Public recess.
Question from member of the public with regards to recent information sent to residents about the UKB Wireless Network proposals. His questions were “Do we need it” and “How did the company get my address to write to me”.
B.Cllr Bennett provided information that this has been in discussion for 5 years now, and is because BT has an issue with their infrastructure in this area. Wireless has been proposed as cabling can be expensive in rural areas. It is expected that the cost will be about the same as the improved broadband service.
B. Cllr Shaw then brought attention to a leaflet that he had brought along to the meeting for the public to take away. This details the plan further. He advised that there will shortly be a meeting in Chiseldon with the company proposing this work which members of the public are welcome to attend.
B. Cllr Shaw to follow up with the resident on this matter.
16/154. Declarations of interests.
None
16/155. Approval of minutes.
Page 1 (Minute 16/146 Matters Arising para 1) – Changed wording to read “Thames Water trucks heading for Badbury are still driving through the village instead of around the village”.
Page 2 (Minute 16/146 Action Points). Action for Cllr Rawlings to write a piece about the Memorial Hall has been removed.
Page 2 (Minute 16/147 para 2) Amended “Cannick Close” to read “Canney Close”.
Following this, the minutes of the meeting held on 11th January 2016 were approved by Cllr Hill, seconded by Cllr Dudman; all those at the meeting in favour.
16/156. Matters arising.
Contacts at the Spar shop are receptive to the store becoming a Community Contact Point. A postbox for communication with the police hopefully to be installed here.
Cllr Hill advised that Thames Water had been out to inspect the parish drains and reported that the water levels had dropped significantly so that overflow should not be a problem. This was before the recent heavy rainfall so we may need to contact them again should further reports come in of overflow from the drains.
Page 6 (minute 15/143 – (ninth para in Any Other Business Memorial Hall)
This needs an update from Cllr Walton.
Action points.
Cllr Sunners is in contact with the British Heart Foundation with regard to defibrillators. He is also considering the possibility of sponsored trips to motor-cross facilities and has forwarded the BIOS agreement to the Clerk.
Cllr Sunners reported on the 8/2/16 that this is still being investigated as the British Heart Foundation has been overwhelmed with applications so has closed the application process. He is exploring other options.
B.Cllr Bennett had reported back that Thames Water advised there are no lorry’s travelling through Badbury. Cllr Dudman has reported that she still sees the lorry’s in the village. Cllr Costigan is to follow this up with Cllr Bennett who had left this meeting by this time.
Clerk to ask PC Draper for a full set of crime figures for Badbury Park and Coate for the next Parish Council meeting on 14th March.
All other action points had been actioned.
16/157. Borough Councillors’ Report.
This item was moved up the agenda due to personal reasons relating to B.Cllr Shaw.
B.Cllr Shaw has requested an update as to the situation with M4/J15. There is to be £3 million available by 1st April. He will continue to investigate.
Safety on New Road. Plans are in place for a Build Out. This is likely to commence in April. The Build Out has been moved further away from Canney Close.
Ref Planning, the Esso Petrol Station has breached planning with regards to the outside building to the back of the main building. He is prepared to ask for this to go to Planning Committee if the Parish Council request him to.
There is a meeting on the 30th March at Chiseldon Primary School for the Chiseldon Locality Meeting. Opens at 6.30pm with a start at 7.00pm. It will discuss Highways, Planning, Police and Broadband.
B. Cllr Shaw will update the Clerk on this depending on the outcome of this Council meeting.
B.Cllr Shaw reported that the Spar postbox should now be secure and the date plates are on order. He utilised our local MP to ensure this was carried out properly.
Cllr Hill then thanked B.Cllr Shaw for his work on getting the postbox issue rectified.
B.Cllr Shaw then left the meeting at 7.40pm.
B.Cllr Bennett then added to the report by saying that the Government has added a 2% rise onto council tax for Social Care.
He also advised that SBC’s budget for the next financial year was nearly signed off. No further major changes are foreseen.
He also mentioned the changes to the numbers 46 and 48 bus route, and Cllr Hill advised that papers showing the proposed amendments had gone to all councillors ready for the March Council Meeting.
Parking at Coate was discussed. There are possibly going to be parking charges put in place, this will mean the Badbury Park parking situation may get worse. Parking restrictions can only be put in place if safety is an issue.
B.Cllr Bennett then left the meeting at 20.32
16/158. Police Report.
PC Draper reported back on the recent Locality meeting where questions were raised about the future of local policing. Inspector Sweett was in attendance and advised that this was a new policing model, with 5 officers including PC Draper in a neighbourhood policing role.
It was commented on that the officers may have to cover other issues further afield so may take them away from the rural villages.
Insp. Sweett was asked if we would lose PC Draper as our contact to which he replied “No. This new model will provide better cover”.
PC Draper said this will transform policing and they are trying to add value to what they do.
He advised we will need to wait and see what the outcomes are.
Cllr Sunners said he hoped that Insp. Sweett would be at the Locality meeting so he could answer any questions we may have.
B. Cllr Bennett advised he had met with the new Chief Constable and the Chief Constable was enthusiastic over the values and philosophy of the new model.
PC Draper advised that motorcycles had been reported on the Recreation Ground again. This is after the spate of incidents in late 2015 where the riders were talked to and made aware of the consequences.
The police will be acting in a more robust manner now. The Police and Parish have been sympathetic to the needs of the local young people and it is now at the state where there will be consequences. He asked that any information relating to this be passed on to him or his colleagues.
He then reported on crime figures for Badbury Park and Coate, there were 2 thefts from building sites in Badbury Park. There has also been increased animosity from local residents in Badbury Park against non residents using the area for parking. One pregnant lady was left scared and shaken after being surrounded by a group of people. There are no parking restrictions in place currently. Unacceptable harassment will not be tolerated by the police.
Next PC Draper reported on the crime figures for January 2016
Theft – 9 incidents. 7 on Commercial Premises. 1 residential theft in Badbury and 1 in Chiseldon. This is low compared to previous years.
Criminal damage incidents on the rise. 4 incidents in January. 1 road rage type incident. 2 damaged vehicles with 1 suspect who is still outstanding and 2 burglaries to non dwellings;
the Recreation Hall and 1 shed where garden tools were taken.
Cllr Hill commented that a set of car number plates had been stolen from Norris Road. This has been recorded in February figures. These number plates will be used in other crimes such as theft of fuel. The police do need these reported as the number plates can go on the Police National Computer and be monitored.
Cllr Sunners commented on the Neighbourhood Watch meeting and the Spar shop being used as a location for a police communication letterbox.
PC Draper then left the meeting at 20.00
16/159 Bobby Van Trust
Mr Law presented to the Committee information about the Bobby Van Trust. He talked about its charitable status, who it helps and how it runs.
It is worth noting that the charity helps elderly, disabled and vulnerable people either after a burglary, or to prevent a burglary and feel safe in their homes.
The trust works with the Fire Service to carry out safety checks and provide smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. They also assist victims of domestic abuse, and carry food parcels on the vans for those in need.
Anyone over 60 or disabled can request a home visit.
The charity needs £200,000 a year to run.
The Clerk has been left a supply of magazines and leaflets for distribution.
Mr Law then left the meeting at 20.26
16/160 Parishing.
Cllr Rawlings started the discussion by advising that we have received quotes from Countrywide and AllBuild to cut the grass, cut hedges, provide litter picking and keeping footpaths and road edges tidy.
Certain areas of the Parish such as May’s Lane and Butts Road in Chiseldon need their banks sorting out as the land is slipping into the road. The Strouds Hill car park also needs to be brought up to standard by SBC. There are other areas of the Parish to be reported on in this matter. It was felt we shouldn’t accept parishing until these areas where already made acceptable by SBC.
Cllr Dudman queried how we would handle the extra costs of people claiming for compensation after a fall on areas of the parish that we are going to be responsible for maintaining.
There is a belief that this is an unexpected expense.
Cllr Mills also expressed his concern over insurance and also the extra workload that this would place on the Clerk’s current hours.
Cllr Sunners commented on the fact that this is a very important issue and he has concerns over the continuing devolution of services. Are these services unsustainable in the long term? He fully supports the Parish Councils decision to raise the precept by 100%.
He then raised a motion that should we have a vote on whether we do the parishing at all.
Cllr Costigan advised there was not sufficient time or data to allow for a vote during this session.
There was a further query from Cllr Rawlings on un-parished areas such as Lawn. Should SBC still take care of these requirements for them? If the Parish Council are not prepared to take over these tasks in these areas then what happens?
Action for Cllr Costigan to raise this query with Kirsty Cole.
Cllr Walton advised that he believes the Borough Councillors should attend this meeting. Also, if we do take Parishing on, we want all the areas handed over to be in perfect condition beforehand.
Cllr Walton proposed that we need a second meeting purely for Parishing and the surrounding issues. Cllr Sunners approved the vote, Cllr Rawlings seconded the vote and all those in attendance were in favour.
The Environment Committee will review the quotes and other questions at the next Environment meeting.
Action for Clerk to arrange an extraordinary meeting with a majority attendance, to be held after the Community Governance meeting on the 1st March.
16/161 Community Governance Review Update
Cllr Wright requested that we add this agenda item onto the extraordinary meeting that is being arranged to cover Parishing.
It needs to be discussed whether we are to continue to include Badbury Park in Chiseldon Parish.
Cllr Hill commented that if we keep Badbury Park in Chiseldon Parish then the number of people in the Parish will increase. So do we need to have an extra councillor, taking the number to 16.
Also Warding – do we put forward that we’d like to see the Parish including all the Borough Wards?
Cllr Hill and Wright are going to the Community Governance Review meeting on the 1st March and will report back after the meeting.
Proposals need to be in by the 30th March. The Borough Council will consider these up to the 30th June, at which time they will present a draft recommendation. The report will be published for comments between July and September 2016.
Any comments in regards to this should be directed to Cllrs Wright and Hill.
16/162. Financial report.
Cllr Costigan presented the figures to the committee.
Cllr Walton confirmed the Recreation Ground work undertaken by Tithegrove. The work needed to be carried out to comply with planning permission. This work also covered the drainage supply at the Old Chapel.
Following this, these figures were approved by Cllr Hill, seconded by Cllr Rawlings; all those at the meeting in favour.
16/163. Committee reports.
Environment, General Purposes & Highways.
Cllr Rawlings advised there was nothing to report.
Planning.
Cllr Rawlings presented the planning status.
It was noted that the grey storage area outside the Esso Garage had replaced an original storage area. The retrospective plans for the ATM appear to show that this larger storage area was on the original plans. The original plans were for new pumps and the canopy only. They have been given 14 days notice by the enforcement officer. This has now expired so the officer is now dealing with this matter.
Recreation & Community.
Cllr Sunners presented the minutes.
One outstanding item is that the Recreation lighting has been installed but may need adjusting so it covers the car park better.
The Recreation Hall and the Pavilion have both recently been broken into, it is suspected that this was the same incident.
Cllr Rawlings has been removed from the action to check why the fire doors in the Recreation Hall are not closing properly.
16/164. Correspondence.
The Councillors have all taken away the Correspondence to read at a later date. Cllr Hill commented on the thorough write up from the Clerk.
16/165. Any other business.
The hole in the ground at the Old Chapel has already been filled in so no longer presents a problem.
The Clerk presented an idea to the Council that as we get a list of all new Parishioners every month should we write a welcoming letter from the Parish? And if so, what shall we include?
It was agreed this was a good idea, but as we already have a Welcoming Committee in the village for new residents, maybe we should provide them with a list and also ask to include some relevant council information in this welcome pack.
Action for the Clerk to get more details from Cllr Wright on who to contact.
Cllr Walton expressed his thanks to Cllr Rawlings and Cllr Hill for standing in as the temporary Chairs of the Planning Committee.
The meeting closed at 9.36pm
SUMMARY OF ACTION POINTS
B.Cllr Bennett
16/146 Talk to Thames Water with regards to their lorries driving through Badbury. Report back to committee.
Cllr Sunners
16/146 British Heart Foundation and Defibrilators. Organise visit to motor cross facility and forward BIOS agreement to Clerk.
Follow up on other avenues of funding.
Clerk
16/156 Ask PC Draper for full crime stats for Coate and Badbury Park at March Council meeting.
15/143 To ask Cllr Walton for an update on the Memorial Hall
16/159 Distribute leaflets left by the Bobby Van trust.
16/160 Arrange EGM to discuss parishing further and vote.
16/161 Add Governance to the agenda for the Parishing EGM meeting.
16/165 Contact Cllr Wright for more information on the welcome to the village scheme and its contacts.
PC Draper
16/147 Provide crime statistics for Coate and Badbury Park at next attended Parish Committee meeting.
Cllr Costigan
16/156 Follow up with B.Cllr Bennett on the continuing use of Badbury Village as a route for Thames Water lorries.
16/160 Follow up with Kirsty Cole on question raised in Parishing about unparished areas.
B.Cllr Shaw
Public Recess Follow up with member of the public on the UKB wireless network proposal.
16/157 To update the Clerk with the details of the Governance and Library meeting on the 1st March.