Minutes of the Wardington Parish Council Meeting

Location:  Wardington Memorial Hall

Date: Tuesday, 10th January, 2017 (7:30pm)

In Attendance: Mr M Patterson, Mrs A Pasco, Mr G Martin. Mr I Franklin, Mr A Crossley.  Mr K Atack (District Councillor), Mr B Jarrett (Clerk)

Parishioners: Ms J Funnell

Apologies: Mr N Bankes, Mr K Atack (for late arrival)

 

In the absence of Mr Page (Chairman), Mrs A Pasco was elected to chair the meeting.

 

1.    Minutes of previous meeting. (22th November, 2016) Approved and signed.

2.    Matters arising from previous minutes.

2.1 HS2 Update

Mr Patterson reported that the House of Lords Select Committee had issued a ‘Special Report’ in December 2016 but there had been no specific mention of Wardington, However, the report contains general mention that consideration must be taken in regards to traffic, especially noise and pollution. The HS2 Action Group will keep in close contact with OCC Highways on any developments.

2.2 Insurance Issues – Public liability

Mr Jarrett reported on the issues of  public liability raised at the last meeting. He had spoken with the WPC insurers about the ‘pond’. The Insurers confirmed that unless the WPC have openly declared responsibility for the pond then in the case of any accident  there is no public liability cover under the WPC insurance. This ruling is the same for the footpath between Williamscot and Cropredy.

3.    Planning

New:

1.    16/00352/TCA – Mr Jon Oakey, Rose Cottage, Upper Wardington.                                                                                Fell one tree.- WPC NO OBJECTIONS

2.    17/00002/TCA – Mr Nigel Bankes, Home Farm House, Williamscot                                                                                 Fell two Sycamore trees. WPC NO OBJECTIONS

3.    17/00003/TCA –Village Spinney, Cropredy Lane, Williamscot.                                                                                       Fell six trees and reduce crown on seven other trees. WPC NO OBJECTIONS

CDC Decisions:

1.    None.

4.    Finance.

4.1 Invoices – Cheques for authorization.

100859            Wardington Memorial Hall – Room Hire                      £39.00

100860            Diane Malley – Payroll Services                                  £34.00

100861            Eoscapes Landscaping – Grass Cutting                    £942.30

100862            Clerk’s Pay – Dec 2016                                              £346.69

100863            PAYE – Dec 2016                                                        £86.60

 

An Order Acknowledgment has been received for a new Dog Bin for the price of £201.18 including VAT.

 

4.2 Quotation for new notice board.

Mr Jarrett said he has received a quotation from Greenbarnes Ltd., for a new notice board, to replace the old one near the Plough Inn, of £1,258.98 plus VAT. Although Greenbarnes had supplied Wardington with notice boards in the past Council agreed they needed two additional quotations before making a decision.

 

4.3. Parish Precept 2017-2018

It was agreed by council to set the Parish Precept back to the 2015-16 level of £12,000 for the financial year 2017-2018. The increase of £10,000 last year was for the agreed funding of the HS2 petitions and although all of this amount had not yet been spent, activities were still on-going and any surplus monies would be used to reduce the precept for the following year 2018-2019. Council again thanked the parishioners for the increase and their support over the campaign to restrict the HS2 construction traffic.

 

4.4 Playground 200 Club draw.

100638            £20      Mrs Z Morgan

100639            £10      Mrs N Reynolds

 

5.    New Business – None

6      A.O.B.

6.1  Correspondence.

6.1.1      Cluster Care Group

The parish council has received a letter from the Cluster Care group requesting a donation. It is likely that they could lose all of their funding from Social Services in the next year and needed to raise funds in order to continue. Ian Franklin gave council an overview of their services to local parishioners. Council felt that they needed further information in respect to the group’s financial situation so that if the group is to continue, they can make a more informed  decision to the size of any donation. Council agreed that it be deferred until the next meeting.

6.1.2      Parking in Thorpe Road

At long last we had received a quotation from OCC Highways to develop suitable additional parking off road in Thorpe Road Upper Wardington. The quotation of £16,454.57, comprising of concrete grass blocks on parking areas, was considered too expensive by OCC Highways and they suggested that we proceed, as we initially requested, to install plastic type grasscrete using our own resources.

6.2  Bus Services

Mr Atack announced that there was to be a meeting at his house on 9th January with a representative of County Connect public transport bus service to explain their operation to the cluster group of parishes. This may provide a solution since the local bus services no longer exist. He said that subscription for each parish would be £400 annually, it was a bookable service, depending on availability, fares were in line with normal bus services and bus passes were accepted. Mr Patterson pointed out that as Wardington still has a bus service we would not subscribe to such a scheme. However, Mr Atack requested that the parish should be represented at the meeting.

6.3  Street Lighting.

Mr Franklin said that he had received a complaint about the street light on the corner of the A361 and the turn to Upper Wardington that was flashing on and off. This will be reported on FixMyStreet.

6.4  Stile on Footpath

Mr Franklin reported that part of the stile on Footpath 25, from the Edgcote Road towards the Thorpe Mandeville, has been chewed away by horses. This will be reported to the appropriate authority.

6.5  Dog Fouling

Mr Patterson asked what action had been taken following the last meeting. Mr Jarrett said although the decision was to write to the dog owner, that Mr Page (chairman) had spoken to them directly and warned that if the problem continued they would be reported to the Dog Warden.

6.6  Footpaths and Verges

Mr Patterson raised the issue that the condition of some of the footpaths and verges needed attention and that we had a duty to keep up the appearance of the village.

6.7  Drain Grids and potholes

Ms J Funnell pointed out that  some of the drain grids in Thorpe Road we blocked and need cleaning out. Also that a Cheney’s coach regularly parks in a gateway to a field at the top end of the village in Thorpe Road. This has caused a large pothole that needs filling with rubble and she expressed that the parking of the vehicle should be discouraged.

 

The meeting closed 9:00pm

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, 14th February, 2017 at 7:30pm in the village hall.