Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 4 December 2006 at 7

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 2 June 2008 at 7.30pm in the Pavilion Committee Room.

PRESENT: Mr A Fendall (Chairman); Mrs A Archibald; Mr J Barton; Mr D Clark; Mr S Godesen; Mrs V Lickley; Mr S Marks; Mr K Nuttall; Mrs J Savage;

Mrs B Waller;

1 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies received from: Mr A Renwick; Mrs S Wilson.

2 MINUTES

The minutes of the annual meeting and ordinary meeting of 6 May had been circulated and were agreed as a true record of the business that took place.

3 TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No declarations relevant to items on the agenda were made.

4 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Observations were made on the long waiting list for allotments. Members confirmed that there are no plans to purchase additional land. An issue was raised concerning the growing problem of deer encroaching in to gardens but a solution to this is not within the parish council’s scope.

5 MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT

The monthly monitoring report was tabled and noted.

6 TO RECEIVE COMMUNICATIONS THAT THE CHAIRMAN WISHES TO LAY BEFORE THE COUNCIL

6.1 The chairman informed members that PC Stroud would like a maximum of two councillors to attend the community panel to address priority issues identified at her surgeries. Those members who had already volunteered their services agreed to attend on a rota system to be agreed between themselves.

7 REPORTS FROM DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS

7.1 Councillor Mrs Still reported as follows:

(i) a meeting has taken place with highways officers concerning the repeated problem of unauthorised encampments on land adjacent to Basing Road. It was agreed that the best way forward is to apply for a traffic order permitting the erection of a gate with multiple keys and leaving a gap for pedestrians. The cost of advertising and supply will be c£2000 and Councillor Still asked if the Parish Council would be willing to contribute towards this. The residents of Cowdery Heights will need to consider carefully if the proposals will have the desired effect as it may simply move the problem elsewhere in the immediate vicinity. It was agreed that the issue should be placed on the next agenda for full debate;

(ii) there are proposals to install soakaways in Belle Vue Road, near the shops, to deal with flooding and also in Hatch Lane;

(iii) Milkingpen Lane will have a mandatory 20mph speed limit in the vicinity of the schools. Parish councils can now buy the reactive speed

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting of 2 June 2008 cont:

limit signs for £2500 plus maintenance – a letter to this effect will shortly be issued;

(v) the Hampshire Primary Care Trust has chosen Basingstoke as one of the areas to pilot Polyclinics. It was agreed that this should be placed on the next agenda for debate.

7.2 Councillor Marks provided a written report which was circulated to all members and noted.

8 MATTERS RELATING TO FINANCE

8.1 Balances at the end of May: Deposit Account: £107370.30

Current Account: £261.11; Treasury Deposit Account: £134524.52

Petty cash expenditure for May: £89.09.

8.2 Total cost of wage and salaries for May: £6241.50.

8.3 The following invoices were approved for payment:

Amount £	Payee	Details
163.00	Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council	Cottage Council Tax
5617.85	John Deere Bank	First lease payment for machinery
30.00	Hampshire Playing Fields Association	Membership renewal (replaces cheque for £60 authorised last month)
222.52	PHS Group	Sanitary waste disposal, Lychpit Hall
143.83	British Telecom	Office line & alarm line
214.84	Viking Direct	Computer supplies
96.81	Jewson Ltd	Rec sundries, tennis court maintenance & chairman’s picnic expenses
91.65	Personalised Print	Stationery printing
41.24	SCATS	Bark for seats & pest control measures for allotments
76.27	Sage Ltd	Software upgrade
110.00	Basingstoke Silver Band	Hire of band for chairman’s picnic
55.00	Society of Local Council Clerks	Fee for remarking of clerk’s portfolio
50.00	A Pollard	Refund of D/D, Lychpit Hall
100.00	N Stroud	Relief caretaking, Lychpit Hall
100.00	OB Parish Carnival	Hire of marquees for chairman’s picnic
38.88	Minuteman Press	Leaflets for Chairman’s Picnic
55.15	British Telecom	Internet line
468.18	Avoncrop Amenity Products	Turf supplies
647.72	Wicksteed Leisure	Materials for archery frontage improvements

8.4 Final budget report for 2007/2008 copied to all members. Noted – no action.

8.5 Clerk tabled an acknowledgement from the Basinga secretary for the council’s recent donation.

8.6 Members approved the opening of an account with the Trade Depot for use by the groundsman in the purchase of supplies.

9.1 Members noted a response sent to Maria Miller MP from the Leader of Hampshire County Council to the Parish Council’s request for a permanent traveller transit site. This pointed out that the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1993 removed the requirement for local authorities to provide facilities for gypsies although the County Council has developed an in-house service to deal with encampments on its own land. The responsibility now lies with the housing authority, i.e Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, to make statutory provision for travellers in this area. It was resolved that Maria Miller’s response should be acknowledged and that she should be asked for her continuing support in this matter and, in particular, for any assistance in effecting a change to the law which would shorten the timescale for serving notice leading to removal of travellers from sites.

9.2 Mr Fendall and Mrs Savage agreed to represent the Parish Council on the management team for the Heritage Trails.

9.3 Members debated recent changes to the bus service which have left a large section of the parish with no accessible public transport facility. In addition, it has been reported that the buses do not always follow the published route leaving some travellers stranded. Representations to Stagecoach to reinstate the service following an earlier change have been ineffective as it maintains that changes are necessary to make the service commercially viable. It was resolved to request Stagecoach to use smaller vehicles to save cost and to ask that the drivers do not miss out part of the route to save time. It was further

resolved to make enquiries of the District and County Councils re the application of subsidies to routes that have been axed.

9.4 Members received an invitation to workshops being run by the Borough Council on the Core Strategy which will form part of the Local Development Framework. Mr Barton agreed to attend the workshop on 9 July and take forward views to be formulated by the planning committee.

10.1 Mr Godesen reported on a complaint made to Trading Standards in respect of an article in a Parish Council newsletter that referred to travellers as “unpleasant” thus implying that it is a generic term. It would appear that the explanation given by the Parish Council has sufficed and that the complaint will not be taken any further.

10.2 Members debated the advantages of giving committees full executive powers in all or limited functions but resolved that status quo should exist.

10.3 The renewal of the Lychpit Hall lease was debated and, in particular, the manner in which a fairer distribution of responsibilities may be achieved. As a preliminary to this, it was resolved to obtain a full structural survey from the County Council and that, when received, Mrs Archibald, Mr Clark, Mr Godesen and Mr Nuttall should examine it to identify works required in order to commence a dialogue with the County Council.

Minutes of the meeting of 12 May tabled and ratified. Members approved the draft of the next newsletter. Mr Nuttall expressed his disappointment that an article which he had been expressly requested to write was rejected.

The next ordinary meeting will be on Monday 7 July 2008 at 7.30pm in the Pavilion Committee room.

293.75	UK-AS Asbestos Services	Asbestos risk assessment, Lychpit Hall
177.08	K Davies	Pavilion cleaning
15.00	PJH Window cleaning	Pavilion window cleaning
120.40	S Richardson	Travelling expenses
50.00	R Johnson	Refund D/D Lychpit Hall
5365.78	Came & Company	Insurance premium
426.53	Contractors Plant & Tool Hire	Hire of roller
53.46	Wicksteed Leisure	Play equipment spares
78.23	J Collins	Reimbursement for computer anti-virus protection (both computers)
35.33	Hampshire County Council	Janitorial supplies
4168.90	Networks Security & Alarms Ltd	Installation of CCTV to Lychpit Hall
60.00	Cash