April Minutes

Cllr H Thomas, Cllr D Butlin, Cllr B King, Cllr C Metcalf Cllr C Rylett, Cllr A Goodwin & Clerk Mrs T Cameron plus 4 members of the public

Cllr Levy & Cllr Perrin

The Parish Council has made the public aware that the meeting is recorded for the clerk to type up the minutes later at home.

The meeting is recorded by the Clerk to enable her to type up the minutes later but is then deleted.

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 3^rd March 2022 were approved.

a)     Thames Valley Police –

Residents are being warned to be cautious of cold callers offering to do driveway, landscaping or roofing work. They also often target consumers by leaflet dropping and creating fake profiles online.
Many traders will be booked up, so the advice is to be wary of traders who can arrive to start the work the following day and push for a quick agreement to use them. Always make sure you receive a final total cost in writing before agreeing to any work starting.
Oxfordshire residents can check the Local Authority’s Buy with Confidence scheme for local traders who have been vetted and approved by Trading Standards.
If anyone believes that they have been the victim of such a rogue trader and wants advice, you can contact the Citizens Advice National Consumer Service on 0800 144 8848 or via its website at Citizens Advice.

b) Report from the Clerk on actions from the last meeting –

·       Horsemere Lane/Cassington Lights – Tracey has been in touch with OCC trying to arrange a bio-diversity meeting.  So far, no meeting has been arranged – Tracey to continue to chase

·       Stone Mason quote on War Memorial – So far Tracey has had no reply from 3 Stone Masons that she has contacted.

·       Neighbourhood Plan – The regulation 14 has now finished.  Tracey has been asked to go back to WODC for them to clarify points on their response.  The next meeting isn’t until 10^th May due to Parish Council Elections.

·       Trees on the Recreation Ground – These have now been delivered and planted.

·       New Swing in Playing Area – The new toddler swing has now been installed and can be used.  Proludic has advised that the bark needs to be topped up and also that the boarding around the swing should be removed.

PLANNING

APPROVED APPLICATIONS

New Planning Applications:

Email from resident that there is an issue with HGV lorries coming through the village – Tracey has been in contact with Highways at OCC and also Trading Standards at OCC.  She was advised that lorries that have business in the village are exempt from the 7.5T restriction.  If lorries are using the village as a cut through, then they can be reported to OCC. – Tracey to contact Dan to see if we can get a sign for the restriction.

County Councillor – Cllr Levy

Can I start off by mentioning that this is the final Cassington PC of the current term.  It has been a pleasure to work with you, and especially with Hugh Thomas.   I have enjoyed being quizzed by him, and hope he enjoys getting more free time as he steps away for PC duties.

As you may have noticed Covid has not gone away.  Rates in Oxfordshire continue to rise.  A high proportion of my councilor colleagues have had it in recent weeks.   It is regrettable that the government has made it much harder for people to test to see if they have Covid, including people who want to test before visiting vulnerable residents.  All we can do is continue to be careful, wear masks in crowded places, and act as though the government hasn’t withdrawn the formerly sensible advice.

There are a number of very big issues at County Hall at the moment.  The Fair Deal Alliance has tentatively given the go-ahead for the HIF1 scheme in the south of the county, subject to the government and Homes England guaranteeing any cost over-runs, and with an expectation that the new road will priorities buses over cars.   We have also agreed to keep progressing the possible move of Oxford United to near Oxford Parkway Station, subject to a lot of work on protecting the green belt and minimizing car usage.

HIF 2, which is the scheme that we know about most, as it is the A40 changes, will now go to planning later than the April planning meeting that was expected.  There have been lots of comments and objections, including from each of the parish councils on the route, and from me.  The Shores Green Witney east junction application is also likely to come up later in the spring, and I am sure will have an effect on traffic flows in the area.

Tragically, two people on bikes have been killed in recent weeks, by HGVs, in areas where the cycling infrastructure was inadequate.  In each case, at Parkway Station and at the Plain, cycling advocates and councilliors had demanded better infrastructure, but been rebuffed.   The Plain was redesigned in 2014, and changes demanded by cyclists were rejected as they might have slowed bus and coach movements.  Parkway was opened without proper bike access.  That is why it is so important that we get cycling facilities that protect vulnerable users.

You may have seen the new lane between Hanborough and Bladon – still not good enough, but a huge improvement.  It will be joined by a Lower Road path, to be funded out of the Section 106 contributions from the Garden Village.  I hope that people here will try cycling up Burleigh Road to join the Lower Road track.    There should be some news coming out shortly about Oxfordshire’s share of Tranche 3 of Active Travel funding, and I am hopeful that the news will be good.  On a less good note, for those who cycle from Cassington to Oxford, the Oxford North junctions have clearly been designed to slow cyclists, and I am working, along with my colleague who is the County Councilor for the area, to get them redesigned.

As predicted last month, notice has been given to WODC by OCC that its contract to deliver on-street parking enforcement will end in 12 months, so that enforcement can be done properly.   It certainly is not done well at the moment, despite council taxpayers subsidizing the £400k loss that WODC makes on parking enforcement each year.  That is perhaps one of the reasons why Council Tax from WODC increased by a higher percentage than from OCC.  A reminder that there will not be a change to the off-street parking, including the carparks in Witney, which remain entirely under the control of WODC, and there are no plans by any of the parties, to the best of my knowledge, to charge for them.   Nor are there any plans to charge for on-street parking, except where that is requested by residents, as is likely to be the case in Woodstock, which has special issues because of its role as a tourist attraction.

The County Council has been awarded £12m for bus improvement work by HM Government, with strings attached of course, as well as money for helping bus companies introduce electric buses.  It will take a while for people in Cassington to see the benefits, but we will in time, when the new bus stops are introduced and bus times to Oxford and the hospitals are shortened.

I have had meetings with Thames Water, once again, to protest about their dismal performance.  South Leigh sewage treatment work remains shut, after more than 6 months, with all sewage going by tanker to Cassington.  Those are the blue tankers you may have seen going through the village.  Despite video evidence to the contrary, TW claim that Cassington is working fine.  I will keep trying!  And I have of course been reminding them that your sewage plant will have to cope with the additional output of the 4000 odd new houses in Yarnton and Eynsham, and therefore needs substantial investment. Unfortunately, TW seem happier to pay the fines for pollution than pay to upgrade facilities, and this government (and our MP) have actively opposed legislation to obligate water companies from taking this approach.

And finally, the first Ukrainian refugees have arrived in West Oxfordshire.   I am sure we will be welcoming, as we are to all newcomers to the area.

District Councillors – Environmental Scrutiny Committee have been talking about changing of the bins that WODC. Andy has asked to be copied any emails to Bill with regards to the dog bin that was taken away by the recreation ground.

Garden Village – response to the inspectors questions have been submitted. Details about the phasing for the inspector to make a final decision.  Hopefully a decision will be made by summer.

West Eynsham development the master has been approved.  There is about 1000 homes. A link road will go from the A40 to Stanton Hardcourt Road.

Parish Councillors – Cllr Metcalf brought up that lorries are still reversing and parking in the tennis.

Cllr Butlin – End of the Alley way by Little Lane & The Style by Waters Ubico are leaving waste bins there and people are using them to put dog waste in there

Tracey to get a list of bins in the village and report back to Andy

Cllr King – The amount of cars in the village has increased.

a) Neighbourhood Watch –

Please can people remember to things on fix my street on the WODC website.

Speedwatch – They have been very busy

As previously mentioned, the new toddler swing has been installed.  Proludic has advised that there needs to be a top up of the bark.

Tracey did a playground inspection and has passed her findings onto the Parish Council and the Sports and Social.  Tracey has been asked to get costs of repair to the zip wire.

Payments to be approved:

Income:

Balance of Unity Bank as of Sunday 27^th March – £10,954.08

a) Bins on the recreation ground

b) Lorries coming through the village

c) Garden Waste Bin for the Churchyard

d) Clerk to call an Extraordinary Meeting on 26^th April 2022 to sign off 2021/2022 Accounts

The bike night have asked if the Parish Council could contribute £360 for St Johns Ambulance for Bike Night – Parish Council have agreed

A resident advised that there are boys playing on their scooters by Williams Court they have damaged the curb and are making a noise jumping on and off. Parish Council to discuss putting something in.  

Mid Monthly Planning Meeting – No Meeting Needed

Date of the next Parish Council Meeting – Thursday 12^th May 2022