MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF APPLETON WITH EATON PARISH COUNCIL

held on Tuesday 30th March 2010 in the village hall at 7.15pm

PRESENT: Mrs Liz Gilkes, Mrs Sue Hine, Mr Phil Neale, .Mrs Claire Salmon (in the chair), Mr Andy White Also Present: Carol Bateman, Natalie Crawford Stevie Biltcliffe (part of the time), John Evans, and the clerk.

10/45 PUBLIC SESSION:

1. Report from the Weir Action Group. Carol Bateman reported that the WAG had met Simon Hughes (Environment Agency Area Manager, Thames Region) that day, when he had announced that the work had been postponed for a year to allow the community and the EA to work together and work out the best way forward. The EA apologised and said that it realises that there have been errors in communication but were unaware of the strength of feeling in the community. A press release was being drafted jointly between the WAG and the EA. The planned work to the lock will still go ahead over the winter and it will remain a manual lock. The WAG thanked the Parish Council and the community for its support and the council congratulated the WAG on the successful outcome.
2. Report by the Playground and Recreation Area Working Group. Mrs Natalie Crawford Mrs Stevie Biltcliffe updated the council on progress. They will hear the result of their grant application in the next month. The Group requested that the council proceed with obtaining quotes from solicitors for drawing up the lease. Mr Gow has not yet replied to the council’s letter. Mrs Hine will contact him to ask whether it would be appropriate for the council to contact the shareholders individually. The group has applied for a £50,000 grant from Sovereign Vale Housing Association for projects which would make a difference in the community and from WREN. They reported that the ideas days was a big success and made £170 profit which will be used as working capital. They had 3 offers of financial help and an offer of labour from a local builder. Three quotes have been obtained from play companies and the group would like to show the designs at the next council meeting. The group plans to start fundraising, including a family fun day in September. The Council congratulated the group on their successes to date.

10/46 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Mrs Sara Murray and Mr Howard Thomas.

10/47 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ANY ITEMS APPEARING ON THE AGENDA: None.

10/48 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1ST MARCH 2010: The minutes were agreed to be a true record and signed as such by Mrs Salmon.

10/49 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE 1st MARCH MEETING:

1. A420 bus stop: County Councillor Gearing is waiting for written confirmation. It was noted that buses are stopping to pick people up.
2. Village Pond Area: The council will ask the Annual Parish meeting whether the street light should be switched back on.
3. Condition of Green Lane: Still no news from Mark Sumner. The Council will contact him again.
4. Community Plan: The Steering Group has reviewed progress so far and recognised that a lot of the issues are being addressed. It is beginning to write an Action Plan under several headings: things the community value and would like to see retained, things that the community thought needed to be changed and aspirations for change in the longer term, like the bus service and use of the Sportsfield. The volunteer groups have been busy and over 60 people were involved in the litter clearing weekend. The Playground group used the list of volunteers which was generated to man their ideas day. a. The steering group will present a draft verbal summary to the Annual Parish Meeting.
5. Broadband: Data on speeds is being collected using BT Speedchecker and clearly shows degradation through the village and individual problems have come to light. SEEDA have written to say that funds are available to support rural Broadband.
6. War memorial: Deferred to the next meeting.
7. Maintenance Eaton Road: Mrs Rosie Page has written explaining her plans. The council will speak to the Almshouses Trustees to establish ownership of the trees on the west boundary and whether they would be happy for them to be removed.
8. School road safety: Keith Stammers has been carrying out a risk assessment of the parking. He has encountered a problem in finding out how many children travel from Southmoor as school considers that there is a data protection issue.

10/50 RECREATION COMMITTEE

It was RESOLVED to form a Leisure and Recreation Committee of the Parish Council and adopt Terms of Reference as drafted. It was agreed that the committee will meet before the main council meeting four times a year. This will be reported to sub-committees at the Annual Parish meeting.

10/51 FLOODING ISSUES:

Mr Neale has had difficulty contacting Gordon Hunt who was waiting for the results of a meeting with Magdalen College’s land agent. It was reported that the farmer is happy to act. Mr Neale will press Highways for a resolution. The clerk reported that the flood group grant application has gone off. Volunteer ditch digging has been slow to get going. The council will contact John Beaumont about the grips on the Eaton straight.

10/52 NORTHMOOR WEIR:

It was reported that Nothmoor Parish Council had not been informed about the works either, but that they were accepting of the works because of fears about flooding in their parish.

It was decided that it will be the Weir Action Group which takes the issue forward and the council will support where they can. The Group will organise another open meeting to feed back to the parish and to ask people with relevant expertise to come forward.

The council will write to Simon Hughes saying that it is very pleased with the outcome and wants to be involved in the consultation process in the future. It was agreed that the council’s overarching concern is with village safety issues.

10/53 ACCOUNTS: 

10/54 REPORTS FROM SUB-COMMITTEES AND EXTERNAL MEETINGS:

1. Playground and Recreation Area: It was AGREED to ask for quotes from solicitors for drawing up a lease.
2. Tennis Club: The clerk reported that grants had been received from the Shop and the Doris Field Trust, both of £1,000. The netball club had been told that it would not be possible to have extra lines painted on the courts to accommodate them. The meeting discussed what benefit membership of the LTA has to ordinary members and whether the fee structure subsidises league players.
3. Village Hall: The sound system has been installed and invoices paid.
4. Website: The meeting recorded its thanks to Graham Rose for the excellent website and all his hard work, particularly in the snow in January.
5. Rainwater and Flooding: Noted above.

10/55 CORRESPONDENCE:

1. Planning Approvals: 79 and 81 Eaton Road.
2. St John’s Ambulance: It was agreed to make a donation of £25.00.
3. Town and Country Trees Limited.
4. Vale of White Horse: New Waste Collection System: councillors are invited to attend sessions in May when the new system will be explained.
5. Appleton with Eaton History Group: The council had copies made of the Enclosure maps, and copies are held in the Manor safe, St John’s College and the County Record office. The council’s copy was lodged with David Farrant, who is no longer able to store them and has passed them to the History Group. The group asked for permission to produce copies for sale. It was agreed that the group may make copies and will share the profits with the Council. The originals will then be returned to the Council for safe-keeping.

10/56 MATTERS FOR REPORT:

1. Mrs Hine noted the state of the road from Eaton to Bablockhythe.
2. Fire Service Award: The clerk reported that the Fire Service would like to recognise the kindness and help given to his officers on the night of the fire at The Close with a plaque and open letter. It was agreed that the presentation should take place before the Annual Parish Meeting but that the owners should be consulted about publicity.
3. Permissive Right of Way – Lock Hill.
4. Footpaths: It was noted that the well-walked path from England’s Lane to the footpath to the woods is marked on early maps and the Ordnance Survey.
5. Bablockhythe: Mr White reported that permission is expected in about 6 weeks and that various conditions will apply. Neighbours are happy with the work proposed.
6. The NAG visual audit was carried out by Keith Stammers and Malcolm Denton and they commented that obsolete notices are left on telegraph poles.

10/57 NEXT MEETING: The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 4th May 2010 at 7.15pm in the Village Hall. There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.20pm.