Minutes of the Meeting of the Community Committee
Held at Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington on 31st January 2013.
Present:
Cllr D Robey (Chair)
Cllr D Betts
Cllr M Billington
Cllr T Emptage
Cllr L Gray-Wright
Cllr Chris Pack
Cllr S Rhodes
Cllr R Truman
Apologies:
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Neil Prestidge and Cllr Tracey Wyse.
Declaration of Interest:
Cllr Billington declared an interest in agenda item 7 – condition survey (decorating of Clerk’s
office – as he had submitted a quote.)
33.
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 22nd November 2012 were agreed and signed as a true
record.
34.
Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 nd November
2013:
i)
Taurus Training (Minute 26 (i))
Taurus Training had been contacted by Cherwell District Council’s
enforcement team for putting tyres with advertising on around the village. It
was hoped that this will discourage them from fly posting in the future.
Cllr Truman reported that earlier on in the day he has seen a plank of wood
advertising Taurus outside Tesco’s in the High Street. The Clerk would take
this up with Paul Devine, the officer responsible at Cherwell District Council.
ii)
Exeter Hall Frontage (Minute 26 (ii))
The ground staff have re edged the frontage and the area will be reseeded in
February.
Cllr Pack was pleased with this.
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iii)
Historical Society (Minute 26 (iii))
The Chair had been in touch with the historical society. He felt it was
important to co ordinate the Historical Society’s website with that of the
Parish Council and would continue to progress this item, with input from Cllr
Pack.
Mrs Cayley had spoken to the Information Centre, which had agreed in
principle to sell the Society’s publications.
The Clerk reported that John Amor had recently given the Parish Council a
copy of the latest book on St. Mary’s Fields.
Cllr Emptage noted that the library had a set of all the publications (as did the
Parish Council).
iv)
Review of Youth Provision (Minute 26 (iv))
Cllr Rhodes had attended the most recent Joint Youth Provision Meeting. She
explained that recently attendance at these meetings had been diminished,
but now there was a reinvigoration process happening. Cllr Rhodes had
suggested contacting Richard Belmont at Gosford Hill School with the
intention to hold the next meeting there. Students could then be asked to
feed ideas through to the school prefects and house captains, so that the
group could gain an understanding of what young people themselves wanted
and needed. The school’s student representatives could then be invited to
attend the meeting and take part in the discussions.
Cllr Truman thought this was a good idea as it would ensure that young
people felt involved in the process. The Committee in general had concerns
about teenagers as there was currently more available for younger children
in the village.
Cllr Pack stated that he had been very impressed by Clare Harwood who had
addressed the most recent Full Council meeting about the possible provision
of facilities for older children including possibly a skate park. It was agreed by
the Committee that it would be a good idea to invite her to attend the Joint
Youth Provision Meetings as a parent representative.
The Committee commended Cllr Rhodes on her work so far and looked
forward to further reports from the meetings she would be attending.
v)
Trees on Lyne Road (Minute 26 (v))
There was still no update on this issue, although the Clerk has sent a
reminder to the insurance company.
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vi)
Deer Fencing (Minute 26 (vi))
The fencing had been ordered but unfortunately had not yet been
dispatched. Mrs Cayley had chased the company and had been promised
that it would be dispatched as soon as possible. The Ground Staff had
already put in some posts.
vii)
Footpaths (Minute 16)
The Parish Ranger, Jayne Hancox, was still working on these maps.
viii)
Kidlington Cemetery/Lych Gate (Minute 26 (viii))
This project was now completed, and within budget. A photograph was
circulated and the Committee agreed that it looked very good.
ix)
Jubilee (Minute 26 (x))
The Community Projects Officer had looked into the Woodland Trust’s tree
planting scheme and had identified that it was not for individual trees or a
small number but was in fact for the planting of new woods.
x)
Open Spaces Report (Minute 30)
The RFO had confirmed that the Parish Council would be able to match fund
the £5, 000.00 that Green Square can put into the play area at Croxford
Gardens – there is £5, 000.00 in commuted sums, £3, 500.00 in the repairs
and maintenance budget and £2, 300 in the play equipment renewals budget.
The Clerk reported that Green Square had now agreed to put in £6, 000.00,
meaning that the Parish Council would only need to contribute £4, 000.00.
34.
The Vision
Cllr Emptage reported that in his role as a District Councillor, he was aware that there was a
proposal being put to the Cherwell District Council Executive Committee to spend the New
Homes Bonus money 50% on Banbury and 50% on Bicester. He was not impressed that
Kidlington had not been included and would be following this up with the District Council.
Cllr Emptage confirmed that the Parish Council had been allocated some of the Portas
money and stated that there were only a few weeks to let the District Council know what
the Parish Council would like to spend it on. The Clerk explained that she had sent a list of
request through to Karen Matthews at Cherwell District Council some time ago. This list had
come from Kidlington Voice which had brainstormed at a breakfast meeting. Karen
Matthews had contacted the Clerk to say that the District Council Executive had discussed
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the issue and claimed to have consulted Kidlington, but that she had not been asked what
Kidlington had put forward.
There followed some discussion on this and it was agreed that there was no clarity on what
was happening with the Portas money.
The Committee noted actions on the identified strategic aims. The Chair proposed that
under Strategic Aim 4 perhaps some screening could be done to the toilets in the piazza.
Cllr Emptage was not sure that looking at a screen would be better than looking at the
toilets, and the Clerk noted that the police had not been keen when this idea had previously
been raised. The Committee felt that screening was not the answer. Cllr Emptage thought
that it might be worth pursing the general issue of the toilets for the 2013/14 budget.
Cllr Betts reported that he had been in touch with Ian Davies at Cherwell District Council
concerning the Olympic Legacy money and also the pedestrianisation rising bollard. He felt
these were the two most important issues to be dealt with currently, and did not want to
push other issues too much – however, he would pursue the issue of the toilets.
Cllr Pack felt that it was important to pursue the issue of land behind the High Street
belonging to Jonathan Ede and John O Shea as this had large potential for economic
development. The Committee agreed that this was a very high priority.
The Chair also stated that the raised table between the Exeter Hall site and the other side of
the road was important to economic development and the Committee agreed. It would be
useful to have an idea of costs involved.
These items would be taken to Cherwell District Council by Cllr Emptage with a view to a
claim on some of the New Homes Bonus money.
Cllr Betts would write a formal letter to the District Council as the Chair to add weight to Cllr
Emptage’s investigations.
Also under Strategic Aim 4 was an update from Angus Bates from Mill Street Holdings who
would like to come and speak to members of the Vision Working Group. This group would
then report to Full Council.
Under Strategic Aim 5, Cllr Pack reported that he had spoken to James Dillon-Godfray, the
marketing officer at Oxford Airport and he would be happy to meet with members if a date
was set. Again the Vision Working Group would progress this.
35.
Major Development Plans for Exeter Close
The Chair proposed that the Community Committee should start planning for development
of the Exeter Close site and the Hall in the event of a large capital receipt.
Cllrs Robey and Betts had met with Jeremy Sacha of Sacha Barnes Associates in November.
Sacha Barnes was responsible for the design of the civic garden and cycle path at Exeter
Close. They asked Jeremy to give a cost estimate to further the scheme in place which had
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been attached for the Committee’s consideration. The Committee agreed to accept the
quote, subject to the RFO’s confirmation that money was available for this, and to some
elements of the proposal (that could be done by the Open Spaces Manager) being removed.
A discussion followed on the possible development of Exeter Hall, and it was felt that it was
important to consult with the community on what they wanted to see and to use the hall
for. It was agreed to set up an Exeter Hall Working Group . This would consist of Cllr Robey,
Cllr Betts, Cllr Rhodes, and Cllr Gray-Wright. The brief for the group would be to consider
changes in use for Exeter Hall, to look at current use, to initiate a consultation process and
start to draw up ideas. The group would report back to the Community Committee and
then to Council.
36.
Condition Survey
A list of quotations had been circulated to members. The first item was for work to the roof,
guttering and paving at a cost of £3939.00 incl. VAT. The Committee AGREED to accept this
quotation from Moors Construction.
The second item was a deep clean of the hall, kitchen, toilets and bar area. The Committee
was concerned at the quality of the clean for the quoted price and also because it had come
from the regular cleaning contractors . If a more thorough job had been done on a regular
basis, the deep clean might not have been needed. The Committee requested that two
more quotes were sought. The ovens in the kitchen should also be cleaned and serviced.
The third item was new carpets for the Committee room, Clerk’s Office General Office,
Office corridor and new mats by the RFO’s office and dressing room. Although it was felt
that the Committee room carpet was in reasonable condition, Cllr Pack thought that the
office staff should be able to have a pleasant working environment, and it was AGREED to
accept the quotation from Kennington Flooring at a cost of £1, 677.60 incl. VAT. However,
the committee room should be removed from the quotation and therefore the actual cost
would be lower. This should be done at the same time as the decorating in August.
The next quotation was for new windows in the general office, the Cherwell corridor and
the two fixed windows in the workshop. Quotes were for both wood effect PVC and hard
wood.
The Clerk explained that she did not feel that PVC was appropriate for Exeter Hall and that it
had a shorter shelf life than wood (if it was cared for properly.) She had asked someone to
look at the existing windows and had been told the frames were solid with no rot. The
Committee asked the Community Projects Officer to look for windows made of aluminium
that could be fitted into the existing frames which would match some of the existing
windows in the building.
Other items that needed attention were all of the patio doors which did not have good
locking mechanisms, and a new sink in the gents’ toilets.
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There was also a quote from Barker and Evans to look at some small and large mechanical
items. The Committee was not sure of the cost implications of this as there were some
guide costs only and it was requested to ask Graham Curd of Barker and Evans to meet with
Cllrs Betts and Robey to discuss this.
Cllr Billington left the meeting.
The final item was a quote from Cllr Billington to redecorate the Clerk’s office. It was felt to
be good practice to obtain one other quote, although Cllr Billington had been awarded the
contract to paint the rest of the building through a competitive tender process. Once an
alternative quote had been obtained the Chair would make the decision on which to accept
in conjunction with the Clerk.
Cllr Billington re joined the meeting.
37.
Price Increases for Exeter Hall, Stratfield Brake and Burials
The Committee has been circulated price lists for Exeter Hall, Stratfield Brake and burials via
e-mail. Members were asked to decide if they wished to increase charges. The RFO had
advised against an increase in the current economic climate and it was AGREED to leave the
charges unchanged.
38.
New Allotments at Kidlington Cemetery
This item had been referred to the Community Committee to progress by Full Council. The
Committee was uncomfortable about the cost of the scheme, and Cllr Betts stated that it
should not go ahead until the outcome of the grant application to Awards for All was
known, and that it should not go over budget. He wanted to see savings made if at all
possible.
The Committee also considered where the first row of allotments for displaced tenants of
Station Fields and the Gravel Pits should be, and it was decided that in view of the
allotments being adjacent to the cemetery, the far end of the site should be utilised first.
Cllr Pack left the meeting at 9.30pm
It was RESOLVED to suspend Standing Order 1(a) to allow for the meeting to continue
for a further 15 minutes
39.
Bus Shelter Advertising
The Parish Council had entered into an agreement with Primesite Media in 1998 to install
advertising panels in selected bus shelters. The arrangement was to bring revenue into the
Parish and to offer an advertising option as an alternative to fly posting.
The agreement had been for 15 years from 1st September 1998 and would expire on 31st
August 2013.
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Currently Primesite media paid £130 per panel per annum (paid quarterly). There were 6
panels making £780 per annum in total.
The Committee was asked if it wishes to retain the panels and if so, if it wished to
renegotiate terms within a specified framework.
The Committee AGREED that the Parish Council should retain the panels and seek tenders
for this.
40.
Finance Report
Members had previously been circulated with a Finance Report from the RFO. This was
noted.
41.
Open Spaces Report
The Committee noted the Open Spaces Report. The Committee had asked if the Open
Spaces Manager could attend a meeting, but the Clerk had spoken to him and he had
explained he was unable to attend meeting on a Thursday nights due to personal
commitments. He had offered to do a walkabout with councillors and the Committee
agreed this was a good idea. This would be arranged when the evenings became lighter.
The Clerk reported that the Open Spaces Manager had presented half of the memorial
inspection register to her, and that when the other half was completed he would write a
report to accompany it.
42.
Project List
An updated project list was noted.
43.
Proposed Change of Meeting Date from April 18th to 25th April
The Committee agreed to the proposed date change.
The meeting closed at 9.45pm
Chair.
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