEVOLUTION:
Cllr Carter reported on part of OCC’s devolution, which was to offer parish councils the option to take responsibility for maintaining their own rural verges (rural verges are outside the 30mph limit but still within the parish boundary). She reported that this was going to be a significant job, which might include maintaining the verges on –
1. The Charlbury road, B4437, both sides
2. The Chipping Norton Rd, A361, Ascott side only plus the verges alongside Pyrton Farm
3. Chipping Norton Hill from the A361 to the 30mph sign, both sides
4. London Lane from the B4437 to the 30mph sign, both sides
5. Leafield Road from the B4437 to the Parish boundary, both sides
OCC Area Steward had recommended to speak to Bob Lightfoot (WODC Street Scene) about costings and contractors able to carry out these works. Cllr Carter also consulted CCllr Rodney Rose about being allowed to take on Items 3-5 and leaving the responsibility of Items 1-2, the main highways, to OCC. Full details will be discussed in July. It had been noted that Shipton-under-Wychwood Parish Council had taken the decision not to accept OCC’s offer of maintaining rural verges.
10. MATTERS ARISING:
(a) Wychwoods Working Together – Ongoing
(b) County, District and Parish Council Surgery – scheduled for Saturday 25 June at the Swan.
(c) Church Lime Tree Project – Ongoing
(d) The Pound – Cllr Carter reported that good progress was being made and that the children from the Windrush School were working on a ‘time capsule’ to sink into the wall.
(e) Grass Cutting Contract – This was now with Cllr Carter for approval.
(f) Verges damaged by heavy vehicles – Ongoing
(d) Oxfordshire Together – please refer to Cllr Rance’s report below:
OCC Consultation with PCs on Unitary Authority Proposals – Cllr Rance attended the Witney based event on 9th June. About 40 others attended. Led by Cllr Nick Carter OCC its stated objective was to seek the best possible PCs role and influence on services provision and influence on policy decisions for a Unitary system. “Here to Listen and not to sell an OCC proposal” was frequently expounded.
Later Cllr Hudspeth OCC Chair joined the group on Cllr Rance’s table. The 4 Questions responded to were:
What is the appetite for greater control or influence in the community?
What are the barriers to control and influence t the moment?
What decisions would communities like to influence more?
How could issues of capacity be overcome?
Reaction focussed upon “one size doesn’t fit all”; Town PCs different from Village ones; some PCs might best form clusters but how will it all shake out in such diverse relationships with a Unitary Authority; key need was local influence on housing development planning; volunteer overload and need for paid professional support.
Biggest reaction was scepticism on OCC delivering to the meeting’s objectives particularly the unanimous PC view that their influence on housing development was minimal and a Unitary Authority would bulldoze their own agenda (eg Current housing expansion and Gravel extraction decisions impasse due to district Council blocking); concern over whatever model adopted the chaos during transition creating more load on volunteer councillors! Website “One Oxfordshire” exists for any new inputs welcomed from PCs.
At best the OCC will make its proposals to HMG and HMG will review credibility on many fronts along with alternative proposals (WODC’s ??) and possibly make further changes etc to them, so no implementation before 2019!
11. PLANNING:
(Including Item No. 8 Public Time)
There were no new applications for consideration by the Parish Council.
West Oxfordshire Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment 2016
Cllr Carter welcomed the public members to the meeting and reported on a letter that the Parish Council had received from West Oxfordshire District Council. This was entitled “West Oxfordshire Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment 2016.”
Cllr Carter explained to the meeting that this was not a planning application nor a full public consultation. WODC is trying to complete its Proposed Local Plan to the approval of the Government Planning Inspector. The Local Plan is the document which guides all planning decisions in the District and currently there is no definitive Local Plan in place, a situation which weakens the WODC position if a planning application goes to appeal. Before giving his approval the Inspector wants WODC to propose more homes to be built by 2031.
A proposal has been made to WODC that 2 sites in A-u-W would be suitable for development and the Parish Council was asked for comments. Immediate neighbours were approached to help with advice on site-specific issues (as opposed to general village issues).
Cllr Carter presented a working document to the meeting for discussion. This was a first draft response to WODC and included written contributions from neighbours. She invited the members of the public to ask any questions and for their input to the responses. There followed a Q & A session.
Q: Members of the public asked if the response document could be listed in order of priority?
A: This was agreed as a good idea and the priority was discussed.
Q: DCllr Simcox advised the meeting to refer to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), as well as the Proposed Local Plan. DCllr Simcox felt that the proposed Plan held more weight than the outgoing Plan even though it had not yet been fully approved.
A: Cllr Carter had already included this in the draft working document
Cllr Carter thanked the members of the public for coming to the meeting and for their input. She would finalise the document and send it to WODC.
12. RISK ASSESSMENT:
Cllr Tribe and Cllr Rance were working on this. Ongoing
13. MEMORIAL PLAYING FIELD:
(Recreation and Playground)
(a) Replacement Sign – ongoing
(b) Trellis – ongoing
(c) Handrail – ongoing
All of the above will be completed when the Sport England Drainage project is complete.
14. SPORT ENGLAND DRAINAGE:
Laurence Mellor reported that a “Deed of Dedication” for the Playing Field had been drafted and was expected to be signed this week and then completed.
15. ROADS:
(a) London Lane – to be monitored
(b) Grips – OCC Drainage Engineer has stated that they will re-cut the grips on London Lane and Chipping Norton Hill this year. From then on it will be the responsibility of the Parish to maintain them.
(c) Potholes and verge damage
16. ASCOTT-UNDER-WYCHWOOD SPORTS CLUB:
Laurence Mellor reported that the football team were Cup Winners in Division 3 and that they had given a generous donation towards the drainage scheme. Cllr Carter reported that she had completed WODC’s rate review and food safety review.
17. COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLAN:
Nothing to report.
18. HELPERS OF ASCOTT-UNDER-WYCHWOOD:
Cllr Carter reported that a team of parishioners delivered bark to the Station bank and that Pete Moss had kindly made a gate. The bark was donated by the Church after the Lime Tree Pollarding and the gate materials were paid for by a Network Rail grant.
19. TRANSPORT:
Buses:
Cllr Rance informed our regular bus users of the termination of Pulhams 33 (Burford route) service and Go Ride C1 (Charlbury Station) we 20th July.
However the Volunteer Run Villager services do have a future, albeit altered in parts –
V12 To Chippy, Fridays only, retained;
V19 to Chippy, now moved to Tues and Wed (Wed bus gives access to Chippy Market Day, as requested);
V24 withdrawn but to be replaced by introducing an Ascott stop for V20 to Witney on Thursday (gives Witney Market day access).
Villager have written to all affected PCs on their routes, inc Ascott-u-W, seeking a £600 annual grant which our PC must now decide upon (Shipton have voted in favour). After discussion, particularly about user numbers, Cllr Carter proposed that the Parish Council agrees the Villager’s request for a £600 annual donation. Cllr Tribe seconded this proposal and it was agreed unanimously. Cllr Rance was asked to stipulate to Villager that this would be reviewed annually.
Trains:
Cllr Rance reported that he attended CLPG AGM at which a depressing brief of the future objectives of GWR Franchise indicated no increase in Ascott services, indeed a “Review of Minor Stations” when the targeted accelerated, more frequent services along the line are being planned. When pressed on why and what did “Review” portend, GWR stated that they had to balance conflict of faster more frequent services with extra stops and maybe Shipton could lose some existing services in favour of Ascott! Their silence on the “Review” can only look very worrying.
Alan Field, the soon to retire GWR Cotswold Line Manager has said that he continues to press GWR for the genuine reasonable case made by CLPG for modest extra stops on existing trains for Ascott. Cllr Rance recommends PC and CLPG write to local MP (also a CLPG Vice President), GWR Franchise, ORR etc to complain.
Separately, upon an enquiry from a commuter, Cllr Rance has obtained assurance from Alan Field that the imminent introduction of new on train ticket machines, will continue to provide Railcard reductions despite being in peak hours, as an established concession given we have only one train per weekday from Ascott.
20. WYCHWOOD LIBRARY:
Nothing to report.
21. VILLAGE CHARITY:
Cllr Timms referred to the Charity’s recent meeting when it was agreed to donate £100 to the Village Pound and £1000 to the Sport England Drainage project for the cricket square.
22. CORRESPONDENCE:
Clerks & Councils Direct
23. ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
There being no further business, Cllr Carter declared the meeting closed at 10.15pm and confirmed the next meeting would be the held on Monday 11 July 2016.
Cllr Philippa Carter (Chairman)