EAST WOODHAY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF

HELD ON TUESDAY 24th JANUARY 2006

IN EAST WOODHAY VILLAGE HALL

AT 7.30 P.M.

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN:               Councillor Mr. J. Maxwell.

 

PRESENT:                  Councillors  Miss S. Elsden,  Mr. B. Heather,  Mr. A. Johnson,   Mrs. J. Powell,  Mr. M. Ross,  Mrs. N. Sutton.

 

APOLOGIES:              Councillors Mr. J. Kernahan,  Mrs. V. Kyle-Lawrence.

 

CLERK:                       Mrs. A. Davidson.

 

ALSO PRESENT:        Mrs. A. Maxwell.

 

 

 

 

The Chairman informed the meeting that, due to his absence at Parish Council meetings and events for more than six months, James Holdcroft ceases to be a member of the Council.   Cllr Kyle-Lawrence will move from the Planning Committee to join the Amenities Committee.

 

 

ITEM 1:    MINUTES OF LAST MEETING.

 

With regard to the proposed deletion of Harwood Paddock from the Local Plan, the meeting felt it should be clarified that this was only relevant up to 2011.   Other than this change, the Minutes were accepted as a true record of the November meeting and were duly signed by the Chairman.

 

 

ITEM 2:    MATTERS ARISING.

 

Cllr Ross has obtained a copy of the Inspector's Report for the 2006-2011 Local Plan.  Cllr Elsden has spoken to Peter Brunsden and asked that Harwood Paddock be tidied up.

 

The Clerk has passed Mr. Dalton's letter expressing his concern about the Ball Hill Road on to PC Ray Niblock to deal.   She has also passed on cheque towards the Lychgate Fund to Bertha Bates, for which a thank you has been received. 

 

 

 

 

The Chairman has obtained a quote from Green Thumb to tidy up the grass on the East End triangle.  He will pass to Cllr Heather.

 

 

ITEM 3:    PLANNING.

 

Cllr Elsden reported that the developer of the proposed development at Harwood has challenged the recommendation by the Inspector that it be deleted from the Local Plan.

 

The application to build a 3 bedroomed detached house at Woodlands in Church Lane has been refused.    After much local opposition and some good debate at the Development Control Meeting, the application to develop the site of Clere House and Little Oxleas in Church Road has been refused. 

 

Outline planning permission has been requested to develop at the rear of Bances Yard in Gore End Road.   There have been many objections to this application, particularly in light of the bad access onto the Ball Hill Road.   Cllr Ross will speak to Basingstoke's traffic department to ask them to take a look.

 

Applications for Crandalford and Woodgate, both to build an extra house in the grounds, have been received.   The Planning Committee will lodge objections to both of these.

 

 

ITEM 4:    AMENITIES.

 

CCTV application is currently being considered by Basingstoke and Deane.    Provided there is no delay, this should be installed before April.

 

Cooks have now completed the cutting back of trees and shrubbery around the tennis courts, and the Woolton Hill court has been cleared of all leaves etc. resulting from this work.  The Heath End court will be cleared soon.

 

New Bylaw sign will shortly be put up on the refurbished noticeboard on Woolton Hill Recreation Ground, and the broken post there has been replaced.  Cutting back of trees at Heath End has also taken place, along with hedges there and at Woolton Hill.   The re-appearance of moles at both Recreation Ground will shortly be dealt with.

 

The refurbished noticeboards are now in place and look great, and two new benches have been ordered for the Memorial Garden and the Recreation Ground in Woolton Hill.   A working party will be organised to concrete these in.

 

A new dog litter bin is to be installed by a stile near Burlyns at Ball Hill once it is identified who owns the land.  Notices informing of penalties if dog mess is not cleaned up are being obtained from Basingstoke and will be put up on posts around the area.

 

Cllr Heather wondered about the need for Health and Safety training for the Litter Warden.*

 

*ACTION:    CLERK TO INVESTIGATE.

 

 

ITEM 5:    HIGHWAYS.

 

Cllr Johnson met with the Area Surveyor on 10th January, and all issues previously raised were looked at.

 

It was suggested that reflective markers be put around the bend near The Holt in Woolton Hill.   Potholes are to be repaired on the road from the Stores to Station Road.   The Area Surveyor will contact the contractor who carried out the repair work on Station Road itself recently to come and repair the edges which are breaking up.    Development being carried out at North End has resulted in the roads there being damaged.   The contractor doing the work there is happy to put this right.

 

The Chairman reported that Hampshire County Council will shortly be doing an assessment of the area around the Schools in Woolton Hill where the pinch points were installed last year.     It has been reported that the lights there are often not working, and this is also being looked at.    Julia Calvert has reported that cars often go up on the pavement in order pass the ones on the other side, causing big problems.  

 

 

ITEM 6:    FINANCE.

 

A list of income and expenditure was presented and cheques duly signed.

 

The Youth Club has now asked for the £500 budgeted to purchase various items including a Playstation 2 Console and a Snooker Table.   The meeting was happy with this.   Angie Maxwell asked if the Council would be prepared to make a donation of £10 to buy a prize for the Trivial Pursuits Quiz being held in the Church Hall on 4th February.  The proceeds of the evening are going towards church funds.   The meeting was happy to agree to this request. 

 

Two further applications for funding were also received.  The first was from East Woodhay Silver Band asking for £75 towards the cost of staging a concert at the Corn Exchange in Newbury.  Again, the meeting was happy to agree.   The other request came from Bob King, Editor of Spectrum, seeking a donation towards the cost of producing the magazine.  Having moved to a new and better printer last year, it was forecast that they would, in the short term, run at a loss.  This is indeed the case.   The meeting recalled making a donation of some £200 last year on a 'one off' basis.   However, in light of the contribution Spectrum makes to the community it was agreed to contribute £50, while at the same time reminding them of the donation made last year.

 

*ACTION:    CLERK TO ARRANGE THE ABOVE.

 

 

ITEM 7:    PARISH FIELD.

 

A letter has been received from Mr. Winchcombe confirming that he wishes to end his lease of the field with effect from 31st March 2006.       He will remove his padlocks from the gate on that date.  It will therefore be necessary for the Council to ensure the gate is secured.*

 

 

 

*ACTION:    CLLR FARMER TO WRITE TO MR. WINCHCOMBE WITH REGARD TO REMOVAL OF ITEMS FROM THE FIELD AND REINSTATEMENT OF BOUNDARIES ETC.

CLERK TO ADVERTISE THE FIELD IN SPECTRUM AND ON NOTICEBOARDS.  CLERK ALSO TO SPEAK TO MRS. KIDD WHO EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN RENTING THE FIELD RECENTLY.

CLERK TO OBTAIN DEEDS FOR FIELD FROM SOLICITOR AND PASS TO CLLR FARMER FOR REGISTRATION.

 

 

ITEM 8:    MEMBERS REPORTS.

 

Cllr Heather.

The Village Design Statement is now at the 'proof reading' stage, with Robert Preston doing the first read-through and Val Pollitt the second.  Once this has been completed it should not be long before the document goes into production.

 

Basingstoke and Deane are looking into how Village Design Statements can be converted to Supplementary Planning Documents.

 

Cllr Elsden.

Cllr Elsden wondered what was happening with the recent application from the Trail Riders Fellowship to have various bridleways converted to byways.*

 

*ACTION:    CHAIRMAN TO LOOK INTO THIS AND REPORT BACK AT NEXT MEETING.

 

Cllr Ross.

He reminded everyone that elections will take place in this Parish at the beginning of May.   He therefore urged that Councillors should begin to think about whether they wish to stand for re-election.

 

Cllr Johnson.

The Cango Bus is still off the road due to repair work and as a result a restricted service is running.   However Cllr Ross was impressed with the service when he used it recently.

 

There has been concern about a Mast at North End.   After investigation, Cllr Johnson reported that this is wireless and its colour will ensure it does not stand out against the skyline.    He said that Basingstoke and Deane have a good clear policy on pre-consultation, and that no new masts are planned for the area.

 

Chairman.

He reminded the meeting that the Senior Citizens event this year should be an outing.  A date of 14th October was agreed.   The Chairman asked that Councillors think about possible destinations and bring suggestions to the next meeting.*

 

*ACTION:    ALL COUNCILLORS TO CONSIDER THIS.

 

 

 

He felt that it was not necessary to have a speaker at the Annual Parish Meeting as most people left before then.   The meeting agreed, feeling that people preferred to use the time to mingle and chat.

 

 

 

NOTES:     NEXT MEETING  -  28TH FEBRUARY

                  ANNUAL PARISH MEETING  -  25TH APRIL