Minutes of the Monxton Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 12^th July 2017 in the Monxton Village Hall at 7.30pm.

Present: Cllr M Cleugh – Chairman, Cllr S Dowding – Vice Chairman, Cllr P Weston, Richard Waterman – Parish Clerk, County Councillor Mrs Z Brooks, David James NHW, Members of the Public – 4
Apologies: Cllr J Balding and Borough Councillor Mr B Few Brown.

WELCOME – The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS – Cllr M Cleugh declared an interest in planning application 17/01456/FULLN

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC – No issues were raised by the members of the public.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING – The Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record.

PARISH COUNCIL VACANCY – The Clerk reported that TVBC had informed him that the Parish Council can co-opt to fill the vacancy. Mr Andy Stevens has expressed an interest in joining the Parish Council and will be co-opted at the October meeting.

PLANNING – There are have not been many issues with Nelsons lorries going through Monxton no major feedback from villagers over last 6 months.

Corner Cottage – 17/01144/FULLN
A revised planning application by Ross Construction – no objection to new design but concerns regarding the 40+ trees which have been cut down contrary to the planning application.

Rectory Cottage – 17/01456/FULLN
Small-scale Domestic Solar Panels in field. SUPPORT.

TRAFFIC AND HIGHWAYS – The Chairman gave a brief history of the traffic problems Monxton have experienced and the Non-functioning of the ANPR system in Monxton Road for over 2 years.

MPC raised the issue of the long-term failure of the ANPR system with HCC, (and other traffic concerns) at a meeting in Winchester, and have recently `kept the pressure on` with a further meeting also attended by many councillors and officers both from TVBC and HCC, facilitated and supported by Zilliah Brooks.

A further meeting was held on Monday 3/7/17 with Pat West and councillors from many local parishes to press Zilliah Brooks also present to get a meeting with the HCC Director of Highways within the next 3 weeks and support an FOI request.

A Freedom of Information request has been submitted by Abbotts Ann PC on behalf of all the local parish councils to TVBC and HCC re the ANPR continued failure to operate.

Cllr Mrs Z Brooks confirmed that Goodman’s have their own system VINDEX and stated that their system is working. Further work is needed on the Hampshire County Council ANPR system. Cllr Mrs Z Brooks suggested that Monxton residents take photographs of HGVs that come through the village so they can be identified.

Cllr S Dowding stated that she feels that this is unacceptable, it is the responsibility of HCC to fix the ANPR system and not for Monxton residents to monitor vehicle movements. Cllr P Weston suggested that a letter sent to the MD of Goodmans at his home address informing him of the problems Monxton has with the HGV’s and site traffic. The Parish Council thought this a good idea. Cllr P Weston will draft a letter.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST FOR ANPR SYSTEM ISSUES

The reference Numbers for the requests are:
TVBC  76487
HCC FOI1094284

Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as to the Planning obligations and actions of The Authority, The ANPR system and barred routes in relation to the Andover Business Park, formerly known as the Land at Andover airfield.

This request is made by Timothy Abram Vice Chairman of the Abbotts Ann Parish Council and in conjunction with the Parish Councils of Monxton, Penton Mewsey, Penton Grafton, Charlton, Andover Town Council and Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).

ENVIRONMENT – Cllr J Balding

Footpaths and Bridleways

• We have now had confirmation for funding for the Lengthsman Scheme from HCC.
• A full-time Lengthsman will be appointed to start work, for all the Parishes included in our Scheme, from next year with Penton Mewsey PC as the lead.  Under the Scheme, the main duty for the Lengthsman will be to cut the footpaths.  We will continue with the arrangement we have until about October and MPC will be reimbursed for the costs for cutting the footpaths this year from the Lengthsman Scheme funding.
• HCC are not scheduled to cut the BOAT by Sunnybank until August, but after it became very overgrown in the past few months, MPC had a kind offer from Peter Batten of Willow Farm to cut it for us.  He did a very good job and we would like to thank him for giving up his time to do it free of charge.
• The new Footpath Representative is Shaun Crowley.

The Clerk reported that there is still no news on securing the funding for the Lengthsman. Cllr Mrs Z Brooks reported that she and Cllr A Gibson are meeting with the HCC Executive and hope to secure the funding for the Lengthsman.

FINANCE – Parish Clerk

INCOME
Opening Balance 1/4/17        = £3,761.80
Precept                                = £2,850.00
VAT Refund                          = £   875.97

= £7,487.77

EXPENDITURE
Wages                                    =    £400.00
Insurance                                =   £393.57
Village Maintenance                 =    £485.00
Administration                         =   £155.00
Dog Bin/Litter Collection           =   £330.60

= £1,764.17

Bank Balance
Parish Council   £ 5,723.60
Misc Funding    £ 7,430.65

£13,154.25

WEBSITE – Cllr S Dowding
Cllr S Dowding reported that the website is going well and that she posts regular up-dates on Monxton Matters.

FETE – Cllr S Dowding
Cllr S Dowding reported that it was a record year for the Fete with funds raised (profit) of £17,735.23. Each year a total of £7,800 goes to Amport Church and Amport School. Amport Church has 65% (£5,070) and 35% is for Amport School (£2,730). Any excess is for distribution by the Amport & Monxton Comunity Charity to community projects. This year there is £9,935.23 to be granted.

VILLAGE HALL – Cllr S Dowding
Cllr S Dowding reported that the Village Hall need to get 3 quotes for the refurbishment and building work. So far, they have one and it has come in considerably more than estimated. The Village Hall has started fundraising.

SUNNYBANK – Cllr P Weston
Cllr P Weston reported that there was a power cut at Sunnybank and the power was off for 12 hours. Residents are to receive a refund of £75 from the power company.

The recent Village Clean-up was well attended. Cllr P Weston spoke about a leaflet drop to residents of Sunnybank asking them to sign up for Monxton matters, issues with the B.O.A.T. and the grass cutting at the entrance to the cul-de-sac.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH – Mr David James

• Looking back over the past few months the problems seem to be the same and I wonder if anyone listens to the repeated warnings.
• Rural Crime
• The main cause for concern, highlighted in several recent alerts, is theft from parked vehicles. People still leave valuables, particularly handbags, often in view, when they leave their cars to walk the dog. Thefts from outhouses and garages are a close second
• Scams
• As a follow, up to the Sky refunds scam I spoke to the Sky salesman in the Chantry Centre. He confirmed that Sky does not have a ‘refunds department’ but sadly told me about an elderly lady who contacted him in tears after having been swindled out of a significant sum of money.
• The ‘Council Tax’ fraud has been doing the rounds in Sussex, the victim is asked to make an up-front payment to secure a council tax refund.
• The online vehicle sale fraud. Fraudsters advertise vehicles and machinery for sale on various online selling platforms. The victims, after communicating via email with the fraudster, receive a bogus email which purports to be from an established escrow provider who will keep the payment until the buying and selling parties are both happy with the deal. The money goes straight to the fraudster.

RE-CAP ON PLANS FOR 2017/2018

• Planning
  • Purchase village green and possibly car park
  • Continue to encourage Alpine Group to move from current site
• Environment & Footpaths
  • Employ a Lengthsman for footpath maintenance
  • Village clean-up for spring and autumn
  • Bulb planting for autumn
• Traffic & Highways
  • 30mph roundels to be painted on roads
  • Continue to monitor lorry movements through the village
  • Continuation of Community Speed Watch
• Village Hall
  • Fund-raising for the building work

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

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
To be confirmed