Quarley Parish Council Minutes - 17th June 2014

Minutes of the Quarley Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 17th June 2014 at Quarley Village Hall at 7.30 pm.

Present : Cllr Mrs J Ferguson - Chairman
Cllr Mr W Marshall - Vice Chairman
Cllr Mr M Venables
Mr R Whiting
Borough Councillor Mr Ben Few Brown
Richard Waterman - Parish Clerk
Members of the Public - 1
Apologies: Cllr Miss C Rowe
Cllr Mrs G Tubbs
Mrs J Venables - NHW
County Councillor Mrs P West

WELCOME. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST.
Cllr Mrs J Ferguson declared an interest in the Quarley Church

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN
It was proposed that the Chairman and Vice Chairman continue in their rolls for another year. All agreed. Cllr Mrs J Ferguson was elected Chairman and Cllr Mr W Marshall was elected Vice Chairman. 

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT.
VILLAGE QUESTIONNAIRE – This Questionnaire was compiled by the informal sub-committee of Richard Whiting, Mike Venables, Charles McClea and Mike Thorne with the guidance and input of Mr. David Bibby of TVBC Planning Department. The results gave an indication of the priorities of the residents of the Parish of Quarley. 

VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT - This has been an active year with the Village Design Statement progressing steadily with various meetings with Mr. D. Bibby of TVBC. We have now reached the point that until Test Valley Borough Council have their Local Plan agreed and passed by Government we cannot make any further progress. I would like to thank everyone involved who has put so much time into the work on the Village Design Statement. 

PLAYGROUND – The Parish Council had received permission from the Trustees of the Village Hall to place swings and a couple of other pieces of Play Ground Equipment on a small part of the Village Green that would not interfere with future Village Events. Funding had been agreed with our Hampshire Councillor Mrs. Pat West. However it was pointed out at the Parish Council meeting that the requirement for a Play Ground came very low down in the wishes of the village and a majority of the councillors decided not to go ahead with this scheme. Mrs. Pat West then withdrew the offer of funding, as there was no other project that the village required at that time. 

FORESTRY AT FOX – There is still concern as to how many heavy lorries will be coming through Quarley relating to activities at Fox. 

ROADS – The state of the roads does not generally improve; in general one can say the nearly every road requires a new surface. Work was done from the Start of Bush Lane up to Skew Lane (the thickness of the surface is obvious from the ‘hole’ that appeared just before the corner by the War memorial). The road coming into the village from the turn off to Cholderton, (Cottage Lane), is now showing the same problems that the trench for the BT fibre-optic cable, caused on the road that has been resurfaced. One more winter and this road will require considerable work. The large holes are patched, when reported, however the bank of gravel and other detritus that has been in evidence on the right handed corner on the way to Grateley has never been cleared. The request for this to be done was agreed with the then Hampshire Highways Representative about 5 years ago. There is now a further and appearing on the corner just before Quarley Manor Farm, where the road is breaking up due to standing water. 

FINANCIAL REPORT
The Clerk produced the end of year accounts for the 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014 period. The Clerk reported that the internal Auditor Mr P Reynolds has approved and signed off the accounts and has raised no issues. The Parish Council agreed to adopt the end of year accounts as a true record. The Chairman and the Clerk signed off the Accounts for the period 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014. 

Section 1 - Accounting Statements
Section 2 - Annual Governance Statement
 

The Clerk will now send the Accounts to the District Auditor BDO Ltd.

PAYMENTS ISSUED APRIL, MAY AND JUNE 2014
Richard Waterman ½ Year Expenses £75.00
Richard Waterman Wages - April, May, June and July £166.68
Mr B Pearce Village Maintenance £140.00
HCC Street Lighting £99.46
New Road Mirrors £313.20

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

HIGHWAYS - The Parish Council discussed the state of the village roads. The HGVs travelling through the village to get to Georgia Farm in Monxton are continuing to cause serious damage to the verge in Skew Road. Overgrown hedges are now causing problems, it is understood that work on hedge cutting can not be started until after the Bird nesting Season at the end of July, but some hedges are obscuring sight lines. 

Cllr Mrs P West has informed the Parish Council that Highways are aware of the various repairs that are needed in the Parish and she hoped that they will be undertaken before the onset of winter. 

Cllr Mr B Few-Brown reported that he has investigated the possibility of putting a traffic calming scheme in Skew Road, but unfortunately due to the nature of the road and the access for agricultural vehicles, this can not be done. Cllr Mr B Few-Brown suggested that a site meeting with Mr Ray Alborough the Borough Council’s Highways Engineer would be a good move to explain the problems the village are having with the large lorries, he may be able to suggest a way forward. The Parish Council thought this a good idea. 

VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT - No further news to report. 

RIGHTS OF WAY SIGN POSTS - The Clerk has reported the missing Rights of Way signs to Peter Watson a Hampshire Rights of Way. 

Cllr Mr M Venables apologised but he has not yet got round to painting the metal direction finger post at the entrance to the village. 

PLANNING
There were no new planning applications to discuss.

14/00461/FULLN - Erection of orangey on South elevation - Hill House, Skew Road, Quarley
This Planning Application was passed with conditions.
 

Cllr Mr M Venables reported that there had been some concerns raised about work to the barns along Bush Lane. On contacting the Mr Mark Newman, the owner, he could confirm that :- Mr Newman has taken the barns back in hand and is repairing them to store grain. They will be used solely by Mr Newman and as a result there should be fewer large vehicles in the village. Deliveries will be in and out via the A303 junction at the Thruxton end of Bush Lane. 

Cllr Mr B Few-Brown reported that the Bullington Wind Farm planning application has been turned down, he was sure that EDF Energy will appeal. This was noted. 

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT - Provided by Mrs J Venables
Crime in the area continues at a low but steady level:

  • an industrial wood-chipper was stolen from the village
  • a burnt-out quad bike was discovered in the tree belt along the Cholderton Lane (no forensic evidence could be gathered due to the effectiveness of the fire and weathering due to the length of time before it was reported)
  • reports of suspicious vehicles and people trickle in – all of which is good as it means that the community is keeping its eyes open.
  • Red diesel theft continues with Andover Turf being a repeat victim – not in Quarley but reported to me nonetheless.
  •  All incidents reported to PCSO David Trowbridge and he has attended as appropriate.
  • The Police & Crime Panel are undertaking a thematic scrutiny of the PCC and rural crime and rural policing on Fri 4 July.

OPEN GARDENS & PLANT SALE - Provided by Mrs J Venables

  • The Open Gardens & Plants Sale on Saturday 7 June was a resounding success. After a cold and wet morning the sun shone through making a perfect afternoon. It is estimated that 150+ people (including children) visited the village.
  • The Cream Teas went well, as did the Plant Sale. An amazing 15 Scarecrows were entered for the competition – the winner being the Schoolgirl at No 1 Etwall.
  • Sir George Young drew the final 6 tickets for the Raffle and, given that so many tickets had been sold far and wide in advance of the event, it was pleasing that a number of prizes went to local folk.
  • £2300 was raised which will be divided equally between the Church and the Village Hall – cheques will be sent to the Chair of the PCC and the Chair of the Trustees in due course.
  • The organising Group would like to thank Stuart Cross for allowing the use of the Allotment Field as a Car Park, and the Parish Council for their support.
  • A National Garden Scheme Co-ordinator visited the event and was suitably impressed by what she saw – as a result we have been invited to consider opening under their banner next year. A meeting with her to talk about the fine detail of what this entails will be arranged and a decision taken after that – a key point being that the organising Group are keen that it should not reduce unduly the amount of money that is raised for the village.

The Chairman wished to thank Judy Venables for organizing such a successful event and to those to took part by opening their gardens.

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

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
16th September 2014 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm

 
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