CUBBINGTON PARISH COUNCIL ENCLOSURE A Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 11 th November 2014 at the Village Hall, Broadway at 7.30 pm. PRESENT: Councillors Mrs. T. Saul (Chairman), Miss M. Cashmore, D. Cox, P. Delow, Mrs. A. Higham, P. Johnson, T. Kelly, Mrs. M. Mitchell, D. Morris, Mrs. C. O Donnell and D. Saul Also in attendance: Councillors J. Hammon, N. Pratt and W. Redford 81. MINUTES The Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 14 th October 2014, having been printed and circulated, were taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. 82. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Gregory. 83. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND GRANT OF DISPENSATIONS Councillors Delow, Mrs. Higham, Mrs. O Donnell and Saul declared personal interests in agenda item 12 Village Hall, as members of the Village Hall Trust. 84. CHAIRMAN S REPORT (1) The Chairman reported that she had attended the Cubbington s Got Talent competition which was held on 18 th November 2014 in aid of funds for St. Mary s Church. (2) On 27 th October 2014 the Chairman and Clerk had met Rev. Graham Coles, Richard Spicer and Jo King from St. Mary s Church to plan the Civic Service to be held on 11 th December. (3) A meeting of the Pavilion Working Party had been held on 30 th October 2014 to examine the invoices for the repairs carried out. (4) The Chairman reported on the Annual Meeting of the Warwickshire Association of Local Council held on 4 th November 2014 which had been addressed by the Chairman of National Association of Local Councils. (5) The Chairman had attended the Remembrance Service at St. Mary s Church, Cubbington on Sunday, 9 th November 2014 and laid a wreath on behalf of the Parish Council. 53
(6) The Chairman reported on the items which she proposed to include in the next edition of the Parish News. (7) With regards to the Parish Plan, the Chairman reported that the returned survey forms were being analysed by a team from St. Mary s Church. Surveys would also be carried out of the youth and business requirements and a report would then be made to the Parish Council. 85. POLICING The Chairman reported policing information relating to the parish which had been produced since the last meeting. The next meeting of the Rural East Community Forum would be held in February 2015 and the policing priorities to be carried out before then would include patrolling at the two schools at peak times. Councillor Mrs. Higham reported that the application made by the Village Hall Committee to the recent Community Forum meeting had been unsuccessful. 86. HIGHWAYS MATTERS (1) Rugby Road RESOLVED that the reports be noted. The Chairman reported that the resurfacing of part of the Rugby Road car park was due to be completed during the week and Councillors Saul and Redford agreed to monitor the situation to ensure that the work was carried out. (2) Car parking Reference was made to a problem which arose recently when a vehicle was parked on the pavement in Queen Street which had blocked the route of a local disabled resident who then had to travel in the road. The issue had been raised with Sgt. Kettle and Councillor Redford reported that the County Council was taking an active role in tackling this type of issue. (3) Noticeboards RESOLVED that the report be noted and that this issue be referred to in the Parish News. The Chairman reported that an application had been received from the organiser of the local Slimming World group for permission to advertise on the Parish Council s noticeboards. 54
The Parish Council were grateful that the organiser had requested permission but felt unable to give their approval. Applications from profit-making organisations had not been agreed in the past and it was agreed that this policy should be followed. The Chairman also reported that she had been contacted by the organiser of a charity event who had been given permission to display a notice of the event. However, unfortunately the notice had been removed when the noticeboards were painted. 87. PLANNING MATTERS (1) Consultation list RESOLVED that the request from Slimming World be refused in accordance with previous similar requests. The following planning application had been received and the comments as shown had been submitted to Warwick District Council by the Clerk under delegated authority: (a) W14/1442 land off Pinehurst: application for two new dwellings to replace those previously approved on application W/13/0975. Overall footprint for both dwellings is the same as those approved. There are minor changes to the external facades and internal layouts with the addition of a conservatory to each at the rear: no objection. (2) District Council decisions The following decisions were reported for noting: (a) (b) (c) W14/0759 55 Offchurch Road: single storey side and two storey rear extension and new porch: granted. W14/1315 30 Stirling Avenue: single storey side and rear 'wrap around' extension: granted. W14/1211 15 Boddington Close: single storey side extension and a single storey front extension (part retrospective): granted. (3) 61 Queen Street The Chairman reported that the District Council s Planning Enforcement Officer had been in contact with the developer and the agent for 61 Queen Street. It had been hoped that tenders for the work would be received by the end of October and the agent had undertaken to submit details to discharge all outstanding pre- 55
commencement planning conditions by early November. The concerns regarding the condition of the building had been emphasised to the developer and agent and that the District Council could require certain repairs to be carried out. Further information regarding the ownership of the building was awaited. 88. RECREATION GROUNDS (1) Insurance claim It was reported that a personal injury claim had been submitted by a member of the public following a reported accident in the play area near to the Village Hall. The claim had been forwarded to the Parish Council s insurance provider for processing. In the meantime, Mr. Moorcroft had been requested to repair the damaged grassed area which had allegedly been the cause of the accident. Reference was made to an area of grass on the verge of the Village Hall car park which it was thought could be a potential hazard. (2) Dogs RESOLVED that the report be noted and that Mr. Moorcroft be requested to repair the grass verge in the car park. Reference was made to the past comment from the District Council that dogs could not be banned from the play area in the recreation ground because it was not fenced. However, a play area at Newbold Comyn which was owned by the District Council was not fenced and it appeared that the taking of dogs into the area was prohibited; this appeared to contradict the advice given by the District Council. RESOLVED that Councillor Pratt be requested to clarify the position. 89. PARISH COUNCIL ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS It was reported that Warwick District Council had now decided that the New Cubbington area (North Ward) should not transfer into the Manor Ward of the Town Council of Royal Leamington Spa. However, in accordance with the proposal from the Boundary Commission, there would be two new Parish Wards. These would be the New Cubbington Ward with five Parish Councillors and the Cubbington Ward with seven Parish Councillors. 56
RESOLVED that the report be noted and that Councillor Pratt be thanked for the support he had given in this matter. 90. FLOODING At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr. Reg Smith reported that Warwick District Council were offering Flood Protection Grants for Local Households to assist local householders improve their flood protection. Grants of up to 500 per household could be awarded for eligible expenditure on any flood protection measures such as flood gates, anti-flood air bricks, pumps, and sand bags for domestic properties located in flood zone 3 within the Warwick District. 91. HIGH SPEED RAIL LINK Councillor Delow reported on the latest information regarding the proposed high speed rail line. The next meeting of the management committee of the Cubbington Action Group would be held on 17th November and a local singer had held a fund raising concert on 24th October. Also on 24th October Councillor Delow had attended a conference at the barristers chambers in Gray s Inn, London to discuss the presentation of the five local petitions to the HS2 Select Committee. On 26th October he had attended a meeting of AGAHST Chairs. Councillor Delow had attended a meeting of the Offchurch HS2 Action Group management committee to discuss petitioning and on 7th November he had attended an action group liaison meetings held by Warwickshire County Council. On 6th November Councillor Delow had taken part in a surgery to advise individual petitioners. This was held at the Houses of Parliament and taken by the Clerk to the HS2 Select Committee. On 27th October Sir David Higgins had launched his report Rebalancing Britain: from HS2 towards a national transport strategy and on 29th October the National Audit Office published its report Lessons from major rail infrastructure programmes, in which it expressed the view that the Department for Transport had made progress in its management of rail infrastructure programmes but that there remained areas which the Department needs to address or where it needed to provide more focus. On 13th October the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee held its first session of its inquiry into the economic case for HS2. Witnesses included academics, DfT and HS2 Ltd and their consultants, HS2 Action Alliance, Stop HS2, 51m, Network Rail and Lord Adonis. 57
The HS2 Select Committee had been hearing petitions throughout October and November. Petitions from north Warwickshire and Warwickshire County Council were now being heard and, so far, 36 petitions had been heard over 24 sessions. A further 50 petitions were scheduled to appear before the Committee but were not heard, either being withdraw or deferred pending ongoing negotiations or design changes. Sharpe Pritchard had advised that the Cubbington petitions were likely to be heard in early January. The services of a barrister to assist with the presentation of the petitions was proposed with the costs being shared with the local parties involved. On 27th October Members of the select Committee had visited south Northamptonshire and it was understood that no further visits to the route were planned until after the winter, although a visit to HS1 had been scheduled for 2nd December. By the time that the petitioning period for the first Additional Provision for HS2 Phase 1 had closed 42 petitions had been deposited with the Commons Private Bill Office. The Parish Council expressed their thanks to Councillor Delow for his time and personal costs in addressing the HS2 issues on behalf of the local community. 92. VILLAGE HALL The Chairman advised that the Finance Working Party would be meeting shortly to consider the budget for 2015/16 and hoped to recommend that provision should be included to help with the maintenance of the Village Hall in coming years. 93. FINANCE (1) Bank balances The Parish Council s credit balances on 1 st November 2014 were Account Community (Current) Account 175.21 Business Money Manager Account 37854.70 Money Market Account 21229.29 Total 59259.20 58
(2) Accounts to be paid (a) Clerk of the Parish Council - salary and expenses October 2014 (b) Mr. D.R. Moorcroft - provision of play bark 58 - emptying flower containers 295 - repainting noticeboards 510 - collection of litter 43 - repairs to fence in Austen Court play area 79 - removal of damaged play equipment 94 1079.00 (c) Mastercare laptop maintenance annual fee 86.00 (d) OCS Group UK Ltd. grass cutting: October 2014 232.78 (incl. VAT) (e) Newpath Ventures Ltd. provision of winter plants 300.00 (incl. VAT) (f) TW Printing and Copying Ltd. printing 30.00 94. COMMUNITY PAVILION RESOLVED that payment of the accounts be approved. The Chairman reported that the Pavilion Working Party had examined the accounts for the work carried out and raised a number of queries with the project manager/building surveyor. A 5% reduction had been agreed as a result. Details of the insurance payment were awaited and sources of other funding had been investigated. Completion certificates or the work had been received. Councillor Johnson was thanked for recommending the project manager/building surveyor who had been involved during the project. Reference was made to the need to investigate the potential drainage problems in the area of land to the north of the building. This would need to be considered by the Pavilion Management Committee as part of the future maintenance programme. RESOLVED that the position be noted. CHAIRMAN 9 th December 2015 59