AMPORT PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Monday 19th July 2010 at 7.45 pm at Amport School

1. Present
Mr Ian Morrison (Chairman), Lt Col Charles Stephens (Vice Chairman), Mr Bill Gore, Mrs Sarah Hammer, Mr Nicholas Hoare, Mr Ian Long, Mr Ashley Smith, Mr Neil Warren and Mrs Suzanne Hoare (Clerk)
Apologies, Mrs Tanya Garman and Mr Tim Southern TVBC Councillor.
The village correspondent, HCC Councillor Pat West, Mr Allan Maddern and 2 members of the public were present.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meetings.
Ian Morrison opened the meeting by welcoming Allan Maddern who was interested in becoming a Parish Councillor. Ian Morrison explained that currently the vacancy created by Jean Arnell was being advertised and the council would not be in a position to co-opt someone until after July 30^th. Allan Maddern elected to stay at the meeting and observe.
The minutes from the May meeting were approved and signed having been proposed by Nicholas Hoare and seconded by Ian Long.

3. Matters Arising from the last meeting and Declarations of Interest
Ashley Smith declared his interest in a planning application to be heard tonight.
Ashley Smith was thanked for arranging the re siting of the information sign on the Green, this has been enhanced by reflective patches to warn cars of the narrow verge by the ditch.
Ian Morrison reported that he had spoken to the clerk at Thruxton and the clerk at Penton Grafton. Both felt their Parishes would welcome new households from North of the A303.
After discussion it was felt that a letter/ survey would be formatted and discussed further by councillors before being sent to all properties north of the A303. The content would include a question about which Parish they would feel best served by and a further question on matters which they thought the Parish Council could help on. No action will be taken before agreement by all councillors on this issue. Sarah Hammer introduced a map of the Church Parish of Weyhill to the meeting, could this be considered as the basis for a new parish? This will need more consideration and will be an Agenda item at the next meeting.
Ian Morrison took the opportunity to read an e-mail he had received from Mrs Knight at Fairways. After reading the parish magazine Mrs Knight wanted to know if the Parish Council had considered a play area on the old MOD land. Ian Morrison stated that he would follow this matter up as no one was aware whether the MOD still held land in the Fyfield Road area. Mrs Knight further commented on parking in Fyfield Road. Ian Morrison to investigate.
Nobody had yet offered their services to clean the Bus Shelters at Weyhill, following the note in the Parish Magazine.

The Track and the Ditch
A meeting was held with several councillors and Ted Perren (retired H.Highways officer for Amport Area) to establish his opinion on the current problems with the Track and the Ditch on the Green. He felt that it was only necessary to clear the first 10feet of the ditch to stop flooding occurring at the bottom of Furzedown Lane and suggested that the bank of the ditch nearest the road could be reinforced using cement in sand bags pegged back by steel rods. Bill Gore who attended the meeting suggested that the outlet pipes of the drains could be moved further into the Green away from the road, with the ditch by the road back-filled.
The risk of an accident involving the ditch was discussed, nothing involving cars using the highway has occurred. The Council wanted to determine if there was an accident whether it would be liable. Pat West suggested that Hampshire Highways should be asked for a written report on the situation and this would help Amport Parish Council to determine a course of action.
To further reduce the risk of flooding Hampshire Highways would be asked whether the drains between the bottom of Furzedown Lane and the ditch could be cleared twice a year instead of once.
Bill Gore had looked at the levels of the drains and felt that the drop from Furzedown Lane to the ditch was insufficient and was probably the reason for the flooding after torrential downpours.
Ted Perren`s advice on the Track was that drainage was a key issue and a more long term solution would be to ‘tarmac’ the surface. This could last up to 40 years and would be less expensive than excavating the track to resurface with hard core.'Grasscrete' was discussed as an option but would be considerably more expensive.
Ian Morrison then asked all councillors present for their views on tarmacing the track or resurfacing in some other way.
The general feeling was not against tarmacing the surface although most councillors would like to see the effect softened in some way. Various top dressings could be employed to create a more natural effect. It was therefore agreed that as the next step Ian Morrison would contact Amey (HCC current preferred road contractor) to seek their expert advice on the problem of resurfacing the track and obtain some basic costs.

The Green and Amport Fen
Ashley Smith reported that the hemlock had been nearly all been removed and that a final removal was planned.
The school had visited 3 times to produce base line studies on the wildlife and plants.
Neil Warren reported that he was currently updating the Grass cutting contract for the Green and would produce it in time for tendering in the autumn for the 2011 season.

Footpaths and Highways/Communication
Potholes in Furzedown Lane and Wiremead lane have been reported as the road surface continues to be in poor repair.
Neil Warren was delegated to complete the survey on the Local Transport Plan

6. Planning Results
None currently reported

7. Finance
The following cheques were presented at tonight’s meeting.
They were signed by Ian Morrison and Bill Gore.

The above cheques were approved by all councillors present tonight.

8. AOB and Correspondence
Ashley Smith asked whether the Parish Council felt able to prepare a letter of support with regard to his application for grant funding for the new coffee shop – This was agreed. IM/Clerk
Ashley further asked whether the grave of an old war horse in the woods towards Fox from Amport House could be better looked after as this was of interest to local historians. Charles Stephens to investigate
Sarah Hammer asked if another letter could be written to try and get Hampshire Highways to complete the repairs at the end of Fyfield Rd.(Sarah Hammer supplied photos for inclusion in the letter)  IM/Clerk
Ian Morrison thanked those who had helped at the Dream Night at the Hawk Conservancy and it was agreed that the evening was a great success The weather was especially warm and nearly 300 children and carers were entertained.
Neil Warren led a short discussion on enhancing community spirit but time did not permit sufficient discussion, this will be an agenda item next time.
Ian Morrison asked Allan Maddern if he would like to say a few words on his decision to become a parish councillor and then questions were taken from current councillors. It was agreed that Allan Maddern would be co-opted at the September meeting if nothing further was heard from TVBC with regard to an election.

The Meeting closed at 9.20 pm.

The next Ordinary meeting will be held at Amport School 7.45pm on Monday 20th September