Parish Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH HELD AT LONGWICK VILLAGE HALL ON MONDAY 30th APRIL 1984 AT 8 PM

PRESENT Mrs P Priestley (Chairman) Councillors Dr Bravery, Mrs Brock, Dr Jones, Mr MacIntosh, Mr Walker and 17 members of the public and a representative of the Press.

MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 25th April 1983 were read, confirmed and signed.

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT The Chairman introduced the Councillors and explained the full complement was 7. However due to the resignation of Mrs Warren during the year Mr I Walker had been co-opted. Recently Mr Underwood had resigned after 15 years service and a secret ballot would be held at the next meeting on 7th May to co-opt another Councillor. So far, two applications had been received. She paid tribute to the sterling work on the Council of Mr Underwood and Mrs Warren. She also expressed thanks to Mr Metcalfe (School headmaster) who had recently resigned and wished him well in his new career.

Planning applications The Council had been consulted on 37 applications during the year. On July 26th 1983 Councillors had attended an appeal meeting in High Wycombe held by the Ministry of the Environment against a refusal by WDC to grant planning permission for a development of 79 dwellings on land behind the Red Lion PH. Before the appeal the PC sent a circular to all the village asking for opinions on the development and a public meeting had been held previously to let people see the plans of the proposal. The appeal had been dismissed. At the moment a second appeal was pending for a smaller development of 26 dwellings. A public meeting had been held on 19th December when the plans had been displayed. Comments on this appeal would be by written statements and she had details of the address to which comments should be sent for anyone interested.

Playing field extension The Chairman expressed gratitude to the Williams family for the gift of about 1 acre to extend the playing field. A wire and post fence had been erected to enclose the area and this would be supplemented by a hawthorn hedge in the autumn. Planning permission had been obtained for the change of use of the land.

Household waste site The Parish Council had made representations opposing plans for 2 proposed household waste sites. The first proposal was for a site on Thame Road adjoining the electricity substation. After strong local opposition BCC did not proceed with this site but made a fresh proposal for a site on the B4009 road near Little Horsenden Farm. The PC had strenuously opposed this on traffic, environmental and economic grounds. The BCC Waste Disposal subcommittee was due to make its final decision on this site today.

Road accidents There had been 3 fatalities during the year. Last May a motorcyclist was killed near Little Horsenden Farm. The PC had tried to get BCC to put up warning signs concerning farm vehicles turning but BCC had considered this unnecessary as it was a straight piece of road. In June there had been a fatality at the junction of Bar Lane and Thame Road. The PC requested a site meeting with the County Engineer and this was also attended by the Police. As a result earlier warning signs had been put up in Bar Lane, extra markings had been painted on the road and cross road signs had been erected on the main road. An old car parked on the verge had been removed so that visibilty was not obscured.

The third fatality occured outside the Village Hall one evening in December. The Police had suggested the PC should consider erecting a light outside the Village Hall. A site meeting had been held with the county Lighting Engineer who advised on the type of light and the best position for siting it. It was agreed at a subsequent meeting of the PC to erect a light on the electricity pole opposite the Village Hall. The PC had aquired a light fitting and had been waiting some 10 weeks for Eastern Electricity to give permission. The cost of the light and the connection would be about £150 and the cost of current about £7 per year. A lamp should last about 4 years and the present replacement cost, cleaning and maintenance would be about £15. To this must be added the cost of insurance. Interest had been expressed in the possibilty of footway lighting in Longwick. No help would be available from BCC or WDC and Longwick would have to bear the whole cost which would run into several thousands of pounds. Horsenden, Meadle and Owlswick as well as Ilmer would not have to contribute but the cost to Longwick could be rated separately. he would be pleased to receive comments on this.

School footpath At long last a lease had been drawn up with BCC. Planning permission had been obtained for the footpath, the area along side the ditch had been cleared and when the lease was signed and returned the fencing and building up of the footpath would proceed.

Sundry Village matters A better standard of grass cutting, maintenance of verges and clearing of weeds on estates had been achieved than prev-iously. The potholes on Chestnut Way were due to be repaired and work on repairing the footpath along Rose Farm had just commenced. Replacement of some road/street signs were awaited including the sign for Bell Crescent.

Finance A statement was handed round showing how the precept of £1110 had been spent. The precept had been overspent due to high legal costs and this had meant using some reserve funds. The precept for 1984/5 was £1350.

LONGWICK PLAYING FIELDS ASSOCIATION In his report Dr Bravery said the hedge between the old playing field and the extension was being laid and it was intended to put bridges of sleepers across the ditch to give access. The swings were to be over-hauled and the matting refitted. He mentioned the swings were inspected professionally 2 or 3 times a year. Creosoting of the fences had been carried out by the Venture Scouts and a cheaper method of mower maintenance had been instituted. General terms and conditions for use of the playing field by various groups had been agreed. Fouling of the area by dogs was still a nuisance and he asked dog owners to be more considerate. He referred to a newsletter which had been circulated in March and to the encouraging response to the suggestion that a draw be instituted. Fund raising was still a problem although £100 had been raised in the year from fairs etc. The letter had asked for suggestions for the use of the extension and the principal suggestion had been for tennis courts. Other suggestions included a venture playground, bowling green, squash courts, sports pavilion etc but some of these would be difficult to sustain. At the next meeting of the Association the suggestions would be reviewed and steps taken to institute the draw. In answer to questions Dr Bravery said isolation of the swing area to prevent dog fouling would be considered; the developers plans had featured access to the extension from Barn Road etc but the Association had never asked for this; that the provision of litter bins would be considered but a previous attempt had resulted in vandalism. The Chairman thanked Dr Bravery for his report and answers to question.

GENERAL QUESTIONS The matter of a gas supply to the Village was raised and the Chairman said a petition had been submitted in 1980 but the cost had been prohibitive and the Gas Board had indicated it was unwilling to provide a supply. In reply to another question the Chairman said the erection of an additional temporary classroom for the school had been approved. On the matter of footway lighting opinions appeared to be very divided and there was no real pressure expressed for this. A number of comments were made about traffic hazards. The junction of Chestnut Way and Lower Icknield Way was very dangerous and a mirror would help. The speed limit in the village of 40 mph was too high and parking outside the Village Hall and Post Office and outside the Red Lion PH were very real hazards to pedestrians. The Chairman said all these matters had been taken up with the appropriate authorities but generally the reply was that the rate of accidents of a serious nature did not warrant any changes. She pointed out the Police carried out speed checks from time to time and these had helped a little. The other points raised would be kept under review.

Dr Jones proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman for her able conduct of the PC's affairs during the year which was received with acclamation.

The meeting closed at 9.20 pm.

[Signature: P Priestley] 29.4.85

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS - 1 APRIL 1983 to 31 MARCH 1984

PRECEPT - £1110

EXPENDITURE