Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Wednesday 11^th November 2009 at 7.45 pm at Amport School

1. Present
Mr Ian Morrison (Chairman), Lt Col Charles Stephens (Vice Chairman) Mrs Jean Arnell, Mr Bill Gore, Mr Ian Long, Mrs Sarah Hammer, Mrs Diana Preston, and Mrs Suzanne Hoare (Clerk)
Apologies Mrs Tanya Garman, Mr Nicholas Hoare, Mr Ashley Smith and Mr Tim Southern TVBC Councillor and Pat West HCC Councillor
Mr Patrick Langdown plus 1 member of the public was present.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meetings.
The minutes from the October meeting were approved and signed having been proposed by Sarah Hammer and seconded by Diana Preston.

3. Matters Arising from the last meeting and Declarations of Interest
No declarations of interest were declared and there were no matters arising from the last meeting which will not be discussed tonight.

4. Presentation by Mr Patrick Langdown - local resident and property owner.
Mr Langdown came to the meeting to briefly outline his plans for the development of an additional house in the grounds of Furzedown Lodge.
Mr Langdown acquainted the Council with the location of the property and gave a brief history; the house originally was built for forestry workers.
Currently Furzedown Lodge is rented property and has a large garden, Mr Langdown brought along outline plans showing the development of a detached house in the garden of Furzedown Lodge.
Councillors were given the opportunity to question Mr Langdown on his plans.
After discussion 4 councillors felt that current planning rules would apply and this house would be considered development in the countryside and would only be given planning permission if and agricultural tie were granted.
2 Councillors stated that they could see no reason why the house might not be granted permission as it was hardly visible from the road, however they concluded that they would have to follow the ‘status quo’ and be consistent in their approach to additional housing outside the village envelope.
A resident from Haydown Lane was present and stated that he did not object to the development.
Ian Morrison thanked Mr. Langdown for attending and stated that nothing further could be decided on, until a formal planning application came before the Parish Council.

5. Reports

The Green and Amport Fen
The moles are currently being controlled.
Charles Stephens brought the council up to date with the development at the Fen.
Section 106 money has been approved for expenditure; this will allow the construction of a path through the fen to allow greater access to all groups.
The first part of the project will be the construction of the hard core path, with seating to follow as ‘phase 2’ at a date as yet unidentified.
The grant from TVBC will be £3,500 and the total cost of the work has been quoted as £4,090.
The Parish Councillors present were therefore asked to vote on the additional expenditure of £590. All councillors were in favour and the project was approved subject to there being no increase over 5% in the costs given tonight.
The benches, when installed, will be at no cost to the Parish.

Footpaths and Highways
Bill Gore was thanked for clearing part of the footpath leading to the old watercress beds.
The Fyfield Rd curb repairs have been described as ‘ongoing’ by Hampshire Highways.
Ian Morrison informed the council that Mr Wyles had e-mailed Cllr Pat West about the proposed footway through the village towards the Green. Mr Wyles felt that the footpath running through his land was adequate and that a footway would be a waste of tax payer’s money in these times.
Charles Stephens stated that the matter of the introduction of the kissing gate on this path was not resolved, but any further intervention by HCC would incur legal costs. Therefore the gate was likely to stay. Parish Councillors commented that problems using the path existed at the river end by Sarson Mill, making this footpath unattractive to push chairs. Indeed the vast majority of walkers to the school used the roadway which became very busy at certain times.
Jean Arnell commented on the flooding past the bridge under the A303 towards Thruxton.
Further information on the costs of using the Speed warning signs has been received from Ray Alborough at TVBC. The signs cost £2,500 plus £750 insurance annually. Jean Arnell stated that she would contact the local beat Officer and see if a mobile speed trap could be set up occasionally in East Cholderton JA

Lighting
The 25-year PFI legal agreement was again put forward for signature at the meeting as a mistake by HCC was rectified from the previous contract. This will be returned to HCC Clerk

6. Core Rural Strategy (see map from Clerk)
Ian Morrison asked Parish Councillors to comment on the maps of the village envelope that had been delivered to everyone since the last meeting.
Ian Morrison outlined a few changes to the map.
All Councillors present stated that they were happy with the envelope as it had been drawn. Ashley Smith had previously indicated to Ian Morrison that he was concerned about the whole process and concerned for any potential outcome.
In general the map included all gardens within the curtilage of houses that had previously been fronted by a ‘brown line’. Thereby permitting, subject to all consents, additional building in gardens.
All Councillors will receive a final copy of the map and a copy of the covering letter that will be sent to TVBC.

9. Finance
The following cheque was presented at tonight’s meeting -
S A Hoare                Nov salary                 £241.26
The cheque were signed by Ian Morrison and Diana Preston.
This was approved by those councillors present.
Councillors were asked for projects/ items to be included in the financial year 2010/11 Charles Stephens submitted one for maintenance of the fen and Diana Preston asked if a bench could be placed on Footpath 7. Sarah Hammer asked that the area north of the A303 be considered in all spending plans.
The finance sub committee will meet before the December meeting to set a draft budget for 2010/2011and undertake a financial risk assessment which will be discussed and approved at the December Meeting.

9. AOB and Correspondence
BT has written to the Parish Council asking if they wish to purchase the red phone box for £1. Whilst this may appear a generous offer, some thought should be given to ongoing costs. Clerk to contact HALC to see if any other councils are considering this offer Clerk
The old documents offered by Peggy Harcourt were discussed and everyone was very enthusiastic, Amport House would like to view them before they go to the Records Office. Mrs Harcourt will be contacted to see if she is willing to donate the documents to the village. IM/Clerk
Ian Morrison reported that the Amport and Monxton Village Hall may have to close unless 2 people come forward to fill the roles of Chairman and booking secretary as both these posts are now vacant. The hall is well used and busy and it would be a great shame if it were allowed to close. Please contact Ian Morrison or Rose Wareham if you know of anyone who might be interested.

The Meeting closed at 9.25 pm.

The date of the next meeting is December 14th – 7.45pm provisionally at The Hawk Conservancy.