| 01/06 - To approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 6th December 2005 The minutes of the meeting held on 6th December 2005 had been circulated, were taken as read, agreed by all, and signed by the Chairman Councillor Pearson. 02/06 - Matters arising 115/05 Village Plan Update - The Chairman Cllr Pearson reported that he had contacted the two people who had shown some interest in the Village Plan and passed their details onto Cllr Langan. 117/05 Precept for 2006/07 The Clerk had adjusted the figures from 3% to 2.8% as requested and sent the relevant paperwork to B&DBC. Updated copies of the figures had been given to the Councillors. 03/06 - To note the minutes of the Planning Meeting held on Monday 5th December 2005 Copies of the minutes had been given to all Councillors. BDB/61346 - Land at 11 & 15 Penwood Heights. The Council were very disappointed in B&D’s approval of this application. It seemed that they had ignored all the Parish Councils comments and also taken no notice of the VDS. Cllrs Farmer asked what was the point of the VDS, which B&D had encouraged the village to produce, and paid for, when they then took no notice of what was in it. The Clerk was asked to write to the Planning Department and ask them why they are not taking any notice of it. This development was totally out of keeping with the other houses on the estate and also far taller than the rest of them. BDB/61717 - Land at Grey Tiles, Andover Road. The Council were concerned that this application had been passed as there was now going to be an extra entrance/exit onto the A343. The Council felt that Winchester seemed to ignore the problems of this very busy road. Cllr Farmer asked if he could have a copy of Officer’s Report and general notes. The Clerk would provide. BDB/61714 - Land at Whitewood & Limeridge, Pantings Lane. There had been mentioned in relation to this property that if the Council passed the application for 3 houses the owners of the existing houses would draw up an agreement in that there would be no more development. The Chairman asked if any more had been done about this. It was not known at this time if this had happened. The Clerk would check with the Planning department at BDBC. 04/06 - Borough Councillors Report Borough Cllr Mitchell was unable to attend the meeting because of another meeting at B&D, a copy of his report was given to all Councillors. The Chairman went through the main points of his report. The Borough Councillors report in full is at the end of the minutes. SE Plan – HCC had put forward the target of 710 houses a year to the Regional Assembly. At a meeting for the Boundary Review the Borough had requested the Conservatives proposals to put forward both Options A and C and voted to send only Option C. The Council has decided to provide green wheelie bins throughout the rural area. Local Plan – The Inspector’s report recommendation to remove the SPB at Highclere and Cllr Mitchell was supporting this unless there were strong objections locally. He had written to the Council in December suggesting a meeting with the Highclere Society and local residents so this subject could be discussed more widely. Dates were discussed and the Clerk would check with Cllr Mitchell, Patrick Hedgeland, Chairman of the Highclere Society and the village halls to see which date would suit the majority of interested people. The Council also felt that it would be a good idea to invite residents from the rest of Cllr Mitchell’s ward. Heathlands & Woodlands – We are still awaiting the draft leaflet promised in connection with the community development etc around Penwood. New Greenham Park – He was keeping in touch the proposals for the ‘Sainsburys’ site. Cllr East said that a meeting was being held shortly and even if he were unable to attend it he would be able to give the rest of the Council feed back from it. There was great concern among the Councillors that all the traffic would come up the old A34 through New Town and onto the A34 at Tothill, whilst in the Northwards directions there was nearly all dual carriage way to A34/M4 junction but Newbury did not wish the heavy lorries to come through the town. Cllr East mentioned that Prologis had had the reports, surveys etc done that were needed by Newbury Council and he felt that the feeling was that it would be passed. The JAG committee were thinking of approaching a legal expert but they were running low on funds. Cllr Langan suggested perhaps a weight limit could be put on the road through New Town but this might take many years of lobbying. The Parish Council felt that Cllr Maxwell would be our strongest ally. The Clerk would let Cllrs Maxwell and Mitchell know the Councils concerns. 05/06 - Appointment of the New Clerk The contract had been drawn up and was duly signed at the meeting by the Chairman and the new clerk Mike Harwood. There would be a two month handover with the existing clerk. 06/06 A343 and Penwood Cross Roads Cllr Farmer was not happy with the way that HCC seemed to be treating the problems of this road at Highclere. He had done a note and a copy was given to all Councillors. This note, which he went through quickly, was a recount of what had happened over the years and the correspondence that had been sent to HCC. He was not sure what could now be done and what was the way forward. Cllr Pearson mentioned that there had been a meeting last year at the cross roads at Penwood with the Borough Councillor, County Councillor and a few of the Parish Councillors. This had been held to try and get more publicity for the junction. In the last year the 40mph sign to the south of the village had finally been moved further south. The Clerk said she had been in touch with HCC re the lack of lighting at the North bound entrance/exit from the A343 to the A34. She had been advised that it would be too expensive to erect lighting but HCC would see if they could provide lit bollards. With regard to the heavy lorries coming through the village, because it was an ‘A’ road it was difficult to have them stopped but HCC have said they would check on the signage at Andover. The Council felt that there was probably not much more that they could do. The Clerk was asked to send notes re the problems to Cllr Maxwell so he is aware of the Council’s feeling. The Chairman said that Cllr Farmer should now pursue it as an individual, which he had been doing and would probably continue to do. 07/06 - Sentinel Update Cllr East was very disappointed with the response that had been lacking from Sentinel after the meeting that had been held in the summer. They had finally sent a report to the people who had attended the walkabout with the problems and who was responsible for sorting them out. They had also said they would compile a draft leaflet for all residents of Penwood. This still had not been done. Cllr East felt that Sentinel was still not controlling their bad tenants on the estate. It was a pity because on the whole it was an attractive estate just spoilt by a few people. Cllr East wondered if Maurice Peck might be interested in helping as he is thought to represent the area on the residents’ association. He would ask him. Cllr East also said that though some paths had been cleared there were still many of them overgrown. The Clerk would speak to Su Morgan at Sentinel and find out it they were doing anything more re the draft leaflet. 08/06 - Highclere Village Hall - Trust Deeds and relevant documents Cllr Farmer had written a note to the Chairman about the history of the village hall, which had been given to the Parish Council and then passed to a Management Committee to run. The Clerk had looked into where the paper was in relation to this; Mr Ian Briggs treasurer of the Village Hall Management Committee has the relevant documents apart from the Title Deeds, which would have been lodged with a solicitor. Cllr Farmer said that it was most important that we should track these down in case they were ever needed. The solicitors named on the documents no longer trade. The Clerk would check with previous Clerks to see if they are able to help and also with the Land Registry and the Law Society, though it was felt that the land is almost certainly not registered. She would also talk to Highclere Village Hall Management Committee. 09/06 - Annual Meeting Date and Topic Considering the dates of Easter it was decided to have the Annual Meeting the last week in April, so the date that has been decided is Wednesday 26th April. The Clerk would book Penwood Village Hall and let the Borough Council and County Councillor know the dates for their diaries. There would be a short talk on the Village Plan. It was hoped by then that all the Focus Groups would be up and running so there could be feedback from them. This talk would only last about fifteen minutes. 10/06 Correspondence received 1. HAPTC - NALC Legal Briefing – HAPTC had received information from NALC re Local Authorities (Indemnities for members and officers) order 2004. A copy of this was given to all Councillors 2. B&DBC - Nomination for the Parish Representative Vacancy –The term of the office for the two parish representatives on the Standards Committee of B&DBC ends in May. They are now asking for nominations for the vacancy. A copy of this letter had been given to all Councillors 3. B&DBC - Office Closure etc for B&D for January and February – A copy of this was given to all Councillors 4. HAPTC - Clerk’s Conference – The annual conference for Clerks is being held on the 8th March The clerk would book the new clerk onto this. 5. HAPTC - New Funding Opportunities workshop - The Clerk had given a copy of this to Cllr Langan. It was being held on the 23rd February. He had asked the clerk to book him onto it. 6. B&DBC - Naming of properties - Informing the Parish Council that Lumbergs would now be call Lumberg House and the house next to it would the called The Cottage 7. B&DBC - Street Naming – B&D had written to the Council several months ago re the naming of the new houses being built where Coombe Cottage had been. They had suggested two names and the Council had chosen Coombe Corner. This was now going to be adopted and as there were six houses on the estate they would be numbered one to six. 8. B&DBC - Annual telecommunications Liaison meeting – this would be on 18th January. Cllrs’ Pearson and Langan would attend. The Clerk would complete the attached slip to the letter and return to B&DBC. 9. Office of the DPM - Standards of Conduct in English Local Government – the Future – A discussion paper had been published. The Clerk had one copy that anyone who was interested could borrow. 10.B&DBC - Section 106 Funds – A letter had been received from B&D to consult with the Parish Council over £3,848 which has been made available from housing development at Westridge, Andover Road and the Red House, Andover Road. The Chairman felt that as Penwood Village Hall had a few projects they were hoping to complete the money should go to them. Cllr Farmer felt that the money should go equally between the two halls. It was decided that as the response to the letter had to be in by 3rd February the Clerk would reply that we would like the money for projects at the Village Halls. She would also write to the Chairman of both village halls asking them if they had any projects they wished to pursue and what they were and the likely cost of them. The Council were disappointed with the amount of money that was being offered them from these two building projects and the Clerk was asked to write to B&D and ask them how it is worked out and why there was so little money from two quite large developments. 11.HCC - Woolton Hill Safer Routes to School - The Parish Council had sent a letter to HCC re the Safe Routes to School through Woolton Hill. The Parish Council did not feel that these works had done anything to help the traffic through Woolton Hill and the money could have been spent much more wisely at the Penwood Crossroads. A letter had been received in response to this letter which the Council were not happy with. Cllr Castle, who had drafted the original letter was not at the meeting but the Clerk was asked to ask him to draft a reply to the letter form HCC. 12.B&DBC – Parish Council Tax Base – 2006-07. This was the final approved Council tax base for 2006/07. All Councillors had been given a copy of it. Other Correspondence (available for Councillor to review) Vol dot Comm - Christmas issue North Wessex Downs AONB – Annual Report 2004/05 Hampshire Highclere News – Issue 6 11/06 - Accounts for Payment The following accounts were passed for payment. HAPTC (Clerks conference) £30.00, Viking Direct (Stationery) £601.80, Inland Revenue (PAYE) £111.93, BT (telephone) £22.26, D Mitchell (mileage, postage, village plan, December meeting, New Clerk expenses) £171.32, C Corrall (litter warden) £128.26, B Bendle (litter Warden) £162.24, L McClelland (litter warden) £56.22,M Harwood (salary) £386.53, D Mitchell (salary) £575.48, Highclere PCC (hire of Dunlop room) £63.00. 12/05 Councillors’ matters arising to be included in the next agenda Update on the Village Plan |