Nash
Parish Council
Present:
Cllr A Taylor
(Chairman), Cllr G F Culverhouse, Cllr B Dewhurst, Cllr D Gillow, Cllr Sir John
Southby Bt, Cllr
Apologies:
Cllr C G Tomkins
In Attendance: Mrs M S Hedges (Clerk)
The
Minutes of the meeting on 21 January 2010 were approved as a correct record and
signed by the Chairman.
(i)
Annual Donations (Minute 58(iv)): Mrs
Hedges reported that an independently examined set of the Youth Club Accounts
had still not been received for the financial years ending in July 2008 and July
2009. The Council agreed to remind
Mrs Firth again that no grant from Parish Council funds would be made to the
Youth Club until those had been received. The
Council also agreed to consider at a later meeting how long it would keep the
expected grants in reserve.
(ii)
Litter Collection on 20 February
(Minute 65): The Council noted that
this had been well attended, but cans continued to be found in the ditches,
probably thrown from passing cars.
(iii)
Buckinghamshire Community Action (Minute 66): The
Council noted:
a)
that the
changes outlined in Minute 66 had been approved.
b)
that a request to visit and explain the parish
planning process had been received but that such a visit had been deferred
meantime, in the light of the lack of response for volunteers to serve on a
planning project group in 2006/07 and the expected lack of response if another
attempt were made now.
c)
The Council had been invited to attend the Inaugural
BCA Community Led Planning Recognition Awards in Hazlemere on Thursday 25 March
but agreed not to send a representative.
(iv)
Motocross
activities at Barnhill Farm (Minute 67): The
Council noted the log of events prepared by Cllrs Southby and Taylor.
The Council noted that the events had not been as intrusive as in
previous years and agreed to continue to monitor the situation.
(i)
Payments authorised/approved:
The following payments were authorised/approved:
EON:
Electricity Supply, Jan 10
£27.80
EON:
Electricity Supply, Feb 10
£27.80
Acme
HM Revenue & Customs: Tax
on Clerk's salary
£263.24
Mrs M S Hedges: Clerk's
salary 2009/10 less tax
£1,352.96
Mrs M S Hedges: Clerk's
expenses 19/03/09 to 16/03/10
£89.46
The repayment of VAT totalling £641.28 for the period 1.03.09
to 28.02.10 had been received.
(ii)
Balance on the Accounts: The Council noted that the balances were:
Current
Account
£89.41
General
Reserve
£3,308.53
Recreation
Ground Reserve
£2,652.12
Total
£6,050.06
(iii)
Requests for Donations: No requests had been received.
(iv)
Risk
Assessment Procedures:
The Council reviewed a summary of the current insurance schedule and
agreed that, when the appropriate inflation factor was applied, it would be
appropriate for the coming year, which was the third year of the three contract
with Came & Co. The Council noted further its requirement for a risk
assessment to be carried out for any event held on its property – usually the
Recreation Ground – and that it commissioned an inspection of the play
equipment in the Recreation Ground each year. After discussion, the Council
agreed that its risk assessment procedures were satisfactory.
(v)
Signatories on the Council’s bank account:
There had been no communication from HSBC about the additional signatories that
the Council had agreed should be added to the account.
Mrs Hedges and the Chairman would follow up.
(i)
New/Revised Applications: The
Council noted the following new applications and the comments it had made on
them:
a)
09/02401/APP
& 09/02431/ALB
b)
10/00084/APP Elm
Farm,
c)
10/00012/ALB
Church
Farm,
d)
10/00067/ALB Church
Farm,
e)
09/02311/APP Church
Farm,
f)
09/02380/ALB Church
Farm,
g)
10/00244/ATC
h)
10/00276/APP 36
Holywell Cottages: Front,
rear and first floor side extension Nash Parish Council does not object to the
principle of this house being extended and is content to leave to AVDC what is
acceptable in a rural community in the light of the relevant planning policies.
(The previous application 09/02398/APP
had been refused by AVDC.)
i)
10/00445/APP Brakes Farm, Thornborough Road Erection of
agricultural building No objection provided the building is used for
agricultural purposes only. (The
previous application 09/02438/APP
had been refused by AVDC.)
In connection with the applications in respect of Church
Farm, Mrs Hedges reported a request from Mr Lascelles that the Council write a
letter of support to AVDC in respect of his application.
The Council took the view that it would be inappropriate to comment
further on the Church Farm Applications – NPC left the details of applications
and listed building consent to AVDC.
(ii)
Applications
approved: The
Council noted that the following applications had been approved:
a)
09/02401/APP
& 09/02431/ALB
b)
10/00084/APP Elm
Farm,
c)
10/00244/ATC
(i)
AVDC: The
Council noted that, after taking advice from NBPPC and noting the comments made
by the Newton Longville Action Group, Cllr Culverhouse had prepared responses to
the consultation documents on Salden Chase and Conservation Areas and had
advised that there was no need to respond to the document on the Aylesbury Growth Arc. The Council thanked Cllr Culverhouse for his
work.
(ii)
Cllr Culverhouse said that there
was nothing to report at this meeting.
(i)
Fencing of the Play Area (Minute 62(ii)):
Cllr Southby reported that, on a number of occasions, some fence panels had been
broken by children playing in the Recreation Ground.
These had been repaired. It
was agreed that some more replacement panels should be obtained so that future
repairs could be effected quickly.
(ii)
Moles in the Recreation Ground
(Minute 62(iii)): Mrs Hedges reported
that Acme Pest Control had been employed again to kill the moles in the
Recreation Ground.
(iii)
New Play
Spaces Workshop
(Minute
62(iv)): Cllr Dewhurst reported on
this workshop that had involved visits to six different play grounds in
·
Bark or grass
growing through mats was now recommended as the preferred safety surface
·
It was not
regarded as obligatory to fence in Play Areas
·
There were health
and safety concerns about having sandpits especially in unfenced play areas.
·
There were gender
issues about the different preferences of boys and girls for types of play
equipment.
·
The need to
strike a balance between safety considerations and providing opportunities for
creative play.
In the
ensuing discussion, the Council agreed that it would wish to keep the Play Area
in Nash appropriate to its rural setting; that it would retain the fence round
the Play Area at least while the fence remained in good condition and need
little routine maintenance.
(iv)
Moss on Safety surfaces: Cllr Dewhurst reported that there was moss on the
safety surface for the roundabout. Mrs Hedges agreed to ask Nigel Blackwell to
remove it – part of his contract involved weed killing on the safety surfaces
in the Recreation Ground.
(v)
Village
Green:
Cllr Culverhouse commented on the poor state of the Village Green - in
particular, the continual erosion of the edge of the Green because delivery
lorries did not keep to the road, partly because of the frequency and length of
time that a vehicle was parked outside Corner View Cottage partially blocking
the road and the pavement. The
Council had a wide ranging discussion covering what was feasible, the likely
cost, the possibility (or lack) of BCC funding it out of their routine
maintenance or through a successful delegated budget bid.
The most practical and feasible solution appeared to be the installation
of kerbing to delineate the edge of the green and then to install posts and
fencing to stop vehicles from encroaching on the Green. After noting that there
would be an opportunity to talk to BCC officers before the LAF meeting on 25
March, the Council agreed that Cllr Culverhouse and Mrs Hedges should sound out
BCC officers on that occasion.
The Council agreed to invite John Hamilton to quote for
pruning the poplar tree planted to celebrate Ethel Luland’s long life and any
others (e.g. the mulberry tree) that needed lower branches removed.
Mrs Hedges reported that John Hamilton wished to stand down
as Tree Warden. The Council agreed
to thank him for his services and to seek a replacement through the Newsletter.
The Council considered a first
draft of its annual report that would be presented at the Annual meeting in May.
The Council noted that an updated version would be prepared and
circulated for comment towards the end of April, when the financial and other
missing information was known.
(i)
Local
Area Planning Process Workshop on 18 February (Minute 63((i)(b)):
Cllr Gillow reported that this had been a useful meeting to provide BCC with
information about the parish views of the priorities between the various issues
raised by parish councils. The
priorities identified by the stakeholders would now be discussed with the
service providers.
(ii)
Local
Area Forum: 25 March 2010:
Cllr Culverhouse agreed to attend this meeting. The outcome of the bid
for two salt bins should be known at it.
(iii)
Speed
Limit Review: Area 14:
The Council agreed that Cllrs Gillow and Southby should attend the briefing
meeting on Tuesday 13 April from 6 to 8.30pm in Mayor’s chamber Villiers Hotel
and Venue Centre,
(iv)
Scrutiny
Review of Winter Maintenance:
The Council discussed this survey and agreed on the points that should be made
in the Council’s response.
(v)
Draft
Parking and Enforcement Policy – Consultation. The
Council noted that copies of this consultation had been circulated but no
Councillor had commented. The Clerk was asked to review the questionnaire to see
how relevant it was to Nash and respond appropriately by the closing date of 31
March.
(vi)
Kerbing
in High Street and signpost at
(vii)
Energy
from Waste Initiative:
Mrs Hedges reported that, because of the possibility that the previous decision
about the award of the contract might be subject to a legal challenge, BCC were
re-opening discussion about the allocation of the contract with both bidders.
(viii)
Mobile
Library Service: Mrs Hedges reported
that she had just been notified that the Mobile Library service would now visit
fortnightly on alternate Thursdays instead of every four weeks on a Wednesday.
The new schedule would be advertised in the Newsletter.
(i)
Parish
Youth Councils:
The Council considered the letter dated 17 February 2010 from AVDC but took the
view that, considering Nash had a Youth Club which had so many Nash children as
members, that Nash was not really big enough to have a Youth Council.
(ii)
Draft
Community Cohesion Strategy:
Cllr Taylor reported on this consultation document and agreed to provide
a response on behalf of the Council.
(i)
The Council noted that the Nash response had been prepared by
Cllrs Dewhurst and Culverhouse. The Plan required the endorsement of all the
relevant Parish Councils and of BCC before it could be regarded as approved.
(ii)
The Council decided to register an interest in the four
aspirations in the plan that affected Nash directly, as set out below, but to
make the point that Nash had no significant financial or human resources to
commit to the projects.
a)
b)
c)
d)
2010:
20 May; 22 July;
16 September; 18 November;
2011:
20 January; 17 March
Annual Parish Meeting: 13 May 2010
(Cllr Gillow gave his apologies for
this meeting).
The
Meeting closed at 9.45pm