Minutes
Page last updated on Wednesday, November 17, 2010
ASHURST AND COLBURY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 19th OCTOBER 2010
AT THE CHURCH ROOMS COLBURY
Present:
Councillors S Arnold (in the Chair), D. Bryant, M. Coaker, P. Frost, C. Hubbard, K. Kershaw, P Sopowski and A. Sturgess
In Attendance:
Parish Clerk L. Griggs, District Councillor D. Tipp and 9 members of the public.
Apologies
had been received from County Councillor Mans and District Cllr L. Puttock
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting
1. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST IN AN AGENDA ITEM
The Chairman reminded Councillors that if there was any item on the agenda which would warrant a Councillor submitting a Form C they should do so now.
Councillor Coaker submitted a Form C in regard to item 5b.
The Chairman also reminded Councillors that if any item arose during Public Participation which warranted a Form C they should declare it immediately.
2. MINUTES
a) The minutes of the last Meeting, which had previously been circulated to all Councillors, were approved unanimously and signed by the Chairman.
b) Matters arising. Railway site.
The Clerk advised that the developers had resolved the acoustic issues and the presentation of the proposals to residents would now take place. Cllr Kershaw asked if the necessary grants for the work were secure bearing in mind the current cuts in public expenditure as there would be no point in having the presentation if the funding was not available. The Clerk undertook to check that with the developer.
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
The Chairman said a member of the public has asked her to report about the request for metal shutter barriers at the Co-op Welcome Store. According to talk it is ‘the Council’ who will not allow this, and therefore it is the Parish Council that is getting the blame.
The residents are seriously thinking about a petition in favour of steel shutters.
However she had checked her records and could find no planning application for the shutters. In response to a question the Chairman said shutters were necessary due to the attempts to drive a vehicle through the front doors It was agreed that the Chairman should visit the shop and talk to the Manager to correct any wrong impressions.
A Knightwood Close resident reported that the builders of the property in Wood Road had erected a fence across the site where it bordered on the Close and put the post in by the kerb which was not in accordance with the plans.
They had also left one panel out leaving piles of rubbish in full view. It had been there for a long time. He asked if the Council would look into the matter. After discussion Cllr Frost agreed to visit the site and see what could be done.
He added that if the building work was not completed there was not a lot to be done about the missing panel.
4. HIGHWAYS MATTERS
a) Sign clutter hot spots. The Chairman said as there were no additions from Cllrs to her list the Clerk would complete the return to HCC.
b) Deerleap Lane Closure. The Clerk had notified all Cllrs of the proposal for the closure which included the date previously set for the Affordable Housing (Railway Site) presentation to residents.
He said after discussions with Highways access to the Church Rooms would not be easy and asked if the Council wished to try another date. After discussion it was agreed to consider either 22nd or 24th November. The Clerk would sew what rooms were available and check with the developers and advise everyone accordingly.
c) Footpath in Foxhills. The Chairman reported that the bushes were very overgrown and asked if anyone knew who was responsible for cutting them back. The Clerk was asked to contact Highways and NFDC.
5. RECREATION GROUND
a) Cllr Bryant reported that a recent inspection had shown everything was in good order. The small spring see-saw had been removed as the springs kept breaking. The Committee would consider other equipment to fill the space and get back to the Council
He also said that holes had appeared in the ground where things such as metal barrels had been dumped many years ago and were now collapsing. He had organised an immediate supply of top soil to fill the holes. Cllr Kershaw asked if this was in the area Friends of the Park were proposing to dig and Cllr Bryant confirmed it was.
b) Cllr Coaker reported that things were now moving rather quickly. He outlined the current situation and said the Public Meeting was scheduled for October 30th. Cllr Frost said that only gave residents two days to get any issues to NPA before the Consultation period ended.
The Chairman then requested a vote as to whether the Council generally accepted the proposal. Cllr Sopowski said he would abstain as he did not have sufficient information and he did not want residents to feel that as the Council supported the scheme they could not object. The outcome was:-
- in favour Cllrs Arnold, Hubbard, Kershaw and Sturgess,
- against none,
- abstentions Cllrs Bryant and Sopowski.
Cllrs Coaker and Frost did not vote, in accordance with the Code of Conduct, having a personal interest in the matter.
c) Cllr Bryant reported that the renovated Notice Board in the Recreation Ground should be in place soon and apologised for the further delay
The Chairman thanked Councillor Bryant for acting very promptly in response to a report from a resident about pot holes in the park.
6. PLANNING
a) Cllr Sopowski gave a report on planning activities since the last meeting.
b) Email from Steve Avery, NPA. As the date for responses was 19th November Cllrs were asked to forward their comments to the Clerk who would collate a response from the Council.
7. ACCOUNTS
a) The cheques issued since the last meeting were approved.
b) The Chairman advised that she had received a formal invitation to represent the Council at a function on 23 November and would like to request the Council to consider changing the date of the precept meeting.
After discussion it was agreed to see if a suitable room could be found for the same date as the Affordable Housing presentation. The Clerk was asked to see what could be arranged and notify everyone. The Chairman thanked the Council for their consideration in this matter
8. GRANTS
The Clerk had received another request for a grant from the Wildlife and Farming Advisory Group and advised that the Council had previously refused a request. The Council confirmed it was not appropriate to make any grant.
9. REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES
Cllr Coaker had attended a meeting with NPA on the Friends of the Park project and also the NPA/Forest Watch presentations.
Cllr Bryant had attended the NPA/Forest Watch presentation and also a meeting of the Allotment Committee.
Cllr Kershaw had attended the NPA/Forest Watch presentation.
Cllr Sturgess had attended the final meeting of the 2010 Fete Committee and the NFALC closure meeting.
Cllr Arnold had attended the following:-
- Allotment committee
- Disband of NFALC and change to ‘The Association’ – Only eleven Parishes were represented at the meeting so the disbandment was agreed by only eleven of the 37 Parishes in the Forest.
-Forest Watch and New Forest National Park presentations. Although poorly attended by residents and other parishes it was very informative.
Cllr Tipp had attended the Environment review panel which had received a presentation on coastal erosion. While much work had been carried out at Highcliffe to deal with sea erosion the situation at Barton-on-Sea was different. The issue there was ground water running from developments on land. A grant had been received to prepare the plans but if it was accepted a great deal of money would be required to carry out the work.
He said the change of refuse collection dates had gone reasonably well although some problems had arisen. Cllr Sopowski expressed concern that the black bags were too thin and split easily. The men could be damaged if this happened as they swung the bags into the lorry.
He also expressed concern over the instruction to put bags out at 6am which encouraged people to put them out the previous night with the usual unsightly appearance and attraction to rats and other animals.
Cllr Tipp said collections did start very early but hoped people would get used to the times of collection and act appropriately.
10. CORRESPONDENCE
a) The list of correspondence had been circulated and items were available for anyone to see.
b) The Chairman reminded councillors of the AGM for the New Association on 18th November at 7pm.
11. COMMUNITY PLAN
Cllr Coaker had nothing new to report but advised that the next meeting was on 2nd December.
12. VILLAGE DESIGN AND CHARACTER APPRAISAL
Cllr Hubbard said she had received a great number of views from residents, including children, at the fete and had prepared a collation of those views. A further public meeting was planned, with display boards of information to give the public another opportunity to express their views on matters. That would be followed by a morning workshop of the Committee with draft documents.
13. ALLOTMENTS
The Clerk advised that the plot of land gifted to the Council was in Foxhills between No. 37 Foxhills and the existing Totton & Eling Council’s allotments. The Council will have access to the land shortly and meetings have been held with the NPA regarding funding from the SDF and also regarding planning application requirements for the development of the site.
A meeting had also been held with Highways and forms received regarding building the access. The SDF application had to be in by 22nd November if we were to get the application considered at the meeting on 8th December.
The Planning Application was also urgent as both the SDF funding and the Highways work were dependent on having planning approval
The Chairman said the Committee had decided not to appoint a Chairman at this stage as most of these matters had to be handled by the Clerk with help from Cllr Bryant. Once the allotments were in place the Committee would appoint a Chairman to manage matters thereafter.
The Chairman also said she had written a letter of thanks to the Barker-Mill Charity Foundation for its very generous gift of the land and the offer of practical help in developing the site. That would also appear in the Newsletter.
14. CHRISTMAS MEETING AND CAROLS
a) The Chairman said the list had been circulated and the attendees were mainly the volunteers who deliver the newsletter each month.
b) The Chairman reminded everyone that the Carols evening is on Friday 17th December and reported some residents said the parade was too noisy and we should seek other venues.
After discussion it was agreed the Chairman would approach the owner of the Happy Cheese to see if we could use the green area outside their premises which was a little further away from the traffic but still in the vicinity of the tree lights.
15. OTHER ITEMS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN DEEMS IMPORTANT
None
16. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE NEXT MEETING
None
There being no further business for this meeting the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.55pm
Signed S. R. Arnold - Chairman Dated 16th November 2010
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