Minutes – March 2014
Minutes of the Meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 4th March 2014 at Sherington Village Hall, commencing at 7.30pm.
PRESENT: Cllrs J Ager (Chair), D Hyde, I Collinge, J Cook and S Cook
ALSO ATTENDING: Wendy Austyn (Clerk), Cllr Keith McLean and four members of the public.
1. RECEIVE AND ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllrs Denman and Northfield.
2. RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
3. APPROVE MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 4th February 2014 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
4. CLERK’S REPORT
4.1 MKC Highways Inspection report. The clerk reported that the defects requiring intervention when MKC inspected the highway in Sherington a month ago have all been remedied; however there are still a lot more potholes in the village. The clerk and some village residents have reported these. Cllr McLean added that the repair in School Lane is only temporary as a water leak has been identified.
4.2 Bank Vault Storage. The clerk reported that HSBC in Newport Pagnell has no storage space available. The nearest HSBC branch with space is St Neots in Cambs.
4.3 Chicheley Hill Mound. The clerk and Cllr Collinge have reported required maintenance on the Mound to MKC. The repair to the handrail was carried out swiftly; however one MKC officer is claiming that the MKC is not responsible for the Mound and so won’t repair the wooden stockade at the top. It was thought there was possibly a mix up between Highways and Parks & Open Spaces, and it was agreed to contact Rob Ward to try and sort out the confusion. ACTION: Clerk
4.4 Village bench repairs. Tony Pilcher has kindly agreed to replace missing wooden slats in two village benches. The council agreed the cost of the oak slats at £35.75 and suggested offering £100 towards Tony’s labour costs. ACTION: Clerk
4.5 Standing Orders. The clerk has tidied up the formatting of the council’s Standing Orders and clarified wording regarding frequency of meetings. These were now approved and signed by the chair.
5. FINANCE
5.1 Bank Account balance at 4th March 2014 £16,707.35
5.2 Cheques for payment were as follows:
| 04/03/2014 | A H Contracts | Dog Bins | £303.00 | 102182 |
| 04/03/2014 | SCAS (League of Friends) | NHS First Response kit | £200.00 | 102183 |
| 04/03/2014 | VOID | VOID | £ – | 102184 |
| 04/03/2014 | Sherington Village Hall | Hall hire | £76.00 | 102185 |
| 04/03/2014 | B Tofts | Repairs to pavilion roof | £487.00 | 102186 |
| 04/03/2014 | Wendy Austyn | Clerk’s salary | £243.36 | 102187 |
| 04/03/2014 | Wendy Austyn | Clerk’s expenses | £38.04 | 102188 |
| 04/03/2014 | Martin Jeeves | Perry Lane caretaker/bookings | £100.00 | 102189 |
| 04/03/2014 | Nina Beal | Pavilion cleaner | £49.00 | 102190 |
| 04/02/2014 | Chicheley Farms Ltd | Oak slats to repair benches | £44.10 | 102191 |
5.3. New bank mandate. The mandate has had to be recompleted as the form has been updated. The new version should be submitted to HSBC by end of March. ACTION: Clerk
6. PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND DECISIONS
6.1. Applications. 14/00259/ADV Alban Hill Nursery – Advert consent to display 3 x hoarding signs Councillors agreed they were in support of local businesses and their need to advertise but given the rural surroundings raised concern over the height and quantity of signs applied for.
6.2. Decisions. None. The clerk had tried again to get clarification on the Crofts End application without success. It was agreed that as the applicant was restoring the property as per MKC’s instructions no further action was necessary.
7. SHERINGTON RECREATION GROUND
7.1. Pavilion survey and next steps. The clerk reported that further to the last meeting she had been in touch with Bob Cook, and had then organised an onsite meeting which took place on Wednesday 19th February 2014. Present were Cllr Denman, Cllr Sally Cook, clerk Wendy Austyn, Bob Cook from R C Builders, Dave King from Hygienic Interiors, Peter Burton, Alistair McIntyre from Lune Architects, Jeff Charles, Martin Jeeves and Paul Bayliss from PSB Consultancy & Design. This meeting lasted an hour as everyone discussed the issue of water being present under the vinyl flooring. The surveyor has so far concluded from his two visits in December 2013 and February 2014 that limited but current evidence shows it is unlikely that water is coming up from under the ground nor through the wall from the sometimes flooded exterior path. There is also no current evidence that there is any fault with the construction of the building, damp proof course, damp proof membrane or second floor covering. The surveyor also so far concludes however that without removing the entire floor vinyl it is impossible to tell how much water is under the floor, exactly where it is, where it is coming from or why. Taking all this into consideration it was agreed to monitor the situation for several months until a prolonged period of dry weather has occurred, and then to ask the surveyor to return and carry out a further assessment.
7.2. Management committee report. The clerk reported that the legionella risk assessment has made several recommendations and Jeff Charles has suggested that a meeting take place to discuss them. Cllr Ager will liaise with the management committee. A tree has partially fallen down at the fence near the shelters, clerk to arrange for the fallen branches to be cleared away. ACTION: Cllr Ager, Clerk
7.3. Shelters on recreation ground. The management committee has asked for the shelter to be removed. The clerk will obtain quotes to have them dismantled and the concrete slabs removed. It will then be reviewed as to whether to leave the hard core underneath as it is or take other action. ACTION: Clerk
8. WARD COUNCILLOR’S ITEMS (this item actually took place after item 4)
8.1 Keith confirmed the potholes in last month’s Highways report have been repaired, although the one outside the Old School House on School Lane is a temporary repair due to a water leak. He urged residents to keep reporting road defects and suggested that the clerk contact Assistant Director John Pryor each month and ask for an updated list of defects in time for the parish council meeting.
8.2 Keith reported that he has been passed on reference numbers for concerns raised by residents at the meeting last month regarding the size of buses passing through the village; and tractors using and then possibly damaging the red way on the A509 in order to flail hedges, and has asked officers for an update.
8.3 Keith reported that he had been contacted with regards to recent flash flooding in Water Lane and had asked an MKC officer to attend the meeting. Cllr Collinge reported that Rachel Kingsley had sent apologies that day albeit after 5pm, but confirmed that she has sent an S81 notice to Anglian Water asking them to inspect the area of concern. Keith also urged residents to contact the emergency services and/or MKC’s emergency helpdesk if they are affected by events such as this.
8.4 Keith informed the parish council that MKC uses Iron Mountain for document storage.
8.5 Further to his recent email Keith confirmed that his ward budget allocation had increased to £200 per qualifying parish council. This is being passed on to South Central Ambulance Service towards an NHS Community First Response kit, along with the parish council’s recent contribution of £500.
8.6 Keith reported that there are 5 or 6 planning applications for solar energy farms within MK, although none for Petsoe End as yet. Keith then left the meeting and item 5 followed.
9. EXTERNAL MEETINGS
9.1. Next NECAF Wednesday 5th March 2014
10. CORRESPONDENCE/NEW CONSULTATIONS
None.
11.PUBLIC COMMENTS
11.1 Nigel Blight co-chair of Shopco gave the parish council a current report regarding the village shop, details of which have already been posted in March SCAN magazine. The current lease holders have given notice to terminate by the end of August 2014 so a new lease holder or otherwise is needed to keep the shop and post office open. Shopco also needs new members, and it was agreed that another village meeting was a good idea. The suggested date for the meeting in the village hall was Saturday 12th April at 11.30am, and the parish council agreed to support the village meeting and help with posters, flyers etc.ACTION: Clerk
12 COUNCILLORS ITEMS
None.
13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 1st April 2014 at the Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm. There being no further business the meeting ended at 9.03 pm