Agenda and draft minutes

To record apologies for absence. 

There were no apologies for absence.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Faringdon Area Committee meeting held on 24 July 2017. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2017 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and were signed by the Chairman.

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

Councillors Simon Howell and Elaine Ware declared that they were both members of the Shrivenham Fete Committee and would stand down from the committee when the application was considered.

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.

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Speakers representing the applicants were present for two of the applications. They also had the opportunity to respond to questions of clarification from the committee. They would speak when their application was under consideration:

Faringdon Sensory Garden: Melanie Lane and Gerry Millington

Stanford-in-the-Vale Parish Council: Councillor Tina Jenkins

To consider the communication and grant manager’s report.

Faringdon Sensory Garden

Melanie Lane and Gerry Millington, of Faringdon Sensory Garden steering group, spoke in support of both applications made by the Sensory Garden, and answered questions from the committee about both the capital grant and New Homes Bonus applications. Later in the meeting, following debate on their applications, the Chairman suspended the speaking rules to allow the speakers to answer further questions pertinent to new information which they had provided when they initially spoke.

They updated the committee on their current finances, and outlined their funding requirements, as well as projected incomes. They explained that they required £120,000 in construction costs and a further £1000 per month in outgoings. With full funding the project would be completed by 11 November 2018. Maintenance and staffing costs had been costed and included in the figures. The aim of the project was to benefit the community across Oxfordshire. They confirmed that there would be open public access between dawn and dusk and that Tesco had agreed to give the project free and unrestricted access to their car park.

Capital Grant Fund application

The officer introduced the application by Faringdon Sensory Garden for a grant of £4,872 towards a £9,745 project to lay turf in the garden. The officer confirmed that there was no Section 106 funding available for this application.

The committee debated the item. As the speakers had provided substantial new financial information, it was suggested that provisional approval to change the score could be given and then later ratified by officers after consideration of the new information. The officer advised that while this could be considered, there was little precedent to do this and it was not in accordance with delegated powers.

It was agreed that a final decision would be made at the meeting, and that, because the officer was not able to offer a new recommended score without further consideration, no changes should be made to the initial recommendation.

Due to available funding being largely awarded to high priority applications, in accordance with the council’s capital grant policy, the committee could only grant £1,233.

RESOLVED:

1. To approve the officer’s recommended score of 6 points out of a possible 9.
2. To amend the officer’s suggested grant to 12.65 per cent of the total cost, capped to £1,233, £3,639 less than the amount requested.

NHB Grant Fund application

The officer introduced the application by Faringdon Sensory Garden for a New Homes Bonus grant of £20,380 towards a £40,760 project to lay pathways in the garden.

The committee debated the item.

Due to budget constraints, the committee could only grant £10,505, despite the high priority recommendation received by the application.

RESOLVED:

1. To approve the officers’ recommended score of 8 points out of a possible 12.
2. To amend the officers’ suggested grant to 25.77 per cent of the total cost, capped to £10,505, £9,875 less than amount requested.

Stanford-in-the-Vale Parish Council

The officer introduced the application by Stanford-in-the-Vale Parish Council for a grant of £10,833 towards a £21,665 project to relocate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.