Extra Extra

Report from Chairman Jim Flux

Jim Flux, Chairman of the Parish Council, outlined the format: first a report on the Council’s activities over the last year, followed by an opportunity to hear about affordable housing from Anna Kennedy, Rural Housing Enabler at ORCC and to debate future housing developments in the Parish, and finally an open meeting for any subject raised by a member of the public. Any topic discussed will be discussed at the next PC meeting.

Over the year there have been several resignations from the PC, and new members have been co-opted as no by-election was requested. JF thanked those who resigned: James Privett, Jim Allison, Martin Ince, Brian Wood, Geoff Todd and Don Anderson, who had decided not to seek re-election. The current members of the Council are Aaron Bliss, Alan Collins, Maureen Cox, John Day, John Finnigan, Jim Flux, Steve McDowell, Helen Oldfield, Jean Rudge, Martin Squires, Heather Ward, Jonathan Watts, Bryn Williams and  Brian Wood. Our current Vice Chairman is Alan Collins. Our District Councillor is Paul O’Sullivan who was re-elected in May, Ray Jelf is our County Councillor. The Parish Clerk is Lorraine Watling who does an excellent job. The Village Steward is Richard Banister, helped on occasions by Nipper Clark while Max Pankhurst is on extended sick leave. And Susan Fuller is Minutes Secretary. 

Sgt Bruce Riddel is our Neighbourhood Manager and we have a rural team of PCs and PCSOs. Over the year we have taken steps for the PC to be more involved with the Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG).

This last year we have held 11 council meetings, generally well attended by Councillors, but with a very small number of the public on most occasions. There were quite lively debates during the open forum on the subject of a proposed development in Clifton. 

The Satin Lane Allotment Association has done an excellent job over the year, as have the allotment holders in Hempton. There are currently five people on the parish allotment waiting list.

This year we have completed the registration of the Castle Grounds at the Land Registry. Clarification is awaited on the ownership of the entrance road as the Church Commissioner said they no longer consider it their property.

The Council has a model freedom of information policy.

Once the minutes of our meetings are approved they are posted on the village website thanks to Deddington OnLine (DoL) and on the main notice boards in the three villages. Working groups handle most of the work of the Council: these are Planning, Environmental & Recreation, Finance & General Purpose, and Highways. These groups review the items in their areas and bring a report and proposals for debate to Council for approval as appropriate. I would like to thank all the Councillors and the Chairs. We have also formed a group to review our emergency planning for problems such as last winter’s snow.

During the last year we have had several applications for planning that have caused concern. Not all of these were resolved to our satisfaction, especially Ash Cottage in Clifton.

Speeding continues to be a problem. We have been working with the NAG and have a number of people monitoring the situation.

At the end of April 2011 the Council had funds of £556K, the same as last year. There are strict rules on how these funds can be spent: we may use the interest for revenue items, but capital can only be used for capital projects. 

In March we approved a capital expenditure of £30K to install photovoltaic cells on the roof of the Windmill Centre. This will give an income of around £3000pa via the Government Feed-in Tariff.

The council reconfirmed its policy of maintaining a level of reserves of at least £450K. The catastrophic drop in interest rates continues to restrict the Council’s income, but we do have investments with returns of 2.84% and 2.5%. We have maintained the precept at last year’s level.

We continue to monitor the cost of grass cutting, which is our main expenditure, keeping it at an acceptably low level, and changing our operation so that we are undertaking more in-house. Other services have been maintained but are continually monitored. 

It was agreed that the cost of insuring the pavilions at the Windmill should be carried by the clubs. The Bowls and Tennis Clubs now insure their pavilions separately. The Cricket Club contributed 50% of the costs of the pavilion insurance in 2010 and will pay 100% of the premium for this building in 2011–12.

We no longer hold a lease on the Town Hall and PC meetings are now held around the parish at the Windmill, Hempton Church Hall and the Holly Tree Club. As yet we have not found a suitable venue in Clifton.

The location of the War Memorial is still an ongoing debate with vocal support on both sides.

Over the last year other items of note included:

·       The threatened closure of the Library. The PC, working with FoDL and others, are continuing the campaign to protect the future of the Library. The consultation document from OCC is now expected in late May.

·       John Suckling was thanked for carrying out the necessary internal audits.

·       We continue to be represented by Jonathan Watts as a Governor of the School.

·       Cllrs Day and Oldfield were appointed Feoffees by the PC as is required by the DCE’s articles.

·       The District Auditor gave us a clean bill of health for last year’s accounts.

·       Meetings with CDC in various areas. Both CDC and OCC continue to improve their relationships and communications with the Parishes.

·       A ROSPA-approved inspector gave us a clean report on the play equipment around the parish.

·       The dog bins are emptied regularly and are used by most of our dog walkers. We have installed extra bins in the village, one of which was sponsored by the local vets. Unfortunately, we have a few uncaring people who do not clear up. This is a special problem on the Windmill sports area and Jim asked that everybody clean up after their dogs.

·       Tenders for grass-cutting around the village have been recently confirmed. We will have a meeting to ensure that expectations are understood on both sides, especially in the Castle Grounds.  

·       The Friends of Castle Grounds are finalising their constitution. They have been very active, and the PC thanks them for their work and efforts especially with the work done using a grant from English Heritage.

·       We are currently exploring the possibility of obtaining High Level Stewardship for the Castle Grounds and are in discussion with Natural England.

·       We have arranged weed treatment for all the roadside curbs in Deddington, Clifton and Hempton

·       It was also confirmed once again that householders do not have parking rights on the highway outside their premises.

·       We also obtained clarification on liability for clearing snow outside one’s property.

·       Vandalism is a recurring problem around the Windmill; the Police do include the area in their nightly patrols especially when there are ‘certain’ events at the centre. The all-weather court continues to be specifically targeted and bolt cutters have again been used to gain entrance – a pity with all the other facilities available.  We are exploring the possibility of replacing the fencing with strengthened steel. Riding bikes etc is not good for this sort of court which costs over £3000pa to maintain.

·       Vandalism has also occurred at the Castle Grounds in the form of bonfires. Notices have been put up to remind people that this is a criminal offence and that English Heritage could take out legal proceedings against offenders.

·       The November Fair in the Market Place took place on a slightly larger scale. It received a positive response, and Mr Hatwell, who runs similar fairs in many other villages around Oxfordshire will be coming again this year on 17, 18 and 19 November.

·       We have completed the Democratic & Legal Monitoring required by CDC.

·       The cemetery records are now up-to-date. In light of the current economic climate the PC decided not to increase the various fees this year and they continue to be at the December 2009 rates. An H&S audit has been carried out and all required items dealt with.

·       The planned wild flower area at the Hempton Road Cemetery has been planted with the help of a TOE grant. Many thanks to Jean Rudge for her enthusiasm and hard work on this project The OCV group were also involved and were a great help. 

·       Our thanks to OCV for other work they have done at the far side of the Windmill and the copse.

·       The Clifton footpath has been widened and chippings have been put down.

·       We have continued our commitment to support the Youth Club over the year.  

·       The wi-fi system in the Windmill Centre is proving popular, and we are planning to expand this.

·       The location of the post box in the Market Place is still under review but we are hopeful of a satisfactory outcome.

·       OCC Highways’ plan to improve the bus stops in the village has been put on hold.

·       The Christmas tree was great this year – thanks to John Finnigan and others. 

·       Deddington was declared a Rural Area (now called a reserved location) and so was allowed to keeps its pharmacy at the Health Centre. However, an application to open a pharmacy in the village has been submitted to the Health Authorities so we need to monitor this.

Finally a few words of thanks to:

·       The  Parish Councillors together with Ray Jelf and Paul O’Sullivan for their work and support;

·       Max and Richard, our stewards, for their good work;   

·       Lorraine whose work as Clerk is often unseen but vital to the village, and Susan our Minutes Secretary;

·       Representatives of the Hempton and Satin Lane allotments who ensure all plots are in use;

·       Joyce Minnear for her work at the Windmill Centre;

·       OCV who have carried out projects in the village;

·       Mary Robinson, Jill Cheeseman and the Deddington News for their reporting of events and support, and Charles Barker who has to sit through our meetings;

·       Elizabeth Burak who kindly loads the approved PC minutes on to DeddingtonOnLine;

·       The Festival, the Market, as well as the clubs and unsung people who do so much to make the Parish of Deddington/Clifton/Hempton a great place to live.

To see the Parish Meeting 2010 report, click here 

To see the Parish Meeting 2009 report, click here