Council Meeting – 3rd March 2025 7pm Shippon Church Hall
Agenda
1) To note apologies for absence
2) To receive any Declarations of Interest from Councillors relating to items on the Agenda – Members to declare any interests, including Disclosable Pecuniary Interest they may have in agenda items that accord with the requirements of the Parish Council’s Code of Conduct and to consider any prior requests from members for dispensations that accord with the Localism Act 2011 s33(b-e). (NB this does not preclude any later declarations)
3) To receive updates relating to airfield events and related issues – MOD Station Admin Manager, David O’Hara & Cllr S Rusby
4) To receive reports from District and County Councillors
5) To note matters raised by members of the public
6) To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 27th January 2025
7) To receive the Clerk’s Report
8) To receive updates on the following items:
a) Sandleigh Road Recreation Ground – Cllr Littleboy
b) Road Verges Grass Cutting – Cllr Littleboy
c) Community Support Group – Cllr Littleboy
d) Highways Issues – Cllr M Rusby
e) Firework Events – Cllr S Rusby
f) Defibrillator in Cothill – Cllr S Rusby
g) War Memorials in the Parish – Cllr S Rusby
h) Dalton Barrack Development and engagement with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation – Cllr Bahu
9) To agree the purchase of four Speedwatch Signs at £68.36 ex VAT
10) To consider an increase in the number of Verge cuts in the Parish from 3-4 per annum (current 3 cuts are charged at £800 ex VAT per cut, BGG will carry out 4 cuts per year for a total of £3000 ex VAT)
11) To agree the appointment of a Play Area Inspector
12) To consider the request from WADS Exco for funding in respect of a replacement for the WaDS newsletter
13) Governance
a) To approve the updated Code of Conduct in line with the Vale of White Horse District Council Code of Conduct 2022.
b) To approve the updated Emergency Plan
c) To discuss the Parish Council Vision, Aims and Objectives document
d) To discuss the updated Communication Policy document
e) To agree the renewal of the Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils membership for 2025-26
f) To consider any training opportunities and requirements and review any training attended.
g) To note the reduction of the Clerk’s hours to 10 hours a week as previously agreed
14) Finance
a) To agree the list of payments and any additional invoices presented for payment in since the circulation of the agenda:
Ref Invoice Date Payee Amount Method
b80 31/01/2025 Shield Maintenance Ltd/Bin Emptying £ 46.80 bacs
b81 31/01/2025 Clerk Salary/Month 10 January £ 895.70 so
b82 28/02/2025 Clerk Salary/Month 11 February £ 444.81 so
b83 31/03/2025 Clerk Salary/Month 12 March £ 444.81 so
b84 05/10/2024 HMRC/PAYE&NI £ – zero
b85 05/04/2025 HMRC/PAYE&NI less credit £67.43 £ 893.87 bacs
b86 31/01/2025 Nest/Month 10 January £ 144.30 dd
b87 28/02/2025 Nest/Month 11 February £ 144.30 dd
b88 31/03/2025 Nest/Month 12 March £ 144.30 dd
b89 31/01/2025 Unity Bank/Service Charge £ 6.00 DD
b90 31/12/2024 MR H Services/SID sign relocation £ 35.00 bacs
b91 13/02/2025 Royal Mail/Freepost £ 423.60 bacs
b92 11/02/2025 Amazon/Stapler £ 18.60 card
b93 28/02/2025 Clerk Expenses/Feb-25 £ 49.50 bacs
b94 06/02/2025 Talk Home Mobile £ 2.74 card
b95 21/02/2025 WADSCC/Storage Sept24-Mar25 £ 119.00 bacs
b96 18/02/2025 OALC/Clerk Training £ 72.00 bacs
b97 20/02/2025 OALC/Councillor Training £ 132.00 bacs
b98 02/03/2025 OALC Membership 25/26 £ 445.85 bacs
b99 27/01/2025 Monthly Fee £ 3.00 card
b) To note the list of receipts
None
c) To consider any request for grant funding
15) Planning:
a) To consider any Planning Applications received:
Reference
Location/Description
Date Registered
P25/V0171/LB
Lenthalls 76 Church Lane Dry Sandford Abingdon OX13 6JP
To put a new boiler outside the back door with a short horizontal flue.
27 January 2025
b) To note Planning Applications decisions:
Reference
Location/Description
Date Registered
Decision
P24/V2390/HH
7 Sandleigh Road Dry Sandford Abingdon OX13 6DP
Removal of existing tiled roof and construction of new roof with space for additional bedrooms and bathrooms. Internal alterations to ground floor space with new stairs giving access to new loft space. (Revised dormer position as shown on drawings submitted 10 Feb 2025)
13 December 2024
Planning Permission
16) To review and note Communications received and to consider any responses if required
17) To note matters raised by members of the Council and Clerk.
18) Date of next meeting:
To confirm the date of the next Parish Council Meeting, which is scheduled for 7.00 p.m. on Monday 14th April 2025 in The Music Room, Cothill School.
Minutes
Present: Cllr. M. Page (Chair), Cllr R. Bahu, Cllr D. Churchouse, Cllr P Lane-Evans, Cllr M. Littleboy, Cllr M Rusby, Cllr S Rusby
Absent: None
Also in attendance: W Bates (Clerk), District Cllr Clegg, David O’Hara
1) To note apologies for absence – none
2) To receive any Declarations of Interest from Councillors relating to items on the Agenda – none
3) To receive updates relating to airfield events and related issues – MOD Station Admin Manager, David O’Hara & Cllr S Rusby
Updates to the calendar of events were provided as follows: July event has been cancelled; 29th -30th March MX Team will be going ahead.
4) To receive reports from District and County Councillors
District Cllr Clegg – when the unitary authority is formed, there will be a shadow Council for approximately a year until the Unitary Authority Councillors take over. District and County Councils will be dissolved. A great deal of Officers’ time will be taken up by this.
5) To note matters raised by members of the public – none
6) To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 27th January 2025 – the minutes were approved subject to a few minor grammatical corrections. Councillors have been asked to provide such observations ahead of the meeting so that the final version to be signed for the Minute Book can be printed in time for the meeting.
7) To receive the Clerk’s Report – Freepost Address re-applied and obtained; the invoice has been included in the list to be paid. Clerk’s attendance at the Conference – useful talk about VAT regulations for Parish Councils, how to avoid errors, working with Councillors and dealing with New Housing Development. Communications received on issues of litter and speeding on Honeybottom Lane have been responded to. Payment from Oxfordshire County Council for a Speed Indication Device has still not been received. Paint Order – awaiting quantity required from M Herring. Asset register is currently being reviewed and updated.
8) To receive updates on the following items:
a) Sandleigh Road Recreation Ground – Cllr Littleboy; the location of the new noticeboard was discussed and it was agreed to go with the proposed location near the entrance but allowing machinery access. The Clerk sought clarification on the choice of noticeboard for the Sandleigh Road Recreation Ground and it was resolved to purchase the contemporary design in line with the one on Lansdowne Road.
b) Road Verges Grass Cutting – Cllr Littleboy; this is being considered under item 10.
c) Community Support Group – Cllr Littleboy has researched what is available locally, via Age UK, Oxfordshire County Council, St Helen’s Church, Dry Sandford, and Abingdon Good Neighbours Scheme. The nearest to the original idea is run by Abingdon Good Neighbour Scheme, who help local people enjoy a better quality of life by providing companionship and support with everyday tasks. This used to cover Shippon but no longer does due to a shortage of volunteers. There is a system for vulnerable people to wear an alarm button around their necks. It seems that the idea of contact being made by mobile phones is ahead of its time, so we are unable to progress this scheme further.
d) Highways Issues – Cllr M Rusby
Speed Indication Device (SID) data
Results from the SID whilst placed on the Faringdon Road, opposite The Manor School and facing south i.e. monitoring traffic coming from Abingdon from Wed 5th to Mon 10th Feb (six days), the total traffic flow amounted to 13,305 vehicles Average speeds 3rd Feb to 9th Feb: speeds were relatively low (although nearly all were above 20mph). There were seven counts in the 45-50mph range (three times at 6am, four in the evening).
Speedwatch
Two new sites have been submitted for approval: Lashford Lane, north of Lansdowne Road and towards the Waterworks Junction end of Honeybottom Lane.
Since the last PC meeting, Speedwatch groups met once at Cothill and once at Shippon. More than thirty speeding vehicles were registered.
It is proposed that four Community Speedwatch signs are purchased and fixed on the white marking “gates” at the village entrances at the western end of the group of houses in Honeybottom Lane, the western end of Cothill and at both ends of Shippon.
It is proposed that a poster seeking volunteers to join the SHWPC Speedwatch group should be displayed on noticeboards, with the aim of forming sub-groups in Shippon, Dry Sandford, Honeybottom Lane and Cothill. This should mean increased monitoring of traffic speeds.
A proposed Community Speed Watch risk assessment was provided to Councillors for future consideration.
Other matters
Following requests from residents, the Highways Department was contacted to determine whether:
i) the speed limit on Honeybottom Lane could be reduced from 40mph to 30mph. However, this does not meet the Department for Transport criteria for a reduction in the speed limit to 30.
ii) traffic calming measures could be put in place at the double bend in Cothill. The department suggested that carriageway edge lines could be applied. There would be no cost to the PC.
iii) traffic calming measures could be put in place in Shippon on Barrow Road at the Faringdon Road end. It was suggested that carriage edge lines could be applied from Walnut Paddock to the junction with Faringdon Road. There would be no cost to the PC. The road surface and edges are in a very poor state; an enquiry has been lodged with Fix My Street (as suggested by the Highways Dept.) to try to complete the surface work before any carriageway markings might be applied. There are already multiple reports of potholes at this location on Fix My Street.
The Parish Council agreed that carriage edge lines should be requested as above.
e) Firework Events – Cllr S Rusby
On Wednesday 12th February 2025 a second meeting was held by the chair of the parish council, David O’Hara and the Director of the Xplosive group. Also in attendance were representatives from Road Traffic Solutions (RTS). RTS has been appointed by the Xplosive group to advise on, and implement, arrangements to manage traffic to and from the firework event in November 2025. The second meeting was to understand, in more detail, the traffic management plans which should mitigate the impact of the additional traffic on the villages in the parish. RTS reported that it plans to extend the boundaries of the traffic management scheme further away from the airfield. This will include applying to Oxfordshire County Council for ‘traffic orders’ to reinforce traffic routes. Some junctions will be staffed to allow access to residents only on some roads in the parish. The plans the RTS team is presenting are reassuring and they offered to work with the team to ensure residents are kept informed. All Xplosive’s arrangements will be reviewed, in due course, by the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). The parish will be represented at the SAG.
The chair of the SAG confirmed that the plans for the arrangements at all Xplosives events on the airfield would be reviewed by the SAG. This includes Springfest (5th April), Summerfest, (30th August) and Bonfire night, (15th November 2025). Xplosive’s plans for the first of these events, Springfest, will be circulated to SAG members and councillor representatives; a date will then be set for a SAG meeting.
f) Defibrillator in Cothill – Cllr S Rusby
The landlord of the Merry Miller pub has been asked if a parish owned defibrillator could be sited at the pub. A response is awaited. Details of a British Heart Foundation device and cabinet which may be appropriate were sent as follows: https://defibrillators.bhf.org.uk/zoll-aed-3-fully-automatic-defibrillator-1 https://defibrillators.bhf.org.uk/defibsafe-2-unlocked-external-defibrillator-cabinet
If agreed by the landlord, a request to purchase the devices and agree running costs will be put to the Parish Council.
g) War Memorials in the Parish – Cllr S Rusby
The Parish Council is responsible for two war memorials in the parish. They commemorate those who died in the first and second world wars. 1. One in St Helen’s Churchyard, Dry Sandford. 2. One in St Mary Magdalene churchyard, Shippon. Both were in need of cleaning/restoration. Since the last parish meeting the memorial in Dry Sandford has been cleaned by Abingdon Stone and Marble with the cost met by a parishioner. The condition of the memorial in St Mary Magdalene churchyard was noted by members of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on their visit to the church. We understand that the Commission has offered to clean/restore the memorial. This will be confirmed by the churchwarden, Daphne Tonks in due course and reported to the Parish Council.
h) Dalton Barracks Development and engagement with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation – Cllr Bahu
Report on the regular 6 weekly meetings with DIO and WSP, their communications consultants, held on 3 February 2025. See www.daltonbarracks.com for the latest information.
WSP have completed the stage 1 consultation of workshops and survey form which ended on 6 Jan. Stage 1 was very high level on the DIO’s vision for DB. They received 429 responses in total, of which some 120 were from a young person’s workshop they held at Larkmead School. The data are being analysed, and a report will be produced by WSP for the DIO. RB requested a copy of the report and the PC may receive a summary of the results. The analysis will help shape the consultation on stage 2 (masterplan themes) of further workshops and surveys. This is scheduled for Spring/Summer 2025, but the exact timing has not been decided. The four stages are set out on the DB website. Note: the interactive website map is still live. At present there is no plan to produce a second newsletter for wide circulation, but a more targeted communication may be produced.
Cllr Bahu emphasised that it would be helpful to provide more details on how the planning and construction of the development will be managed by the DIO and the various management boards proposed. This may give reassurance to the local community that the development will be well managed. RB highlighted that recent press coverage of problems in garden village developments and concerns over the north Abingdon developments all added to the community’s anxiety that similar issues will occur with the DB development. RB highlighted that the community was most interested in more detailed aspects of the development such as infrastructure, services etc. These will only be addressed in the 3rd and 4th stages.
The army quarters now in MoD ownership will remain and there are no plans for any further sell-off of housing. Note: the recent announcement of a substantial increase in defence spending may affect the plan to close DB but development on the airfield is still likely to proceed.
RB emphasised that the JWSHWNP must be recognised, and the Local Green Spaces are fully included in the masterplan process, i.e. the LGS must be retained. This was acknowledged but the PC needs to continue to press this point.
The detailed transport modelling by the consultants, Glanville, has not progressed as fast as hoped and a meeting with Oxfordshire County Council has been delayed.
JLP 2041
The Parish Council (PC) is awaiting details of when the examination of the publication version will take place. The PC has requested participation in the examination on all aspects relating to the DB development.
Additional information on Local Planning
On 27 February 2025, the housing and planning minister, Mathew Pennycook, released a ministerial statement on how future local plans will be accelerated and simplified. See https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-02-27/hcws480 . There is more detail on a new dedicated webpage https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/create-or-update-a-local-plan . Given that the JLP 2041 is going for examination, it is unlikely to interfere with the current plan, but it could well mean that the Vale of White Horse District Council will have to update the plan much sooner than anticipated ie around 2027-2028. RB will check with Andrew Lane and Robert Clegg.
9) To agree the purchase of four Speedwatch Signs – it was resolved to purchase four Speedwatch Signs at £108 ex VAT
10) To consider an increase in the number of Verge cuts in the Parish from 3-4 per annum (current 3 cuts are charged at £800 ex VAT per cut). It was agreed to request BGG to carry out 4 cuts per year for a total of £3000 ex VAT
11) To agree the appointment of a Play Area Inspector – it was agreed to accept the quote from Play Inspections at £165 ex VAT
12) To consider the request from Wotton and Dry Sandford (WaDS) Community Centre Exco for funding in respect of a replacement for the WaDS newsletter – it was agreed to discuss this along with the Communication Strategy at the next meeting.
13) Governance
a) To approve the updated Code of Conduct in line with the Vale of White Horse District Council Code of Conduct 2022 – it was agreed to approve the Code of Conduct.
b) To approve the updated Emergency Plan – it was agreed to approve the emergency plan.
c) To discuss the Parish Council Vision, Aims and Objectives document – it was agreed to delay this to the next meeting.
d) To discuss the updated Communication Policy document – it was agreed to delay this to the next meeting.
e) To agree the renewal of the Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils membership for 2025-26 – it was agreed to renew the OALC membership at £445.85
f) To consider any training opportunities and requirements and review any training attended; Cllr Rusby attended the Roles and Responsibilities Training which provided a good overview of the role. The Clerk will be attending the Clerk’s refresher training. Both of these were agreed by the Chair and Clerk under delegated powers.
g) To note the reduction of the Clerk’s hours to 10 hours a week as previously agreed; this was noted.
14) Finance
a) To agree the list of payments and any additional invoices presented for payment in since the circulation of the agenda; the following payments were approved:
Ref Invoice Date Payee Amount Method
b80 31/01/2025 Shield Maintenance Ltd/Bin Emptying £ 46.80 bacs
b81 31/01/2025 Clerk Salary/Month 10 January £ 895.70 so
b82 28/02/2025 Clerk Salary/Month 11 February £ 444.81 so
b83 31/03/2025 Clerk Salary/Month 12 March £ 444.81 so
b84 05/10/2024 HMRC/PAYE&NI £ – zero
b85 05/04/2025 HMRC/PAYE&NI less credit £67.43 £ 893.87 bacs
b86 31/01/2025 Nest/Month 10 January £ 144.30 dd
b87 28/02/2025 Nest/Month 11 February £ 144.30 dd
b88 31/03/2025 Nest/Month 12 March £ 144.30 dd
b89 31/01/2025 Unity Bank/Service Charge £ 6.00 DD
b90 31/12/2024 MR H Services/SID sign relocation £ 35.00 bacs
b91 13/02/2025 Royal Mail/Freepost £ 423.60 bacs
b92 11/02/2025 Amazon/Stapler £ 18.60 card
b93 28/02/2025 Clerk Expenses/Feb-25 £ 49.50 bacs
b94 06/02/2025 Talk Home Mobile £ 2.74 card
b95 21/02/2025 WADSCC/Storage Sept24-Mar25 £ 119.00 bacs
b96 18/02/2025 OALC/Clerk Training £ 72.00 bacs
b97 20/02/2025 OALC/Councillor Training £ 132.00 bacs
b98 02/03/2025 OALC Membership 25/26 £ 445.85 bacs
b99 27/01/2025 Monthly Fee £ 3.00 card
b100 28/02/2025 Shield Maintenance Ltd/Bin Emptying £ 46.80 bacs
b) To note the list of receipts – none
c) To consider any request for grant funding – none
15) Planning:
a) To consider any Planning Applications received:
Reference
Location/Description
Date Registered
P25/V0171/LB
Lenthalls 76 Church Lane Dry Sandford Abingdon OX13 6JP
To put a new boiler outside the back door with a short horizontal flue.
27 January 2025
– The Council had no objections.
P25/V0313/NM
34 Rookery Close Shippon Abingdon OX13 6LZ
Non-material amendment on application P24/V0346/HH to change from a mono pitched roof on the front single storey to a flat roof with small parapet with render on ground floor and cladding first floor (Proposed two storey side extension and single storey extension to front and rear, replacement garage, first floor additional bedroom)
19 February 2025
-The Council had no objections.
b) To note Planning Applications decisions – the following planning decision was noted:
Reference
Location/Description
Date Registered
Decision
P24/V2390/HH
7 Sandleigh Road Dry Sandford Abingdon OX13 6DP
Removal of existing tiled roof and construction of new roof with space for additional bedrooms and bathrooms. Internal alterations to ground floor space with new stairs giving access to new loft space. (Revised dormer position as shown on drawings submitted 10 Feb 2025)
13 December 2024
Planning Permission
16) To review and note Communications received and to consider any responses if required -none
17) To note matters raised by members of the Council and Clerk.
18) Date of next meeting:
To confirm the date of the next Parish Council Meeting, which is scheduled for 7.00 p.m. on Monday 14th April 2025 in The Music Room, Cothill School.
The meeting closed at: 21:15
