CHINNOR
PARISH COUNCIL
|
Issue 9 September
2006
STREET PARKING IN
THE VILLAGE
In response to one of the issues raised in the Parish
Plan published last year, the Parish Council has established a small working
group to look at the subject of street parking in the village. This is a
“two–edged” sword: on the one hand, parked cars do help to slow traffic down
(and, for this reason, Thames Valley Police
are unlikely to support any extensive parking restriction on the main village
square) but, on the other, driver “encounters” where there are long stretches
of parked cars can lead to altercations and “road rage” incidents.
The number of cars parked on the streets in the village
has increased steadily over the years and looks likely to continue to increase
as more homes acquire two or more cars. There is a suspicion that domestic garages
are less commonly used now as it is easier to street park, and it may be that
the situation could be improved if more villagers used garages where they have
them.
The Working group is in its early stages as yet, but one
of the options being looked at is the creation (and enforcement if necessary) of
no-parking refuges in those places where long stretches of parked cars are created.
This would allow passing cars space to pull in. The Council would be interested
in the views of villagers.
YOUTH ACTIVITY
We seem at last to be getting somewhere and the first
meetings of the new Youth Club took place in early September in the pavilion on
Whites Field. The Council is now looking at making some modifications to the
building to accommodate the additional use: we now have the opportunity to put
to more diverse and effective use a building that has been substantially
under-utilised for many years. The Youth Steering Group is still looking for
volunteers to help – even for one night per week. Anyone interested in
volunteering should call Gerald Brandes on 07950 336147.
PLANNING
Siareys Yard
The redevelopment of the old Siarey’s wood yard for
residential use by Try Homes, has now begun and the area is being cleared. The
development has created some reaction and, whilst most local response has been
that the development will tidy up a somewhat derelict site, concern has been
expressed about the impact on the roads of a significant number of new cars and
on the sewerage system. These concerns have been passed on to both Try Homes
and to SODC as the Planning Authority.
Section 106 Agreements
As a result of the Siarey’s Yard proposals, the Parish Council
found out about a change to the application of “Section 106” agreements. These
are agreements whereby a developer is required to make a financial contribution
to assist in improving community infrastructure to accommodate the impact of
the numbers of new residents created by the development.
Historically, these agreements were negotiated in a
rather unstructured way, between the developer and the District and/or Parish
Councils. It now appears that they have to be agreed with the County Council
for allocation in accordance with some form of formula laid down by Central
Government and, furthermore, it appears that the County Council have not seen
fit (or are under no obligation) to consult with the Parish about this
allocation. This has resulted in an amount of Section 106 money for the Siarey’s
Yard development being allocated away from Chinnor by the County Council.
The Parish Council is taking this up, via our
St Andrew’s School Field
As legal owners of the site, Oxfordshire County Council
(OCC) has indicated its intention to sell off part of the St Andrew’s School
field for housing development and to use some of the funds to extend the school
buildings. Little detail is to hand at present but when plans are finally
available, they will be viewable at the Parish Office. There are always two
sides to a situation like this and we are sure that OCC would be pleased to
hear the views of villagers.
It is understood that the sale of the site has now been
agreed and that the name of Taylor Woodrow has been mentioned. It will be
interesting to see how the plans of the developer relate to the planning brief that
already exists for this site!
This also presents an opportunity for the Parish
Council to re-evaluate the frequency of grass-cutting and other scheduled
maintenance that it undertakes in the village.
The Playing Field Management Committee (PFMC) is now proceeding
with the production of plans and sourcing of finance for the replacement pavilion
on the Playing Field. In addition, Chinnor Bowls Club is looking to provide an
outdoor short mat bowls facility on the field.
In response to a request from a resident of Grafton
Orchard, the PFMC have been asked to ensure that the goalpost at the east end
of field is removed after matches or practises. This is to try to minimise the
frequency of footballs being kicked into gardens in Grafton Orchard and causing
damage – it is stressed that this is not by the footballers but by youngsters
playing football after matches.
Litter
Once again, the village has suffered its annual explosion of litter.
With the warm evening, particularly at the weekends, the playing fields and
other public areas become covered with bottles, cans, take-away wrappings etc. Even
more worrying, we have had an incident where a young child picked up a used
hypodermic needle on the playing field.
The constant clearing up of this mess is costing the village (and that
is you the ratepayers!) a lot of
money. Last year, the Parish Council budget for litter clearance was about
£18,500! To deal at current levels with the increasing level of this problem,
particularly at weekends, will require further funding to increase staff or
engage contractors for litter collection. It is almost certain that most of the
litter is dropped by young people and the Council would ask parents within the
village to make their children aware of the cost (as well as the potential damage
and injury) caused by dropping litter on the field. The Council would like to open
a public debate as to whether the village wants the Parish Council to spend the
same amount of money (or more or less) on litter collection.
Chinnor Village Hall
redevelopment plans
August Bank Holiday Events
Once again, the series of Bank Holiday events organised
in and around the marquee on the Playing Field has been a success. The events
ranged from bingo, though a band night to showcase local rock bands, a dinner
dance to the Ted Roper Band, a multi-denominational church service and
childrens’ event on the Sunday and culminating in the annual Village Flower and
Produce Show on Monday.
It was a pity that the atmosphere was marred by the
vandalism over the Saturday night when some mindless morons decided to smash up
the inside of the marquee. This has effectively put at risk the entire event
for next year (including the band night) as we will have to think very
carefully about the common sense of taking these risks again. Apart from
anything else, why would any of us want to put effort into an event that
suffers this.sort of vandalism.
The police have been made aware and the Parish Council is
offering a £500 reward for information leading to the conviction of those
responsible for the damage.
Bus Stop -
The seat in this bus stop was removed following
complaints about large numbers of youths congregating there. Needless to say,
there have now been counter-complaints asking for the seat to be replaced for
its original purpose – to provide somewhere for the less able bus travellers to
sit whilst waiting for a bus.
The Village Hall car park is now (generally) locked when
the Hall is not in use and this has reduced substantially the congregation of
cars in the area and the nuisance that this created. The Council has now decided to replace the
seat in the bus stop.
GENERAL
ISSUES
St Andrew’s School
The Council has received a number of letters from Class
F at St Andrew’s School who, as part of a “persuasive writing” exercise, wrote
asking the Council to look at specific environmental issues that bothered them
as young people. Amongst the issues raised were litter, street lighting,
vandalism, graffiti and the state of the land behind the Middle way shops. The
Chairman is replying to Class F and is also inviting some of the youngsters to
a future Council Meeting to talk about their concerns.
Parish Council “Surgeries”
The Parish Council is now moving ahead with the concept
of periodic public “surgeries” to be held in the Village Centre. The idea was
broached as a means of providing opportunity for individual villagers to
discuss issues with one or two Councillors in a more private environment than a
full Council meeting. The Council has no idea how this will progress, but the initial
idea is that a couple of Councillors will be available for an hour or so on one
Saturday every month. Meeting sessions will be by appointment with the Parish
Office. Watch this space.
Budget planning
The Council is now starting its Budget planning process
for the 2007 - 2008 financial year.
Remembrance Sunday
Just to remind everyone that Chinnor’s
annual Act of Remembrance for all those who gave their lives in past conflicts
will be held at the War Memorial in the
Remaining Parish Council meetings in 2006
Full Council: Monday
evenings: 9 October, 13 November, 11
December.
Planning Liaison Committee: Monday evenings: 16 and 30 October, 20 November, 4 & 18 December.
Environmental Committee: Monday evenings: 16 October, 20 November, 18 December.
Finance & general Purposes Committee: Monday evenings: 30 October, 4 December.
Contact us: We really do
still want to hear from you (and we are now receiving some emails and
comments!) – both about this newsletter and any other issues that concern you.
The Parish Council can be contacted by letter to its offices at the Village
Centre, by email at chinnorpc@btconnect.com
or via the internet at its website - http://www.chinnorparishcouncil.org.uk.
The next newsletter will be published with the November
or December 2006 Pump.
Published by: Chinnor Parish
Council: September 2006.