June 2018 Minutes

Cllr C Mitchell, Cllr P Kellend, Cllr D Butlin

No Declarations of Interest

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 10^th May 2018 were approved.

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

I) HRMC Phone Scam – People have been receiving automated calls asking them to call a certain number with regards to them being under investigation by HMRC and that they could face serious legal consequences if they do not respond.

ii) Smash and Grab – Recently we have had an increase in smash and grab thefts. Thieves have been targeting vehicles parked at beauty spots across Chipping Norton. Please do not leave items of value on display in your vehicle. Rollright Stones, Wychwood Forest, Chastleton House and Sarsden House are some of the areas that have been targeted.

iii) High Value Theft – On the 19/05/2018 a high value theft has occurred at a farm property in the Burford area.
Five racing greyhounds, of considerable value were taken from this property in the early hours,
All these animals are micro chipped and tattooed, and will be impossible to move on without suspicion, therefore we are urging anyone in the community, who has information regarding this high value theft to come forward and speak to us.
Phone 101 and quote 43180151716

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

i) Hedge Trimming – Was done on 26^th May

ii) War Memorial – Waiting for reply from the War Memorial Trust as to whether we need to do another pre-application or can go ahead with the formal application.

iii) Eynsham Road Closure – Notice is now up on the Village notice boards re the closure and the detours that have been put in place. A temporary Notice is being made to implement the temporary closure and will operate from 21 June 2018 (20:00 – 06:00)

The anticipated completion date is 22 June 2018

iv) Tree Inspection of Village Green Trees – Greenfields have now done the inspection of the trees and have quoted £1080 to do the work on the trees.  This will reduce by £132 to £948 as they will take off the money for the survey as a discount.

v) Neighbourhood Watch Stickers – Cllr Perrin will speak to Helen the PCSO to see what stickers she can supply.

c) Horsemere Lane – A meeting was held in St Peters school on 1^st June with OCC to discuss the closure of Horsemere Lane. It was agreed that Horsemere Lane would be closed. No set date has been confirmed.  There are 2 ways that it can be closed.  One is to wait till the bus lane is started and the second is that it is closed and that the Village would have to make a contribution towards the works. The work involved would be to get an order to have the road closed at a cost £2,600. The Parish Council have £3,000 as a section 106 was put on Manor Farm.  OCC has advised that if the Village wanted the road closed then it would need to pay for it.  It was asked that if the Village paid for the work would OCC refund the money when the times comes.  OCC said that they would look into this and get back to the Parish Council. It was discussed that a gate would need to go at each end so that the road was properly closed and that people wouldn’t fly tip.  It was also discussed that there would be signage at the beginning of Bell Lane to advise people that they cannot go down.

At present the Council are waiting for OCC to get back with the figures.

d) Playing Field

iii) Sports Pavilion Improvements – The Sports and Social are getting quotes. They have £20k from section 106 for Manor Farm and £5k from Blenheim. It is estimated that it will cost roughly £40k so at present they are about £15k short. Another application could be made to Wren.

e) Benches – Benches for 3 residents in the village that have passed who had contributed to the village. Waiting for the

spring so that we can organise an occasion so that family members and villagers can see the benches put in. The plaques for the chairs have now been ordered.

f) Manor Farm –  Work has been delayed due to Blenheim needing further permissions.

g) Request for Headstones by Banbury Memorial – Nothing from Banbury Memorials.

h) Gas Main in Pound and Church lane – The reinstatements have now been completed outside the Chequers.

a) Consultation on Further Modifications to the Submission Draft West Oxon Local Plan. – Cllr Rylett advised that they are waiting for the inspector to come back with his decision.  They are hoping that he doesn’t come back with any major modifications.  The Area Action Plan has just been released and will go in front of the cabinet on 13^th July.  It is now available online to view.

It was discussed that the biggest implication for Cassington would be infrastructure such as one doctors surgery for all.

Cllr Rylett explained that this was the first document to explain the plans.

a) Cllr Rylett is on the Planning Committee and has advised that there is nothing to report for Cassington.  Cllr Rylett attended the Environmental Scrutiny Committee the main discussion was the problems that people and other Parish Councils are having with Thames Water regards to drainage and flooding and the lack of response.  For the next meeting they have invited the Environment Agency, Thames Water. They have asked that peoples issues and problems.  Cllr Rylett has asked that if anyone has any issues or complaints to email him so that he would be able to forward in on the committee.

Cllr Matthews – Charlwell and OCC are looking at working together under one umbrella.  Which would be that the Chief Exec of Charlwell would also be the Chief Exec of OCC as well.

b) Speedwatch – Nothing to report

c) Neighbour Hood Watch – Cllr Perrin said that she didn’t have much to report as she has not been able to get through the Helen the PCSO.  Cllr Perrin would like to expand this to helping people within the village.  Cllr Perrin would like to organise a Neighbour Hood Watch meeting to discuss ideas.

Cllr King mentioned that she was up at the playing field and that Clare was trying to mow about 2ft of grass.  It was agreed that the grass is mowed every three weeks.  Tracey to email Clare to organise this.

d) Airspace – Cllr King has been to a meeting with regards to the Oxford City Airport and has reported that it is currently on hold pending a Civil Aviation Report.

e) Sports and Social –  Cllr Thomas has advised that they are in the process of applying for a grant.  The Parish Council would need to be a signatory on the application. The application is to Wren. We are applying to buy more playground equipment for the older children and also to help with the Pavilion. We have been advised that we can split it into 2 separate applications.

Suzi needs to have two signatures on the application. Cllr Thomas asked the Council if they would be happy that he signed the application on behalf of the Council and also to asked if another Councillor would also be happy to sign. Cllr King agreed to the be other signatory.

f) Ditches –  There have been various emails regarding the ditches and blanford fly. The Council have tried to find out who owns the ditch behind the school as they would have a obligation to clean their part of the ditch. A letter was sent to Land Registry and it came back with some information and who owns the ditch. – Tracey to write again to Land Registry and get some more information on who owns the land by the school.  The Blanford fly seems to last only through June.  Cllr Thomas has done some investigation and it seems that some Parish’s spray their ditches prior to the Blanford Fly coming along.

g) Blenheim – There has been a rumour going around that Blenheim has brought a house in Elms Road.  Cllr Thomas has contacted Blenheim and they have brought 19 Elms Road. It seems that there is a long-term plan for them to be able to gain access to the land at the back and the allotments.

h) Police Commissioner – Cllr Thomas received a reply from the Police Commissioner but it wasn’t very helpful so he is going to write again to the Chief Constable to find out why Cassington has gone from 4 to 1 PCSO.

A question was raised as to when the hatching mark would be repainted as the traffic is getting terrible with people stopping across the junction.  Paul Wilson from OCC has advised that he hopes to link it in with other works that are being done.

Issue with the timings of the traffic light at the junction. Cllr Thomas has advised that we have spoken to OCC regarding this.  As part of the consultation for the Bus Lane the lights  and junction have been added.

Yarnton Road the wooden fence is broken – To get quotes for repair.

Cllr Thomas has written to Steve Robinson who is the Chief Exec of Thames Water and       has asked what Thames Water are going to do about the aged pipe that runs through Cassington as it is a blight on the Village.  Blenheim has also written to Thames Water.            Cllr Thomas has also contact Robert Court MP regarding this.  He has advised that he will    not get involved at this stage and to wait to see what reply we get back.  If the reply isn’t satisfactory then he will write to Thames Water himself.

Foxwell Court has been flooded due to the drainage system being blocked again, It is something that OCC need to look at.

Nothing Noted

Issue with the timber structure.  Needs to be looked at. Tracey to contact Greenfields for a quote.

Tracey to contact Andy to get the bark laid as soon as possible.

Tracey to also contact Clare Want to make the arrangement that the grass is to be cut every 3 weeks.

a)    Payments:

b) Income:

c) Annual Governance – The annual accounts have now been sent to the accountant and the external auditor.  The accounts have been signed by the Chair Cllr H Thomas and the Clerk Mrs T Cameron

d) Unity Bank (cheques) –  The council has agreed that for the meantime that all cheques be but into the Barclays Account then transferred to the Unity Account as Unity do not seem very good with their admin.

72/18

a) APPLICATION NUMBER: 18/01421/FUL

LOCATION: Erection of detached 3 bed dwelling, 39 Eynsham Road Cassington

APPLICANT: Mr & Mrs P Woolford

The planning application for Alan Astons has hit a snag.  The planning officer has been round and has come up with a different argument. A pre-app had been done and the planning officer was happy.  However, he has now left and the Planning Officer that has taken his place is not happy with the pre-app.  Cllr Kellend has arranged a meeting with the new Planning Officer and Paul Snell with regards to this.

Mid-Month Planning meeting: This was agreed for 19^th June at 8pm in the Red Lion.

a) The Funeral of Megan Humpries will take place on 13^th June at 2pm followed by a burial in the Cassington Parish Burial Ground.

b) Tracey to contact Land Registry to obtain information about who owns the land that runs along the ditch by St Peters School.

This was agreed for Thursday 5^th July 2018 at 7.30pm in The Village Hall