THE MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 8th DECEMBER, 2015 IN THE KEN STAINER SUITE AT DURLEY MEMORIAL HALL, DURLEY AT 7.30 p.m.
6 Parish Councillors, County/District Councillor Humby, the Clerk Mrs Anne Collins, PCSO Nolan and 5 parishioners were present.
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Apologies were received from Cllr Pitter and District Councillor Ruffell.
2. ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT. There were no Declarations under the Code of Conduct.
3. THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 10th NOVEMBER, 2015 WERE READ, CONFIRMED AND SIGNED.
4. MATTERS ARISING:
(a) Update on faster broadband – CC Humby reported that he is meeting with the Minister to try to find out if the State Aid Rules can be challenged to enable a 3rd Party to get involved in providing faster broadband. Patrick Blogg has now been appointed at HCC.
(b) Drainage at The Sawmills. Cllr Pitter was not able to attend the Meeting but send an e-mail to the Clerk. It was agreed that we would ask HCC for Firms which could carry out the work and then get further quotes and then make a decision on whether we do all the work at once, or in two parts.
(c) Quiet Lanes Meeting (24.11.15) – Cllr Watts and Clerk reported that they had attended the Meeting in Bishops Waltham, however there was no more information to add.
(d) Parking at entrance to Manor Road/Beech Corner/Pay Phone sign. Response from WCC. Clerk read out the response from HCC which was not very helpful. Photographs will be taken outside of Beech Corner and Manor Road. Parking whilst the cones are alongside the road at the Manor Road entrance has certainly helped the problem, but the cones are now getting broken so Councillors are concerned that there will again be cars parking on the entrance and causing a safety issue. CC Humby has forwarded the correspondence onto Andy Smith and he has said that it is WCC who should be dealing with this. CC Humby has now asked the Leader of WCC to help. PCSO Nolan will also keep an eye on the situation.
(e) Report on Emergency Planning Workshop – Cllr Charles and Clerk attended the Workshop and said that they found it very interesting. It has already been agreed to update the Durley Parish Plan and it was noted at the Workshop that the Plan should be as concise as possible. At the Meeting concern was expressed by the Emergency Planning Officer that the flooding situation has not been resolved yet at Beech Corner. He wished to be informed of what has been done in in the hope that he might be able to help. The Environment Agency also offered their help if the issue is not resolved. Although the ditch has been dug out by HCC Councillors did feel that the Environment Agency should be contacted to see if they could resolve the issue as it has been a continual problem when it rains for 9 years. CC Humby was in agreement with this.
(f) Flooding at Beech Corner – progress by HCC. CC Humby said that he has met with Darren and Lisa at Beech Corner and the ditch has been dug out. Further work is noted above.
(g) Report on School Meeting – Cllr Delmege reported that he attended the last School Meeting and the main issues discussed were the proposed lay-by and speeding vehicles.
(h) Agree Councillor to attend next School Meeting. The Clerk has not been informed of when the next School Meeting is so although she has asked Kirstie for a date, a further e-mail will be sent. It was agreed that Cllr Delmege will attend the next Meeting, although it was agreed that this will only be for a short time as we wish to send along different Councillors – a 3/6 month term was discussed.
(i) Durley Parish Plan Meeting Report – Cllr Charles said that an Open Meeting has been arranged for Thursday 18th February, 2016 at 8.00 p.m. to update parishioners on the progress of the Plan and also to start to form some of the new Groups which were requested in Durley. The Groups selected are the ones which can be easily set up with little or no financial input. If there is enough interest then it is hoped that these Groups will start as soon as possible. Cllr Burton suggested a website that the village could use and the Parish Council could have a link, along with other organisations in Durley. This will cost £950 to set up and £120 hosting charge per year, although the first year will be £60. Cllr Burton proposed that we accept this quote and Cllr Farr seconded the proposal. All Councillors were in agreement with this and asked Cllr Burton to set up the website. Ian Medd is currently plotting all the village signs on a Map of Durley so that we can see how many are actually required and which ones need removal or updating. Village entry signs are also being looked into.
(j) Doctors Forum. Cllr Charles attended the Hedge End Doctor’s Forum who started the Young Persons’ Clinic which we made a donation towards. He said that it is a valuable asset and is helping many young people, including some in Durley.
5. COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT: CC Humby has been working hard on issues dealing with Rural Broadband, Rural Post Offices, Highways issues, and also he is meeting Louise Hubble to discuss rural crime at the end of this week. CC Humby also spoke to Councillors about the proposed Botley By-pass. Cllr Smith asked when the lorry count was going to be carried out along Durley Street. CC Humby replies saying that he is going to carry out an Area Survey and needed to find out which of the other Surveys are up to date so that he does not duplicate Surveys.
6. DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS: There was no District Council Report.
7. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ITEMS BY INVITATION OF THE CHAIRMAN.
(a) A parishioner present asked if we had considered a memorial to Sir Jeremy Black who died recently. A relative was also present and said that perhaps planning some fruit trees where 3 trees had died in The Sawmills, or a bench could be considered. Councillors agreed that they had not discussed this so it will go on the Agenda for a further Meeting.
(b) A parishioner also asked if we had considered more dog bins in the village. Councillors said that there are 3 bins which can be used for dog fouling, but some people never pick up after their dogs and this is more of a problem. It seems that this is not a problem just in Durley, but most parishes, with no easy answer.
8. CORRESPONDENCE:
(a) Thank you letter from CAB regarding donation for 2016/17. This was noted.
(b) Local Government Boundary Commission – Draft Recommendations. Councillors agreed that they are happy to be in the Bishops Waltham Division. Clerk will write a response reflecting this.
(c) Response from Enforcement Officer to enquiry. Clerk read out the e-mail and this was noted.
(d) Maintenance of Recreation Ground – gang mowing renewal. Clerk has received an e-mail from Dave Ifould – the Contractor who cut the Recreation Ground before he left OCS. Councillors agreed that we have not been totally happy with OCS for the last few years so it was felt that an alternative quote might be useful when the renewal comes up with OCS. A decision can then be made as to who to award the Contract to.
(e) Request from Bus Company regarding cutting back of hedges. This request will go into the Parish Magazine in the hope that residents will cut back hedges alongside the main road so that buses do not get damaged when they travel through the village. Councillors would not want the bus service to cease because buses are getting damaged.
(f) Letter from Home-Start Meon Valley. Councillors agreed that they are not able to make a donation this time.
(g) E-mail expressing concern over the proposed School lay-by. Clerk circulated the e-mail to Councillors. Kirstie has sent a revised Plan and which now includes half the lay-by. Councillors were concerned about the proposal and also wished to know who was consulted about the proposal and what the results were. Councillors also expressed disappointment that Kirstie was not at the Meeting when such an important issue was being discussed. CC Humby said that he had not been informed that there was a revised plan until the Clerk had sent him one today for him to look at. Considering CC Humby was the main instigator in getting funding in place for this project Councillors agreed that he should have been kept informed. Clerk will write to Kirstie asking about the Consultation and ask if she intends to come along to future Parish Council Meetings.
(h) Clerk received an e-mail asking why a large sign has been placed on the landscaped area in the Sawmills. It was not clear who owns this section of land so the Clerk has asked Steve from Persimmon to investigate. It is hoped that then it will be removed.
(i) Parish Devolution Workshop – 1st March, 2016. It was agreed that the Chairman and Clerk should attend.
(j) Consultation on the Library Service. Councillors will view the document and make any comments to the Clerk if they wish.
(k) Colin Chamberlain had sent a Deed of Grant of Easement from Southern Water for the land at The Sawmills. Councillors agreed with a couple of amendments. Clerk will then send on the Deed to Colin Chamberlain for him to send off.
9. SCHOOL REPORT: No Report was available.
10. NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: PCSO Nolan informed Councillors of recent problems in Durley – which included antisocial behaviour by someone opening gates and letting animals out in Stapleford Lane, an attempted horse tack theft and driving at speed down Wintershill. Poaching is also a problem in the area at the moment. PCSO Nolan said that staffing shortages coupled with the larger area that he has to cover makes it impossible to attend all the Parish Council Meetings, but he hopes to attend on a quarterly basis and attend community events if possible. He has attended the Lunch Club and found this to be useful.
11. HIGHWAYS REPORT: Cllr Farr gave a highways report. Cllr Watts asked why a HCC Contractor was cleaning out the drains with a yellow flashing light at 4.00 a.m. this morning (8th December). It woke her and all her family up with the light and noise. Clerk will ask Darren if he knows anything about this.
12. FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS: Councillors agreed invoices presented by the Clerk and signed cheques as agreed.
13. HALL: Hall foyer refurbishment quotes – Cllr Charles said that this is being moved forward. Baby changing facilities have been installed. Cllr Charles was thanked for putting this up. It was also reported that the Caretaker had found the bin full up with a residents’ rubbish. He visited the resident and although he denied putting rubbish in the bin he did (after swearing at the Caretaker), take the rubbish out of the boot of the Caretaker’s car and put it by the side of his own bin. This is not the first time that this resident has used the Hall bin for his own rubbish. The situation will be kept monitored as it is not fair that the bin is not able to be used for Hall rubbish as it is intended.
14. RECREATION GROUND: Guttering – Cllr Charles and Peter will put this up when time allows.
15. PLANNING:
15/02580/FUL. Mr & Mrs Bartlett. We are proposing to demolish an existing conservatory and build a new single storey rear extension, create a small porch area with pitched roof to the front of the property and alter the landscaping at the front of the property to create some additional off-street parking. All materials to match existing. Casa Fiori, Manor Road, Durley. Councillors had no objections to this application.
15/02595/TPO. Mr K Pitter. 2 no. Oak trees to crown and reduce by 3m plus cut out all of the dead wood in the trees. Green Pastures, Sciviers Lane, Durley. Councillors had no objections to this application.
16. THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS THE CHAIRMAN WISHED EVERYONE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR AND THEN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 10.05 p.m.
