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MINUTES – April 2023

Minutes Uploaded on October 18, 2024

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF RADLEY PARISH COUNCIL HELD on THURSDAY 27th APRIL 2023 at 7.30pm in the CHURCH ROOM, RADLEY

 

PRESENT:                Crs Crowley (Chairman), Cook, Barnfather, Fraser, Johnston Henderson, Mulholland, Smith, Standen.

IN ATTENDANCE: Four members of the public

District Councillor Lugova, the Lengthsman, the Clerk, and the Assistant Clerk.

 

47/23 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:  Cr Sparks
   
48/23 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: None
(a) ·       NOTED: 8 people were nominated to the Parish Council and are duly elected as parish councillors:

Christine Barnfather, Garry Cook, Lynda Crowley, Chris Henderson, Bob Johnston, Rob Mc Dermott, Harriet Moggridge, John Sparks.

·       The Council will fill the three remaining places by co-option.

   
49/23 DISPENSATIONS: None
   
50/23 MATTERS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:

Bridge repairs between Radley and Culham

·       NOTED Transport representative advised the works are on track to be completed by 10 June, though subject to change.

Sounding bridge

·       NOTED Concern raised that a crack is visible, and request made for Network Rail to investigate.

Clerk to the Green Cloth

·       NOTED The Church declines to take on the clerk to the Green Cloth.

·       AGREED that it would benefit a front facing committee with fundraising activities to take it on. Suggested the fete/flower show might wish to incorporate it in their next event.

   
51/23 MINUTES of the meeting held on 27th April 2023:

Proposed by Cr Johnston, seconded by Cr Mulholland.

·       RESOLVED: that the chairman should sign the minutes of the March 2023 Parish Council meeting as an accurate account of the meeting.

   
52/23 POLICE MATTERS:

There were no matters for raising with the police.

·       NOTED the next planned ‘Have Your Say’ PCSO Event is on the 3rd May at 3pm.

   
53/23 PLANNING MATTERS:
(a) CIL PROJECTS:

1)    Gooseacre

·       NOTED No update on the outcome of the planning application yet.

·       NOTED A grant request to submitted to the National Lottery by mid-May.

2)    Lawns Community Building

·       NOTED Redrow advised a date of 1st January 2024 for land to be handed over the Radley Parish Council.

·       NOTED Planning application still in the review process. Cr Lugova offered to investigate any potential hold ups.

3)    Cemetery extension:

·       No update.

·       AGREED to contact the church to ask them to consider alternate land.

4)    Road safety around the school: None

5)    Primary school and hall extension:

·       NOTED the Councillors had a tour on the 22nd April and decided in agreement with the school headteacher where to locate the plaque.

·       NOTED no known date for the postponed school community day.

6)    Radley Lakes Trust:

·       NOTED the file documents – Radley Lakes Trust meeting papers.

7)    Drainage issues Lower Radley

·       NOTED Issues ongoing. May require support from a nominated councillor.

(b) STRATEGIC SITES:

NW Radley: No update

S Kennington: No update

(c) THRUPP LANE:

1.     The Old Coalyard:

·       NOTED Cr Johnston discussed activities be carried on the site with the County Council cabinet member for Climate Change Delivery & Environment, and enforcement action will be taken against the owners.

  2.     OCC planning application Reference MW.0041/23

·       Application for determination of the conditions to which a planning permission is to be subject (Permission numbers DD1 and DD2) at Land at Thrupp Farm, Radley, Abingdon, Oxfordshire Grid Ref: SU 51539 97065

·       RESOLVED All in favour the report produced by Clr Henderson goes forward as the parish council’s response.

(d) PLANNING APPLICATION:

·       Response to application number P23/V0861/FUL

Land north of Kennington Gate Radley College Radley OX14 2HR

Installation of ground mounted solar voltaic array and battery-based electricity storage containers, together with substation and other ancillary infrastructure, connecting cables, site access and internal access tracks, perimeter fencing and access gates, security measures, landscaping and biodiversity enhancements.

·       AGREED Councillors support renewable energy as a temporary position, though two points to be raised on behalf of the parish council:

a)     Road safety. Would glare from the solar panels cause any road safety issues.

b)    Restoration. The parish council want guarantees that the land will go back to agricultural used land or rewilding once the solar panels come to end of life.

   
54/23 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
(a) ACCOUNTS:

·       RESOLVED: to confirm scrutiny and acceptance of the bank statements and reconciliation, all of which were saved in the shared file.

·       Proposed by Cr Johnston and seconded by Cr Henderson.

(b) ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT:

·       The Council acknowledged scrutiny of the invoices for payment this month.

·       Proposed by Cr Johnston and seconded by Cr Henderson.

·       RESOLVED that the accounts as itemised on the monthly cashbooks for March should be paid.

 
(c)
  • NOTED report of the Finance and Administration committee meeting held on 20th April and:
  • APPROVED the accounting statements for the year to 31st March 2023
  • APPROVED of the revised estimates on the budget for 2023-24 including

o   Items carried forward from 22-23

o   Approved annual subscriptions including:

–    Upgrade of Rialtas licence to Rialtas Cloud

–    Change to Google Workspace annual licence

Proposed by Cr Fraser, seconded by Cr Cook.

(d) GRANT APPLICATIONS

  • APPROVED grant application of £100 for Radley church to go towards the Coronation celebrations. Proposed by Cr Smith and seconded by Cr Cook.
  • AGREED more information required from WI regarding their grant request.

·       NOTED The Lawns community group received funding from Redrow, and no longer require a grant from Radley parish council.

·       NOTED the recommendation from the finance and administration meeting not to provide a grant to Clean Slate.

(e) Bus shelter

·       NOTED the damage to the bus shelter outside 89 Foxborough Road and insurance claim.

·       APPROVED the purchase of a replacement shelter.

Pavilion Security

  • RESOLVED Committee considered the request for additional locks on the pavilion doors. Based on the BMA Varsity assessment that the doors appear secure, the committee recommends that extra locks should not be fitted. Radley Youth Football Club to ensure that they hold appropriate insurance for their equipment.

Proposed by Cr Johnston and seconded by Cr Cook.

(f) ASSEST REGISTER

  • APPROVED the asset register.

Proposed by Cr Fraser and seconded by Cr Henderson.

(g) Information – agreement on the end of the Assistant Clerk’s probation period and movement on the salary scale.
(h) Benches

·       CONSIDERED proposals for replacement benches Lower Radley junction.

·       APPROVED the recycled plastics benches.

·       NOTED to share a sample of the colour of the new benches.

Proposed by Cr Mulholland and seconded by Cr Standen.

(i) Internal audit

  • RECEIVED the midyear Internal Audit report and noted the recommendations.

·       NOTED that the end of year Internal Audit is due to be completed on 9th June

(j) Insurance

  • APPROVED the annual insurance renewal.  This is the third year of a 3-year agreement and will renew automatically unless there are any changes or amendments required.

·       RESOLVED Additional premium to increase the Fidelity Guarantee to £1.5m. Agreed not to extend the fidelity guarantee by an extra 500k.

Proposed by Cr Henderson and seconded by Cr Cook.

·       NOTED Clerk to provide a checklist paperwork to all councillors, and councillors to confirm the process for reviewing the insurance is in place for the internal auditor.

(k) Banking

  • NOTED that Barclays periodic know your customer review is complete.
  • NOTED the mandate change is completed.
(l) Play area

  • CONFIRMED acceptance of play area gate amendments, and the same amendments to be made to the other gate on the play area.
  • AGREED that both gates should be re-opened once amendments made.
(m) School plaque

  • APPROVED a budget of up to £100 to be spend for a school hall extension plaque crediting contributions to the project by Radley Parish Council and Radley College, and the Clerk & Assistant Clerk to arrange.

Proposed by Cr Crowley and seconded by Cr Johnston.

   
55/23 REPORTS OF THE COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS:
(a) COUNTY: Cr Johnston reported

1.     The Lodge Hill planning application is now going to the June meeting of the County’s Planning and Regulation Committee with a favourable recommendation. I hope to attend the meeting and speak in favour. The parallel traffic calming measures are now finalised subject to a final site meeting in Kennington in early May. This will not affect the measures agreed for Sugworth Lane.

  1. I hope that the 20 mph issue has been settled to the satisfaction of the Parish and the Village, let me know of any outstanding issues (if any).
  2. The County is now drawing together a travel plan for the Abingdon area. It includes the 20 mph measures, the cycle track developments etc into one coherent document.  As a stakeholder the Parish will be consulted on the plan when it is finalised, hopefully in this Autumn.
(b) District- Councillors Johnston and Lugova reported:

  1. Redrow Development and Sandford Lane flooding. Vale Flood Risk Engineer visited and assessed Sandford Lane situation and reported the following: I will contact to Redrow to ensure that the flow control device has been installed as approved in their planning consents. At this stage though everything appears to be in order, and I do not believe discharge from their site has caused the issue. Water levels in the watercourse along Sanford Lane appear to be high. My opinion is that this is attributed to a blocked trash screen downstream (photo attached) which is holding flows back. I will contact the landowner and ask them to carry out maintenance on the trash screen and ditch to improve its flows and capacity.
    • NOTED Cr Johnston advised that feedback from the Vale is the balancing pond working as it should, and not concerned. OCC now have added the balancing pond to their asset register and will clear it more frequently (cemetery side of the bridge). Cr Henderson raised concern that the flooding caused from another area, Cr Johnston to have another look, and report back at the next parish meeting.
   
56/23 HIGHWAY MATTERS
(a) REPORTS FOR FIX MY STREET: None from this meeting.

·       No response to clerk’s letter to OCC regarding surfacing of the New Road junction. Clerk to contact Owen Jenkins next.

·       Lengthsman to investigate and report via fix my street on concerns raised of a road crack at the end of Foxborough Road, near Whites Lane.

(b) Road closures

·       NOTED Road closures –posted on the website, in Radley News and shared to Facebook.

1.     Boars Hill / Kennington, Oxford Road 23 May 2023 up to and including 26 May.

2.     Radley, Whites Lane (jct Foxborough Road / Radley to Main Drive ‘Radley College’) 24 May 2023 up to and including 26 May 2023. This will operate between 04:00 and 20:00 for top dressing. (This was queried with OCC given that work to the junction is planned shortly).

3.     To note: People can access the college.

4.     Bayworth, Brumcombe Lane 17 July 2023 up to and including 18 July 2023, 24 hours per day.

5.     Kennington, Sandford Lane 10 July 2023 up to and including 11 July 2023. This will operate between 21:00 and 05:00.

(c) PARISH TRANSPORT REPRESENTATIVE:

·       NOTED Aprils update.

   
57/23 CONSERVATION:
(a) LENGTHSMAN REPORT:

  • NOTED: Work carried out by the Lengthsman in April:
    • Normal checks and inspections carried out.
    • Sweeping and weeding bus stops, cleaning bus shelters and signs.
    • Extra – cleared the playground moss.
   
58/23 COMMUNICATIONS: None
   
59/23 CORRESPONDENCE:  The following was noted:
  1.     OALC Newsletter March
  2.     CPRE Newsletter
  3.     CPRE Guide to protecting green spaces and paths
  4.     OCC Monthly newsletter
  5.     Healthwatch Oxfordshire newsletter
60/23 ITEMS FOR THE NEXT AGENDA: New parish council to agree.
   
61/23 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS:

  • Annual meeting of the Parish Council: Thursday May 18th at 7.30pm in the Church Room
  • Date for the Annual Parish Meeting – new council to pick in June. Chairman to be chosen.
  • Date for the Garden Competition. Move to next agenda.

 

 

Signed……………………………………………………………Date…………………                        (Chairman)