Minutes 12th January 2009

PRESENT

Chairman: Cllr Mr A Manship
Councillors: Mr J Chapman, Mrs J Chase, Mrs T Meads, Mrs P Sharpe, Mr G Tull

County Councillor: Mr P Mason
District Councillor: Mr L Ruffell
Mr Rod Bould – Consultant Surveyor
Clerk: Mrs E Manship

01/09 APOLOGIES

District Councillors: Mr R Humby
Councillor Mr R Page
PC Charlie Farley & PCSO Ralph Akehurst

02/09 DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS FOR AGENDA ITEMS

There were no disclosures of interest

03/09 CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 8th December 2008 had been circulated.

The Chairman signed the minutes.

04/09 POLICE CONSTABLE REPORT

The Clerk read the monthly crime report received from PC Charlie Farley: -

 

a) 18th December 2008 – Car parked in Baybridge during evening whilst babysitting. Reported that whilst the vehicle was left unattended someone removed the oil filter, so that when it was driven off rapid oil loss caused the engine to seize up.

 

b) 6th January 2009 – During the afternoon a car was parked near Marwell House whilst the owner walked their dog. On their return the car had been broken into via a smashed rear window and a kit bag stolen.

05/09 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

a. Highways Minor Works

The Clerk read through the list of requests that had been forwarded to Cllr Mason for consideration through Highways Minor Works funding. All have been requested a number of times previously from both Hampshire Highways and WCC Traffic Management as appropriate but are still outstanding: -

i) Installation of white lines at the crossroad junction where Whites Hill and Mare Lane cross Hensting Lane. Traffic to give way to Hensting Lane. A relatively small project that requires minor road surfacing improvements prior to the white lines being painted

 

ii) Two new HGV restricted access signs at the Longwood Crossroads, replacing the current faded signs

 

iii) Repair of carriageway in Lower Baybridge Lane

 

iv) Repair of carriageway in Hensting Lane

 

v) Installation of triangular warning signs with respect to horses in Hurst Lane.

 

Cllr Mason confirmed that he had forwarded the Council’s requests to Hampshire Highways for consideration. Projects agreed will be completed in the next financial year.

 

b. Virtual Footpaths

Cllr Meads confirmed she would arrange a meeting with David White towards the end of February.

 

Action:	By When:	By Whom:
To place on the agenda for the March or April meeting as helpful	TBC	TM

 

 

c. SLR’s

The Clerk reported that from e-mail contact with the Clerks of Durley, Upham and Curdridge, SLR’s were being discussed positively and they believed the Councils would be interested in taking this forward together.

 

Cllrs Ruffell & Mason reported that at Council meetings recently attended, Upham and Durley felt they needed more time and Curdridge were yet to make a decision.

 

Cllr Mason talked through the additional costs that were coming to light from HCC e.g. for moving the SLR from site to site, for inspecting the installation to ensure fully safe, for the batteries etc.

 

Cllr Ruffell suggested to the Council that they may also wish to consider purchasing a SLR privately e.g. offering a 2-way facility, as an alternative option to the SLR available for purchase via HCC.

 

However, it would still need to be moved, risk assessed etc. Further to discussion the Council agreed they would like to purchase an SLR, but ideally in partnership with another local Parish Council.

 

It was agreed to wait on the discussions of the local Parish Councils and bring this back to the table in 6 months if this had not moved forward.

 

d. Annual Hedge Cutting Blitz

The majority of hedges throughout the parish have been cut. One or two are still outstanding. Cllr Tull will speak with the landowners. The Council thanks the residents of the Parish for their continued support in this.

 

e. Flooding in Whaddon Lane

The Chairman confirmed he had viewed the bridleway near the zoo further to the works to reduce the flooding over the highway. It was muddy from the works but there was no excessive flooding. Cllr Manship confirmed he had thanked the zoo on behalf of the Council for their work.

06/09 PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

a) Hurst Lane Comments were taken from a resident in Hurst Lane regarding the high speeds traffic drive along the lane. Serious concern was voiced regarding the safety of residents, particularly the children who lived on the corner e.g. when crossing the road to the post box, walking along the edge of the road between houses, the safety of horse riders’ etc.

 

The residents would like this stretch of road to be reduced to 30mph in line with the rest of the village. Cllr Manship thanked the resident for her input and confirmed proposals, led by Cllr Chapman and the residents group were to be discussed later in the evening.

07/09 COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLOR REPORTS

a) Police Report Cllr Mason spoke of Operation Nemesis, designed to reduce theft and pilfering, being undertaken by Hampshire Police Constabulary.

 

He confirmed that under the new Chief Constable the Police were actively working towards every crime being investigated.

 

He encouraged everyone, particularly considering the crimes that had been reported over the last couple of months, to take extra care regarding the safety of their own property.

08/09 HIGHWAYS

Grips

Cllr Tull reported that he had identified 420 grips throughout the village that required urgent attention. None of which had been cleared for 15 years.

 

He couldn’t write a specification but estimated 6.5 days work and a cost of £2 – 3k.

 

Cllr Manship thanked Cllr Tull for his work but confirmed that the Council didn’t have the funds for this amount of work at one time.

 

The Council, in November had agreed to take this forward on Cllr Tull’s recommendation that it would take about two days to clear the grips.

 

If, on further examination the workload proved to be greater, then Cllr Tull’s views on the priority areas would be welcomed.

 

Cllr Tull confirmed he could not prioritise as everything was urgent and asked the Council to decide. The Council identified Longwood Road and Hensting Lane as priority areas.

 

Action:	By When:	By Whom:
To forward a specification to clear the grips in Longwood Road and Hensting Lane to the Clerk for the purpose of tender. On receipt of the specification the Clerk to seek 3 quotes To place on the agenda for the Council to take forward when these have been obtained.	ASAP     When received   When received	GT     Clerk   Clerk

 

b) Whaddon Lane Bank Preservation Project

Mr Bould reported that he had met with Mike Pillans from Hampshire Highways on site on the 22nd December to talk over the scheme.

 

In respect of the Council’s request to narrow the carriageway as much as possible, to visually dissuade drivers attempting to pass in the single carriageway sections, a width of 3.7m has been agreed by Colin Taylor.

 

In-fill would be installed behind the kerbing to re-build the banks and reduce the top of Whaddon Lane to a single carriageway with passing places.

 

Cllr Tull raised his concern and stated that the width of the carriageway should be reduced to 3m wide, or it should not go ahead. Mr Bould explained to the Council that a 3m wide carriageway would only allow 300mm on each side of a lorry, which is extremely tight. 3.7m was the narrowest Hampshire Highways would agree to, giving 650mm on each side. He confirmed this would still restrict the carriageway to a single flow of cars.

 

With regard to the height and material of the kerbing, down both sides of the carriageway, Mr Bould confirmed that the maximum kerb face permitted by the Department of Transport is 125mm, obtained from a 255mm high kerb, with half being buried for stability.

 

He confirmed that conservation kerbs had been agreed instead of countryside (currently in the village) which are much stronger and that the slabs to protect the banks within the passing bays would be textured to match the kerbs.

 

Cllr Tull again raised his concern and stated that nothing less than a 9” (228.6mm) kerb face was acceptable and until this was agreed the project could not go ahead. Mr Bould confirmed that this was not possible owing to legislation from the DfT.

 

Mr Bould reminded the Council that if the Council wished to tap into the £30,000 set aside for this project by Hampshire Highways, then a decision needed to be made in order for the process to be agreed before year-end.

 

General discussion followed and Cllr Tull became angry, raising his voice and shouting across the other Councillors.

 

The Chairman drew the discussion to a close and asked the Council, having listened to all viewpoints to vote on whether the proposal should be accepted in its current form.

 

The motion was carried 4 votes to 1, with 1 abstention.

 

Action:	By When:	By Whom:
To ask Mr Burns to take the agreed proposal to Colin Taylor at Hampshire Highways and request implementation. In so doing: - to be mindful of the views of the Council discussed on site with the Highways Committee and Landowners and at full Council meetings. for implementation Hampshire Highways to liaise with the landowners as appropriate	This week	Chairman

 

Cllr Tull informed the Council that the vote was null and void because as landowners they had not been consulted or agreed to the project. The Chairman reminded Cllr Tull that the landowners had been invited to every meeting both on and off site.

 

Their views had been considered and included within the project at every stage, guided by Mr Burns and Mr Bould in line with the restrictions laid down by DfT and Hampshire Highways.

 

Cllr Tull became increasingly angry, causing disruption to the meeting. He was asked by the Chairman and other Councillors a number of times to calm down but he continued to insist that the matter could not rest and that the project could not go forward as stated.

 

County Cllr Mason spoke to try to calm the meeting but Cllr Tull told him to shut up.

 

District Cllr Ruffell left the meeting and the Chairman, realising that Cllr Tull was not going to allow the meeting to continue closed the meeting.

The meeting closed at 8.30pm.

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday 9th February 2008 at 7.45pm