MINUTES of the ANNUAL MEETING of BERINSFIELD PARISH Held at Mount Farm Community Education

MINUTES of the ANNUAL MEETING of BERINSFIELD PARISH held at Mount Farm Community Education Centre, Wimblestraw Road, Berinsfield on Monday 19th April, 2010

PRESENTCouncillor K. Hall, Chairman of Berinsfield Parish Council

14 Members of the public

Annette Loveland, Clerk to the Parish Council

Rebekah Kent, Police Community Support Officer.

1.To Approve the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on20th April, 2009.The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on20th April, 2009 were approved and signed.

2.Report from Councillor K. Hall, Chairman of the Parish Council

Councillor Hall thanked everyone for attending the Annual Parish Meeting and hoped they would take the opportunity to express their views and concerns about the village. He stated that the Parish Council are always pleased to receive comments and, for that matter, complaints from residents as without this input the Council would not know about problems in the village.

Councillor Hall stated that the Parish Council is continuing to improve the appearance of the village by planting additional bulbs and trees each year. New planters will be purchased and installed in 2010 and seats have been ordered, one will be installed on the path overlooking the football pitch and one on the open space on the corner of Burcot Lane and Fane Drive.

The Parish Council is aware of the concerns of residents with regard to the potholes in the roads, the litter and dog litter and is working hard to try and get these matters rectified. The potholes are obviously a problem in many areas, not just Berinsfield. The situation with regard to litter in the village seems to have greatly improved since the introduction of the wheelie bins as a lot of the problems were caused when black plastic sacks were ripped open and the rubbish was strewn around. Most dog owners are making use of the numerous dog litter bins that are located in the village. There are, however, a few residents who seem to think that the law does not apply to them and are still allowing their dogs to foul in public places and are not clearing up after them. The Police Community Support Officers now have the power to issue an instant fine to dog owners who allow their dogs to foul and do not clear it up and they will not hesitate to do so if they do witness this happening.

SkatePark. Councillor Hall was pleased to report that the skatepark was officially opened on 10th April by the Chairman of South Oxfordshire District Council. This has been provided with funds from the Big Lottery Fund, South Oxfordshire District Council and Berinsfield Parish Council. The Parish Council’s contribution was £4,000 and the total cost was £67,000. Councillor Hall felt the young people were enjoying the skatepark and hoped it was not causing problems for residents living close to the recreation ground. He also stated that the Parish Council will continue to apply for grants, when appropriate, in order to provide additional facilities in the village.

Pavilion. Councillor Hall stated that the pavilion continued to be used on a fairly regular basis by the football teams based in the village, but unfortunately Berinsfield Football Club had to fold at the end of the last season due to the fact that they were unable to get into a suitable league in the area. The Parish Council understands that an application has been made to the North Berkshire League by the Club to try and get into the league and if this is successful, the team hope to re-form and there will be football in Berinsfield again on a Saturday afternoon.

The Ladies team has done well this year, but is still having problems recruiting players. John Boal, the Manager, would be very interested to hear from ladies who would like to play for the team.

The Football Foundation are still keen to get all the teams based in the village to apply for Charter Standard status and this is beneficial as it does allow the teams access to grants from the F.A.

The Pavilion is available for hire by organisations who wish to use the meeting room and kitchen as well as for sporting activities.

Councillor Hall stated that the pavilion and playing fields could also be used for other sporting activities, particularly during the summer, and although it might be too late to form a team this year, cricket might be a possibility. Obviously this would require input from residents interested in the sport and cannot be left to the Parish Council to organise. However, said that the Parish Council would be more than happy to assist wherever possible and would welcome anybody with an interest in cricket or other sport that could be played in Berinsfield to get in touch with the Clerk.

SODC – transfer of land As reported last year, the Parish Council is still waiting for South Oxfordshire District Council to transfer over most of the District Council owned open spaces in the village. When the land transfers have been completed, the Parish Council will consider whether to carry out more landscaping and planting in the village.

Parish Plan Councillor Hall expressed the Parish Council’s thanks to the Parish Plan Steering Group for all the work that they had put into preparing the Parish Plan. The Plan is available on the Parish Council’s website and will shortly be distributed to all properties in the village.

Website The Parish Council’s website, www.Berinsfield-pc.gov.uk is available for use by any organisation in the village free of charge. Information can be passed to the Clerk either in writing or by e.mail and she will be pleased to include it under the Community Activities section of the site.

3.Financial Report

Councillor Hall informed those present that copies of the Income and Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet for the year ended 31st March 2010 were available for their information. Copies of the budget for 2010-11 are were also circulated for information.

Councillor Hall explained that funds raised through the precept enabled the Parish Council to carry out its statutory duties in the village each year and applications are made for grants towards the cost of providing additional facilities in the village. Residents occasionally query why the Berinsfield Parish charge is higher than that for other Parishes in the District and Councillor Hall explained the reason for this. The Parish Council owns and maintains the burial ground, recreation ground, pavilion, play areas, allotments, bus shelters and many of the small open spaces in the village. The litter bins and dog litter bins are also provided by the Parish Council and payment has to be made to contractors to empty these on a regular basis. All of these services have to be paid for from the precept.

Most of the properties in Berinsfield are either in band B or C which means that the tax on each property is less than the 9th that it would be if the properties were in band D. Many of the other villages listed in the information sheets issued by the District Council will have properties in bands D – H and this will have the effect of making their Parish requirement appear less. The other reason for the tax appearing high is that the Parish Council provides quite a lot of facilities in the village, but there are only just over 1,000 properties in the village to share the cost. If Berinsfield is compared to a town like Didcot with more taxable properties, their precept requirement is spread over a far larger number of properties.

Councillor Hall stated that one of the more pleasant duties the Parish Council carries outis to allocate grants to voluntary organisations and 16 organisations have received grants from the Parish Council for the year 2010-11 The availability of the grant aid scheme is advertised on the notice board, in Your Village Voice and on the website each year. Any organisations who did not apply this year are welcome to do so in the future.

4.Public Meeting

a)Burial Ground. A resident reported that her grand-daughter’s grave had been damaged recently and asked what could be done to prevent this. Councillor Hall stated that he and the Parish Council were sorry to receive this information. The Burial Ground pedestrian gate is left unlocked during the hours of daylight to enable people to visit the graves and therefore it is not possible to prevent people entering the Burial Ground. He said that people do have respect for the Burial Ground and he was shocked that a grave had been damaged. The Burial Ground Attendant and the Police will be made aware of the damage to the grave.

b)Pavilion. A resident enquired why the running costs for the pavilion were so high and whether the Parish Council were taking any steps to try and reduce the costs. Those present were informed that the building had to be cleaned and maintained, but that the heating boilers would be turned off for the summer and the Caretaker’s contract had been amended to take into effect that Berinsfield Football Club are not playing on a Saturday. This should have the effect of reducing the running costs for the next financial year.

c)SkateboardPark and Roman Road in centre of recreation ground. A resident stated he was pleased to see all the young people using the skateboard park and that it was an asset to the village. He was concerned, however, about the poor condition of the tarmac surface on the Roman Road. It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the County Council about this matter as the path is maintained by their Highways Department.

d)Dog Litter Bins A request was made for a dog litter bin to be installed along the path leading from Windrush Close to Wimblestraw Road.

e)The playing of golf on the recreation ground. It was reported that people are again playing golf on the recreation ground and school playing field. The Parish Council do have signs at the entrances to its recreation ground to state that the playing of golf and riding of motorcycles is prohibited. The Police Community Support Officer was made aware of this problem and agreed to monitor the situation.

f)Litter Bin by Library. A resident enquired if this bin would be replaced. Councillor Hall explained that the bin was provided by South Oxfordshire District Council and that he had been informed by them that they would replace it in due course.

g)Refuse Collection, The Flats, Colwell Road Councillor Hall reported that an open meeting that was held in the Church Hall with representatives from Verdant. It was a very interesting presentation about how the waste is dealt with when it reaches the recycling units. At this meeting, it was reported that residents living in the flats in Colwell Road had been given wheelie bins instead of refuse sacks, as had previously been agreed. The flats do not have any facilities in which to store wheelie bins and Verdant and South Oxfordshire District Council have been made aware of this. Officers from Verdant had agreed to contact the residents living in the flats to discuss this matter, but to date this has not happened. Councillor Hall informed those present that the Clerk would again contact staff at Verdant to ask them to contact the residents living in the flats in Colwell Road in an attempt to resolve this matter and, if necessary, to convene a meeting between all the agencies concerned and the residents of the flats.

CountyCouncillor’s Report. County Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale had prepared a report, which was circulated to all present and is attached to the Minutes.

ThamesValley Police PCSO Rebekah Kent attend the meeting and reported on the following matters :-

i)Parking on Zig Zag lines outside BerinsfieldC.P.School. PCSO Kent informed the meeting that she was having discussions with the Headteacher of the Primary School about the problems caused by people parking on the zig zag lines and keep clear markings outside the primary school. PCSO Kent and her colleagues will continue to monitor the situation and speak to people who park on the lines.

ii)Dogs fouling on pavements and open spaces. PCSO Kent confirmed that she is able to issue instant fines to the owners of dogs who allow them to foul in a public place and do not clear up after them. She is also able to visit people and issue warnings to them if they are seen to allow their dogs to foul and not clear the mess up.

iii)Speeding in Fane Drive. PCSO Kent informed those present that she and her colleagues would be carrying out speed checks in the village. Signs have been erected warning of this.

iv)Year End Figures for various offences in Berinsfield. A copy of the report giving a breakdown of crime in Berinsfield for the year ending 31st March, 2010 was circulated at the meeting.

The meeting closed at 8.30 p.m.