Minutes from the PC Meeting 11th June 2019

SHERINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

Minutes of the meeting of Sherington Parish Council held on Tuesday 11^th June 2019, at the Pavilion, commencing at 7.30pm

 

PRESENT: Cllrs Watts, Hindler, Shires, M Crabb, S Crabb and Readman, Parish Clerk Will Pike.

ALSO ATTENDING: 7 members of the public and Ward Councillor Mclean.

 

1. RECEIVE AND ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Ward Cllrs Geary and Hosking. All apologies accepted.

 

2. RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Cllr Shires declared and interest in the rent of the Pavilion should it come up.

 

3. APPROVE MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING

Minutes for the last two meetings were approved and signed by Cllr Watts.

 

4. RECEIVE WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT

Points were raised as follows:

 

May tends to be fairly quiet due to the elections and reorganisation of the cabinet and council departments.

 

Parish Councils and members of the public will soon be able to view and review the proposals for the developments at Mulsoe. It was agreed that the Parish Council should try to push people who are concerned into making comments directly with MKC.

 

A member of the public again mentioned the development at The Barn, Gun Lane and MKC’s mishandling of the planning application. It was confirmed that an official complaint had been made asking for a full explanation of the process that led to the incorrect decision being made and what action will be taken to ensure the error is not repeated.

 

A member of the public also asked for more information about the timeframe of the potential Mulsoe development. It was noted that no timeframe can yet be given as the development is still at the proposed stage and is yet to go to public consultation as mentioned above.

 

5. RECEIVE REPORT ON ACTIONS FROM LAST MEETING

The Parish Council stated that they had conducted a ‘walk-around’ of the village on the weekend prior to the meeting, several issues had been encountered to be discussed later in the meeting.

 

It was agreed to contact Bob Widd at MKC though regarding some trees in the village that were perceived to need maintenance work.

 

The parking situation at the junction of High Street and Crofts End was mentioned. It was again emphasised that planning for the commercial developments were passed on the basis of sufficient parking being provided but this does not appear to tie in with observations made. The possibility of extending white lines around the junction was mooted and will be looked at further.

 

Cllr Watts had placed notices on several cars over the previous month requesting they not park across the pavements on Crofts End and reported that this had significantly improved that aspect of the parking issues.

 

The S106 agreements for both ongoing developments in the village will also be looked at in more detail in order to determine when promised funds can be released to the village.

 

6. CLERKS REPORT

WP mentioned the following:

 

A request had been received from the charity Scope to place a clothes bin in the village. It was decided not to go ahead with this at this time as no suitable site could be found.

 

The phone equipment in the red phone box on The Knoll had finally been removed and after discussion it was agreed to proceed with turning this asset into a book depository for the village. Cllr Hindler is to provide quotes for tidying the inside and providing shelving etc to facilitate this.

 

It was agreed to continue with the sessions provided once a week by MK Play association. There had been a high turnaround of staff at the organisation which has led to delays in the service this year.

 

The Parish Council has been asked to provide possible street names for the development at Water Lane. Rose Close was proposed due to links with an early 20^th century land owner. It was then mooted that any naming could be linked to the sad passing of local resident Phil Smith. It was agreed to also look into this possibility and to consult with the family regarding this.

 

At this point the Parish Council also wished to state their condolences to the family of Phil Smith and hoped that in some way they could continue his legacy of village support and promotion.

 

The need to check any insurance issues with the phone box was then mentioned.

 

7. PROJECT GROUP UPDATES

PAVILION:

There are several maintenance issues to be looked at by Cllr M Crabb. These include the alarm system and the doors leading out to the pitch at the front.

SHOP:

A further meeting will be arranged and held as soon as possible.

BIODIVERSITY:

Cllr Shires reported that the Open Day had been a great success with lots of positive comments especially surrounding the proposed work at Stonepits Copse.

Liz Revell and David Williams were looking into the possibility of Grant Funding for the proposed works.

It was agreed to start the work immediately with some cutting of simple pathways through the field to get interest in the project and then slowly develop further as time goes on.

It was stated that the concept of providing a balance between wildlife and amenities will always be at the fore of any developments.

 

8. CARETAKERS REPORT

Cllr Hindler had met with the caretaker and will meet again shortly to determine what work needs doing and can be done. Several road signs around the village had been identified as needing work or repair.

 

9. FINANCE

Current Account Balance: £3,613.17

Savings Account Balance: £50,599.05

Cheques Due for Payment: £4,073.19

Total therefore being held is £50,139.03

 

All cheques were approved for payment.

 

10. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
    • UPDATE ON THE APPEAL LODGEDFOR THE LAND EAST OF THE HIGH STREET

The appeal has been dismissed. The reasons are available to view on the planning portal: There is 5+ years supply of housing within Milton Keynes and the application did not comply with various policies defined in the Neighbourhood Plan.

• CONSIDERATION OF OUTSTANDING OR RECENTLY SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS

None.

 

11. CONSIDER CORRESPONDENCE AND NEW CONSULTATIONS

None.

 

12. EXTERNAL MEETINGS

As mentioned above the Parish Council had been on a village walkaround to determine any visual issues with the village.

 

Olney Ward Forum is being held on the 26^th June. It was agreed that Cllr Hindler would try to attend.

 

13. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENTS

A member of the public had attended the meeting to discuss her frustrations over the application for affordable housing in the village. They had been told that there wasn’t any in the village despite MKC asking for applications for the new developments. It was agreed after much discussion to try to arrange a meeting with Michael Keller the service director at MKC to ensure all members of his staff are up to date with information.

 

A potential memorial to Phil Smith was again mentioned at this point and it was agreed to ask for responses and ideas from the public and also for Cllr Shires to approach the family directly to ensure their input and ultimately permission was sought.

 

Several mentions of street lights and highways issues were mentioned. It was agreed to invite a senior member of the Highways team at MKC to a future meeting to discuss properly.

 

14. COUNCILLORS ITEMS

Cllr Watts mentioned that the developers at Water Lane wanted confirmation that the Parish Council were happy with the three months ‘Local Connection’ period where all houses will be offered to local residents first. This was agreed and Cllr Watts will confirm with the developer. The developer has also agreed to promote this around the village with further details to follow.

 

There was still debate over who owned the footpath between the High Street and Crofts End where flooding issues have been occurring. It was agreed to take this up with the Land Registry to try to determine ownership and then ultimately responsibility.

 

15. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 2^nd July 2019.