Minutes of the Meeting of Froxfield Parish Council held at Froxfield Village Hall on Thursday the 12th of July 2012 at 8pm Present: Cllr M Smith (Chairman), Cllr T Guy (Vice-chairman), Cllr R Moss, Cllr J Ellis, Cllr G Rothery & Cllr P Madgwick. Also in Attendance: Cllr N Drew (EHDC), Mrs M Snow (Clerk & RFO) Mr Hollington-Inspired –IS, Mr Ian Payne & 4 members of the public. 1.05.12 Apologies: Cllr M Povey, Cllr D Redding & Cllr V Clarke (HCC) 2.05.12 Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest: None The Chairman- Cllr Smith read out the following statement: Councillors are reminded of their responsibility to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest which they may have in any item of business on the agenda no later than when that item of business on the agenda no later than when that item is reached. Unless dispensation has been granted, you may not participate in any discussion of, or vote on, or discharge any function related to any matter in which you have a pecuniary interest as defined by regulations made by the Secretary of State under the Localism Act 2011. You must withdraw from the room or chamber when the meeting discusses and votes on the matter. 3.05.12 Comment from the Public or Press (point 27 of Standing Orders) Mr Jeremy de-Halpert made a request for financial support for the repair of the church roof at Froxfield Green. Mr de-Halpert reported that £3000 had already been raised and that the total fundraising target of £32,000 had been set, this would require £3000 a month being raised. A business/project plan was currently being developed. Sir Brian Brown reported that a booklet regarding the Assessing & Monitoring of the Local Landscape is to be released by HCC to parish councils. Sir Brian Brown informed the council that the booklet mainly contains guidance for the creation of a LLCA but the pages at the back do explain about following up key issues raised. The Chairman -Cllr Smith responded saying no comment could be made at this time as the LLCA is not on the agenda for discussion. Ms Sandra Read invited everyone to the Colemore air strip on Saturday the 28th of July to meet members of the HMFC and see the aircraft and find out the club. A second date of Sunday the 29th of July was set in case the weather prevented the 28th from going ahead. For the parish council’s information, the airspace around London will be restricted as of Saturday the 14th of July due to security measures for the Olympics. It is thought that this could increase the traffic in the skies or could result in aircraft avoiding the South of England. 4.05.12 Minutes of the meeting held on the 14th of June 2012 previously circulated were agreed and signed as a true record. 5.05.12 Matters Arising. a) Mowing of wild flower verges, HCC response. Iain Hopcroft a Highways Engineer at HCC gave the following response: Some of the marked areas in Froxfield are meant to be mowed within the first cut, it would be useful to know what roads have been cut that the parish believe should not be so I can be precise with my response. If we have an issue with any junctions they can be cut on a needs must basis if I made aware of the specific junctions. We would welcome anyone who wishes to help make the verges look better and this area has no wild flowers in it so we would have no objection to this type of work and definitely do not see it as a problem. It was agreed to ask Cllr Clarke to follow up. b) Highways & Footpaths in Froxfield – Verge damage, Drum housing (Radian) response. The clerk is to contact Radian again to invite Mr Dean to the next meeting. c) Highways &Footpaths in Privett – Cllr Ellis could not get hold of the landowner in privett with the overgrown footpath. 1251 d) Froxfield Church Roof repairs request – The internal auditor advised that it would be possible to use section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 to provide a grant for the roof repairs however the parish council would have to present overwhelming evidence that the community fully support such a grant. e) EHAPTC meeting report. The clerk attended the EHAPTC meeting in June. See appendix 1. 6.05.12 Minutes of the meeting held on the 28th of June 2012 previously circulated were agreed and signed as a true record. 7.05.12 Matters arising from the above minutes. a) The questions posed to and responses from Julia Mansi are below: 1. No application has been made for certificate of Lawful use-which was meant to be made by May 2012 –Why not? The current proposal is a Certificate of Lawfulness application for an existing use – was this not the one the Parish Council was expecting? 2. FPC note that no enforcement has been engaged by EHDC Compliance team – Why not? The application before the Council is to establish whether the site has been lawfully used for equestrian use for the last 10 years, with 2 mobile field shelters. If it can be shown by the applicant that this has been the case, then the use would be lawful and immune from any enforcement action. Until such time as the application is determined, it would not be expedient for the Council to take enforcement action. If a notice is served and the use found subsequently to be lawful, it is an abortive use of scare resources and could leave the Council subject to costs at an appeal against the notice, as it could be shown that we had behaved unreasonably. If the CLU application is refused, then the Compliance Team will review the situation and decide whether to take further action. The consultation period is still underway and it is too early to say what the outcome to the application will be. 3. Site-ing of the field shelters and use of this land sets a dangerous precedent of the Parish which FPC would like some assurance. This is a legal determination to see it the land has been used for equestrian purposes for 10 years with 2 mobile field shelters. It does not set a precedent for further field shelters in the area. In any event, mobile field shelters usually do not require planning permission as they are mobile in structures. 8.05.12 WEBSITE: a) Mr Robin Hollington from INSPIRED-IS gave a presentation to the council. (Mr Hollington then left the meeting) b) The councillors discussed the three tenders and it was resolved that proposal 1at £500 to include the attached requirements see appendix 2. from Mr Ray Street was the proposal the parish council wished to take forward subject to contract. c) A copy website has appeared on the internet, this is to be investigated further to establish if the parish council’s copyright has been breached. If required Cllr Smith will arrange for a letter to be drafted. d) The clerk informed the council that the current website hosting is due to expire. It was resolved that two months of hosting at £10.79 a month was to be purchased to keep the website available for the new company. 9.05.12 Water Leaks in Froxfield & Privett. Cllr Moss and Cllr Povey are to be given maps of the areas and will note on them areas which have water leaks so that the clerk can then report these to the water companies. 1252 10.05.12 Village Fete. Cllr Smith thanked Cllr Rothery and Mrs Snow- the clerk for their help on the tombola stall at the village fete and well done to all those who organised the event. Cllr Rothery announced that £3,500 profit had been made so far but this figure did not include any gift aid payments. 11.05.12 Grant Forms. HALC have advised that parish council’s should have a grant request form. It was resolved that the council shall adopt a grant request form. 12.05.12 Report from County Councillor: The chairman read out the County councillor’s report in his absence See appendix 3. 13.05.12 Report from the District Councillor: Cllr Drew advised that all councillors should receive the police watch email as it highlights vehicles of interest in the East Hampshire area. Affordable housing issues-at the last meeting a couple highlighted some issues with the bidding for houses system. Cllr Drew has taken these concerns to the cabinet and now the system is being reviewed as data collection issues were found. Chris Murray is now dealing with the Hurst Lane planning issues as it is considered a serious case. Cllr Drew noted that if anyone gives evidence they will also be expected to do so if it goes to appeal. 14.05.12 Training Course Refunds. The councillors discussed refunding training course fees if they are unable to attend a course for which they have signed up. If there is a valid reason for non attendance then no refund will be expected. 15.05.12 Play Equipment Maintenance: Cllr Moss had reported issues with the play equipment and the clerk has found the paperwork and could confirm that the wood part of the play equipment was covered by the 25 years guarantee. The clerk is to contact the playdale play equipment company. 16.05.12 CPRE Membership: It was resolved that the CPRE Membership would not be renewed. 17.05.12 Cricket Ground Mowing contract.