DRAFT MINUTES OF NORTHINGTON PARISH COUNCIL Draft minutes of a regular meeting of Northington Parish Council held at 7.15pm on Tuesday, 14th November 2017 at The Woolpack Inn, Totford, SO24 9TJ. Present: John Mitchell (Chairman) (JM) Melissa Jennings (MJ) Yvonne White (YW) Adam Dyne (AD) Cllr Lisa Griffiths (LG) Alexandra Risebury (Clerk) (AR) Apologies: Kim Gottlieb (KG) Ernie Jeffs (EJ) Jackie Porter (JP) Simon Walker (SW) The chairman welcomed all present. 1. Minutes of the last meeting The minutes were approved and the Chairman signed them as a true record. 2. Matters arising There were no matters arising. 3. WCC Planning Meeting On Friday, 6 th October 2017 JM attended WCC s tour of recent planning developments and current builds. JM said that he had seen a large variety of sites and had talked to planners about the criteria, which they relied upon. In response to JM s direct question, the Head of
Planning said that NPC should feel free to comment on planning proposals without restraint. JM said that currently NPC constructs its comments on the understanding that the Council should not comment on shape, colour, materials or form. The Head of Planning said that the council should feel free to express its views. The planners would subsequently take a final view. 4. Speeding and road signs JM will meet with Jackie Porter on Monday, 20 th November 2017 to discuss this matter further. 4a. Neighbourhood comments re B3046 JM spoke to a villager who sent a speeding complaint to NPC and reported speeding to the police. LG reported that the police are to review speeding in rural areas. HCC will only act if police support is in place. Due to funding caps within HCC there is less money available. AR noticed that Preston Candover currently has an advisory flashing speed check in place. JM is considering black and white speed limits signs and will investigate the cost and whether it will be worth spending the money. Further research is required and JP consulted. 5. Grange Estate Lord Ashburton had received an unsigned and undated letter from a local resident who had been walking in the Grange Park. He/she alleged that he/she had nearly been hit by a bullet. He/she has subsequently seen in the distance two men with riffles and a pick up van but they were not recognisable. JM had discussed the letter with Mark Baring. He thought that the marksmen may have been poachers. His marksmen use high chairs for culling deer, thereby avoiding a horizontal trajectory. JM agreed that it was not possible to take this matter further at this point because no name, no date, no address had been provided. In response to JM s question, Mark Baring said that there is no Right to Roam on the Grange Estate. He said that he asked if NPC would pass the following message to our community: Visitors to the Grange Estate need to beware that the autumn and winter months are the season for sporting shoots and deer husbandry. The owners of the Estate are conscious of the need to manage the deer herd in a safe and effective fashion. LG suggested that concerns about potential poachers should be reported the police using the 101 link.
6. Lengthsman At the time of our meeting Joe Noades ( Lengthsman to NPC) was on holiday but AD had arranged a meeting with Joe for Friday, 17 th November 2017. AD will point out which work needs doing and what has been done. Comments from locals have been taken into account. AD forwarded a list to AR listing the work carried out and work still outstanding. On completion of the works, AD signs off each work related column and forwards it to Wendy Simson, who will then pay Joe Noades. AD discussed the list of works outstanding with everyone present and NPC agreed with AD s assessment of priorities. AD also agreed to revarnish the noticeboard at the cross roads. 7. Clerk s report AR reported that no planning applications have been received since the last meeting in September. AR presented the figures of Quarter 3 of the current financial year. No unexpected outgoings and agreed by NPC. The precept for FY2018/19 has been discussed at the September meeting and it was agreed the precept should remain unchanged. AR will apply for next year s precept in December. BDLO has charged NPC with 36.00 for the last external audit. Changes to external auditing have been made throughout the country and Hampshire has been allocated PKF Littlejohn as their new external auditor. Susan Ramage from HCC had invited AR to a meeting on 18 th October 2017 to discuss the new external auditing programme but AR unable to attend. Susan Ramage will forward slides from the meeting. NPC received an online poll about play fields within our local parish. AR completed the poll noting that Northington had no playing fields. All councillors present signed their Declaration of acceptance of office forms. 8. Any other business a) Peter Lamb was looking for a representative of the Parish Council to read Lesson 3 at the Carol Service on 17 th December. AR kindly agreed to take this on. b) Andrew Fannon had contacted JM to say that the planned new build on his land will be reduced by 38%. Planning modification to follow soon. c) The Stannah family had been in touch with JM to tell him about their planning application for a new driveway and footpath to the White House. This would allow their immediate neighbours to have their own driveway. Planning application not received as yet.
d) NPC has received an invitation to the Local Council Conference on 27 th November. The short notice as well as the date and time make it impossible for NPC to attend. LG said that the strategy plans are available online. e) A recently received email from WCC about fly tipping will be circulated amongst all villagers. NPC strongly feels that everyone needs to be made aware of the problem and how to report fly tipping. HCC is responsible for clearing a fly tip. f) LG involved NPC in the proposed changes of licensing at the Bliss Field festival. Bliss Field proposes a reduction of visitors from 8500 to 2500, while seeking extended timings for plays, films, live music, recorded music, performance of dance between 11.00-23.00 on Sunday. Also sought were extended timing for late night refreshments between 23.00-01.00 on Sunday and an extension for the supply of alcohol on the premises from 12.00-23.00. NPC does not oppose to the changes. Comments to WCC can be made until 3 rd December 2017. g) YW questioned if anyone noticed road repairs since our last meeting with Hampshire Highways. No one noticed any repairs. YW will email and enquire. 9. Date of next meeting The next regular NPC meeting will be held on Tuesday, 23 rd January 2018 at 7.15pm at the Woolpack Inn, Totford, SO24 9TJ. AR 22/11/2017