Minutes of the meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 2nd February 2016 at Sherington Village Hall, commencing at 7.30pm
PRESENT: Cllrs W Bush (Chair) A Thatcher (Vice Chair), A Hughes, E Caldwell, R.Johnstone, R.Constantine
ALSO ATTENDING: Ward Cllr Geary, Keith McLean (Councillor for Olney Ward & Mayor), Hannah Balazs (Clerk), Tracey Young (Clerk) and ten members of the public.
| ACTION | |
| 1. RECEIVE AND ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE | |
| None | |
| 2. RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST | |
| None | |
| 3. APPROVE MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING – 5TH January 2016 | |
| The minutes of the meeting held on 5th January 2016 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman, Cllr W Bush. | |
| 4. ANY MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES | |
| PLAN MK – Consultation underway. We will be preparing the submission within the next few weeks and this should be agreed at the next meeting on the 1st March. A public meeting to be held on 9th February at 7.30pm and an officer from MKC will attend to answer any questions.
Planning Appeal – hearing was held on 7th January and result expected in 4-6 weeks Footpath in Newport, Cllr McLean and Cllr Geary are pushing for this and it has not been forgotten. Cllr McLean advised if it’s not done by the time the birds start nesting then it will be done later in the year. It is a Highways job. New Clerk Appointed – Tracey Young Cllr Position – Cllr Hughes has a possible candidate for the position New Contractor – is required to mow certain elements of grass. Cllr Caldwell is attending a meeting with regards to this so will have an update shortly. Website – Cllr Thatcher advised that the website is LIVE and working as an effective library that goes back to 2013. Cllr Thatcher would like to receive any feedback about the website. The old website is still active and has not been redirected and therefore Cllr Thatcher will do a “door to door” and put information into SCAN so people are aware of the new website along with a flyer on the post box. Extraordinary Meeting – 23rd January to approve budget for next year and agree Precept which has all been done and gone in |
ALL CLLRS |
| 5. PROPOSAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO LEGAL COSTS OF CAMPAIGN: PLAN MK | |
| This has been discussed in matters arising – please see above. | |
| 6. RECEIVE WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT | |
| Cllr Geary advised that we have until the 6th April regarding Plan MK to respond. Some CLLRs will attend the meeting next week and will draft something. MKC budgets are due to be agreed on the 17th. There is some changes, 1 is the Kitchener Centre where people from the village will go to, that was proposed for closure. Some items haven’t been resolved such as pink sacks and green wheelie bins, some play areas that we need to keep an eye on over the year. In villages where you only have 1 playground these should not be closed. Consultation is still open. The budget is proposing a 3.9% council tax rise. There was a £75k saving in bus services and 1 route that was affected was the NP to MK but nothing is affected within the rural areas as yet. | ALL CLLRS
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| 7. RECEIVE CLERKS REPORT | |
| 1 – Have not heard anything further from MKC regarding the repairs to the Pavillion car park, Martin has been moving gravel around to fill in the holes.
2 – An email has been received advising the Village can apply for road closures for a Street Party on the 21st April 2016 to celebrate the Queens 90th Birthday. If interested please contact the PC for an application form. 3 – The new PC website is WWW.sheringtonpc.co.uk and will be kept up to date with relevant information 4 – A local resident has reported a flooded garden due to sewage which they have reported to MKC and Anglian Water but nothing has been done. Cllr Geary requires more information that Hannah will provide. |
HB |
| 8. RECEIVE REPORT FROM NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP | |
| We now have final policies which we need to publish and those policies are now being applied to site allocation. There is a Task Group looking at various sites for development around the village and applying these policies to them. The Task Group met last Tuesday and meeting again tomorrow. There has been a bit of a debate with regards to where Sherington sits given the aftermath of Frosts and the planning situation where MKC are conceding a lack of 5 year housing supply. Cllr Hughes and Cllr Bush took some legal advice regarding the situation and we need to demonstrate that we have a robust Neighbourhood Plan which is allocating sites for development because we have 2 other planning applications in the Village there may well be more. MKC are not being clear regarding the 5 year housing plan. The advice is to get on and produce a robust Neighbourhood Plan and if we do not allocate sites for development we are not going to do very well in appeals. If an inspector sees a good Neighbourhood Plan we’ve got a good chance of defending it. Move forward in the next couple of weeks to come up with our preferred sites and take representations from local land owners and take on ideas. After the meeting with Shoesmiths, we feel we are in the right place.
Cllr Thatcher is leading a group on communications that captures every single email and conversation that is had and able to search. The Task Force meetings are working parties and their findings will be fed back which is next Wednesday. Cllr Caldwell attended a meeting in Newport Pagnell regarding a plan that was quite advanced and had several stages. It was interesting to see in progress as people were still adding to it. |
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| 9. RECEIVE WORKING PARTY REPORTS AND CONSIDER MATTERS ARISING | |
| Both the shop and the Pavilion now have sub-committees who will report back regularly to the monthly PC meetings.
Shop: Cllr Johnstone reported meeting pending with the planning office, FT planning application is as of the end of May to go and see him. It is up until the 31st May this year. Temporary planning is up until 2017. Pavilion: Cllr Johnstone reported we have received a letter from Michael Cook on behalf of Shire Farms who own the playing field, this was noted on the meeting on the 23rd January 2016. The annual rent became due on the 29th September 2015 and there was no invoice raised. Hannah was made aware of the fact yet the rent has not been paid, which in the opinion of the landowner invalidates the lease. The outstanding amount should be paid immediately and an invoice was requested. Cheques cannot be paid until relevant paperwork is received. The landowner commented that the rent has been £100 per annum for 35 years, and that also the matter “is not a big deal”.
We not have 3 quotes for building work which is a positive and works will commence forthwith.
We have had several discussions and meetings with users regarding the increase in rent which is moving forward. |
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| 10. FINANCE | |
| Bank Account balance 2nd February 2016 – £ 30,659.81 | |
| 10.1. Approve Cheques for payment – Approved
Hannah Balazs – Pavilion Bookings £50.00 Hannah Balazs – Clerks Salary £151.74 Martin Feasey – Caretaker Salary £189.52 Oliver Powell – Expenses from NP £80.00 Anita Thatcher – Survey Monkey £26.00 Clearwater Technology – Tested water at Pavilion £318.00 Anita Thatcher – Clerks Training £47.54 Will Bush – Website Payment £390.00 Enhancing Business Ltd – Website Payment £385.00
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| 11. PLANNING APPLICATIONS – CONSIDER RESPONSE TO MKC | |
| 28 High St – Neighbours are objecting as it is quite a big extension and it encroaches on that plot. Also the neighbours are maintaining the road and if construction traffic damage the road they want to be ensured that it gets fixed. Road is a shared access and paid for by the neighbours. Any damage caused by construction vehicles should be paid for. Cllr McLean highlighted this is a civil matter and therefore cannot be enforced by the PC.
No adverse comments to be lodged. 10 School Lane – rear extension not visible from the road No adverse comments to be lodged |
HB
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| 12. EXTERNAL MEETINGS | |
| None | |
| 13. CONSIDER CORRESPONDENCE AND NEW CONSULTATIONS | |
| None | |
| 14. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENTS | |
| None | |
| 15. COUNCILLORS ITEMS | |
| Cllr Constantine: pot holes. Cllr McLean mentioned roads should be checked quarterly and if you see a pot hole report it on the MKC website. Cllr Geary mentioned a pot hole needs to be 50mm deep to be repaired.
Cllr Thatcher directed to Cllr Geary: do you have an update on the reported system? They have decided to spend 300k on upgraded a system, there is a new front facing system you will see and due to change 1st April and meant to offer major benefits. The new system should be a lot more seamless. |
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| 16. DATE OF NEXT MEETING | |
| The next Parish Meeting will be at the village hall on Tuesday 1st March 2016, 7.30pm.
There being no further business the meeting ended at 2100hrs |