WELCOME. Cllr Mrs Ferguson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST.
Cllr Mrs Ferguson declared an interest in the Quarley P.C.C.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING.
The Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record. Matters arising from those minutes :-

ROADS - There has been no further repairs done to the roads through the village. The pot holes and the state of the verges need urgent attention. The Clerk confirmed that there is to be a site meeting within the next two weeks with Mr Walsh from Highways. The Parish Council will point out the various repairs that need doing in Quarley.

Cllr Mrs P West reported that Hampshire County Council are not happy with the level of service Amey the Highways Contractor is providing, the repairs to the Counties Roads are not up to standard. H.C.C have estimated that they will need to spend £12.5 Million on repairing the roads and feel that they are not getting value for money. At a meeting held earlier in the day to discuss this it has been agreed with Amey that from April 2010 one of their Management Team will be working at H.C.C. Highways to oversee the contract.

The Parish Council discussed the state of the verges in Skew Road, damage to the caused by the HGV’s going to Fox Farm Grain Store, there are now some very deep ruts that fill up with water after rainfall.

Cllr Mrs P West asked if there had been any 106 Money set aside for roads attached to the Planning Permission for the Grain Store? Cllr Mrs West stated that residents from Monxton have reported concerns to her about the Grain Store. She suggested that TVBC be contacted and asked to revisit the 106 Agreement so that money could be requested for Skew Road improvements.

The Parish Council stated that there was mention of the 106 Agreement at the Planning stage for the Fox Farm Grain Store, however this is in Monxton parish and Quarley were not consulted.

The Parish Council were puzzled as to what effect the Grain Store has on Residents of Monxton, the site is quite some distance form the village and can not be seen, and the traffic does not go through the village due to the Traffic Calming scheme!

PAVEMENTS IN ETWALL - Cllr Mrs Tubbs reported that weeds are still growing through the pavement in Etwall. This will be one of the items flagged up when the Parish Council have their site meeting with Highways.

ALLOTMENTS - The Parish Clerk reported that he has drawn a blank with the issue of Allotments, basically there is no land available.

SHOWMAN’S SITE - The Chairman reported that since the last meeting there has been another Planning Application for a Showman’s Site a Thruxton Down. This has yet again been turned down but could result in further applications.

Cllr Mrs West reported that she and Cllr Mr P Lashbrook are working with the Action Group to ensure that a strong case for objection is ready if further Planning Applications are submitted for the site. TVBC already have two sites, a third is not needed.

The Parish Council also raised concerns about a site in Bush Lane, it is not clear what use is intended for this site, a bore hole dug, an electricity transformer installed and conifer trees have been planted around the perimeter. The Chairman raised this issue last year with Cllr Mr P Lashbrook. Cllr Mr Lashbrook did some investigating and was told that it was intended to site a temporary stable on the site, this has not happened. Cllr Mrs West suggested that Cllr Mr P Lashbrook be asked to keep a watching brief on this site, this was thought a good idea.

• 10/00197/LBWN - Provision of bay window to kitchen on north-west elevation - Bridge Cottage, Quarley. The Parish Council had NO OBJECTIONS to this Planning Application.

WAR MEMORIAL
The Clerk reported that he has received the grant application forms from the War Memorial Trust. Grants are available for up to 50% of the cost for repairs and refurbishment. Mr Jack Cullen the Stone Mason is working on the War Memorial at Over Wallop at present, when he has finished he will do a complete survey and report on maintenance and for the Quarley War Memorial and provide a quote so this can be sent with the Application Form.

The Parish Council discussed the War Memorial and agreed that it would be nice to have a restoration project to bring it back to tip top condition. Cllr Mr Venables suggested that if we are to overhaul the War Memorial that it may be prudent to consider replacing the concrete chain post with wooden ones, they will be easier to maintain and replace if they are damaged. The Parish Council thought this a good idea.

The Clerk reported that Cllr Mrs P West has given the Parish a £200 grant from her devolved budget towards a Parish project. Cllr Mrs West stated that she could possibly give a further grant from her devolved budget in the next financial year starting in April.

COUNTY COUNCILLOR MRS P WEST’S REPORT.
Hampshire County Council has set its budget for 2010/11 which will see an increase in council tax of just 38 pence a week for the average Band D household with no cuts to service and more money for social care.

This is despite the Council having to ask Council Tax payers to fund 79 per cent of the cost of its services because the amount of grant support it gets from Government is the lowest per head in the country for County Councils.  It also delivers services from a Council which is one of only three in the country to earn the coveted 'performing excellently’ status.

The Government will be providing just £146.8 million out of the proposed £672.1 million budget (excluding schools). This represents 22% of the councils funding for essential services such as care for the old and vulnerable, highways maintenance, disposing of household waste and support for children and families.

Cllr Mrs P West gave the Parish Councillors a report on how Hampshire County Council coped during the recent bad weather and measures that could be implemented to improve the service. The issue of grit bins was discussed and the Parish Council have been asked for their views so that Cllr Mrs West can report back to the Cabinet in July. Cllr Mrs West also stated that H.C.C. is looking at the liability concerns for grit bins as this is an issue with many Parish Council’s insurers. The County Council has also set aside funds to triple the number of salt bins to 6,000 and to build extra salt barns to store more salt as part of its plans to increase resilience for future severe winters.

The Parish Council raised the issues that affected Quarley during the bad weather and felt that it should be a priority to grit the bus route, the village had no bus service for 5 days, the bus is a life line for some villagers who do not drive.

COUNCILLORS REPORTS
CLLR MR M VENABLES - Reported that the visiting Flashing Speed Sign has been positioned in the wrong place, it is set to come on if vehicles are travelling at 35MPH. Vehicles are already slowing down to negotiate the bend and are not travelling at this speed. Apparently it has been positioned on the lamp post as BT will not allow them to be sited on their poles!

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
Mrs Venables felt it would be very hard to prove that the damage to Skew Road was purely down to the Grain Lorries visiting Fox Farm, all the local farmers use Skew Road and they also have heavy wide equipment. This was noted.

CORRESPONDENCE
The Clerk reported that TVBC have their draft Test Valley Access Plan Supplementary Planning Document available to view on their Web Site : www.testvalley.gov.uk Comments have to be registered by the 23^rd April 2010.

The Parish Council have received an invitation to join the ‘Green Communities’ Scheme. The Clerk will ask for more information on the scheme before the parish Council commits itself.

The Chairman reported that she had received an email from Mr Ray Alborough regarding diversion routes under the Road Traffic Regulation Act.

Whilst the Order will be for 6 months implementation will be used for major events at Thruxton race Circuit. As you are no doubt aware these are currently planned for 4 and 18 April. I understand a third may be organised for August. I am expecting the actual closure will be for approximately 5 hours on the days from 0700 to 1200. If conditions allow the closure will be removed earlier.

The length of closure will be 110m. south of the westbound off slip of A303. No property access will be affected. It is hoped that vehicles leaving A303 will be able to have a smoother run in to the site and thus reduce the likelihood of queuing on A303.

The diversion route for vehicles travelling north will be via Bush Farm Lane, and those travelling south will be via Topliss Hill, B3084 and Cholderton Road. Both routes will be signed.

The Parish Council were not happy with these proposals and felt that the Bush Lane junction off the A303 is exceptionally dangerous. A lengthy discussion took place, Cllr Mrs P west suggested that the Clerk contact Cllr Mr P Lashbrook in the morning as a matter of urgency to relay the Parish Council’s concerns.

AFTER NOTE.
The Clerk has spoken to Cllr Mr P Lashbrook. The order will only be implemented at peak times during a race weekend, he thought possibly for one to two hours at most. The reasoning behind this is to stop cars backing up on the A303 and to provide a through route to the Circuit without stopping at T junctions at peak times. The remaining times of the day residents will be able to access Quarley as usual.

Safety Measures will be put in place on the A303 to slow down traffic and lanes will be cordoned off for race and through traffic, there will be a police presence at the junction with Bush Farm Lane to ensure the safe route of residents.

CHEQUES ISSUED IN MARCH 2010
Mr B Pearce Grass Cutting (July) and Ditch Clearing £115.00

CLOSE OF THE MEETING
The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
15^th June 2010 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm