HELD ON TUESDAY 26th
OCTOBER 2004
IN EAST WOODHAY VILLAGE HALL
AT 7.30 P.M.
CLERK: Mrs. A. Davidson.
ITEM 1: MINUTES OF LAST MEETING.
Two typographical errors
were identified and corrected, after which these were accepted as a true record
of the September meeting and were duly signed by the Chairman.
ITEM 2: MATTERS ARISING.
The
letter to those living around the Parish Field has now been compiled and will
be delivered to households as soon as possible.
The
Chairman will be purchasing padlocks and keys for Woolton Hill Recreation
Ground very soon.
The
Chairman has approached two people who were identified as being possible new
Councillors to replace Robert Preston.
However, neither felt they wish to take this job on. A new Councillor will continue to
be sought, particularly from the North End area.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO DO NOTICE FOR NORTH
END ADVERTISING VACANCY.
The
Clerk tried to contact Clive Phillips at Hampshire to get an update on
proposals for alterations to the road between the two schools in Woolton
Hill. Unfortunately Clive has been
very ill and has taken early retirement, and a gentleman called Cliff has taken
over the project. He informed the
Clerk that, in light of changes requested by the Parish Council, the plans are
currently with the architect being amended.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO CHASE UP AGAIN IN A
COUPLE OF WEEKS TIME.
Cllr
Johnson has looked at the tree in Copnor which was identified as being dead,
but he is not sure who is responsible for it as he does not know whose land it
stands on. Cllr Ross thought
it may be the Borough Council or Highways who are responsible. Cllr Johnson will continue to
investigate.
Cllr
Ross asked when the Footpaths Maps are being put up. The Chairman informed him that, due to concerns about
cost and vandalism, these will now be incorporated into the Village Design
Statement Brochure when it is published.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO INFORM NORMAN POWERS
OF THIS.
ITEM 3: PLANNING.
Cllr
Elsden reported on the recent Development Control Committee Meeting at
Basingstoke where the applications for developments at Woodsong in Trade Street
and Redwood House in Tile Barn were considered, both of which the Parish
Council was opposing. She
was very unhappy with the way these applications were dealt with. She had spent a lot of time working on
them, with nine parishioners attending in relation to Redwood and one in
relation to Woodsong, in addition to 19 letters being sent objecting to the
Redwood Development. The
Redwood application was not dealt with until 11 p.m, by which time Councillors
were tired. This application
was merely voted in, with no discussion or debate. With Woodsong, two Councillors appeared to be
against this application but ended up voting for it. Cllr Elsden successfully encouraged parishioners to
attend the meeting and put in a lot of work on them, and was therefore very
disappointed that this resulted in no discussion and no answers given to the
questions raised. She felt
that the Parish had given it their best shot and therefore were entitled to be
treated fairly. Cllr
Holdcroft thought it would be good if individual parishioners who attended
could complain, and Cllr Elsden confirmed they are going to do this. Cllr Ross was also very
disappointed, and will raise issues.*
*ACTION: CHAIRMAN TO DRAFT LETTER ON
BEHALF OF PARISH COUNCIL.
Cllr
Elsden wished to thank Karen Anderson for attending the meeting regarding the
Woodsong application in relation to the Safer Routes to School scheme.
Evergreen
Farm was brought up at Development Control as an emergency consideration. Mr. Ward has lodged an application for
the siting of five gypsy caravans on the disputed land at Evergreen Farm in
North End. The Parish Council has
objected on a number of grounds and in support of the residents of North
End. Mr. Ward is also
claiming his wife owns half of his mobile home, and therefore the Borough
Council are taking immediate action against her to vacate the site by 19th
November. Cllr Elsden was pleased
that Legal Services at Basingstoke have said they will ensure action is taken,
and will continue to monitor the situation.
Applications
for development at Clere House and Little Oxleas in Church Road have been
withdrawn. An appeal has been made
against the decision at Rabbit Pit Farm.
Cllr
Elsden felt it would be good to get representatives from the Planning
Department at Basingstoke to come and do a presentation on Planning and
Development Control.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO CONTACT ROY THOMPSON
TO ARRANGE.
ITEM 4: AMENITIES.
Basingstoke
and Deane have allocated a fund of £65,000 to deal with safety issues raised in
Safety Reports around the Borough.
East Woodhay is getting £2,624 spend on the Pineapple Whirl and
providing swing barriers at Woolton Hill. This work will be carried out around
February or March time.
There
are eight Parishes currently competing for funding for CCTV, of which only
three will be successful. Cllrs
Heather and Farmer are attending a workshop soon at Basingstoke where criteria
will be revealed. It is hoped that
this will exclude some of the eight.
It is believed that £26,000 has been allocated to this project.
Cllr
Heather has received details of the new proposed Basingstoke and Deane
recreation and open spaces bylaws.
However, as the Parish Council owns both of the Parish play areas, he
believes these areas are not covered by these bylaws. The Woolton Hill play area is currently
covered by Basingstoke and Deane's 'No Dogs' bylaw and the meeting agreed that
this should be extended to cover the Heath End play area, as recommended by
Basingstoke and Deane.
Antler
Homes, who are developing the site at Gore End Road, have offered to make some
new Noticeboards for the Parish, in addition to re-doing the one at Gore End
Road.
The cost
of bringing the Skateboard Ramp up to scratch would be around £5-7,000. Looking at this figure in
relation to the cost of a new ramp, it was felt not to be worth spending this
amount of money. Cllr Heather
proposed that repairs are not carried out, but that the existing structure is
removed. He has received a
quotation of £1,100 from Dave Reed to remove it, and one of £400 from D & S
Cook. All were agreed that
the lower quotation should be accepted. Planning Permission will be required to put up a
new ramp, and it Basingstoke recommended photographs be taken of the old one
before it is removed.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO WRITE TO COOKS
ACCEPTING THEIR QUOTATION.
Members
of the Council visited the Youth Club to get their opinion about a new
ramp. The general feeling was that
they would like it to be replaced with one exactly the same. They were also keen to be involved in
fund raising for the ramp, and came up with several ideas. This was very encouraging.
Cllr
Ross has spoken with Ian Harris at Basingstoke who is dealing with the
Council's attempts to raise funding for projects in the Parish. Our original wish list totalled
around £33,000, but as the teen shelter at Copnor is now no longer required
this total is now £31,000.
The Section 106 Developers Contribution monies for Gore End Road
totalling just under £13,000 should be released soon, and this needs to be
spent on open spaces and/or playground equipment in the ward. It is hoped to use £7.5-8,000 of this
towards
the cost
of a new ramp. It is also believed
that grants may be available from the Police under the umbrella of Community
Safety.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO LOOK INTO THIS.
Now that
the Redwood application has been approved, further Section 106 monies will be
forthcoming, but this will not be for a while yet.
Cllr
Kyle-Lawrence has asked if something could be done about the Recreation Ground
in Woolton Hill It is
very lumpy and probably needs evened and re-seeded, and there is currently only
one goalpost. Teams from the
local Football Club have to go elsewhere to play and to practise. Cllr Elsden felt it would be good
to set up a committee to identify a 'wish list' for the future, and Cllr
Johnson felt that the Youth Club would be a good source of this
information. A
facility such as a community hall in Woolton Hill would be a great advantage,
and Cllr Johnson felt this could be requested as part of the Harwood Paddock
development. Cllr
Kyle-Lawrence agreed, stating that there are many groups in the Parish who need
similar facilities and would all benefit. Cllr Elsden suggested this should be brought to the
next Annual Parish Meeting.
ITEM 5: HIGHWAYS.
Cllr
Johnson is very pleased with the state of the roads at present -
much work has been carried out on them recently to bring them up to
scratch. Cllr Elsden
asked if the road between East End and The Holt could be looked at, as it is
rather narrow at the bottom of the hill there. Cllr Johnson has responded on the Parish
Council's behalf to the County Council's proposed Transport Strategy Plan. Cllr Farmer has
noticed an increase in the number of deer crossing the road along by the
Gainsborough Stud, and asked if it would be possible for signs to be put up to
make people aware.
ITEM 6: FINANCE.
A list
of income and expenditure was presented, and cheques were duly signed.
The
Clerk has received a letter from the Audit Commission stating that the
information provided by us to them indicates the Council owns fixed assets with
an insurance value of £75,319, and that this figure should be shown in the
Statement of Accounts under Box 9 on the Annual Return, with the appropriate
figure for the 2003 Accounts also included in the appropriate box. Cllr Ross was strongly of
the opinion that this figure should not be included here, and the rest of the
Council agreed.*
*ACTION: CLERK
TO INFORM DISTRICT AUDITOR AND ASK WHAT ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN.
The
Clerk then left the room while the Council discussed her proposed Pay
Increase. The recommendation from
the National Association of Local Councils and the Society of Local Council
Clerks is that salary should be increased by 2.8% and should move one
incremental point up the salary scale. The Council agreed to this increase, backdated
to 1st April.
ITEM 7: VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT.
Cllr
Heather reported that the revised draft, addressing issues raised by
Basingstoke and Deane, should be with Basingstoke and Deane in the next couple
of weeks, once comments have been received back from Steering Group members.
ITEM 8: MEMBERS REPORTS.
Cllr
Ross.
The
local Home Start service is desperately in need of volunteers, particularly a
Treasurer. If anyone can help them
can telephone 01635 817358.
Cllr
Kyle-Lawrence.
There is
an amount in the budget earmarked for 'Youth Project'. Cllr Kyle-Lawrence forewarned the
Council that this will probably soon be needed as some of the Youth Club's
equipment was damaged recently.
Cllr
Powell.
The
Twinning Association are holding a Wine Tasting event on 27th
November.
Cllr
Powell also wondered if anyone knew why Penwood Hill now sports street name
signs saying Fox's Lane.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO ASK DIANA MITCHELL
ABOUT THIS.
Cllr
Elsden.
It was
intended several months ago to invite Norman Powers to a meeting of the
Council, and this has still not happened.*
*ACTION: CLERK
TO INVITE NORMAN TO THE NOVEMBER MEETING TO REPORT ON FOOTPATHS.
Cllr
Heather/Cllr Farmer.
They are
aware that Hollington House was used as a place of residence for the Home Guard
during World War 2. As the
Council has been thinking recently about what could be done to commemorate the
War, they wondered whether it would be worth asking the owners of the House if
it could be opened up to the public for the occasion, and also to ask Norman
Powers if he can dig up any history on this.
Chairman.
The
Council were reminded that the Chairman will be laying Poppy Wreaths on the
Council's behalf at both Parish War Memorials on 14th November. The East End wreath will be laid
at 11.00 am and the Woolton Hill one at 3.30 pm. All Councillors were urged to attend these ceremonies if at
all possible.
Rev
Christine Dale has said she would be happy to arrange a service as part of the
Anniversary of World War 2 commemoration.
It would also be good to get some recipes from Wartime and recreate some
of the food which people ate then.
The
Clerk has received a letter from Basingstoke and Deane asking what the Council
thinks about Councillors' details appearing on their Website. The feeling of the meeting was
that this is not necessary, and only the Clerk's details should appear.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO INFORM BASINGSTOKE
OF THIS DECISION.
NEXT MEETING: 23RD NOVEMBER 2004
NOTES: NO
DECEMBER MEETING