04.04.1

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE OXTON PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON THURSDAY  22^ND APRIL 2004

Meeting commenced at 7.30p.m

Present: Mesdames Cooper, Jacobs, Roe and Bennett. Messrs. Johnson and Colston. Clerk Mr. B Machin. County Councillor Mr. Stewart and District Councillor Mr. Laughton. Five members of the public.

Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Mr. R Bayliss and District Councillor Mrs. Armstrong.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9^TH MARCH 2004

1

Mrs. Jacobs indicated that minute 04.02.1.3 should refer to her not Miss Roe. Otherwise the minutes, having been circulated prior to the meeting, were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF 9^TH MARCH 2004

2

Beanford Splash: Mr. Johnson reported that tyres had now been dumped, the Clerk to report.

3

Flood PACT: No-one requested the item be placed on an agenda.

4

Thorndale Plantation:  The Clerk reported on a letter received from the Environment Agency. The substance spilt at the Oxton roundabout was Styrene which is toxic in large doses and a water pollutant. Some of the substance had entered a highway drain and soaked into the soil and some was spilt on the grass verge. A warning was given to abstractors from the Dover Beck but none of the  substance actually reached the water course, the polluted soil was dug out and removed from site, there is no further risk of pollution. Council was reassured by the letter.

5

Christmas Tree: It was agreed to include this as an agenda item nearer Christmas.

6

Greaves Lane Dumping: N&SDC has inspected the dumping and reported that the material is from ongoing highway repairs. Mr. Johnson reported that he had arranged for the material to be levelled and the area was now satisfactory.

7

Office Storage: The clerk reported he had obtained a cupboard at a lower price of £117.75.

COMMUNICATIONS:

8

Parish Plans Workshop: The Clerk reported that an invitation to the meeting on 21^st April had been circulated between meetings. The Chairman had attended the meeting.

04.04-2

1

Charity Commissioners: The Clerk reported that he had received a demand for the accounts relating to the Charity known as the Recreation Ground, if they were not received within fourteen days the matter would be referred to the Commissioners enforcement division. It was confirmed that no action be taken.

2

Newark & Sherwood Open Spaces Forum: The Clerk reported the next meeting is the 4^th May. Mrs. Jacobs will be attending.

3

District Community Safety Liaison Group: The clerk reported the next meeting is the 26^th April. Mrs. Jacobs will be attending.

4

Interim Parish Council Conference: N&SDC has arranged a conference for 20^th May. The Clerk and possibly the Chairman and Mrs. Jacobs will attend.

5

NALC AGM: Will be held on 1^st to 3^rd October. No-one will be attending.

6

CPRE AGM: Will be held on 10^th May. No-one will be attending

7

CPT Training: A further session has been arranged for June and July for Clerks or interested Councillors. No-one will be attending.

8

NALC – Understanding the Audit: A seminar is to be held 19^th May. It was agreed the Clerk to attend at a cost of £12.50.

9

NALC Councillors Behaving Badly: A training session is to be held on 29^th April. No-one will be attending.

10

Dog Waste Bin Emptying: The Clerk reported a letter from N&SDC, increasing the cost of bin emptying to £1.30 per bin, had been circulated between meetings for approval. It had been agreed to accept the increase in costs.

11

Best Kept Village Competition: The Clerk reported an invitation from the CPRE to enter this year’s competition. It was agreed to enter the competition at a cost of £5.00, Miss Roe will co-ordinate Councils efforts.

12

Village Hall – Renewal of Public Entertainment Licence: The application was noted without comment.

HIGHWAYS:

13

Outstanding Highways Work: The Clerk reported that in view of past performance he had thought it prudent to confirm the items agreed (See minute 04.02.3) in writing. He has now received a letter indicating that the Highways section is unable to progress most items due to an internal restructuring. It was agreed this was not the response Council would expect from a new structure aimed at improving performance. Mr. Stewart confirmed the reorganisation was now complete and would determine why the agreed actions could not be implemented.

It was agreed the Chairman would arrange a meeting with Mr.Freeman regarding the milestone for Oxton Hill.

04.04.3

1

Orchard Court: Mrs. Jacobs reported that Severn Trent water had damaged the pavement. The Chairman reported that as this was on private land it was outside Councils responsibility, she was however intending to arrange a final inspection with STW of all the snags and would mention the pavement at that time. It was agreed an item be placed in the Dover Beck asking residents to report problems to the Clerk.

2

New Road – Duck Sign:  Miss Roe asked if the sign could be repainted, it was agreed to mention this at the meeting re. the milestone.

3

Oaks Lane- Damaged Sign: The Clerk was asked to report the damaged signs at the A614 junction.

4

Oxton Hill – New Road Surface Signs: Mrs. Bennett asked if these signs can be removed now that the work is completed. Mr. Stewart reported that there was a problem with skidding on some new road surfaces and it was probably for this reason that the signs had been left.

5

Sheepwash Lay by’s – Dumping: It was agreed the Clerk speak to the Clerk of Calverton regarding the dumping.

At this point the Chairman changed the order of the agenda.

.

EPPERSTONE ROAD/A6097 JUNCTION:

6

Mrs. Cooper reported that the Council had agreed to a 50mph limit on the A6097 but was of the view that this alone would not materially improve the safety situation; she was of the view that something had to be done to improve the junction with the Old Epperstone Road. Mr. Stewart said that £ 200 000 was included in the budgets for improvements to this junction and also the Woodborough and Epperstone junctions and that Council should get its views in quickly. The Chairman suggested that the Old Epperstone Road be made one way from its junction with the Southwell Road i.e. traffic would only be able to travel South on this section of road, the priority of the Southwell Road/Old Epperstone Road junction could then be changed to favour traffic travelling between this junction and the Oxton roundabout. Mr. Stewart thought that the intention maybe to put islands in the A6097 at the junction.

It was agreed that before a decision was made it would be useful to see that results of accident analysis, Mr. Stewart agreed to get this information. The item to be included on the next agenda.

Mr. Laughton arrived and Mr. Stewart left at this point.

PLANNING:

7

7 The Orchards – Front extension: N&SDC has granted full approval.

04.04.4

1

Sunnyside Cottage Water Lane – Extension & Garden Room: N&SDC has refused permission on the grounds that the scale, form and mass of the extension were out of character with the cottage and the Conservation Area.

2

Wesley Grange – Amendments to Planning Approval:  The Clerk reported that the application, circulated between meetings, had received no objections.

3

1 Manor Close – Summerhouse: The application was approved without comment.

FINANCIAL MATTERS:

4

Invoices and Payments: The following were approved for payment:

The Clerk reported he had received a reminder for the unpaid account of BTCV for laying the hedge on the playing field but that the work would not be completed until the Autumn. It was agreed to pay £300.00 on account.

5

Financial Report for March: The Clerk reported a current account balance of £2224.15 with receipts of £43.40 and payments of £335.05 and a balance of £4054.83 in the sinking fund.

6

External Audit 2003/2004: The Clerk reported that the audit had been called for 30^th June.

7

Insurance: The Clerk reported that the renewal had been received at a cost of £733.44, he had also received details of a group policy arranged by N&SDC with Zurich Municipal at a cost of £140 plus a small admin charges by N&SDC, unfortunately there are several exclusions one of which is the ownership of play equipment. The Clerk was asked to obtain alternative quotes if possible at this late stage. Mr. Laughton said he would enquire why the N&SDC group policy excluded play areas etc.

RECREATIONAL FACILITIES:

8

Monthly Inspection Report:  Mrs. Jacobs had no report.

9

Quotation for Repairs to Play equipment: The Clerk presented a quotation for the outstanding works to the play equipment amounting to £395 for miscellaneous repairs and a tentative quote of £800 for safety surfacing repairs, the Clerk pointed out the difficulty of obtaining competitive quotations. It was agreed the Clerk ask G. Baggelley for a quote for the miscellaneous repairs and that Council would inspect the safety surfacing prior to the next meeting.

04.04.5

RINGMASTER SYSTEM:

1

Details of the system had been circulated prior to the meeting. Mr. Colston asked what was the proposed distribution of the information as not everyone was involved in Neighbourhood Watch, was the information related to Oxton crime only or crime in surrounding villages and did the low level of crime in Oxton justify the expenditure? Mr. Laughton said that Mr. Stewart should be able to get maps showing the incidence of crime in the area which Council may find useful. It was agreed the Clerk ask for this information and include this item on the next agenda for decision,

Mrs. Jacobs left at this point, when the Chairman reminded Councillors that the annual footpath walk would be on 16^th May

OXTON FLYER:

2

The Chairman reminded Council that annually it agreed to financially support the Oxton Flyer if necessary, of late the Flyer has been self supporting but she asked Council to renew its support for a further year. This was agreed.

LEISURE FACILITIES:

3

The Chairman said that the future of leisure facilities should be determined by residents and that this would be a useful item for discussion at the Annual Parish Meeting. Miss Roe pointed out the pursuit of facilities should be by a separate group from the Council.

VILLAGE APPRAISAL:

4

The Chairman suggested that as time was short members should give consideration to this item for consideration at the next meeting, Council need to be able to specify what it intends to do what is currently in progress and what it intends for the future.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS?:

5

Recycling bins: Mrs. Bennett noted that the bins were now out of site behind a fence and that a notice was required. The Chairman agreed to speak to the landlord of The Olde Bridge Inne.

Meeting closed at 21.30

Signed                                      Chairman                   Date