UPTON PARISH COUNCIL
In attendance:
Chair Ben Shaw
Vice Chairman Neil Thorp (NT)
Councillors David Beckles (DB) Brendan Heneghan (BH) Chris Seelig (CS) Francoise Yates (FY)
Clerk Lisa Heneghan
- To receive apologies for absence
None received
- To record any declarations of interests relating to this meeting
None declared
- Open Forum
No parishioners present
Question raised by a villager on email re parking at the Village Hall notably on a Tuesday when the football team are hiring the ground. Overflow parking on the grass needs to be made clear. Currently there is no signage. Football manager must be responsible for team’s parking. Diagram to be produced for him to pass on to team and given a warning if not adhered to will not be allowed continued use. BH BS
- To approve minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 26th June 2024
Proposed by BS. Seconded by BH. All in agreement
- To approve the resigning of minutes of the meetings held on April 24th 2024 and May 22nd 2024 where page numbering has been added
Proposed by BS. Seconded by BH. All in agreement
To confirm and/or appoint Personnel and Finance Committees
Personnel: Ben Shaw, David Beckles, Francoise Yates. Proposed by BS. Seconded by BH. Unanimous vote
Finance: Ben Shaw, Brendan Heneghan, Chris Seelig. Proposed by BS. Seconded by DB. Unanimous vote
*Proposal to reorganise agenda to Item 12 as Henry Matthews (HM), TFM representative, present
- To hear any updates on any aspect of the recreation ground including play areas and maintenance
Contractor explained issues regarding parking space and extent of grass cutting expected.
Noted that the pub pathway took 29 man hours to get back to standard for which contractor, as a gesture of goodwill, charged £25
Church footpath – misunderstanding how far the contractors were meant to go
Although all agreed in an email, noted that an official contract needs to be put in place. Acknowledged by TFM and will be rectified.
Cutting of pathways not competitive against other contractors but TFM will review.
Costs to be itemised in a revised quote
Other paths which have been queried by parishioners to be included in TFM quote.
Thames Water to be approached regarding the path they regularly visit.
BS & HM to walk paths and produce a comparison chart to be emailed to Council with a subsequent vote.
TFM to continue with grass cutting until revised quotes received.
NT proposed, FY seconded, BS abstained, others voted in favour
Recreation ground maintenance:
Replacement surface has arrived and start date for laying 15th August.
Wood chip will need to be topped up at some point.
Football nets: Need regular walk around maintenance to ensure clips are in place. Football manager to be asked if he could make checks and report any measures needed. CS offered to replace clips when necessary. LH to email
Agreed new barn padlocks of a code nature should be purchased and codes to be changed on a monthly basis. Proposed by BH, Seconded by BS All in favour
NT handing all information regarding the play area to DB.
- To receive resignation from Councillor Thorp
Resignation accepted and NT thanked for his valuable contribution
CS agreed to take on the role of Vice Chairman. FY will be copied in on all Vice Chair matters. FY also agreed to take on the ‘Planning’ element of the Council. Proposed by BS, seconded by NT, all in favour
- Planning
Acknowledgement that:
P22/V1914/CM (Collard Environmental Ltd) was approved as advised 26.06.24 and
P24/V1165/HH – alterations/extension at Sunnybank, High Street was approved as advised 02.07
P24/V0976/HH – development at The Orchard, High Street, approved as advised 04.07
Finance & Administration
Agreed the authorisers of next month’s payments would be NT & DC. CS to be added as an authoriser
All payments in June were approved
Bank reconciliation signed by BS & LH
Expenses provided by BS to be carried over to next month
ILCA and FILCA training courses approved for the Clerk. Proposed by BS, Seconded by FY. All in favour
Response to email on safety of lithium battery disposal considered not necessary. BS proposed to approve. CS seconded. 2 in favour. 1 abstention. 3 against.
Sustrans cycle path benches. Condition of these raised. Proposed that Sustrans be approached to contribute to replacing these. Agreed to approach chairman of East Hagbourne (EH) to ask if EH would take it on. County, District Councillor and MP to be copied on communication. Agreed that all the benches need replacing over a period of time. DB, BS, LH
District boundaries. Currently 2 DCs for the ward but the proposed change would mean only one. Second one likely to go to Great Western Park ward. BH said should argue to keep two. Clerk to respond to email objecting to proposal. Proposed by BH. Seconded by NT. All in favour
Purchase of new laptop and back up drive approved – up to £500 max. Proposed by BS seconded by BH, all in agreement
CS offered to help file laptop documents and set up new system approved. As a professional IT person, CS would be paid for this time if within the limits set for not requiring 3 quotes to be obtained. BH proposed. FY seconded. One abstention. Others In favour.
- Resuming VAT reclaims on a quarterly basis approved
Proposed by BS, Seconded by FY all in favour
- To receive an update on the village questionnaire
William Betts and Ian Ross have come forward to help. Plan to be developed. Structure anticipated for September meeting
- To hear any updates on any aspect of the recreation ground including play areas and maintenance
As above
Car park – who is it for. Owned and repaired by UPC. Village Hall committee prepared to support extension. They have agreed to put rubber matting down and act asap. Will provide parking for an additional 20 cars.. Access needs to be addressed. BH will lead and design spec. There is budget allocation for this.
Quote received for Solar panels on village hall – applying for grant could save up to £2k in costs and possibly a saving in adding to the grid. Quote includes batteries and ev charging ports. Ongoing.
- To receive IT update regarding Village Website
A .gov.uk domain name is not currently mandatory nor expected to become so. However agreed that holding such a name would be wise. upton.oxon upton.ox or upton.oxfordshire according to what is available. BS proposed to take £100 grant to purchase name pending any further decisions. DB seconded. All in agreement. CS to look into
To hear plan for Upton News
Alun Griffith has volunteered to take this over. NT thanked for his work to date.
- To confirm the date and venue of the next full council meeting
Next meeting will be held on Wednesday 25th September 2024 at 19.00 in the small meeting room at Upton Village Hall
Meeting declared closed at 21.45