MINUTES of the ANNUAL MEETING of BERINSFIELD PARISH held at Mount Farm Community Education Centre, Wimblestraw Road, Berinsfield on Monday 21st April, 2008 at 7 p.m.
PRESENT : 15 Members of the Public
1. To Approve the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 23rd April, 2007. The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 23rd April, 2007 were approved and signed.
2. Matters arising. There were no matters arising.
3. Report from Councillor K. Hall, Chair of the Parish Council.
Councillor Hall, Chairman of the Parish Council thanked everyone for attending the Annual Parish Meeting and hoped they would take the opportunity to express their views and concerns about the village. He stated that the Parish Council were always pleased to receive comments and, for that matter, complaints from residents as without this input the Council would not know about problems in the village.
He stated that nine members of the Parish Council were returned at the uncontested election on 3rd May, 2007. Three members had since been co-opted and that there is currently one vacancy on the Council, which is being advertised at the present time. If an election is not called, nominations will be invited from people interested in being co-opted to fill the vacancy.
Councillor Hall was pleased to be elected as Chairman of the Council for a further year. As well as being Chairman of the Parish Council, he informed the meeting that he is a member of the Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils Executive Committee and the Parish Council’s representative on many outside organisations. By attending these meetings of other organisations he stated that he was able to obtain information which is of benefit to the Parish Council and residents of the village.
The Parish Council have been working hard throughout the year with Members being involved in meetings with Oxfordshire County Council, in an attempt to retain the subsidised bus services in the village, and representing the Parish Council at meetings with other organisations, such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and the Oxfordshire Football Association, who act for the Football Foundation in Oxfordshire. Councillors have also taken advantage of the various training sessions organised by the Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils, National Association of Local Councils, South Oxfordshire District Council and the Society of Local Council Clerks and found these very beneficial.
Reverend Ros Latham. Councillor Hall said that the Parish Council were pleased to welcome Reverend Ros Latham to the village during the year and very much appreciated her attendance at Council meetings and in involving the Parish Council in matters relating to the Church.
New planters. New planters will shortly be delivered to replace those that had to be removed earlier in the year. Summer bedding plants will be planted in the planters located around the village and hanging baskets will be put on the posts outside the shops in Fane Drive. Councillor Hall hoped residents would agree that the village looked very attractive recently with the Daffodils that were planted by the Parish Council’s gardener a few years ago.
Transfer of land from South Oxfordshire District Council to the Parish Council. The Parish Council are still waiting for South Oxfordshire District Council to finalise the transfer of most of the District Council owned open spaces in the village. When the land transfers have been completed, the Parish Council will consider whether to carry out more landscaping and planting in the village.
Environmental Improvements The next phase of the environmental improvements, in the form of the construction of the new car park in front of the Abbey Sports Centre, Library and Family Centre has just been started. As well as the construction of the new parking areas, it will involve closing Green Furlong and making a turning point just north of the entrance to the Library and the Berinsfield Community Association and this should prevent the narrow road being used by heavy goods vehicles. The scheme should be completed mid-late June, 2008 and will also include :-
A bottle bank
16 new trees
Posts for hanging baskets, benches and litter bins
New street lights
CCTV
Railings and low hedges around the parking area.
Skate park The BMX riders and mountain boarders still seem to be enjoying the track that they have created for themselves on the playing field. The area is obviously not suitable for skateboards or skating as it can get extremely muddy at times.
The Parish Council has provisionally been informed that South Oxfordshire District Council have been successful in obtaining Big Lottery funding for several projects in South Oxfordshire. One of these is the possible construction of a skate park in Berinsfield. It is very early days as yet and the Parish Council have not received details of the offer from the Big Lottery fund or the conditions that apply to it. However, in anticipation of this, the Parish Council has consulted with residents whose properties face the open space end of the playing field and at such time as there is more information available from South Oxfordshire District Council regarding the Big Lottery funding, further consultation will take place with residents. Since first consulting with residents the Chairman and Clerk have met with representatives from companies who manufacture skate parks in order to obtain their opinion as to what areas on the playing field might be suitable locations for the proposed skate park. One site that appears to be suitable is close to the Roman Road, youth shelter and diagonal path, which is one of the furthest points away from the housing. The Chairman emphasized that there are no firm plans in place with regard to this project and further consultation will take place with both residents and the young people before any further action is taken.
Pavilion Councillor Hall reported that the pavilion continues to be used on a regular basis by the football teams based in the village, but that unfortunately during the year the Berinsfield United Football Club (Sunday side) had to resign from the Marston’s Football League and fold due to lack of players for their games.
The pavilion is available for hire by organisations who wish to use the meeting room and kitchen as well as for sporting activities. The Parish Council have to meet with the Oxfordshire Football Association every year to give them an update on how football is progressing in Berinsfield as a result of the Football Foundation providing the grant towards the cost of the new pavilion. The meeting will be in July this year and hopefully by that time representatives from the Parish Council will be able to report that all teams are working towards obtaining the F.A. Charter Standard and that girls will be playing in the village next season.
Celebration Day The Parish Council are pleased to be supporting the special 50th anniversary Celebration Day on 19th July and in order to commemorate this anniversary have agreed to provide a clock for the Parish Church. This is subject to approval being granted by the Diocese of Oxford and South Oxfordshire District Council. If all goes to plan, there will be a ceremony to unveil the clock on 20th July. The Chairman emphasised that the clock will not chime.
Parish Plan The Chairman thanked Mr. Marc Hiles and the Members of the Steering Group who are working hard to compile the Parish Plan. The plan, when completed, will be a very important document as it will provide information as to how residents wish the village to progress in the future and what facilities are required.
Website Those present were informed that the Parish Council’s website, www.Berinsfield-pc.gov.uk is available for use by any organisation in the village. Information can be passed to the Clerk either in writing or by e.mail and she will be pleased to include it under the Community Activities section of the site.
Community Waste Vehicle The Parish Council have been informed that the community waste vehicle will only visit Berinsfield once a month with effect from May, 2008 instead of once a week as at present. This is as a result of a decision taken by the District Council cabinet and one of the reasons is to ensure that each vehicle leaves each site full as opposed to part full as at present. The service is being reduced at all community waste sites, not just Berinsfield. It was noted that there would be a collection on 25th April and the next one will be between 12 noon and 3 p.m. on 23rd May, 2008.
Congratulations The Chairman stated that he would like to congratulate Mel Corrigan on being invited to Buckingham Palace in recognition for all his work with the Berinsfield Amateur Boxing Club.
4. Financial Report. Councillor Hall presented the financial report and copies of the Income and Expenditure Account and Balance sheet for the year ended 31st March, 2007, copies of the front sheet of the Annual Statement, submitted approved by the external auditors, and copies of the budget for the year 2008/09 were circulated.
The funds raised through the precept enable the Parish Council to carry out its statutory duties in the village each year and applications are made for grants towards the cost of providing additional facilities in the village and the increase for the year 2008-09 had to be made in order to allow the Council to maintain the services it provides in the village.
Funds of £10,000 were included in the budget for 2007-08 to cover the cost of the land transfers from the District Council together with the associated legal fees. The land transfers did not take place during the financial year 2007-08 therefore the cost will be carried forward until 2008-09 when the transactions should take place.
The Chairman said one of the more pleasant duties the Council carries out is to allocate grants to voluntary organisations and that fourteen organisations had applied and been awarded grants for the year 2008-09.
Various questions were asked about differences between the budget for 2007/08 and the predicted expenditure to 31st March, 2008 and the Clerk to the Council provided the explanations. The meeting was informed that the accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2008 could not be prepared until all the invoices for work carried out prior to that date had been received and therefore it was not possible to provide a set of accounts for that year at the meeting. A breakdown of the administration costs for 2007/08 was, however, provided.
5. Public Meeting. Residents present at the meeting raised the following matters :-
a) Colwell Road It was reported that the grass had not been cut on the open space areas in Colwell Road. It was agreed that this would be reported to the company who carry out the work on behalf of SOHA Housing who own the land.
b) Shops, corner of Fane Drive and Chiltern Close and surrounding area. Residents were grateful that hanging baskets were again being provided outside the shops opposite the Church and that the environmental improvements had been commenced in the area outside the Sports Centre, but they were upset that no improvements were ever carried out in front of the shops located at the junction of Fane Drive and Chiltern Close and that the area was now in an appalling state. It was reported that following the removal of the overgrown shrub outside the supermarket, the decorative wall that surrounded it had crumbled and was dangerous and that many of the plate glass windows of the shops were now broken. It was reported that the Parish Council have contacted the new owners of the shops to request a site meeting in order to discuss residents’ concerns. The Chairman also confirmed that the Parish Council would do what it could to try to enhance this area of the village next year.
c) Notice Board. A request was made for a notice board to be erected near to the shops on the junction of Fane Drive and Chiltern Close. This request was noted.
d) Lay Avenue. It was reported that Thames Water had carried out some work in Lay Avenue and had damaged the surface of one of the open space areas in the ownership of SOHA Housing. It was agreed that this would be investigated and the relevant action taken.
e) Graffiti on end of garage walls – Hustings and Wetlands. It was reported the graffiti on the end walls of the garages in the Hustings and Wetlands complexes that had previously been reported to the Parish Council has not yet been removed. The garages are in the ownership of SOHA Housing and a further approach will be made to ask them to attend to the matter.
f) Village Map. A request was made for a village map to be provided in the village. The Chairman reported that a map had been placed in the notice board outside the Information Centre, but that it would be difficult to find an ideal location to install a permanent cabinet to accommodate a full size plan.
g) Library. The Librarian encouraged residents present at the meeting to use the Library. She also stated that a nationwide library membership application form will appear in the local press and hoped that residents would take advantage of this and apply for membership if they had not already done so.
h) Bus Shelters. A request was made for the glass in the bus shelters to be cleaned and the Chairman confirmed that this would be arranged.
i) Request for a seat adjacent to the football pitch at the rear of the Sports Centre. A request was made for a seat to be installed close to the path to enable residents to sit and watch the football matches. The Chairman confirmed that this would be investigated.