Minutes – October 2014
Minutes of the Meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 7th October 2014 at Sherington Village Hall, commencing at 7.30pm.
PRESENT: J Ager (Acting Chair), D Hyde, M Northfield, I Collinge, S Cook & J Cook
ALSO ATTENDING: : Hannah Balazs (Clerk), Ward Cllr Keith McLean and thirty five members of the public.
1. RECEIVE AND ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr Alec Denham (Chair).
2. RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr J Cook declared an interest in item 4; Cllr Northfield declared an interest in item 8 and Cllr S Cook declared an interest in item 4.
3. APPROVE MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 2nd September 2014 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman
4. SITE ALLOCATION
Cllr Northfield welcomed new houses that will potentially benefit the school, the village shop and the pub. The plans need to be well considered. He stated that when he moved into Water Lane six years ago it was suggested that there the sewage plant was at capacity and so the 4 houses at End Farm had to be on separate septic tanks. On that basis he questioned how can the village sustain more housing with the sewage treatment plant at capacity already should more houses be built.
Cllr Northfield feels that there are no disadvantages to 2 potential sites, High Street and Water Lane. There have been 2 suggestions made, Water Lane and High Street, although no official applications have been made yet. Cllr Northfield also mentioned that there has been a monitoring project recently to monitor traffic in and out of Water Lane, the results of which should be made available to the parish council in relation to these applications. Cllr Northfield also said that should any development begin within the village, the Council will need to consider the potential implications to these utilities. Cllr J Cook commented that if the village and parish council does not sanction some new houses, that they are in control of, sooner or later Milton Keynes Council will demand new housing and the parish council will not have a say in the matter. A member of the public, Mr Masetti, spoke and raised that a Milton Keynes council document revealed that a member of the parish council had approached Milton Keynes council and requested that the village be considered for development as part of their rural strategy. Cllr Northfield responded and said this was not the case, however the parish council was in support of development to the village. Cllr Hyde was asked to comment. Cllr Hyde commented that during the time when the parish council was chaired by Peter Burton, the parish council responded to a previous consultation and the decision was made in support of limited development, in order to help sustain the village. Cllr Ager informed the members of the public that there will be a public vote regarding the development. Cllr Hyde commented that there had previously been discussion over moderate expansion, the development of around 25 houses. Cllr Collinge said that he did not believe the village needed to keep growing for it to remain viable, the reason given by others to justify development. For example, 20 houses, an increase of 5% within the village, will only result in a proportionate extra 1 or 2 pupils at the school, which will have little or no effect on its viability, other factors such as its Ofsted rating which is lower than the North Crawley and Stoke Goldington schools also being relevant. He also noted that Shopco had confirmed that the shop was viable at present, so an increase in village size to make it viable was not required. He noted that none of the other villages in the Olney Ward thought an increase in their size was needed for them to be viable. In particular, Emberton, Stoke Goldington and North Crawley all had First Schools, in spite of those villages being much smaller than Sherington. No other villages within MKC have any site allocation plans. Cllr Collinge has looked in the Parish Council archives, which show that the 3 green field sites had all been proposed before, and in a questionnaire to all residents in 1999 had been rejected by 90%. Cllr S Cook declared an interest so advised no comment however agrees with Cllr Hyde. Cllr Ager advised that he was totally against large development as doesn’t want to be apart of MK, advised that no more than 10 to 15 homes and to be used/developed within the village and infilling rather than building a new estate, Sherington is a Village and is to remain as a village.
Ward Cllr McLean advised that there will be a village meeting on Thursday 30th October with a drop in from 6pm at the Village Hall
5. DRAFT LOCAL MINERALS PLAN
There is going to be a village meeting on Thursday 23rd October starting with a drop in session at 6pm followed by a meeting at 7:30pm. The meeting has been arranged by the ward Cllrs and Cllr Hosking will be chairing the meeting. ACTION: Ward cllrs
6. CLERK’S REPORT
6.1 Trees at the mound . Clerk advised that she had received an email from a resident advising the trees at the mound had grown a lot and therefore the view in which this was designed for is no longer visible. Clerk will email MKC to ask for the trees to be trimmed back. ACTION: Clerk
7. WARD COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
7.1. Cllr Keith McLean advised the new mayor of Milton Keynes is Newport Pagnell’s Derek Eastman
7.2. Jackie Inskip has been in touch and advised that the work that was due up Church Lane on 13th and 14th July has still not been carried out and there was a breakdown in communication, Keith advised that all residents will receive individual letters to advise when the road resurfacing will take place on 16th, 17th and 18th October. However Cllr Collinge advised the dates had changed again on the website.
8. DITCHES AND DRAINAGE ON THE HIGH STREET
The Autocad survey of the ditches and drainage system from Alban Hill nursery down the High St has now been received and indicates a lot of maintenance still needed. Cllrs agreed to study this document and discuss it at the next meeting 4th November. ACTION: All Cllrs
9. VILLAGE SHOP
Cllr Northfield advised that Nigel and he propose to move the responsibility of the shop over to the Parish Council. They are going to consult the shareholders with the options and hold a vote on if it should be moved to the Parish Council. This will be discussed further in the next meeting on 4th November.ACTION: Shopco
10. FINANCE
10.1 Bank Account balance at 7th October £28,217.29
10.2 Cheques for payment were as follows:
| 07/10/2014 | Martin Jeeves | Perry Lane caretaker/bookings | £100.00 | 102241 |
| 07/10/2014 | HMRC | Clerks PAYE | £23.80 | 102242 |
| 07/10/2014 | Mazars | External Audit Fee | £120.00 | 102243 |
| 07/10/2014 | N Beal | Pavilion cleaner | £63.00 | 102244 |
| 07/10/2014 | Sherington Historical Society | Donation | £500.00 | 102245 |
| 07/10/2014 | MK Mediation Service | Donation | £50.00 | 102246 |
| 07/10/2014 | EON | Electricity for Pavilion | £150.39 | 102247 |
| 07/10/2014 | Wendy Austyn | Clerk’s salary | £201.90 | 102248 |
| 07/10/2014 | Hannah Balazs | Clerk’s salary | £261.33 | 102249 |
| 07/10/2014 | B Tofts | Pavilion Repairs | £157.00 | 102250 |
11. PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND DECISIONS
11.1. 14/02020/TPO Water Lane Farm . Tree Preservation order to fell 1x Ash Tree (T1) as close to ground level and treat the tree stump. ACTION: Clerk
11.2. Decisions. The applications for the 1 Field Close, 55 High Street, 4 Leys View and 31 Crofts Ends were approved. Detailed documents can be accessed via the MKC Planning website.
12. SHERINGTON RECREATION GROUND
12.1. Management committee report. Cllr Ager reported that the meeting was cancelled and will advise at the next meeting on 4th November. Cllr Collinge reminded that there was still a vacancy for a committee member and the post and rail fence needs repairing. Clerk to email MKC to see if this is their responsibility. ACTION: Clerk
12.2. Vacancy. Cllr Collinge reminded the Council that there was still a vacancy for a committee member which needs advertising and filling. ACTION: Clerk
12.3. Fence. Cllr Collinge reported that the Post and Rail Fence at the entrance to the Perry Lane site, by the play area needed repairing. Whilst the grass at that point is shown on the MKC landscape map as being their responsibility, it does not show the fence. Clerk to email MKC to see if this is their responsibility. ACTION: Clerk
12.4. Derelict shelters. Cllr Collinge noted that whilst the derelict shelters had been removed (as per the action at the Jan 14 meeting) the paving stones had not. The area still needs tidying up properly. ACTION: Clerk
13. EXTERNAL MEETINGS
13.1. NECAF meeting 11th September 2014 Cllr Collinge attended and advised this was held at the Pavilion in Emberton and this gives lots of ideas to improve our pavilion, for example they have flat screen TV, Snooker tables etc. The main item was the illegal rave at Petsoe Manor Farm in August. The police explained the action they had taken. Whilst they receive some intelligence that a rave may be taking place (e.g. in the ‘north half of Bucks’), they can’t take specific action until the rave has actually started, when clearing the site is difficult. They warned the public that raves can still take place at any time in the year, not just summer, and therefore people should be alert to strangers showing undue interest in local fields and report unusual activity to the police. The Forum also received a presentation from Serco, who have been awarded the Landscape contract by MKC although the actual landscaping will be carried out by Frosts. ACTION: Cllr Collinge
14. CORRESPONDENCE/NEW CONSULTATIONS
14.1. MKC Draft Minerals Plan, deadline 5th November 2014. As per item 5 there will be a village meeting in the next few weeks to gather as many people’s opinions as possible before forming a considered response from the parish council. All residents are also free to respond to the consultation individually. The date of the village meeting is 23rd October at 6pm for a drop in followed by a meeting at 7:30pm held by the Ward Cllrs at Sherington C of E School. ACTION: All Cllrs/Clerk
14.2. MKC Site Allocations Plan, deadline 5th November 2014. As per item 4 there will be a village meeting in the next few weeks to gather as many people’s opinions as possible before forming a considered response from the parish council. All residents are also free to respond to the consultation individually, and the Clerk will ask for an extension on the deadline. The date of the village meeting is 30th October at 6pm for a drop in followed by a meeting at 7:30pm held at the village hall. ACTION: All Cllrs/Clerk
15.PUBLIC COMMENTS
How much influence does parish council have over MKC, will there be another questionnaire sent out to residents regarding site allocations, is Sherington the only village that has been put forward, Water Lanes passing lanes are not big enough to accommodate for more traffic. Water Lane needs to have traffic monitored during peak times and not just during the day. Roads need to be made bigger, or will there be a road build out of the back of Water Lane. The Water Lane site is very close to the shooting range and flooding needs to be looked at. There is a lot of concern regarding dog walking with the Water Lane site. Also Mason’s Field has been considered for an estate in the past (approx 20yrs ago) so can this site be looked into again as an alternative.
16 COUNCILLORS ITEMS
Cllr Northfield advised that both the Site Allocations Plan and the Minerals Plan are very important to everyone and everyone needs to know and be aware of what is going on.
17. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 4th November 2014 at the Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm. There being no further business the meeting ended at 9.15 pm