Nash Parish Council
Apologies:
Cllr Sir John Southby Bt
In
Attendance: Mrs
M S Hedges (Clerk); Mr John Hamilton (Tree Warden, for Minute 62)
Mr
Hamilton said that he wished to discuss with the Parish Council what the role of
the Tree Officer should be. To what
extent did it involve the planting of new trees or the preservation of existing
trees? Many of the trees in Nash
were on private land – there were a limited number on land owned by the Parish
Council. After a wide ranging
discussion, the following points were made:
·
It would be good to monitor trees
on building sites – there had been instances where the roots of the trees had
been cut causing damage to the tree. Where
trees were cut down as part of building works, or for other reasons, then the
Tree Warden should check whether, in due course, a replacement tree had been
planted.
·
It would be good to monitor
instances of sudden oak death
·
It would be good to identify cases
where ivy growth was excessive and likely to cause damage to the trees in the
hedgerows. The landowners should
then be approached with the request that they remove/cut back the ivy.
·
The Tree Warden should monitor the
trees on the Recreation Ground and the Village Green where the Parish Council
was the landowner.
The Parish Council agreed
that it would be good to know whether the option of planting trees by the path
down the Pond would be allowed by BCC. The
Clerk said that BCC was normally concerned about whether the tree roots would
affect underground services, whether they would affect vision splays at
junctions and bends and on the likely need for future maintenance.
As the vision splay argument would not apply in this case, Nash Parish
Council agreed that to approach BCC to see whether, in principle, they would
permit the planting of a row of trees on the path to the Pond.
The Minutes of the meeting
on 15 November
2007 were approved as a correct record and
signed by the Chairman.
64
Matters arising from the Minutes
(i)
Motocross activities at Barnhill
Farm (Minute 52(i)): The Council noted
that there had been exactly 14 motorcross events during 2007.
The number of 4x4 events that had been logged was only 10, but it was
thought that not all such events had been noted.
The Council agreed that it was the motorcross events that were a nuisance
to Nash residents and agreed to continue to monitor the situation.
(ii)
(iii)
Emergency Plan (Minute 52(iii)): Cllr
Gillow reported that the Emergency Plan was now complete and copies were with
himself and Cllr Southby. However,
the personal circumstances of the Emergency Planning Officer had changed and it
was not clear how long she would be able to continue to in this role.
The Clerk was asked to speak to her to see whether the Council should be
looking for a replacement Emergency Planning Officer.
(iv)
(v)
Parking at the Pond (Minute
52(iv)): The
Clerk reported that she had written to the owners of Corner View Cottage and
they no longer parked their vehicles on the pavement.
(vi)
Reeds at the Pond (Minute 52(v)):
The Council noted that the work
had not been done. The Council agreed to decide at its next meeting whether to
withdraw the contract from Mr Madkins. Cllr
Watts agreed to try and obtain a third quotation for the work.
Cllr Taylor reported that BCC had provided documents that confirmed that
the Parish Council had been made owners of the Pond and the Village Green in
1979.
(vii)
Drainage of water from the Pond (Minute 52(vi)): The
Clerk reported that she had contacted the Waterhouse’s land agent, Mr Johnson,
because the work on clearing their ditch had not been done either.
Mr Johnson had promised to investigate.
Cllr Watts said that he had compared the area of the pipes under the
(viii)
Internet
connection for the village (Minute 61): Cllr
Gillow reported that 42 residents had signed up to the proposal from Briteyellow
but that firm had been unable to obtain the necessary loan finance to install
the infrastructure. This meant that
this option was no longer possible. The
planning group was meeting shortly to consider the options and other possible
suppliers of broadband to the village.
(i)
Payments authorised/approved:
The following payments were authorised/approved:
(ii)
Financial position:
Cllr
Current
Account
£424.47
General
Reserve
£4,954.32
Recreation
Ground Reserve
£97.93
Total
£5,476.72
(iii)
Grant from AVDC:
Cllr Taylor tabled a letter
from the grants officer at AVDC confirming that Nash would, exceptionally,
receive its grant of £1,347 towards the cost of the new equipment in the
playground notwithstanding the fact that the expenditure had been committed
before the grant application had been considered.
Nash Parish Council agreed to apologise to AVDC for its misunderstanding
of the rules, to thank them for making the grant nonetheless, and to give an
assurance that the correct procedure would be followed on any future occasion.
(iv)
Precept:
Cllr
(v)
Requests for donations:
Cllr
(vi)
Annual Accounts of village
societies:
Cllr Taylor reported that he had now received audited/inspected accounts
from the Church and the Youth Club. The
accounts from the Village Hall Committee were awaited.
After Cllr Taylor had explained his understanding of the position, it was
agreed to contact the Secretary of the Village Hall Committee.
(vii)
Annual Donations: (Mrs Hedges declared an interest in the Church)
The Council discussed the annual donations to Village Societies and
agreed the following:
Youth
Club
£75
All
Saints Church Burial Ground
£50 + special grant of £500 towards the cost of rebuilding the
churchyard wall.
(i)
New Applications: The Council noted the new
applications and the comments made on them as follows.
a)
07/02887/APP
3 Wood End: Erection of stables and a haybarn:
No objection
b)
07/03023/APP
The Barn at the Rectory,
(ii)
Application approved: The Council noted that the
following application had been approved:
a)
07/02887/APP
3 Wood End: Erection of stables and a haybarn
with minor modifications.
(iii)
Application refused: The
Council noted that the following application had been refused:
a)
07/02372/APP
Elm Farm,
(iv)
Other planning matters:
Cllr
There was nothing to report.
(i)
Repairs
following the Play Area Safety Inspection Report (Minute 57(i)):
Cllr Gillow reported
that the work on the new gate would await the better weather.
(ii)
Seat on path to Pond (Minute
57(v)): Cllr Gillow reported a
request from Mr Grievson to contribute to the cost of renovating the seat in
return for the seat having a plaque in memory of his late wife Val.
The Council accepted the request with pleasure.
The quotation for the repair of the seat had been £290.
Cllr Gillow agreed to discuss the donation and the wording on the plaque
(which the Council would pay for) with Mr Grievson. (Post
meeting note: Mr Grievson has made a
donation of £300.)
(iii) Grass Cutting arrangements for 2008: The Council considered the three estimates that had been received. The Council noted that the quotation from Countrywide undercut that from Blackwell’s by a significant margin and that the Clerk had clarified that the estimates had been prepared on a like-for-like basis. The Council was reluctant to move from Blackwell’s because of their good service for many years. Nevertheless, the Council had a duty to obtain value for money with Nash’s precept. The Council agreed to enquire whether Nigel Blackwell could reduce his quotation and, if not, to take up references on Countrywide from some of their existing local clients.
(i) AV Local Committee: 17 January 2008: Cllr Culverhouse said that Nash had sent apologies to this meeting because it was the same night as the Parish Council. There had been nothing particularly relevant to Nash on the agenda.
(ii) Condition of the road outside Pond Hose, Greenside etc and repairs to the Green: The Council noted the poor state of the road outside Pond House, Greenside etc as a result of the number of heavy lorries making deliveries to Little Acre while the building work was being done. As this was an adopted road the Parish Council agreed to ask BCC to repair it properly (and not just fill in the pot-holes).
.71
Aylesbury Vale District
Council
(i) Local Area Agreement: Consultation on priorities for Buckinghamshire: Cllr Gillow agreed to help the Clerk to prepare a response to this document.
(ii) Electoral Register: The Council noted that the new Electoral Register was now available.
The Council agreed to organise another litter collection and agreed that the date should be Saturday 8 March, starting at 10am. Cllr Gillow would organise on the day. Cllr Culverhouse would liaise with AVDC over borrowing litter pickers and subsequently collecting the rubbish. Mrs Hedges would advertise it in the Newsletter and buy the black bags.
(i)
Next
meeting: In view of the fact
that Easter was early this year, the Council agreed that its next meeting should
be on 13 March 2008 (Instead of 20 March 2008).
MH 23.01.08