CHACOMBE PARISH COUNCIL

 

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday, 2nd June 2003 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

 

Present: Cllrs. Harper, Coates, White, Wyatt, Jenkins, Kennedy and Clerk.

 

Apologies: Cllr. Woolley, Jones and Reid.

 

Public Time.

Mrs Carolyn Adams wanted the Council to know of her concerns about the speeding vehicles in Thornhill, Poplars Road and through the village. Could anything be done to slow the traffic? Highways did not consider speed bumps an appropriate solution and Mrs Adams was advised that a 20mph speed limit had been requested. It was often parents bringing children to school, who were travelling too fast. Parents had been informed of the problem on a previous occasion and may be it was time to repeat the exercise. Cllr. White was involved in the “Safer Routes to School” initiative at Chenderit School, Middleton Cheney and agreed that she would pass on any relevant information from those discussions. Chacombe School could be eligible for funding but School would have to apply. Cllr. Kennedy reminded the Council that the zig-zag lines that used to be outside of school, before the road was re-surfaced, had been effective in slowing traffic. Cllr. Harper agreed to raise the matter at a future meeting of the Governors.

 

County Councillor Malcolm Mildren spoke about the role of the County Council and how it prioritised funds with most of the money going to Education and Social Services. The main priority for NCC in this area of S. Northants is the speeding traffic on the B4525 but one of Chacombe’s priorities is the number of pot-holes and the general state of our roads. Since the introduction of the half-hourly bus service there are now many more buses travelling through Chacombe. Thornhill now has as many as three cars per household and many of these go up and down everyday. Thornhill has only been re-surfaced once in 24 years. There are now ten times more cars on the roads today and that is why our roads need more maintenance and not less.

The Clerk had compiled a list of all the outstanding problems from safety barrier to dislodged granite sets. Cllr. Mildren agreed to speak to NCC Highways/Atkins to try to resolve these issues.

 

Cllr. White signed Acceptance of Office and Declaration to undertake to observe the Code of Conduct.

 

Co-option of new councillor

Cllr. Kennedy proposed the co-option of Mr Adam Wyatt. This was seconded by Cllr. Coates and Mr Wyatt was duly co-opted. He signed his Acceptance of Office and Declaration to undertake to observe the Code of Conduct.

Declarations of financial and other interests were distributed to Cllr. White and Wyatt.

 

Minutes of previous meetings on 7th April and 12th May (AGM): adopted and signed.

 

Matters arising

1.1       Betty Cameron Playing Field and the Skateboard Ramp. Residents in Poplars Road who had put their signature to the formal complaint about noise from the Skateboard Ramp had been issued with diaries for a two-week period. These had been returned to the Environmental Officer and households would now be supplied with devices to measure the noise levels. The Playing Field Committee would call a meeting soon. Update: Meeting has been arranged for 19th June.

1.2 Litter bins.

The Council had already agreed to purchase two bins for the Playing Field. Cllr. Wyatt proposed that an order be placed for two Metal Guppy bins at £190 each and two ground fixing kits at £19.35 each. This was seconded by Cllr. Kennedy and the Council asked the Clerk to place the order. Cement and ballast would also be needed for ground fixing. 

1.3 Welcome Packs. Cllrs. Kennedy and White and the Clerk agreed to meet on 12th June to discuss changes to Welcome Packs and the Chacombe Directory.

 

Internal control needs to be completed as of 31st May and accounts forwarded to Internal Auditor.

 

Expenditure                                                                                                                                                    Income

101055                       Allianz Cornhill £631.79

101056                        Jeffs Coaches (April) £80.00

 

Authorise: Jeffs Coaches (May) £80.00 and BT £56.10

 

Correspondence

DEFRA re: Good Councillors Guide – Essential Guidance for Town and Parish Councillors

Heritage Lottery Fund 530 projects in the UK have received funding but less than 50 in the East Midlands

NALC New Councillors Course- Wednesday, 11th June 7.00 – 9.00pm

Copy of the Good Councillors Guide – funded by the Countryside Agency. Extra copies can be ordered at £2 each.

‘Update’ April/May. Distributed prior to meeting.

CPRE TCG newsletter

NCC/Atkins Letter re: Attendance at Parish Council Meetings. The Clerk had contacted Vic Andrews – annual service inspection will take place in June, but will be difficult to co-ordinate with site meeting. Vic Andrews will raise the safety barrier and the bad state of the road opposite the G&D with Bob Austin. No confirmation yet as to when work might start on the roundabout at Middleton Cheney cross-roads.

Environment Agency Banbury Flood Alleviation Scheme

HLB AV Audit plc Audit date: 7th August. Accounts will need to be approved by Council before this date. Display Notice of Audit on 24th June.

NALC ‘Village Viewpoint’ Summer 2003

                        Summer School day trips

                        Improving your patch

e-mail Cherry Large re: Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund and Music Festival

SNC       a) Richard Amor, Development Control Manager re: staffing changes.

                        b) Disability Sports Open Day Friday, 6th June at Brackley Leisure Centre.

c) Co-ordination of Playing Field inspections by NPFA would reduce the cost to each parish.

d) Planning applications week ending: 14/05/03 and 28/05/03

Rosie Herring, newly elected District Councillor, telephoned with contact telephone number:

01280 841023.

 

Brochure: Glasdon – litter bins                

Agenda

3.1 Re-launch of Neighbourhood Watch Scheme

PC Martin Sargeant had proposed 25th June for an open meeting to re-launch Neighbourhood

Watch. PC Sargeant and Community Support Officer Suzanne Bourne would lead the meeting, starting at 7.30pm.The Clerk would confirm the booking for the Village Hall. An open letter to all residents would be included in The Chimes and councillors were asked to encourage as many people as possible to attend.

 

3.2 SNC Planning application

S/2003/0667/LB for repairs and re-slating in natural slate, structural timber repairs and re-placement of roof lights and re-pointing and repair of stonework at 17 Silver Street

The Council had no observations.

 

3.3 Speeding in Thorpe Road

There had been many general comments regarding speeding vehicles. It was accepted that in some cases it was people’s perception that vehicles were exceeding the speed limit. It is recognised that 30mph is too fast for the narrow roads through the village but, at present it is not illegal. After the Parish Appraisal in 1997, a Road Safety Committee was formed and from those discussions, the Parish Council asked NCC Highways to introduce a 20mph speed limit. Chacombe has never been considered a high enough priority because there has never been a serious accident and therefore it does not warrant inclusion as part of NCC’s Accident Reduction Strategy. Residents would be asked to record specific incidents with details of date, time and vehicle registration and forward them to a councillor or the Clerk for collation.

 

AOB

1.         Cllr. Wyatt reported the damaged bridge over the County Ditch on footpath AD9. There were also carcasses of dead sheep in the area.

2.         Cllr. Jenkins raised the state of the road opposite the George & Dragon. The presence of water in that area for many months had caused serious deterioration of the road surface. The area has now been dry for three months therefore, it has not been possible for Highways to investigate the cause of the problem.

 

Meeting closed at 9.30 pm.

 

The next meeting will be held on 7th July 2003 at 7.15pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pcmn070/ss 23/6/03