Agenda and minutes

To record apologies for absence. 

Apologies were received from Councillor Mike Murray.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Wantage Area Committee minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2018. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2017 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and were signed by the Chairman.

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

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest or conflict of interest.

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. 

Steventon Sports and Social Club had withdrawn their application from consideration at this round of funding.

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.

To receive a verbal update at the meeting.

There were no updates available at the meeting.

To consider the report of the (interim) head of community services. 

To note: since this report was finalised, Steventon Sports and Social Club have withdrawn their application for consideration at this round of funding.

East Challow Parish Council

The officer introduced the application by East Challow Parish Council for a New Homes Bonus grant of £9,325 towards a £18,650 project to reconfigure the village hall toilets.

Colin Moss, of East Challow Parish Council, was present to answer questions from the committee. He confirmed that the parish council have been looking for the funding for this project for the last four years. Other monies have come from the Parish Council and from the Village Hall. They are also applying for grant funding.

The committee debated the item.

RESOLVED:

·           To approve the officers’ recommended score of 9 points out of a possible 12, which makes it a high priority.

·           To grant the applicant an award of £7,950 which is 82.25 per cent of the award requested and 42.63 per cent of the total costs.

Grove Parish Church

The officer introduced the application by Grove Parish Church for a New Homes Bonus grant of £39,830 towards a £135,682 project for storage improvements and a side extension.

Sarah Shackleton, of Grove Parish Church, was present to answer questions from the committee. She confirmed that this is part of a phased project of improvements to the church site to increase its benefit as a community asset.

She explained that gift day at church had raised money towards the project, and the church now had enough money to cover the remainder of this part of the project to a high standard, if the grant were awarded. The project is phased to limit risk and exposure to financial risk. This phase of the project is a pre-requisite to other phases.

The purpose of the project is to create a fully accessible community space for the whole area and for the new housing coming forward.

The church had applied to Grove Parish Council but all of its grant money for this year had been allocated and so they would need to wait for a new financial year.

The committee debated the item.

RESOLVED:

·           To approve the officers’ recommended score of 9 points out of a possible 12, which made it a high priority for funding.

·           To grant the applicant an award of £33,955.08 which is 82.25 per cent of the award requested and 25.03 per cent of the total costs.

The October Club

The officer introduced the application by The October Club for a grant of £1,300 towards a £2,664 project for replacement chairs.

The officer gave an update on the catchment covered by the club, which provides a service for the whole of the Vale. As a result, the recommendation was to update the total area for additional occupied homes to 3 out of 3 (rather than 1 out of 3). This gave a total of 10 out of a possible 12, and raised the priority category from medium to high.

Maggie Swain of the October Club, was present to answer questions from the committee.

The committee debated the item.

RESOLVED:

·           To approve the officers’ revised recommended score of 10  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.