Minutes
Page last updated on Thursday, March 17, 2011
ASHURST AND COLBURY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 15 FEBRUARY 2011
AT THE CHURCH ROOMS COLBURY
Present:
Councillors S Arnold (in the Chair), D. Bryant, C. Hubbard, P Sopowski and A. Sturgess
In Attendance:
Parish Clerk L. Griggs, County Cllr K. Mans, District Cllr L. Puttock and 9 members of the public.
Apologies
District Cllr Tipp, Cllrs Coaker, Frost and Kershaw
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.
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
The minutes of the last Meeting, which had been circulated to all Councillors, were approved and signed.
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
The Chairman reported that two residents had told her that they and many others were concerned over Government plans for the New Forest, and asked whether the Council would be holding any meeting to discus the matter.
Cllr Sopowski advised that the Forestry Commission was holding consultation meetings in Lyndhurst and it may be better for residents to attend those meetings which should be well informed meetings.
Cllr Bryant advised that a protest march against the plans was taking place from Boltons Bench at 1pm on Saturday
A resident said that the door of the old air raid shelter was broken and it was unpleasant for people passing there particularly at night. Could the Council do something about it? The Clerk was asked to contact HCC and request a strong flush fitting door to be installed to prevent anyone loitering in the shelter.
A resident said the grass triangle at the junction of Peterscroft Avenue and Woodlands Road was being significantly eroded by lorries and other vehicles driving over the edges particularly in the current wet weather. Will the Council take some action to have the triangle fully restored? The Clerk was asked to write to Highways requesting the restoration and possibly some dragons teeth to prevent any future encroachment.
4. HIGHWAYS MATTERS
The Chairman reminded everyone about the meeting on Bus Route Changes to be held on Saturday at 1pm which would be led and chaired by Cllr Kershaw.
The Chairman also reported that the Gateway sign at the eastern end of the village had been vandalised. The Police had been asked if the camera at the site could be used to identify the vandals but were told that it took two to three hours to review one hour of tape and it could not be done at this time. The Clerk was arranging for repair/replacement estimates to be obtained.
5. RECREATION GROUND
a) Cllr Bryant reported that five trees identified as dangerous by the NFDC Tree Survey had been felled and of the two trees identified as requiring an aerial survey, one had been felled and the other pruned to remove dangerous sections.
b) Cllr Bryant said he had given the Clerk some details of new notice boards and it was hoped to place an order before the next meeting. The Chairman thanked Cllrs Tipp and Puttock for their generous contributions to the cost of the new notice board.
6. PLANNING
a) Cllr Sopowski gave a report on planning activities since the last meeting.
b) The Clerk reported that although it was understood the applicant had lodged an appeal on the 10 Wood Road application which NPA had refused, he had not received any paperwork on the matter.
7. ACCOUNTS
a) The cheques issued since the last meeting were approved.
8. GRANTS
None
9. REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES
Cllr Hubbard attended the Fete Committee meeting
Cllr Bryant had attended various meetings relating to the allotments
Cllr Sturgess attended Fete Committee meetings and the NPA Quadrant meeting
Cllr Arnold had attended the following:-
New Planning Policies NFDC
New Planning Policies NPA
Fete Committee
Allotment Committee
Cllr Puttock had attended a Safety Partnership meeting and reported that the number of animals killed or injured in road accidents had fallen from 141 in 1985 to 92 in 2010. While that was good progress 92 was still too high and he reminded every one of the Reward Scheme which offered up to £1,000 for information leading to a conviction in 'hit and run' cases.
On the issues of the Big Society and Localism he said that the public was not receiving sufficient explanation as to what was proposed and how it would work. While local involvement was to be welcomed parish councils would need funding to carry out more work.
Cllr Mans asked that the Parish Council respond to the consultation on the mobile library changes. On the Bus Pass scheme he said that although HCC had put more money aside for the scheme than provided by Government there were still issues to be resolved and if the Parish Council had any special local issues to let him know.
The Chairman interceded to say that a 9.30am start was too late for residents who had early doctor or dentist appointments. On the question of the forest, Cllr Mans said HCC was not in favour of selling off Forestry Commission land but we ought to look at ways of improving the Forestry Commission's operations particularly in regard to local involvement.
10. CORRESPONDENCE
The list of correspondence had been circulated and items were available for anyone to see.
11. COMMUNITY PLAN
In the absence of Cllr Coaker the Chairman read the following from his notes of the recent meeting.
Allotments. Some people had said they did not know if they were on the list of applicants or not. The Clerk interceded to say he would comment on this under Agenda item 13.
The successful activities from 2010 were the Litter Pick, the Apple Day and the Big Lunch all of which would be held again in 2011.
12. VILLAGE DESIGN AND CHARACTER APPRAISAL
Cllr Hubbard said a Committee Meeting was scheduled for 23rd February to discuss the first draft of the report.
13. ALLOTMENTS
The Clerk reported that progress was being made with SDF funding approved and other applications well forward. He thanked Cllr Mans for his generous contribution of £1,000 to the project. He hoped Planning Permission would be granted soon and tenders for the work were due in by 19th February.
In regard to the Community Group's comments on applications not being confirmed he was able to say that in both cases the applicants had received proper confirmation in October and November last year respectively, and that had now been acknowledged.
14. AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Chairman said there was nothing further to report under this heading.
15. ANNUAL FETE
Cllr Sturgess said things were going well and there had been a positive response from those involved last year. The charity would be the Royal British Legion and she had booked the Romsey Old Boys Band which would be a spectacular event.
Small stands would be £20 and Commercial stands £50, both being a one off charge. Organisations requiring space should apply in writing together with a cheque payable to Ashurst and Colbury Parish Council.
Volunteers to help would be very welcome and should contact her.
16 LOCALISM BILL AND DECENTRALISATION
It was noted that there was a Plain English Guide on this subject available from http://tinurl.com/5wtfuls
17. GOVERNANCE OF THE NPA
The Chairman reported that the NPA Focus Group of the New Association of Local Councils is putting forward the following points for consideration at the meeting on 24th February
· To agree the list of Town/Parish Councillors that qualify for election to the New Forest National Park Authority from each quadrant.
N.B. There will be no election for the North East quadrant until 2013. This is the quadrant that Ashurst and Colbury fall under.
· To approve the application form for all Parish/Town Councillors within the quadrants of the National Park.
· To accept a job specification as issued by the New Forest National Park Authority.
· To decide who should handle the elections. This can be handled in house or by Hampshire Association of Local Councils.
One final note for Councillors is to be aware that if you are a District Councillor then you cannot be put forward as a candidate to represent a Parish/Town Council.
18. OTHER ITEMS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN DEEMS IMPORTANT
None
19. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE NEXT MEETING
None
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.25pm
Signed S. R. Arnold - Chairman Dated 15th March 2011
• PDF File
15 February 2011
(28 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