Minutes - 21st July 2009
Page last updated on September 16, 2009
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 21ST JULY 2009
AT THE CHURCH ROOMS COLBURY
Present:
Councillors S. Arnold (in the Chair), D. Bryant, M. Coaker, K. Kershaw, P. Sopowski and A. Sturgess
In Attendance:
Clerk L. Griggs, District Councillor D.Tipp and 12 members of the public.
The Chairman said:
Would you all please stand to remember the life of Councillor Ann Holdsworth. Ann closed her eyes for the last time early this morning.
Ann touched the lives of so many people - her stamina and strength will never be forgotten - a lady with a mission and a very true friend.
We thank you Lord for all the special memories we have of Ann - help us to come to terms with her passing and to know that she is now at peace.
The Chairman invited everyone to resume their seat and opened the meeting.
Apologies:
had been received from District Councillor Puttock.
DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST IN AN AGENDA ITEM
The Chairman asked if there was any item on the agenda which would warrant a Councillor submitting a Form C. Cllr Bryant tabled a Form C in regard to item GRANTS 8(a). The Chairman reminded Councillors that if any item arose during Public Participation which warranted a Form C they should declare it immediately.
POLICE REPORT
Then Chairman said that as PC White needed to return to his duties he would make his report now. PC White gave his report.
MINUTES
On a proposal by Cllr Sturgess seconded by Cllr Bryant, the minutes of the last Meeting which had been previously circulated to all Councillors, were approved unanimously and signed by the Chairman.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A resident raised the issue of overgrown hedges along Whartons Lane which would soon make it impassable. The Chairman said the Clerk had written and if not attended to would advise NFDC.
A resident raised the question of the one way system proposed for Foxhills and asked if it would be temporary or permanent. Cllr Kershaw said the one way system was not under consideration so there was no answer to the question.
A resident said he had attended the meeting on the school parking problems and had expected that the use of dragons teeth would be approved but was then told it was not the solution and double yellow lines would be used. Double yellow lines would penalise residents unfairly.
Cllr Kershaw said his objective was to get safe parking for children and the residents would like the Council to support the proposal for the use of dragons teeth or single yellow lines with time restrictions. Kevin Fuller of HCC had rejected dragons teeth on the grounds of maintenance cost.
After further discussion the Council voted to support the residents request for dragons teeth which were widely used in nearby areas.
HIGHWAY MATTERS
The Chairman said the school parking issue had already been discussed.
The Clerk reported that the use of a SID in Whartons Lane had been delayed as NFDC had reported a pipeline ran along the lane with a 6 metre exclusion zone on each side. The exact location of the pipeline was not clear from the map provided by the company and he was pursuing the matter.
Cllr Bryant reported that two cars had been parked opposite the Happy Cheese for three weeks during which time they had not been moved. The Clerk asked if he would provide the registration details so he could notify the authorities.
RECREATION GROUND
a) Cllr Bryant reported that the latest Inspection Report showed that apart from work already in hand things were in good order. The new fence was in place along the north side of the ground and further essential tree work had been carried out. The coded padlocks had again been stolen so they had been replaced with padlocks with keys.
b) Friends of the Park. The Chairman said Mr. Hewitt was unable to attend and had given her a paper to read. After some discussion the Council decided that while it appreciated the wishes of the Friends of the Park it was necessary to hear directly from Mr Hewitt to know exactly what was proposed and ask questions before making any decisions. The Council had responsibilities under the lease and needed to ensure it complied with them. The Clerk was instructed to write accordingly to Mr. Hewitt.
c) Timberline project. The Chairman said a meeting had been held on site with the representative of Timberline regarding the possible installation of a rustic trail for children. Although the plan and costing had been promised for this meeting they were not to hand. When they were received the Council would decide whether to proceed and if so the plan would be put out to tender.
PLANNING
a) Councillor Sopowski gave a report on planning applications processed since the last meeting.
The Chairman reported that she had attended the NPA planning meeting in regard to Oak Tree Lodge Care Home and on this occasion the application had been refused. The application for Ashurst Hospital had been approved
b) Alldays sign. The Clerk reported that he had notified NPA that the sign had been erected but no planning application had been seen by the Council. The enforcement Officer had advised that “the newly erected advertisement complies with the Town and Country Planning ) Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 and can be considered to benefit from deemed consent and advertisement application is not required”.
The Chairman added that this was likely to open the floodgates for other advertisements being erected around the forest, something the NPA are supposed to be totally against.
ACCOUNTS
a) On a proposal by Cllr Sopowski, seconded by Cllr Coaker, the accounts paid since the last meeting were approved.
b) The Clerk said the Annual Return and Statutory Notice had been displayed in the Notice Boards for the requisite period but no one had asked to see the accounts. The Annual Return had been sent to the Audit Commission for their audit. If their usual timetable was followed we might hear back from them around December time.
GRANTS
a) Colbury Pistol and Rifle Club. The Council considered the documentation provided and agreed to a grant of £1,000.
b) Victim Support. The Clerk asked if the Council wished him to obtain the Accounts bearing in mind the decision not to give a grant in previous years. The Council confirmed its previous decision.
c) New Forest War Memorials. The Clerk explained that this group researched all those who had taken part in the world wars and produced a book giving details of those people and their history. The team were all volunteers and had completed histories for a number of villages. A copy of the Bransgore book was circulated.
The team asked for a grant to cover printing costs, which were likely to be around £1,000. When the books are sold the proceeds are given to the Poppy Appeal. After some discussion the Council agreed to a grant this year of £500 and a similar grant next year.
REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES
Cllr Coaker attended a meeting of the Community Group on 7th July.
Some of the issues I was asked to take to the Council and would ask Councillor Kershaw and the Chairman to add comments after this update
A welcome to a new Treasurer, Leslie McBride, who has agreed to take on the task.
Of the items for discussion, the 4 main topics were;
1) The Chairman has issues with traffic along Deerleap lane and is seeking support from Parish Council, District Council, Police and our MP to reduce the speed limit to 30mph, and in the meantime for speeds to be monitored.
2) Long discussion over the Parish Website and newsletter. It was felt that insufficient coverage and profile to Community Plan activities was put over in these sites, and a proposal made was to set up an independent website.
There were concerns that this action could alienate the Community Plan Group.
Subsequent to the meeting the chairman Brian Pass has met with the PC Chairman Sally Arnold and Councillor Ken Kershaw
3) The issue of the Recreation Ground was discussed as the group felt it fell in the remit of Parish Action Plan, but was being duplicated by actions of Friends of the Park. It was pointed out that at the previous Council meeting it was agreed to install new playground equipment.
Again this was a subject to be discussed by both Chairmen and Councillor Kershaw
4) The listing of the hospital chapel again raised its head. There is some question as to whether some people want to save it, my understanding is that all want to save it however there is a difference in just having it listed or having it listed plus taking complete ownership thereby incurring cost to the Council. Again this was raised with the PC Chairman and she has done a lot of background work to save the chapel, and will also form part of discussion between the 2 Chairmen
Other Items discussed and to action from within Group
Toddler group
Picnics in the Park
Book on Ashurst and Colbury
Allotments
BBC / Lottery initiative on village projects
Right of way behind New Forest Hotel
The Chairman said:
i) the question of a web site for the Community Group had been discussed at the meeting referred to and it had been pointed out that a separate web site would be divisive.
ii) as regards Friends of the Park it had been pointed out that as yet the Council had received no concrete proposal from that group. It was hoped that Mr Hewitt would attend the Council meeting to present his ideas. However if people wished to carry out work to improve the facilities at no cost to the residents the Council could not turn down such offers.
iii) the Timberline issue had been dealt with earlier under the Recreation Ground heading.
iv) the listing of the Chapel had been discussed and the difficulties caused by the Community Group approach to the PCT without reference to the Council. They had now been resolved on the understanding that all matters relating to the Chapel would be handled by the Council.
Cllr Bryant attended the New Forest Consultative Panel meeting at the Lyndhurst Park Hotel.
Three representatives from the NPA spoke:
Mike Seddon, Deputy Surveyor, on the Study of the Public Forests. Estate,
Brian Wilson, Tree Warden, on the ageing trees in the forest and of them Growing Old Gracefully. He explained how they would be looked after.
Amy Rawlins, Climate Change Office, said the job had been made for her. Her first task was to see what impact the NPA had on the forest then she would go visiting together other information.
There was a general discussion on Over Grazing which highlighted the difficulty of sitting in rows in a hotel as it was difficult to see who was speaking.
Cllr Bryant feels that the use of a hotel is a charge on the taxpayer and the meeting should be held at Appletree Court. If the issue was the caretaker going home at 9.30pm then NFDC should arrange for one of its officers/Councillors at the meeting to lock up.
Cllr Kershaw had attended the New Forest Transport Forum and the matters dealt were:
The current role of the Forum was summarised as:-
- Identification of local transport needs
- Promotion of existing passenger transport services
- Delivering services that reduce social exclusion
- Reduction of barriers to improving passenger transport services
- Contributing towards supporting and developing services
Presentation on Changing the focus of the Passenger Transport Forum
- The presentation promoted the role of the Forum members as:-
- Promotion of local transport services
- Disseminating information about changes to local transport services and information
- Gathering information on local transport needs
- Contributing to transport related consultations
- Partnership working to identify and provide solutions to transport needs
- Each Forum meeting might in the future concentrate on:-
- An agenda item which focuses on a particular passenger transport issue or topic
- A presentation by an invited speaker (e.g. transport operator)
- Opportunity for a member to raise a particular local transport needs which they have identified
- Members, including HCC, to provide information on latest developments and share good practice
- Response to forum members questions on non agenda items
- Members to have networking opportunity over coffee break midway through the meeting
- HCC officers to host surgery sessions for members before meetings and during the coffee break
- Update on action points agreed at the last meeting
- Prioritise any action points which have arisen in the forum meeting
- It was further proposed to:
- Create a commonly asked questions and answers section on the Passenger Transport Website,
- Include key contact information for different transport aspects on forum agendas and minutes
- Widen the representation of those present at the forums
This was followed by a Workshop session and a presentation on Wheels to Work which is a Community First project, funded by HCC to hire mopeds to young job seekers resident in areas without regular passenger transport.
Cllr Arnold had attended the following:
17th June – Verderers Court – Report agenda item 10.
18th June – NFALC meeting –
22nd June – Flag Raising Ceremony at NFDC for the Armed Forces
27th June – Veterans Day at NFDC
29th June – Heads of Department at NFDC – The tree consultancy service had not been taken up by many Parishes, we are one of the parishes that have and find it an advantage and good value for money. NFALC and NFDC will continue to promote this service.
The GIS mapping project was processing very well and to date 23 town and parish councils had signed up to the project.
The portfolio holder for the environment said many villages considered the zone signs – [these are the ones you can see with the speed limit and zone written underneath] are too big for rural villages and want them removed. They intend to ask HCC to undertake a survey of the preferences of parishes regarding speed signs.
5th July – The Clerk and I met with John Cockram who’s ambition is to write a book on War memories of Colbury and Ashurst. He will need financial support from the Parish Council, but any profits go to the Poppy Appeal.
7th July – Meeting with Timberline. This has been discussed under agenda item 5]
12th July – Annual County Service at Winchester Cathedral – emotions ran high as Britain’s most decorated regiment was welcomed home. Hours before the 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment had learned that one of its number who had been at the Helmand province with the Welsh Guards had been shot. It was the greatest honour for me to stand alongside them.
14th July – Meeting with Highways with concerns over the parking in Foxhills [clarified under agenda item 4]
14th July – Meeting with the Parish Plan Chairman and Secretary, - Reported under agenda item 11.
15th July – Opening of the Toucan Crossing on the A35 – This was made very special with the presence of the two lollipop ladies who had carried out their duties between them for 60 years. Mrs. Jean Stainer and Mrs. Betty Colenutt. Coverage was good from the papers but It was a pity that the reporters gave a misleading report.
21st July – Meeting with the NPA planning committee re the extension of 116 Lyndhurst Road [ Oak Tree Lodge Nursing home]
District Cllr Tipp spoke of the NFDC efforts to reduce costs by reducing staff without compulsory redundancy and the consideration of having the offices all on one site also to reduce costs. He mentioned that some parishes had been quite successful in encouraging those with large gardens which they were unable to maintain, to let them be used as allotments. The issue was one of trust and he felt the only way was just to put people in touch with each other. He suggested an entry in the Newsletter
The Clerk reported that the GIS Partnership with NFDC was now in place with an annual contribution of £174.80. Some 37 councils had signed up to agreement which, following training, would enable the council to get maps not only of roads but also footpaths, watercourses etc.
CORRESPONDENCE
The list of correspondence had been circulated and copies were available at the meeting.
The Chairman reported the following:-
a) Local Govt Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The Clerk advised that this was important legislation which included the requirement for five elected Councillors.
b) Response from the Verderers on mobile food van for camp sites. The Chairman said this had a very good response for our local shops. Cllr Sopowski and I went to the Verderers Court to give the Council’s view and fortunately the Verderers were of the same opinion that no mobile shops will come on to our campsite.
I would like to add that Denny Lodge Parish Council also spoke for Ashurst which confirms the link of Parishes working together.
c) Our local beat officer P.C. Andy White has asked for an opinion on forming a group to meet once a quarter with Lyndhurst and Netley Marsh Parish Councils as well as the monthly Police Surgeries. I have suggested asking each Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator as well.
It was agreed that the Council should participate in such a group.
COMMUNITY PLAN
The Clerk reported that a meeting with the Chairman and Secretary of the Community Group and the Chairman, Cllr Kershaw and the Clerk of the Council had met to try to improve communications. It was agreed that:
a) All formal communications would be between the Clerk and the Secretary. That would ensure all items were properly processed. The Chairmen would communicate as necessary on any matters of importance or urgency.
b) A group consisting of two from the Community Group and two from the Council would meet probably every two months to check on progress on the Actions in the Community Plan. They would also consider whether any new Actions proposed should be accepted and who would have responsibility for managing the Action.
c) This group to meet once a quarter to ensure progress and deal with any issues arising.
Various other issues were dealt with and the Secretary would produce minutes of the meeting.
VILLAGE FAIR
Cllr Sturgess reported good progress although she still needed someone to run the Tombola. Volunteers were still needed on the day. She asked the Council for a decision on the charity to benefit from the proceeds. Two were considered, the Home for Autistic Children and the Air Ambulance.
Cllr Sopowski pointed out that the Home was government funded and after discussion it was agreed that the Air Ambulance should be the nominated charity.
The Chairman reported that NPA had given permission for a temporary sign advertising the fete.
The date was 5th September and the venue the Recreation Ground.
CO-OPTION PROCESS
The Clerk advised that with the death of Cllr Holdsworth there would be a delay in dealing with any co-option. New legislation required a council to have five elected councillors and if that was now in effect an election would be necessary for both vacancies currently existing.
OTHER ITEMS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN DEEMS IMPORTANT
None
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE NEXT MEETING
Mr Chris Buchan-Hepburn of Hyde Housing would talk on the Affordable Housing projects. Maggs Wylie, who has taken over as Rural Housing Enabler from Gordon Richardson, would also be present.
It was hoped that Mr Hewitt would be present to set out his proposals for the Recreation Ground.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.06 pm
Signed S. R. Arnold - Chairman
Dated 15th September 2009
• PDF File
21 July 2009
(46.0 kB PDF File)
• Adobe Acrobat reader
Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download it using the "Get Adobe® Reader button above.
• Also see