Annual Parish Meeting

Minutes of the Annual Nash Parish Meeting on Thursday 12 May 2011 at 8pm.

Present: Alan Taylor (Chair), Marjorie Bell, Gloria Chaplin, Geoffrey Culverhouse, Henry Eggleston, Margaret Hedges, Nick Kamm, John King, Barbara Loxton, Sue Mander, Margaret Morgan, Thelma Shadbolt, Sir John Southby Bt, Sarah Thirtle, Ron Unwin, Edwin Watts, Len York.

Apologies: Miles Hedges, Vicky Southby, Barry Wyke.

 Clerk:  Mrs Hedges was appointed Clerk to the meeting.

1         Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 13 May 2010

The Minutes were approved by the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

2         Matters arising from the above Minutes not covered on the Agenda: None

3         Annual Report of the Parish Council for 2010/11: This report was tabled at the meeting and introduced by the Chairman. Cllr Taylor thanked David Gillow and Barbara Dewhurst for their service and welcomed Len York onto the Council.

Cllr Taylor said that it had been a busy year and highlighted the following items:

·        Land opposite Causter Farm: AVDC’s Development Control Committee had refused the retrospective planning permission for this caravan site and subsequently issued an enforcement order.  Appeals had been made against both these decisions and there would be a public enquiry conducted by a planning Inspector in due course.  Cllr Taylor said it was pleasing that there had been 127 objections to this application – mostly from Nash residents. Nash had submitted a short further statement to the Planning Inspector and would keep residents informed.  A second planning application with only minor, landscaping, changes had been submitted in February 2011.  AVDC had had no choice but to process this second application according to the agreed procedures and again many Nash residents had submitted objections.    Nash Parish Council would keep residents informed of what was happening with these issues.  It was hoped that the change of government in May 2010 would result in a fairer planning system than the current one.

·        Beachampton Solar Farm: Cllr Taylor said that an application for a solar Farm at Potash Farm was in Beachampton parish but the development would be clearly visible from the houses on Thornton Road in Nash.  The relevant residents had been alerted to the planning application and some had objected.  Beachampton Parish Council had opposed this development, but, after a site visit, AVDC’s Development and Control Committee had approved the application.

·        Waste Disposal Unit near Calvert: Much of Aylesbury Vale District was upset about this proposal as the Unit would process waste not only from all of Buckinghamshire but also some brought from surrounding counties.  Nash was sufficiently distant not to be affected by the increased traffic, but, given the direction of the prevailing wind, there was a risk of increased particulates in the atmosphere.

·        Vale of Aylesbury Plan: The New Government was changing the planning environment with the abolition of centrally imposed targets for new houses and was now seeking the numbers of new houses to be determined locally. Aylesbury Vale was discussing with all councils what scale of development they wished to see over the next twenty years.  Nash Parish Council had indicated that they only envisaged small scale development of up to ten houses.  Some development was likely on the Church Farm site during that period and there could continue to be a number of infill houses.  Nash Parish Council had always resisted any large scale development. Parish Councils were being encouraged to produce Neighbourhood or Parish Plans.  The Council hoped that volunteers could be found to form a small group to produce such a plan.

·        High Speed Rail 2: The preferred route which was the subject of the Government’s current consultation passed some way from Nash. Nash Parish Council was keeping a watching brief on what was happening.

4        Neighbourhood Action Group: Mrs Chaplin reported on the monthly meetings in Winslow, which she attended with Sarah Thirtle.  She had been disappointed that only seven Nash residents had come to the “Have Your Say” meeting with PCSO Alex Trevino in Nash Village Hall on Friday 15 April.  There had been three robberies/attempted robberies on a Monday morning but it was understood that the culprits had been caught.  Rev. King said that there had been two robberies from local farms recently.  Parking on the west side of the entrance to the Village Hall car park continued to be a problem on occasion – the most recent incident involved a group from Whaddon using the Recreation Ground and so not users of either the Church or the Village Hall.  There was a need for some new small cones. Generally speaking Nash did not have a problem with antisocial behaviour.

5        Matters raised by Local Government Electors on the current Electoral Roll

a)      Street Lights:  Cllr Southby reported on the programme to replace the street lights with more energy efficient part-night bulbs.  There was general support for this, as the initial cost was defrayed by the reduction in the monthly electricity bill.

b)      Thornborough Road : The recent work on filling in pot-holes on the Thornborough Road was welcomed but there remained one very deep rut which was considered dangerous.  NPC would raise this with BCC.

c)      Thornborough Road : The bollards on Thornborough Road had been installed when there was a parking problem on that road.  There was no longer a parking problem and so residents would welcome their removal as they were unsightly. It was noted, however, that the bollards had been installed at the request of the police and so BCC might be reluctant to remove them.

d)      Refuse Collections:  Mrs Chaplin expressed concern at refuse bins being put out for collection on the wrong day after a bank holiday.  Mrs Hedges said that recycling baskets were often put out in the wrong week.  Mrs Loxton agreed to put the relevant information in the Newsletter.

e)      Church Farm:  Concern was expressed at the demolition of Church Farm, which was a listed building.  It was noted that AVDC had served an enforcement notice on the owner but that he had appealed.

The Meeting closed at 9.00 p.m. with the Chairman thanking the Councillors for their work during the year and those present for coming to the meeting.