Draft Minutes of the meeting of Sherington Parish Council held at the Pavilion on Tuesday 14th September 2021, commencing at 7.30 pm
PRESENT: Cllrs McNeil, Shires, Mears, Nokes and Palmer, Parish Clerks Lauren Scott, and Will Pike.
ALSO ATTENDING: Ward Cllrs Mclean and Hosking, PCSO Huckle, Jeff Charles Caretaker, and 9 members of the public.
- Receive and accept apologies: Cllr Meldrum, Cllr Geary.
- Receive declarations of interest: Cllr McNeil in respect of BarnCo and Cllr Shires in respect of The Pavilion.
- Receive the resignation of Chairman Cllr Hindler and appoint a new Chairman: It was agreed to minute The Council’s thanks to Cllr Hindler for his service to the community, his written resignation accepted, Lauren Scott informed the room that notice had been given to the Electoral services manager and the vacancy notice posted to the village noticeboards and website. Cllr McNeil agreed to step into the role, proposed by Cllr Mears seconded by Cllr Shires. It was agreed to adopt a rolling Vice-chair position whereby everyone can be asked to take the seat, if necessary; Proposed by Cllr McNeil seconded by Cllr Nokes.
- Approve Minutes from the meeting 26th July: Approved
- Receive Ward councilors report: The Ward councilors were warmly welcomed back to the meetings, they invited questions and comments from the Parish Councillors. Cllr McNeil asked what could be done in regard to the MKEAST development, Cllr Hoskings advised the council to write a letter of objection to the planning department, it was voted on and unanimously agreed to add this to the clerks’ action log for action asap.
It was also noted that a review of the SNP should be undertaken with greater urgency.
Cllr Mclean asked that a request for feedback on the MKCONNECT service be added to the website.
- Receive PCSO report: PCSO David Huckle introduced himself and gave a short report (See attached) He stressed the importance of Neighbourhood watch groups and community engagement through services such as Thames valley alert, all of which will be added to the website. A member of the public asked what could be done about the Car racing that can be heard along the A509 and was advised to report to TVP either through the online reporting system or calling 101.
On the subject of fly-tipping, PCSO Huckle advised to take a picture and report to him directly or via the Thames valley alert system.
- Review of action log: it was agreed this would be sent out again and then printed out before every meeting.
- Clerks report: It was noted that work had been started on one area of overgrown hedging and LS will investigate the ownership of the other areas, if these come under the PC then they will be added to the landscapers’ scheme of works.
Notice boards for Perry Lane and The Barwood estate will be researched in greater depth to get the best value for money.
A walk around the village will be undertaken to assess any areas needing work.
One extra dog poo bin will be added to the village at the Barwood estate This was voted on unanimously and added to the clerks’ actions.
- Receive caretaker report: Jeff gave a short report, he is in the process of gathering quotes for work required to keep the willow tree located in the pavilion car park in optimum condition. This will be voted on at the next meeting.
- Project group updates: The possibility of setting up small working parties or sub-committees to cover some areas of PC work was agreed upon and will be worked on to varying degrees over the coming months.
Pavilion: Bookings are increasing, and groups are making several bookings or block bookings which gives us continuity. A new Saturday league team has also been found. The new doors are due to be fitted W/C 21st which is all positive, however, price increases will need to be implemented soon to recoup some costs and to start the improvement schedule. A new bin is required for the MUGA area, Clerk to get quotes, floodlighting of the area, and fencing around the perimeter of the sports pitch also needs to be investigated.
MUGA: This project is dragging on, the contractor assures us work will recommence shortly, clerk to ensure we are not liable for any extra costs incurred, Cllr McNeil is chasing the contractor.
SHOP: Cllr McNeil gave a brief update on where we are with the shop; A letter was received from the current shop tenant’s solicitor regarding their rights to a new shop building, we received legal advice and are currently considering our position. To protect all those involved we will not be publishing any more information at this time. It was agreed that Cllrs McNeil and Palmer will work on this area together.
BarnCo: Preplanning advice has been received and Cllrs Nokes and Meldrum will liaise with Mr. Fern on this area.
Landscaping: A walkabout will be organised to ascertain ownership of areas in need to work, maintenance of bushes in the pavilion carpark and within the perimeter of the field will be added to the Shires contract if necessary.
Biodiversity: Cllr Mears gave an update on the sterling work undertaken by volunteers within the community; to both Stonepits Copse and Gods Acre, we thank them for their dedication. Please keep an eye open for calls to help with these projects in the future.
Drainage: Cllr Mears spoke at length about the work that has been put in by a band of hardworking volunteers to ensure the flooding of previous years is not repeated, we are very grateful for their assistance and would like to record our grateful thanks.
A discussion ensued and it was agreed to continue to work on this area with the group of volunteers headed by Steven Kennedy and to ask the community for help with specific tasks.
Highways: Cllr Shires gave an update on progress with the decorative village signs and the Clerk read out a short written statement from a group within the village interested in spending the S106 arts fund on decorative village entrance markers with the aim of reducing speeding within the village, MKC is currently reviewing their policy on signage and Cllr Shires has received conflicting advice, a lengthy discussion ensued and the ward councilors offered their advice and it was agreed to add this topic to the agenda for the next meeting.
- Finance: The AGAR for last year is now on the website.
MONTHLY BALANCES:
Current Account: £52,646.56
Savings Account: £35,475.91
Payments Due: £5,811.44
Total Funds: £82,311.72
APPROVE INVOICES FOR PAYMENT: All were approved
- Planning: 1A Gun Lane, No objections.
Land west of 11 Water Lane, it was brought to The Councils attention that the objection previously logged by the PC, made in haste due to a lack of prior knowledge of the situation and the fact it came up within our off month, had erroneously been objected to on the grounds that it is outside the bounds of the current SNP. The landowner politely corrected the PC as to the situation, the land having already been granted prior planning permission and the new plan is a reduction in the size of the build thereby lessening the impact on the environment. all agreed to write a statement to retract the objection and show our support of this plan and it was agreed that the clerk would action this asap.
- Consider correspondence and new consultations: It was agreed to try adding a volunteer group update to the project group updates section of the agenda, to enable The Council to keep up to date with what other groups in the village are working on.
- External meetings: Cllr McNeil and the clerk met with PCSO Huckle recently and Cllr Nokes will set up a meeting with Mr. Fern in respect of BarnCo in due course.
- Councilors’ items: It was agreed to take a proactive approach to recruiting volunteers for the SNP and Cllr Mears will work on an advertising campaign to include posters, leaflets, and posts on social media.
- Receive public comment: A message was received by the clerk regarding the possible relocation of a small tree within the triangle on the crossroads of School Lane and Church Road it was agreed to look into the reason the tree had been planted and by whom and to make a decision accordingly.
An email received by the clerk regarding dogs found wandering alone around the village was also shared and it was agreed to put up more signage to keep dogs on a lead in residential areas, however, enforcing this is not something the PC are able to do so the advice is if you see a dog out roaming phone the local dog warden and report it. Details will be added to the website.
A request to move the date of the meeting was received and it was agreed to trial moving to the second Tuesday going forward.
- Date of the next meeting: 12th