NORTHINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
Date: Thursday 19th January 2023 Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: Northington Village Hall
Present: Dennis Nye Chairman
Melissa Jennings
Lucy Williams
Andrew Bason
Cllr Margot Power District Councillor
Cllr Fiona Issacs District Councillor
Cllr Jackie Porter County Councillor
Wendy Simson Clerk
Apologies: Juliet Blanshard
Cllr Russell Gordon-Smith District Councillor
Welcome and apologies.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. Cllrs Blanshard and Gordon-Smith both sent apologies.
Minutes of the last meeting
The Councillors reviewed minutes for the meeting on 14th November 2022 and agreed the minutes as a true representation of the meeting. The Clerk provided a copy for the Chairman to sign.
Matters arising
Bank Account Signatories – The bank mandate was created to add Cllrs Williams and Jennings, this has been approved. The Clerk will now set up another mandate to remove Yvonne White and John Mitchell and add the Chairman.
Action: Clerk to set up mandate
Millennium bench – Cllr Bason has spoken to the gentleman who made the bench and he is confident that he can repair it in the spring.
Blocked drain on B3046 by Village Hall – Cllr Blanshard has reported the issue to Hampshire Highways. Cllr Jennings agreed to ask the Lengthsman to look at if a grip can be cleared to ensure water escapes.
Action: Cllr Jennings to discuss with Lengthsman
Zoom account – The Clerk confirmed that this has been cancelled.
District Councillors Report
The Clerk had circulated the reports from Councillors prior to the meeting.
Cllr Issacs gave an update that Hampshire County Council Planning Department discussed the upgrade of listed properties with double or triple glazing, this has been turned down in the past but ensuring buildings are as energy efficient as possible has meant views have changed. Cllr Issacs explained that this affected several properties in the area.
Cllr Power had attended a meeting about the 20mph speed limits, this is being used as a base line but will not be imposed if communities don’t want the lower limit. The Chairman asked about the B3046 by the Grange entrance, Cllr Power explained that this would not be covered. Cllr Power also asked if the approved application to open a new entrance onto the B3046 had been actioned, the Chairman confirmed that it hadn’t, but it was due to expire.
Cllr Porter informed that Council that the budget for Rural broadband has been cut from £197,000 to £5,000, however there will be money from Openreach for completed projects.
A meeting has also taken place between Southern Water and Mark Baring to progress the Drought Scheme from the Candover Valley. Plans are due to be submitted in February and a Public Consultation is being discussed. Cllr Power invited the Chairman to the Health & Environment Policy Meeting on 1st March where Southern Water will answer questions about the plan.
The roundabout on the A31 by Ovington is to be amended to stop the flooding which collects in the area.
Cllr Power asked for the Councillors thoughts about the plans for the M3 Junction 9.
Planning applications & related matters
Grange Farm Buildings (22/02072/FUL & 22/02073/LIS) – there are still concerns about the application and comments have been returned to highlight these concerns. Cllr Power informed the Council that the application had not been decided but agreed to follow its progress.
Clerks report & Financial update
The Clerk had circulated the financial report prior to the meeting and asked if there were any questions. The Councillors had no questions.
Highways
Cllr Bason commented that the resurfacing work has been completed on the crossroads, but the area had flooded in the recent heavy rain due to the grips being blocked. Cllr Jennings agreed to ask the Lengthsman to clear them.
The Chairman informed that Council that there had been an accident with a car losing control on black ice in the area and had turned over, there have been several similar accidents in this area.
Lengthsman
Cllr Jennings informed the Council that the Lengthsman was visiting on Friday 20th January (the day after the meeting) and had been asked to clear the grips on Chalk Hill along with removing the silt washed into the area. The grip on the B3046 by the Village Hall and at the crossroads would be added to the list of work required.
Cllr Power informed the Council that the funds for the Lengthsman Scheme had been approved for 2023/24.
Website
The Chairman informed the Parish Council that the plan was to merge the website will the Village Hall site as it was much more user friendly.
Budgets
The Clerk circulated an updated finance report showing the planned values for line items in the 2023/24 following the discussions at the last meeting.
The recurring grants of £1,000 to the Village Hall and £600 to the Church have been included along with a Grant fund to support One Off Project of £1,000. The Chairman informed the Councillors that the Village Hall had already applied for £500 from this One-Off fund.
The Councillors agreed to remove the fund for the Coronation and if any activity is planned an application can be made for a One-Off Grant.
The Councillors also approved combining the contingency, non-budgeted outgoings and further expected outgoings lines which totalled £650 and allocate £400 under a contingency budget line.
The Councillors also agree to increase the precept by 10% from £4,500 to £4,950, this would give a predicted closing balance of £4,775 on 31st March 2024.
The Chairman suggested that any funds not spent from the budget lines be swept into a sink fund for possible match funding with the Village Hall when the new roof is required. Cllr Power also offered to support the Village Hall Committee to apply for Grant Funds.
Cllr Bason proposed the new budget, Cllr Williams seconded the proposal, the Council approved the budget.
Action: Clerk to complete Precept request and send through to Winchester City Council.
General Correspondence
The Clerk informed the Council that training on the new Election Act is being conducted on Tuesday 24th January.
Action: Clerk to send invite to Councillors
The Chairman gave an update about the entrance to the Grange from Chalk Hill, it had been agreed that additional signage was required but the position of this sign is being discussed.
Date of the next meeting
The next meeting is planned for Thursday 23rd March, and it was agreed that start time should remain 6:30pm.
The meeting ended at 8:20 pm.