Minutes from PC Meeting 1st November 2016

Cllr Geary advised the Parish should send a formal complaint into the council as we should have been informed and an Officer should have been on site. Cllr Bush expressed that it was a general concern as the results were not on MKC website and that nobody from MKC contacted the Parish. Cllr Caldwell asked whether Richard Sakey was still in post as he had heard he was suspended. Cllr Geary confirmed that he had been suspended.

Cllr Geary confirmed that if an officer is unable to attend then the diary should be pulled out and another officer goes in their place.  Cllr Geary advised the Parish to write a letter to Anna Rose expressing our concerns.

 WB/TY

·         Minerals Local Plan – the public enquiry was 2 weeks ago in which Cllr Geary attended and advised that we should know by the New Year what the recommendations are of the planning officer and there are some things in the report that are irregular and need to be clarified before the plan is signed off. 1 change was a separation distance from housing to protect the Lathbury and other places where housing could be affected.  As a result there will be a meeting this Thursday. Cllr Geary confirmed that this was the examination and that the inspector said they think there are issues that they need to go back and look at.  Cllr Geary added that there would be a meeting to look at some wording issues, this will then be published at some point and then out for consultation for 6 weeks.  The PC will have an opportunity to comment. If the plan is regarded as sound then it is up to MKC to adopt the plan.

·         Changes to the Development Control Proposal – there is an 8 week consultation period that has started and there is an email link to a survey which is the chance for the PC to comment. There are 10 yes or no questions which need to be considered carefully. Currently you are able to have 3 people to speak in objection to a planning application but this may now be cut down to 1 person. Regarding the Scheme of Delegation; currently the Government say 90% of applications should be dealt with by officers with delegation powers, MK is currently doing about 92% so they are well within the guideline. Parish Councils have the ability to take the planning application outside the scheme of delegation and they can request the application to be looked at by a Councillor.

Cllr Bush asked whether this automatically happened in which Cllr Geary confirmed it does currently but when the changes happen the PC won’t be able to do it. Ward Cllrs are the only ones able to do this.

·         Devolution of Services – MKC sent a communication regarding services that will be the Parishes responsibility such as landscaping, play areas and litter picking.  Legally that is the responsibility of MKC apart from litter picking which is not a statutory service. There is no frequency to litter picking. Cllr Geary confirmed that the Ward Cllrs are not supporting this and do not like this approach and advised that this is not proposed to happen in this financial year.

TY

TY met MKC at the Pavilion last week to show them the drainage issue along with the ditch that required emptying. TY will be in contact with MKC ongoing to make arrangements for new drainage and then to gravel the car park.

TY confirmed that there were 4 dog bins that needed replacing and advised the cost of £150 each.  Cllrs confirmed to purchase and Cllr Caldwell will ask Charlesberry Kennels for sponsorship.

Cllr Bush signed bank paperwork to confirm change of name and address to TY

TY

 EC

6pm 29^th November 2016 at the Pavilion

6pm 6^th December 2016 at the Village Hall

10am 10^th December 2016 at the Village Hall

Boards will be displayed showing the advantage of the Neighbourhood Plan

A member of public asked what does the Referendum actually ask and Cllr Bush advised that it was run by MKC Polling Department and confirmed that you are asked to confirm the plan or not.

PAVILION – Cllr Caldwell reported that he is now meeting with a lawyer next week along with the landlord to try to move forward on an acceptance basis on discussing the future of the lease. Cllr Caldwell confirmed that he had received legal advice as to whether the lease had expired or not and it was confirmed that it had not. Cllr Caldwell thanked the Clerk with regards to the finance spreadsheet she had created as now there was a clear picture of the running costs and income for the Pavilion. Cllr Caldwell commented that over the past 5 months the pavilion is costing £1000 to run and we are generating roughly £650 a month.

Cllr Bush asked about the surfacing of the car park and TY advised that she was in discussions with MKC to sort the drainage first and then would look at gravelling the car park.  Cllr Caldwell offered to help the clerk in obtaining quotes for the work.

EC

 TY/EC

Counter Act Systems –Inv 31558 CCTV for shop           £501.86

SLCC – Inv 121255 training course for Clerk                £118.08

MKPA – Inv 156092 Ranger Sessions                           £750.00

Mazars – Audit fee                                                     £270.00

Tracey Young – Clerks Salary                                      £254.36

Tracey Young – Pavilion Bookings                                £50.00

Tracey Young – Clerks Expenses                                  £45.06

Lee Brooker – Caretaker Salary                                   £227.85

MK Commercial Ground Care                                      £414.37

Pitchcare – Paint for football pitch                               £136.56

Enhancing Business – website                                     £125.00

Cllr Bush asked whether any trees in the village had tree preservation orders and advised that this is something the Parish need to find out. Cllr Geary commented that the Council go by the 3 D’s, Diseased, Dangerous or Dying when reporting on tree felling applications.

10.2 REF: 16/02180/FUL 5 Park Rd – Demolition of existing garage & the erection of a single storey side extension & detached double car port & creation of bi-fold door to rear of existing dwelling (was application 16/01307/FUL withdrawn).  Cllrs advised no comment.

10.3 REF: 16/02623/OUT Land to the west of 11 Water Lane – erection of single dwelling. Cllr Bush reported that this application was considered at a previous meeting and accepted on reflection as this had not been listed on the website for the requirement of 7 days, therefore the individual would come to the meeting to discuss. At a previous meeting we agreed to support this application and since meeting the individual we advised that we were premature on our decision making and that we would put it back on tonight’s agenda. Cllr Bush added that the reason the Parish were unable to support this application was due to site being outside the settlement boundary and we want to maintain the structure of the village. The individual in question addressed the Cllrs and asked them to reconsider and commented that her family have lived in Sherington since the 1850’s and that she had gone to school in Sherington and had been christened there, 4 generations had been buried in the church yard and that she wanted to return to Sherington. The individual commented that the site borders the settlement boundary and that immediate neighbours had given their support on the application and that she would enlarge the public access.

Cllr Bush responded that we have to apply planning principals and explained that there was a lot of land around the edge of the village that could have individual properties built on it and he didn’t see how we couldn’t support those in the future. Cllr Bush added that applications outside the boundary cannot be supported.  Cllr Bush asked the Cllrs for comments; Cllr Hughes advised that she stood by the Chairman’s decision along with Cllrs Caldwell, Thatcher and Johnstone.

10.4 REF: 16/03092/TCA The Barn Home Farm – crown reduce 1 x metasequoia by 6.5 metres and fell after 1 year. Comments as 10.1 above.

11.2 CPR training 17^th November at 7pm in the Village Hall. TY advised that there was over 20 residents attending.

12.2 Application to install Christmas Lights. Cllr Thatcher confirmed that lights are installed on the Knoll.  Cllr Geary advised that an application was only required if lights were being installed over the highway.

12.3 Email from Environmental Waste – Provisional figures on amount spent for Street Cleansing £3230.00, Landscaping £2344.00 & Play Areas £1492.00.  Cllr Geary explained earlier on in the meeting.

Cllr Caldwell commented that the site allocation plans for MK seem to be more of the infill in the centre than one was hoping for a rural constituency. Cllr Geary responded that site allocations do not affect the rural areas apart from filling the 5 year housing land supply although these may well have been filled as there are a lot of housing applications and added that there were around 250 applications in Hanslope. Cllr Caldwell added that a Xmas tree would need to be ordered for the Knoll. TY to order and speak to Tony Pilcher regarding the lights.

All Cllrs added that we support the use of green wheelie bins

Cllr Johnstone reported that there was some interesting readings from the SIDs and that the road from Olney to Sherington people were driving significantly over the speed limit, the majority driving over 70mph.

TY