Minutes of the Meeting of Oakley & Deane Parish Council Held on the 12Th November 1998

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF OAKLEY & DEANE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 10 SEPTEMBER 2015

Present: Mrs. Blackman, Mrs. Boutle, Mr. Bullions, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Gavin, Mr. Hall, Mr. Hewitt, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Parry.

1) Apologies for Absence Apologies were received from Mr. Favell, Mr. Law, and Mr. Golding and Mrs. Taylor (Borough Councillors)

2) Resignation of Chairman and Vice-Chairman The clerk confirmed that for personal reasons both Mr. Scott, the council chairman and Mr. Favell, the council vice-chairman had resigned their posts. Mr. Scott had also resigned from the council. Mr. Favell would continue to sit on the council and as the chairman of the Planning Committee.

3) Election of Parish Council Chair The clerk asked the council for nominations for the Chair of the council.

Mr. Ellison proposed and Mr. Johnson seconded that Mrs. Blackman be asked to take the role of chair. Mrs. Blackman confirmed that she would be willing to stand, on the understanding that this was to be a temporary role whilst new councilors were found and integrated. She confirmed that she would stand for a maximum of 18 months.

There being no other nominations the clerk asked for a show of support for Mrs. Blackman, which was unanimous.

The clerk asked Mrs. Blackman how she would prefer to be styled in minutes and other official documents. She confirmed that she was happy to be known as the Chairman.

Mrs. Blackman then took control of the meeting.

4) Minutes The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9 July 2015 were reviewed and signed by the chairman as a true record of the meeting.

5) Election of Parish Council Vice-Chair Mrs. Blackman asked for nominations for the role of Vice-Chair of the council.

Mr. Ellison proposed and Mr. Hewitt seconded that Mrs. Gavin be asked to take the role. Mrs. Gavin confirmed her willingness to do so.

There being no other nominations, Mrs. Gavin was confirmed as the Vice Chairman of the council. Mrs. Gavin will be documented as Vice-Chairman.

6) Notices Correspondence and Circulars A schedule of notices and circulars had been distributed to the councillors prior to the meeting.

To this the clerk added a letter from Mrs. Ayres which had been received that day, which related to speed control on the B3400. This was passed to the Highways Working Party for consideration.

Mr. Hall and Mr. Johnson confirmed that they would consider attending the HALC conference on behalf of the Parish Council. 7) Matters Arising A schedule of matters arising from the minutes of the July meeting had been circulated to the council before the meeting.

Mr. Ellison asked for clarification of the letters sent to Southern Water and South East Water, and in particular why the council needed to write to Southern Water with whom it had no dealings. The clerk explained that the letters referred to a request from the council to ask for assurance that the water companies would consider the wider impact of all proposed development on the parish rather than examining each individual application as it was lodged, as had been minuted in point 6c of the July minutes.

8) Planning Matters a) Neighborhood Plan The Neighbourhood Plan was currently out of the hands of the parish council, in a formal consultation period which ends on 5 October 2015. The clerk explained that he had received no requests to view the plan. If there are no substantial challenges during this consultation period the plan will be passed to an independent inspector for review. It was understood that this could be a public or private review depending on the views of the inspector. This inspection is scheduled for early October and will be a determinant of the outcome of the planning application for the land west of Beech Tree Close. b) Land west of Beech Tree Close The clerk informed the council that the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council had engaged a barrister to defend its position at this appeal, but would not send other representation. This was believed to be an unusual step for the borough council which regarded this application as a test case for others which would seek to challenge the successful implementation of its Local Plan. Mr. Parry commented that the outcome of the appeal was most likely to depend upon the inspector’s view of localism.

The council had received a request from the Land West of Beech Tree Close Action Group for funding of £10,000 to support its defence of its views. On behalf of the council Mrs. Blackman had consulted the Hampshire Association of Local Councils legal experts who had confirmed that parish councils were not permitted to fund pressure groups. Under the Section 137 legislation the parish council could give small grants to any community group. It was explained that the council’s policy was only to grant funds for capital items, but and not for running costs. Mr. Hall asked if the council had funded SOVAG. Mrs. Blackman confirmed that it had not. Mrs. Boutle was concerned that this would set a precedent for groups seeking to object to other development proposals in the future.

It was proposed by Mrs. Gavin and seconded by Mr. Ellison and RESOLVED that no money be allocated to the group. c) Planning Minutes The council reviewed the minutes of the planning committee meetings of July and August 2015. The clerk noted that the attendee list in the August minutes was incorrectly copied from the July minutes and would be corrected before the minutes were signed as a true record at the forthcoming planning committee meeting. 9) Working Party Reports a) Review of the membership of working parties Mrs. Blackman circulated a chart indicating current membership of Parish Council working parties and the vacancies to be filled. She made the point that for the workload to be spread evenly each Parish councilor should be a member of two working parties and asked that members fill in the vacancy blanks. Mrs. Boutle told the council that for family reasons she was considering resigning from the council at the October meeting and that there would be little point in her signing up for additional working parties. Mrs. Blackman expressed concern that the council was losing a valuable member and asked if Mrs. Boutle would continue on the Environment WP as a co-opted member which would not require her to attend council meetings. Mrs. Boutle agreed to do so. Mrs. Blackman asked the councilors to note that there were vacancies on the Burial Grounds and Churchyards WP and that the clerk had offered to be a co-opted member of this working party, when he left the clerk’s role at the end of October, as he was already a member of the Parochial Church Council. Councilors agreed to this. b) Burial Ground and Churchyard Mrs. Blackman told the council that work had started on the backlog of letters which needed to be sent to cremation plot owners who were in breach of the burial ground rules. Mrs. Gavin had started work on a database of burials. c) Environment Mrs. Boutle remarked that the Environment Working Party has experienced difficulty finding a contractor willing to carry out the annual maintenance of the village pond at a reasonable cost. Council discussed the various ways in which the pond could be cleared. The clerk was asked to contact his counterpart in Cliddesden for the name of the contractor who provided their service. Mrs. Boutle asked the council to approve an expenditure of £80 for plants for the diamond flower bed. This was in the annual budget and it was RESOLVED that the money could be spent. Mr. Ellison asked about the progress towards the silt clearance at the Rectory Road pond. The clerk informed the council that he had spoken to the highways engineer who had been responsible for this clearance in 2014, within the past week. Although this engineer had no current responsibility for this he had undertaken to chase the work through his colleagues. Mr. Ellison stated that he believed this was inadequate and the council should not give the Hampshire Council any opportunity to fail in this respect and he was of the opinion that their word could not be trusted. The clerk was instructed to find the contact details for the engineer currently responsible and Mrs. McNair-Scott, county councilor, write a strongly worded letter demanding that the work be completed without further delay. The clerk informed the council that the new village noticeboards would be delivered week beginning 26 October. It was recognised that delivery and storage would be an issue. The plan was for the handyman to erect these boards, but would need help from councilors as this could not be done by one man. The clerk was asked to contact HCC highways division to ask for approval to site a new board at the Pack Lane crossroads. A more robust litter trolley is needed for the litter warden. This had been passed to the Environment Working Party for a recommendation. Mrs. Boutle told the council that she had no experience in these matters and asked for support from other councilors. Mr. Johnson agreed to review the needs and bring a recommendation to the October council meeting. d) Finance i. External auditors report The clerk read the report of the external auditors following the inspection of the Parish Council accounts for the year ending 31 March 2015. This report found that the accounts complied in all aspects with the legislation and that no matters needed to be commented upon. ii. Letting Fees During the discussions regarding the fireworks event at Newfound it was found that no category existed in the schedule of letting fees for such an event. Mrs. Blackman proposed to change the wording of one category from ‘Football tournaments’ to ‘Football and other sports tournaments and all other community events’. No change was needed to the rates charged. This was RESOLVED. iii.Insurance Renewal The council had received the renewal documents for its insurances from Zurich Municipal Insurance. The premium for the forthcoming year £2,751.83. Mr. Ellison had contacted the insurers to ensure that the loss of water from metered supplies was included, which it was. Mr. Ellison proposed and Mrs. Boutle seconded and it was RESOLVED that this premium be paid. iv.Village Show Insurance Mrs. Blackman told the council that because there were few council members on the Village Show committee the insurers would not consider it to be a Parish Council event and it was therefore not included in the council’s insurance policy. This information had been clarified in the few days leading up to the Village Show. An alternate insurer had been found at a cost of £290.00. The Finance Working Party had agreed that this would be paid by the Parish Council for this year only and that in subsequent years the Village Show Committee would arrange its own insurance. It was proposed by Mr. Ellison and Seconded by Mrs. Gavin and RESOLVED, in retrospect, that this payment could be made. v.Project List Mrs. Blackman explained that Mrs. Gavin will send an updated projects list to all Working Parties and she asked that all meet to update the project status for the October council meeting. She also explained the purpose of the projects list for newer members. Additionally Mrs. Blackman asked that every Working Party consider what money they would need to spend in the year ending 31 March 2017 and send a list to her by the end of November 2015. vi.Approval of Payments Mr. Ellison PROPOSED and Mr. Johnson seconded and it was RESOLVED that the following payments be made. People and Pixels Ltd 696.00 NP design work Unpaid Peterlee Fire Company 46.20 Annual fire inspection Unpaid Vision Signs Ltd 132.00 Parish council swinger Unpaid Promow 675.29 Grounds maintenance Unpaid South East Water 151.31 Newfound water supply Unpaid South East Water 82.39 PH water supply Unpaid B&DBC 289.99 Grounds maintenance Unpaid HMRC 425.27 Sept payment Unpaid Paul Williams 215.00 PH pavilion electrical work Unpaid St Leonard’s Centre 32.00 Room hire – chairman’s Unpaid reception Larkstel 1,777.75 Grounds maintenance Unpaid John Glasscock 326.23 NP expenses Unpaid I M Pryce 147.73 Expenses Unpaid BT 49.22 Telephone service DD BT 58.76 Telephone service DD SSE 200.57 PH Electricity supply DD SSE 177.33 Newfound electricity supply DD SSE 215.68 Newfound gas supply DD B&DBC 1.00 Annual rent for PH field DD BDO 516.00 Audit fee Unpaid

Two further invoices were discussed. Payment of the invoice, from W G Shenton, for £306.00, would be held over until the clerk was satisfied that the work in the Newfound disabled toilet was complete. The clerk was given approval to pay this invoice at that time. A second invoice, for £3,600.00, from 1st Surface, being the final payment for the tennis court refurbishment required further discussion which is documented below. e) Publicity and events i. Act of Remembrance Mrs. Blackman showed the council an example of the service sheets for the Act of Remembrance which would cost £232.00 to have printed at John Dollins. This was budgeted. Mr. Hewitt proposed and Mr. Johnson seconded and it was RESOLVED that this printing be done. Mrs. Blackman asked councillors to make themselves available on the day to help with set-up and packing away. The Act of Remembrance would be on Sunday 8 November 2015. ii. Carols by the Pond The Carols by the Pond event would be held on Saturday 19 December. Council agreed that profits would be distributed between The Andover Road Hall Committee and The Methodist Chapel. The clerk was asked to invite the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to this event. iii. Oakley Village Show This had been a great success with parish council sales being high. The clerk had banked £241.50 from Parish Council sales items sold on the day. iv. Parish Council Sales Items Mr. Hall had researched new items to add to the Parish Council range. He proposed that cotton tote shopping bags at a cost of £2.55 per bag including one colour logo, and torch key rings for which no price was available, be considered. Before these could be agreed a logo was required as Mr. Hall believed that branding was very important. Mrs. Blackman showed the council an example developed by Mr. Burgess. Mr. Hall was asked to put an advertisement in The Link asking for logo design suggestions. v. Website updating Mr. Hall agreed to update the website, initially with additional photographs. He will liaise with Mr. Hewitt and the clerk over material and access. vi. Link Rota As Mr. Scott had left the council, Mr. Parry would replace him on the rota and write the report of the October meeting. Mrs. Blackman would become the floater. f) Sports Grounds and Play Areas i. Pavilion and Sports Pitch Letting Rules Mr. Ellison had received one response to his draft rules, from the clerk who had forwarded the borough rules. He will now amalgamate the two sets and prior to the November meeting. Prior to this Mr. Ellison would let the Parish Council Governance Working Party review the rules. ii. Tree work at Avon Road play area The council had received a request from a resident to fell or trim the trees in the Avon Road Park bordering Itchen Close. These had been inspected by both the Sports Grounds and Play Areas working party and the Environment Working Party and neither believed any work was needed. The Sports Grounds and Play Areas working party would inspect again in the dormant season. Mr. Ellison made the point that residents needed to be aware that the trees provided them with screening. iii. Fire Evacuation Signs Mr. Ellison clarified his proposal, made to the July meeting, by telling the council that only the 1.5 metre posts would be needed. He also expressed concern over the large size of signs and proposed that he research a supplier of smaller signs. iv. Broken Goal Post at Kennet Way Park Mr. Ellison confirmed that the existing goal had scrap value only and that no replacement would be provided by the borough. He also made the council aware of the very onerous conditions now being attached to permission to erect play equipment, on borough land, by the borough council. Mr. Ellison proposed that the council did not replace the broken goal. The council agreed. Mrs. Boutle was concerned that this removed a facility which was well used by local children, especially as some of them had taken the trouble to contact the clerk. The clerk was asked to contact the spokesperson to encourage them to contact the borough council to lobby for a replacement. v. Bow Top Fencing at Beach Park The clerk had obtained a new quotation for new bow top fencing of £1,100, Of of which £961 would be available by way of a Section 106 grant. The clerk was instructed to order this fencing. vii. Door Stay at the Peter Houseman Pavilion Strongbond had been unable to fit the door stay specified by the architect as it was wider than the frame. Mr. Ellison had contacted the suppliers who had agreed to try to find a way to resolve the problem. The clerk was instructed to take photographs with measurements and send these to the suppliers, Liddle Doors. viii. Newfound Compound There was no further progress towards the purchase and lease arrangements. The Parish Council solicitor had received a draft lease but this included references to numerous external documents which were not provided. These had been requested but had yet to arrive. vi. Tennis Court Refurbishment Payments The clerk confirmed that work at the tennis courts was now complete and passed a photograph to the councilors. There remained an ongoing issue with lesser bindweed growing through the surface. This was being treated by the contractor, Mr. Frankland and the clerk in an attempt to bring it under control. The clerk had discussed this matter with the Managing Director of the contractors who had verbally agreed to return to the site at the end of the year and make good any weed damage, and continue to visit the site when his team was in the area to continue weed treatment, at their expense. Several councilors asked about any guarantee provided by the contractor. This was unclear and Mr. Parry agreed to review the contract and advise on the conditions of any guarantee. The council gave its approval for the invoice to be paid if Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Blackman and the clerk were happy with the conditions of the guarantee. The clerk was instructed to contact the Mayor and borough council officers with a view to holding an opening ceremony. ix. Sports Ground Height Barriers The clerk confirmed that delivery of these was expected week beginning 28 September with the installation of each taking one day. The clerk was instructed to contact users of the car parks to inform them that the barriers would be in place and that vehicles over 2.1 metres high would no longer have regular access. x. Oakley Football Club Meeting Mr. Ellison had attended the first monthly meeting of the football club managers on 1 September. Xi Replacement chairs at Newfound Mr Bullions was asked what progress had been made regarding the purchase of the replacement chairs from Staples. He will contact the company regarding delivery to the Basingstoke store. g. Highways and Police Liaison The clerk reported that no Speedwatch sessions had been run in the absence of Mr. Frankland and in Mr. Frankland’s opinion the council should appoint a new coordinator. Mr. Bullions agreed to do this on a temporary basis. 10. Representation on other village bodies i. Andover Road Hall Mr. Johnson informed the council that the issues with the heating system at the Andover Road Hall were resolved. Mr. Hewitt has applied to join the Andover Road Hall Committee on a personal basis. Mrs. Blackman asked both to note that a lot of light bulbs were needed in the kitchen area. ii. Jubiloaks Mrs. Boutle told the council that Jubiloaks would hold a daffodil planting day, on the MUR, with local organisations taking part. As Mrs. Boutle was to resign from the council she would no longer be its representative on the Jubiloaks committee. Mr. Hall said that he was prepared to do this on behalf of the Parish Council. iii. Oakley Village Show Mr. Johnson reported that the Village Show had once again been a great success with over 1,200 paying guests entering the school. Costs had been well covered. The clerk was asked to write to Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Askew thanking them for running the event. 11. Confidential Items RESOLVED: That owing to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting. Next Meeting The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Thursday 8 October 2015 at 7:30 at the Newfound Pavilion.