Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Councillors Matthew Barber, Anthony Hayward, Gill Morgan, and Mike Murray had all sent their apologies for absence. 

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the committee meeting held on 26 November 2013. 

RESOLVED: to adopt as a correct record the minutes of the committee meeting held on 26 November 2013 and agree that the chairman signs them. 

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

Councillors John Amys, Charlotte Dickson, St John Dickson, Jenny Hannaby, Sue Marchant, and Fiona Roper each declared an interest in the grant application by the Wantage and Grove Joint Economic Forum as they were members of the forum. 

Councillor John Amys declared an interest in the grant application by Grove Parish Council as he was a member of that council. 

To receive notification of any matters, which the chairman determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chairman.

None

Any statements, petitions and questions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

Nine members of the public had requested to address the committee. 

(1)               Richard Kennel made a statement in support of the application by Frontiers New Horizons Limited.  The application sought funding towards providing staff and equipment to help young people not in employment, training, or education to develop their construction, mechanical and horticultural skills. 

(2)               Geoff Rice spoke in support of the application by the Wantage and Grove Campaign Group to provide information to new residents so that they could take part in local community activities.  This was a one-year project to supplement information currently available.  The grant would assist with the cost of a researcher to source information and communicate it on request and via the Wantage.com website.  Mr Rice promised that any grant funding would be used for this purpose and not other matters by the campaign group. 

(3)               David Morgan spoke in support of the application by Harwell Bowls Club for a grant towards a new door at its clubhouse.  The club was trying to attract new members and needed to improve its facilities to do so. 

(4)               Brian Morris of Chilton Parish Council spoke in favour of the grant application for furniture and fittings at the new community room in the newer part of the village and towards a launch event for the whole village community.  The parish council had increased its parish precept by 49 per cent to provide a new community room for the new residents. 

(5)               Eleanor Turner made a statement in support of Wantage Silver Band’s application towards improving the acoustics in its band hall.  There was a need to improve the acoustics to aid band practice and to protect band members’ hearing. 

(1)               Jan Lapsley spoke on behalf of Letcombe Regis Parish Council in support of its application for a contribution towards a new village.  Following a 35 per cent increase in the population due to the Richmond Care Homes development, the village needed a larger and more modern village hall.  The new hall would meet the communities’ needs. 

(2)               MimNorvell spoke in favour of the application by Sustainable Wantage, part of the Oxfordshire Community Action Network.  The group sought financial assistance towards purchasing equipment for its market garden project. 

(3)               Bill Falkenau spoke on behalf of the Wantage and Grove Joint Economic Forum in support of its application to assist with running costs for February and March.  New funds were expected to cover the period from 1 April.  The forum wished to keep its momentum going during this two-month period. 

(4)               Rodney Pollock of Grove Parish Council spoke in support of the application for funds towards new maps and information boards in Grove. 

The chairman thanked the speakers for their statements. 

To consider the report of the head of corporate strategy. 

The committee considered the head of corporate strategy’s report that set out details of the new homes bonus community funding scheme.  The cabinet member for grants had approved the policy and procedure and delegated authority to the four area committees to determine the grant applications.  The Council had set a budget of £100,000 for this scheme.  The apportionment between the area committees was based on the amount of housing growth in each area from April 2008 to March 2013.  In the south east area of the district, 647 new homes had been built in this five-year period, equating to a budget of £31,400 for the committee to award to applications under this scheme in the current financial year. 

The committee noted that the council’s chief finance officer had advised that any new homes bonus community funding that was not awarded by the end of this financial year could not be carried forward to the following year’s budget.  However, the published draft budget for 2014/15 included a proposal for a further £100,000 new homes bonus community funding, for apportionment between the four area committees. 

The committee carefully considered each application under this scheme.  Ten applications had been received.  The committee assessed these against a high, medium or low ranking for each parish, dependent on the number of new homes completed in the qualifying five-year period.  Those parishes with the most new homes were awarded a ‘high’ ranking.  The committee used this as a guide to prioritise the applications but was not bound by it. 

The committee considered the application by Wantage and Grove Campaign Group but was not convinced of the need for this project, believed it was premature, and suggested that there could be other more appropriate funding sources locally.  The committee also considered that the application by Childrey Parish Council was inappropriate for this scheme. 

Councillors John Amys, Charlotte Dickson, St John Dickson, Jenny Hannaby, Sue Marchant, and Fiona Roper each declared an interest in the grant application by the Wantage and Grove Joint Economic Forum and Councillor John Amys declared an interest in the grant application by Grove Parish Council.  During consideration of these applications, those councillors left the room. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)       approve the following applications for new homes bonus community funding:

None