Benson Parish Council Parish Hall, Sunnyside, Benson, Wallingford. OX10 6LZ Tel: 01491 825038 e-mail: [email protected] Minutes of the Full Council meeting of the Benson Parish Council held on Thursday 24th October 2019 at 7:30pm in the Parish Hall Committee Room Present: Cllr B Pattison (Chairman) Cllr F Lovesey Cllr S McCann Cllr T McTeague Cllr J Sharman Cllr I Skeels Cllr T Stevenson Cllr M Winton Proper Officer: Miss E Stanley (Parish Clerk) In attendance: OCC Cllr M Gray SODC Cllr S Cooper Reporter from the Henley Standard 1. Apologies and approval of absences Apologies were received, and absences approved for Cllrs P Baylis, R Jordan, P Murray and D Olley. 2. Declarations of interest Cllr F Lovesey declared an interest in item 13.c.iii and signed the register of interests. 3. To receive reports from the following: a. OCC Cllr M Gray OCC is working on a transport strategy for Oxford City and is proposing to fund bus services by charging people who park in workspaces within the city, £600p.a. per space. Individuals are encouraged to respond to this consultation. Reminder to look at the OCC website for information on how to apply for funding from the £1m Youth Opportunities Fund. The resurfacing of Castle Square is rather wonderful – Oxford Road still needs resurfacing. There are still complaints of vehicles not stopping at the Watlington Road zebra crossing, parents have been urged to put their children in Hi-Vis jackets. Cllr McCann would like the Parish Council to create a register of identified “risks to life” around the village to use as leverage to get action when reporting to the responsible authority. CIL/s.106 money relating to the Watlington Road is available to alter the zebra crossing. Requests have been made for a speed activated sign along the Littleworth Road. Cllr M Gray wishes to fund a sign that shows the correct speed limit for the Oxford Road (as the school is on that road) from the Councillor Priority Fund. Action: Clerk to contact Crowmarsh Gifford Parish Council for information. Action: Clerk to apply to Councillor Priority Fund for £2k toward a speed activated sign. Utility companies now must request a permit to work on the road. Permits will only be granted for the length of time a job will take to complete and there will be a charge for permits to cover the cost of issuing them. If there are any problems within 2 years of work being undertaken, OCC can go back to the contractor who did the work. b. SODC Cllr S Cooper See attached report. It was also noted that safely linking the villages by cycle routes needs to be made more prominent and that the A4074 crossing at Benson Lane is still not safe with the island. The SODC response to the OCC transport survey stated that not enough was included for a safe cycling route. 42 Benson Parish Council Parish Hall, Sunnyside, Benson, Wallingford. OX10 6LZ Tel: 01491 825038 e-mail: [email protected] c. SODC Cllr A Powell Not present, joint report submitted. 4. Public session No members of the public addressed the Chairman. 5. Minutes of the last meeting It was resolved to approve the minutes of the Full Council meeting held on Thursday 26th September 2019 as a true record of the meeting and Cllr B Pattison signed the minutes. 6. Benson Parish Council planning committee a. To receive a report from the Chairman of the Planning Committee Chairman not present. b. It was resolved to amend item 1 of the Planning Committee TORS to list recommended responses as per the SODC consultation papers: “…The Committee may recommend: FULLY SUPPORTS this application for the following reasons has NO OBJECTIONS to this application has NO OBJECTIONS to this application but wish the following comments to be taken into account OBJECTS to this application for the following reasons…” 7. Benson Parish Council Finance Committee a. To receive a report from the Chairman of the Finance Committee Chairman not present. b. Recommendations to Full Council: i. It was resolved to accept the recommendation to Full Council to adopt the comprehensive risk assessment prepared on the LCRS system and note the action points that have arisen. c. It was resolved to approve the External Auditors report. d. Committees were reminded to submit 2020/21 budget requirements to the Finance Committee ahead of the meeting on Tuesday 19th November 2019 8. Benson Parish Council Halls Committee a. To receive a report from the Chairman of the Halls Committee The Parish Hall Extension Working Group met with Architect Richard Cutler and is pursuing the plans to build an office, refurbish the kitchen and washrooms and install a lift. Father Patrick will attend the Youth Hall with surveyors on 5th November. The Halls committee feels that the expertise of professionals is required to survey the buildings and draw up maintenance plans. b. Recommendations to Full Council i. It was resolved to accept the recommendation to Full Council that Benson Parish Council seeks quotations to instruct a facilities surveyor to carry out surveys of hard and soft facilities of all buildings and draw up maintenance plans and schedules of works 9. Benson Parish Council Recreations and Lands Committee a. To receive a report from the Chairman of the Recreations and Lands Committee Chairman not present. 10. Benson Parish Council Information and Technology Committee a. To receive a report from the Chairman of the Technology Committee The Council is about to move over to O365. 43 Benson Parish Council Parish Hall, Sunnyside, Benson, Wallingford. OX10 6LZ Tel: 01491 825038 e-mail: [email protected] b. To discuss O365 and migration of emails Next Agenda Cllrs S McCann and I Skeels will provide training in O365. Cllr McCann explained that the office will be able to send links to documents rather than attachments in emails and that Microsoft Teams can be used as electronic post it notes. The Technology Committee will set templates for other Committees to follow. It was noted that the internet is slow on the Shillingford Road and in Preston Crowmarsh. Councillor accounts have been created on the O365 platform and all Councillors were asked to download Microsoft Teams. 11. To receive reports from Benson Parish Council Working Groups and Outside Bodies a. Neighbourhood Plan Delivery Group The group met earlier this week with the main focus being on the new sites BEN 2, 3 and 4 and making sure that the developers are delivering what is expected. The new Community Building is under construction and the group is in discussion with CALA Homes with regard to fittings and floorings etc. The s.106 agreement was made between SODC and CALA Homes. There will not be rainwater harvesting or grey water storage – grey water has to be filtered and strained, the filters need to be maintained and this would be an ongoing cost for the Parish Council. Action: Cllr B Pattison to ask CALA Homes when the Parish Council is expected to pay the £50k. Action: Clerk to check which power allows the Council to pay £50k to the developer for the building. Action: Cllr B Pattison to circulate the minutes of the last meeting. b. Youth Facilities Working Group An informal meeting is to be held this Sunday to discuss how to take the Sunnyside Play Area upgrade project forward. The consultation paperwork from 2015 is to be used. Remaining members of the YFWG are Cllrs R Jordan, T McTeague, T Stevenson and M Winton. The Recreation and Lands Committee recommended that the project be started from the beginning to ensure that all documentation required for compliance with relevant laws and supporting evidence for grant applications is available. Action: Cllr B Pattison to retrieve 2015 consultation papers from the Neighbourhood Plan Delivery Group. Cllr Sharman expressed his interest in joining the working group. c. Bertie West Field Working Group The blackthorn is being cut and is due to be burnt in the field on 5th November, weather permitting. Quotes are being sought to improve the pedestrian access into the field to make the field more accessible for all. d. Parish Hall Extension Working Group Cllr Sharman requested that the working group presents to full council so that all Councillors are fully informed of progress. Richard Cutler, Architect has been asked to produce revised plans for reduced extension works to include a new parish office with storage above accessible from the Committee Room, refurbishment of the toilets, kitchen and installation of a lift. The plans are being reduced taking into account that there will soon be the new Community Building. The original plans for the Parish Hall extension also included renovations to the pavilion which would be phase 2 of the project. Storage and workshop facilities would be included in phase 2. e. PAGE The areas that have been put forward for gravel extraction up until 2034 are near Cassington and between Nuneham Courtenay and Oxford. SG7, the water meadow at Benson and SG13, the large field between Benson and Shillingford have been ruled out permanently for archaeological reasons and other matters. Benson (along with Warborough and Dorchester) no longer needs to contribute to PAGE funds as there is no threat. PAGE will issue a pro rata refund of money donated this year. Action: Clerk to post PAGE report on BPC Facebook page and include in Benson Bulletin 44 Benson Parish Council Parish Hall, Sunnyside, Benson, Wallingford. OX10 6LZ Tel: 01491 825038 e-mail: [email protected] Parish Notes. 12. Correspondence a. To review correspondence and post received Post/Emails Received Action 1.