Nash Parish Council

Minutes of the Meeting of Nash Parish Council held on Thursday 24 September 2009 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

 

Present:            Cllr A Taylor (Chairman), Cllr G F Culverhouse, Cllr B Dewhurst, Cllr D Gillow, Cllr Sir John Southby Bt, Cllr C G Tomkins, Cllr E Watts .

Apologies:        None

In Attendance: Mrs M S Hedges (Clerk), Mr Llew Monger was present for the discussion recorded in Minute 33

 

33    Pub Clubs

Mr Llew Monger, BCA Pub Club Co-ordinator, attended to explain the new Pub Club scheme and explore how it could be developed in Nash, given that Nash did not have a pub. The scheme had been conceived as a means of reducing social isolation, but was also expected to sustain rural pubs, which were often an important social meeting point in a village and a more attractive venue than a village hall.  The first lunch had been held in Whaddon and had filled the restaurant part of the Lowndes Arms.  The Great Horwood Club would have its first meeting in the Swan the following week.  Mr Monger suggested that Nash residents would be welcome to join either of these two clubs but obviously they would need transport.  NPC took the view that there was likely to be more support in Nash for the Whaddon Club, but that could cause accommodation problems in the Lowndes Arms if the Whaddon Pub Club continued to be as well supported by Whaddon. NPC also took the view that Nash residents would be unlikely to support such a club in another village without a named Nash contact.  Members of NPC said that there was already an informal group that went to a pub most weeks, and the Church organised quarterly lunches in the Village Hall which were well supported.  The Council agreed, in principle, to support the initiative.  For the next steps, Mrs Hedges would put a paragraph in the next edition of the Newsletter and, in her capacity as one of the organisers of the church lunch, invited Mr Monger to the next Weekday Lunch on Friday 13 November 2009.

 

34    Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 16 July 2009

Subject to the following changes,

·        Replacing “Saldon Chase” with “Salden Chase” in Minute 23(iii)(b)

·        Adding the words “and the response to the AVDC Local Development Framework”

the Minutes of the meeting on 16 July 2009 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

35    Matters arising from those Minutes

(i)          Bollards in Thornborough Road (Minute 21(i)): Mrs Hedges reported that Mr Gladwin had contacted her to say that vehicles encroached on the verge outside his house but the new bollards in Thornborough Road had made the situation worse. Would it be possible to ask BCC to install kerbing?  While NPC sympathised with Mr Gladwin’s position, there were other items that the Parish Council regarded as higher priority.  Mrs Hedges would tell Mr Gladwin.

(ii)        Letter from Mr & Mrs Harwood (Minute31): Mrs Hedges reported that she had written to both the Harwoods and the Wykes as agreed at the last meeting.  No formal response had been received from the Harwoods and the Council received copies of the response from the Mr and Mrs Wyke. The Council agreed that Cllr Watts should speak to a member of the Harwood family informally to ascertain whether the Harwoods were intending to move the gate further from the road.  Mrs Hedges would also ask the Wykes whether they had given a copy of their letter to the Harwoods.

 

36    Finance

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

a)     Wicksteed Leisure:   New chains and shackles for swings            £236.10

b)     EON:   New lantern for PL7 in High Street                                       £240.00

c)      NJ Blackwell Garden Services:   Grass Cutting July 09                 £220.62

d)     EON:   Electricity Supply July 09                                                          £29.12

e)     Mazars:   Audit fee year ending March 09                                        £135.00

f)        North Bucks PPC:   Annual membership to March 2010                  £20.00

g)     Acme Pest Control:   Moles in Recreation Ground                         £126.00

h)     NJ Blackwell Garden Services:   Grass Cutting August 09            £220.62

i)        Cllr Southby:   Re-imbursement materials re pump                             £4.67

j)        EON:   Street Lighting Maintenance (Qtr to 30/9/09)                        £41.25

k)      EON:   Electricity Supply Aug 09                                                         £29.12

l)        Stephen Quainton:   Painting Notice Board by Village Hall              £75.00

 

(ii)        Financial position:  Mrs Hedges reported that the funds in the Parish Council accounts were:

Current Account                                                            £59.26

General Reserve                                                     £1,807.97

Recreation Ground Reserve                                  £2,651.66

Total                                                                          £4,518.89

 

The second half of the precept should be received shortly.

(iii)      Audit:  Mrs Hedges reported that the audit for the year ended 31 March 2009 had been completed with no comments from the external auditor.  The relevant notice had been displayed and no comments received.

(iv)      Nash Newsletter (Mrs Hedges declared an interest): The Council considered a request from the Honorary Treasurer of All Saints’ Church for a contribution towards the cost of producing the Nash Village Newsletter because the residents who had copied the newsletter free of charge had left the village.  The Church was now asking for donations in respect of “commercial advertising” in the Newsletter to defray the cost. The proposal was that the Church, the Village Hall, and the Parish Council should each underwrite one third of the net cost of the Newsletter on an annual basis. The Parish Council took the view that the Newsletter should continue to be free to all residents and agree to make a contribution of up to £100 per annum towards the cost of printing the Newsletter.

(v)        Requests for donations:  Mrs Hedges reported that she had received a request from Buckinghamshire Age Concern. After noting that Age Concern was currently providing a service to some residents of Nash, and that the Council had donated of £50 in 2007 and 2008, the Council agreed to make a further donation of £50.

(vi)      Bank Mandate: Cllr Taylor proposed that the signatories for the Bank account should be changed to remove Cllr Tomkins and add Cllrs Gillow, Southby and Culverhouse. This would mean that, including himself and Mrs Hedges, five people would now be authorised signatories on the account.  Cheques would continue to require two signatures.

 

37    Planning

(i)          New Applications:  The Council noted the following new applications and the Council’s comments on them:

a)       09/01254/APP 7 Holywell Cottages, Stratford Road Single storey rear extension

No objection

b)       09/01257/ADP Yew Tree Farm, Whaddon Road Erection of two storey farm dwelling and access: approval of reserved matters of access, appearance, layout and scale pursuant to outline planning permission 09/00206/AOP No objection

c)        09/01280/APP Land to south of 33 Holywell Cottages, Thornton Road Change of use of land from agricultural use to residential cartilage No objection

d)       09/01430/APP Holywell House, Thornton Road Single storey rear extension

No objection

e)       09/01438/APP 4 Thornborough Road Erection of a detached garage

No objection

(ii)        Applications approved: The Council noted that the following applications had been approved.

a)        09/00744/APP  3 Wood End: Erection of summerhouse

b)        09/00983/APP& 09/00985/ACD  Land at 1 Wood End : Demolition of existing building and erection of detached two storey dwelling

c)         09/01156/ATC  Church Farm 4 Stratford Road: Works to maple tree

d)        09/01254/APP  7 Holywell Cottages, Stratford Road : Single storey rear extension

e)        09/01257/ADP Yew Tree Farm, Whaddon Road Erection of two storey farm dwelling and access: approval of reserved matters of access, appearance, layout and scale pursuant to outline planning permission 09/00206/AOP

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

a)         09/01280/APP Land to south of 33 Holywell Cottages, Thornton Road Change of use of land from agricultural use to residential cartilage.  The Council noted that AVDC had turned this application down because “the proposal would result in an intrusion of a domestic use into the countryside which would cause harm to the rural character and appearance of the area and would set an undesirable precedent for similar development to the further detriment of the character and appearance of the countryside.”

 

(iv)      Other planning matters:

a)  Elm Farm (Minute 54(iv)(a) of 16 November 2006): NPC had pointed out a breach of planning control because a mobile home had been located on this site.  A planning application for this home had subsequently been refused and the mobile home had been removed. Thus AVDC had closed its investigation.

b)  AVDC: Proposed Submission Core Strategy: Local Development Framework June 2009.  NPC had submitted the following comment:

Nash Parish Council notes from Table 2 within CS1 that Nash falls within the fifth tier 'other rural settlements' area.  In this respect NPC looks forward to commenting in due course once the Allocated Sites DPD has been released.

c)   Partial Review of the SE Plan: Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs:  Cllr Culverhouse reported that there had been no need for NPC to make a response. Cllr Watts said that he believed that the character of Nash would change if any land close to Nash became a gypsy site.

 

38    SE Plan/Milton Keynes Expansion/North Bucks Parishes Planning Consortium

Cllr Culverhouse said that the consortium would meet next on 13 October.  The main issues were not directly relevant to Nash.  Newton Longville Residents Action Group were meeting in relation to the Salden Chase development.  There were also new estates planned for Buckingham and Winslow.

 

39    CPRE

Cllr Culverhouse said that there was nothing to report.

 

40    Recreation Ground and other maintenance

(i)          Play Area Safety Inspection Report follow-up (Minute 26(i)): The replacement chains had been purchased and fitted. Cllr Southby reported that the main gate into the Play Area had been broken.  He was seeking a quote for repairing/replacing it.  The Council authorised Cllr Southby and Mrs Hedges to approve an appropriate quote.

(ii)        Ivy on Old Schoolhouse Wall: Mrs Hedges reported that she had manually removed the ivy from the Recreation Ground side of the Old Schoolhouse wall.   While doing this she had become concerned about the extent of the ivy on the Schoolhouse side of the wall and the damage that it was doing to the wall, which was listed. Cllr Southby agreed to speak informally to Mrs Chapman about the Council’s concerns.

(iii)      Notice Board (Minute 26(iv)): The Council noted that the Notice Board had been moved and repainted.

(iv)      Nash Village Picnic (Minute 26 (v)): Mrs Hedges reported that the relevant assurances had been received from the Secretary of the Village Hall Committee and the Picnic had taken place on 6 September.

(v)        Moles (Minute 26(vi)): Mrs Hedges reported that the Mole-man had been employed at the beginning of August and had caught six moles.

(vi)      Pump on the Village Green: Cllr Southby reported that there was leak in the lead below ground level. Further investigations would be required to ascertain the problem.  The Council noted that the pumps had been repainted.  The Chairman, the Clerk and Cllr Southby had accepted a quote of £150 for this work.

(vii)    Replacement Street Light: The Council noted that the new light had been installed on 20 July.

 

41    Buckinghamshire County Council

(i)          Buckingham Local Area Forum:  Cllr Culverhouse spoke to his written report on meeting on 17 September which had been circulated.   The Council noted the items in Cllr Culverhouse’s report.

 

The Council noted that a “parish walk” had been arranged with BCC representatives on Wednesday 30 September.  Cllr Gillow agreed to join the Clerk. 

 

It was noted that a small sub-group had been set up to discuss “rat-running” through the villages.  NPC took the view that if Graham Stewart of Whaddon was on the group there was no need for Nash to nominate any-one.

 

With regard to any possible bid under the delegated budget scheme, it was agreed to consider bidding for two salt bins – one for the south end of the High Street, and one for Thornborough Road .  Further items might be considered after the walk round the parish with BCC officers.

 

Cllr Gillow would attend the next meeting on 26 November 2009.

 

(ii)        Bus Services: The Council noted with regret the decision of BCC to withdraw the bus service from Nash, but accepted that the usage of the bus by Nash residents was sufficiently small as to make the decision understandable.  The Clerk agreed to find out more about the subsidised taxi scheme and to attend the AV Transport Users Surgery on Tuesday 6 October 2009.

(iii)      Signposts (Minute 28 (ii)):  At the south end of the village the signpost for Mursley and Little Horwood had still not been replaced despite repeated requests to BCC since the accident in January. Councillors suggested that, if no satisfaction was achieved on 30 September from BCC officers, then the matter should be raised with Cllr Rowland.

(iv)      Waste disposal:  NPC noted that Covanta Energy has been chosen as the preferred contractor.

(v)        Whaddon Chase Green Infrastructure Plan: Cllr Dewhurst reported on the workshop she had attended in Little Horwood. The maps discussed at the initial workshops had now been filled in with most of the suggestions made at that meeting.  However, the importance placed by Whaddon residents on the countryside views had not so far been incorporated, but she hoped that they would be included in the next version.  The next stage would be a joint meeting of all the Parish Councils involved.

 

42    Aylesbury Vale District Council

(i)          Visit of TUFFS (Turn up for Free Sports) 23 July and request to use Nash as a venue for the “On the Road” project (Minute 30(ii)).  Email correspondence seeking permission to use the Village Hall/car park and Recreation Ground on some Monday evenings during the winter was discussed.  In the opinion of Sandra Firth, Leader of Nash Youth Club, there was unlikely to be significant demand from Nash children on a Monday evening; and not commensurate with the work involved in making the Hall available.  Consequently the Council agreed not to accept the invitation, but to say that any offer for a Friday evening would be warmly welcomed by the Youth Club.

(ii)        Visit of Children’s entertainer (Minute 30(iii)): The Council noted that this had been a great success and the Village Hall had been full to capacity.  The good attendance was attributed to the distribution of leaflets the week-end before the event.  A note of thanks had been sent to AVDC.  Cllr Gillow was thanked for his work.

(iii)      Gambling Act 2005: Licensing Policy:  The Council noted that AVDC was reviewing its policy and that the Council has been invited to comment by 16 October 2009.  The Council agreed that any response should be prepared by Cllrs Taylor and Gillow.

(iv)      Sport, Recreation and Cultural Facilities Assessment:  The Council noted that Cllr Southby and the Clerk completed this survey about the facilities available in Nash.

 

43    Dates of meetings:  The Council noted that the remaining meetings in 2009/10 were:

19 November 2009; 21 January 2010; 18 March 2010; Annual Parish Meeting 13 May 2010.

Cllr Southby gave his apologies for the meeting on 19 November.

 

 

44    Any other business

(i)          Car parked on pavement on Stratford Road : This had been raised by a resident.  The Council agreed to ask Mrs Chaplin to raise this through the NAG. There was no restriction on parking on the road – the cause for concern was the parking on the pavement.  The Council noted that the parking on the pavement at the Pond still continued.

(ii)        Beachampton Road :  Cllr Watts raised the question of the cars displayed on the roadside on the Beachampton Road .  The Council note that the site was in Beachampton parish.  The Council took the view that the number of cars was inappropriate on a rural country road. Mrs Hedges was asked to contact Beachampton to ask what action Beachampton was taking and whether any support from Nash would be helpful.

     There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.25 p.m.

MH  29.09.09