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Swerford Parish Council Minutes
SWERFORD PARISH
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Meeting held on September 7
2011 @ Village Hall commencing 7.30pm
1. Present: Mr J Drinkwater
Chairman Mr J Chaplin
Clerk/Treasurer
Mr R Hall
Deputy-Chairman
Mr M
Poke Councillor
Mr L
Tustian “
Observers: Nil
1. Apologies for absence were
received from Mrs G Howell
2. Declarations of interest in any
matter likely to arise were notified by
Messers Poke and Tustian (Backside) and
by Mr Drinkwater (Retreat Cottage)
3. The minutes of the previous
Parish Council meeting (of May 17 2011)
were approved and the file copy then
initialled and signed by the Chairman.
4. No matters were raised that
would nor arise elsewhere in the
proceedings
5. The financial position as at
the end of August was circulated, it
was noted that most areas of
expenditure were to plan but that Mr
Chaplin would prepare a full forecast
for the November meeting together with
an “Aunt Sally” for the 2012/13 year.
Mr Chaplin agreed to discuss with HSBC
the status of Mr Hall’s cheque
signature. The Council noted the
satisfactory results of both the
Internal (previously circulated) and
External Audits. Mr Chaplin confirmed
that all outstanding VAT has been
reclaimed and received.
6. In Mrs Howell’s absence the
Clerk reported on the Village Hall
Committee situation. The next events
were to be the Spire Concert and the
Harvest Supper, followed by a
Christmas “do”. Mr Drinkwater confirmed
that the Drinkwaters & Stogdens would
be setting the questions for the
February 2012 Quiz but that he
suggested that in future each year’s
winners set the subsequent year. The
Clerk reported that Open Gardens
weekend had been set as 23/24 of June
2012 after liaison with Katherine House
and Adderbury Gardens Group.
7. With regard to the Playing
Fields Committee the Chairman is still
to discuss its direction with the
Chair, Mrs Jayne Ford. The Clerk
reported that he intended to circulate
the village in September to see if
there was any futher interest in
additional trees. A sheep had broken
through the fence and cropped several
trees but they will recover.
8. Mowing & Benches, Hedges &
Trees – the mower is working, Mr Hall
has mown the Village Hall lawn and
offered to “induct” Mr Poke into the
mower’s mysteries. Mr Poke has
repaired one bench at Church End and
will progressively repair the others,
however there is one at the top of
Chapel End which may be unrepairable.
Mr Tustian agreed to try to discover
its provenance.
Page 435
The Council agreed that the Clerk
should chase up the Heaths and Gail
Woods regarding their overgrown hedges.
The Clerk will discuss with Geoffrey
Castle the choice of a cherry to
replace that now removed from the
Chapel End Green. The Clerk had advised
OCC of a potentially dangerous tree
overhanging the road by Retreat
Cottage, which they are investigating.
He had also raised the possibility of a
TPO on a holly at the rear of The Old
Cottage but was advised that the policy
is not to progress TPOs in Conservation
areas where trees are protected as a
matter of course.
9. Planning – Since the previous
meeting WODC had formally approved the
proposals at No 1 Blue Row but without
the front porch and had rejected the
proposals for garaging at The Yews. On
Friday September 9 it was confirmed
that WODC had approved the changes at
Griffin House. Decisions were still
awaited on Retreat Cottage & the Old
Post Office. We were advised that WODC
now had two apparent breaches of
Planning Consent to investigate, at
Rectory Cottage and Butler’s Barn.
With regard to Backside the Council
examined the 1802 enclosure map and
were advised that both OCC and WODC
deny ownership of the lane. It was
agreed that in principle SPC would seek
to register ownership (and possibly
then register it as a village green)
but that prior to a final decision the
Clerk would get an estimate of likely
costs and the Councillors would
consider how those costs should be born.
10. Footpaths & Bridleways – Mr
Drinkwater reported that the issue of
clearing the access to the footpath
through Windy Hill Farm had been
resolved by OCC in dialogue with the
landowner and that work on restoring
the path should be carried out by the
end of October. Mr Poke asked that Mr
Drinkwater now promptly pass over the
portfolio to him.
11. Website & Newsletter –The owner
of our web-hosting provider has
confirmed receipt of our charitable
contribution, it was agreed that we
should continue the practise. Charlotte
Douglass has taken over the editorship
of the newsletter
12. Correspondence – it was agreed
that future public access copies of the
minutes would go on the Swerford web
site, and the FOI notice altered
accordingly.
13. Code of Conduct – all
councillors have submitted fresh
declarations after the election, these
have now been registered. Messers
Drinkwater, Poke, Howell and Chaplin
have attended the appropriate training
course.
14. Any other business – It was
agreed that SPC should bear one half of
the cost of the farewell reception for
Mr & Mrs Castle in recognition of the
years of service that they had given to
the Village in a number of roles and
activities. Mr Tustian raised the issue
of the approval status of the village
orchard, Mr Drinkwater agreed to
discuss this with Mr Castle and the
Clerk agreed to trawl the minutes.
15. The next meetings are to be
held on Wednesday November 9 2011 and
then on Wednesday February 8 2011
JBC v2
27.10.11
Page 436
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