NEWTOWN PARISH COUNCIL
Hampshire
Minutes of a meeting of Newtown Parish Council held on
Monday 8th January 2024 at 7pm, Newtown Village Hall
Present: Meeting Chair: Tony Webb
Councillors: Sean Curry, Tom Reseigh, Bob Ward
In attendance: Clerk: Rebecca Cloke
65. Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr Exelby, Cllr Izett and Cllr Thacker.
66. Declarations of Interest
None
OPEN FORUM – none
67. Approval and signing of the minutes of the meeting held on 13th November.
The minutes were approved by the Council and signed by the Chair. Nominated by Cllr Ward and seconded by Cllr Curry.
68. Report for “News from the Villages”
None.
69. Report for the district and/or county councillor (Not present)
Cllr Thacker had provided a written update. Topics covered included “Future Services consultation” (running between Jan and March 24), Household DIY waste charges ending in Hampshire, school admission application deadline, Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan consultation (beginning 8th Jan for 8 weeks), Climate change and nature recovery report and the County Council’s Highways Service Annual Review for 22/23.
70. Report from PCSO
The clerk reported that the PCSO had been invited but had not responded. She had contacted the Basingstoke Rural Policing Team to see if here had been personnel changes but had not received a response at the time of the meeting.
71. Highways and traffic issues
a) SLR deployment B4640 – Cllr Reseigh briefed the council that Hampshire continued to refuse to allow the Parish Council to deploy their own speed limiter, despite the petition gaining over 1,100 signatures. Cllr Reseigh further briefed the council that he had contacted West Berkshire regarding their speed device on the dual carriageway just outside of Newtown and would circulate any response received.
ACTION: It was agreed that the clerk would send an update to all those who signed the petition requesting that they further email Cllr Nick Adam-King and Cllr Thacker to urge them to open a dialogue with the Parish Council about the serious concern they have regarding the speeding along this stretch of road. It was further agreed that an email would be sent to Kit Malthouse, MP and Cameron Blackshaw, Newbury Today reporter by Cllr Reseigh.
b) C45 – The council discussed the response received from Cllr Nick Adams-King, with regards to the attempted repair for the surface water. It was further reiterated that it was of great concern to the Parish Council that the road would ice over before the works were carried out and prove to be very dangerous.
72. a) Planning and development control
16/02230/FUL Hill Farm Erection of 8 dwellings No update
Withdrawn Returned (unlikely to be det.)
22/01781/LBC The Swan Inn Replacement of weathered and worn roof tiles Awaiting decision following bat survey.
23/01045/FUL (WB) Land South Of Abbottwood Retrospective change of use of land to a Gypsy / Traveller site PC oppose – Awaiting decision
23/01585/OUTMAJ (WB) Warren Farm Outline for 360 dwellings PC opposed previous application – Awaiting decision
23/02532/LDEO
23/02783/ROC Newtown Court Farm Cert of Lawful Dev’t-Existing operation registered
Variation of cond 1 of 20/01744/FUL PC no comment – granted
22/02754/OUTMAJ (WB) Land East of Newbury College Retail unit, Care home and 75 residences PC oppose – referenced Burghclere PC submission – awaiting decision
b) Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan Update
Correspondence had been received from Cllr Andy Konieczko regarding the next steps for the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan Update. The communication stated that Cllr Konieczko and Cllr Harvey would be meeting with individual parishes to discuss the Local Plan. ACTION: Cllr Webb to contact Burghclere PC to see if joining their meeting would be possible.
c) S106 projects
None identified
73. Newtown Common
a) Common update – Cllr Curry briefed the councillors on the work the Green Gym volunteers, Heathland Management and Sparsholt College had carried out on the common. The clerk reported that the Parish Council had yet to receive that the 2023 HLS scheme payment had yet to be paid. ACTION: Cllr Curry to call the RPA to chase the payment.
b) Byelaws – Cllr Webb stated he had not received a response from HCC in regards to his request to update the byelaws in July 2023. ACTION: TW to pursue previous email copying Cllr Izett.
c) Footpath boardwalk 701b – Cllr Curry briefed the council that landowner permission had still not been granted for the 701b boardwalk to commence despite repeated requests.
ACTION: Cllr Curry to contact HCC to request that they remind the residents of their responsibilities as landowner.
d) Jonathan Hill car park – Cllr Curry briefed the Parish Council that he had discussed the condition of the Jonathan Hill car park with Hampshire County Council but that the Senior Estates Surveyor had stated that Hampshire would not contribute. ACTION: Cllr Reseigh to get quotes for the work and the clerk to submit applications for County Councillor and Borough Councillor grants for the repairs.
e) Horris Hill signage – Cllr Curry briefed the Parish Council that he was meeting with a representative from Horris Hill to discuss the signage they wished to erect to advertise their open day.
f) Vehicle parking / storage at Jonathan Hill – A member of the public had contacted the Parish Council to express their concern about vehicles parked / stored at Jonathan Hill. It was agreed that it was a breach of the bylaws but that it was Basingstoke and Deane’s responsibility to enforce the bylaws. ACTION: Cllr Webb to contact the member of public to request they contact Basingstoke and Deane to raise the concerns.
74. Lengthsman Scheme
Cllr Curry stated that the Lengthsman would continue to maintain the west footpath from Horris Hill down towards the Swan.
75. Coronation trail
Cllr Ward briefed the councillors on the quotes he had received for the repairs to the two areas on the trail that were impassable. He stated the quotes were for £12,866 and £3,548. ACTION: Cllr Webb to contact Cllr Carrow (Burghclere PC) to request a contribution to the Sheepwash bridge repairs as located in Burghclere and to commence the repairs.
[It was later noted that the quote values provided, were not comparable as the more expensive quote was for repairs, installation of the waymarkers and VAT whereas the cheaper quote was just for the repairs and excluded VAT. On this basis the decision taken during the meeting, to undertake the repairs, was invalidated as it was made with incomplete information]
76. Village Hall
Cllr Reseigh invited all present to attended the mulled wine and mince pies event after the carol service in December in the Village Hall.
77. Finance reports
a) To receive the report on the budget for 2023/24
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.
b) NJC National Salary 2023/2024 Pay Scales
The clerk had previously circulated the NJC National Salary 2023/2024 Pay Scales and the proposal to increase the clerk salary inline with these pay scales. Received and approved.
c) Approval of payments
To approve / ratify the following payments:
a) Asset verification
The assets were accounted for and agreed to be in working order.
78. Correspondence
The Clerk had received correspondence regarding the parked / stored vehicles at Jonathan Hill (covered in item 73f)
79. Date of next meetings
Dates for the next meetings were set for:
25th March
The meeting closed at 8:02pm
Signed ……………………………. Date……………….