Return to Blewbury Home Page   Return to List of Minutes

BLEWBURY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes

Of the Parish Council meeting of Blewbury Parish Council

held on Tuesday, 25^th August 2009 in the Methodist Chapel

 

Councillors present: Mr A Cooper (Chairman), Ms C Duckett, Mr C Whatmore, Ms Jane Gibson, Mr J Drew, Mr M Brassell, Ms A Barclay-Watt

Also present: E Smit (clerk)   

 

 

 

1.             Apologies for absence Ms S Loy, Mr R Farrell

 

2.             Declarations of interest For the avoidance of any doubt, as previously declared, councillors declared the following interests: CW declared a personal interest in the Recreation Ground as his wife is a member of the Tennis Club. CD declared an interest in the Recreation Ground as her children us the Recreation Ground as members of the junior football and junior cricket clubs. MB declared a family membership of the Tennis Club. JD declared a family membership of the Tennis Club. JG declared an interest as members of the Recreation Ground Management committee.  AC declared an interest in the Exception Site item, as a resident of Bridus Way.

 

3.             Formally appointment of Nigel Wilson of Woodeson Drury as Quantity Surveyor. Mr Wilson has been previously appointed to do ad hoc work with a cash limit of £1000. As Mr Wilson has done a lot of work, it was proposed that this cash limit was increased to £2000. It was furthermore proposed that his quote for the rest of the work on the Recreation Ground Enhancement project were accepted subject to Sutton Griffin Architects’ approval and the clarification of the fee structure (to avoid paying duplicate costs). JG proposed, CW seconded, all agreed. The escalating cost of the entire project was furthermore discussed and was the cause of great concern. It was suggested that it might be a possibility for the PC to underwrite the cost or take out a loan while additional funding was sought. Possible contributions from clubs, especially the Tennis Club and the Croquet Club should be clarified. Actions: Clerk to calculate the actual figure available for the project. JD to investigate LEADER grant. JG to investigate any further possible grants. ABW to enquire about the flexibility of the WREN grant deadline.

 

4.             Approval of payments to SGA and Nigel Wilson Due to all the additional works required in the interest of the project, it was proposed that the additional fee be negotiated to a practical minimum and as final settlement. The amount proposed was £4750. CD proposed, ABW seconded, all agreed.

 

5.             Agree and approve that the Consultants can be instructed to proceed to the next stages of procurement It was agreed that consultants can be instructed subject to the discussion with SG Architects on the following Thursday. MB proposed, ABW seconded. All agreed. Following quotes obtained by JD, it was agreed that the Mr Andrew Marsdon, be appointed to advise the PC on VAT matters. CD proposed, JG seconded. All agreed.

 

6.             Approve the instruction to proceed with the local regrading of the Football Pitches. It was reported that the regarding was necessary to improve the quality of the pitch but this work needed to be carried out soon as it could not be done when the senior pitch has been relocated. It was estimated that the cost would be about £800 and it was proposed that this should be paid from the PC’s general reserve. CW proposed, JG seconded, all agreed.

 

7.             Appointment of solicitor to review and draw up new Recreation Ground leases. As part of general risk management it was decided that all the leases should be reviewed, and should therefore also be paid from the legal budget and general reserves. The quote from Mr Roger Taylor was accepted. This quote included an initial consultation re the new management structure for the recreation ground. ABW proposed, JD seconded, all agreed.

 

8.             Exception site. AC withdrew from the meeting while this item was discussed. Mr Methven’s recent emails were discussed and the council felt they could not support any proposal that would involve downgrading the new surface on the Bessels Way end of the Bridus Way bridlepath. Councillors have noted the offer of financial assistance for the upkeep of a lower grade road surface, but are not convinced that this would provide a long term solution. Furthermore, it was not clear what real benefit would accrue to horse riders by removing this very short stretch of tarmac, given that in order to reach the byway, either from the main road or from the village, they would already have had to traverse several hundreds of yards of metalled road surface. Councillors have also noted the comments regarding alternative access points and visibility splays but was of the opinion that it would be better to extend the 30 mph zone to cover the riding school entrance, so that motorists only have to deal with a single speed limit change rather than two in quick succession. At the same time, this would reduce the required visibility splays for an access point to the new development, which would benefit all. Since the PC have supported the idea of an affordable housing site for so long, it was suggested that the offer should be made to Mr Methven to make the above points to whomever needs to hear them, and to support the application to obtain the required Traffic Regulation Order. Action: CW to draft response to Mr Methven.

 

ABW leaves the meeting.

 

9.             Payments for approval to be made under ancillary powers and within budgeted amounts

           

Description	Amount
E Smit	£489.82
K Pottle	£355.05
West Garden Machinery	£9.06
Blewbury Village Hall (Toddler Group)	£162.50
Blewbury Village Hall (Youth Club)	£78.00
White Horse Horticulture	£180.00
New Venture Products Ltd	£88.03
Total	£1362.46

 

 MB proposed, JG seconded, all agreed.

 

10.         Any Other Business The clerk was asked to investigate the possibility of paying for child care for councillors.

 

11.         Details of the next meeting. 9 September 2009 in the Methodist chapel. A working group meeting should be scheduled for the forthcoming week. Action: Clerk to contact working group and arrange meeting.

 

Meeting closed 21h45