Mapledurwell & Up Nately Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

Date:  18^th January 2010 Venue:  Mapledurwell Village Hall Commencing: 8pm

Present:  Chairman Donald Komrower Vice- Chairman Sam Preece

Councillors:  Alan Hutton, Hilary Hossack, And Di Coate-Bond Clerk: Susan Lefley. 

1              APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.  No apologies received.

2              MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING. Minutes of the meeting on 16^th November 2009 were approved by all the councillors as a true record and signed by Donald Komrower.

3              ACTIONS FROM LAST MEETING

                9.2.1 Clerk has been in touch with Glenn Peacey and has arranged a date for a future meeting.

                5.2.1 The clerk has returned the precept and general grant form and has also confirmed the parish will be receiving £1000 towards grass cutting also this year.

                6.1.1 Clerk passed on information to the fund raisers re; SEEDA

                6.1.2 Clerk sent the land valuation to Mr Yaxley. See 7.1

                6.2.1 Due to snow, the tennis courts have not been assessed as yet for the new surface. Quotes will be presented at the next meeting.

                Hilary to obtain quotes

                6.3.1. The football contract will be drawn up shortly.

                Donald to draw up contract

                7.2.1. The grass contractor has promised to collect the grass cuttings around the pond in future. He was using the existing compost heap.

                11.1.2 Clerk placed notice in Villager re English Rural.

                11.2.1 The east of Basingstoke group SOLVE was discussed, a body of 5-6 very good people who are actively discussing a strategy of how to prevent this area appearing in the LDF. It was thought it might be a good idea to invite them to give a presentation at the APA in May to the parishioners.  Mr Hutton was worried that too much emphasis being placed on ethereal items, rather than looking at the items such as the road infrastructure that is already in place in this area. With the Reading Road, the A30 and the closer link to the M3, with these already in position, the money usually given to put the infrastructure in could find its way into coffers not benefitting the local residents.  Maybe it was for this reason Manydown was quashed? Possibly too expensive to make the area accessible and too far from the motorway junction.  The parish council is still committed to helping via Country Watch.

                Clerk to invite SOLVE to speak at APA

                13.1. Clerk contacted B&DBC re: 30mph signs and a meeting is being organised.

                13.2 Telephone kiosk at Up Nately. See 13.1

                13.3. Funding towards the Victoria County History Project was discussed.  The parish council understands that other parishes might now have to contribute towards their own history projects as government funding has been limited. Clerk to find out what costs are involved with these other parishes and whether the parish size might influence cost.  The parish council would prefer a formal, specific request and is concerned that there will not be a book or something tangible they can show the parishioners for their money.

                Clerk to contact Lorna and ask the above.               

4              PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT.

Recent Applications;

BDB/71730 Kingfishers Cottage, Frog Lane, Mapledurwell. Application for a certificate of lawfulness for the dwelling known as Kingfishers Barn.

BDB/71827 Priory Farm, Andwell. Display of scaffold mounted, non-illuminated, free standing sign.

Approved;

BDB/71433 Eastrop Farm House, Heather Row Lane, Up Nately. Internal alterations and rebuild rear porch. No objection

BDB/71534 Blaegrove House, Blaegrove Lane, Up Nately.      Extension of time limit of planning permission BDB/64738, for the erection of a single storey front extension involving raising of the roof with an office in the roof space and construction of a glazed dormer window.

BDB/71258 & BDB/71257 Jackdaw Cottage, Blaegrove Lane, Up Nately. Erection of a two storey building

Refused;  BDB/71321 Kingfishers Cottage, Frog Lane, Mapledurwell. Application for a certificate of lawfulness for the dwelling known as Kingfishers Barn and for the use of land as residential land. Insufficient evidence for a certificate of lawfulness.

5.            FINANCE.  

5.1.1      Payments were approved and cheques signed by two Councillors.

Chq. No 000481                 Sam Preece                        £49.55                   Village Hall Planning Ex’s

5.1.2.     The clerk verified with the borough that the parish would be receiving the £1000 towards the grass cutting for 2010/11 and has been told it will be paid into the account in April

Clerk to check statement that money is received.

6.            RECREATION.

6.1.1 The clerk sent Mr Yaxley a copy of the land valuation and he wrote back agreeing to sell the plot of land for £4,000.   The clerk contacted the Hampshire Association of Local Councils to ask the cost of using their solicitors (Hedley’s) and the price given to handle the purchase of the land is £400 plus VAT with a further £50 for the Land Registry.   The councillors were all asked to vote with a show of hands and it was unanimously agreed that the parish council should purchase the land.

Clerk to write to Mr Yaxley and appoint the solicitor.

6.1.2      Sam Preece was asked to give an update on the Village Hall. Three contractors have been approached to offer a tender for the sub phases; the new car park, the realignment of the football pitch and the entrance changes.  Each quotation has been broken down into understandable cost packages which satisfy the specifications which accompanied the drawings. With the help of David Hooper and Bruce Coate-Bond they have decided upon a contractor who is in the process of fine tuning his quotation.  The next stage is to talk to the sub committee about getting the funds.  It was suggested that all the phases be priced up and presented to the parish at the APA.

Mr Hutton commented that the scheme was fine but were we throwing the money in the wrong place? He has long thought that the village hall is in the wrong place, too near the motorway and too noisy. That there might be an opportunity to build a new village hall on the site of Mr Saunders’s sheds, creating a new recreation ground and football pitch. The existing site used to create more homes and maybe place a bund. Sam Preece felt that the site would be too far from Up Nately but Mr Hutton disagreed, saying that most people drive and it would only be a little further. It was felt that the time scale for this would be too long and out of reach and we should ‘go for what we can grasp now.’ It was considered that for now this money will improve the site and hall and get us through the next five years. Maybe at a later date another opportunity will arise. Mr Hutton just wanted to be sure that this option was mentioned in the minutes.

In the meantime, the parish needs to be given a document, giving time scales, quotes, options etc for the work in hand.

6.2.1 There has been a report of dog fouling in the recreation ground. The dog warden has been informed and will be periodically checking the site.  This is the most anti social behaviour, especially on a sports ground where children play.

Hilary to place another notice in Villager.

7.            OPEN SPACES.  No issues.

8.            ROADS AND FOOTPATHS.

8.1.1 The parish council are to meet up with representatives from the HCC & B&DBC to discuss the problem of speeding traffic along the Greywell Road.  Traffic calming measures may be offered but possibly not the 30mph sign. Mr Hutton is not in favour of these signs in a rural location as he fears that street lighting will be the next stage.

8.2.1. The snow on the roads in the parish was not removed by local contractors as the council did not request them to do so. If they had taken it upon themselves to clear the road, they would have been liable.

9.            PARISH INITIATIVES

9.1.1 A meeting to discuss broadband speeds in the parish has been arranged for Monday 1^st March at 8.15pm in the village hall. Glenn Peacey from eHampshire will be giving a presentation on this subject.  All welcome.

10.          MOTORWAY BUND/NOISE

10.1 The parish council has been approached by Carter Jonas, land agents acting on behalf of Mr McNair Scott in relation to a development scheme within the parish. There is a proposal for a noise attenuation bund along the southern side of the M3, directly opposite the Hatch Industrial/ Caravan Park. They have asked if they can present their scheme to the parish for their views. The parish council have decided the best and most appropriate forum in which to do this would be at the Annual Parish Assembly held every May.

Clerk to invite them to speak at the APA on May 20^th 2010.

10.1 Maria Miller wrote to the Chief Executive of the Highways Dept to ask why the stretch of the M3 running past the village was omitted for resurfacing. Our stretch comes under the third phase of works and will be subject to funding and there is a risk that the allocated budget might not cover this scheme. It did not really answer why this section was left out and we can only wait and see what the new financial year will bring.  The parish council will continue to push for this work to be done.

11.          CORRESPONDENCE/CONSULTATIONS/PARISH COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION.

11.1 The parish council received a letter offering a risk assessment system for parish councils. The cost was £75 plus VAT.  Donald asked if there might be a template available at HALC which we could use for free instead.

Clerk to investigate.

12.          DATE FOR THE FUTURE MEETINGS.

12.1 The date for the next meeting is set for Monday 1^st March. This will run from 7pm-8pm, followed by the broadband presentation in the main hall at 8.15pm.                                                                                                       

13.          MATTERS ARISING

13.1 The Parish Council have been asked if they would like to adopt the telephone kiosk in Up Nately. The telephone apparatus will be removed. The current condition of the kiosk has been noted as being pretty dire and would need regular maintenance; also liability would transfer to the Parish Council if they accept the proposal.  We need to apply before 23^rd January 2010. The village was consulted on the matter and an article was placed in the villager but nobody has come forward with an opinion.  The parish council feels that the best solution would be to ask BT to remove the kiosk but that they should change the modern kiosk in Mapledurwell back to the old style, iconic version.

Clerk to approach BT and find out if this is possible. 

13.2 More dates were decided upon for forthcoming meetings; Monday 1^st March 7pm until 8pm, followed by a meeting concerning broadband. Monday April 19^th at 8pm and a date for the Annual Parish Assembly; Thursday 20^th May at 7.30pm.

13.3 The parish council was sent information regarding providing for community emergencies. This will be looked into in the near future but would rely upon local volunteers.

14.          MEETING CLOSED at 9.45pm