NEWTOWN PARISH COUNCIL
Hampshire
Minutes of a meeting of Newtown Parish Council held on
Thursday 7th July 2022 at 6:30pm, Newtown Village Hall
Present: Chairman: Tony Webb
Councillors: Jo Exelby, Sean Curry,
Bob Ward
In attendance: Clerk: Rebecca Cloke
Cllr John Izett
15. Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr Reseigh.
16. Declarations of Interest
None
OPEN FORUM – none
17. Approval and signing of the minutes of the meeting held on 23rd May 2022.
The minutes were approved by the Council and signed by the Chairman. Nominated by Cllr Ward and seconded by Cllr Curry.
18. Report for “News from the Villages”
Cllr Webb briefed the councillors on his submission for the October “News from the Villages” to include updates on recent planning application decisions and the Common work plan.
19. Report from the Borough and/or County Councillor
Cllr Izett briefed the councillors regarding outline planning approval that had been granted for the Sandleford development. Cllr Izett stated that he had corresponded with Cllr Thacker (HCC) to ensure that North Hampshire concerns were considered / mitigated.
Cllr Izett further briefed the councillors regarding the Local Plan and the impact of the lack of a 5 year housing supply which had resulted in speculative development. Cllr Izett stated that a new 5 year plan is being developed as the current one is out of date. The plan will take around two years to complete. B&D have recognised there is a need for a mixture of small, medium and large developments within the plan.
CLlr Webb queried whether there would be any further protection built into the new plan to help prevent development of gardens such as had been seen in Newtown recently. Cllr Izett stated that he was pushing for the wording to be utilised to prevent such development.
Cllr Izett stated that the results of the 2021 census showed an increase of population of 10.4%
Cllr Izett briefed the councillors on the development of the COLAF (cost of living assistance fund) by B&D. £1million has been allocated to help residents with the cost of living crisis. This is due to be allocated 75% towards energy costs and 25% towards other costs such as food. Cllr Webb queried how the fund would be allocated and CLlr Izett stated there was a detailed application process using existing criteria used to assess eligibility for other existing funding.
Cllr Izett updated the councillors on the number of Ukrainian families that had relocated to the area.
Cllr Izett briefed the councillors on a new proposal from HCC to create a combined authority with Portsmouth, Southampton and Isle of Wight. B&D are not supportive of this additional layer of government being introduced.
20. Highways and Traffic issues
a) SLR deployment – The clerk briefed the councillors that she had made contact with the “Safer roads” team at HCC to get the SLR deployment licence in place for the SLR. An email had been received on the 7th July stating that the SLR could be deployed on the C45 at locations previously used by B&D but that the licence could not cover the previously used locations on the B4640 as they do not licence for deployments in 50mph zones. It was agreed that the PC should oppose this decision and look further into how B&D had been able to deploy on the B4640.
b) SLR deployment risk assessment – The clerk had circulated the draft deployment risk assessment for review. Reviewed and approved. Proposed by Cllr Exelby and seconded by Cllr Curry.
21.
16/02230/FUL
Hill Farm Erection of 8 no. dwellings with associated access, landscaping and parking No further update from B&D regarding this application and it is now listed as “Withdrawn Returned” on the B&D planning site
20/01681/OOBC
18/00828/OUTMAJ
Sandleford Park Outline application for up to 500 new homes Outline permission granted
21/02301/FUL
Newtown Court Farm Development of 3 new dwellings (in addition to the existing dwelling and approved dwelling) Granted – legal agreement pending
22/00254/HSE
Springleaze Demolition of garage block / shed and replacement ancillary / studio Granted
22/01711/LDPO
Model Cottage Removal of front elevation window, replacement with door and erection of a new porch
PC – no comment
Awaiting decision
22/01781/LBC
The Swan Inn Replacement of weathered and worn roof tiles PC – no comment
Awaiting decision
22. Newtown Common
Update from by Management Committee Chair – Cllr Curry updated the councillors regarding the increased HLS funding and invited the other councillors to recommend additional uses for the funding. He further briefed that there was a wetland area that should be restored and this was agreed. Additional ideas such as footpaths, signage, accessible areas, and other environmentally correct enhancements were discussed.
23. Lengthsman
Cllr Curry stated that the lengthsman would continue their work along the B4640.
24. Jubilee trail
Cllr Ward and Reseigh to establish a route and bring the proposal to the following meeting to discuss. Cllr Exelby suggested a local forge for potential signage.
25. Village Hall – funding request
Cllr Reseigh (Chair of Village Hall committee) had circulated a briefing document regarding the disabled access project at the Village Hall. Cllr Reseigh requested that the Parish Council donated £1,100 towards the works. This was proposed by Cllr Reseigh and seconded by Cllr Webb.
26. Finance reports
a) To receive the report on the budget for 2022/23
The clerk summarised the main variances to budget, year to date, in the income and expenditure and summarised the reserves held. The Chair checked the bank balances to bank statements. Received and approved.
27. Approval of payments
To ratify the following payments:
B030 Rebecca Cloke Mileage / PA / Jubilee expenditure 61.78
B031 Jo Exelby Jubilee expenditure 511.10
B031 Jo Exelby Jubilee expenditure – alcohol 245.76
B032 Tom Reseigh Jubilee expenditure 30.00
To approve the following payments:
B033 Rebecca Cloke Clerk salary – Apr-Jun 616.18
B034 HMRC Clerk PAYE – Apr – Jun 154.00
28. Correspondence
The Clerk stated that she had received correspondence from a resident concerned that the advice on the PC website, regarding ticks and Lyme disease, was out of date. Clerk to review and update. Other members of the PC to review areas of the website for any potential out of date information and let the Clerk know.
29. Date of next meetings
Dates for the next meetings were set for Thursday 22nd September, Monday 28th November.
The meeting closed at 7:41pm
Signed ……………………………. Date……………….