MINUTES – November 2023

Crs Johnston and Sparks.

District Councillor James Cox was unable to attend the meeting.

RECEIVED:

Cr Henderson – North Radley Community Room, Radley Village Hall (Trustee of both) and Woodlands Defibrillator.

Cr McDermott – North Radley Community Room (Trustee of the North Radley Room CIO)

Cr Johnston – Radley Village Hall (Trustee)

Cr Crowley – Radley Village Shop and Radley Lakes (Trustee)

·       RESOLVED that a request to be made to the PCSO come to the Parish to try to witness the antisocial behaviour of the previously reported motorcycles / E-scooters.

1.     Gooseacre:

i.         RESOLVED to accept the structural engineering quotation from Soothill Structures as recommended from the architect, from the three quotes received.

2.     Lawns Community Building:

i.         Noted that the due diligence call between Rotunda and the councillors had been held and addressed concerns previously raised.

ii.         RESOLVED to go ahead with Rotunda as the contractor for the Lawns Community Building, subject to the clause and conditions of contract.

iii.         Noted that only paying the deposit fixes the price.

iv.         RESOLVED that the Clerk to ask Redrow to report on progress on the legal agreement for the land transfer.

3.     Road safety around the school: None

4.     Radley Lakes:  None

5.     Cemetery extension: None

6.     Welcome Leaflets: None

7.     Car Park:

i.         Clerk to investigate if car park terms and conditions should be enforced a bylaw.

ii.         APPROVED the terms and conditions with minor wording changes. Details would be added on the Radley Village website by the 1^st January 2024 commencement, and for a car park sign to be produced. Quotes for car park signs to be brought to the December Parish Council meeting.

1.     Noted the deficit in the budget.

2.     APPROVED for the 100k currently allocated to the Road Safety around the school budget heading to be reallocated to the general CIL. Cr Cook voted against the proposal and asked that his vote should be recorded.

3.     APPROVED a budget of £600 for the production of updated Welcome Booklets.

4.     RESOLVED that Cr. Crowley and the Clerk would meet with a professional fundraiser for advice. Their recommendation would be brought back to the December meeting.

1.     NW Radley (Church Farm): No progress.

The Clerk would contact Pye to explain that OCC are waiting for Pye to claim the land to progress the Whites Lane junction. Update to be brought back to the 14^th December Parish Council meeting.

2.     North Abingdon: None

3.     South Kennington (The Lawns): None

1. Old Coalyard:
   1. The Enforcement notice had been prepared and was awaiting sign off from the legal department. OCC planned for it to be served at the end of November.
   2. RESOLVED to request that Cr. Johnston presses the OCC Enforcement Officer to finalise and issue the notice.
2. ROMP: None
3. Terrafirma:
   1. RESOLVED that Cr Lugova to locate contact from VoWH, and the Clerk to ask OCC to progress the meeting previously planned.

i.         Noted that Cr Lugova would be having a call with the Vale deputy chief executive on 27^th November to understand what land at Barrow Hills is being offered by the VoWH.

ii.         AGREED that no action or decision currently needs to be taken.

·       RESOLVED that Cr Moggridge would join the Village Hall Management committee to represent Radley Parish Council.

·       The Oxford Local Plan 2040 and Partial CIL Charging Schedule Review Consultations was open

·       RESOLVED: Scrutiny and acceptance of the bank statements and reconciliation were confirmed. The chairman confirmed this by signing the statements and reconciliation.

·       Councillors noted the budget update.

·       The Council acknowledged scrutiny of the invoices for payment in November 2023. The chairman confirmed this by signing the cashbook.

·       RESOLVED, and approved that the accounts as itemised on the monthly cashbook for November should be paid.

1.     The minutes of the 16^th November meeting of the Finance and Administration committee were noted.

2.     NOTED the draft budget for 2024-25

3.     APPROVED the purchase of a replacement laptop for the Clerk’s use.

4.     APPROVED the following recommended grant requests:

i.         Abingdon Bridge – £500

ii.         The Howe Trust Christmas Hamper Initiative – £40

iii.         Home Start Southern Oxfordshire – £500

5.     RESOLVED to readopt the following policies:

i.         Allocation of allotments

ii.         Anonymous communications

iii.         Complaints form

iv.         Grants policy and application form

v.         Grievance Procedure

vi.         Safeguarding Policy

6.     APPROVED: the following budget 24/25 items:

i.         Assume salary increases equivalent to the 23-24 pay award.

ii.         The play area budget to cover small urgent repairs only, as a full refurbishment of the play area planned with the Village Hall CIL project.

iii.         The budget for grass cutting – in house cutting verges, contractor to continue to cut the field.

iv.         Allocate £3k of the CIL reserves to landscape the frontage of the parish car park.

v.         Remove the budget line for small posts at Lower Radley.

vi.         That the Parish Council should continue to pressure the VoWH to ensure that all new properties began to pay Council Tax as soon as possible.

vii.         Add budget for more copies of the Welcome Leaflet.

viii.         Funds should be transferred from the general budget legal fees budget line to the CIL budget to pay for the legal fees for Rotunda and Gooseacre. The Gooseacre project has additional costs not previously included, such as solicitors’ fees.

·       APPROVED a grant of £1800.00 to Citizens Advice Bureau.

i.         APPROVED that the precept should be raised. Post discussions on the budget, indications were that a 3-5% increase might be appropriate.

ii.         RESOLVED for final decision to be made at the Parish Council meeting in December when the OCC tax base had been received.

·       RESOLVED for the approval for the quote and works required to fix the leak of the Pavilion Roof to be delegated to the Clerk, Cr. Cook and Cr. Henderson, so not to delay a resolution.

·       APPROVED for the Assistant Clerk to commence the SLCC sector specific clerk ILCA qualification preliminary to moving on CILCA.

1.     APPROVED the quote and works for a new tap and valve at the allotments.

2.     APPROVED quote of £360 to repair damage to the allotment wall.

·       APPROVED the budget of £100 for hire of a mechanical pavement sweeper cleaner for 2 days (to be called off if needed).

·       Noted that Radley Environment Group had started to plant the Spring bulbs approved last month. 2,000 bulbs have been planted around the benches by the Lower Radley junction, the strip of grass towards the pub, Shaws Copse, and at the train station on the green mound.

·       Report on the Parish council car park landscaping proposal would come to the December meeting.

·       Noted that the defibrillator grant has been submitted to the British Heart Foundation. A response should be returned within 8 weeks.

·       Noted that the defibrillator training was booked for 11^th December at 6pm in the Church Room.

1.     I have asked the Officers for an update on enforcement at the Old Coalyard. If I get an update in time, I will pass it on.

2.     The contract for the slips at Lodge Hill has now been let. This happened last Thursday and the winning company is Balfour Beatty. They hope to start work at the latest by next summer. The project is fully funded.

3.     The contract for the traffic calming in the Parishes around the slips has also been let, to the County’s inhouse contractor. It is hoped to start work next spring and with completion well before the completion of the slips. Again it is fully funded, but from a different pot.

4.     In spite of a lot of prodding I still await an update on exactly what is happening in Sandford Lane.

·       RESOLVED: to request that Cr Lugova sets up a meeting with Cr. Henderson, the Clerk, and any appropriate officer regarding the VoWH CIL money and allocating funds to the Village Hall refurbishment project.

1.     Terra Firma. Vale officers are trying to schedule a meeting with OCC team to discuss the application. It’s still not scheduled as today, 21st Nov but we will keep you updated.

2.     Botley West Solar Farm. The project team is due to open the second phase of consultation on 30th Nov. Vale is a statutory consultee and will need to reply to the consultation. The project is controversial and during first consultation stage 70% of respondents expressed negative view on the project.

3.     Reservoir/SESRO – P23/V2559/FUL. The Vale of White Horse District Council has received a planning application for clay compaction trial work on land to the South of Hanney Road, Cow Common. There are still

some details that the agent is changing/updating, so, the app is not available for public view currently. We understand that the results of these trials will form part of the evidence base Thames Water is likely to submit for the construction of the proposed reservoir in the district. The planning application for the work, which seeks temporary consent for engineering works, will be determined following the normal Vale planning process. We

anticipate the process will run for around 13 – 16 weeks, with a view to a committee date in January 2024.

1.     The litter bin by the stop opposite Gooseacre has been moved to the other side of the road.

2.     That pavements repairs have been carried out at Stonhouse Crescent and Gooseacre, outside the pub, and Church Road outside the church.

·       Noted the activities carried out by the Lengthsman in the last month.

–    Routine checks and inspections – Litter picking, playground checks, regular air-sweeping of the playground and pathways. Cleanliness of benches. Functionality of AEDs and SIDs. SID battery replacement (4 batteries weekly). Rotation of SIDs. Meter readings. Tree inspection.

–    Hand swept village hall car park of wet leaves.

–    Leaf clearance of between Pebble Hill and Woodlands with Radley College boys. Consolidation of bags (39) and pavement air-blown clean. Organised for collection of bagged leaves.

–    Edging out Foxborough Road pavement (near railway station) with college boys. Leaf clearance at triangles. Cleared soil mound from mini meadow and soil mounds from St James Terrace and Foxborough Road) to village hall (some remaining in each area).

–    Litter pick of Kennington Road, Whites Lane, and Church Road.

–    Church Road pavement potholes marked up for OCC repair. Various potholes marked up. FMS reports. Reviewed FMS repairs.

–    More obscured road signs pruned around.

–    Check of outer-Parish areas.

–    Collected and consolidated ‘lost cones’. Removed and returned abandoned temporary road signs (Church Farm Phase 1) and uprighted fallen temporary road signs.

–    Graffiti removal from bus stop poles/timetable boards, Virgin communication boxes and lampposts between the village shop and Kennington Road.

–    Minor housekeeping activities and emails.

1.     RECEIVED the footpath warden’s report on the condition of public footpaths in the parish.

2.     RESOLVED to put the request for additional streetlight on the path from Stonhouse Crescent to Gooseacre to be submitted on fix my street.

3.     A request for a disability parking space had been forwarded to OCC who would perform a site assessment to find a suitable place. This is a legal process and can take time to process.

·       Noted the ongoing concerns of Sandford Lane flooding. Residents were asked to report via Fix My Street. Kennington Parish Council are working to find a resolution.

·       Report on the intersection of FP8 and Whites Lane. No action required.

·       The Clerk would seek advice from the Vale planners if planning permission is required for the siting of the storage shed.

·       Co-option

·       Update on professional fundraiser

·       Whites Lane Junction update from Pye

·       Parish council car park landscaping proposal

·       Planning committee: 14^th December at 7pm if needed.

·       Ordinary Parish Council meeting: 14^th December at 7.30pm

All to be held in the Church Room.