AMPNEY CRUCIS PARISH COUNCIL

 

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 26 JULY, 2007 IN THE VILLAGE HALL, AMPNEY CRUCIS.

 

Present:                  Councillors Barry Dent, David Vessey, Gerald Gaden, Elisabeth Gerver, Adrian Grazebrook, Frank Skinner, and Peter Kelly.

                                District Councillor Edward Horsfall

Presiding:              Councillor Barry Dent

Clerk:                      Mrs H Tonks

 

The meeting commenced at 7.15pm.  There were 2 members of the public present.

 

 

1.                   Apologies for absence

 

None

 

2.                   Election of Chairman and receive Chairman’s declaration of office

 

Councillor Vessey resigned his position as Chairman to the Council. 

 

As retiring Chairman, Councillor Vessey asked for nominations for the post of Chairman.

 

Councillor Gaden proposed, Councillor Vessey seconded and the Council agreed that Councillor Dent be elected Chairman.  Councillor Dent signed his declaration of office and took the Chair. 

 

Councillor Dent thanked Councillor Vessey for his work during his time as Chairman, explaining that his effort and time was very much appreciated.

 

3.                   Co-option of new councillor

 

Elisabeth Gerver has indicated her willingness to be co-opted. 

 

Resolution 37/07  The Chairman proposed and the Council resolved to co-opt Elisabeth Gerver onto the Council.

 

Councillor Gerver signed her declaration of office, and agreement to abide by the code of conduct.

 

4.                   Declarations of office

 

Councillor Dent signed the agreement to abide by the code of conduct, and Councillor Grazebrook signed his declaration of office and agreement to abide by the code of conduct.

 

5.                   Code of Conduct

 

As mentioned at the last meeting a new code of conduct has been issued, and the Parish Council must resolve to accept this code before October.  The Clerk has spoken to the Monitoring Officer at CDC, who suggests that we wait until the September meeting.  CDC will be agreeing their code of conduct in July, and following this there will be training sessions for Parish Councils, highlighting any significant changes. 

 

6.                   Minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 200

 

Resolution 38/07  The Chairman proposed and the Council resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2007 be signed and adopted.

 

7.                   Matters arising from the meeting held on 14 May 2007

 

7.1           Highway matters

 

A number of highways issues were raised:

 

• Hedges along Riding Lane need pruning, specifically by the Old Barn.
• The grass verges alongside the London Road need cutting.  Other areas in the village have been cut, apart from this stretch of road
• There were also concerns that the road surface of the A417 needs resurfacing.  The Clerk explained that this had been reported in the past, and that the County Council were aware of the problem.
• The verges of Church Lane need to be repaired, removing the soil and replacing with gravel.

 

The Clerk agreed to contact Gloucestershire County Council on the above matters.

 

The laurels at Ampney Mill are overgrowing the pavement.  Whilst acknowledging that Ampney Mill is within Driffield parish, the Clerk agreed to write to the owners asking if they could prune where necessary.

 

7.2           Church Path

 

A photograph will be taken to highlight the garden waste left on the Church path.  ACTION: COUNCILLOR DENT

 

8.                   Reports from County and District Councillors

 

District Councillor Edward Horsfall gave the following report:

 

• The District Council are now entering another 4 year term of office, with 34 out of 38 being Conservative members and are now thinking of their aims and priorities  
• Recycling remains an important issue: the District Council are trying to increase plastic recycling in the region.  Plastic recycling has been proposed for Ampney Crucis, although they are not on the first phase.  Cardboard can be recycled at the Old Station car park in Cirencester and at Fosse Cross recycling centre.  Green waste is composted.  There are hopes that cardboard will be collected as part of kerbside recycling collection.
• A retrospective planning application will be submitted for a raised roof  at Fitzhamon House

 

9.                   Questions from the Public

 

None.

 

10.                Future structure of Council

 

10.1              Responsibilities of Councillors

 

The following responsibilities were allocated at the meeting:

 

-         Finance:   to act as the Council’s internal auditor and to check that the accounts presented to the Council each month are in order.  To agree with the Clerk the Assets Register, Risk Assessment and Insurance Policy.  To sign the annual accounts.   Councillor Dent.

-         Footpaths:  to be responsible for maintaining the footpath map, to be responsible for ensuring that all footpaths are walked once a year and to act as the focal point for footpath problems and for liaising with Gloucestershire PROW office.  Councillor Grazebrook

-         To submit Parish Council’s reports to The Ampney Times.  Councillor Dent.

 

11.                Financial matters

 

11.1              Current financial position

 

The Clerk explained that due to an administrative error, an additional £1.02 had been paid for the grass cutting contract.  This will be deducted from the next grass cutting payment.

 

Resolution 39/07 The Chairman proposed and the Council resolved that the financial statements, as amended above,  prepared by the Responsible Financial Officer should be adopted by the Council as an accurate reflection of the Council’s financial position on 3 July 2007. 

 

Resolution 40/07  The Chairman proposed and the Council resolved that £300 be transferred to the imprest account.

 

Resolution 41/07 The Chairman proposed and the Council resolved that Councillors Gerver and Skinner be added as signatories to the Council’s accounts.

 

11.2              Agreement of payments

 

None

 

11.3              Audit for the year ending 31 March, 2007 

 

The annual return was sent to the external auditor on 26 June 2007.

 

11.4              Inspection of assets

 

Councillor Gaden has assessed the state of the following assets and found them to be sound:

 

Burial ground cross and wall, Lych Gate, gates to the Burial Ground, War Memorial, Praying Cross, eight bench seats, and 3 notice boards.

 

The benches will require retreating and Councillor Gaden proposed that Ted Brain be asked to treat two benches each year.

 

Resolution 42/07 The Chairman proposed and the Council resolved that Ted Brain be asked to treat two benches at a maximum cost of £50 from the General Contingencies reserve.

 

Mr Brain will be approached by Councillor Gaden to do the work and asked to contact the Clerk should this amount not be sufficient.                                                                                                        ACTION: COUCILLOR  GADEN

 

The vegetation around the Praying Cross needs to be cut back.  John Ducker (present at the meeting) agreed to do this.  The Council thanked Mr Ducker.

 

The Pleydells notice board should be repaired after April 2008.

 

12.                Planning matters

 

12.1              Decisions

 

404          CT 3203/F                                              The Old Orchard                                  Permits

405          CT 2130/G                                              Stonelea                                                 Permits

406          CT 3603/H                                             Ampney Downs Farm                         Permits

408          CT 4142/B                                              3 Lake Cottages                                    Permits

409          TPO 431/1                                              The Old Orchard                                  No objections

410          CT 4115/D                                             The Lakes                                              Permits

 

12.2              Outstanding applications

 

354        05/0071/CWFUL/CAPS                         Sunhill                                                    Objection

 

12.3              Amendments

 

403          CT 2865/1/G                                          April Cottage                                        No objections

407          CT 2130/G                                              Stonelea                                                 No objections

411          07/01306/MINAM                                Fitzhamon                                              No objections

 

12.4              Tree works

 

400          Contr 2251                                             Ampney Park                                        No objections

412          Contr 2342                                             Convamore                                            No objections

 

12.5              Stonelea

 

In view of the surprising decision to permit the new dwelling at Stonelea, Councillor Vessey had written to CDC asking for an explanation.  He had received a detailed reply from Senior Planner Mike Napper and this was discussed at the meeting.  Councillors still felt there were important issues of principle relating to the decision as it appeared that the Local Plan was being misinterpreted.  Councillor Vessey was asked to draft a letter to Dr Andrea Pellegram highlighting the difficulty of using the Local Plan as a basis for commenting on planning applications if the basic requirements of policies were being disregarded.  The letter would be circulated for comment and the final version sent off by the Clerk                                                      ACTION: COUNCILLOR VESSEY

 

12.6              Park Close

 

The Council has had an acknowledgement of receipt of their letter and will be notified of the date and venue of the inquiry in due course

 

12.7              Cripps proposals

 

A referendum, monitored by Cotswold District Council, will be held on 9 August 2007.  Following the referendum the Ampney Crucis Association will make a decision on how to proceed. 

 

The Council agreed that until a formal planning application has been received the Parish Council can make no further comment.

 

John Ducker explained that he had a meeting with the Council for the Protection of Rural England in August.

 

13.                Burial ground matters

 

The Cripps grave stone has cracked and sunk.  It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the family and ask if they wished to repair the memorial.

 

14.                Village Update

 

14.1         Licence application at Ampney Downs Farm

 

There were no definite reports of nuisance from the party. 

 

14.2         Crimestoppers

 

The Clerk has spoken to the Police’s crime prevention officer for the Cotswolds.  He says that should untaxed cars have been reported to Crimestoppers, there may be no obvious signs of action being taken.  Any future report of an untaxed car should include the car registration number, type of car, exact location and how long the car has been there.  Untaxed cars are not their highest priority.

 

An article will appear in The Ampney Times advising homeowners that an assessment of security can be undertaken.                                                                   ACTION: COUNCILLOR GERVER

 

14.3         Playground

 

Councillor Skinner has had a meeting with the Friends of the School, and several issues were highlighted:

• The cost of the first annual inspection to meet the insurance requirements was £146 (£125 ex-VAT).
• For the time-being, Rosemary suggested that contact between the Parish Council and the Friends should remain via her.  A separate sub-committee has been set up to look after the play area.
• The opening between both gates and the posts is less than 12mm, enabling fingers to be trapped.
• The concrete is showing through in one place by the gate on the outside of the play area. 
• The short panel at the far end of the steel fence has some nuts but no bolts.
• The chain link fence is damaged along the north side of the area. This has been repaired more than once. 
• Concrete jump box – concrete has cracked in places and sunk by 5mm by the ramp end.
• Small holes in the wet pour (caused by a pogo stick). Friends have expended a lot of money on a repair kit for the wet pour, which will be applied when the weather is right (neither very wet nor very dry).
• The “Bounce About” fixings are loose.  Friends have a special tool for tightening these fixings which they intend to use.
  
  

It was agreed that Councillor Skinner would pass on details of address to the Friends so that they can contact the manufacturers of the skate ramp and fencing to remedy defects.                        ACTION: COUNCILLOR SKINNER

 

The Clerk also agreed to check why the RoSPA inspection was essential.

 

14.4         Village website

 

Councillor Skinner had checked the possibility of having a specific Parish Council website.  His research showed that costs would be more than the existing costs, and the guidelines in operating to a .gov.uk address are onerous.  At present the Council also have full editorial control over the Parish Council pages of the website.   When users search for Ampney Crucis in Google, the village website is first on the list.

 

It was agreed that no further action would be taken to set up a .gov.uk domain.  Any comments on the layout of the current Parish Council pages on the website should be made at the next meeting.

 

15.                Correspondence received

 

15.1         Speed Management Conference 11 September 2007

 

Noted

 

15.2         Cotswold Local strategic partnership 2^nd Stakeholder conference 26 September 2007

 

Noted

 

15.3         Part night operation of street lighting

 

These details were placed in the Circulation folder.

 

16.                Matters outstanding

 

17.                Date, time and place of next meeting.

 

Monday  10th September 2007