TIDDINGTON WITH ALBURY PARISH COUNCIL

Monthly Meeting

Monday 1 March, 2004, 8.00pm – at Tiddington Village Hall

MINUTES

Present: Mr J Nowell-Smith (Chairman and District Councillor), Mr R Boughton, Mr A Stratton and Mrs J Willis.

1. Apologies

Mr K Field, Mr W Tremayne and Mrs A Purse (County Councillor)

2. Approval of previously circulated minutes

Previously circulated minutes were approved and signed.

3. Matters arising from previous minutes

a. OCC Highway matters – a phone call from Highways indicated that they were trying to catch up on the backlog of work and requested details of the traffic calming measures required for Sandy Lane. Clerk was informed that they could not do a build-out at Milton Common as had previously been agreed. Clerk reported by email details of this conversation and history of correspondence to Mrs Purse, who said she would forward the email with a covering note to Brian Short.

A phone call from the electricity company indicated that the trees around the electricity cables would be attended to shortly.

b. Street light on A418 – OCC recommended a street light on the island outside Ash Lodge and The Fox. Cost would be about £600 for the lamp and between £400 and £1000 for the electrical connection. The Parish Council would be required to find 50% of the total cost. It was agreed to ask OCC to provide a detailed estimate of cost with a view to agreeing the arrangement.

c. Milton Common notice board – Mr Nowell-Smith had received a complaint from a resident of Milton Common about the siting of the notice board. It was agreed to delay erection until Mr Tremayne returned from holiday.

d. Public Rights of Way improvement planning – a letter had been received from OCC giving answers to some of our queries and indicating that the maintenance problems had been logged on the database.

e. Oak tree, Ickford Road – Mr Field still awaiting response from SODC. Clerk to write if required.

f. Affordable housing – Suzanne Willers of ORCC had received comments from the planning department regarding proposed sites and a meeting with the working group is to be arranged. This group will report back to the April Council meeting.

4. Planning matters

No planning matters.

5. Correspondence

a. Telephone Directory supply to Parish – Mrs Pendlington of Milton Common had enquired whether it would be possible to have the Oxford telephone directory supplied free of charge as this parish is on the boundary of the area. It was agreed to write.

b. Oxford Belfry Hotel PEL Annual Licence renewal – this was approved.

c. Freedom of Information Act Training event, 22 April, Kidlington – agreed that Clerk should attend.

d. SODC Car Park Pricing proposals 2004/05 – parish not affected but details put in wallet.

e. Oxfordshire Transport Networks Review exhibitions – Chairman hoped to attend the presentation in Wallingford on 2 March.

f. Community Waste Service – from 1 April the service implemented last year will be continued but there will be no skip lorries provided to rural villages. The Chairman reported that Mr Tyce from Waterstock will be having a meeting with the leader of SODC to discuss the matter. Mr Stratton suggested that the Parish pay for its own regular skip, arranged for times to suit as many residents as possible. Perhaps other local parishes might be interested in joining in.

6. Financial matters

a. Concessionary fares tokens: parish contribution – a proposal by Mrs Willis to leave the contribution at £13.00 was seconded by Mr Stratton. Mr Boughton and Mr Nowell-Smith declared an interest.

b. Payment of £96.00 to Tiddington Village Hall Management Committee for hire of the hall 2003/04 proposed by Mrs Willis, seconded by Mr Boughton.

c. Payment of £895.00 to Z M Knight for Clerk’s salary proposed by Mr Stratton, seconded by Mrs Willis.

d. Payment of £75.20 to Playground Management Ltd for annual safety inspection of play area proposed by Mrs Willis, seconded by Mr Boughton.

e. Payment of £17.63 to Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils for Freedom of Information Act training event proposed by Mr Nowell-Smith, seconded by Mr Stratton.

7. Open discussion

a. Mrs Willis reported that the 30mph sign in the Ickford Road had been uprooted. Clerk said that this had already been reported.

Mrs Willis said that a resident had commented about hedge clippings on the Thame Road blocking the ditches.

Mrs Willis had received a reply from OCC about dangerous overtaking in the village.

b. Mr Stratton reported that Instant Wit would be performing on 20 March in the Hall.

c. Mr Nowell-Smith asked whether broadband would be available soon as it would appear that the Ickford exchange was near to the target figure. Agreed to a further item in the Newsletter.

8. Date of next meeting

Monday, 5 April 2004 at 8.00pm.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.20pm.