Nash Parish Council
Present:
Cllr A Taylor, Cllr G F Culverhouse, Cllr E Redshaw (for part of the
meeting), Cllr Sir John Southby Bt, Cllr E Watts, Cllr L York.
Apologies:
Cllr B Wyke
19
Discussion with PCSO Alex Trevino
Cllr
Taylor welcomed PCSO Trevino. PCSO
Trevino reported that the two recent fires were being regarded as arson and had
caused major damage to the two sites, which were derelict sites visited
infrequently. The police had no
current leads on who might have started the fires and would welcome any
information that Nash residents could provide.
There had also been one reported theft from a motor vehicle in June and
one in July. Although these figures
were higher than usual for Nash, they were still low in terms of the overall
police statistics. There was little
further that could be done at this stage, except ask residents to be vigilant
and report anything unusual. This would be mentioned in the next edition of the
Newsletter.
Councillors
also raised the question of parking in the village.
There were three cases where cars were regularly parked on the road or
partially on the pavement where, in the Council’s view, this caused a hazard,
either for a pedestrians (e.g. with a pushchair) or would impede a large vehicle
such as a fire engine. PCSO Trevino
agreed to investigate.
20
Co-option of a councillor
Mrs
Redshaw left the meeting. On a
proposal by Cllr Taylor and seconded by Cllr Southby, the Council agreed to
co-opt Mrs Redshaw to the Council. Cllr
Redshaw then rejoined the meeting, signed the declaration of office, and was
welcomed as a member of Nash Parish Council.
21
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 19 May 2011
These
were approved and signed by the Chairman.
22
Matters arising from the Minutes
(i)
Website (Minute): Mrs Hedges reported that a resident had contacted Mr
Taylor and offered to help with the website.
Despite several exchanges of voice-mail messages Mrs Hedges had not
spoken directly with the resident concerned, but would keep trying.
The Village Hall and the Church would be consulted about any proposals
for changes and no expenditure would be committed without further discussion
with the three main contributors to the web-site.
23
Finance
(i)
Payments
authorised: The
following payments were authorised/ approved:
AON:
Insurance 1/6/11 to 31/5/12
£808.51
EON:
Electricity Supply May 11
£24.12
EON:
Electricity Supply June 11
£22.99
EON:
Street Lighting Maintenance (Qtr to 30/6/11)
£41.25
EON:
Two replacement street lamps
£550.20
I
T Watts: Footbridge
repair/install bench
£624.26
NJ
Blackwell Garden Services:
Grass Cutting May 11
£234.80
NJ
Blackwell Garden Services:
Grass Cutting June 11
£234.80
Playsafety
Ltd: Playground
inspection report
£78.00
(ii)
Financial position: The
Council noted that the total funds in the Parish Council accounts at 13 July
were:
£
Current
Account
227.96
General
Reserve
5,763.22
Recreation
Ground Reserve
3,655.67
Total
9,646.85
The
figures included the sum of £64.20 received in respect of Wayleaves.
They excluded the donation to Community First Responder which had
been deferred until September/October when Yannek would actually start.
He had had to wait until he was eighteen, and then he had to do several
training runs with an ambulance crew before he would be allowed to be on call.
(iii)
Requests for donations: The Council considered a request for a donation from the
Buckingham and Winslow District Citizens Advice Bureau. After noting that, for
some years, the Council had made a donation of £50, the Council agreed to make
a further donation of £50.
(iv)
Insurance:
The Council
noted that the insurance cover had been taken out with Allianz through the
brokers AON.
(v)
Signatories on
the bank account: Mrs
Hedges reported that David Gillow was no longer a signatory on this account.
The remaining signatories were Cllrs Taylor, Southby and Culverhouse and
Mrs Hedges.
(vi)
Future of Local Public Audit:
Cllr Taylor reported that the government had been consulting on possible changes
to the system of Local Public Audit. The
Chairman prepared a response on behalf of NPC which had been submitted before
the deadline of 30 June.
24
Planning
(i)
New
Application: The
Council noted the following new applications:
a)
1/01370/ALB & 11/01371/APP
Tithe Cottage Demolition of external
storage area and erection of single storey front and side extension. The Council
agreed to offer no objection to these applications but to ask that the new
external walls should match the existing house.
b)
11/01402/ATC Tithe Cottage Fell
4 Trees and work to remaining trees: the
Council agreed to offer no objection.
(ii)
Applications
approved/refused: None
since the last meeting
(iii)
Other planning matters:
a)
10/00680/APP Land opposite Causter
Farm, Nash Road, Great Horwood (Minute
9(ii)(a)) Change of use of land from agricultural use to use as a residential caravan
site by stationing on the land of 11 mobile homes in residential use, 11 touring
caravans, 11 utility dayrooms and associated roadways, hardstanding and drainage
works.
The
Council noted that the Appeal against AVDC’s refusal of planning permission
had been fixed for 27 September in Aylesbury and could last for four days.
Mr Collings could not attend for the whole time but would be there on 27
September. The principle players in
the Appeal were the appellants and AVDC. But
it was important that Nash (and Great Horwood) were represented.
Mr Collings suggested that Nash should prepare a petition for Nash
residents to sign to show that the strength of feeling within the village about
the unfairness if this development were to be approved was undiminished.
It would not be appropriate for many residents of Nash to speak at the
Appeal – the petition and short statements by the Chairman and Mr Collings
should be sufficient. Mr Collings
suggested that photographs be obtained to show how different the Nash Park site
site was from those at Turweston and Gawcott.
The Council thanked Mr Collings for his advice.
The case that AVDC had brought in respect of the believed
breach of the injunction (by replacing touring caravans with static caravans)
was due to be heard in the High Court on 22 July.
b)
Application
11/00181/APP: Mrs Hedges reported
that the decision on this application had been delegated to officers.
It was anticipated that the application would be determined shortly, with
the officers refusing the application.
c)
Mobile
home in the field adjacent to the gypsy site: AVDC had informed Mrs Hedges that the caravan was being used as a
rest/refreshment facility for the owners when they were on site, and not as
a residential unit. The use of the caravan was ancillary/related to the lawful
use of the land and as a consequence did not require planning permission.
d)
Church
Farm: AVDC had informed Mrs Hedges
that there were planning and listed building appeals pending regarding
AVDC’s non determination of applications submitted by the owner for extensions
to the property, which AVDC considered could not be determined because the house
had been demolished so there was no building to extend. There was also an
enforcement appeal pending regarding the owners demolition of the house and the
construction of foundations and a slab.
e)
House
at the roundabout on the A421: The
house had been built at variance to the approved details and AVDC had advised
the owner that as built it was unauthorised, and that as it stands planning
permission would not be granted for its retention. Accordingly the owner had
been advised that it should be demolished or an application submitted for
its retention in a modified form. In AVDC’s discussions with the owner it
had been intimated that he would be pursing the latter course.
f)
Consultation
on Planning for Travellers’ sites:
The Council noted that NPC’s response had been submitted on 5 July.
The clerk had collated the suggested comments from councillors and the
final submission had been approved by the Chairman. (After submission it had
been discovered that the consultation period had been extended by four weeks.)
g)
The
Vale of Aylesbury Plan: Possible Nash Neighbourhood Plan:
Cllr Taylor reported that he, Cllrs York and Wyke and Mrs Hedges had met with
two planning officers on 24 May to discuss what would be involved in the
production of a neighbourhood plan. He
and Mrs Hedges had subsequently attended a drop-in session in Winslow.
On both occasions it had been suggested that Nash fete would be a good
opportunity in which to seek views of Nash residents.
Cllr Taylor had manned a stall at the fete but had been disappointed by
the relatively small number of people who had come.
The comments made about the good things and bad things about Nash and the
two written suggestions had been summarised by Mrs Hedges and circulated with
the agenda.
Some years ago, Nash Parish Council
had sought volunteers to help prepare a parish plan but none had been
forthcoming. The recently circulated
parish toolkit about how to prepare a parish plan implied a substantial
commitment of resource that seemed disproportionate to NPC’s view that only
very modest development would be appropriate in Nash in the planning period up
to 2031. There were likely to be
some “infill” houses, and it could be expected that a planning application
for the Church Farm site would be submitted during that period.
The Council agreed that it would be
appropriate to hold some kind of open afternoon/evening in the autumn at which
villagers could be asked for their views.
Buckingham Town Council had
approached Nash with regard to involving Nash in the preparation of
Buckingham’s Town Plan. It was not
clear what Buckingham envisaged. It
was agreed that Mrs Hedges would contact them and ask for more information,
saying that they could include an article in the Nash Village Newsletter if they
wished.
With regard to the specific points
raised at the fete, NPC was sympathetic to the need for smaller houses in Nash
for single older people and for first time buyers.
Cllr Southby reported that Village Networks expected to be able to
increase the speed of their broadband to Nash shortly.
With
regard to the suggestion that nets be put on the goal posts it was noted that
the goal posts had still not been repainted and were in a poor condition.
Cllr Watts was asked to ask Ian Watts to inspect the posts and comment as
soon as possible – Ian had not undertaken the painting which he had been
contracted to do and it might be that a more substantive repair was required, or
that NPC should be planning on replacing the posts in the near future.
It was suggested that the Drivers be consulted about why the goal posts
hadn’t had nets when they were first purchased.
h)
AVDC
Planning Reference file: Cllr Taylor
reported that an updated version of this had been received and would be kept for
reference by Mrs Hedges.
25
North Bucks Parishes Planning Consortium
Cllr
Culverhouse reported on the meeting on 14 June and made the following points:
·
The University of
Buckingham was expanding its number of students and it seemed likely that
Buckingham would expand considerably during the planning period.
This was a matter of concern to Buckingham Town Council.
·
The planning
appeal for the Shipton site just outside Winslow had been unsuccessful.
·
The new Mayor of
Winslow, Cllr Llew Monger believed that Neighbourhood Plans were important.
·
NBPPC was
submitting a response to the latest consultation by MK Council on its
sustainability appraisal of reasonable alternative sites.
There was no need for Nash to submit a response independently.
·
AVDC and BCC were
opposing the HS2 proposal and would assist with any objections that a parish
council wished to make.
·
There were a
number of experimental wind farms within the North Bucks area.
26
HS2
A
draft response had been prepared incorporating the comments of councillors.
The Council approved the draft for submission (due by 29 July)
27
Recreation Ground and other maintenance
(i)
Play Area Safety Inspection Report: Cllr
Southby reported on the latest Play Area Safety Inspection Report.
There were a number of small items which had already been taken care of.
With regard to the concrete pipes and the bar at the bottom of the
scramble net, these were items that were mentioned every year.
The Council agreed that, as the risk factor identified in the report was
“low” in each case, no action was required since these were good play items
for the children.
(ii)
Youth Club Bench: The Youth Club had now purchased a bench (identical to the Tomkins
bench). The Council agreed that the best place to locate it would be near where
a tree had been felled a few years previously.
Cllr Watts was asked to ascertain whether Ian Watts would be able to
concrete in the bench at an early date; if this was not possible then
alternative contractors would be approached.
(iii)
Fence by the Pond: Cllr Taylor reported that he had discussed the damage to the fence with
the owner of the new house that was being built.
The owner had taken responsibility for ensuring that the fence was
repaired.
(iv)
Tomkins bench: Cllr
Southby said that he would install the paving slabs in front of the Tomkins
bench shortly.
(v)
Fire Hydrants: Cllr
Watts expressed his concern at the problems that the Fire Brigade had had in
getting sufficient water pressure to deal with the fire on the land near his
property. The water had had to be tankered to the site.
The Council took the view that this could have been serious if the fire
had been on Cllr Watts’ property. Mrs
Hedges agreed to write to Anglian Water to ask that they check that there are
sufficient fire hydrants in Nash and that the existing hydrants have adequate
water pressure.
28
Buckinghamshire County Council
(i)
Buckingham Local Area Forum 30 June:
Mrs Hedges tabled a note of the meeting prepared by Cllr Wyke. The
Council noted that it had been successful in its bid for the salt bin on the
Whaddon Road. The Council agreed that the bin should be located on the north
side of the road, where there was a recess off the road that had previously had
a seat. There was no information
about a replacement for the Salt Bin in the High Street which was damaged.
The Council noted that the next LAF meeting was on 29 September 2011.
(ii)
Minor highways repairs: The Council noted the report of Mrs Hedges’
meeting with David Hedley, the new Local Area Technician which had been
circulated. The Council was pleased
that a number of the action points had already been completed.
The Council was particularly pleased with the resurfacing of Thornborough
Road and the road markings to inhibit inappropriate parking outside the Village
Hall. Mrs Hedges was asked to convey the Council’s thanks to BCC.
With
regard to the triangle at the junction of the Winslow Road and the Little
Horwood Road opposite the entrance to Nicholl’s Wood Farm, the Council agreed
to keep the situation under review. The
Council did not favour the proposal to reseed the area and insert kerbing.
It was desirable for some hard core to be added to the cut through so
that it was less dangerous for pedestrians and for cars – Mrs Hedges reported
that a car using the cut through had over balanced after hitting one of Anglian
Water’s hydrants and up-ended in West View’s ditch, requiring a tractor to
rescue it.
(iii)
Proposed Lists of Local
Requirements for the validation of planning applications.
The Council noted that this extensive consultation document was available on the
web. As the nature of the planning applications that were determined by BCC
rarely affected Nash directly, Cllr Taylor said that there was no need for Nash
to comment. Mrs Hedges was asked to
keep a paper copy on file.
(iv)
Chapel Lane Hedge: Mrs Hedges was asked to
contact BCC about the need to cut the hedges on either side of Chapel Lane.
29
Aylesbury Vale District Council
(i)
Village Freighter Service: The
Council noted that the Freighter service had visited on 7 July. There had been
some comments that the skip had been filled with non-household waste.
Further discussion with those involved indicated that only household
waste had been deposited in the skip and that while it had been well-filled
there did not appear to have been any-one who had been unable to put rubbish in
the skip. Mrs Hedges would make it
clear in future that only household waste should be put in the skip.
(ii)
Review of Polling Districts and
Polling Places: The Council noted
that it had agreed by circulation to respond by saying that it was satisfied
with the current arrangements for using the Nash Village Hall.
Cllr Southby reported that Nash Village Hall had also been consulted and
had responded that it was happy with the current arrangements.
(iii)
Allowances for Parish and Town
Councillors:
Cllr Taylor reported that AVDC was conducting its four yearly review of
allowances. NPC did not currently
pay allowances to its councillors and he did not propose that this should
change. The existing rules for the
payment of expenses would continue.
30
Nash Allotments Committee: Trustees (Cllr Watts declared an interest)
The
Council noted that the five existing members were due to retire but had
indicated their willingness to be re-appointed.
They are Mr T E Watts, Rev J F King, Mr T H Eggleston, Mrs S J Denne, and
Mr D J Weatherhead. The Parish
Council agreed to re-appoint the five trustees for a further period of three
years.
31
Dates of meetings
The
Council noted that the dates of the remaining meetings in 2011/12 were:
2011:
15 September; 17 November;
2012:
19 January; 15 March: 2012
Annual Parish Meeting: 10 May
Cllr Southby gave his apologies for the meetings on 15
September and 19 January.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.30 p.m.
MH/22.07.11