SOUTH LEIGH AND HIGH COGGES PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Minutes
24th August 2023
7.30 pm in the Village Hall
Councillors Present
Lysette Nicholls (Deputy Chair)(LN)
Rita Sawrey-Woodwards (R S-W)
Peter Grant (PG)
David Auger (DA)
Dick Pears (DP)
| 1 | Apologies – Nicky Brooks sent her apologies and LN chaired the meeting
Introduction to the conduct of meeting |
| 2 | Declarations of Interest – none |
| 3 | To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as being a true record of the proceedings – a copy having been circulated in advance to the Councillors – it was proposed, seconded and approved unanimously that they be adopted |
| 4 | Opportunity for any parishioner to raise a matter of concern. |
| 5 | Payments to approve – a list was circulated in advance of the meeting to councillors and the payments approved will be shown in the minutes of this meeting – the schedule wasapproved unanimously. The Schedule of approved payments is attached.
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| 6 | Review of actions or discussions from last meeting (1) Field House planning – now see below item 16 (2) broadband speeds-nothing had been done but would be attended to especially as there had been issues with Gigaclear but it is noted that the person who had raised his particular problem had not responded to an email and was in the process of leaving the village (3) Terrorism (Protection of premises) bill and its relevance to Village Hall – this has been dealt with (4) Freedom of Information Policy – The Freedom of Information policy has now placed on the village website |
| 7 | Lease relating to play ground at Lymbrook Close plus playground report and invoices relating to report – the lease was in the process of being finalised-photographs of the current condition of the premises will be sent to Cottsway – a series of the photographs that show that condition had been circulated in advance to the PC and were approved. A Safety Inspection report dated 4thAugust 2023 also had been circulated and whilst there were minor issues particularly to deal with dirt, algae and bird droppings on site and a particular issue in relation to the slide and swings – pages 6-13 the overall condition was adequate. It was agreed that volunteers would be sought to carry out some routine tasks. The invoice for the Annual Inspection for £102.60 was approved
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| 8 | Update on Anaerobic Digester – there was still no date when the planning application would come before the Lowlands Planning Committee but PC approved a draft previously circulated which would be sent to all WODC councillors – party by party- rebutting the carbon neutral claim of the applicants
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| 9 | Update on Shores Green and the dual carriageway between Shores Green and Wolvercote and Traffic calming in village. OCC had drawn up on 21st June 2023 a document committing itself to installing 5 elements of traffic calming in South Leigh. Details of the proposed traffic calming will appear in the village newsletter with articles relating the background to the proposals.
Further it was proposed, seconded and carried unanimously that “The PC resolves to seek the views of the residents of the parish with regard to a traffic calming scheme proposal that has come about as a result of detailed consultation with OCC- if approved by the residents the scheme would be implemented in advance of the Shores Green/Access to Witney road scheme. The PC undertakes to collect views by using the village e-mail address list, the village newsletter, facebook and an open meeting; the newsletter being delivered to every house in the parish.”
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| 10 | Update on conservation area application – The meeting with WODC was still pending but it was agreed that the lapse of time since the decision justified a letter to WODC to preserve the position should the decision of WODC not be revised. DP agreed to draft one and circulate for approval |
| 11 | Thames Water and readings of pollutants in the period of the last three months – R S-W had supplied the information of all the relevant readings and this had been circulated but it was agreed that DA and R S-W would collaborate to produce documents which were easily understood by non-scientists and then publicised |
| 12 | Neighbourhood Plan and WODC local plan. LN outlined the various issues were potentially arising as a result of the revision of WODC’s local plan and the potential housing implications for South Leigh. It was decided that it was important that the Neighbourhood plan should also be reviewed and also that in the consultation process that WODC would hold about the local plan there had to be full participation by villagers. To that end to assist articles had been drafted in the upcoming village newsletter and an open meeting in the village hall has been arranged
Further there is was proposed, seconded and carried unanimously that “The PC resolves to appoint a working party to work on revising the parish neighbourhood plan in parallel with the current local plan revisions and will consult with parish and encourage the parishioners to engage with both consultations both on the neighbourhood plan and local plan.”
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| 13 | Verges and Wild Flowers – Dan Levy had not responded to an inquiry about how the issue might be approached but LN suggested that she contacted Graham Soame and Heather Horner and they draw up on plans where there should be protected areas |
| 14 | Matters concerning Eynsham Park Estate – lease, collapsed wall, permissive routes, meeting with Savills.
It was discussed that there were a number of long outstanding issues with the estate particularly the lease of the playing field but also a map of permissive routes but there were other issues such as Bonds and Moors Lane and a collapsed wall near Just Cartridges. It was agreed that DP would draft a letter for circulation and a meeting with the estate would be suggested. As far as the collapsed wall whilst it was the estates responsibility other methods might be investigated and DP would try and organise a meeting about it. |
| 15 | Opportunity for any County Councillor and / or District Councillor to update the Parish Council on any matter of relevance or concern – There were no councillors present and no reports from either the CC or DC
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| 16 | Planning – Field House South Leigh Witney Oxfordshire OX29 6XG
Ref. No: 23/02045/FUL new application – A draft objection was circulated to the PC in advance of the meeting. It was proposed, seconded and passed unanimously that it should be submitted as the views of the PC to WODC
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| 17 | Date of next meeting – 21st September 2023
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| 18 | Points of information
(1) Mobile Signal – Since the newsletter was written – BT/EE have responded substantively as follows “Firstly, while we noted that while EE coverage across the broader level falls within acceptable regulatory standards, we know of particular coverage issues in the South Leigh area based on customer complaints in the area, which you have raised with us. As such, you have been in discussion with EE about whether changes could be made to the infrastructure to improve the services.I now have an update from our networks team about how we’re seeking to address this. I’m pleased to say that we’re making good progress to improve our coverage performance in the area. We are planning to increase the height of the tower to overcome the tree clutter which is blocking a lot of the coverage to the area. Build costs have been approved and we are ready to proceed subject to appropriate satisfaction from the local planning authority.We already have planning consent, however the council did apply some planning conditions and in particular a request for an Ecological Badger Survey. This survey is scheduled to proceed as soon as the Site Provider allows us access to the mast site on their land. We’re confident that this will help us address the coverage issues in South Leigh.”
(2) The owners of the house at the old railway crossing had very courteously indicated that they wanted to cut down the leylandii tree hedge and whilst this was not within the PC’s remit to approve or not approve there was unanimous support and agreement that this was an excellent idea and alternatives would be informally suggested
(3) Martin Spurrier has again saved the village money by cutting the south side of the village green.
(4) Bonds Lane has been cleared again by Martin Spurrier and Moors Lane is now in a much better condition
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