HELD ON TUESDAY 22nd FEBRUARY
2005
IN EAST WOODHAY VILLAGE HALL
AT 7.30 P.M.
APOLOGIES: Councillors Mr. B. Heather, Mr. J. Holdcroft, Mrs. J. Powell.
ALSO PRESENT: County Cllr Dr. J. Wall , Highclere Borough Cllr Mr. H. Mitchell, Mrs. G. Gardener (Woolton Hill Junior School Governor), Mrs. K. Anderson (Safer Routes to Schools), Ms. J. Meredith (Newbury Weekly News), several members of the public.
CLERK: Mrs. A. Davidson.
ITEM 1: MINUTES OF LAST MEETING.
These were accepted as a
true record of the January meeting and were duly signed by the Chairman.
ITEM 2: MATTERS ARISING.
The
Council has been unsuccessful in recruiting anyone from the North End area to
fill the vacancy which currently exists on the Council.*
ACTION: CLERK TO PUT
ADVERTISEMENT IN SPECTRUM.
The
Council should find our some time in the next couple of weeks whether its
application for a Regeneration Grant to refurbish the Tennis Courts has been
successful.
The
hedge around the field has now been cut back.
The
Council is now a Member of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.
The
problems surrounding the construction traffic using Greenways as access to
Harwood Paddock will be dealt with below.
Due to
Cllr Heather's absence, update on CCTV will be given at March meeting.
Section
106 Developers Contributions monies relating to Gore End Road are now
available. Both community halls in
the Parish made applications for funding, both of which have been granted. Cllr Ross confirmed that the £12,900
allocated to the Parish Council has no restriction as to where or for what it
can be used for within the Parish. Ian Harris at Basingstoke is happy to discuss
this spend with Cllr Heather.
The
Chairman has spoken with the Gardening Club regarding the request by the
Brownies to take back responsibility for the maintenance of the 'Brownie
Garden'. The Gardening Club will
discuss this at their next meeting.
ITEM 3: PLANNING.
South
East Plan.
Cllr
Johnson gave a brief resume of some of the main issues in the Plan, although he
stressed there is much more in it.
It is currently in draft form, and is meant to complement other policies
currently in place such as the Local Plan. It is due to go before Government in November this year, but
there is still very much work to do.
8 million people currently live in the South East, with this number
predicted to increase by 1 million over the next 20 years. However, this does
not include housing proposals at district level, something which is to be
decided in the summer.
The Plan divides the area into 9 sub regions. Cllr Elsden asked how it impacts on the Local
Plan. Cllr Ross said that as the
Local Plan only goes up to the year 2010, whereas the South East Plan goes up
to 2026, it will therefore come on
the back end of the Local Plan. Cllr Johnson continued by observing that the sub
region with highest pressure for development is in the Western Corridor of the
region, of which this area is part.
This is where the biggest growth rate is forecast as it is rich and has
low unemployment. Cllr Ross
was unhappy that we were not asked whether we wished to be included in the
'Western Corridor'. However, he
was told that, if we were, we could be better protected. It was also said that, if we did
not accept this decision, it would be imposed upon us. The South East of
England Regional Assembly, or SEERA, who are responsible for the Plan, is made
up of Councillors, Economic and Social partners, none of whom were elected to
the post. They will be
putting forward projections for economic growth, a key factor in developing the
Plan. The vision is for a
Healthy Region, with the need to 'raise' deprived areas which exist in towns
such as Southampton and Portsmouth on the south coast. However, higher density of housing will
require more prudent use of national resources. Much of the Plan relates specifically to villages, which,
are defined therein as having a population of 3,000 or less. Comment from Parish Councils is
desired. Cllr Elsden felt that it
is necessary to have a meeting to plan the public meeting on 9th
April.*
*ACTION: CLERK
TO PHONE JULIAN PILCHER FROM CPRE TO ARRANGE MEETING.
The Chairman thanked Cllr Johnson for
all his work on this.
The
applications relating to Westmead and Harwood Paddock (Business Units) in
Woolton Hill and Peters Cottage in North End are due to be considered by
Development Control Committee on 9th March. The Parish Council have requested
to speak regarding the first and last of these. Cllr Ross stressed that the issue of problems with traffic
will need to be addressed when the Harwood Paddock application is debated. Cllr Kyle-Lawrence informed
the meeting that when parishioners contact Basingstoke and Deane concerning
this problem they are told to contact the police, who say there is nothing they
can do. Cllr Ross has spoken to
those concerned at Basingstoke and asked them to have a word with the
Contractor. There were
no other major applications, only a few minor ones. However, the Local Plan is due to be discussed
tomorrow, and it is believed that a decision will be made on Monday as to
whether or not the proposed development at Newbury Lodge in Woolton Hill can go
ahead.
ITEM 4: AMENITIES.
In Cllr
Heather's absence Cllr Farmer presented a short report on behalf of the
Amenities Committee.
Work on securing CCTV and Skateboard Ramp is in its early stages. The Council should find out sometime in
the next two weeks whether its application for a Regeneration Grant has been
successful. The
noticeboards remain in need of repair, as does the goalpost at Woolton Hill.
ITEM 5: HIGHWAYS.
A
complaint was received about the roads around the Parish being very dirty. Basingstoke and Deane should
carry our road cleaning in the area, but as this is a time of year which, by
its nature, creates dirty roads, now is not the best time to do this. There has been a problem with a blocked
drain on the C5 in Woolton Hill opposite the Junior School, which is also very
smelly. The
Litter Warden has reported a similar problem on the Ball Hill Road. These have been reported and are being
investigated by Hampshire Highways.
ITEM 6: FINANCE.
A list
of income and expenditure and cheques due for payment was presented, and
cheques duly signed.
A letter
has been received from Bob King, Chairman of the Committee of Spectrum. The Committee have, for some
time, been unhappy with the company who print the magazine, and have decided to
use someone else. However, this
will incur extra cost, particularly in the short term. They have increased the cost of
both the magazine and advertising, and have asked if they Parish Council could
provide any financial help. The
meeting agreed a one off donation of £200.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO ARRANGE THIS.
ITEM 7: VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT.
In light
of Cllr Heather's absence, there was no Village Design Statement update.
ITEM 8: ADOPTION OF PUBLICATIONS SCHEME.
All
Councillors were earlier in the week given a copy of the Scheme being
considered. Cllr Farmer
raised concern about the legal aspect of charging.*
*ACTION: CLLR FARMER TO CHECK UP AND
REPORT FINDINGS TO CLERK.
As there
were several other points which need to be checked up by the Clerk, this will
be brought before the meeting again in March for adoption.
ITEM 9: REPORT BY GERALDINE GARDENER.
At the
last meeting Cllr Kyle-Lawrence asked if the Council would support a proposal
by the Governors of Woolton Hill Junior School to build an all weather sports
facility on part of the ground owned by the Junior School. The meeting did not feel able to
do this due to lack of information, and therefore invited Ms. Gardener from the
Committee to come and speak and answer questions about the project, which she
did.
The
question was raised as to whether the need for a sports facility had been
identified under the Village Design Statement. Cllr
Kyle-Lawrence responded that, at the time the VDS questionnaire was done there
was no Youth Club or Football Club, but both are well supported. It may therefore be that,
although a need was not identified then, this does not mean there is not the need
now.
Cllr
Johnson was concerned about how and who would manage it, who would assess
whether such a project would be viable.
Design and implementation of the project would need to be thought
through very carefully.
Cllr
Ross felt the project needed a Ôchampion', and that this should not be the
Parish Council. However, if the
project did get going, it would get the full support of the Parish
Council. Cllr Elsden agreed.
Cllr
Johnson felt the idea on the whole was very good. The Chairman stressed that the Parish
Council could not provide financial support. However, he did pass on details of Mr. Winchcombe from St.
Mary Bourne Parish, where a similar project has been carried out, who would be
happy to provide help and advice.
ITEM 10: MEMBERS REPORTS.
Safer
Routes to Schools Plans.
Due to
concern about the safety of children going to and from the Infant and Junior
Schools on the C5 in Woolton Hill, Hampshire County Council have been working
on plans to make this safer under the Safer Routes to Schools Scheme. Initial plans were received
and a public meeting to view these and give feedback was held in June last
year. As a result, new
plans were drawn up, followed by a meeting and a further public exhibition
recently at the Junior School. However, several Parishioner were unhappy with
some aspects of the new plans. Some who supported the proposals and some
who were against them attended the meeting, and the Chairman gave those who
wished to do so the opportunity to express their views.
Once
this was done, the Chairman responded.
The main issue causing concern was the positioning of a roundabout at
the junction of the C5 with Church Road, and in particular the inclusion of
street lighting. The
Chairman stressed that there had been 2 public meetings by way of consultation
with Parishioners, with the one in June last year which was organised by the
Parish Council producing much feedback. The second meeting, which took place a couple of weeks
ago, was organised by Hampshire County Council, who themselves sent out
notices. In addition, the
Chairman delivered some notices personally.
In
response to some comments made, the Chairman reiterated the fact that the
Parish Council has no jurisdiction over the schools themselves, they can, in
effect, do what they wish. Everyone had concerns about the issue of
street lighting, as there was no hint of this on the original plans provided. However, it would appear that it
is now the law that they need to be there if there is a roundabout. The Chairman was
happy to tell the County Council that, although the Parish Council is generally
in favour of the scheme, they are not happy with the inclusion of street
lighting. Cllr Johnson
felt it would be a good idea to have a meeting between those concerned in the
Parish and Hampshire County Council representatives to discuss the matter, but
stressed that it would not be in anyone's interest to have the proposed scheme
delayed. Cllr
Ross said he was aware that, when the scheme was first devised, this was done
by experts who know what they are doing. Although the main emphasis is on school use, there are
also people who need to be considered such as those who cross at the junction to
get to church, and also those who are just ordinary 'crossers' who need to get
from A to B. He
was also concerned that our 'place in the queue' is not lost.
The
possibility of creating a footpath between the two schools on the same side has
also been explored, but is believed to have not been a viable option due to the
fact that there is a ditch there. Cllr Ross asked Cllr Wall if this option could
be looked at again, and he agreed to push the matter further. However, it was felt that
this should be looked at separately so as not to delay the current project.*
*ACTION: CHAIRMAN
TO WRITE TO HAMPSHIRE HIGHWAYS EXPRESSING VIEWS, AND IF, NECESSARY, A MEETING
TO BE ARRANGED BETWEEN CONCERNED PARTIES TO DISCUSS.
Cllr Farmer.
She has
spoken to a lady whose property adjoins the Parish Field. The lady has a drainage problem in her
garden. However she is
also concerned that she should be paying the Parish Council a peppercorn rent
of £1.00 per annum for the use of some land, for which she has paperwork, and
this has not been collected for some time. This matter needs to be investigated
further.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO SEE WHAT SHE CAN
FIND OUT ABOUT THIS.
She has
also noted that someone else living around the field has cut back their hedge
to an unacceptable level, and this needs to be re-instated. Issues such as this
need to be tackled.
Cllr
Kyle-Lawrence.
Teachers
from St. Thomas's Infant School are parking in the recently extended car park
at the Recreation Ground, thereby stopping parents from using this facility
which was intended to take cars off the road. She wondered if the Council could write to the
Headteacher to ask them not to do this. The Chairman felt it may be better to wait until after
the CCTV is installed. The
matter will be discussed again next month.
Chairman.
The
Parish Council has been approached by St Thomas's Parent Teacher Association
for permission to hold a fund raising event on the Recreation Ground on 7th
May. There was no objection to
this.
The
Chairman was sad to report the death recently of Peter Goldsmith, who played an
active role on the Parish Council for many years.*
*ACTION: CLERK TO SEND SYMPATHY CARD
TO MARJORIE.
NOTE: NEXT MEETING - 22ND MARCH
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - 26TH APRIL.