Minutes of Nettlebed
Parish Council Meeting
held on September 7th 2010 in Nettlebed Village Club
Members Present Councillors Lewis (chair), Simon, Gibson, Reynolds, Atkins, Butler and Clerk D . Elms
Also present R. Belson County Councillor and M. Lewis Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator.
Apologies from Councillors McDonnell and McIvor.
Declaration of Interests None declared.
Neighbourhood Watch 350 letters had been delivered to all parishioners from the police, in which we were asked to state any matters of concern or problems we would like to be taken up by the police. A remarkably low number of matters were raised. Whether this was due to complacency or due to satisfaction with things as they are, we are unsure, but hopefully it showed general satisfaction with things as they are.
County
Councillor With matters very undecided at present , Mr. Belson was unable to
tell us how much cash would be allocated to the County Council from the
government. Many cuts will need to be made- already the speed cameras in the
County have been put out of commission. Lots of discussions have taken place re
the wisdom of this move. Similarly suggestions have been made re the suggestion
to switch off street lights or to reduce the hours when the streets are lit
without endangering safety or encouraging burglaries.
Road repairs resulting from the extreme wintry weather earlier this year have
been an ongoing problem but it is essential that potholes are reported to
Highways who will endeavour to repair them.
New Village Shop The nature of the proposed shop in the old Church hall has changed somewhat. No longer will it be a farm shop . Apart from housing the village shop and post office, there will be a café and the ‘Life’ shop at present situated in the High Street will be moving in. Separate entrances will be required since the Post office and shop will be open for longer hours than the ‘Life’ shop. Workmen are working long hours in order to get the premises ready as soon as possible.
Sports
Pavilion Throughout September the new sports pavilion is taking shape. With
the base completed, the shell positioned, scaffolding will be erected and
finally the roof will be put in place. Once completed, volunteers will be able
to carryout the internal fittings. A grant of £3000 has been received from
‘GrassRoots’ and £5000 from the Fleming Trust bringing our total raised to
£90,000, £30,000of which has already been spent. Fund raising must continue as
another £20,000 is required The next fund raising event planned is a return
visit from the Watlington band on September 17th On November 20th
there will be a Christmas Fayre.
An application has been made to Defra by the Commons Conservators under section
38 of the Commons Act 2006 to carry out restricted works on the common land.
Cllr. Simon asked for a letter of support from the parish council to be sent to
the Planning Inspectorate in support of the project. The PC agreed and Cllr.
Simon agreed to draft the letter.
Sponsorship of roundabouts A furniture Company at Nuffield have expressed a desire to sponsor the roundabout at the junction of the A4130 and B481. In exchange for a small sign on the roundabout they would clear the weeds which spoil it’s appearance. All the Councillors were in full agreement and a letter has been sent to Mr. Short hoping he will agree to this suggestion.
Van Permit scheme at Oakley Wood Recycling Depot. Anxious to keep away vans depositing trade waste, from November 1st. a permit will be available to vans and trailers of a certain size, wishing to deposit household waste. This will entitle them to make 12 visits during the year Permits available from Oakley Wood We are reminded that householders can have up to 3 large items e.g. washing machines, sofas, collected for the sum of £20. Every effort is being made to avoid fly tipping .
New Road signs. Highways have installed several new road signs in an effort to overcome problems encountered by vehicles seeking Magpies.
Annual Audit. The audit for year ending March 31st.2010 has been approved by the external auditors and the necessary posters have been prominently displayed. They brought to our notice that we should keep an asset register. Our only assets are 3 bus shelters plus apparatus on the children’s playground , all of which are included in the insurance premium which is increased yearly. An ass et register can be kept if required to do so.
O.R.C.C. On October 8th. the Chairman and clerk are invited to attend the annual general meeting of the ORCC followed by a conference in Oxford. This should be an interesting conference - the title of which being ‘Rural Communities – thriving assets or expensive liabilities ‘- a debate which can affect us all
Local Transport Plan 2011-2030 The plans originally made spanning approximately 20 years have had to be considerably curtailed. O.C.C. has identified a need to make a saving of over £13 million during the financial year 2010/2011
Review of
subsidized bus services Two bus services which affect us are coming to the
end of their present contracts. Service M1 operated by Motts Coaches operates
one service each way between Watlington and Reading and their contract expires
in June 2011. Through the years this service has been extremely curtailed and we
would not like to see it disappear altogether. The Service 139 operating between
Wallingford and Henley an hourly service by Thames Travel has a contract which
expires in 2012.
Widespread consultations are being held with various meetings planned . We will
be represented by our Transport Managers – N. and M. Gibson who will do their
utmost to persuade the authorities that we cannot afford to reduce the limited
services we have any further.
Old School Green Housing The houses are nearing completion and a show house is now available for inspection. It all looks very promising with a high standard of workmanship. When the houses are completed, the grassed area fronting the complex will be handed over to the Parish Council who will be responsible for it’s upkeep
N.S.C.C. The bookings for the Community hall and Sports Pitch are proving to be more and more popular with regular bookings for football, tennis and parties.
New Waste Calendar Starting week commencing September 27th. we will be working to a new calendar for getting rid of our waste. SODC will be working in conjunction with the Vale of the White Horse District. During the week commencing September 27th. the entire district will be having GREY bins emptied even ‘though our grey bins will have been emptied the previous week. The following week commencing October 4th. we will be back to having our green bins emptied. If we have an accumulation of recyclables due to the missed week, we can leave any surplus in clear bags. As before, the brown bins will be emptied on the same day as the green bins.
The Rubbish
Run The latest edition of Outlook, described where all our rubbish goes
Brown bin – to Agrivert near Crowmarsh
Grey bin – to land fill near Didcot
Green bin – To Culham and then to Green Star recycling facility in Birmingham
Food waste – To Ewelme and then to new Agrivert site near Bicester
Planning a. 11,High St. – no objection from PC. b. Huntercombe End Farm – no objection c. White Hart – no objection d. Cherry Tree Cottage – no objection. e. Mayfield House, Huntercombe End- no objection (Nuffield PC) f. Land at Priest Close – going to appeal
Roads, Footpaths and Commons.
damaged road sign at Chapel Lane
Trench along entire length of Wanbourne Lane
Sunken area of road Watlington Street opposite Post Office
Pothole at junction of Watlington St. and High St.
All reported to Highways
Recreation and Amenities Although a salt bin had been ordered and paid for in January, it will be delivered and filled at a later date. This to avoid the salt coagulating.
Bus shelter clean up Having received complaints about the untidiness of the bus shelters and out of date posters being left, we asked for a volunteer to clean and tidy them. To our great delight Mrs Gibson offered to become our ‘Bus shelter queen’ and we are extremely grateful to her.
It was agreed that we should enter a team in the Village Club quiz on October 8th.
Public Question Time 7 parishioners present
Date of next meeting November 2nd.
Meeting closed 10.15p.m.
Signed by Chairman …….
Subject to approval from the Councillors these minutes will be signed at the
next meeting