Pages 1371 to 1373
July 2011
Minutes of the Meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 5th July 2011 at Sherington Village Hall, commencing at 7.30pm.
PRESENT: Cllrs D Keene (Chair), D Hyde, J Ager and I Thomson
ALSO ATTENDING: Wendy Austyn (Clerk) and 3 members of the public
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllrs Northfield and Denman.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 7th June 2011 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
4. COUNCILLOR VACANCY
The interested candidate has queried his eligibility; the Clerk will clarify and report to the next meeting. ACTION: Clerk
5. CLERK’S REPORT
5.1 Church Road water leaks. Further to several emails and letters including intervention from Mark Lancaster MP, Anglian Water will repair pipes on the property of 7 Church Road and then investigate the source of the water leak. It was agreed to keep applying pressure on Anglian Water and Milton Keynes Council where appropriate to resolve these kinds of issues. ACTION: Clerk
5.2 Electricity socket on Knoll. The socket casing is broken and the clerk will contact a local electrician. It was agreed to double check the guidelines regarding the parish council’s own qualified member carrying out minor works. ACTION: Clerk
5.3 Publication of documents under Freedom of Information Act. The relevant document regarding information held by the parish council has been completed, agreed by councillors and will be placed on the village website. ACTION: Clerk
5.4 Fingerpost for Stone Pits Copse and Woodland Trust free tree packs. The current Public Footpath sign on the High St needs replacing, it was agreed to ask Rob Ward MKC about whose responsibility this is. It was then agreed to place a new fingerpost pointing to Stone Pits Copse underneath it. There was concern that the new handrail installed on the footbridge is not robust enough, Cllr Keene to investigate. The council approved £120 expenditure to mow the entire woodland this year and £84 to spray weed killer around all the trees and were advised to leave the hedge alone to establish itself properly. The parish council agreed to consider an application for free trees from the Woodland Trust in the Autumn with two sites in mind – Stonepits Copse and land near to church that the public currently uses, if the owner would like to participate. ACTION: Clerk, Cllr Keene
5.5 Ditch clearance. The clerk has been able to identify who owns the ditches reported to be in need of clearance, and will write to the appropriate land owners asking them to attend to the issue. ACTION: Clerk
5.6 Parish Plan meeting. It was agreed that councillors should meet informally to discuss updating the Parish Plan. This will be held in August. Clerk to forward the current document to all cllrs. ACTION: Clerk
6. COMMUNITY SHOP COMMITTEE UPDATE
In Cllr Northfield’s absence, Nigel Blight reported that another “door drop” has been completed and the total donations now stand at over £9k from 64 houses out of approximately 350, therefore the overall level of support for this venture has now become the major concern as it has implications for external funding applications. The parish council asked Shopco to carry out a final plea to residents, emphasising how as little as £30-£40 per remaining household would achieve the overall objective. ACTION: Cllr Northfield
7. FINANCE
7.1 Monthly Balances Enterprise Account £228.36; Treasurer Account £2720.64
7.2 Cheques for payment were as follows:
| 05/07/2011 | Bernard Crook Garden Services Ltd | Raised edging pavilion carpark | £420.00 | 101917 |
| 05/07/2011 | Sports Ground Services | Mowing Recreation Ground | £414.00 | 101918 |
| 05/07/2011 | A H Contracts | Dog bins | £84.00 | 101919 |
| 05/07/2011 | Mel Northfield | OS Map for Shopco project | £25.00 | 101920 |
| 05/07/2011 | Sherington Jubilee | Fete expenses | £200.00 | 101921 |
| 05/07/2011 | D C Blunt Gardening Services | Mowing | £840.00 | 101922 |
| 05/07/2011 | D C Blunt Gardening Services | Grounds maintenance Perry Lane | £558.00 | 101922 |
| 05/07/2011 | Anglian Water | Water for pavilion | £145.22 | 101923 |
| 05/07/2011 | Martin Jeeves | Perry Lane caretaker/bookings | £100.00 | 101924 |
| 05/07/2011 | Bucks Playing Fields Association | Subscription | £20.00 | 101925 |
| 05/07/2011 | Wendy Austyn | Clerk’s salary | £208.76 | 101926 |
| 05/07/2011 | Nina Beal | Pavilion cleaner | £31.50 | 101927 |
| 05/07/2011 | MK Community Mediation Service | Donation | £100.00 | 101928 |
It was noted that the bank balance is running very low until September’s precept money is received. The pavilion management group are to chase the football clubs for their fees. ACTION: Clerk
7.3 New HMRC guidelines regarding employer status and clerk’s PAYE The clerk reported that the SLCC has referred this issue to its CEO and is awaiting a response. Cllr Ager agreed to review the HMRC website to see if the required payroll processes can be carried out by a councillor each month. ACTION: Clerk, Cllr Ager
7.4 Donation Councillors approved a donation of £200 towards the expenses of running the village fete. ACTION: Clerk
8. PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND DECISIONS
8.1. 11/00910/FUL 5 Village Close – Conversion of the existing double garage into a single garage and ground floor living space. This application has already been granted.
8.2. 11/00807/FUL 23 Water Lane – Erection of a free standing car port. There were no adverse comments.
8.3. 11/00981/FUL 18 Crofts End – Erection of a single storey rear extension and replacement detached garage. There were no adverse comments.
8.4. 11/01155/FUL Land adjacent to Village Hall – Erection of a temporary portacabin as a village shop with new vehicular access and landscaping. There were no adverse comments.
8.5. 11/01320/FUL Bridge House, Sherington Road – Extension of existing garden boundary wall. Cllrs raised no objections to the current application but wanted to know if the new gateway and walls that are already constructed should also have been the subject of a planning application. ACTION: Clerk
8.6. 11/01355/FUL 26 Gun Lane – Extension of time limit of application 08/00226/FUL for extensions to create first floor accommodation and garage. There were no adverse comments.
8.7. It was queried whether work at 4 High St (ground previously part of The Manor garden) has already been started. This will be on the agenda at an August meeting.
8.8. Decisions. The applications for 10 Crofts End, 17 Crofts End, 26 Park Road and 5 Village Close have been permitted. It was agreed to chase up progress on outstanding applications namely 25 Crofts End and 21 High St (Old Post Office).
9. SHERINGTON SPORTS GROUND
9.1. Pavilion management group. Cllr Keene reported that the fete was a success and offered thanks to Jeff Charles and his team for working so hard to organise it. Thanks to the Youth Club for tidying up the recreation ground before the fete and to Brian Cawley for donating the use of a skip An outside power socket has now been installed at the pavilion for future occasions needing external electricity. Cllr Thomson is to contact MKC to get the pitch assessed in case any maintenance is needed before the new football season starts. The provision of lighting outside the pavilion is still being investigated; and the storage shed could do with clearing out sometime soon. The subject of benches came up again with Cllr Thomson agreeing to ask the football club if the spare ones in the storage hut can be installed at the recreation ground; and the council was reminded that Sam Potts reported having ordered some new benches for the village, this is to be chased up . ACTION: Cllr Thomson, Clerk
10. EXTERNAL MEETINGS
10.1. Report from Parishes Online Mapping training session 30th June. The clerk attended this 1 hour training and offered to demonstrate the new online mapping tool to councillors at an informal meeting.
10.2. BALC invitation to MKAULC Thurs 21st July 7.30pm Weston Underwood. The MK Association of Urban Local Councils are holding a conference regarding the new Localism Bill and rural councils are invited to attend.
10.3. Next NECAF Wed 14th September 7.30pm Emberton Institute. – Cllr Keene will try to attend. ACTION: Cllr Keene
10.4. Next NAG meeting is Thurs 4th August 7.30pm Newton Blossomville. – all village residents are invited.
11. CORRESPONDENCE/CONSULTATIONS
11.1. MKC Wind Turbine Policy. The parish council was invited to comment on the current policy but declined to do so.
11.2. Corner of Crofts End and High St. An email has been received asking if the hedge outside the Manor can be cut right back to improve visibility of pedestrians walking on the road, councillors agreed that this was not necessary as there is a pavement opposite. ACTION: Clerk
12.PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
13 COUNCILLORS ITEMS
13.1 Cllr Keene asked whether there had been a response from the Village Hall committee about contributing to the cost of new gravel for the car park. There has not so this will be chased up. ACTION: Clerk
13.2 Ex-chairman Peter Burton had kindly contacted the Cook family about planting a tree on behalf of the village in memory of the late Peter Cook. It was agreed to approve the expenditure for this at the September meeting and Mr Burton will arrange the purchase.
14. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th August 2011 at the Pavilion and then on Tuesday 6th September at the Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.35pm
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