Thruxton Parish Council

John McKenzie

THE December meeting of Thruxton Parish Council was chaired by Cllr Charles Milner-Williams with Cllrs John Davis, Mike Windsor and Janet Graham together with Hampshire County Cllr Pat West and PCSO Dave Trowbridge.

Items discussed were as follows:

Trees at sports field: From the floor, a resident, Barry Jones, on behalf of himself and his partner Amanda Squires, made an offer to plant substantial tree saplings in an area of the sports field where previous plantings had not succeeded. They would donate the trees, and also nurture them to maturity.

Also from the floor, Margaret Davis offered to provide a flowering shrub for the same area. The chairman warmly welcomed these initiatives, which the council will be pleased to support.

Sports field car park — illegal drugs: The meeting then heard a surprising and alarming report to the effect that the sports field car park area is being used for activities related to illegal drugs. It appears that drug-taking and the trading of drugs is going on. The police are keeping a close eye on the situation. Consideration was given to locking the area, or to have deterrent lighting which would, of course, involve cost.

John Davis reminded the meeting that the area in question was right in the flight path to the airfield; hence any lighting would have to be carefully installed, with that in mind.

It was agreed that more information was needed before the next meeting, and the chairman of the Sports Trust, Bill Brewer, will be asked to come to that meeting.

Village gated entrance: The council are still keen on having a formal gated entrance to the village, with clear speed-restriction signs and planters. It was advised that Mandy Ware from county council would be a valuable source of help in progressing this, so the clerk will seek to organise a site meeting.

Brookside Cottages parking: The question of vehicle access and parking at Brookside Cottages remains open. The allotment land is the property of Winchester Diocese, but the plan would not actually involve any part of existing allotments. It is hoped to get a favourable reply so that this can be progressed.

Tree preservation order: The highly controversial matter of the tree, on which a tree preservation order was recently placed, remains open. No further news has been received.

Defibrillator: It looks as if the presence of a defibrillator in the village may finally become a reality. The owners of The George have given formal permission for it to be fitted at the front of their building. It just remains to ensure that the current landlord has no objections, and then the device can be purchased. Although the clerk explained that the defibrillator is so cleverly designed that it tells you what to do, the council felt that the very modest cost of the training for villagers, which is on offer, would be justified.

Vacancy on council: There remains a vacancy on the council, which can be filled by co-option. The chairman had approached a possible candidate, who was unable to give an instant response, but it is hoped to bring the matter forward early in the new year.

Budget: Given that 2015 will be a year of elections, the council had to ensure that it included in its budget a sum sufficient to cover the highest of the possible costs, which was close on £1,000. It would be necessary to make a modest increase in the precept to ensure that this eventuality was covered.

Clerk — CiLCA: The clerk is working towards her CiLCA qualification. She confirmed having submitted her portfolio and is waiting for results. Her expenses claim of £442.90 was approved for payment.

Planning for winter weather: Pat West spoke about planning to cope with winter weather. There is plenty of gritting salt available, so she urged the checking of all gritting bins. There was the possibility of another very wet winter and flooding would be a threat which had to be prepared for.

Citizens Advice Bureaux: It was noted, from correspondence, that the Citizens Advice Bureaux of Andover and Romsey are to merge.

Mobile library service: There was concern about proposed changes to the mobile library service involving moving the four-weekly visit to a Monday rather than a Tuesday. There had been no consultation and such a change would simply not be workable here. The chairman will contact the relevant member of the county council and put the case strongly, but with constructive suggestions.

Next meeting: There is no January meeting, so the next one will be on 4 February at 7.30pm, in the war memorial hall.