Date: Thursday 18th July 2024 Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: Village Hall, Northington
Present: Simson Walker Chairman
Rhona Hatchley
Andrew Bason
Cllr Jackie Porter County Councillor
Wendy Simson Clerk
Apologies: Juliet Blanshard
Gail Taylor
Cllr Russell Gordon-Smith District Councillor
Cllr Claire Pinniger District Councillor
Cllr Margot Power District Councillor
Welcome and apologies.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Cllrs Blanchard, Taylor, Power, and Gordon-Smith sent apologies.
Cllr Power suggested that Cllr Clare Pinniger be invited to meetings (c.pinniger@winchester.gov.uk).
Action: Clerk to ensure Clare included in email invite.
Declaration of Pecuniary & Personal Interests to note any conflict with any item on the agenda.
None were declared.
Minutes of the last meeting
The Councillors reviewed minutes for the meeting on 14th May 2024 and agreed the minutes as a true representation of the meeting.
Matters arising.
Dates for Parish Council meetings for 2024/25 – The Councillors agreed that they were available for the following dates:
- Thursday 19th September
- Thursday 21st November
- Thursday 23rd January
- Thursday 20th March
The Clerk has booked the Village Hall.
District and County Councillor updates
The Clerk had forwarded Cllr Power’s report prior to the meeting.
Cllr Porter gave the Council an update on Hampshire County Council, this included:
- Development of the new Council Plan, the existing plan runs from 2020 to 2025 and the new plan will be ready to be adopted in the Autumn. The plan will cover themes as opposed to places. The Local Plan is also being developed and should go to full council in September followed by public consultation which will be completed by November. There were concerns about how the new Government would affect the plan, but this appears to be limited.
- The Pride in Place project has completed the upgrade of three sets of public toilets as a cost of approximately £400,000 each. These have now been handed back to the town Councils to manage going forward. The project will continue with the most used convenience at the top of the list.
- There is a new MP, Steve Brine, Cllr Porter asked if his contact details could be placed on the noticeboards.
- The high rainfall is causing concerns and Cllr Porter has drainage engineers on standby the support with flooding.
- Cllr Porter asked if the Parish were still experiencing issues with the electricity supply. The Councillors informed her that there are still mini blackouts, and the last one was 25th The Chairman suggested that tree maintenance was a contributing factor as it was on a 5-year cycle and when it was due there were often trees fall taking power lines down. Cllr Porter agreed to take to an Infrastructure meeting as part of planning.
- Broadband is now being reviewed by Central Government; Cllr Porter is suggesting that those communities like Northington which have been fighting to get faster speeds for years should be high priority.
- A poster for one of the CAMs mental health events in November was presented for the noticeboards.
- The Cycling and Walking whip are looking for major changes to the infrastructure in Alresford which has caused concerns. This will go out for consultation and Cllr Porter agreed to alert the Parish Council of dates.
- Cllr Porter suggested the weekend of 15th March 2025 for the next litter pick.
Financial Update
The Clerk confirmed that the grants had been paid to the Village Hall and Church. The insurance is due at the end of July and a payment is scheduled to go out of the account.
The CIL funding was paid to the Parish Council in September 2021 and should be spent within 5 years. The Councillors agreed to make it an agenda item for the next meeting to allow time to discuss options.
Action: Clerk to make CIL funding an agenda item for the next meeting.
Village Plan Review
The data is to be reviewed and the results presented at the next Parish Council meeting. The Chairman informed the Council that speeding remains the area most of the residents were concerned about.
Cllr Porter suggested that the CIL funding could be used to buy a Speed Indication Device (SID) for the village as there was clearly a desire to slow drivers.
The Clerk has recently had a quote for two SIDs including solar panels to charge the batteries from Elan (which is the company Alresford purchased from), the total cost was £4,197.92 plus VAT. The Clerk also informed the Councillors that there is an automated Speed Watch system which measures average speed over a set distance and records number plate data which can be passed to the police for the habitual offender. The system costs £589 for each of the units, £93.25 for each solar panel, £148 for the annual data collection, and £53.50 for signage, this totals £1,619.50. The product is called Auto Speed Watch and full details can be found at www.autospeedwatch.org.
Village Hall Update
Cllr Hatchley has had the following update from the Village Hall Committee:
The main thing in the pipeline is the exterior paintwork of the hall, which is set to commence in early August.
We are experiencing some odd electrical gremlins currently which are proving hard to pinpoint despite professional attention. I hope it is all working properly for your meeting. The lights, Internet and defib were affected initially. So far as I know they should be okay now, but something continues to trip out. Philippa and her tame electricians are on the case. The defib was put smartly onto a different circuit to ensure it was functioning.
The BBQ went ahead with a lovely family feel to it. We got everything cooked before the heavens opened! It was very funny really and we huddled en mass under a gazebo before giving up and decamping to the hall! Numbers came out at around 22 adults and 9 children if memory serves me right.
Our next big function will be a lunch in October for harvest festival. (Sunday 6th)
Unfortunately, the Hampshire Constabulary saw fit to cancel their regular bookings with us in June (we rejoiced too soon it seems!) – which has left a hole in our finances. It happened rather suddenly, so I suspect their funding was pulled.
On the plus side, the Little Learners playgroup are extending their bookings to 3 days per week from Sept.
I think that is all the news from our side. We’ll look forward to seeing the results of the survey in due course and will consider doing something similar for the VH in due course if we/you feel it would be worthwhile.
Planning applications & related matters
There has been one planning application since the last meeting.
The application for Appletree Cottage (24/01272/HOU) was received on 5th July and is to replace the garage with a wood store. The Councillors agreed that they had no objections to this application.
Action: Clerk to forward comment to Winchester City Council
Lengthsman
The Lengthsman Scheme is continuing in 2024/25, dates are as follows:
- 6th September
- 10th December
- 13th March
At the last visit the areas around road signs was strimmed and the signs cleaned. The Councillors agreed that a length of one of the Rights of Way could be cut in September if there are no other suggestions.
Cllr Porter explained that Itchen Stoke have purchased a second-hand brush cutter for £100 which is the right width to cut a Right of Way and is much quicker then using a strimmer. The Parish are being encouraged to share the piece of equipment with neighbouring parishes.
General Correspondence
None.
Any other business
Cllr Hatchley asked if the most recent minutes can be uploaded to the website. The Chairman confirmed that he had the files and would put them on as a matter of urgency.
The Chairman has now got access to the Community email function, there have been requests to promote businesses which have not been sent but the Chairman has circulated local events. It was agreed that this was correct, but Cllr Hatchley suggested that if there were any requests that the Chairman wanted to get Councillors opinion on that the Councillor WhatsApp group worked well.
Cllr Porter asked if the Parish Council had been offered the Cyber Security Training from the Local Police, as the defib training had been such a success this would be a similar public service.
Action: Clerk to ask if a session could be arranged for Northington Village Hall.
Date of the next meeting
The next Parish Council meeting is Thursday 19th September at 6:30pm in the Village Hall.
The meeting ended at 7:18pm