Minutes December 2021

Cllr H Thomas, Cllr C Metcalf, Cllr D Butlin, Cllr B King, Cllr J Perrin, Cllr C Rylett, Cllr A Goodwin & Clerk Mrs T Cameron plus 1 members of the public

 Cllr Levy, Cllr J Perrin, Cllr C Rylett

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

Cllr Thomas made a declaration for item 160/21-B

Cllr Metcalf has declared an interest in item 170/21 – Planning Application

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

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 4^th November 2021 were approved.

 a) Thames Valley Police – What is lottery fraud?

Criminals will contact unsuspecting victims informing them they have won a lottery or prize draw. The victim is then informed that they will need to pay an advance fee in order to receive their winnings. In reality, the winnings are non-existent, and it is an attempt to steal the victims money, personal or financial information.

Between April and October 2021, Action Fraud received 629 reports of lottery fraud, with 89 per cent of reports mentioning well-known prize draws. Impersonation of People’s Postcode Lottery accounted for almost half (49 per cent) of all reports. Almost three quarters of victims (70 per cent) were aged over 50, with those aged over 65 accounting for 40 per cent of reports.

Fraudsters use gift cards as a form of payment as they can be easily redeemed and sold on. The criminals don’t need the physical card to redeem the value as they ask the victims to share the serial code on the back of the card with them. In other instances, victims reported being asked for personal and financial information in order to obtain their alleged winnings. Some victims reported providing their bank details thinking they would be sent a small payment to verify the account. In reality, criminals will use these details to steal the victim’s money.

How to protect yourself

Stop: Unsolicited offers of large sums of money in return for a small upfront payment should always raise a red flag. Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.

Challenge: Could it be fake? Remember, you can’t win a prize in a competition you didn’t enter. It’s okay to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.

Protect: If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.
You can find further protection advice around lotteries and competition on the Gambling Commission’s website.

For more of the government’s latest advice on how to stay secure online, visit the Cyber Aware website: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware

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

·         Horsemere Lane/Cassington Lights – Tracey had a planning meeting with OCC with regards to the new planning application that has gone in.  It is to do with the Environmental Impact Assessments that have taken place.  I have asked for a copy of the slides but haven’t received them so will chase up. Tracey has also requested another meeting to discuss the model video of Cassington Lights but is still awaiting a reply.

·         Tree outside Cllr Thomas house & Tree work on the Green – JAG will be starting work weather permitting on 6^th December.

·         War Memorial – Have received a reply from the War Memorial Trust to advise that they will not permit any works to be done to the War Memorial unless it is structurally unsafe – Tracey to contact James Mackintosh to do a periodic check on the War Memorial.

·         Parking on the Green – Tracey has not had a response from the school but will chase it – Tracey to email the Village Hall to ask them to advise people that they are not allowed to park on the Green.

·         Notice Board – Tracey has sent over quotes for the Notice Boards – Decision was made to move it over to the January Meeting

c) Previous Planning Application: –

 APPLICATION NO: 20/01734/OUT

LOCATION: Land North of A40 Section from Barnard Gate To Eynsham Roundabout Eynsham

APPLICANT: Grosvenor Developments Ltd

DECISION: UNDER CONSIDERATION

APPLICATION NO: R3.0034/21

PROPOSAL: Request for Scoping Opinion for the proposed A40 Smart Corridor works, including

i) Dualling of a 3.2km section of the A40 between the Hill Farm Junction to the proposed Eynsham Park and Ride and upgrade to shared path on northern verge, ii) widening of existing carriageway to provide dedicated eastbound and westbound priority bus lanes along 6.5km section between proposed Park and Ride and Duke’s Cut iii) capacity and connectively improvements over three bridges and a culvert at

Dukes Cut to enable eastbound bus lane over the bridges at A40 between Witney and Duke’s Cut

APPLICANT: Oxfordshire County Council

DECISION: AWAITING DECISION

APPLICATION: 21/03030/LBC – 21/03029/HHD

PROPOSAL: Single storey and 1 1/2 storey extensions, interior remodelling, amendment to

driveway and boundary fencing

LOCATION: Lime Cottage Bell Lane Cassington

APPLICANT: Iain Humphrey

DECISION – UNDER CONSIDERATION

A resident has emailed to ask if they can plant a tree on a piece of land just outside their house in remembrance of a family member – Tracey to contact the resident to ask if they would like to sponsor a tree on the recreation.  If she would rather not, then the Parish Council will allow her to plant a small tree on the piece of land.

 A resident has emailed to ask what is happening with the wall on Bell Lane.  Tracey emailed and advised that it is with WODC Planning Enforcement and suggested that they contact Dan Levy.

A resident has emailed to advise that Blenheim has proposed to build another village on the boundary of the Parish.  This has not been confirmed by Blenheim and no planning has been submitted.

Letter from Banbury Memorial to request a new inscription to a headstone – Parish Council has agreed.

County Councillor –

Once again, I need to start with Covid. Although the rates in Oxfordshire are dropping, the new, Omicron variant is a great worry, and we can expect that because Oxford is a center of travel both nationally and internationally, that we will soon be seeing cases locally.  So, it is vital that people are sensible, follow the rules about masks, and take care.  There are local drop-in centers for boosters in Witney and Kidlington, unfortunately with significant queuing. The main activity at County Hall at present relates to the budget for next year. This is now out to public consultation, and you can find it on the County Council website along with lots of detail Council proposes investments in greener and fairer priorities and plans to meet future funding challenges (oxfordshire.gov.uk)

It has been a challenging task to create a balanced budget given the very large number of things we want to do and the very limited available funds. There clearly are lots of things that we must improve in key areas like adult social care and children’s services. It is incredibly frustrating that we are having to spend the money that the government has awarded as housing infrastructure funds on a set of road changes that we don’t think will be effective when we could spend it elsewhere, but we are unable to change these commitments made by the previous administration.  The HIF2 arrangements – better known as the A40 changes – are likely to go for formal planning permission early in the new year, which will herald a formal consultation period, and residents and parish councils will be able to have their say.  My view is that the officers have done a good job of improving what was originally proposed, and that given that we are unable to change the project fundamentally, we can at least look forward to better placed bus stops, easier road crossings and some bus and cycling improvements, even if there are some areas that should be changed even more.

Oxfordshire County Council has taken over parking enforcement in Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire and has increased the amount of enforcement to keep roads and pavements clear.   It would be good if WODC, which runs enforcement here, also put effort into ensuring that parking is legal and considerate. I see many complaints from all of the villages in the Eynsham division about dangerous parking.

I was honored to be at two community events recently, that show what fantastic Communities we have.   The new social club for seniors in Aston and Cote opened, and I was pleased to cut the ribbon on what will be a fantastic weekly event.  And I took part in a climate change workshop held by pupils from all the schools that are part of the Eynsham Partnership Academy Trust, with students of all ages from Bartholomew Sixth Formers to youngsters from the various primary schools including St Peter’s in Cassington.  It was very impressive to hear well-argued cases for practical things that they thought the schools could do to address climate change, and there was commitment from the assembled head teachers to implement a number of them.

I hope everyone has a good Christmas and New Year. Please contact me by phone 07852 748362 or email dan.levy@oxfordshire.gov.uk

District Councillors –  

Andy Goodwin – There has been a lot of work going on in West Eynsham where 4 developers are building a master plan for West Eynsham instead of WODC. There will be 1000 homes for development. They have also produced a leaflet with regards to the development.  This will be between Eynsham and the new Solar Farm.  A new 6^th Form will be built in the new Garden Village.  Cllr Thomas brought up the catchment area for Bartholomews School and asked if with all the new builds taking place would Cassington still be in the catchment area? Cllr Goodwin will look into this. Cllr Metcalf asked if the new Garden Village still intended to have home/workspace and also self-build.  Cllr Goodwin advised that they are looking at 5% self-build and that there has been a group that has been set up. WODC has met with Eynsham Medical Centre with regards to the increase in people that are going to use it.  They have been advised that they can build prefabs while they look at how and where they are going to expand too. There are to be new litter bins installed within WODC they are to replace existing bins.

Parish Councillors –

Cllr Butlin – He mentioned that the wall that belongs to the Old Post Office has cracked since the tornado. There is a tree that sits against the wall that has been reduced but the main part of the trunk is still pushing against the wall – The Parish Council have asked Tracey to write to the resident and advise them that the wall will need looking at as it backs onto a public path.

a) Neighbourhood Watch

Cllr Thomas advised that they are planning on meeting in the new year.

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

Speedwatch – Tracey has spoken to Yarnton they have 8 people.  However, you need to have done a course then invite people to take the course – Tracey to email Lorna to ask if she would mind being the administrator.

Tracey went back to James Wright at OCC Highways to double check the cost of the speed survey.  He advised that they are between £280 – £300 + VAT per survey depending on how many we want.

Tracey is still looking at swings.  Also, she received a response back from Sovereign.  The reason that they were charging for a storage container is that some of the materials are normally delivered a few days before.

Payments to be approved:

Income:

Balance of Unity Bank as of Sunday 28^th November – £18,421.17

APPLICATION NO: 21/03703/HHD

PROPOSAL: Erection of single storey extensions to enlarge lounge and utility room, including provision of WC. Construction of covered walkway to side entrance. Replace existing garage roof with pitched roof and alterations to vehicular access with additional off-street parking.

LOCATION: 2 The Tennis Cassington Witney

APPLICANT: Mr & Mrs Metcalf

COMMENT DATE: 9^th December 2021

a)    New Dictaphone – Tracey advised that the Dictaphone is no longer working properly and that she would like to buy a new one – Parish Council has agreed.

b)    Experienced Clerk refresher course 18^th January £55 +VAT (SLCC) – Tracey is now unable to attend this.

c)    Council Approval of the Neighbourhood Plan – The Parish Council have decided to postpone the decision until the January 2022 meeting.

d)    Wall between the Churchyard and the School – Tracey has spoken to Land Registry, and they have advised that unless you have the property documents it is very difficult to see who owns what boundary.

e)    Charlie Maynard – He will be at the January meeting

f)     Trees on the Rec – Tracey spoke to Greenman Trees, and he has advised that he can supply the trees.  He will email Tracey a list of the trees he has in stock.

Mid Monthly Planning Meeting – No Meeting Needed

Date of the next Parish Council Meeting – Thursday 6^th January @ 7.30pm in the Village Hall