Once again the meeting was held without a Parish Clerk and short of the full number of Councillors but, there has been progress in the search for a New Parish Clerk and hopefully a replacement will be found soon.
The proposed verge work on part of Crows Lane is currently on hold after comments and letters from residents expressed concern about the possible increase in parking problems that might follow the current plan. It is planned to hold a Public Meeting for residents in the near future.
Plans to purchase new Rose Plants for the Memorial Garden were approved and thanks were expressed to Bahnstormer Motorcycles for agreeing to water the garden and keep an eye on the plants although there was some concern about the amount of litter in around the area.
It was agreed that the painting of the phonebox etc on the Crossroads would be chased up and completed shortly and the inspection of the Games area was also discussed, including the cost of annual inspections of equipment etc and it was agreed to review the arrangements for inspection of some equipment.
FPC accounts were also reviewed and the problem of setting up new signatures and general management of accounts was also discussed and will be in order very shortly and a Councillor took on the task of the review of Parish Documents to make sure all information was up to date.
Both Planning applications were discussed, some concern was expressed about the request to Fell a tree in SDNP/24/0243/TCA was expressed with a suggestion that pruning might be a more acceptable option and SDNP/24/02465 was passed without comment.
Funds for the Lych Gate works were reapproved due to increased costs (now £14,253.40) with delays were approved and a proposal for future FPC meetings to be held on Thursdays was also approved. Meetin closed at £8:30
All Parish Councillors were in attendance and Councillor Philip Davies who, with David Ashcroft are the two elected EHDC members for the Binsted, Bentley and Selborne district, which includes Farringdon.
There was a discussion on site ownership of Areas serviced by the FPC but it was agreed no action was needed as the areas were well established and recognised.
After the usual initial proceedings, the lack of road clearance and sweeping on the A32 was raised and it was decided to contact HCC representative Mark Kemp-Gee to see if he could encourage some activity and Cllr Davies will meet and attempt to clear any confusion between the FPC and HCC.
Currently no action planned to limit flooding around Cruck Cottage and also no action to clear the blocked manhole causing intermittent flooding at the bottom of Shirnall Hill.
In addition to the two speed indicator cameras it was agreed to purchase a third camera, to make sure everybody was aware of the current limit.
A complaint alleging Fly Tipping adjacent to Shirnall Hill was dismissed after it was established that the material distributed were hedge trimmings scattered by the machine cutting the nearby hedge.
The Council also approved changes as Tim Charrington has, after many years service, resigned as Chair of the Playground Charity which is now managed by Jeremy Cowans.
Allocation of funds, to finance maintenance, replacement and repairs of worn items and Inspection of equipment in the Shirnall Playground was also approved for the future
Plans are in hand to reinforce the Crows Lane verge adjacent to Westview to prevent damage caused by vehicles with the installation of concrete mesh adjacent to the roadside.
Plans were also accepted for repair/replacement of the fence on the Village Garden adjacent to the top of Parsonage Close.
The proposed replacement of the A32, signage was also approved although the necessity for crossroads sign where the A32 meets Woodside lane and New Road meet the A32 and the clutter of signage at the village boundary were discussed but it was agreed to proceed with the plan.
There was also discussion concerning the large SDNP sign on Selborne Road obstructing vision to traffic emerging from Hall Lane. The general decision was that as the sign is outside the Parish Boundary little can be done but forward concerns to the SDNP.
Problems with installing Wi-Fi in the Church, to enable Council meetings to be viewed on line, were discussed and it seems that the system will be set up in the "fairly near" future.
Concern was expressed about painting the old Telephone Box and notice board by the A32 crossroads but it was accepted that the painter was only able to work when weather and road conditions were favourable.
An application to hold future Parish Council meetings on a Tuesday Night was also approved to enable all councillors make it to the Church on time.
There followed a long and somewhat heated discussion on the clarity of Council Accounts etc. It took some time and some heated argument concerning the mislabelling of some accounts and charges etc, but was eventually brought to a conclusion after it was accepted there had been an error in labelling some accounts and, those accounts, although genuine, were being posted up with a misleading description. It was decided that the accounts in question would be relabelled, presented again and officially approved at the next meeting.
The meeting eventually closed after discussions were completed.
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