January 2019 Minutes

Cllr H Thomas, Cllr B King, Cllr J Perrin, Cllr C Metcalf, Clerk Mrs T Cameron and 5 members of the public

Cllr D Butlin, Cllr E James (WODC), & Cllr C Rylett (WODC) Cllr C Mathew (OCC), Cllr P Kellend (WODC)

No Declaration

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 13^th December were approved.

a) Thames Valley Police Report – notifications of incidents in Cassington

At 4am on Tuesday 8^th Jan, police were called to a burglary in Heythrop Chipping Norton. Offenders had broken into a house to steal car keys and took the car from the driveway. With the help of the vehicle’s tracking device, police were able to locate the vehicle quickly.

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

i) War Memorial – Work is moving on very well.  Should hopefully be finished within the next week or so.

ii) CCTV – Tracey is still looking into a way that the village can have CCTV.  Tracey is going to contact CCTV companies for advice and maybe quotes.

iii) Previous Planning Application –

The erection of a single-story rear and two storey side extension with the addition of a chimney stack.  Open for comment icon

2 The Tennis Cassington Witney Oxfordshire OX29 4EL

Ref. No: 18/03148/HHD | Validated: Tue 20 Nov 2018 | Status: Under consideration

Erection of single storey rear extension.

8 Orchard Close Cassington Witney Oxfordshire OX29 4BU

Ref. No: 18/03409/HHD | Validated: Sat 24 Nov 2018 | Status: Under consideration

c) Playing Field – Sports Pavilion Improvements – The are due to be ordered within the next few days. The Sports and Social have received a few quotes for the work that needs to be done on the roof.  Cllr Thomas is pushing them to make a decision on that. Cllr Butlin is meeting with another roofing contractor on Sunday. The footpath is ready for concreating so should be completed soon.  Cllr Thomas has recommended that the path have a rounded edge so that when the grass is being mowed that it won’t chip any of the concreate off. The Sports and Social Club are also getting quotes for the floors and changing rooms. There is also another £5k coming from Blenheim that can be spent on either the Pavilion or sports equipment for the Pavilion.

d) Benches – The benches will be done hopefully over the next few weeks

e) Request for Headstones by Banbury Memorial – No requests have been made.  There is no room in the old or new cemetery.  Any burials will now be done in the Church Yard has they have spaces there.

f) Manor Farm – Works are continuing.  Cllr Thomas has had to speak to the site foreman as a few of the workers cars were parked in the village and not onsite. Cllr Thomas has spoken to Lester with regards to Blenheim digging up outside the Chequers.  He is concerned as they are now doing the main drainage connection that if there was another flood in the village and all the water came down it would go down there and there could be water coming up though the pipes and toilets.  Cllr Thomas has asked that they put a stopper in the drain and keep it in there until they have sealed their works. Tracey has been asked to write to Blenheim to advise that the Parish Council are aware of the drainage works going on and that please could they keep the drainage clear of any surface water access.

g) Horsemere Lane Closure – Notices have been received from Oxfordshire County Council.  They will be going up on the notice boards.  They will also appear in CAWN.  People have until the 8^th February to make a comment or objection. Hopefully we will have more news in the March Parish Council Meeting

h) Precept – The Council has decided to increase the precept by £5 per household.  This will give the Parish Council an approx. £3000 extra in our budget.  The reason for the increase was that the Council has been having to pay out extra for as we have had the War Memorial, Tree Survey and also the Clerk has been doing extra hours.

i) Street Lighting in Cassington – The Council has been approached by a resident with regards to having street lighting in the Village.  The has been brought up at various parts and the residents in the village have always said that they do not want to have it. The Parish Council would like to ask the residents again but thought that we should be able to tell people how much it would cost then they could have an informed decision – Tracey to research on how much it would cost to have about 30 street lights put it.

 No Correspondence

No Councillors were present from Oxfordshire County Council or West Oxfordshire District Council.

b) Neighbourhood Watch – Cold Calling Area – The neighbour hood watch is at present organising cold calling area within the village.  Cllr Perrin has advised that the Police are going to try and form a community forum group. They already have one in Eynsham but Cllr Perrin is unsure if there are enough people in the village to set one up from Cassington

c) Speedwatch – This will begin again soon.

Fred was asking if there was anything, we can do about the amount of rubbish that is on the A40.  Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything the Parish Council can do.

Mike Linnell questioned if the speed humps are going to go back on the Yarnton Road.  Cllr Thomas has advised that they may be going in on Thursday night.

Thames Water have fitted a valve and it looks like that they are starting to fit another.  Cllr Thomas is trying to organise another meeting with Thames Water for them to confirm what their plans are with regards to the water pipes.  It looks as if the 2^nd valve is positioned near where the pipes go over the river.  Cllr Thomas has written to Thames Water with regards to the valves and asking what else can be done.  When the Parish Council met with Thames Water, we were assured that we would be given the number of the valves should there be any more flooding.  How ever when Della spoke to the lady from Thames Water on the phone, she was told that they couldn’t give her the numbers and the GPS was confidential information until it was fitted.  Cllr Thomas has also asked for another meeting.  We are also aware that a report was done on the main last year and Cllr Thomas has asked if they would be prepared to let us see the report.

Can people please look at using the Fix My Street section on the WODC website before they contact the Parish Council.

There are temporary traffic lights outside the Chequers and round to almost out side the Red Lion. Due to Blenheim putting in the drainage system to Manor Farm.  The are going to be there for approx. 3 weeks although Lester has said that they would like to get the work completed sooner.

a)    Payments:

b) Income:

No Planning Applications

i) CAWN – CAWN has asked for help from the Parish Council to continue.  Lorna has asked for £250.  The Parish Council has agreed this.

ii) OCC adopting road in Cassington (Cllr Metcalf) – Cllr Metcalf is still looking into this.  For OCC to adopt a road the road needs to be in a good state of repair.

iii)Tesco Bag Scheme – We have been awarded £1000 for the Sports and Social to increase the play area with new equipment.

iv) Broken Fence by the ditch of Elm Road and Yarnton Road – Cllr Thomas and Cllr Butlin to take a look.

v) Clerk Pay to increase from 1^st April 2019 – Tracey to work out how much the increase will be and report back at the next meeting

vi) Meeting with Parish Councils and WODC 7^th March – Tracey and Julie to attend.  The Parish Council meeting to be moved to 14^th March. Tracey to report back of the meeting in the March Council Meeting.

vii) Woodchip Green Gym has amalgamated with Bicester Green Gym – They will only be able to come once a year as they are now a lot further away.

viii) Cllr Thomas received a letter from Robert Courts advising that he has raised the issue of the A40 in Parliament.  He was hoping to get the ministers to raise some more money for it.  At the moment OCC has a budget to do the bus lane and park and ride along the A40.  However, none of the councils along the A40 are happy with the proposals.

 Mid-Month Planning meeting on 22^nd January 2019 in The Red Lion at 8pm

This was agreed for Thursday 7^th February 2019 at 7.30pm in The Village Hall