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Minutes 112
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Hanwell Parish Council
held on Wednesday, 11th May 2016
Present: Councillors: John Spratt (Chairman), Arnold Bailey,
Charles Nixon-Eckersall, John Hart, Robin Aitken
Jayne Gordon, Clerk (minutes)
A number of residents of Hanwell
Apologies: Cllr Giles Dessain
Declarations of interest: None
627 Parish Council Elections and New Parish Council
Following the parish council election, which was uncontested, the new parish council is:
John Spratt
John Hart
Giles Dessain
Charles Nixon-Eckersall
Arnold Bailey
Robin Aitken
This leaves one vacancy remaining.
Gordon Polson decided not to stand for re-election and it was agreed that a letter should be written to Gordon to thank him for his effective and valuable contribution to the council during his membership.
Action: Clerk
628 Election of Chairman
Cllr Bailey proposed that Cllr Spratt remain as Chairman of the parish council. This was seconded by John Hart and the motion was carried.
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629 Review of parish council insurance policy
The insurance documents were presented to the council. It was agreed that AON Limited has provided good cover at an acceptable price and should therefore continue to provide the parish council insurance. The cost for the year is £386.26 including a 5% discount. This is an increase of £13.00 over last year, most of which arises from an increase in the tax.
Action: Clerk
630 Review of Risk Assessment document
The risk assessment document was presented to the council and agreed upon.
631 Review of the Asset Register
The asset register was presented to the council and agreed upon.
632 Appointment of Internal Auditor
It was agreed that Mr Duncan Raper should continue to be the parish council’s internal auditor.
633 Appointment of External Auditor
It was agreed that BDO Stoy Hayward should continue to be the parish council’s external auditor.
634 A.O.B.
a. Co-option of an additional member to fill the remaining vacancy
Cllr Bailey proposed that James Reid be co-opted on to the parish council to fill the vacancy. This was unanimously agreed by the members and the motion was carried.
There being no other business and the meeting was closed at 7.10 pm.
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Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting
of Hanwell Parish Council
held on Wednesday, 11th May 2016
Present: Councillors: John Spratt (Chairman), Arnold Bailey,
Charles Nixon-Eckersall, John Hart, Robin Aitken, James Reid
Jayne Gordon, Clerk (minutes)
A number of residents of Hanwell
Apologies: Cllr Giles Dessain
Declarations of interest: Cllr Bailey declared an interested in planning applications 16/00065/F and 16/00105/TCA
635 Need Not Greed Oxfordshire (NNGO)
Mr Nigel Wood from the organisation Need Not Greed Oxfordshire attended the meeting to speak about the formation of this group and the campaigns that they are currently involved in.
NNGO is a coalition of over 20 local groups and individuals from across Oxfordshire and was formed to campaign for a future that respects the views of local people, plans for ‘need not greed’ and protects the environment. It was formed to allow local people to have a real voice in the debate on the future of Oxfordshire. A ‘growth at all costs’ policy has led to a county plan that envisages building at virtually double any previous rate and threatens to overwhelm Oxfordshire’s infrastructure, services, landscapes and communities. NNGO believes that this growth strategy is the biggest threat to rural Oxfordshire and its impact would be irreversible. The growth strategy for Oxfordshire currently proposes 100,000 new houses by 2031, equivalent to two new cities the size of Oxford; plus 85,000 new jobs, and at least 200,000 more people, roughly a 30% increase in Oxfordshire’s population.
NNGO is calling for a proper assessment of the impacts of the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) which is an economic route map for the county to 2030 and which sets outs OxLEP’s (Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership) ambitions for business growth. NNGO wants the introduction of more realistic and sustainable targets followed by a full consultation, carried out by a democratically elected and accountable body.
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NNGO is encouraging people to engage in the consultation and to express their own views to OxLEP. More information is available on the NNGO website, including suggested responses to the consultation. Mr Wood also encouraged people to sign up to the NNGO newsletter for more information and updates.
In addition, the question was raised as to whether Hanwell currently has a settlement boundary.
Cllr Spratt thanked Mr Wood for attending the meeting and for making his presentation. It was generally felt that NNGO would be a good organisation for the parish council and members to subscribe to in the light of the developments taking place in the vicinity of the village.
636 Parish Council Elections
Nominations were submitted in April for local elections held on the 5th May. Hanwell Parish Council is allowed 7 councillors. There were 6 nominations and therefore the election was uncontested with one vacancy remaining. At the earlier Annual Meeting, it was proposed, seconded and the motion carried that James Reid be co-opted on to the parish council to fill this vacancy.
637 Minutes of the last Parish Council Meeting
The minutes of the parish council meeting held on the 9th March 2016 were taken as read and signed as being a true and accurate record.
638 Matters Arising
a. Road improvements in Hanwell
As a follow up to the letter sent to Peter Egawhary of Oxfordshire County Council, Cllr Bailey met with Mr Egawhary in the village to discuss the issues raised in the letter. The results of these discussions were as follows:
- Repainting of white lining in the village
This will be done by the summer of this year funded by Mr Egawhary’s budget. There is no funding available to repair the carriageway, so the lining will degrade quite quickly.
- Information on the cost of traffic recording tubes – speed and volume
Mr Egawhary advised that the parish council needs to request a traffic survey. The person to contact at OCC is Nigel Clarke. The cost of this will be £100 plus VAT.
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It was agreed that Cllr Bailey would draft a letter to Mr Clarke about this and specify the locations that the survey should be carried out in.
Action: Cllr Bailey
- Information on the cost and process of reducing the speed limit to 20 mph
Mr Egawhary advised that the person at OCC to contact about this would be Anthony Kirkwood. The basic cost would be £2,500 that the parish council would have to fund, perhaps by raising the precept.
The point was made that reducing the speed limit to 20 mph might not be that effective as it would not be possible to police it.
There has been considerable disquiet in the village regarding the issues of increased volume and speed of traffic. Currently Main Street is an informal village street and what a lot of people do not want is to make the village look suburban in an effort to control the traffic.
It was agreed that Mr Kirkwood should be contacted by letter with a view to bringing him closer to these issues and to find out exactly what the options and the costs to the village would be.
Action: Cllr Bailey
- Re-siting of the bend warning sign and the 30 mph sign at the bottom end of the village
Mr Egawhary’s budget will pay for the bend warning sign to be moved back away from the village by 60 m. He will also arrange for the word ‘SLOW’ to be painted on to the road.
Re-siting of the 30 mph sign involves legal issues and will come under the remit of Mr Kirkwood. The cost of moving the sign will be about £4,500.
It was agreed that a letter would be sent to Mr Egawhary confirming these discussions and putting in writing the various measures that he would fund from his budget. The issue of the 30 mph sign would be included in the letter to
Mr Kirkwood.
Action: Cllr Bailey
Regarding the issue of parking at the end of Church Lane, the parish council had previously decided that there would be no additional white lining painted in this area. To reduce the kerb width and reduce the small
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green area would come under the remit of Maurice Sheehan at OCC and would cost in the region of £4,000 that the village would have to fund. It was agreed that currently this was not a pressing issue.
b. Oxfordshire subsidised bus services
OCC bus subsidies will end on the 20th July 2016. This will not affect the bus service that runs through the village on a Thursday as Warwickshire County Council funds this.
c. Hanwell defibrillator
Mr Dick Tracey from South Central Ambulance Service came to the village and provided training in the use of the defibrillator. About 40 villagers attended the training and reported that it was a very useful session.
After discussion, it was decided that it would be beneficial to ask Mr Tracey to provide a further training session for the village and to include training in the use of the defibrillator on children as this was not covered in the first session.
Action: TBC
All that remains to be done regarding the installation of the defibrillator is to complete the VAT return for the Big Lottery Fund and to complete the end of project report.
Action: Clerk
d. Response letters received from Cherwell District Council
Replies to queries have been received in the last week from Cherwell District Council as follows:
- Letter to Mr Bob Duxbury/Mr Jon Westerman querying what conditions have been imposed on developers to protect Hanwell
Landscaping and lighting conditions have been imposed on both permissions, ie spill from lighting will be limited and the existing buffers to the north edge of Banbury 5 are protected.
- Letter to Mr Nathanael Stock regarding the protection from further development that the Local Plan gives to the area north of Banbury
The Cherwell Local Plan allocates sufficient development to cater for present housing need through to 2031. It is not envisaged that there will be a requirement to revisit the total allocated number to meet Cherwell’s need unless there is a significant change in either the District’s economic circumstances or its population relative to projections for the period.
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639 Chairman’s Report 2015-2016
The Chairman presented his annual report. A copy of this is attached to the minutes.
640 Annual Accounts, period 1st April 2015 – 30th March 2016
The Chairman presented the annual accounts.
The annual accounts were prepared by the clerk and are being internally audited by Mr Duncan Raper, a qualified accountant and resident of Horley Village.
The Chairman presented the annual audit papers and calculations for consideration by the council. In summary, the precept was maintained at £6,000. There is a small deficit for the year, however the parish council remains in good shape financially with expenditure only slightly exceeding the precept and plenty of reserve.
Section 1 of the accounts was therefore approved by the Parish Council and signed by the Chairman and the Clerk.
Items 1-9 under Section 2 Annual Governance Statement of the Annual Return were considered by the Council and confirmed as being adhered to. It was therefore proposed that this section be approved and this was agreed unanimously. Section 2 of the accounts was then signed by the Chairman and the Clerk.
641 First World War Commemoration
A letter has been received from the local MP, Victoria Prentis to see if the village would be interested in celebrating this commemoration. After discussion it was agreed that this is not something that Hanwell has the resources for.
642 Playground Inspection Rota
In order to comply with insurance regulations, the playground is not only RoSPA inspected annually by Play Safety Limited, but also weekly by residents of the village. The annual inspection rota of the playground has been drawn up for the year 1st June 2016-31st May 2017 and will be implemented in due course.
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643 Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebrations – update
Arrangements are well underway for this celebration that will take place on the 12th June on the village playing field.
- The pony and trap has been booked to give rides. The insurance needs to be checked on this.
Action: Clerk
- Liz Stoddard will organise the necessary equipment for the children’s games. She is not able to attend the barbeque but has offered to arrange for someone to organise the games on the day.
- The Williams will be running the tombola – donations are required.
- Ice Cream Van – this is currently being looked into.
- Bouncy Castle – it has been decided not to have a bouncy castle due to the risk involved.
- Salads and puddings – volunteers are needed to provide these
- The barbeque – Mr Ray Waite has made an oil drum barbeque for the village. An invoice has been received for this and will be paid in due course.
Action: Clerk
Cllr Nixon-Eckersall is unable to carry on helping with arrangements for the time being due to other commitments and so Cllr Bailey will take over assisted by Cllrs Aitken and Reid. A flier advertising the event has been designed by Cllr Bailey. This now needs to be printed.