Minutes – May 2014
Minutes of the Meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 6th May 2014 at Sherington Village Hall, commencing at 7.30pm.
PRESENT: Cllrs A Denman (Chair), J Ager, M Northfield, I Collinge, J Cook and S Cook
ALSO ATTENDING: Wendy Austyn (Clerk), Cllr Keith McLean and seven members of the public.
1. TO ELECT NEW CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN
Cllr Denman was proposed by Cllr Ager and seconded by Cllr Northfield. Cllr Denman accepted the nomination and as there were no further nominations took his place as Chairman. Cllr Denman proposed Cllr Ager as Vice-Chairman, which was seconded by Cllr James Cook and Cllr Ager took his place as Vice-Chairman, there being no other nominations.
2. TO RECEIVE NEW DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE
Cllr Denman signed a new Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Chairman.
3. RECEIVE AND ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr Hyde.
4. RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
5. APPROVE MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 1st April 2014 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
6. CLERK’S REPORT
6.1 Fence at VH play area. The clerk reported that councillors were disappointed with the quality of the fence repair between land at The Old Rectory and the village hall play area. This has been expressed to Mark Hine, who has stated he will carry out a further repair to the correct specification and higher quality. It was agreed that posts of 1.5m high would be adequate if 1.524m posts could not be sourced. Cllr Collinge proposed that the clerk arrange for the other small areas of broken fence to be repaired, this was agreed. ACTION: Clerk
6.2 Bid for Highways Capital scheme At the clerk’s request Cllr Collinge has carried out a survey of the village’s roads and this was then forwarded to Highways to ask for consideration in the resurfacing schedule. Officer Daniel Mullins has included part of the High St for resurfacing in July 2014 and School Lane in September 2014. The clerk is enquiring as to the exact lengths of the roads being resurfaced. Bedford Road will be included in 2015 and the other roads will be reconsidered after the next general inspection in early 2015. Councillors expressed surprise however that certain roads especially Water Lane were reported as “no intervention level defects”. ACTION: Clerk
6.3 High St (Alban Hill) ditch and drainage update. The clerk reported that Mark Bennett from MKC is carrying out a detailed survey this week which will be plotted electronically and made available for reference. Councillors were asked to keep an eye on the road, drains and ditches after any heavy rain, and to take photos as evidence of how they are now working following the recent clearance work. ACTION: Clerk and all cllrs
7. WARD COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
7.1. Keith McLean stated that this was his last meeting as councillor for Sherington ward, as elections for the three new councillors for the new Olney cum Sherington ward will be taking place on Thursday 22nd May. He thanked Sherington parish councillors and clerk for working well together with him over the past three years.
7.2. Keith also thanked Ian Collinge and Oliver Powell for their vigilance in reporting potholes; and urged everyone to keep reporting them to MKC.
7.3. Keith summarised that recently the £50m 10 year contract responsible for highways, redways and footpaths has been awarded to Ringway; and that the new Landscaping contract has been awarded to Serco.
7.4. Keith also announced that public toilets are to be opened on Station Square in central MK and the traffic lanes have been rearranged to improve traffic flow. In January Ousedale School Newport Pagnell campus saw a new Maths block open costing ·1.2m, and has been awarded Dept for Education funding of £900k for refurbishment of the Humanities block. Refurbishment of the 6th form block is also in the future programme.
7.5. Keith added to the clerk’s report that resurfacing work at the Chicheley Hill roundabout was due to start on 8th May and be completed by 21st May.
7.6. Keith reported that confusion and conflict has arisen over bus contractors and routes, with one company who previously decided not to bid for a new contract and then offered its own commercially funded service. This however has now been withdrawn. Keith confirmed that following prior reports the All in One Travel card is now being honoured.
8. FINANCE
8.1 Bank Account balance at 6th May 2014 £25,131.40
8.2 Cheques for payment were as follows:
| 06/05/2014 | BALC | Subscription | £145.12 | 102200 |
| 06/05/2014 | Tony Pilcher | Bench repairs | £40.00 | 102201 |
| 06/05/2014 | Wendy Austyn | Clerk’s salary | £196.70 | 102202 |
| 06/05/2014 | Wendy Austyn | Clerk’s expenses | £37.89 | 102203 |
| 06/05/2014 | Getmapping PLC | Parish Online subs | £33.60 | 102204 |
| 06/05/2014 | Martin Jeeves | Perry Lane caretaker/bookings | £100.00 | 102205 |
| 06/05/2014 | Nina Beal | Pavilion cleaner | £42.00 | 102206 |
| 06/05/2014 | Milton Keynes Council | Tree maintenance | £180.00 | 102207 |
| 06/05/2014 | St Lauds PCC | Flower Festival donation | £50.00 | 102208 |
| 06/05/2014 | Noel Gotts | Internal audit fee | £100.00 | 102209 |
| 06/05/2014 | A Denman (Electrical) | Repairs to lights pavilion | £230.94 | 102210 |
8.3. Donation from Olney Masonic Club for MKPA Play Scheme. A £250 contribution towards the play ranger scheme has been received from Olney Masonic Club. The clerk has written to say thank you and will arrange an extra two sessions, cllrs agreed to make up the £30 shortfall. ACTION: Clerk
8.4. MKC Parish Partnership Fund 2014/15. The clerk met with Cllr Denman and Jeff Charles of the pavilion management committee and agreed a programme of refurbishment works that could cost upwards of £20k. This includes work relating to the showers, changing rooms and exterior. As £10k has been allocated in the precept it was agreed to apply to the PP fund for 50% matched funding. ACTION: Clerk
8.5. 2013/14 Audit and Annual Return. The clerk reported that the year-end accounts for 2013/14 were complete and had been audited satisfactorily. The chairman signed the Annual Return and this will be submitted to the external auditor in due course. The Inspection Notice will be posted on 9th June 2014.
9. PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND DECISIONS
9.1. 14/00573/TCA 1 Park Road – Tree work to Ash and Silver Birch – no adverse comments. ACTION: Clerk
9.2. 14/00696/FUL 10 High St – Conversion of existing outbuildings into annex accommodation Councillors had no objection to the conversion of outbuildings, but wished planning consent to include a condition that the newly converted annexe accommodation is not then sold off as a separate property. This is to protect the neighbouring properties, in particular Tom Haynes garage whose property lies behind the wall that this new accommodation is directly in front of. If 10 High St is ever sold or transferred to another owner, that sale/transfer must include the annexe accommodation ACTION: Clerk
9.3. Decisions. Applications for The Manor 4 High St, Water Lane Farm and Alban Hill nursery have all been granted.
10. SHERINGTON RECREATION GROUND
10.1. Management committee report. Cllr Ager had no report, but the clerk reported that there is a vacancy on the management committee for a new secretary. Interested persons can contact the clerk or Jeff Charles.
10.2. Maintenance work on recreation field The clerk has received a quote to remove the wooden shelters, and various other minor maintenance tasks have been suggested to the approximate value of £500. It was agreed for the clerk to meet with the chair of the management committee to decide which works are required. ACTION: Clerk
11. EXTERNAL MEETINGS
11.1. Next NECAF Thurs 19th June 2014 North Crawley village hall Keith McLean reported items covering wind and solar farms at the March meeting, along with the report that despite the wettest February in many years there was very little flooding in MK.
12. CORRESPONDENCE/NEW CONSULTATIONS
None.
13. WARD COUNCILLOR’S ITEMS
This was accidentally duplicated on the agenda.
14.PUBLIC COMMENTS
14.1 Keith Shepherd of The White Hart asked if any concerns following the recent Beer and Sausage Festival had been reported to the parish council. None had and councillors reported seeing very little litter and no unreasonable parking. It was agreed that using a field to offer free parking was a very good idea and the take up was high. Keith and his team were thanked for a successful event.
14.2 A resident asked whether the Petsoe End Wind Farm Fund was still operational. The clerk reported that it was and she was the Sherington representative. Wendy Austyn reported that Sherington Village Hall had been awarded a significant sum from the fund towards a new boiler; and the other eligible villages had submitted similar successful applications. She confirmed that applications need to be for energy saving projects in order to be considered.
15 COUNCILLORS ITEMS
None.
16. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 3rd June 2014 at the Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm. There being no further business the meeting ended at 8.15 pm.