Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Meeting Room 1, 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

To record apologies for absence. 

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Paul Barrow, Andy Cooke and Janet Shelley. 

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 108 KB

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Wantage Area Committee minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2019. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2019 and agree that the chairman signs them as such.

 

3.

Declarations of interest

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

Minutes:

Councillor Ron Batstone declared a non-pecuniary interest for the Letcombe Brook Project as he had served as a representative. He would leave the room for the duration of the item.

 

Councillor Patrick O’Leary declared a non-pecuniary interest for the King Alfred District Scouts as he was serving as the president. He would leave the room for the duration of the item.

 

Councillor Andrew Crawford declared a non-pecuniary interest for the Letcombe Brook Project as he was a Wantage Town Councillor. He would leave the room for the duration of the item.

 

Councillor Jenny Hannaby declared a non-pecuniary interest in the Letcombe Brook Project as she had been a founder of the project but agreed to come to the meeting with an open mind and would remain for the discussion.

 

4.

Urgent business and chairman's announcements

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. 

Minutes:

None.

5.

Public participation

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

Minutes:

Four speakers representing their application were present for four out of six applications. They spoke in support of their application and had the opportunity to respond to questions from the committee. The speakers were the following:

 

David Walsh

King Alfred District Scouts

Chris Lakeland

Blewbury Parish Council

Julia Reynolds

Letcombe Brook Project

Debbie Poole

Hanney Scout Group

 

6.

New Homes Bonus Grants 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 240 KB

To consider the head of corporate strategy’s report. 

Minutes:

The grants officer provided the committee with a revised table of a list of schemes and the suggested grants awarded to each application.

 

The committee considered the head of corporate services’ report, which set out details of six applications for New Homes Bonus grants. The committee noted that it had a budget of £43,063. The officer’s report had assessed each application against the grants criteria and had scored the applications against the policy matrix.

 

Blewbury Village Hall

The officer introduced the application by Blewbury Village Hall which sought £20,000 towards the scheme total of £510,071, representing a 3.92% contribution towards the total cost. This fund would contribute to the refurbishment of Blewbury Village Hall. The officer explained the scoring recommendation and the subsequent suggested award. The officer clarified a question regarding the funding of the application, confirming that Blewbury Village Hall would be funding the remainder of the projects either through external funding, most of which they had secured or directly from the organisation. The officer also answered a question on how the grants worked, confirming that if the project did not go ahead by a set date then the grant money would be required to be returned.

 

There was one speaker present for the application. Chris Lakeland was present to answer any questions from the committee and spoke in support of the application.

 

RESOLVED: To approve the officer’s recommended score of 9 out of 12 points.

 

East Hanney Parish Council

The officer introduced the application by East Hanney Parish Council which sought £1,012 towards the scheme total of £2,024 representing a 50% contribution towards the total cost. This fund would contribute to a new mobile speed indicating sign. The officer explained the scoring recommendation and the subsequent suggested award. Councillors asked what the change had been which had adjusted the score to a 9. The officer clarified an administrative error had given the wrong New Homes Bonus score, and the subsequent correction had awarded an extra point as a result.

 

RESOLVED: To approve the officer’s recommended score of 9 out of 12 points.

 

King Alfred District Scouts

Patrick O’Leary declared a personal interest and withdrew from the room for the duration of the item.

 

The officer introduced the application by King Alfred District Scouts which sought £32,094 towards the scheme total of £64,188 representing a 50% contribution towards the total cost. This fund would contribute to the re-roofing of the district scout headquarters. The officer explained the scoring recommendation and the subsequent suggested award.

 

Councillors requested clarification from democratic services on whether councillors could make a statement and then leave the room before the officer introduced the application. The democratic services officer confirmed this was their advice.

 

There was one speaker present for the application. David Walsh spoke in support of the application and answered questions from the committee. Councillors asked the speaker whether the scout group benefited the wider surrounding parishes which the speaker confirmed was the case. The areas that would benefit included Ardington and Lockinge, East  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

 

Contact us - Democratic services

Phone icon

01235 422520
(Text phone users add 18001 before dialing)

Address icon

Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon
OX14 3JE