THE MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 8th SEPTEMBER, 2015 IN THE KEN STAINER SUITE AT DURLEY MEMORIAL HALL, DURLEY AT 7.30 p.m.
5 Parish Councillors, District Councillor Ruffell and the Clerk were present. In the absence of the Chairman and Vice Chairman Cllr Smith took the Chair for the Meeting.
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Apologies were received from Cllr Charles, Cllr Watts and County/District Councillor Humby.
2. ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT. There were no Declarations of Interest declared.
3. THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 11th AUGUST, 2015 WERE READ, CONFIRMED AND SIGNED.
4. MATTERS ARISING:
(a) Update on faster broadband in Durley. Cllr Humby was not at the Meeting to give any update.
(b) Drainage at The Sawmills. Clerk read out the quote from Scandor. Councillors agreed that Cllr Pitter would obtain a further quote as it was rather higher than expected. This will be discussed again at the next Meeting.
(c) Report on Parish Plan Meeting held on 18.8.15. Cllr Burton reported that the Action Plan is being prepared and will be discussed at the next Parish Council Meeting in October ready for the Parish Council to hopefully agree the Plan. A letter will then be sent out to residents advising them of the Action Plan and ask what Actions they would like to see the Parish prioritise.
(d) Sharing Parishes Recycling Meeting – 24.9.15. at 7.30 p.m. Cllrs Smith, Farr and Pitter offered to attend this Meeting in Bishops Waltham. The Clerk will also be attending.
(e) Response to Quiet Lanes signs. Meeting on 1.10.15 at 3.00 p.m. No Councillors were able to attend so the Clerk will attend if she can.
(f) Parking at entrance to Manor Road/Beech Corner. The Police are going to visit the owners of the property on the brow of the hill in Durley Brook Road and there has been no response from The Robin Hood owners, or for the line markings outside of Beech Corner or Manor Road. DC Ruffell offered to follow up with Corinne Phillips at WCC as no response was received. The Payphone sign is also still in Durley Brook Road. The request for its removal was made many months ago. This will also be chased up.
(g) Response from Enforcement Officer. A response has been circulated to Councillors, although Councillors are not happy that some long-standing cases have just been deleted from the List with no real action taken against the property owners.
5. COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT: CC Humby was not able to give a Report.
6. DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORT: DC Ruffell said that on Thursday there is a Planning Meeting for the Whiteley development. There will be a site visit in the morning and then objectors and the developers will have an opportunity to speak in the afternoon. DC Ruffell informed Councillors that Winchester may be taking some of the refugees which are coming into the UK. The Council Tax reduction scheme has been withdrawn and he also spoke about Devolution for Councils.
7. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ITEMS BY INVITATION OF THE CHAIRMAN. There were no members of the public present.
8. CORRESPONDENCE:
(a) Parish Councillor Training – Code of Conduct. (5.10.15 at 6.00 p.m.). Cllr Delmege will attend this.
(b) Minutes of W.D.A.L.C. These were circulated.
(c) Complaint regarding low flying planes. Clerk has written to Upham Airfield owners and received an explanation. The resident who complained has also been informed and given a telephone number of the owner in case there are any other problems.
(d) Draft Local Plan Part 2 – next stages from WCC. This was noted. Councillors asked about any development proposals in Durley. Clerk said that there is no housing allocation for Durley in the Local Plan Part 1. Cllr Delmege pointed out that it is very difficult to get plans and large documents on the internet as it is so slow. DC Ruffell offered to send relevant information about Durley through to Councillors for their information.
(e) Parish Council Insurance renewal. This has been renewed as it is the 2nd year of a 3 year Agreement.
(f) Information received from HALC was distributed to Councillors. The AGM is on Saturday 10th October at Sparsholt. No Councillors present were able to attend, but Cllr Charles will be asked when he returns from holiday if he would like to go along.
9. SCHOOL REPORT: There was no Report available.
10. NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: There was no Report.
11. HIGHWAYS REPORT: Cllr Farr had nothing to report. Cllr Pitter has reported some pot holes and there is one in Gregory Lane that needs to be filled in. Clerk said that the reinstatement of the fencing at The Sawmills has been done by the Parish Lengthsman. An e-mail was received from the new owners of 24 The Sawmills regarding the unauthorised access from the back of their property into the woodland area. Clerk has responded, and they have accepted that there was a problem and have also put up fencing around their property. Cllr Smith said that the buffer strip alongside the car park for the Housing Association houses has some shrubs and trees over-hanging the car park. Dave Rappini will be asked to cut them back. The footpath from the Hall to the School needs to have the bracken cut back from the side of the path. The Parish Lengthsman will be asked to do this.
12. FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS: Councillors agreed invoices presented by the Clerk and signed cheques. Councillors agreed to use SGW for the Clerk’s pay and the relevant forms were signed to carry out the payroll ready for the September payment.
13. HALL: Hall foyer refurbishment quotes – no further information was available as Cllr Charles is away. Hedge cutting in car park – Clerk said that Gerald Taplin is in hospital at the moment and unable to cut the hedge. Gerald does this as a volunteer and Clerk has sent him a card wishing him a speedy recovery from the Parish Council. Clerk has asked our Parish Lengthsman to trim the hedge and keep it tidy for the moment. Grant towards cctv – there is no news on the Grant yet. Sound system – the system still makes a background buzz on the right hand side speaker. Cllr Smith will ask the sound engineer to take a look and see what the problem is.
14. RECREATION GROUND: Extractor fan has been installed in Pavilion. Guttering will be done when Cllr Charles and the Parish Lengthsman are available.
15. PLANNING:
Proposed development on land at Oakridge Farm at the eastern end of Maddoxford Lane, Curdridge. Botley PC and Curdridge PC will keep us informed about this proposal, but no details have been received yet. This was noted.
15/01869/FUL. Mr I Edwards. Demolition of an existing 2 storey detached dwelling and 2 no. outbuildings, construction of a 2 storey detached replacement dwelling plus detached garage; associated hard and soft landscaping; relocation of the existing access to site further along Durley Street. Four Winds, Durley Street, Durley. Councillors agreed that an objection should be made as this new dwelling is much larger than the dwelling it replaces and it is not in keeping with the village street scene along Durley Street, especially neighbouring properties. Durley is a rural village and covered by the MTRA3 Policy, and this states that all new development should be appropriate in scale and design and conserve each settlement’s identify, this proposal does not do this. A more modest size dwelling and built with materials similar to other neighbouring properties would be more acceptable. Councillors have no objection to a replacement dwelling provided that it is in keeping with neighbouring properties, smaller in size and that the original dwelling it replaces is taken down on completion. Councillors also felt that the description on the Planning Application is mis-leading as it states that the original dwelling is 2 storey (it is a bungalow with a room in the loft space), and it gives the impression that this dwelling is being replaced with a dwelling of similar size and design, which it clearly is not.
16. THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS THE CHAIRMAN DECLARED THE MEETING CLOSED AT 8.55 p.m.
