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OXTON PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11th AUGUST 2009 AT OXTON VILLAGE HALL Present: Cllr. J. Jones (Chairman) Cllr. L. Jacobs Cllr. M. Cooper Cllr. I. Kilpatrick Cllr. D.Wilkes Cllr. A. Stewart (part of meeting) Mrs. K. Birks (Clerk) It was agreed that an amendment would be made to the agenda to take item 10 Risk and Resilience after item 5 Highways 1. APOLOGIES Apologies were received from Cllrs. Ian Johnson, Robin Aldridge and Nora Armstrong 2. MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 7th July 2009 were accepted as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
3. MATTERS ARISING (a) Raising banks on Water Lane Mr Rooks has now left N&SDC but the work has been passed onto Gary Burden and Jeremy Hutchinson. Surveyors have visited the site in early August but no further information has been received. (b) Interpretation Board The board was installed in July and Shani Lambert is to arrange a publicity event to advertise it in the local press. (c) Police presence/speeding Police Officers visited the village on 30th July between 6:30am and 8:30am to monitor speeding traffic. It was very quiet that morning and no vehicles were observed to be speeding. The police are to visit again in September outside school holidays when traffic will be more typical. It was agreed that the clerk will contact the police to ask them to site themselves in a more suitable location when they revisit. Mike Keeling who is responsible for highways planning has also agreed to visit the village in September to meet with councillors to discuss the traffic issues. (d) A quote has been received from Phil Moody at Notts County Council for £255 to cut the hedge on Elmcroft and remove the cuttings. It was agreed that additional quotes will be obtained from Matthew Bramble and Ulyetts. 4. COMMUNICATIONS (a) Letter from Andy Buckland at Nottinghamshire Transport Services detailing changes to local bus services. Changes are being made to service 61 and two new routes 4 and 5 and to be introduced serving Oxton. Agreed that this letter will be circulated around the councillors and a summary of the relevant facts be placed on the village notice board and in the Dover Beck. (b) Letter from Notts County Council with details of minor improvements to be made to the bus stops on Oxton including bus stop poles, flags and timetable cases to support the new routes and services being introduced in late August. (c) Letter to advertise the citizen of the Year 2009 campaign. The associated flyer has been placed on the village notice board. (d) Details of visits to Oxton by the mobile Rural Contact point. A poster advertising these dates has been placed on the notice board. (e) Letter from Sue Jaques at Notts County Council stating that the council’s application for funding from the Building Better Communities scheme for traffic calming measures on Sandy Lane has not been approved for implementation. It was agreed that the clerk would obtain further details of the application that was made for this funding. (f) Letter from Geoff Perkins thanking the council for the gift token in appreciation of his work on the accounts for the internal audit. (g) Copy of letter from Cllr. Andy Stewart to Chief Constable Julia Hodson regarding speeding in villages and asking for reinstatement of the Community Safety Speed vans amongst other issues. This letter is to circulated around the councillors. Cllr Andy Stewart confirmed that the issue of speeding is one of concern to many local villages and that he is awaiting a response from the community liaison officers. 5. HIGHWAYS Cllr. Andy Stewart reported that Cllr. Mark Spencer continues to pursue the review to look at the Gravelly Lane/ Burnstump junction and whether or not it opens again will depend on the outcome of this review. There are plans to carry out improvements at the main roundabout adjacent to Oxton to create better visibility but the council have not been informed of these plans. Cllr. Stewart agreed to chase this up and ask for copies to be sent to the clerk. Cllr Margaret Cooper reported that the verges on Forest Road are unacceptably high. Cllr Stewart agreed to pursue this matter and find out why they have not been cut.
6. RISK AND RESILIENCE In the absence of Cllr. Robin Aldridge, David Calloway addressed the meeting regarding the recent flooding which had occurred in the village on the night of 7th August. A report detailing the location and height of the flood waters together with suggestions as to why the flooding occurred was presented along with photographic evidence. The main cause of the flooding around the ford area and water lane appears to be caused by the excess water coming down Southwell Road and the fact that the culvert cannot cope with this volume of water. The possibility of early warning devices was discussed and Cllr. Ian Kilpatrick presented details of such a system which would send texts to residents when the level of water rose to a specified level. Cllr. Andy Stewart suggested that a meeting be set up attended by representatives from County Council, District Council, Newark Internal Drainage Board and the Oxton flood team and other parish councillors to raise all these flooding related issues and discuss possible solutions. It was agreed that the clerk will contact Cllr. Robin Aldridge to get this meeting arranged. The chairman expressed her thanks to all those residents involved in measuring and recording the flooding which occurred on the 7th August. 7. PLANNING (a) Planning Application 09/00969/FUL – Change of use of building from paper data storage to B1 (light industrial) at Moorfield Farm, Ollerton Road, Oxton Agreed to recommend to Newark and Sherwood District Council that planning permission be granted but express the councils concern that if permission for light industrial activity be granted now further changes to heavier industry may follow. Agreed that the clerk will contact the planning department to try and ascertain exactly what activities are planned to take place at this location. (b) Planning Application 09/01013/FUL – Erection of a detached double garage and alterations to existing garage at Beauchief, Forest Road, Oxton Agreed to recommend to Newark and Sherwood District Council that planning permission be granted. No comments to be made. Clerk to respond to N&SDC (c) Planning decision - appeal - Planning Application 09/00181/FUL – An appeal has been made by Mr P Boardman and Mrs M Coulthard for erection of two storey and single storey rear extension at Meadow View. Nottingham Road, Oxton. 8. FINANCE (a) Invoices and Payments The following payments were authorised: K.Birks Clerks Salary July £214.76 K.Birks Clerks expenses July £16.33 K Birks Gift voucher for Internal Auditor £25.00 Eon Electricity charges £7.49 Our centre Mini bus hire (July) £80.75 N&SDC Playground inspection £31.97 Oxton Village Hall Chiropody room booking £40.00 ---------------- Total £416.33 (b) Financial Report for July 2009 The Clerk reported an account balance at the end of July of £2447.96 with outstanding cheques for payment of £51.98. Payments for July were £550.45 and receipts £225.36.The Sinking Fund balance was £10,353.69. The accounts were reconciled accordingly. 9. RECREATION (a) Play ground inspections The playground inspection report has been received from N&SDC and this will be circulated together with the ROSPA report to all councillors for comparison. There are no major safety issues in either report which require immediate attention. (b) Monthly report Cllr. Lin Jacobs reported that she felt that Notts County Council were not cutting the grass in the play area and the football pitch to an acceptable standard. Large weeds were growing under and close to playground equipment and the grass was not being mown close enough to the edge of the field, benches and trees. It was agreed that the clerk would arrange a site meeting with Notts County Council to discuss these issues. (c) Recreation ground update Cllr. David Wilkes reported a meeting had been arranged with Matthew Wheatley for the following week. No additional volunteers had yet come forward to join the subcommittee from the advert which was placed in the Dover Beck. No feedback yet received from the Playbuilder application. 10. COMMUNITY LED ACTION PLAN Cllr. Jill Jones met with Rachel Johnson (Notts County Council development officer) on the 3rd August to agree a way forward. It was agreed that a meeting will be held on 5th October at 7:00pm in the village hall to which all residents will be invited via an advert placed in the Dover Beck. Rachel will attend this meeting to explain what a parish plan covers and gather information and support from residents. A further meeting is to be held with Rachel on the 20th August at 10:00am to which all councillors are invited. 11. REVIEW RISK ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT The document was reviewed and certain changes suggested but it was felt that due to time constraints and absence of certain key councillors a more complete review should be carried out at the next meeting. It was agreed that he clerk will make the changes to the document already discussed and add it to Septembers agenda for further review.
The meeting concluded at 9.53 p.m.
Chairman Date
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