SHERFIELD-ON-LODDON

PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Sherfield-on-Loddon Annual Parish Meeting held in Village Hall on Friday 9 May 2014 at 7.30pm

1 Welcome The Chairman welcomed everybody to the meeting.

2. Apologies for absence Apologies were received and accepted from PCSO Rickaby and County Councillor Keith Chapman

3. Minutes of the previous Annual Parish meeting held on 17 May 2013 The minutes of last year’s Annual Parish meeting previously circulated were signed as a true record of the proceedings.

4. Chairman’s report Councillor Ball’s report can be found as Appendix A

5. Accounts Cllr Ball explained that the accounts for the year 2013/14 had been prepared and were available. They can be found as Appendix B.

6. Reports County Councillor Keith Chapman County Councillor Keith Chapman’s previously submitted written report can be found as Appendix C

Borough Councillor Ranil Jayawardena Borough Councillor Ranil Jayawardena gave a report of the last year’s activities and issues facing and Deane Borough Council.

Borough Councillor Marin Biermann Borough Councillor Martin Biermann gave a report of the last year’s activities and issues facing Borough Council.

Village Charities Report Cllr Ball read out a previously submitted statement: The Trustees of the James Christmas Education Foundation and Sherfield Welfare Trust met in October 2013 and awarded grants to The Lunch Club and Sherfield Evergreens as well as Loddon Sports, Sherfield Brownies and to a local child to help in a small way towards swimming lessons. The Parish Council has appointed Bruce Jones and Sally Hennessey as Trustees to represent the Parish Council and the next meeting will be held in October 2014

Village Hall Trustees Ivan Gosden reported The Village Hall had benefitted from new windows and doors and new crockery An LIF grant had been applied for to refurbish the Toilets All events had been well supported especially the Beer Festival Thanks were given to Roger Rivers who mows the grass at nil cost to the Village Hall and to Bruce Jones who works tirelessly to get things done.

Sherfield Park Community Centre James Read reported that This was the third year the centre has been operating This year the Hall had made a loss, this was due mainly to the loss of the Nursery, however, a new nursery had opened so things were improving There was an improved footfall and increased bookings The Adult football pitches are being used by Youth football An LIF grant had been submitted to put new rooms into the loft space Thanks went to the Parish Council for the grant to support the Youth worker in the SPCA for the benefit of all children residing in the Parish.

Governance Review on Sherfield On Loddon Parish Council Cllr Ball read a statement from Basingstoke and Deane. This statement can be found as Appendix D

7. Questions

1. What is the role of the Youth Worker Cllr Read responded that the Youth worker will be running sessions 48 weeks per year on a Wednesday evening and all children in the Parish can attend. 2. What is the Plans for clearing ditches Cllr Batting responded that Non highway ditches were maintained by the Parish and cleared on a rolling program 3. Bus Consultation- Has the Parish Council made any representation Cllr Ball responded that the parish Council had not responded to the consultation and that it was open to all members of the Parish to respond should they so wish to do.

8. Neighbourhood Plan The Neighbourhood plan report can be found as Appendix E Bryan Jenkins ran through the results of the recent questionnaire

9. Questions 1. What is the Parish Council’s view to the Strategic gap in the Local Plan and will it be commenting on the Local plan Cllr Ball responded that the Local Plan mentions the strategic gap, however this is policy and not law. that the Strategic gap is viewed as important and should be maintained The directive on the Local Plan states that comments can only be made on revisions Cllr Biermann then explained that the Portfolio holder had mentioned that comments on any aspect of plan could be made rather than just on the revisions 2. In light of this will the Parish Council being making further representation Cllr Ball explained that he was unable to comment on this as a decision from the Parish Council had not been made or discussed as this was new information 3. Why not develop the other side of A33 Cllr Batting explained that if development commenced on the other side of the A33 then a great deal of development could take place Cllr Jayawardena explained that development was inevitable and that is why a Neighbourhood plan was so important. A Neighbourhood plan whilst it won’t stop any development would assist in managing any development and any Developer wishing to develop the area would have to take notice of the Plan.

Chairman’s closure of the minutes The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and contributing to the discussion And closed the meeting at 9.30pm

Appendix A

SHERFIELD-ON-LODDON

PARISH COUNCIL

Report for the Year ending 30th April 2014

Parish Councillors Alan Ball (T) Parish Council Chairman Bruce Batting (S) Chairman of Planning Committee and responsible for allotments Mark Burrell(T) Ken Clark (S) John Darker (T) Ivan Gosden (S) Sally Hennessey (S) Parish Council Vice-chairman Sandy Johnston (S) Chairman of Leisure Facilities Committee Bruce Jones (S) Chairman of Finance and General Purposes Committee James Read(T)

(S) represents Sherfield Ward - (T) represents Taylors Farm Ward

Meetings Between 1st May 2013 and 30th April 2014, the parish council Full59 meetings held Full Parish Council 12 Finance and General Purposes Committee 6 Leisure Committee 6 Planning Committee 11 Neighbourhood Plan 18 Village Green meeting 4 Allotment holders meeting 1 Annual Parish Meeting 1

Village Green Organised grass cutting on the Green and more regular grass cutting of sports grounds and pitches Monitored safety by receiving a monthly safety report and carrying out an annual inspection Organised general maintenance of hedges and verges around the village Arranged for the felling and removal of dead trees With the guidance of the Tree Warden, maintained the hedging and fruit trees received under the Hedgerow Harvest scheme Removed Terrapins from the Horse Pond Maintained the path around the Jubilee pond Emergency repairs to the Village Green when a large hole appeared in the rainstorms Organised pest control treatments to ensure sports clubs have been able to play their matches Provided a litter warden and organised cover when litter warden was on leave Regular emptying of waste/dog bins Leisure facilities Received weekly safety checks of the playground and BMX track and an annual risk assessment Extend concrete path into the Playground to remove trip/slide hazards Arranged for repairs to play equipment Updated signage in play area to conform to insurance requirements Maintain tennis courts, review charges and replace faulty locks

Planning Review and feedback to Borough planning department on all local planning applications Review and respond to the Borough’s Local Plan Work towards producing a Neighbourhood plan

Allotments Held the annual meeting of allotment holders Updated contracts for 56 allotments, and collected payments Maintained waiting lists for allotments, currently 4 in Parish, 4 out of Parish Carried out regular inspections, issued one notice to tidy, one eviction Held an allotment competition with prizes awarded at the Sherfield Show Compost bins cleared of accumulated rubbish

Communications Received monthly reports from the local beat officer and neighbourhood watch Updated the notice boards with Parish Council agendas and other useful information Provided a monthly update in Loddon Link Maintained the Parish Council website Sent representatives to external events Reviewed and responded to Local Planning documents

Roads Liaise with County Council to Protect Bus turning circle from Travellers Report pot holes to Hampshire Highways and ensure follow-up action Investigate and ameliorate flooding issues on Bramley Road Liaise with BDBC Planning regarding parking issues in Reading Road

Appendix B

SHERFIELD ON LODDON PARISH COUNCIL

SUMMARY RECEIPTS & PAYMENT ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2014 Figures shown exclusive of VAT Annual Actual-v- £ £ Budget Budget RECEIPTS 75000 100% Precept 75,000.00 25 193% Bank Interest 48.33 9428.78 182% Other 17,180.22

TOTAL RECEIPTS 92,228.55

PAYMENTS 23,835 89% Net Salaries & Allowances 21,254.06 0 #DIV/0! HCC - Pension Contributions (eer's & eee's) 885.83 275 4% Clerk's Expenses 11.20 25 0% Chairman's Allowance - 1452 48% Hall Hire 691.26 620 100% Audit Fees 620.00 823 650% Administration 5,348.73 1320 98% Insurance 1,294.48 735 94% Subscriptions 692.00 1575 62% Allotments 984.37 #REF! #REF! Grants & Donations: 17500 81% Section 137 Payment 14,219.66 0 #DIV/0! Training 305.00 12910 107% Repairs & Maintenance 13,758.51 505 313% Te;ephone/IT 1,579.42 0 #DIV/0! Mileage 304.75 5000 12% Mole Contract 600.00 0 #DIV/0! VAT on payments 4,199.72 #REF! TOTAL PAYMENTS 66,748.99

RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS SUMMARY

BALANCE BROUGHT FORWARD on 01/04/14 62,507.86 ADD Total Receipts (as above) 92,228.55 LESS Total payments (as above) 66,748.99

Balance Carried forward 31/03/14 87,987.42

These cumulative funds are represented by:

Current Account Balance 10,984.31 Less:Cheques drawn but not debited as at 31.03.14 126.50 Deposit Account Balance 77,129.61 Other Account -

87,987.42 Signed: Responsible Finance Officer to Sherfield on Loddon Parish Council Date:

Appendix C

COUNCILLOR KEITH CHAPMAN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR CALLEVA &

ANNUAL REPORT 2013 – 2014

Committee Memberships:

1. On Hampshire County Council, I am now Cabinet Member with responsibility for the arts, museums and libraries, parks etc.

2. I am a Member of Hampshire Fire & Rescue Authority, and Chair its Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee

County Council Members’ Grant Scheme

The County Council again allocated £8,000 to each Councillor to distribute to village organizations.

Hampshire County Council has frozen its part of the Council Tax again this year, so residents are still paying the lowest for County Council services like social care, highways and libraries than anywhere else in the south east – and at the same rate for five consecutive years.

The County Council has managed to freeze Council Tax despite Hampshire’s grant from the Government being cut by 43 per cent since 2010. This has been possible because of advance planning to manage these cuts (and those yet to come) in the most appropriate way, making millions of pounds of savings. This has also given the Council time to reshape the way services are delivered so that it can continue to meet the needs of residents.

Those needs are increasing, particularly for social care for both young and old, so finding the money to protect the most vulnerable residents, while having to make over £230 million savings by 2015 hasn’t been easy, however Hampshire is in a stronger position than many other councils.

It is not possible to remove over £230 million of spending from an already efficient organisation and keep Council Tax at the same level for five years, without scaling back some services – some the Council has a statutory duty to deliver, while others are optional and not critical. The Council will be consulting on some of the proposed changes over the coming months and will be doing its best to reduce the pressure of Government funding cuts on frontline services by working in new ways. A good example is the joint working with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and . A business centre is being set up to share support services, removing duplication and saving money. Hampshire is also saving more than £2 million a year by reducing office space by a third, sharing buildings with other public services.

All the time the Council Tax has been frozen, the Council has invested additional money through the capital budget (what is spent on assets rather than running costs) into Hampshire’s infrastructure, to support the county’s economic and social wellbeing. The four- year capital programme from 2013/14 onwards is worth over £750 million.

Investments are also being made in frontline services to enable Hampshire to continue to provide more at the same or better quality, for less money. Given the on-going pressures on social care budgets, the focus for services like museums, libraries and country parks will be on maximising income and changing ways of working in, and with, communities to maintain sustainable services. The Council is investing to ensure its country parks will be financially self- sufficient, safeguarding them for the future, and will be moving towards the formation of the Hampshire Cultural Trust in partnership with Winchester City Council to deliver arts, museum and heritage services.

The County Council’s focus remains to deliver high quality, cost-effective public services which:

Improve health and wellbeing for all Promote economic prosperity while protecting the environment Work with communities to enhance local services. Hampshire knows that residents value services which help vulnerable and older people, support the economy and maintain roads and pavements – all of which contribute to making Hampshire an excellent place in which to live and work.

Hampshire County Council’s part of Band D Council Tax remains at £1,037.88.

Capital Investment

Hampshire County Council has agreed a capital programme of growth and investment in Hampshire's economy and infrastructure of around three quarters of a billion pounds. At £668.7M, it's the biggest capital investment of all county councils in the south east and it's set to build thousands of quality school places and plough £130M into road and bridge maintenance.

Library consultation - 2015 Budget savings Hampshire County Council is facing difficult financial challenges through continuing cuts in Government funding and increasing costs in looking after more elderly people and children who need our help.

Over the last three years The County has made £100 million of budget savings. This has been achieved in a number of ways, including services reducing their budgets by 18%. A further £93 million of savings now need to be made and all services have to find further budget reductions.

The Library Service has reviewed various options and proposes to make the required savings through a further management restructure, a reduction to the mobile library service, including Family Library Link, and a change to the way library services are provided in Grayshott, Kingsclere and Milford on Sea. The County Council understands and regrets that some customers will be affected, but does believe that this option will have the least impact on customers whilst maintaining a viable library service for the future.

Switch on to superfast broadband By the end of March 2014, over 9,000 premises in Hampshire, which otherwise would not have had it, will have access to superfast broadband services thanks to the Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme.

BT and Virgin Media are already rolling out superfast broadband to around 80% of premises in Hampshire. Hampshire’s Superfast Broadband Programme will help to address the gaps left where private sector providers have not been able to fund the infrastructure needed. This will extend coverage to 90% of premises by the end of 2015.

The first area to have the new service was Oakley, near Basingstoke, with areas of Gosport, Hart and the New Forest also now covered. Phase two of the project means that a further 8,500 premises in areas of the New Forest and Test Valley will be able to purchase superfast broadband services by the end of June.

By the end of 2015, more than 59,000 business and residential premises will be able to access speeds of 24Mbps+, and over 40,000 of these will have access to speeds in excess of 50Mbps.

Helping Hampshire people into work The key to economic prosperity in Hampshire lies in ensuring the county’s workforce has the necessary skills to meet the demands of local businesses today and into the future.

That’s why the County Council is investing in a range of programmes to enable people to enhance their skills as part of its ‘Hampshire Futures’ work aimed at helping local people into employment.

The creation of 1,000 apprenticeships and traineeships over the next five years under the Hampshire Youth Investment Programme is part of this exciting work. The programme gives young people real work experience and an opportunity to gain vocational qualifications. Apprentices and trainees receive on and off the job training, with opportunities as diverse as mechanics, administration, rangers, and teaching assistants.

In addition, Hampshire Careers and Employability Service provides services to schools and colleges to help them support young people, including one-to-one careers guidance, and group sessions.

For adults seeking to get back into work, the Council is funding vital Working Futures/Skills programmes in areas with the highest levels of unemployment. Activities are run at Hurst Community College, Basingstoke; Portchester Community School, Fareham; Yateley School, Yateley; Harrow Way Community School (at Andover Adult and Family Learning Centre); and Samuel Cody Specialist Sports College in Farnborough. The scheme offers maths, English and working with children classes; job clubs; and work skills courses covering CV preparation, IT skills and job applications. Courses are already supporting people into work.

Working together to combat truancy in the Basingstoke and Deane area

As part of the Supporting (Troubled) Families initiative, Hampshire County Council and partners, including schools, community safety teams and the Police, will be stepping up their support and intervention to tackle truancy in Basingstoke and Deane.

Six 'Attendance Days' will take place over the next year in a joined up multi-agency effort to reduce absence from school and promote the importance of good school attendance.

It builds on a successful attendance week held in October last year when there was a 25% reduction in absence rates compared to the same week in 2012.

At the request of schools, the partners will visit homes of children who have not turned up for school and whose absence has not been reported by their parent or carer. The home visits will help to establish any underlying reasons why a child may be consistently absent from school and identify professional support for the child and the family, as appropriate, that could help to ensure significant improvement in the child's attendance at school.

Checks will also be made around shopping centres, parks and other recreational areas where young people may congregate when they are truant. Where a pupil is caught being truant, their details will be taken and a letter will be sent to the family home explaining the legal implications.

Partnership Working

Hampshire launched H3, a joint working partnership with Hampshire Constabulary and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, delivering key business and support functions in the most modern, effective and efficient way.

A Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) was launched with the Council’s partners in health, police and probation to provide a faster, better co-ordinated response to protecting the most vulnerable children and adults from harm.

The County’s Rural Support Strategy has been refreshed, setting aside £400,000 for rural initiatives that will be used to maximise partnership working and provide match funding to address issues faced by rural communities in the most cost effective and innovative ways.

Hampshire Commemorates Funding

Funding of between £200 and £2,000 to help match-fund community-led projects and events has been made available through the 'Hampshire Commemorates' scheme, which forms part of the raft of events and initiatives planned by the County Council to mark the First World War and D-Day commemorations.

Children’s Services Confirmed a £149million investment in new school places to make sure we can meet rising demand for places, part of a £765milion capital programme over four years that will provide a boost for the economy through jobs in the construction industry.

Started the first ‘Early Help Hub’ in Eastleigh, a major step in more joined up working to support children and families with complex needs who fall just below the thresholds of statutory intervention.

Worked with more than 200 families, under the Supporting Troubled Families programme, through a voluntary sector consortium that provides skilled family support workers.

Our Young Interpreters scheme, where pupils are trained to support newly arrived children whose first language is not English, won a national public services award from The Guardian newspaper.

Our schools continue to outperform national standards in many areas. 84% of our schools were judged good or outstanding by OFSTED against a national average of 79 per cent. As partners in the education system, we identify where we add most value in the support and challenge we provide.

Ofsted Report

Services for vulnerable children delivered by Hampshire County Council are 'good' overall and, in some aspects 'outstanding', as rated by Ofsted.

During an unannounced four week inspection in February, a team of ten inspectors thoroughly examined practice, including a detailed review of over 200 individual cases.

Inspectors concluded that overall services for children in need of help and protection, children in care and care leavers are 'good', while the adoption service is outstanding, as is leadership and governance across all children's services. It is an endorsement of all the work we do and the support and care we provide to the county’s most vulnerable children and young people. This is down to the dedication of staff and partners, and testament to the ‘exceptionally stable’ workforce of good, qualified, experienced social workers, and children and family support workers. The report published on 22 April comes at a time when the Council is working with around 6,500 children and their families in need of specialist services and the number of child protection plans has increased by 50 per cent over the last two and a half years.

Adults Launched a new service to support people to say living independently in their homes for as long as possible, reducing the need for expensive residential or nursing care. The Reablement and Assessment Care Team (REACT) steps in when people are struggling to remain independent in their homes.

Launched the Hampshire Dementia Action Alliance with Andover Mind. Hampshire is at the forefront of the dementia friendly communities work nationally, helping people with dementia continue to be part of their community, with support when they need it.

Economy Transport and Environment Hampshire was awarded a Government grant to develop the feasibility of a potential district energy scheme that could generate electricity, reduce energy bills, cut carbon emissions and increase energy security.

The Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan has been adopted – the first of its kind in – providing protection for Hampshire’s environment and support for communities over 20 years.

Hampshire recognised as a European Region of the Future: Hampshire has been recognised as one of the most promising investment locations in Europe according to an international study carried out by fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times.

A massive operation to repair the worst of the damage on Hampshire's highways in the aftermath of the wettest winter for a century has begun. Hampshire County Council is re- prioritising its highways resources into tackling the worst flood damage, concentrating efforts on emergency defects and safety work. The full extent of the damage to Hampshire's 5,280 miles of road caused by the winter weather cannot be fully assessed yet as some roads are still submerged, but the County Council has already identified over 300 locations where extensive and costly structural repair work is need. This includes roads that have been underwater and the small rural roads used as diversions. The repair bill has already been estimated at up to £36m, and this figure is expected to rise once water levels reduce enough to inspect flooded roads and check on the damage to river bridges and structures.

In the aftermath of the floods, the County Council is working with partners on submitting a claim to the Government’s Bellwin Fund. The County Council may be looking at a Bellwin claim of between £3.5M and £4.5M. This would still mean that costs of at least £1.5M would need to be met by the County Council as a result of the response to the prolonged period of severe weather.

Appendix D

The parish council made a request to the borough council to consider the current parish arrangements. In particular the arrangements for the residents of Taylors Farm and whether this community could form its own parish.

The borough council at a full council meeting on 27th March 2014 decided to carry out what is known as a community governance review.

The review can take up to a year to conclude and is carried out by the borough council. It will involve borough officers carrying out two consultation exercises with all local electors and any other interested parties. This information will be analysed with the results forming a report to the borough’s full council to make the final decision.

The borough council aim to officially start the review on the 2nd June 2014. On or around 6th June 2014 all local residents should receive a consultation letter and survey which will contain more detailed information. This first round of consultation will last 8 weeks and any comments which you would like the borough council to take into consideration should be received within the deadlines as stated. Comments will be considered by way of postal survey, online survey and via email – further information on this will be contained within the consultation letter and will also available on the borough council website shortly

Suzanne Smith Basingstoke and Deane

Appendix E SHERFIELD-ON-LODDON PARISH COUNCIL

Neighbourhood Plan – Status report for the Annual Parish Meeting 9th May 2014

A series of Initial Meetings began in June 2013 and were advertised in The Loddon Valley Link. These meetings have continued on a monthly basis with about 12/15 fairly regular attendees, and since December 2013, the pace has really picked up in terms of moving the plan forward.

Achievements – where are we now?

1) Appointment of part-time administrator. 2) Regular monthly updates in the Loddon Link. 3) Regular updates are posted to the Parish Council website to keep residents updated with minutes of meetings and news. 4) Growth in interested members, who have attended the working group on at least one occasion, to 25 in number. 5) A page has been set up on Facebook for the Taylor’s Farm group. 6) An initial 10% sample (SWOT) has been carried out using face to face interviews to provide initial data and raise awareness. 7) Two Open Sessions have been held, with 91 residents attending at the Village Hall and 46 at the Sherfield Park community centre. 8) A detailed questionnaire has been circulated to all households in the Parish via the Loddon Valley Link. 9) A copy of the questionnaire was also available on line. 10) An initial trawl has provided information as to possible sites which may be of interest to Developers, and possible sites which could be suitable for new homes. At the current time there are no definite proposals from the Neighbourhood Plan in these respects. Any such work would require consultation with residents. 11) Grants to the value of £7000 have been received from Locality towards initial costs and Consultant fees for further work

What next – where are we going

The existing group, led by John Darker, will in future be known as the Neighbourhood Development Planning Forum, and will continue to meet to give residents and other interested parties a chance to discuss the progress of the plan, ask questions, and gather feedback. Minutes of these meetings will be published and made available on the web-site, and on request as now. However, this group is too unwieldy to carry out detailed analysis and prepare documents, and because of this, and the need to communicate with the Parish Council Planning Committee, said committee has formed a new sub-committee, whose membership will be drawn from the most active members of the Forum. This sub-committee, to be known by the prosaic name of the “Planning sub-committee for Neighbourhood Development Planning”, will act as the interface between the Planning committee and the Forum. It will be led by Bruce Batting, and will be responsible, in conjunction with the Forum, for maintaining the objectives and purpose of the Neighbourhood plan and defining and driving the strategic actions required to achieve those objectives – be they creating questionnaires, analysing results, setting up meeting with other interested parties, initiating site surveys and environmental or sustainability assessments, and defining development policies.