Minutes of the Meeting of the Council |
Date: | Monday 8th February 2010 | Time: | 7.45pm |
Place: | Community Rooms, Chineham Village Hall, Thornhill way, Chineham |
Present: | Cllr. C. Tomblin (Chairman) | Cllr. D. Thornton |
| Cllr. M. Biermann | Cllr. R. Parkin |
| Cllr. P. Miller | Cllr. M. Adams |
| Cllr. G. Wright | Cllr. L. Fryer |
| Karen Ross (Clerk) | Eunice Jones (Assistant Clerk) |
| | Action |
| Those present were advised of the fire exits and procedure for evacuation | |
1. | APOLOGIES | |
| Apologies were received and accepted from, PC Charlton and County and Borough Councillor Elaine Still. | |
2. | MINUTES OF THE MEETING | |
| The Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 11th January 2010 were approved on a proposal by Councillor Biermann, seconded by Councillor Parkin. | |
3. | EXTERNAL REPORTS | |
| Borough and County Councillors | |
3.1 | County and Borough Councillor Elaine Still | |
| Cllr. Still submitted a report via Cllr. Miller in her absence: | |
| Elaine attended a County meeting in Winchester today and she requested that people report potholes as accurately as possible to the Highways Dept and that she would like the Parish council to encourage everyone to do this! It was also requested that this goes on the Parish Council website. Each report will be logged and County will then assume responsibility for any damage caused thereafter. | |
3.2 | Borough Councillor Martin Biermann | |
| Cllr. Biermann reported that the departure is imminent for the travellers currently sited at the Tollhouse and those at the old bridge end of Reading Road - are undergoing welfare checks which is strange because they already had checks when they were at Popley. This could be because of the ownership of the land differs at the two sites. The beat Police officer is “bouncing with enthusiasm” as he is going to be able to proceed with use of the new DPPO as he expects this to come into force as soon as BDBC can get signs up to illustrate boundaries. On a borough level, this Thursday is the annual debate on budget and Council Plan and this means long speeches. There is debate regarding the mayoralty. The Borough Council is minded to purchase the Malls in the town centre – currently there is a mixture of ownership shared partly by the Borough and a property company called St Modwen. The area used to be owned partly by the Borough and the Hermes pension fund of Royal Mail. The present enhancements could still stumble because of joint ownership which has very complex lease arrangement. If the borough were to buy out St Modwen this would simplify the leases and give greater opportunities to enhance the area. This topic will be discussed on Thursday. The money side is confidential at present. There is cross-party and non-party agreement on this being a sensible way forward. | |
3.3 | Borough Councillor Paul Miller | |
| Cllr Miller referred to a Letter from Maria Miller to Cllrs Biermann, Still and Miller and also Clerk regarding Petty’s Brook and confirmation by the Chief Exec of Borough that this is designated an open surface water sewer and responsibility for the Brook rests with Thames Water. The letter is available for circulation the ‘the mailings received file’. He also confirmed that he is a member of the JMC for Four Lanes. He also confirmed that the Borough has appointed a team of Community Liaison Officers. Officer for Bramley, Popley, Basing and Chineham is called Stephen Bate. Cllr. Miller spoke to him this afternoon and will meet him again with Elaine and Martin. Stephen Bate will attend April meeting of full Parish Council. Clerk advised that she had met with him and she had given him a copy of our recreation five year plan. | |
3.4 | Police | |
| There was no Police Report available. | |
3.5 | Rapid Response Warden | |
| During the snowy weather it was impossible to collect any litter due to the depth of snow but I did manage to help several motorists get their cars going in the ice and I cleared some pavements and drives. They had been quite a lot of graffiti along the Reading Rd., including some on one of the brick bus shelters. I was unable to get this off as the paint had sunk into the brickwork. I reported it to Karen and the Council have now removed it without leaving a trace. The travellers which are now occupying the area by the railway bridge in Hanmore Rd., / Reading Rd., opposite the car dealers, so far don’t seem to making much rubbish. I saw a woman today carrying out two black bags and placing them on the road side. There are still several areas where branches have been bent with the weight of the snow and are now causing a potential problem. One is the footpath by Petty’s brook Rd., and Guinea Ct., play ground, another is the footpath at the top of Cufaude Lane by Crockford Lane. I have been told by a local resident that the third lamppost down Cufaude Lane from Thornhill Way is faulty and comes on for a few minutes and then goes off. | |
4. | PUBLIC SESSION | |
| There were two members of the public in attendance both were interested in the Parish Councillor vacancy. | |
5. | FINANCE | |
5.1 | The current situation was noted and is attached as Appendix A. Cllr. Fryer requested that the Clerk ascertain an update on the rewiring of the Chineham village Hall. | Clerk |
5.2 | Payment Requests | |
| It was proposed by Cllr. Parkin and seconded by Cllr. Thornton and agreed unanimously that the payments requested be made as follows: | |
| PAYMENT REQUESTS FEBRUARY 2010 | FROM | ITEM | AMOUNT £ | Staff | Mileage | 5.98 | Staff | Mileage | 2.18 | Country watch | Membership | 100.00 | Viking | Stationery | 105.71 | *Personalised Print | Minute paper | 19.55 |
*Added at the meeting Cllr. Biermann declared an interest and took no part in the discussion or vote. | Clerk |
5.3 | Grant request | |
| On a proposal from Cllr. Fryer it was agreed that in accordance with the Parish Council’s powers under Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972, it would grant to The Chineham Women’s Institute the sum of £350 towards running expenses. This was seconded by Cllr. Tomblin and agreed unanimously. | Clerk |
5.4 | Projector Installation | |
| The Council considered installing a projector and screen to assist in dealing with e-meetings. Three tenders had been received and the finance committee recommended the proposal by A Sewell for the installation. There were some points requiring clarification, including the agreement of the VHMC, and therefore it was proposed by Cllr Fryer that A Sewell be the preferred installer at a cost of not more than £1750 plus VAT. This was seconded by Cllr Thornton and agreed. | Clerk |
5.5 | Four Lanes Ball court | |
| Cllr. Biermann and Cllr. Miller declared an interest. The Chineham Parish Council agreed to endorse the request for £90k from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council out of s106 funds for the Four Lanes Ball Court, subject to the following concerns being addressed a) The provision of lighting. The Chineham Parish Council believe that this facility should not be lit b) That security of the entire site is considered to include both schools c) That the maintenance of the facility is considered and a proper plan is devised to minimise future cost impact to Chineham Parish Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council d) That no charge is made to casual users of the facility This was on a proposal from Cllr. Tomblin; this was seconded by Cllr. Wright and agreed unanimously. | |
5.6 | Skate park | |
| On a proposal from Cllr. Tomblin the Chineham Parish Council agreed to endorse the recommendation from Richard Wareham, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council that £120k be allocated from s106 funds for the enhancement of the Skate park which includes £20k for maintenance. | Clerk |
6. | PLANNING | |
| The Chineham Parish Council noted the minutes from the planning meeting held on 11th and 25th January 2010 | |
7. | ADMINISTRATION | |
7.1 | It was agreed that the APA would be held on either Monday 17th May or Tuesday 18th May dependent on which date the Community Rooms are available. Councillor Tomblin suggested that the Parish Council invite a representative from RAF Odiham with a view to attending a presentation regarding Chinooks low flying. | |
7.2 | It was agreed that the Chineham Emergency Community Plan Working Party would consist of Cllr. Thornton, Cllr. Adams, Cllr Miller and Cllr. Wright | |
7.3 | It was agreed that Cllr Fryer would be the Parish Council representative to the Chineham Village Hall Management Committee on a temporary basis until the May AGM. | |
8. | RECREATION | |
8.1 | The recreation minutes of 20th January 2010 were noted | |
8.2 | Cllr Adams gave an update on the meeting with Richard Wareham. She confirmed that there was £679,563 in the s106 fund. She also reported that Richard Wareham believed that the area earmarked by the moat area of Farm View Drive for the adult play area was not suitable. Cllr. Biermann requested that the Clerks obtain details of the fitness circuit in Hook so that he could visit it. | Clerk |
8.3 | After much discussion it was agreed that the Clerk would contact Rebecca Johnson of Thames Water and obtain clarifications of the precautions Thames Water are intending to take when similar temperatures occur to stop the polluting of the Brook. | |
9. | DATE OF NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING | |
9.1 | The date of the next meeting of Chineham Parish Council will be on Monday 8th March 2010 | |
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