North Moreton Parish Council Chmn.

Minutes of North Moreton Parish Council Meeting held at North Moreton Village Hall on 7th July 2016 at 8:00pm.

Present: Mrs. R. Templeman (Chair), Mr. D. Tebworth, Mrs. V. Gibbs (VC), Mr. C.I. Shipton, Cllr. P. Greene, and Mr. A. Wise (Clerk). RT opened the meeting at 20:00 hrs 16/792 Apologies Mrs. S.C. Harrison and Cllr. Murphy 16/793 Report on OCC Report – See appendix 7 OCC and SODC  activities SODC Report – No Report Received

16/794 Hear None representations from members of the public 16/795 Approve It was proposed by DT, seconded CIS, that the minutes be signed as a true record. the minutes of the Carried nem con. meeting of 08.03.2016 16/796 Consider  All action items had been completed matters, not taken elsewhere, arising from the minutes of the meeting of 08.03.2016 16/797 Receive  RPT/DT/VG attended a recent OCC briefing on Unitary Authorities. reports from  Chair to let SODC know that Cllrs. Tebworth and Gibbs will be attending the RPT Parish SODC briefing in Didcot on Tuesday Councillors and the Clerk 16/798 Financial 1. Approval of payments. It was proposed SH seconded CIS and carried that matters the following invoices be paid: Parish Clerk’s wages, expenses, PAYE, Mr Haycock for Rec Ground expenses, Mrs Haycock for Queen’s 90th Birthday celebrations expenses, RefreshPro for pressure washing on playground,Cllr Shipton for the Website Domain Name renewal and Azalea Landscapes for Grass Cutting. 2. Current financial situation. AW presented the current financial situation – attachments 2 & 3. 3. It was proposed RPT seconded DT and carried that a budget of upto £350 plus VAT be spend on purchasing a new gate for the Rec Ground 16/799 Planning 1. AW presented the current planning application situation – attachment 4 2. Clerk to request that PC is informed of the date of the Inspector’s visit to Little AW Orchard as part of the planning appeal.

16/780 Highways  VG has attended a couple of DVTG meeting since the past PC Meeting – and Transport attachment 5  New timetable for new bus service to be advertised in the village  It was proposed VG seconded DT and carried that a grant of up to £250 will be North Moreton Parish Council Chmn.

made towards the costs of providing a potential replacement for the 131 service. Since the last meeting the DVTG have met a number of times to share ideas and to hear feedback from meetings with Thames Travel and OCC. We have had a logo designed for the group and a number of publicity photos taken. Two communications have been sent to people in North Moreton about the changes to the service and a similar piece of information was published in the Link. Please see attached. Whilst we are still very disappointed that the loss of subsidies made it financially unviable for Thames Travel to continue to run the 95 service, we are pleased that they have published the 94A timetable that allows villagers to use the school bus service in and out of Didcot during the term time. Extensive negotiations have led to pioneering group, the DVTG, working to set up a replacement service for the old 131 which will be private service and villagers have been asked to register for this service. We are in negotiations about exact timings and routes at present but it should be close to the existing times and possibly start from Didcot allowing anyone who has gone in early on the school bus during term time to return to North Moreton before going on to Wallingford. This service is for a trial period of 6 months and will incur a cost to NMPC of less than £250. It may be substantially less than this. If the service proves to be successful and financially viable, we are considering working with South Moreton and the Astons in the future to run additional services for our three villagers. Villagers have also been reminded about the twice weekly bus that offers a free ride to Tesco and back. The group is still in discussion with Thames Travel and they are preparing timetables with us. Veronica Gibbs PTR 16/781  CIS to discuss choice of a new gate for the Rec Ground with Dave Powell before Recreation and placing the order and to pass the invoice to the clerk. Playground  MCC request to re-position their cricket nets was approved by the full Parish matters Council.  Chair to formally reply to MCC’s request. 16/782 Risk  RT signed off appropriate parts on the current Risk Assessment Checklist. - assessment attachment 6 . 16/783 Respond  It was proposed RPT seconded CIS and carried that NMPC will always have at to least one representative on NMCT. VG to report regularly to the PC on NMCT’s VG Communications activities. as the Chairman  Jenny Wiseman had complained about traffic erosion of the grass triangle at the may direct Long Wittenham Road/Back Lane junction, and suggested tree planting or some sort of barrier to protect it. The councillors felt that, based on previous experience, any such approach would be objected to be OCC Highways. 16/784 Attend to  Clerk to write back to SODC Waste Services to request the services of the “Big AW any other Tidy Team” in August. Chair to be contact by the team to determine exactly which business at the parts of the village are to be cleaned. Chairman’s discretion 16/785 Date of  Thursday 1st September 2016 Next Meeting Closure  RT declared the meeting closed at 21:30 hrs

Signed: Date:

North Moreton Parish Council Chmn.

Attachments: 1. Agenda 2. Financial Statements 3. Expenditure against Budget 2016-2017 4. Planning Application 5. Transport I wrote to you the other day about the Friday 131 bus service that will be replaced after 20th July by one run by the local villages. This will operate on a trial basis for 6 months, and be re-assessed at the beginning of 2017. It is a private service and it is likely that it will be free until the end of September 2016 while a system for charging passengers is evolved. Anyone wishing to use the old I31 service after 20 July 2016 will need to register their name with the Group on [email protected] before travel (as the driver will check passengers’ names against the list of registered users). If you don’t have access to email please see me or another parish councillor and we will do it for you. Talks are continuing to see if any other services can be offered. Please do get in touch with me if you wish to discuss anything to do with this but DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR THE SERVICE. If you know someone who may wish to use the service please ensure that they register and do so yourself if you feel you may use it in the future Veronica Gibbs North Moreton PTR

As many of you know, following the withdrawal of bus subsidies by Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), we joined with the local villages to form the Downland Villages Transport Group (DVTG), working with the bus companies and County Council to retain as many buses as possible. Residents in the Astons and Moretons, as well as in other villages, communicated clearly that the 131 service to Wallingford was a vital lifeline. The DVTG heard that, and is in discussion with the County Council about hiring a minibus to run the 131 route (East Hagbourne, Blewbury, Astons, Moretons and Brightwell to Wallingford and then Didcot) on Fridays, at a time close to the current schedule but a little earlier to enable people to access the surgery. This will operate on a trial basis for 6 months, and be re-assessed at the beginning of 2017. This is an exciting opportunity and as soon as we know the fine details of this I will be in touch again. As announced earlier by Thames Travel, the 95 route will not continue, but Thames will be operating a service during term time only which will connect our village and Didcot. This is the 94A, which will begin on 5 September. At present, the timings are:

In the morning (before the bus passes are valid): Aston Tirrold 0759, South Moreton 0805, North Moreton 0810, Didcot Parkway 0840. In the afternoon: Didcot Parkway 1542, Aston Tirrold 1620, South Moreton 1626, North Moreton 1631, Didcot Parkway 1645 (times 1 hour earlier on Fridays) North Moreton Parish Council Chmn.

The full timetable is available on line at http://www.thames-travel.co.uk/timetables-fares/oxfordshire-and- reading/94-95 and will be on the village website shortly as well as at the bus stops

These timings were determined to meet the needs of students: it is the funding from the student travel that is enabling any services at all to continue. We're aware that the times are not necessarily the best for people who want to do shopping or visit the doctor, and we're in discussion to see if there's anything we can do that will improve people's options. Again, it will help us greatly if you take the service when you can and if you let us know what would be helpful to you.

The DVTG wants me to thank everyone. You stressed through conversations that keeping our bus services is important for the life of our village. Your input has helped us to argue for our transport needs and to suggest new options where services have been cut. And you've made a difference - Thames has said that our villages' enthusiasm has been a factor in their decision making to run any services to our villages. We're also grateful for the hard work done by our County Councillors, Patrick Greene in particular, the Oxford County Council team and Thames Travel.

Please let us know your reactions to the new timetables. You can currently email me on [email protected] and there will shortly be a DVTG email so you can email the group directly. I'll keep you informed as we find out more about the Friday service.

ARE YOU ALL AWARE THAT TESCO RUNS A FREE BUS AT 09.53 ON Mondays and Wednesdays from the bus shelter that returns to the village at 11.30 from Tesco?

Veronica Gibbs North Moreton PTR

6. Risk assessment checklist 7. OCC Report REPORT TO PARISH COUNCILS JULY 2016

STATEMENT FROM OCC LEADER ON EU REFERENDUM RESULT

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, has responded to the EU referendum result. He said: "Following David Cameron honouring his pledge to offer a referendum on our membership of the European Union, the British people have voted to take more direct control of the decisions which affect them. That process must not stop at the gates of Parliament. This is an opportunity to remake our democratic system, and must be used to drive, not delay, the process of devolving power from Westminster and Whitehall to England's cities and counties, and from those cities and counties to the towns, villages, and neighbourhoods within them. The priorities of the county council will remain the same – to support economic growth, to protect the most vulnerable, and to drive efficiency in public services. To support these priorities, our work on stripping out another level of bureaucratic decision making by developing proposals for a new council for the whole of Oxfordshire will continue, as will our ambition to win a wide-ranging devolution deal from central government."

PROPOSALS FOR UNITARY COUNCIL

North Moreton Parish Council Chmn.

As previously reported, Oxfordshire's District Councils have appointed consultants PwC to prepare a report on the future of local government in Oxfordshire, and OCC has appointed consultants Grant Thornton to do the same. Ten workshops were held by OCC over the course of June to obtain input from parish councils about concerns they might have and opportunities they might relish with a change to unitary local government. PwC were due to report for the Districts by the end of June, but are behind schedule. The Grant Thornton report for the County is still on schedule for July. All councils will then submit proposals to central government in the autumn, following a period of public consultation.

COUNCIL CONTEMPLATES IDEA OF NEW PARK AND RIDES

A study which could lead to up to five new park and ride sites being built to serve Oxfordshire has been published. OCC, through the Oxford Transport Strategy (OTS), part of Local Transport Plan 4, is proactively working to find solutions to the demands that are increasingly being placed on the road network by current and projected growth. In order to reduce congestion within the city and on the approaches to it, the OTS proposes a major expansion and reconfiguration of the Park & Ride system to intercept more car trips earlier in their journeys and further away from the city. In addition to new park and ride sites, the OTS proposes a network of “Rapid Transit” public transport routes to provide an uplift to transport connectivity in the city, including links between the proposed new sites and the city’s “Eastern Arc” (broadly speaking the Headington/Cowley area). The report is the latest step in the process of delivering solutions. The park and ride study has reviewed the locations proposed as part of the OTS, and made specific recommendations on where new park and ride sites should be located, following an assessment of the corridors. New sites are proposed at Eynsham, Cumnor, Lodge Hill, Sandford, and Oxford Airport, phased over the next 15 years.

INCREASING ADULT AND CHILD SOCIAL CARE COSTS

Adult and child social care costs continue to increase as a proportion of OCC's expenditure, that now accounts for nearly half the council's budget. OCC's obligation to assist with unaccompanied young asylum seekers has added further added pressure.

COUNCIL AMONG NATION’S BEST FOR CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE Only a quarter of councils – including Oxfordshire – have passed Ofsted’s new harder inspection test for children’s social services, according to the watchdog’s annual report. The remaining three- quarters were found to be ‘inadequate’ or ‘requiring improvement’. The report ranks Oxfordshire among the best performing of 87 councils so far put to the test, with 64 of these failing to secure a ‘good’ rating. Oxfordshire is also one of just three areas where Ofsted and its partner inspectorates have completed the new Joint Target Area Inspection, which highly praised the council’s work to tackle child sexual exploitation alongside its partner agencies.

MULTI-MILLION POUND BOOST FUELS EXPANSION OF HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND North Moreton Parish Council Chmn.

The second phase of Better Broadband for Oxfordshire is now underway after the first part was completed on time and under budget. The first phase of the broadband programme exceeded many of its targets and, as a result, the county is expecting up to £6.75 million of funds to be made available to extend the fibre network to even more remote communities. Since the roll-out began more than two years ago, Better Broadband for Oxfordshire has made faster fibre broadband available to more than 70,000 county premises – 64,500 of which have access to superfast broadband speeds of 24 megabits per second (Mbps) and above.

GRASS VERGE CUTTING PROGRAMME 2016 Financial pressures have forced OCC to reduce its overall verge mowing in recent years; just one general cut a year is now carried out across the whole of the road network. This includes cutting all visibility splays at junctions and cutting grass verges to a distance 1m back from the kerb. The general cut started on 20 June, although visibility splay issues have been dealt with earlier if they have been reported or observed by highway inspectors. More information can be found at: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/grass-verge-cutting-programme-2016

PROPOSED THIRD READING BRIDGE OVER THE THAMES A third 'Summit Meeting' was convened by MPs John Howell and Rob Wilson in June to review progress on the preparation of the Strategic Outline Business Case to secure funding to move the proposal forward. In addition to the MPs, the meeting was attended by various Berkshire councils and enterprise groups. OCC was represented by Cabinet Member David Nimmo Smith and the councillor for the most affected Division, David Bartholomew. The scheme supporters want to take 55,000 cars a day out of the centre of Reading. OCC is participating in the process to ensure any solution doesn't simply move Reading's traffic problems into south Oxfordshire.

Cllr Patrick Greene – Didcot East & Hagbourne Division – Oxfordshire County Council