Full Council Minutes

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 Minutes of a meeting of the above Council held at Wickham Community Centre on Monday 19^th November 2007 at 7.15pm. 

Present: Angela Clear (Chairman), Sue Roger-Jones (Vice-Chairman) Mike Bennett, Mike Carter, Thérèse Evans (District Councillor),

Di Frost, Justin Gamblin, Jenny Hollis, Michael Sadler-Forster.

Eight members of the public, Parish Clerk Nicki Oliver

1             To receive apologies for absence: Cllr Trevor Astbury.

2             To receive declarations of interest on agenda items: none.

3       To adjourn meeting to allow participation of members of the public:    

3.1.        Report from County Councillor: report circulated at meeting

3.2.        Reports from District Councillor: please see attached report.

3.3.        Other questions from members of the public:

Four members of Wickham Scout Group spoke of their work towards an environmental badge,  and asked the PC consider providing a bottle bank at the Community Centre to improve local recycling facilities.

The Chairman thanked the young people for their presentation and it was agreed to progress the request with Wickham Community Association.

District Cllr Thérèse Evans congratulated David and Sue Roger-Jones on receiving the Mayor’s Award in recognition of their work in the community.

David Crossley provided an update on the proposals for Rookesbury Estate to promote a site north of The Circle for future development and to provide recreation land and possibly an extension to the Mill Lane exception site in return.

An engineer is looking at options for highway access to the Mill Lane site; reports from landscape and arboricultural consultants are awaited for both sites. A meeting has been arranged between Rookesbury and WCC Head of Strategic Planning, Steve Opacic to discuss the proposals.

It was confirmed that the proposal is a ‘deal’; land at Mill Lane will not be made available without development permission for the site north of The Circle.

Rookesbury will be putting forward all their land south of Blind Lane for consideration for development as part of the LDF process.

4             Meeting resumed to approve the minutes of the Full Council meeting 15^th October 2007: minutes approved and signed.

5      Matters properly arising from those minutes not included below: none.

6             Agenda items:

6.1 Proposal to constitute a Forward Planning Committee to consider issues and options for all aspects of the future of the Parish of Wickham, also encompassing the Market Town Health Check and Village Design Statement. Detailed terms of reference to be agreed.  It was agreed to progress the proposal for a Forward Planning Committee with Cllr Sadler-Forster to have delegated responsibility for setting up the committee and appointing its members.  It was agreed that Cllr Sadler-Forster should chair the committee.

6.2 To consider the recommendations of the Community Action Hampshire Wickham Housing Needs Survey April 2007 (circulated to all councillors prior to the meeting) or to refer to an appropriate committee, (possibly the Forward Planning Committee) for further debate and recommendations:

That the Parish Council considers advancing the process to achieve an additional scheme/s of affordable housing: 

1.    to support the development of a scheme of 25 – 30 homes or two schemes totalling this number to meet the needs of those requiring affordable social housing.

2.    to work with the Wickham Affordable Housing Group to support the development of 8 homes provided through the Community Land Trust model

3.    to commence discussions with the other parties involved in the provision of rural affordable housing.

4.    to explore the location and availability of any sites which the Parish Council may think appropriate

Resolved with the following alteration to introductory sentence:

That the Parish Council considers advancing the process to achieve an additional scheme/s of affordable housing in the short term:

6.3 To agree content of article on the Housing Needs Survey for the December Parish Magazine, draft circulated to all councillors prior to meeting.

Draft as circulated agreed for inclusion in the December Parish Magazine.

6.4 To receive update on Market Town Health Check. (Chairman/Clerk)No further progress.

6.5 To receive update on the Village Design Statement/ Wickham strategic issues (Cllr Sadler-Forster) No further progress.

6.6 To receive a report on Knowle issues : WCC has received planning applications for the pavilion and MUGA/skatepark.  The Chair of KVRA has indicated to Cllr Evans that a summit with HCC/WCC/WPC is not necessary, although there many issues of concern for residents the majority involve the developer.

6.7 Youth Club Committee report (Cllr Carter) The Youth Club has raised £12,000 to buy new equipment and to pay rent to the Community Centre.  Plans for a 60 x 13’ Portacabin are being pursued via a grant to the Youth Opportunity Fund.  The Choir, lead by Chairman Cllr Angela Clear is progressing well and looking forward to performing at the Christmas Light Switch On 4^th December.  Leader Ray Hughes is assisting with setting up a new Youth Club at Knowle.

6.8 General Purposes Committee report (Cllr Evans )

6.8.1 To agree date for next meeting. Meeting arranged for 11^th December.

 6.9 Lighting Committee report (Chairman) On going repairs are being reported.

6.10 Planning Committee report (Cllr Hollis).

            6.10.1 To receive minutes of meeting 22^nd October 2007 Minutes received.           

6.11 Recreation Committee report  (Cllr Roger-Jones) An outline planning application to relocate the Scout HQ has been submitted to allow the damaged hut to be demolished. Repairs are needed to the Recreation Ground play area and approval to place an order for £300 requested.

The HCC Youth Worker is looking at funding possibilities for improvements to the skatepark via the Youth Opportunities Fund.        

6.12 Traffic and Highways Representative's report (Chairman). Requests for repairs to the entrance to Holt Close and Mill Lane near the surgery have been made.  Requests for permanent speed limit reminder signs on Winchester Road will be investigated.          

6.13 Water Meadows Trust report. (Chairman/ Clerk)

The tree adjoining the garden of 2 St Nicholas Row has been removed; the annual cut for the Water Meadows is in hand.

6.14 Finance Committee report: (Chairman/Clerk)

6.14.1 To receive suggestions for projects for funding consideration for 2008/9 precept . All will be initially discussed at the Finance meeting 26^th November. Suggestions received include: maintenance of Knowle war memorial, supporting Knowle Youth Club and Knowle Village Post.

6.15 Cemetery Committee (Chairman) No report this month.         

6.16 Report on recent meetings attended by Councillors/Clerk including:

• Private Sector Housing & Homelessness Strategy Consultation Day (Cllr Sadler-Forster) Cllr Sadler-Forster reported that the Chief Executive of Winchester Area Community Action highlighted Wickham as a socially deprived area, albeit relative compared to the rest of Winchester District.
• WCC Housing Forum (Cllr Hollis/Cllr Sadler-Forster) Cllr Hollis reported that new products were being developed to serve the growing need for affordable housing such as discounted mortgages.
• Annual meeting of Parish Transport Representatives (Cllr Bennett) Cllr Bennett circulated two reports on the meeting which are available on request.
• Sustainable Communities Seminar (Cllr Bennett/ Cllr Hollis)

Cllr Hollis would like to pursue a ‘greening of the village’ project by raising awareness of small changes residents can make.  It was suggested Cllr Hollis arrange an independent public meeting to progress the proposal.

7 Recent correspondence: list circulated prior to meeting.

8 Accounts for payment

It was resolved to pay the following accounts: see page 5

 9 Questions and comments from Councillors

Chesapeake Mill has received a £4000 lottery grant toward the creation of a heritage centre.

It was noted that the village map at Chesapeake needs to be relocated as it can not be viewed in its current location.

The war memorial looks good following a professional clean.

Meeting closed 9.45pm 

Reports

3.2 Report from District Councillor Thérèse Evans

Cllr Evans nominated David and Sue Roger-Jones for the Mayor’s Award, the presentation was a good evening with community champions from many parishes also receiving the award.

The PUSH meetings will now be held in public and minutes published on its website.

Cllr Evans noted that she has always spoken in favour of keeping green fields around Wickham and Knowle, particularly between the two villages and the proposed strategic development area.

The Discovery Centre in Winchester will open shortly and will include an art gallery capable of holding national exhibitions.