Minutes of Fritwell Parish Council Meeting held on Monday, 7th December 2015 at 7.30pm in the Scout Hut.

  1. Present: Councillors Ultsch, Foster, Reeves, Rooth (arrived 7.45pm), Stillgoe, County Councillor ArashFatemian (Arrived 8.00pm) and the Clerk.

Residents: Jenny Paviour, Rachel Clark, Mike Stewart, Adrian Leeke, Roger and Jacqui Angold, Rosemary Dockrey, Robin England, Colin Smith.

Apologies: Councillor Barlow, District Councillor Kerford-Byrnes.

Public Participation:

Jenny Paviour ~ Concerns over space issues for the Ardley-with-Fewcott to Fritwell footpath;

Rachel Clark ~ Suggested the Parish Council might like to investigate using school buses as service buses, following cuts to the bus subsidies from OCC. This issue was passed to County Councillor Fatemian for further investigation.

Rosemary Dockrey ~ Two wooden bridges over the stream through Mancetter’s Fieldare deteriorating and will need refurbishment shortly.

3. Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 28th September 2015

Read, agreed and signed by the Chair as a true record.

  1. Matters arising from these minutes:-
  • Community Speedwatch: The Parish Council has received more than 50 entries to the competition held for pupils in the school and judging has taken place. Prizes will be awarded for the winners in each Key Stage and also to two Runners Up. Certificates have been prepared for eight Highly Commended entries. All these will be awarded by Councillor Foster and the Clerk who will attend the assembly on the morning of Friday 11th December 2015. The winning entries will be combined to produce a series of weather-proof posters for display around the village.

We have been advised by PCSO Christopher Kidd, that we cannot deploy speedwatchers without displaying two official signs to warn motorists of our presence. These have been sourced at a discount and a provisional order has been placed. It has been agreed with Ardley-with-Fewcott Parish Council that as they own the detector gun, Fritwell will purchase the signs and between the two parishes, we will have a complete kit for deployment.

Councillor Foster noted that the focus will continue to be on changing drivers’ behaviour and that vehicles slow noticeably when speedwatchers are present. Roger Angold suggested tying banners to the village gates to make an impact as drivers enterFritwell.

  • Emergency Plan: The completed plan with a Snow and Ice Annex, a Flooding Annex and a Utility Failure Annex are now on the website.

Action: All Parish Councillors and residents are requested to read these documents thoroughly as soon as possible and pass any comments to the Clerk.

  • Verges in North Street: Councillor Barlow has established contact with a contractor licenced and insured to work on the highways. He is in the process of sourcing a quotation for installing kerbs where these are missing in North Street.

Councillor Foster raised the issue of a lack of pavement and the difficulties and dangers this presented to pedestrians, especially to school pupils who often walk to church. Councillor Ultsch explained that OCC had been approached in the past about the feasibility of putting a pavement in and this has been dismissed as not cost effective.

Action: Councillor Rooth to discuss further with Councillor Barlow, raising issues of demarcation of the road / verges and safety of pedestrians.

Action: Clerk to follow up a further response from OCC.

  1. Financial Report and Matters:

Councillor Rooth, in the absence of Councillor Barlow, the RFO, presented the new spreadsheet showing the financial situation from the beginning of the financial year and the new format for the financial report, prepared in collaboration with the Clerk.

Future Payments £
Cherwell DC (Emptying dog bins) 577.00 / 576.58
Clerk's Salary 250.00 / 250.00
Payroll Administration Fee per quarter 30.00 / 30.00
VAT on Payroll Administration 6.00
Further pond work (approx.) 1000.00
Further tree work (approx.) 100.00 / 6.00
Councillor Ultsch thanked Councillor Rooth for his hard work in setting up the new spreadsheet
and the Clerk added that it had made creating the financial report for this meeting much easier.
Councillor Foster suggested adding a section to identify future payments, as far as possible and
these have now been added to the minutes for information. Councillor Rooth acknowledged
that some categorisation had yet to be refined and matched to the budget.
Retrospective approval for payments was given by all Councillors.
Councillor Ultsch asked the Clerk if she had received notification from CDC regarding the
deadline for submission of the budget. This has not yet been received but is expected in the
near future.Action: Clerk to check and notify Councillors when the date is known.
Mower:Councillor Foster noted that the mower appears to be a large expense. It was acknowledged
that the mower is old and in need of frequent repair. Councillor Ultsch explained that
mowing the Cemetery and the Village Green were Parish Council responsibilities
but the Church Yard mowing is the responsibility of the Church.
Adrian Leeke and Roger Angold confirmed that the mower is only used by them
as far as they were aware. It was generally felt that the mower would need replacing within
the next year.
Action: Clerk to track purchase date of mower and place this issue on the agenda for
the next meeting. It should also be added to the budget for 2016-17.
New Audit Arrangements: The Clerk summarised the following information;
Following the closure of the Audit Commission, there will be
changes to the requirements for audit and transparency for smaller local authorities
from 1st April 2017. Smaller authorities are those with an annual turnover below
£6.5 million and most of these will be required to have an annual Assurance Review rather
than a full annual audit.
Clearly, Fritwell Parish Council falls into this category. Furthermore, smaller authorities with
a turnover of less than £25,000 will be exempt from the wider requirement for an
annualAssurance Review.
Smaller authorities like ourselves will keep the external auditor appointed by the Audit Commission
until the 2016-17 audit process has been completed. From April 2017, smaller authorities will appoint
auditors through a Sector Led Body or opt outof such arrangements and appoint auditors locally.
Smaller authorities who wish to participate in the Sector led Body do not need to do anything now.
They will automatically be opted in to the new body and will have an auditor appointed for them.
Authorities wishing to opt out of the provision organised by the Sector Led Body, MUST
respond by 31st January 2016 by contacting the National Association of Local Councils.
Action: Councillor Barlow (RFO) to explore the relevant documentation in detail before the
next meeting.
  1. Planning:
  • Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan ~ Consultations with residents need to start in the
New Year and be underway by 31st March 2016. The finished plan must be submitted by
31st December 2016. Fritwell Parish Council will need to consult with the whole village
before the end of March and this process will be undertaken by Councillors Ultsch and Foster.
It is important that the Parish Council can show how it has involved a very high proportion
of residents in this process. Upper Heyford Parish Council have prepared a Powerpoint
presentation for their village and have offered to pass a copy to Fritwell for editing as
necessary. Action: Councillor Ultsch to investigate this further.
It has been decided to appoint an Administrator for the MCNP and the cost of this shared
between all eleven villages on a pro rata basis, based on population figures.
Fritwell currently has a population of 736 and this translates into a contribution of
between £250 and £330. An Administrator has not yet been appointed.
Further work in sub-groups remains to be done, including those groups focusing on
infrastructure such as a health centre, school and traffic. There is widespread
concern regarding the use of local roads as short cuts and it has also been noted that
developers are becoming more aggressive in their pursuit of building land and planning
permission.
Councillor Foster suggested that Fritwell’s consultation process could include
aspirations and new initiatives from the Parish Council.
  • FR017 ~ The Clerk has recently requested further information from Alex Hales (Savills)
regarding his approach to OCC about the land adjacent to FR017. This has not yet been
received. Colin Smith inquired as to the time frame envisaged but Councillor Ultsch
replied that no further information was currently available and that the Parish Council would
update residents as soon as possible.
  • Cherwell Local Plan ~ Robin England asked if this has been approved and Councillor Ultsch
replied that this was so. However, she explained that the figures for housing targets were
constantly being adjusted.
  1. The Pond:
The issue of remaining vegetation and silt remains at the East Street end of the pond. The Clerk
has approached Nicholson’s for a quotation to remove this, which proved to be in the region of
£1,000. This was initially considered too expensive and further solutions were sought. However,
none have been found. It was agreed to accept this quotation from Nicholson’s in order to reduce
therisk of flooding and enhance the appearance of the pond. The motion was
proposed by Councillor Rooth and seconded by Councillor Reeves.
Action: Clerk to accept quotation and arrange for the work to be carried out.
  1. Oxfordshire Together Initiative:
County Councillor Fatemian explained the background to reductions in funding for local councils
by central government. This initiative suggests that some services could be provided by Town
and Parish Councils, possibly working in clusters to source cost effective solutions to services no
longer funded by OCC or CDC.
All bus subsidies have now been withdrawn by OCC. More than 100 routes were subsidised in this way,
equivalent to 9% of the bus routes countywide. Councillor Ultsch raised Rachel Clark’s question
from earlier in the meeting with County Councillor Fatemian, who promised to consult with OCC
about the possibility of using school buses as service buses.
Adrian Leeke and Jenny Paviour raised the issue of the cessation of routes 81 and 81A
with only twoweeks notice at the end of October, inconveniencing many residents and
leaving some feeling isolated.
County Councillor Fatemian promised to investigate.
Action: Consider Oxfordshire Together Initiative under aspirations early in 2016. Clerk to
add this to the agenda when appropriate.
  1. Closure of Ardley Recycling Centre:
County Councillor Fatemian explained that the land was owned by Viridor and leased by OCC.
The current lease would expire in 2017 and therefore a new site had to be found, The
closure was thus beyond the control of OCC.
  1. Correspondence:
  • Bicester Rural Neighbourhood Meeting, led by Thames Valley Police will take place on
24th March 2016 and a representative from Fritwell is required.
Action: Clerk to add to agenda early in 2016.
  • The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations ~ A letter has been received from the Queen’s
Representative in Oxfordshire, encouraging local communities to hold street parties
on the weekend of 11th / 12th June 2016. This letter was passed to the Village Hall
Representative, Councillor Stillgoe, for action by the Village Hall Committee.
  1. AOB:
  • The ongoing issue of kerbside vegetation was raised once again. The Parish Council wishes
to encourage everyone to keep the kerbsides clear in front of their properties to prevent
flooding and improve the appearance of the village. This has been communicated via
The Three Parishes newsletter.
  • The overhanging ash tree at the crossroads between North Street and East Street continues
to obscure the signpost. In order to ensure good visibility at the crossroads the parish council
will get the overhanging ash tree trimmed.
The Clerk has requested a quotation to remove the offending branches from Appreciate
Landscapes and will circulate thiswhen received. Action: Clerk.
  • Hunters Lodge issues remain unresolved as no response has yet been received from CDC.
If this is not forthcoming in the near future, the Clerk will contact our District Councillors
for advice. Action: Clerk.
Date of next meeting to discuss the budget: Monday 18th January 2016
at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.
(Hall booked 8.12.15)
.
£
133.07
47.50
11.21
50.54
637.80
190.00
662.40
35.00
70.00
47.70
38.74
66.44
145.00
250.00
120.00
400.00
996.00
225.00
35.96
7.67
48.00
144.00
4582.03