Radley Parish Council Held on Friday, 4 May 2011, at 7.30 Pm in the Church Room, Radley
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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING OF RADLEY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON FRIDAY, 4 MAY 2011, AT 7.30 PM IN THE CHURCH ROOM, RADLEY. Those present: Cr J Standen (in the Chair) Parish Councillors Crowley, Davies, Henderson, Johnston, Pasquire, D Standen. Alexis Pym (Earth Trust) Eight electors of the parish The Radley Parish Plan prize questionnaire was drawn and the winner was 27 Ferny Close. The Chairman noted that there had been a 50% response to the questionnaire and the steering committee was very grateful to those who delivered and collected and also to the Village Shop for accepting returns. 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received from Mr Gasson, County Councillor Fatemian, Mrs Linda Hull (Primary School Head), Mrs Dot Hewlett. 2. MINUTES The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 7th May 2010, which had been circulated to the meeting, were approved and signed by the Chairman. 3. BUSINESS ARISING OUT OF MINUTES (a) FOOTPATH 8: The footpath widening was not up to standard and the contractor agreed to resurface it once the oil seed rape had been cut. The path would not have to be formally closed, but rather would be partially closed in sections. (b) THRUPP LANE – SPEED OF TRAFFIC: The Council was speaking to the other users of the lane. (c) GRAVEL EXTRACTION: The Parish Council was pleased that no sites in Radley will be included in Oxfordshire County Council’s minerals extraction plan. 4. CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT ON THE WORK OF THE PARISH COUNCIL: “I am pleased to be reporting on the work on the Parish Council this last evening of my fourth year as Chairman. It is always surprising how quickly a year passes, but it is good to have this opportunity to appraise what has been achieved over a twelve-month period. The councillors have been involved in regular monthly meetings, plus numerous committees, to ensure things are kept moving, and I am sure you can imagine the vast amount of discussion that takes place. 183 Details of the work undertaken by the Parish Council during the last twelve months are given below: 1. Planning Applications : The Parish Council gives a lot of thought to planning applications and over the twelve months from April 2010, it has been consulted and responded on 21 planning applications; surprisingly the same number as last year . Tuckwells: I reported to you last year that Tuckwells had submitted a second Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) application for their site. The Parish Council took legal advice and a robust objection was submitted. Councillors have attended several meetings with OCC regarding this so it is disappointing to have to report that the application has still not been determined. J Curtis and Sons submitted a CLEUD application in December to which the Council also sent objections, but this again has not been determined by Oxfordshire County Council officers. The threat of new sites for gravel extraction in the parish was raised by Oxfordshire County Council Mineral Spatial strategy options which identified a new site in Radley as one its nominated sites for gravel extraction. The Parish Council raised its objections and was delighted when Radley and the linked site in Nuneham Courtenay were removed from the list of sites to be put forward for consultation as being “undeliverable” for the life of the plan. 2. Highway Matters: Another severe winter has taken its toll on road surfaces throughout the parish and the Parish Council is continually pressing for improvements and pointing out particularly dangerous potholes. The Clerk has appealed through her report in Radley News for the public to report faults on the Oxfordshire Highways website to enforce the action being taken by the Parish Council, and I make the same appeal to you this evening. The Council was consulted, along with residents living close to bus stops, on Oxfordshire County Council’s plans for road markings and lowered kerbs along the premium bus route, but this work appears to be in abeyance at present. The Council was pleased that after intervention from our County Councillor, the route of the 35 premium bus service has been added to the roads which are gritted in icy weather. Residents have asked for a grit bin to be installed in the area of Sugworth Crescent and assuming the location is approved by OCC, this should be in place before the winter. 184 Thrupp Lane: Veolia moved out of Thrupp Lane following the placing of the new waste contract but this has not as hoped led to a reduction in the number or size of lorries using the lane. The Parish Council feels that serious consideration must be given to making a road through from Thrupp Lane to Barton Lane to allow this large number of heavy goods vehicles to access the major road quicker and safer. 3. Village Hall: The Parish Council applied for a grant on behalf of the Management Committee to replace the kitchen and this work will be starting shortly. Graham Collett, Chairman of the Management committee will report in detail later on all the work that has been done over the last year to improve the hall. 4. Sports Pavilion, Playing Field and Play Area: The Parish Council has extended the blue fencing and a gate to the next field and hopes that this will help to keep secure the field. Unfortunately, dog walkers continue to use the Playing Field, and don’t always clean up after their dog. The Parish Council has agreed that the bylaw will be enforced. The Council has had to do some repairs to the Pavilion; some facia has had to be replaced because of vandalism and a water leak in the very cold weather caused quite a lot of damage in one of the changing rooms. The Play Area continues to be well used by young children. A picnic table was installed last spring and the council is considering whether another one would be useful. There has been some vandalism with offensive graffiti on the equipment and broken glass but these were cleared quickly. 5. Police Matters • PCs Katrin Gardener and Carl Bryant and PCSO Adi Wright have attended Parish Council meetings. They have held several Have Your Say meetings at the Bowyer Arms and the next one is planned for Monday, 24th May 2011 at the Station. The new neighbourhood office at Radley Youth Club should make Adi more accessible to Radley. • The Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) is very active and has been meeting regularly. Eric Davies has been attending as Parish representative and reports back to the Parish Council about points of interest to the village. • Speeding continues to be a concern and the police do regular speed checks in the area. • Motorbikes on the BOAT: The police are addressing the problem of van drivers bringing motorcyclists to ride on the BOAT and warned them that if they are found there again their bikes can be crushed. The Parish Council has been told categorically that no landowner in the vicinity has given permission for motorbikes on their land and this information is being passed on to the police so that they can take action. 185 • Nuisance parking: The Parish Council has passed on complaints about vehicles parking on pavements and close to junctions in various parts of the village. Both are illegal and Adi Wright has spoken to the offending drivers. 6. Conservation The Parish Council has regular discussions on conservation matters, and the items which have come up throughout the year are: • Tree Planting: Each year the Parish Council looks for sites to plant more trees – if you have any ideas please let your Councillors know. • Trees in the Parish: The willows in the Play Area were obstructing the pavement and had to be cut back. The large sycamore tree on Lower Radley green was a much bigger job. The Council was advised that it was diseased and it had to be cut right back to healthy wood. • Litter: The Parish Council is very pleased with the excellent work done by Mr John Rogerson in helping with litter collection throughout the village. His work is of great benefit to Radley village. • The Annual Garden Competition is continuing for its fifteenth year and is being held on Saturday, 2nd July. This has become a very successful event, and is looked forward to each year. • Footpaths in the Parish: The Parish Council is planning to carry out restoration work to resurface Footpath 8 and improve the surface for walkers and cyclists. Repairs had been planned for this week, but unfortunately, the council has just been told that they have had to be delayed. • The Parish Council will be approaching Oxfordshire County Council regarding having the BOAT re-designated as a footpath or bridleway. 7. Website: Please use the website to publicise and report on village events and let us have your views on matters relating to the Parish. The website address is www.radleyvillage.org.uk 8. Other Matters: • The Village Shop will shortly celebrate its fourth birthday. Parish Council appreciates the work done by the Management Team and volunteers and was pleased to be able to support them with a grant towards the costs incurred in buying the freehold. • A community notice board has been installed at the Lower Radley turn and this is being very well used. • The Parish Council has asked its contractor to clean the village seats. • Several reports of noise nuisance have been made this year - by use of motorcyclists on the field behind Stonhouse Crescent, bird scarers at the beginning of the planting season and weekend working in Thrupp Lane and these have been reported to the Vale Environmental Health department.