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| Faringdon Association of Residents |
| Topics discussed at a meeting of FAR held on
13/5/2002 |
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Present at the Meeting:[Committee, Councillors, Police)] Chair - Colin Desborough Vice Chair - Clive Davis Secretary - Gene Webb President - Betty O'Brien Treasurer - Frank Roberts Committee member - David Hughes |
These minutes are sent to over 200 residents and are available in paper form from the Town Council Office |
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AGENDA |
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| 1. Apologies-none 2. Minutes of last meeting Minutes were agreed 3. Town Councillor Q&A; A Town Councillor did not appear. Colin Desborough updated the meeting on a response received from Jim Moley, a Vale District Councillor. -Cllr Moley had stated at the Town Healthcheck event that a great deal of money (100s of £1000s ) had been spent on Faringdon in the past few years. He offered to detail this, and the reason for the failure of the Folly Park to appear, in writing. His reply was not very helpful, lacking in substance and spoke only of possible future things for Faringdon and not what has happened to those things previously promised! The only part of the huge sums of money to Faringdon that he originally quoted was £130k to all 3 local JEFs (Faringdon JEF has had only £1- £2k approximately per year!) Cllr Moley reported that the real reason for delay with The Folly Park is that no provision was ever made by the Vale for an entrance! Several further months and expense are still required to sort this out. (Official opening was 1999) Large sums have been spent on the outside repairs to the Corn Exchange and refurbishment of Southampton St Car Park (Vale owned) Future policies might favour Faringdon over other towns He also mentioned recent 106 agreements (money from house building intended for the Town) as providing a large amount of money to County Council, plus much on the Folly Park but little else. The summary of his response showed only "might be benefits" and no concrete evidence of anything to the advantage of Faringdon in the past. Folly Park Alison Thompson has been asked by the Town Council to get a statement in writing from VWHDC re Folly Park. At the Council meeting 8/5/02 she indicated that access issues were still to be resolved, but that June was the target for this being resolved. (Jim Moley's letter gives a much longer timescale) Skate Park, Willes Close The minutes of the Recreation and Open spaces meeting 17/4/02,indicates that 'The Town Council has been granted access from Regal Way to the land behind Willes Close (by Pakeman Properties) for the purposes of maintenance only. The licence to run from 1/4 - 1/10 inclusive.(years not stated). Cllrs Leniec and Frost are to meet Mr Pakeman to confirm this agreement and to progress further'. Cllr Leniec mentioned a Skate Park day, when the area would be evaluated. New Town Councillors 2 new councillors Margaret Barker with experience in Education and Tourism and Peter Tak- former Residents Association Chairman, Birmingham area. Detrunking of A420 (i.e. the A420 becomes the responsibility of the County and no longer central government) The Town Council has formally objected to this detrunking of the A420 4. Pump House. (Community centre) An eviction notice has finally been served on the tenant. The deadline for his response is 1/7/02. A closure notice has been served (by VWHDC) because of the existence of asbestos in the building. It seems that alternative accommodation has been offered to the tenant by VWHDC. It appears that the cost of removing this asbestos will be borne by Faringdon and not the owners. A section 146 notice has not been received by the Town Council, but it is thought that papers are being prepared. At the meeting 13th March 2002 the Town Council agreed to: - release up to further £8500 for repair works - contest any section 146 notice proceed with the current programme of refurbishment - seek loan sanction for up to £150, 000 It was agreed that a discussion on residents' views of the plans for the Pump Rooms should take place at the next meeting. At the Town Meeting it was reported that there will be a further delay of 2-3 months in opening some rooms, due to asbestos 5. Police Report A police officer did not attend 6. Old Health Centre Much research has been carried out into the ownership and history of the building. This is to be written and published in the next issue of the Folly. It appears unlikely that there is a possibility that the Faringdon can claim any form ownership as the Hospital was given to the Oxford Nuffield Hospital in 1945 as Faringdon could no longer afford to run it. It is rumoured that the site has already been purchased with planning for 2 houses 7. Healthcheck progress Work is in progress to record the strengths and weaknesses of Faringdon now The next stage will be to analyse the results and identify some projects. All this will be available for discussion and comment at an Open event 13th July 2002. A number of road and traffic issues were mentioned, which will be included in the Traffic and accessibility aspects of the Healthcheck . 8. Coxwell Pit SSSI Meeting arranged (14/5, 8pm) to include chairmen of Town Council Committees, Norman Snelling, Mike Windle(Rigs) and anyone else interested in the SSSI, to discuss the management options. The aim will be to produce a paper discussing the pros of cons of either a Trust or a Council Committee. This will be discussed at a Council Meeting and a decision made. 9. Joint Environmental trust(JET) All Saints Church Wall - an estimate for repair of about £30k has been rejected. A local builder is to be asked for an estimate. Its not known if any applications for grant aid have been made. The outside of the Old Town Hall is having to be redecorated at a cost of £9k. 10. FAR achievements FAR was started in 1985. Since then many activities have taken place:- - kick starting the community bus project - instigating the SSSI project with RIGs - public bus service improvements ( Sunday, evening bus) - lobbying for the swimming pool (over 3000 signatures obtained) - spearheading the Saving of the Post Office at its present premises - campaign against reduction of Police beat officers - leading customers complaints/suggestion for improving service offered by Budgens - getting brown Historic Market signs restored after the bypass was built - regular requests for County to clear path to the Folly - endeavours to get Health Centre, Coxwell Rd listed - reporting pavement and road defects - monitoring housing developments for adherence to plans - getting weight limit on car park signs corrected - provision of local, council information to residents - representation against closing the Magistrates Court in Wantage - campaign against loss of registrar's office in faringdon 11 Treasurer's Report Statement at 11/04/02 General Fund........... £187.42 Project Fund ............£357.14 Contingency Fund.... £ 12.74 Total ........................£ 557.30 12 AOB It was reported that the Town Council did not have enough time to sanction the purchase of 2 Union flags and FAR will ask if they can fly the Union Flag on Corn Exchange to note the Queens Jubilee. French Market in Faringdon. 14th,15th,16th September 2002 13 Next Meetings.....................15/7/02, 14/10/02, 13/01/03, 14/4/03, 14/7/03,13/10/03 Old Town Hall, 7.30 |
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