MINUTES of the MEETING of BERINSFIELD PARISH COUNCIL Held on Monday 1St March 2010 at Mount s2

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF BERINSFIELD PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 8th September, 2014 Abbey Woods Academy, Wimblestraw Road, Berinsfield, Wallingford, Oxon.

PRESENT : Councillor K. Hall Chairman Councillor E. Croft Councillor L. Dunn Councillor F. Denyer Councillor J. Eccles Councillor D. Eldridge Councillor A. Jones Councillor F. Workman

1. Items raised by Members of the Public.

a) Presentation by Dr. Mark Hinnells, Club Secretary, Oxford City Lions Futsal Team. The Chairman, Councillor Hall, welcomed Dr. Mark Hinnells to the meeting. Dr. Hinnells informed the Parish Council that the Oxford City Football Club is in discussion with the owner of Vogue House, Tower Road, Berinsfield, which has been empty for approximately 18 months, with a view to obtaining planning permission to develop it as an indoor sports arena. There would be no change to the outside of the building, just a change of use and limited internal refurbishment.

Dr. Hinnells informed the Council that as a club, Oxford City has won many awards for its community programmes and have a wide range of sports users, not just football, at their main site in Court Place Farm, Marsh Lane, Oxford. The proposed sports arena in Berinsfield would house futsal, which is an indoor and five a-side version of football and is widely recognised for growing much more skilful players, including basketball, but there is room for much else besides. They have a particular interest in developing disability sports. Oxford City F. C. Would like the facility to be a community facility, available for use locally, and for clubs across Oxfordshire in the Oxford Mail Youth League, which is a Football Association Chartered League. Their aim would be to develop a youth Futsal Academy there. The Oxford City Lions, is one of the top four sides in Britain, with two current England Internationals, so whilst it would be a community facility, they would want to develop excellence. They would intend a similar structure of community use, academy and national league team to develop basketball. They would also wish to increase participation from girls and women.

The Parish Council was informed that the nearest facility is in Swindon and Oxford City Lions have to play their home games in Swindon.

The Chairman, Councillor Hall, asked about parking provision at the proposed site and he pointed out that the Parish Council and residents would not want vehicles to be parked in Fane Drive or any other roads.

Dr. Hinnells confirmed that parking was one of the main issues and that the current proposed layout of the site provides space for 60 vehicles, but they are looking to increase this number by changing the layout.

Councillor Dunn enquired whether the scheme would generate employment in the village. Dr. Hinnells informed the meeting that there would be a need for part-time coaches etc and that the overall impact when first opening would be job neutral with the possibility of more jobs being generated.

A member of the public enquired why the facility was required when there were other premises offering accommodation in the area, i.e. Blackbird Leys Sports Centre, the proposed new 1 Abbey Sports Centre. Dr. Hinnells stated that these premises offered accommodation for many sports, but would not be large enough for Futsal. He also stated that Oxford City Lions Club struggle to find venues as most of them are booked up well in advance.

Dr. Hinnells stated that the proposed facility would be open every night and would be available for alternative uses during the day time. As Oxford City is a charity it can only consider leasing premises as it would not be able to provide capital of approximately £2 million to purchase a site and build its own premises. Vogue House provides the space required and is available to lease.

Councillor Hall asked Dr. Hinnells if he would be contacting the Sports Centre and he confirmed that he would. He also confirmed that Councillors would be invited to attend a site visit to Vogue House.

Councillor Hall thanked Dr. Hinnells for making his presentation to the Council. b) Neighbourhood Development Plan

(i) A member of the public raised concerns about one of the sites that had been included in the Minutes of the meeting of the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group held on 11th August, 2014 as being a site suitable for consideration for development. The Chairman stated that the next Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group meeting would be held on 15th September and the member of the public would be welcome to attend to discuss this matter further.

ii) A request was made by a member of the public for more information to be made available about the work of the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group in the form of easy to read posters around the village, more information in the Library etc. The Chairman pointed out that all residents were invited to attend the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group meetings and that minutes and reports were sent to the Library on a regular basis. c) Litter Picking in Berinsfield. Two groups of residents attended the meeting to inform the Parish Council about litter picking projects being carried out in the village.

There is a group called Litterpickids who meet regularly under the supervision of adults and who litter pick various areas in the village. The group have been provided with litter pickers, gloves, sacks by Biffa. The organisers asked if it would be possible to get the shrubs tidied up by the shops at the junction of Chiltern Close and Fane Drive in order that the children could pick the litter without being at risk from broken bottles etc.

The other group are organising a village litter pick on 28th September, 2014 starting at 12 noon outside the Church.

The Parish Council thanked both groups for their hard work and for improving the appearance of the village by keeping it clear of litter. The Parish Council emphasized that neither group should put themselves at risk by picking up any dangerous items.

2. Apologies for absence were received from Councillor B. Harris and Councillor S. Scott-Ely.

3. Declarations of Interest. There were no declarations of interest.

4. Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 4th August, 2014. The Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 4th August, 2014 were APPROVED by the Council.

2 5. Matters Arising.

a) Request for seat and cycle rack near to Church of St. Mary and St. Berin. It was noted that should the cycle racks be provided they should be located at the side of the Church, near to the door.

6. Minutes of the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group meeting held on 11th August, 2014. The Minutes of the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group meeting held on 11th August, 2014 were APPROVED by the Council.

7. County Councillor’s report. A written report had been prepared by County Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale and circulated to all Members of the Parish Council with the agenda. The information contained in the report was noted by the Parish Council.

8. To consider planning applications and decisions.

a) Planning Application No. P14/S2531/HH (Householder) Single storey extensions, 47 Lodden Avenue, Berinsfield, OX10 7PY. The Parish Council considered the application and it was AGREED that South Oxfordshire District Council should be informed that the application should be approved.

9. Correspondence and items for information.

a) Berinsfield Post Office. The Parish Council had made representations to the Post Office following its consultation on proposed changes to Berinsfield Post Office. The response from the Post Office was as follows :-

“Thank you for your email of 10 August 2014 on behalf of Berinsfield Parish Council regarding our plans to modernise Berinsfield Post Office. As a member of the National Consultation Team, I have been asked to respond to your enquiry directly.

In terms of staffing, it may be helpful to explain that as our operator is responsible for the staff employed at the branch, I am unable to comment on any staffing plans they may have. I would like to assure you however, that any member of staff required to work on the Post Office system will be fully trained to manage Post Office transactions. Training approaches used for our new style formats are of the same high standard to those undertaken in traditional Post Office operating models.

I hope I have clarified our position and would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us.”

The Parish Council noted the response.

b) Oxfordshire County Council. Consultation on Draft Revised Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement. It was noted that the draft revised Statement of Community Involvement was available with effect from 1st September for viewing and downloading from the County Council’s website at :- http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/minerals- and-waste-policy It can also be seen at the Council’s Speedwell House office in Oxford. The consultation will close on 13th October, 2014.

3 c) Oxfordshire County Council’s Winter Service. The Parish Council agreed that it would like to accept the free bulk bag of salt for delivery to the village in October 2014. The Council deferred making a decision with regard to purchasing additional salt bins as it was felt that a site visit should be arranged to see where current bins are located and it there were suitable sites for additional bins.

d) Casual Vacancy on Berinsfield Parish Council. The Parish Council noted that the current vacancy is being advertised inviting eligible persons to apply to be considered to be a co- opted Member of the Council. To date no applications have been received.

e) Neighbourhood Development Plan. Quotations to provide Flood Risk Assessment. The Parish Council was informed that two quotations have been obtained to provide a flood risk assessment for Berinsfield. In view of the fact that there are time constraints to get the Flood Risk Assessment carried out as soon as possible in order to meet the terms of the grant obtained for the work, the Parish Council AGREED that the decision as to which quotation to accept should be delegated to the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group when it meets on 15th September, 2014.

f) Neighbourhood Development Plan. Quotation for supply of community consultation survey documents. The Parish Council confirmed that the revised quotation from Oxfordshire Rural Community Council for the preparation, printing and distribution of the survey in the sum of £1873.00 should be accepted.

g) SODC Involvement in South Oxfordshire Green Belt Study. The information contained in the agenda regarding SODC preparing a brief for the Green Belt Study, which has been sent to Consultants, was noted by the Parish Council.

h) Requests for grant aid. Two requests for grant aid had been received and details were reported to the Parish Council. The Parish Council has allocated all the funds from the grant aid budget for the year 2014-15 and it was AGREED that the applicants should be informed of this fact and also informed that the Parish Council’s grants are intended for organisations and not for individuals.

10. Statement of Accounts for payment in September, 2014. It was AGREED that the statement of accounts for September in the sum of £8281.77 should be APPROVED.

11. Date of next meeting. The next meeting of Berinsfield Parish Council will be held on Monday 6th October, 2014 at 7.15 p.m.