Parish Councillors
- Philippa Carter
- Sandy Timms
- Peter Rance
- Brian Leach
- Pauline Plant
County Councillor
- Liz Leffman
District Councillor
- Jake Acock
Parish Clerk
- Angela Barnes
Members of the Public
- Richard Smith
1. Apologies
None
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting
The Minutes recorded from the virtual meeting held on 11 May 2020, were approved as a true record and will be duly signed, dated and filed when actual meetings resume.
3. Declarations of interest
None
4. Financial Report
Bank Balance £54,566.71
Income
05/06 Andrew Smith Allotment Rent £10.00
05/06 Peter Greening £10.00
Expenditure
0/05 Zurich Insurance £1950.67 200137
02/06 A Barnes expenses £22.50 200138
02/06 S Fox Stamps £7.32 200139
28/06 A Barnes June Salary £227.96 200140
30/06 HMRC PAYE £57.00 200141
03/06 P Carter (Sadolin & tape) £48.90 200142
Bank Statement reconciliation
This was circulated to all councillors prior to the meeting and was duly agreed and signed by Cllr Timms. This would be filed with the recorded minutes accordingly.
Financial Regulations
To be carried forward to the July meeting.
S.137 Expenditure
The S137 allowance per elector this year stands at £8.32. There are between 460 and 470 electors depending on whether you count those who are registered but not always resident. Calculating with the number 460, the PC S137 allowance this year totals £3,827.20.
5. Reports from County and District Councillors
CCllr Leffman reported that Charlbury were looking forward to the 20 mph speed limit being implemented. She reported on the Covid-19 Track & Trace not being clear in Oxfordshire. Cllr Leffman reported that OCC had given £500 to the Wychwood Primary School to purchase 3 tablets for children in need to access online schooling.
DCllr Acock reported that a full council meeting had been held virtually, which had gone very well.
7. Public Time
Please refer to Item No. 9 (b).
8. Planning
20/00340/FUL – Withdrawn
19/02811/FUL – rejected. Developers have 6 months to consider an Appeal, which is until 12 August 2020.
9. Matters Arising
(a) Footpaths
Gerald Simper (Cotswold Warden) agrees with the opinion of the Parish Council that the gate should stay and will contact the farmer of the field (Mr Izod) to make reparations to the fence. The OCC Rights of Way Dept is aware and gave this advice –
‘If there is a problem with broken fencing or a gate that needs repairing then this can be reported here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/environment-and-planning/countryside/countryside-access/public-rights-way/report-footpath-issue Landowners are responsible for the maintenance of gates and stiles on their land and we cannot force them to remove a gate if they do not wish.’
Stuart Fox has reported that Holy Trinity church is close to deciding on a contractor for the public footpaths through the churchyard but not for the paths leading to the church door. Because of the constraints of S137 and PC concerns about possibly needing to support the Village Charity with financial help for any residents left in very difficult circumstances because of Covid-19, it has been agreed with the Rev Abrey that the PC will delay its promised grant until the financial situation becomes clearer. The vicar fully understands fully and agrees with this decision.
(b) Neighbourhood Plan (NP)
Cllr Leach reported on the online training which he attended and which he felt was very worthwhile. He reported that the course was 2 hours hosted by Neil Homer who had been involved in 100 different cases and presented numerous of these to the candidates attending the online training session.
Cllr Carter has contacted residents at Ascott Earl whose property is just over the Parish border into Shipton and those who have responded would like to be included. Cllr Carter has spoken to the Chairman of Shipton Parish Council who will consult with colleagues and Cllr Carter has offered to attend their next PC meeting to take questions. D Cllr Acock has offered to support her in this. Cllr Carter has also emailed to ask for advice on the boundary issue from WODC.
Resident Richard Smith attended the meeting and has offered to be part of the steering committee for the Neighbourhood Plan. With his planning law experience, he was able to expand on the information that Cllr Leach reported.
All agreed that the next step must be to consult residents through an introductory questionnaire and a date was fixed for an online meeting to create a document. Cllr Carter asked colleagues to send their own suggestions of Frequently Asked Questions which might be used in such a document.
10. Risk Assessment and Ground Maintenance
Thank you to resident, Richard Squires, for renovating both benches in the Pound.
There has been a complaint about the noise of strimming and mowing the playing field but the resident has been assured that this particular time was unusually long and is unlikely to be repeated very often, if at all. The contractor is aware.
The spring Risk Assessment was updated by Cllr Carter (working alone during Covid-19) and it has been included in the Audit documents.
11. Community Emergency Plan
Cllr Carter responded to the letter sent to all households from the WODC Support Team. She informed them of the work that the village volunteers had been doing and the contact details for the PC and shop. The Government announced that Playing Fields could be opened but not playgrounds. The Sport and Leisure Dept of WODC advised on the safest way to isolate the playground and this was duly done. Also the Parish Council recommended that the whole Memorial Playing Field should be locked from 8-30pm- 8.30am and Cllr Plant agreed to take on this responsibility. Resident Chris Badger has inspected the site for the salt store with a view to starting work imminently. This will allow the area around it to be tidied up finally. Cllr Carter met with resident, Carol Anderson, who feels that her back garden is too exposed, particularly to stray balls and players trying to retrieve them. A meeting was duly held and solutions agreed.
12. Transport
Buses
WOCT are about to survey their membership and supporters views on when and how and what, to begin to plan a reintroduction of their services. Meanwhile, naturally since March their service has been completely shut down.
Trains
Clearly no Halts service yet. However, CLPG are making suggestions to GWR that given the longer term impact of social distancing upon the current 2 car dmu provided for it, to now offer an alternative service using the existing 5 or even 9 car IEPs. At CLPG request, Cllr Rance has provided a short commentary for their next members journal, repeating the desire for a most modest service frequency increase, perhaps to match that long established for Shipton, but also including the important rider that some villagers are naturally concerned that an increased service could accentuate our existing problems of car parking were passengers to come from outside the village.
13. Roads
The Highways team was thankful for the feedback following their road repairs.
Hedge Cutting – Cllr Rance has emailed the Cornbury Estate contact to alert them to the pressing need to trim back the growth on the field hedge opposite the Green which is severely affecting the footpath at a most dangerous location given passing road traffic. This is an annual occurrence, but needed a few weeks earlier this year, maybe due to the wet spring?
14. Allotments
Cllr Leach reported that the damaged dog litter bin was irreparable and so it was unanimously agreed that WODC should be asked to replace it. Cllr Carter suggested that the site should be marked for WODC contractors to install the new bin in a location where it would not be so vulnerable to cars. Cllr Leach will liaise with Stuart Fox.
15. Reports from Organisations
Sports Club
The cricket club is now allowed by the Government to practice in the nets, 6 players at a time and so they plan to start regularly on Tuesdays. The cricket captain has been working hard to get the square up to scratch.
Members of the committee have been discussing ways of using some of the WODC grant money for the long-term benefit of both players and ground. 2 projects which appear most pressing are:-
- more drainage at the top right hand corner where ground water rises if the water table is high
- extending the rabbit proof fencing
This is being discussed with Mark Firmin who has worked on the ground previously and has been very reliable.
Village Charity
Nothing to report.
Wychwood Library
Nothing to report.
16. Correspondence
OCC Cycleways & Footpaths to be cleared
Melvina Fawcett Organister & Trustee North Oxfordshire Foodbank
Carol Anderson – willow fencing adjoining recreation ground
OALC update
Post
None received
17. Any Other Business
There was no AOB to report.
There being no further business, Cllr Carter declared the meeting closed at 9.00pm
Cllr Philippa Carter (Chairman)
Date: Monday 13 July 2020