Nash Parish Council

Minutes of the Meeting of Nash Parish Council held on Thursday 18 September 2008 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

 

Present:              Cllr C G Tomkins (Chairman), Cllr G F Culverhouse, Cllr Sir John Southby Bt, Cllr A Taylor .

 Apologies:          Cllr D Gillow, Cllr T Shadbolt, Cllr E Watts .

In Attendance:   Mrs M S Hedges (Clerk).

 

36    Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 17 July 2008

The Minutes of the meeting on 17 July 2008 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

37    Matters arising from those Minutes

(i)          Planting of Trees on the path to the Pond (Minute 20(i)): The Council noted that the proposed meeting had still to be arranged.

(ii)        Motocross activities at Barnhill Farm (Minute 20(ii)): Mrs Hedges reported that Mr Lowe had contacted her to say that the national event that started early on a Saturday morning would take place on 20 June 2009.  She also reported that Mr Lowe had said that he would give her the expected dates of the 14 motocross events for 2009 about Christmas.    In response to a question from Cllr Taylor. Mrs Hedges said that she had nothing further from Mr Dales of AVDC.  She would endeavour to have more information for the November meeting.  Cllrs Southby and Culverhouse said that on the last occasion of the motorbike events there had also been loud music for part of the morning.

(iii)      Village Hall Improvement Plan (Minute 20(iv): Cllr Southby reported that the work was very nearly complete with some minor points still to be completed.  WREN had proved to be very slow in paying the builders which was unfortunate.  The official opening would be on 4 October with John Bercow MP.  Until the final cost of the current work was known, the Committee was not ordering the blinds or the new chairs in order to retain some emergency funds for the Village Hall, but some more fund-raising events would be required.  The Village Hall Committee was thanked for its work in improving the amenities of the village.

(iv)      Emergency Planning Officer (Minute 20(v)): Mrs Hedges reported that nobody had volunteered to be Nash’s Emergency Planning Officer.  Councillors agreed to consider possible names and to discuss the matter further at the next meeting.

(v)        Waste from Church Farm (Minute 26(ix)): Mrs Hedges reported that a temporary solution to the problem had been implemented pending the move of the horses to new stables.  Cllr Southby said that the problem continued to annoy some residents, particularly after heavy rain.  The Council agreed to monitor the situation.

(vi)      Replacement Street Lights (Minute 27): Cllr Southby reported that the new brackets and lamps had been installed.  Mrs Hedges reported that she had written to ask for the appropriate change to the Council’s electricity charges for its unmetered supplies and was awaiting a response.

(vii)    Whaddon Heating Oil Consortium: Cllr Culverhouse reported that the Consortium was now up and running with some 60 members from Whaddon and 20 from Nash.  The saving on the first order bought through the consortium had been £34 per 1000 litres of oil.

 

38    Finance

(i)          Payments authorised/approved:  The following payments were authorised/approved:

a)     Eon, Electricity supply July 08                                                             £25.56

b)     Eon, Electricity supply August 08                                                         £25.56

c)     NJ Blackwell Garden Services: Grass-cutting, July 08                        £212.20

d)     NJ Blackwell Garden Services: Grass-cutting, August 08                    £211.80

e)     I T Watts Installation of New Bench, Recreation Ground                     £300.00

f)    ABB Ltd: Replace photocell, Lamp No 8                                            £23.00

g)     Eon:  Updating of four street lamps                                                    £980.00

h)     NBPPC: Annual subscription to 31.03.09                                            £20.00

i)     Mazars: Audit Fee                                                                            £135.00

j)    TwentyTwentyMedia Ltd                                                                    £70.00

 

(ii)        Financial position:  Cllr Taylor reported that the funds in the Parish Council accounts were:

Current Account                                                                  £228.35

General Reserve                                                               £2,516.37

Recreation Ground Reserve                                              £2,117.30

Total                                                                                 £4,862.02

The Council had received of £500 from VAHT Community Chest for the reed clearance from the Pond.  The second half of the precept would be received shortly.

(iii)      Audit:  Cllr Taylor reported that the audit for the year ended 31 March 2008 had been completed with no comments from the external auditor.  The Council agreed to thank the internal auditor Mr Kelsey for his work. 

(iv)      Requests for donations:  Cllr Taylor reported that he had received requests from Age Concern, Buckinghamshire, and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance Trust.  After noting that Age Concern was currently providing a service to some residents of Nash, and noting the usefulness of the Air Ambulance in the case of an accident in a rural community the Council agreed to make a donation of £50 to each organisation.

 

39    Planning

(i)          New Application:  The Council noted the following new application:

a) 08/01722/ATC  All Saints’ Church, Stratford Road : Removal of two cypress and one horse chestnut.  NPC had made no objection

(ii)        Application approved: The Council noted that the following application had been approved.

a)   08/01722/ATC  All Saints’ Church, Stratford Road : Removal of two cypress and one horse chestnut.

(iii)      Application withdrawn: The Council noted that the following application had been withdrawn:

a) 08/01398/APP  Land at 1 Wood End : Demolition of existing dwelling and erection of detached dwelling in enlarged residential curtilage.

(iv)      Application refused:  The Council noted that the following application had been refused:

a)   07/01800/APP  Elm Farm, Stratford Road : Siting of mobile home for residential use – retention:

(v)        Other planning matters:

a)   Partial Review of the SE Plan: Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs:  The Council noted that a public consultation document has been received with a response deadline of 21 November.  The Clerk agreed to look out the Council’s response to an earlier consultation and to prepare a response in consultation with a few councillors.

b)   Causter Farm:  Mrs Hedges reported that concern had been raised that this was now being used as a dwelling.  She agreed to contact AVDC Development Control.

 

40    SE Plan/Milton Keynes Expansion/North Bucks Parishes Planning Consortium:  Cllr Culverhouse tabled copies of the summary of the revised changes that had been prepared by BCC.  The numbers of houses proposed for Newton Longville had not changed.  There would be a meeting in Newton Longville on 13 October and the NBPPC would meet on 15 October to prepare its response by the deadline of 24 October.  The Council was pleased that the Government had accepted the principle of expansion east of the M1 but noted that MK Council did not support such a development.  The Council further noted that the numbers of new houses in the Report were minima and subject to review.  However, the current slowdown in the housing market might delay the figures being revised upwards.

 

41    CPRE:  The Council noted that nobody had been able to attend the AGM of the Buckinghamshire Branch on 23 August.

 

42    Recreation Ground and other maintenance

(i)          Play Area Safety Inspection Report follow-up (Minute 26(i)):  Cllr Southby reported that John Hamilton had done some repair work to the safety surface of the roundabout but had pointed out that a more substantial repair was needed.  Cllr Southby and the Clerk would investigate possible contractors.  Cllr Southby reported also that there had been an act of vandalism in that a fence panel had been removed and used to lift part of the safety surface near the swings.  The fence panel had been replaced.  In the short term the damage to the safety surface was minor and did not require further action.  The contractor employed to renew the safety surface for the roundabout would be asked also to quote to repair this safety surface.

(ii)        Seat in the Recreation Ground (Minute 26(ii)): The Council noted that the seat donated by Graham White had been installed.

(iii)      Reeds at the Pond (Minute 26(iv)):  Mrs Hedges reported that the bid for a grant of £500 from AVDC had been successful. In view of the inclement weather the deadline for reporting on the use of the grant had been extended to 24 October.  The Council agreed that, in addition, the vegetation should be removed from the ditch between Wood End and the Winslow Road .

(iv)      Nash Village Green (Minute 26(v)): The Council discussed the various items in the Clerk’s report about possible works on the Village Green.  The Council agreed to ask John Hamilton to remove the lower branches of the five trees.  Unless he had strong objections, the Council would prefer to pay him for the work leaving him to decide whether or not to donate his fee to the church.  With regard to other works, the Clerk agreed to consult BCC to see what chance there was of BCC resurfacing the road outside 7-13a Winslow Road in the near future as that could affect what the Council agreed to get done.  When that information was available the Clerk was asked to arrange a site meeting of a few interested councillors.  In relation to adding extra wooden posts to stop vehicles encroaching on the Green, it was suggested that some of the local farmers might have old fence posts that could be cut down.

(v)        Pump on the Village Green (Minute 26(vi)):  Cllr Southby reported that David Weatherhead had attempted to mend this pump as it only appeared to work when the water level was high.  He now believed that there was a hole in the lead casing and the pump would have to be dug up to effect a repair.

(vi)      Parking at the Pond (Minute 26(vii)): Cllr Culverhouse reported on his discussions with Mr Hedges of Corner View Cottage.  Although the need for three cars to be parked outside Corner View Cottage was temporary, it was a situation that was likely to continue for some months at least.  Unless the owners of Corner View Cottage put one car in their garage, or remodelled their garden, it was not possible for them to park all three cars on their land.  After discussing the problem at some considerable length, and reviewing the various safety and amenity angles, the Council agreed that the current procedure of parking the third car half on the pavement and half on the road was probably the least bad solution.  The Council agreed to consider the matter further when information had been obtained from BCC about the requested resurfacing of the road outside 7-13a Winslow Road .

(vii)    Additional Equipment in the Recreation Ground (Minute 33): Mrs Hedges reported that this was another item that had not been progressed during the summer.  She had obtained a list of possible funding sources for grants that could be useful in due course.  Cllr Southby said that he believed that there was room for additional equipment within the fenced off area.

 

43    Buckinghamshire County Council

(i)          Local Area Forums:  Mrs Hedges reported that the first meeting of the Winslow Area Forum had taken place on 16 September.  Nash was not a member of this forum but was entitled to send a representative to meetings if there were matters of relevance to Nash.  Nash was included in the Buckingham Local Area Forum and Cllr Gillow would attend the first meeting on 25 September. 

(ii)        Aylesbury Vale Transport Users Group Meeting:  9 September:  Mrs Morgan had attended this meeting.  Because the Nash/Buckingham bus then went on to Brackley, there seemed no chance of having a bus to Bletchley or Milton Keynes one day a week.

(iii)      Mobile Library Services Review:  The letter, dated 12 August, announcing the outcome of the review, had been put on circulation.  The proposed change to lunchtimes on Wednesdays would be convenient for the three regular users of the service.  It was regrettable, but understandable, to have the service reduced from fortnightly to every four weeks.

(iv)      Delegation of services to town & parish councils attached: The Council noted the letter on this topic that had been circulated.

(v)        LTP2 2008 Progress Report Consultation: The Council noted that the consultation process on the Local Transport Plan had started and ended on 17 October.  The documents were available online at www.buckscc.gov.uk/transportreports. In addition the Buckinghamshire Air Quality Action Plans are being integrated with the LTP. Details are included in Appendix B of LTP2 Progress Report 2008.  The Clerk agreed to look at them and see if there were any implications for Nash.

(vi)      Footpaths: Mrs Hedges reported that Footpath No 2 had been cut on the Monday following the meeting.  She had therefore waited sometime before contacting BCC about the footpath beside the Stratford Road (Ladies Walk).

 

44    Aylesbury Vale District Council

(i)          Fundraising Training for the voluntary and community sector in Aylesbury Vale: The Council noted that details of these courses had been received.

 

45    Buckinghamshire Community Action

To note that BCA have again offered help in preparing a Parish Plan/Community Appraisal.  The Council noted that previously no-one had volunteered to lead such a project.  Each village organization was planning its own development and the Village Hall improvement plan was an excellent example of this.

 

46    Nash Village Website:  Mrs Hedges reported that, at an early stage of their involvement with Nash, Village Networks had offered to host the village web-site without charge.  However, Village Networks had not been approved as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for web-sites with a “.gov” domain name. After discussion with Village Networks, the Clerk had agreed to continue with the existing provider, TwentyTwentyMedia Ltd, and the registration of the name of the web-site had just been renewed for two years from 21 September. 

Cllr Southby said that Village Networks had offered to install a connection in the Village Hall so that any-one with a wireless enabled laptop could access the internet from the Hall.

 

47    Circulated Documents: The Council noted that the following documents had been circulated since the last meeting:

·                    AVDC News from the Parishes, No 5/2008

·                    Letter from ABB Ltd announcing the sale of its highway lighting business to E.ON UK

·                    BCC New Deal for Buckinghamshire.

·                    ASC Prevention Strategy Newsletter

·                    BCC Buckingham Area Newsletter

·                    AnglianWater Report on drinking water quality

·                    Update from BCC about its Waste Disposal Strategy

 

48    Dates of meetings:

The Council noted that the remaining meetings in 2008/09 were:

 20 November 2008; 15 January 2009; 19 March 2009

Cllr Southby gave his apologies for the meeting on 20 November.

 

     There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.40 p.m.

 

MH  22.09.08