Minutes for the Drayton Parish, Annual Parish Meeting
held on 21st March 2023 at 7:00pm in the Village Hall
Present: Patricia Athawes (Chairperson), Graham Webb (Vice-Chairperson), Richard Wade (Vice-Chairperson), Pervin Shahin, Alistair Cumming, Adrian Cooke, Susan Harris.
Not Present: All Councillors were present.
In attendance: Dianne Rickaby (Locum Clerk, joined the meeting remotely), Christopher Price (Deputy Clerk), Richard Webber (OCC).
Public: 12 members of the public were present.
1/2023 Apologies for Absence. None.
2/2023 Minutes of the Previous Annual Parish Meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were approved.
Proposed: Susan Harris Seconded: Graham Webb Resolved: 6 for and 1 abstention
3/2023 Report from the Chairperson. Patricia Athawes.
Welcome everyone! Thank you for coming.
We will hear from our committees and Working Groups as well as from our OCC Councillor – Richard Webber and District Councillor – Andy Cooke.
Drayton’s community organisations have been invited to provide a report, if they wish to do so.
As always there is a public participation session, this is an open forum for residents to speak about any items of interest to the parish.
It has again been a very active year for the Parish Council and you will hear what has been taking place and actioned from the reports that will be given from the committees and working groups.
You may hear later from community groups in the village and those who have received grants.
Developmentsthat have happened or continued in the village will be discussed later on the agenda but a major challenge over this year has been the problem in progressing with the sports pitches at Walnut Meadow. Most of which is down to the developers and despite many meetings and actions from the working group we still wait for action. Again, this will be discussed further later on in the meeting.
Traffic calming as you will know, relates to road conditions, traffic calming and pedestrian safety and are the responsibility of OCC but the Parish Council takes these points very seriously and have had many meetings relating to these areas. However it is frustrating to report that at present we have not had any success in getting these actions moved on.
The Parish Council has also applied for the whole village to be considered as part of the new 20mph speed limit.
As you will know the previous Clerk (Lorraine Watling) left her post in December and since then we have had a locum (Dianne Rickaby) who has been excellent in taking on this post and so along with the Deputy Clerk (Chris Price) I want to record thanks for the time and excellent work they have and continue to put in. Jon Fowler as our Programme Manager. focuses on the various projects in the village, and is doing really good work organising meetings with appropriate councillors and keeping up to date with the progress required to reach required objectives.
Those of you who have attended Parish Council meetings will be aware of the vacancies: the Council can have a maximum of 11 Councillors; we have 4 vacancies. Given elections are coming up in May, if you are interested in joining the Parish Council, please do put your name forward.
4/2023 Committee Reports
a) Finance & Personnel. Dianne Rickaby (Locum Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer)
Dianne Rickaby is the Locum clerk for Drayton Parish Council and commenced January 2023. Within the role I am responsible for the daily management of the Council’s finances working alongside the Finance Committee and the Finance Chair.
All payments are approved by full council and delegation is given to two councillors who are signatories to authorise any payments between meetings. (As per Financial Regulations).
Grants
Within the budget for 2022/23 there was an allocation Of £12,000 set for grants within the S137 allowance within the Local Government Act 1972.
Grants made so far within this financial year have been to the following recipients:
- Drayton Chronicle – £2500
- Oxfordshire South & Vale CAB – £1800.00
There is a pending application of £4000, giving a balance remaining of: £3700 for this financial year.
S106 – Income
Drayton PC have applied for funding towards the resurfacing of the paths at Eastway an amount of £17,263 was awarded under the S106 agreement for this work.
There are other funds available within the Section 106 and CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy)
Earmarked Reserves:
| 21/03/2023 Drayton (Abingdon) Parish Council | |||
| Earmarked Reserves | Account Opening Balance | Net Transfers | Closing Balance |
| EMR Maintenance Reserve | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | |
| EMR Drayton Projects Prof Service | 0 | 15,550.00 | 15,550.00 |
| EMR Drayton2020 Projects Reser | 61247.28 | -32677.5 | 28569.78 |
| EMR New Drayton Pavilion Fund | 65,316.00 | 15,000.00 | 80,316.00 |
| EMR New Drayton Pitches Reserve | 5,000.00 | 4,000.00 | 9,000.00 |
| EMR OPFA – Sports Pitches Assi | 3,000.00 | 3,000.00 | |
| EMR – CIL 19/20 | 25,838.92 | 25,838.92 | |
| EMR – CIL Oct 2021 | 2,331.09 | 2,331.09 | |
| 172,733.29 | 1,872.50 | 174,605.79 |
Finance Committee
During the year, the Finance Committee has met regularly. The committee has reviewed and made appropriate decisions, based on information available and with the Clerk of the Council (who is also the Responsible Finance Officer for Drayton PC) providing up to date information as required before any decisions are made. This information is vital given the money received and that going out is currently very active. So, the committee can make appropriate decisions as required. Any decisions taken are always in order with the financial regulations. Once decisions have been made, the full PC are updated at the next full PC meeting.
Audit
The Parish Council accounts are audited annually by external organisations both the internal and external auditors are very happy with the way in which our accounts are managed. The year end process commences after 31st March.
All paperwork relating to the Finance committee is available and can be viewed excluding any information covered by the Data Protection Act. So, if there are ever any queries or questions relating to the Finance, then please let us know.
b) Planning. Graham Webb.
The Committee is routinely invited by VWHDC Planners to comment on planning applications. We try to limit our comments to material facts relating to applications, and so for most applications we submit a NO COMMENT or SUPPORT, but all within the guidelines on the VWHDC Planning Portal. However, for major developments we usually COMMENT or OBJECT. In the last year we have objected to:
Kiln Lane
Development of the old Brick Works Clay Pit for housing. It had become a wooded area, and its clearance was a surprise that alarmed many. We objected on the grounds of density and overlooking, and on grounds of additional traffic exiting Kiln Lane on to a busy part of Steventon Road. They were asked to re submit with alterations, and we repeated our objections. WE remain concerned that there should be a responsible contamination survey.
Halls Close
The Land behind Hall Close was granted consent for 22 houses after appeal, and then changed hands. We had objected and VWHDC had declined consent (over ruled on appeal). Our OBJECTION was based on concerns for additional traffic flow through a road initially designed for 10 houses, with an inadequate footway, and on the site’s location outside the curtilage of the village as defined by the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP).
That fact, and that it was beyond the statutory 5 year land supply, was another strong basis for objection. The developer also proposed to lift the site’s original usage restriction of content for elderly residents (Condition 14). Work had already started.
Our view was that a normal residential mix would increase traffic flow through a non compliant road width and inadequate footway. We were asked by the Planning Officer to lift our objection but declined to do so, repeating our concerns about pedestrian safety and a dangerous junction. Futile, perhaps, but we wanted to be consistent in our position on road safety. We rejected their Traffic Plan as unrealistic (proposing a mere 7 vehicle movements at peak time).
A second planning application, in outline, for a further 31 houses has been submitted. We will be objecting on the same grounds. A detailed response has been drawn up, with photographs to show the inadequate footway, and this will be submitted in the coming week.
Walnut Meadow
The issues with this site have involved the Planners because the finished pitch levels were not as drawn and approved. Continuing delays from Miller Homes (MH) and VWHDC Planners have meant that the original Consent had lapsed, necessitating a new Application. In that, the Landscape Officer has greatly increased the requirements, and at this stage the PC would be obliged to carry out the landscaping, for which there is no budget. On that basis we would be in an impossible position if we took ownership of the land.
The Programme Manager is obtaining quotations for the landscaping, drainage, and turfing/seeding. Negotiations continue.
Traffic Calming
We remain very concerned about the effect of development on road safety within the village. At a time when parents are being encouraged to send children to school by bus, there is no provision for them safely to cross the road to the bus stop.
At the exit of Halls Close and Church Lane on to the High Street, parked cars on both sides of the road make vision before pulling out a major problem with increasing traffic volumes, especially as many seem to exceed the speed limit here. There is no footway at all along the south side of the High Street, making it a very hazardous place for pedestrians.
Whilst we continue to get such a poor response from OCC, we will continue to make Traffic Calming a central issue in planning.
5/2023 Working Group Reports
a) Rights of Way & Conservation. Richard Wade.
The last 24 months have been a period where lots has been achieved with very few meetings.
Rights of Way
In April 2022, work was undertaken to improve the drainage and surface of Bridleways 9 and 29 (Sutton Wick to High St and Sutton Wick to Gypsy Lane respectively). These two routes are heavily used and had been essentially unusable for long periods during the winter. A surface was chosen that we hoped would be suitable for walkers, cyclists and horses. The upgrades have proved to be very popular and have weathered the winter well.
Based on our experience we sought quotes to upgrade the section of Eastway (BW1) from the paved section at its western end to the entrance to Little Smiths Farm (a distance of approximately 400m). Based on our experience with BW9 and 29 it was agreed to clear the BW to the required 3m but only to upgrade the surface over the central 1.5m. As of the date of this report, work is underway to upgrade Eastway with the base layer down and the surface layer to be applied when weather permits.
The above work has been enabled by S106 contributions from the three major developments. Once the Eastway work is complete we will look to consult on next steps and priorities for future upgrades.
A continuing rights of way issue is the closure of the route from Drayton to Marcham via the Marcham Bridge close to the boundary between the two parishes. Unfortunately the bridge was damaged some years ago and has been closed to all traffic for over 10 year. Two members of the working group inspected the route, which is still closed at Marcham Bridge and is poorly way-marked. Findings we reported to our County Councillor who has been making efforts to resolve the situation.
Conservation Area
Some years ago, the Parish Council initiated a review of the Drayton Conservation Area, including the possibility and justification for extending it. The report was supplied to VWHDC but due to staffing issues no action was taken until last year, when they reviewed and updated the report to the standard format. The working group provided updates and corrections which were incorporated in a proposed extended Conservation. This version which would extend the current area to include the area to the east of Church Lane, much of Sutton Wick and a small area to the west of Abingdon Road at the Green was put out to a public consultation which finished in mid February. We await the results of the consultation and further action by the VWHDC to establish the extended area.
b) Public Art. Pervin Shahin.
Signs: they have been installed. I should have said the installation was free of charge, arranged by the nice OCC roads guy I know. 🙂
Mosaic: two workshop days have been arranged with Drayton School, as well as a series of workshops with DAMASCUS on Monday evenings. A further two-hour session will be during the Millennium Green Coronation celebration on Monday 8th May, for everyone to join in with. Further workshops involving the whole community will be announced later in the Chronicle.
c) Neighbourhood Development Plan. Graham Webb.
Introduction. Drayton 2020 was set up to develop and submit the village’s Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). It was one of the first to be formed, a credit to the committee that worked on it.
To follow on from Drayton 2020 a Project Committee was formed, to oversee its implementation. As well as issues of planning policy the NDP included the provision of sports facilities and traffic calming. It is these that make up the focus of our efforts.
Sports facilities at Walnut Meadow were to be based on a part of the Miller Homes (MH) site providing football pitches, a MUGA and a pavilion. Facilities were ratified by a village referendum and the land was to be sold to the village, drained and ready for seeding, for a nominal sum when building was completed.
Problems. Delays from Miller Homes and VWHDC Planners meant that a series of problems arose, over more than 5 years, to frustrate implementation. It became clear that more was needed to make progress with the plan. A Programme Manager was employed part time, and in December 2021 a small Working Group (WG) set up to improve engagement with other stakeholders. It consists of the Programme Manager, 3 parish councillors, and a previous 2020 member. It meets weekly.
Our specific problems are:
Pitch Levels. Imported material to the pitch area has led to an increase of up to 800mm above the planned and approved ground level, reducing the pitch area.
Buried Waste. Imported material contained waste from other sites and construction waste (concrete beams and the like) from Walnut Meadow were seen to be buried on site. The VWHDC planners were informed but took no action. Land drainage trenching machinery would be damaged by the buried material.
Road Adoption. OCC Highways have declined to adopt roads on the site. Chestnut Drive is an essential access to the pavilion/MUGA area but we are told it is not to an adoptable standard. The roads at the entrance from Abingdon Road were also an issue but negotiation with OCC Road Adoption Team has resolved that.
Landscape Plan. Because of the delays the original Planning Consent had lapsed, and MH were required to submit a revised Application. The VWHDC landscape officer demanded a significant increase in the planting schedule, and the additional costs from that are unfunded as yet.
Costs. The original plan was to fund the works from the associated Section 106 (s106) monies, topped up with a loan to be re paid out of the precept. Whilst the s106 monies are index linked, construction costs in the delay period have increased by at least 40%, causing concern about the financial viability of the project. To address this the WG has gained a revised cost for the MUGA, re briefed the pavilion, and is re examining the scope as a whole. We are also getting quotations for elements of the pitch provision.
Progress
- MH have agreed to a 700mm site strip and sieve operation to achieve acceptable ground levels. They have not, however, agreed to drainage or topsoil.
- Buried material will be removed by the site strip.
- Road adoption of Chestnut Drive is ongoing.
- VWHDC might ask MH to bear the cost of landscaping as part of Enforcement Action.
- The WG plans to revise the scope to come within budget.
Traffic Calming. The PC had a separate committee for this, but it has now been taken in to the NDP WG to try and get better progress. There were extensive provisions for this in the NDP, with the aim of creating a better and safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists. Increased traffic volumes recently have focussed the importance of this. Initial contact with OCC Highways was promising, but for some years now they have declined to engage with us, and only recently responded. For at least 5 years we have been asking for pedestrian crossings at Walnut Meadow and Dovecote but OCC claim they do not have the resources to get this done. We are holding meetings with them currently. For other issues, the B4017 is difficult to improve because of its status as a subsidiary route off the A34. There is an expectation of a 20mph limit in the near future.
6/2023 Report from OCC Councillor. Richard Webber.
Highways. Working with PC Reps and Jon Fowler, we have met with Oxfordshire Highways Officers and the Cabinet Member to try to advance the Drayton NDP Highway aspirations re ::
- Exit issues at the junction of Walnut Meadow estate and Abingdon Rd
- Improved signage at the Cala Development raised table
- A new pedestrian crossing on the High Street
Speeding issues. Repairs to the Vehicle activated speeding signs on the three main roads in Drayton will be taking place in early summer. At the same time, new signs will be appearing on the B4016 Drayton Road where accident statistics have highlighted an urgent need.
Reservoir. Working with one Councils and GARD to ensure that Oxfordshire is speaking with one voice in questioning the Thames Water proposals and offering alternative solutions.
Making our roads safer and our environment healthier.
School Streets – OCC have been asked to consider the suitability of limiting vehicle access to Drayton Primary School at the begging and end of the school day under the “School Streets Scheme”
20mph roads in Drayton. – a survey of the village is about to take place to test the demand for 20mph roads in the village and where they should be. If the reaction is positive, the scheme would be operational by mid 2024. Given the NDP survey results showing that road safety was a major concern, it would be surprising if the village has changed its mind on this issue.
HIF1 Road– OCC Highways predict that there will be a general reduction in traffic volumes through Drayton if/when the new road is built. How long the benefit will extend as more houses are built is open to question. The other problem for national and local government is the rapidly increasing building costs due to inflation.
7/2023 Report from VWHDC Councillor. Adrian Cooke.
Drayton Annual Parish Report
I want to start with the Government’s changes to the voting process: from May onwards YOU WILL NEED PHOTO ID TO VOTE.
I want to emphasise that the Government have decided that your Polling Card is NOT sufficient. Whilst there have been no issues with stolen votes through this method in Great Britain to date, they say their reason is to make it look even safer.
You must bring one of the following documents to the polling station to be allowed to vote, and it must be the original version and not a photocopy (however, as long as it still looks like you, it does not need to be in date):
– Passport
– Driving licence (including provisional driving licence)
– Blue Badge
– Older Person’s Bus Pass
– Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
– PASS card (proof of age card issued by Proof of Age Standards Scheme)
– MOD Identity Card
– Biometric immigration document
– National ID card issued by an EEA state
If you do not have any of the above, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate at voter-authority-certificate.service.gov.uk or visit https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID
The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate for the local elections in England on 4 May 2023 is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.
There are no changes to postal voting.
In addition, make sure you are registered to vote BY MIDNIGHT ON 17th APRIL. You can check by contacting Electoral Services on 01235 422528 or at elections@southandvale.gov.uk
If you are not registered, you can register on https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote (or Electoral Services can help on the number above).
If you can’t make it to the polling station on 4 May – you can apply to vote by post – the deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm on 18 April, or you can apply to allow someone else to vote on your behalf, this is known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on 25 April. To find out how to apply for a postal or proxy vote, visit southoxon.gov.uk/localelections2023 or whitehorsedc.gov.uk/localelections2023
Please don’t lose your vote!
PLANNING
We are working on a New Local Plan; it’s a Joint one with South Oxfordshire. Whilst we do need to provide housing in it (with targets assigned from central government), we want to make sure infrastructure (schools, transport, leisure facilities and more) are highlighted, and we can outline ways to meet targets to be carbon neutral by setting environmental standards for developers. The Plan will go up to 2041 (the current Plan goes to 2031).
Preferred Options are being put together, and public consultation on these will be carried out in August and September 2023.
This may sound a bit boring and arcane, but the most crucial thing I’ve learned on planning matters is that Councils have very little discretion on planning applications when those are made.
The decisions are heavily fenced around with reams of interlocking legislation, which have grown up over decades. Failing to follow these rigorously means that developers can (and will) appeal any rejected decision that they can argue does not follow them, and repeatedly aim to reduce or remove conditions. The Government Inspector will uphold their appeal if they can demonstrate this.
THE LOCAL PLAN IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST INPUTS INTO THE LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS. It is THIS that can give legislative cover on approvals, conditions, and rejections – by the time applications are made, it’s often too late to have any real power over the decision-making.
The Local Plan isn’t complete power (precedent and national policy can override it at times), and we don’t have a completely free hand in creating it, but it does allow us to shape the future planning decisions to a significant degree.
HOUSING NUMBERS
I mentioned that the required housing numbers are an input into the plan. We have recently argued that the previous rate – for 1028 houses per year on average across the Vale – was no longer valid. Using an approved method, we’ve put in a revised number of 819 per year – twenty percent lower. This means that what is called our “Five Year Land Supply” – a comparison of five years of that number against approved sites and permissions plus assessed likelihood of completion – is significantly stronger. This is crucial because if we did not have five years in hand, it’s not far off of being open season for development – developers can far more easily overturn rejections and they would not need to adhere closely to Local Plans or Neighbourhood Plans.
If we want to have Neighbourhood Plans and Local Plans with teeth, we need to keep that five year land supply. In the past few weeks, a developer challenged our new method on appeal against a rejection in Grove. The Planning Inspector looked at it and fully endorsed our method.
I know the cry of “NIMBY” can go up, but the Drayton NDP, to my mind, points strongly against that. We just want to ensure that development goes in the best places for it and is accompanied by the needed infrastructure. I took a look at the ONS figures for numbers of dwellings per Local Authority in England over the past decade. They have 310 Local Authorities on the list. The number of houses over the past decade increased by 7.6% across England.
Where do you think the Vale came in on that list in terms of rate of increase? Any guesses? A position above number 155 would mean above average. A position above number 78 would put us in the top one quarter.
Answer: #3. We expanded by 18.9%. Only the Square Mile in London – which is a special case because they only had five thousand homes to start with – and Tower Hamlets in London beat us, and the latter only just. If the rest of the country had built at the rate of the Vale, there would be nearly three million more homes nationwide and no housing crisis. I think we can decrease our target by a little and still be doing our bit – and the Inspector has agreed with us.
DEVELOPMENTS
This leads on to where we’ve had issues with developments. Such as Walnut Meadows, where the developer buried tonnes of rubble where the sports pitches should do, causing huge issues going forwards. I don’t think I need to cover the issue in too much depth, but the Parish Council have been doing sterling work here. We had a bit of a breakthrough this year when the County Archaeologist noted that some of the area of buried rubble infringed on a Barrow – an archaeological site specifically forbidden to them. There was a period when it looked as though nothing might be permitted to be built there, but when Richard Webber and I spoke with the Archaeologist, he agreed that two thirds of the area was fine, the area for the MUGA was fine, and the area for the pavilion was fine. What it DID mean was that Miller Homes got genuinely worried for their legal position for the first time and started engaging properly. There are still significant issues – the quality of the topsoil and the financial viability of the sports facilities due to the long delay – but it was the first time Miller Homes looked to be properly taking it seriously.
We also had a controversial application in Kiln Lane. It gained approval despite hard fighting, and I genuinely believe this was an error. I was very unhappy with the process and made my opinions very clear to the Council Leader, the Cabinet Member for Planning, and the Head of the Planning Committee – I believe “full and frank” is the appropriate phrase.
To their credit, they listened to me properly. Following these discussions, the process is being changed. Ward Members must now be consulted closely by Planning Officers for any potentially controversial applications. There is now a recognised route by which Ward Members can also flag up disagreements up the chain to Cabinet. And a change to the Council Constitution is going through to allow Ward Members to directly question Planning Officers in front of the Planning Committee to ensure their questions are openly and fully answered in front of them. And since all of this, Planning Officers have been a lot more hardnosed with resisting the developers attempts to get conditions removed and plans changed (basically giving the developers a flat “no”).
There was also a recent application to remove age-restrictions from the development behind Halls Close. This is a development under construction outside of the village boundaries, against the NDP, and with unacceptable access that should never have been approved, and was actually rejected by the Vale but overturned on appeal solely due to a lack of 5-year land supply at the time. Reinforcing our need for that 5-year supply. There were no grounds to refuse the removal of age-restriction as it had already been approved at appeal after an earlier rejection, but it helped highlight a new speculative development for a further development beyond that with all the issues of the earlier one. But this time with us in possession of a 5-year land supply…
Might come across as a bit boring, but it was a real concern back when I ran for election four years ago – the Council was on track to break the financial limits. Northamptonshire County Council became the first council to effectively go bust in 2018.
Since then, we’ve not exactly had plain sailing – the covid crisis acted like a wrecking ball in the plans of a lot of councils, and the Cost of Living Crisis merely made it worse. Over the past few years, Slough, Northumberland, Pembrokeshire, and Copeland all went into Section 114. Thurrock went down just recently. Croydon just went down for the third time. Parliament had to approve an increase of 15% in their council tax.
Which means that us being solvent and with a considerably better forecast than we had four years ago is a massive win.
OTHER BITS
I want to finish with the Reservoir, but just to cover other things briefly:
- Support for Low-income families with Council Tax. From April 2023 when the new tax year begins, households on CTS will no longer have to pay anything towards their Council Tax Bill (previously, they were required to pay a nominal 8.5%. For households with very little, this could still cause unnecessary hardship). In addition, support was reintroduced for single households who have lost their single person discount due to an adult on a low income living with them.
- We’ve had a change of Council Leader, as Emily stood down as she’d been offered a full-time job working with a housing charity. Whilst ordinary members often balance a full-time job with their role – like me – Cabinet members and especially Leaders have far too much work Council-wise to do that. Bethia Thomas, the former Deputy, took over and is now our Leader.
- The Council has moved back to Abingdon, in Abbey House, until the new shared facilities will be ready in Didcot Gateway.
- Park and charge – 124 EV chargers have been installed around the ten council-un car parks to help where people have electric vehicles and can’t recharge overnight at home.
- Conservation Area: Conservation Area The Drayton Conservation Area has been reviewed and the Vale are extending it slightly. The Parish Council initiated the latest review and identified areas of sufficient interest and significance to include in the new boundary. These include adding the historic core of Sutton Wick and the Millennium Green to the north, add an area east of Church Lane, add a small area west of Abingdon Road, across from the High Street. This means that extra control is exercised over demolition of buildings in that area, there are controls to works to trees, planning applications in the area have extra scrutiny, and some works no longer benefit from permitted development rights.
- We’ve formally withdrawn from the Ox-Cam Arc – as funding had been withdrawn by Government, there wasn’t much left that wasn’t an expensive talking shop.
- We pushed a cross-party amendment against fracking during the Truss Premiership. We can’t claim credit for bringing her down, but I am satisfied that the risk suddenly went down a long way when loads of councils did the same and the full blow-back became apparent to the Government.
RESERVOIR
The Thames Water consultation closes tonight.
I went to a meeting with a Guardian journalist at lunchtime today, organised by GARD. The journalist seemed sympathetic, and explained that his interest was keyed by asking the question: “Loads of MPs are complaining that planning laws are blocking a bunch of important infrastructure projects. Are they right, or are some or many of those projects actually flawed?”
The National Infrastructure Commission pointed him at SESRO as an example of a programme that laypeople might instinctively feel is “obviously needed.” The fact that the NIC have recommended STT first and the completion of a national water grid over and above any other solutions is not unconnected with this, I suspect.
I think there will need to be pressure on the regulators, as the absurd requirement to adhere to obsolete and excessive population projections (and extreme abstraction reductions) comes from them. However, TW have grabbed the opportunity to use these to try to lock in SESRO – inflexible, unsuited to climate resilience, not providing suitable drought resilience, not provided for a generation or more, fully reliant on the water-stressed Thames, environmentally damaging, and unjustifiable with the better and more recent projections. This is unprofessional and hugely irresponsible of them.
The Vale provided a strong and hard-hitting response to the WRSE consultation, pointing out the above and adding in TW’s failure to even try to meet the Government targets for leakage reduction – they are leaking out a daily amount of water well above the highest peak output of SESRO.
8/2023 Reports from Community Organisations.
a) Friends of Drayton School Association (FODSA). Emma Wilton (Chair, FODSA). FODSA is the parent teacher association of Drayton School. The object of the association is to assist in the education of the pupils of the school by helping to provide money and items which the school budget cannot cover in full. We organise a wide range of activities such as cake sales, non-uniform days, Bags2School, summer fete, pamper night, Christmas hour, various discos and the much loved chocolate hour.
b) Village Hall. Fred Stevens (Chairperson Village Hall).
Fred Stevens thanked Ann Webb and Tony Holmes for their hard work and it was noted that bookings are getting back to pre-pandemic levels. Hall is available for private and public functions including: Children’s Parties, Assorted local Groups & Clubs, Wedding Receptions & Anniversary/B’day Parties, Corporate Events and Training, Sports (mostly Indoor Bowls & Badminton).
c) Stonehill Community Garden. Joanna Tambarino.
Stonehill Community Garden welcomes people from all walks of life We are currently working on an acre, producing fruit, vegetables and eggs from our hens. Open every Wednesday, 10 am – 4 pm, Drop-in or stay all day. Stonehill Community Garden offers groups or individuals the opportunity to get involved and learn about: Growing food, Healthy eating, Foraging, Building, Community cooking, Nature identification and care, Working together, Looking after the Chickens.
Our aim is to bring people closer to nature and to share the joys of being outside and gardening together. We hope it will be a place that will be beneficial to all people including those from disadvantaged or vulnerable backgrounds.
d) Allotment. Timothy Atkins (allotment warden) reported that there were 16 people on the waiting list but it is now 12. The majority of allotment holders would like the gates locked. All rents have been collected except for 2 people.
9/2023 Public Participation.
a) Thames Water, Rachel Groves (Community Engagement Manager). It was noted that it is the 98th day and last day of our consultation on Thames Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan. Questions were asked about the design and whether the reservoir (SESRO) scheme should be delivered before the Severn to Thames Transfer Transfer (STT) scheme. A frank discussion was held.
b) FP21 (High street to East Way). A parishioner reported on the broken handrail across the bridge.
[Deputy Clerk’s note: This was reported to OCC on 4th February 2023]
The Chairperson declared the meeting closed at 9:00pm.
Signed: Date:
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