Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 8th October 2024 at 19:30
PRESENT: –
Tim Shreeve Councillor & Chairman Parish Council (Chair)
Rhys Stone Councillor
Mark Davis Councillor
Ashley Byrne Councillor
Kate Flanagan Councillor
Greg Lismore Parish Clerk
2024.83 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: None required – all members present.
2024.84 DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS – Cllr. Tim Shreeve declared a personal interest in planning matter reference P24/S2894/HH as he is the applicant. He took no part in the deliberations on that matter.
2024.85 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – 16 members of the public were present including South Oxfordshire District Councillors Ed Sadler & Ali Gordon-Creed.
A member of the public addressed the Parish Council on a matter relating to a speculative planning enquiry to them relating to the possibility of an application for approximately 54 new houses being submitted in Towersey contrary to the Neighbourhood Plan and including new access roads and related estate infrastructure. The Parish Council advised they would need to await any planning application, outline or otherwise, to the local planning authority before any official comment might be made. The Parish Council reaffirmed their desire to see the adopted and legally enforceable Neighbourhood Plan desires and expectations to be upheld by the local planners.
Following the Straw Poll re Neighbourhood Watch held last month and the discussion at the last Parish Council meeting there were ZERO members of the public willing to step forward to set up such a scheme.
Cllr. Tim Shreeve confirmed that the budget was in place to support the latest gate repair works being led by Jez Clark and that the costs would be covered.
2024.86 MINUTES and MATTERS ARISING.
The minutes of the meeting held on 3rd September 2024 were approved by Council and signed by the Chairman.
2024.87 UPDATES FROM OCC and SODC WARD COUNCILLORS – A written report was received from our SODC ward representatives and taken as read.
2024.88 PLANNING MATTERS
FOR CONSIDERATION:-
P24/S2894/HH Oak Cottage, Lower Green NO OBJECTION
FOR INFORMATION :- None
2024.89 FINANCE.
The receipts and payments schedule was reviewed. Cheque payments were approved and signed by 2 Councillors. The Bank Balance as at 8 October 2024 was read out.
The Parish Clerk confirmed that the VAT return had been submitted to HMRC
The Parish Council reviewed the External Auditors Report and Certificate for 2023/2024. The Clerk confirmed that it had been published per the legal requirements and by the deadline of 30th September 2024. The items in the report were read through and each one was discussed by the Parish Council. The Parish Council were of the view that the matters raised were trivial and required no specific action other then an acknowledgment that clerical and transposition errors are not uncommon and that no substantive matters were raised. The matter of low general reserves at year end was readily explainable due to timings on outflows and inflows to the current accounts and that the reserves were being built up in line with their wishes and expectations as verified by the current account bank statements which are reviewed every month. The Clerk was asked to ensure that the correct boxes are ticked with respect to control objectives following the annual internal audit next year. The Council were satisfied with the explanations relating to the periods of Notice of Public Rights and that there were no material issues arising.
2024.90 SIGNIFICANT LETTERS not dealt with elsewhere – None
2024.91 PARISH BUSINESS.
New Parish Council website – This now online and available over the internet at WWW.TOWERSEYPC.GOV.UK
2024.92 ANY OTHER BUSINESS –
The speed indicating devices in the village have not yet been re-erected. One will be replaced on Chinnor Road next week. The PC will wait for a further period before replacing the remainder on Windmill Road and Thame Road and if not advised against if there are further device thefts in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire in our hinterland. The Parish Council will apply for a full grant to fund the cost of the replacement of the one that was stolen. Cllr. Tim Shreeeve will complete the necessary paperwork to apply to SODC with the support of our 2 ward Councillors Ed Sadler and Ali Gordon-Creed.
The Parish Council reminded the meeting that there is a village “work party” on 13th October 2024 with the focus on bulb planting on the verges and elsewhere AND ditch clearing. All villagers are welcome and encouraged to participate in this community activity which benefits us all. Meet at the village green at 11:00
The Parish Clerk is looking into using the Village Hall PA system at the next meeting to mitigate the poor acoustics and the expressed frustration of the public present being often unable to hear the Councillor discussions. The Clerk will discuss with the responsible person at the village hall.
A discussion took place in respect of “Nature Recovery Program” grant possibilities for Towersey of several thousands of pounds. There are ideas to create a new village pond and wetland area with a small meadow and community orchard, possibly sited on unused areas of the Playing Fields. A plan will be put together and presented to the Playing Fields Committee in due course and we would like to have this as a Parish Council promoted initiative. Cllr Tim Shreeve, Melanie Walsh and Cherry Nurse have agreed to work together on this.
The next meeting of the Towersey Parish Council will be Tuesday 5th November 2024 in the War Memorial Hall at 19:30.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 20:15
Print Name: ………………………………………… Signed ……………………………….
Date …………………….