Minutes from meeting held on: Thursday 17 May, 2018
Present: Lynne Roberts (LR), Terry Pollard (TP), Colin Thompson (CT), Jack Pearson (JP), Bryn Walker (BW), Dawn Channon (DC), Donna Han (DH). Cllr Dan Sames, 9 Members of the public.
Voting in of chairman
TP proposed for Bryn Walker which was second by LR. With no other candidate’s BW accepted the appointment and signed his acceptance of office for the chairman of Charlton On Otmoor Parish Council.
Acceptance of office
All newly elected councillors signed their acceptance of office apart from Donna Han as she wanted to read the code of conduct before signing her acceptance of office. TP obtained a copy of the code of conduct that is issued by CDC, which he proceeded to read aloud to all who were present. DH then signed her acceptance of office. All councillors were given Register of Interests which have to be returned by 4th June 2018. SH stated that she is willing to send completed forms to CDC unless the individual councillor wants to send it themselves. Once returned and accepted from CDC they will be displayed on the parish website.
Declaration of Interest
None given.
Apologises
None.
Public Comments/Notices
Bruce Honour wanted to know what the current situation was with the allotment water supply. SH read aloud an email received from Thames Water stating that they are willing to re-quote for the original job. SH to contact them. The second quote for work on the pond from Chester and Sons was £1495.20.
BH also stated that dogs have been seen running loose on the playing field and wanted to know what the PC were going to do about it. DH suggested that if we know who is responsible then a letter should be sent to them asking for them to refrain from exercising their dogs on the playing field. JP also noted that the sign stating that No Dogs are allowed on the playing field is very worn. He also suggested that a letter could be sent to all householders stating that all dogs are banned from all Parish Council land. As this wasn’t on the agenda for this meeting it was agreed to discuss it further at the next meeting when it can be put on the agenda.
County Cllr Dan Sames was in attendance and stated that he had emailed the department responsible for repairing the pot holes to come and inspect the village roads. He was told that someone had been out, but he had driven through the village and noted that this was not the case. He will contact them again to get the ‘dragon’ machine that fills the pot holes, to come and fill the holes in.
He spoke briefly about the Expressway and stated that he would talk more in depth at the forthcoming meeting on 6th June.
BW commented on the notifications received from the Highways Dept on local road closures and subsequently does not happen without notice. This has happened several times in the last 2 years without no correspondence from them as to why. The community plan around these dates as road closures are very disruptive and have an issue of cost and time, for the works not to proceed with limited or no notice, requires some explanation. Cllr Sames agreed to pass on our views then left the meeting, saying he looked forward to seeing us at the Express way meeting.
Approval of the minutes from the meeting held on the 26th April 2018
The minutes were approved and signed by the chairman.
Matters Arsing from the meeting held on 26th April 2018
a) SSE surplus – As agreed at the last meeting, First Aid courses have been arranged through the Red Cross. A notice is being put in the Otmoor Review asking for anyone interested in attending to contact the PC.
Expressway
TP set out what and who would be attending the Expressway meeting to be held on the 6th June 2018. TP stated that our response to Highways England will be published on the PC website.
Finance
a) Payments for approval – Clerk and clerks expenses. The payments were approved and a cheque was signed.
b) Accounts – SH had produced the accounts which all councillors approved. The chairman and clerk signed the Annual Governance Statement 2017/18 along with the accounting statements. SH stated that Paul Barlow will complete our internal audit when he returns from holiday. Our accounts have to be submitted to the external auditor by the 30th June 2018. DH wanted to know why the PC are paying for the hire of the Percy Collet room when it is on Oxfordshire County ground. SH confirmed that she had previously contacted the previous head teacher, Mike Wisbach who stated that it related to making contributions to the Restitution fund set up after the disposal of the old village hall. DH said that this was not acceptable and the clerk should contact NALC for guidance. BW suggested that as she brought the matter up that she should look into it. DH replied that she is not prepared to as it was a matter for the clerk to follow up. As this was not on the agenda it will be discussed further at the next meeting.
Burial Grounds
OLD – LR will speak to Eric Cooper with regard to his continuing hard work in the cemetery and to thank him in the first instance.
NEW – Bruce Honour wanted to know why the inside back hedge was not cut this Year. BW stated there had been an issue in the past with the adjacent owner.
Playing field/grounds
Swing seat – BW stated that he is awaiting a quote for the new seat shackles and chains.
Planning
Nothing to report.
Data protection
JP stated that he had not yet complied a document but noted that we are compliant within the guidelines set out by OALC. DH wanted to know who would be appointed as a DPO? JP stated from the latest information received from NALC on GDPR and Data Protection Bill, that the Government has tabled an amendment to its own Data protection bill to exempt all parish and town councils from the requirement to appoint a DPO under the General Data Protection Regulation.
DH also went on to suggest that Charlton On Otmoor parish councillors should have a generic email address. As this was not on the agenda, it will be discussed at the next meeting.
Standing orders
SH had given all councillors a copy of the NALC ‘model’ standing orders and BW stated that a lot of the document was not relevant to our council and would amend it to suit the Parish council and invited any comments from the councillors. When the amendments are made and are agreed the standing orders will be adopted by the PC.
Allotments
This was covered in Matters Arising.
Items for further discussion
Andrew Bourton wanted to know if anything could done about dangerous parking outside the school at drop off and pick up times? BW stated that this has been looked at before, but it would be discussed further at the next meeting.
DH wanted to know what could be done about the oak tree that is on the corner of Mill Lane, as her daughter had climbed into the tree and fell out injuring herself and suggested that a disclaimer should be put up. JP stated that the tree is on Highways land.
Being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.15pm. The next meeting will take place on the 19th July 2018 to be held in the Pavilion on the playing field at 7.30pm.