October 2021 Minutes

Cllr H Thomas, Cllr C Metcalf, Cllr D Butlin, & Clerk Mrs T Cameron plus 1 members of the public

Cllr B King, Cllr J Perrin, Cllr C Rylett, Cllr Levy, Cllr A Goodwin

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 has declared an interest in item 126/21 – Tree outside his house

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 2^nd September 2021 were approved.

a) Thames Valley Police Report – Was covered in the Annual Meeting – Minutes attached.

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

·         Horsemere Lane/Cassington Lights – We are still awaiting the model video which Tracey has been told is the middle to end of October.

·         Tree outside Cllr Thomas house – Tracey is just waiting to confirm dates for this to be done.

·         Neighbourhood Plan – They had a meeting on 4^th October. The draft plan has now been sent to WODC for consultation. We should have the reports back by the time that we have our next Parish Council meeting. At which that time the Parish Council will need to agree and sign off the Neighbourhood Plan.

·         War Memorial – Tracey is still chasing the War Memorial Trust for an answer on the repair of the shaft.

·         Tree Work on the Green – Tracey is just waiting to confirm dates.

·         Lease for the Playing Field – That is still ongoing.

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 NO: OCC Ref: MW.0122/20

PROPOSAL: Section 73 application for the continuation of the winning and working of sand and gravel with restoration using suitable imported materials to vary conditions 2, 3 and 6 of planning permission 19/02521/CM (MW.0111/19) in order to extend the period of extraction until 31st December 2022 and the time period for restoration until 31st December 2024 to allow for sufficient time for the working of mineral from beneath the plant site and the revised restoration of the plant site at Cassington Quarry, Cassington Road, Yarnton, OX29 4EB

LOCATION: Cassington Quarry

APPLICANT: Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd

DECISION: AWAITING DECISION

Letter received from Banbury Memorial re a memorial stone for Bob Butler – Parish Council agreed that it had no objection.

We have also received an email from a resident with regards to the swings on the play area. I have advised them that we are waiting for quotes to replace the swings and that will then have to go to the Parish Council for them to agree a price.

(The Parish Council have decided that maybe it would be better to replace it with a metal swing rather than a timber one). Tracey is to check the rest of the play area for the rotten wood. Tracey has asked if we can just remove the swing. The Parish Council has agreed that the cradle swings are to be removed.

County Councillor – County Council meetings are now taking place at County Hall, as things start to head back, we hope to normality. The new scrutiny committees at the County Council have now each had their first meetings. The scrutiny function has been reorganized so that so that it can be more effective and hold the administration to account on behalf of residents. There are three scrutiny committees replacing one previously. As part of this transparency all the Chairs of scrutiny committees will be from the opposition party, although you can be sure that those of us from the parties of the Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance will also want to ensure proper and rigorous scrutiny. I sit on the Place committee (looking at transport, libraries, etc) and on the Audit and Governance committee.

The County Council is operating under the budget inherited from the previous administration but is still making a difference by focusing on key areas like promoting active travel and restoring public transport links.

A trial is underway in 5 villages of a new simplified way of introducing 20mph zones. The objective is that all villages that want 20 limits will be able to have then with less bureaucracy and expense. I hope that Cassington will want to have a 20 zone for the whole village, and if that is the case, I will do my best to ensure that you are high in the priority list as the new zones are rolled out. I am very aware that there is some appalling driving in parts of the village.

The “First and Last” bus service to Eynsham and Hanborough should be up and running by the end of this year, supported financially by the County Council, and I hope it will be of use to residents wanting to get to Oxford or Witney and help people who don’t have access to cars, or who want to reduce their car usage. No village should be entirely reliant on cars, and I have been very supportive of the A40 team as they propose a new bus stop at the bottom of Horsemere Lane. I will also suggest the possibility of a bus service coming through Cassington when new routes are opened up by the Park & Ride.

The A40 reconstruction process continues. There is archaeological work happening at the moment. The construction process is going to be disruptive, and I am talking to officers about how we can limit the impact on Cassington.

For those who want to cycle, which I would of course greatly encourage, the A40 will have good bike paths on both sides – the one on your side will dip down to join the canal towpath at Dukes Cut, whereas on the southern side it will continue to Wolvercote Roundabout. There should be a crossing at some point at the bottom of Horsemere Lane. However, at the moment, conditions for cycling are unacceptable, particularly round the work on the new Oxford North junctions. I have asked for a proper surface to be laid there,

District Councillors – No Report given

Parish Councillors –

a) Neighbourhood Watch – No report given

No report given

Mill Lane has been cleared.

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

Cllr Thomas has noticed that the give way sign going into Yarnton has been covered by a tree branch – Tracey to register on fix my street.

Speedwatch – Tracey now has the speed camera. She has been in discussion with the Clerk in Yarnton who are also looking at setting up their own speed watch and we have discussed having a joint meeting with Thames Valley Police to be shown what to do.

Tracey has emailed Cllr Levy with regards to getting the speed camera on Eynsham Road moved and he is chasing it.

20mph in the Village – This is now being rolled out by OCC.

Tracey advised that she has now completed her ROSPA training at Level 1, but the trainer feels that she should really do Level 2. This is a 2-day course. The Parish Council are in agreement that if Tracey can do it then she should.

Payments to be approved:

Income:

APPLICATION NO: 21/03045/HHD

PROPOSAL: Erection of two storey rear extension. Alterations to existing roof height with the conversion of attic along with construction of a rear dormer.

LOCATION: 4 Bell Close Cassington Witney

APPLICANT: Ms. Katherine Thomas

COMMENT DATE: 15^th October 2021

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

COMMENT DATE: 28^th October 2021

Tracey to contact planning to clarify what will happen to the walls at the front of the property.

a) Closure of Sandy Lane, Yarnton – Tracey to write to Yarnton Parish Council and advise the support from Cassington Parish Council.

b) Churchyard Wall – Cllr Thomas has been round to have a look at the wall nearest Ivy Cottage as the resident there has cleared their side. Adrian has been asked to cut down the ivy on the Churchyard side of the wall. Tracey is waiting to hear back from Land Registry who owns the boundary of the wall. When you have a look at the wall by Hatwells, the church yard side is fine, but Hatwell side the wall is missing a lot of stones.

c) People Parking on the Green – Cllr Thomas has noticed that parents that are picking up from St Peters School have started to park on The Green and then drive off over The Green to leave. Cllr Thomas has spoken to the school, they have advised that they would but it in the newsletter – Tracey to write to the school and ask that they need to tell parents that they cannot park on The Green or it will ruin the grass and turn it into mud.

d) Lorries using the Tennis – Cllr Metcalf has advised that lorries are using The Tennis to reverse into before they can turn round.

e) Wall Survey – Cllr Metcalf also asked if the wall survey had been carried out. Cllr Thomas advised that it hadn’t and was going to put a notice in CAWN to see if someone would like to volunteer to do it on behalf of the Parish Council.

Mid Monthly Planning Meeting – No Meeting is scheduled

Date of the next Parish Council Meeting – Thursday 4^th November @ 7.30pm in the Village Hall