FULBROOK PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF MEETING
Date: 23rd March 2023
7.00pm
Venue The Parish Church of St James
Present: Councillors Dr Peter Burns (Chairman) PB
Mr Robert Warner RW
Dr Filipa Hinton FH
Mr Malcolm Taylor MT
Parish Clerk Mrs Sarah Ebeling
Parishioners attending: 1 Parishioner.
Apologies:
OCC Councillor Mr N Field-Johnson
WODC Councillor Hugo Ashton
For convenience the following abbreviations may be used in some instances in these Minutes.
FPC Fulbrook Parish Council
OCC Oxfordshire County Council
POF Parishioners Open Forum
WODC West Oxfordshire District Council
OALC Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils
NALC National Association of Local Councils
CHA Cottsway Housing Association
TVP Thames Valley Police
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1 Public Participation
Email from Parishioner asking about using the village tables and gazebo.
Councillors advised that the tables are the churches and therefore the best person to discuss this
with would be John Radcliffe.
The Parish Council has a gazebo that can be borrowed and ask for a £50 donation.
A letter was also received regarding the 20MPH speed limit which will be discussed in
agenda item 5.2.
2 Declaration of Interests
Nothing new to declare.
3 Minutes of the meeting held on the 9
th February 2022
Minutes of the last meeting were signed by the Chairman.
4 Vacancy
There is now a vacancy for a new councillor.
Clerk to keep advertising in the newsletter.
5 Matters arising
5.1) Trees by Orchard Row.
We will need to organize an arborist to look at the trees to check for disease.
PB and Clerk to investigate finding someone.
5.2) 20MPH speed limit
The following email has been received from a parishioner:
Dear Parish councillors
After reading my copy of the village news letter i notice you intend to apply for a 20 mph speed
limit through our village.
I feel strongly this is something that should not be imposed upon us by a few councillors without
any consultation.
there are so many reasons why this is not right for Fulbrook.
1 imposing a 20 mph limit will not stop the few idiots who drive through the village at 50 or 60
mph
2 the police have made it clear they will not enforce 20 mph speed limits accross the county
3 drivers tend to ignore the 20 mph limits in Witney and other places
4 driving at 20 tends to encourage boredom, distraction, day dreaming behind the wheel using
phones etc
5 in Burford the pedestrians take more liberties when crossing in traffic and drivers tend to take in
the scenery when they should be watching the road.
The cost of all this madness
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PB has spoken to WODC and James from OCC highways and it is unlikely that Fulbrook would
be able to take up the 20pmh speed limit within the next 2 years. Therefore, this can be looked into
further in around 18 months. The parishioners concerns will be taken into account when this is
next discussed. ROSPA has confirmed they are generally supportive of 20mph speed limits, there
are both pros and cons to be considered.
PB to draft a letter to the parishioner.
5.3) Speed Camera
The company who supplied the camera has asked us to take pictures of it including the serial
number and email them over to them. This will hopefully mean they can come out to fix it.
PB and Clerk to go to take the pictures.
5.4) Sweeping of the A361
PB reported the problem to fix my street and since the last meeting they have come out and cleared
all the mud of the side of the road.
5.5) Bulb Planting
Lynn Agg on behalf of Barbara Agg would like to plant some bulbs in memory of her mother and
has asked if the parish council have a suggestion of where these should be planted and if they have
any preference of the type of flower.
The councillors suggested the grass patch at the end of Westhall Hill. Precautions would need to
be taken so McCrackens know to be careful when cutting around them. The councillors preferred
flower to be planted would be for daffodils.
5.6) Village Housing Needs
The following letter was received from Oliver Sharpely regarding housing needs, he has also come
along to the meeting to discuss further.
Dear Sarah
Re: Downsizing in Fulbrook
We have been considering downsizing from Field House. We wish to move to an environmentally
sustainable house with main living requirements downstairs but some rooms upstairs for family or
carer. Having lived and worked (Burford GP) in the Fulbrook area for 74 years we are anxious to
remain in our community. We considered the Fulbrook housing stock and found nothing suitable.
The Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion report on Fulbrook 2020 shows, a higher than
average age population living in large owner occupied houses.
http://www.oxford.gov.uk/districtdata/download/downloads/id/1661/2021_fulbrook.pdf
it.
The most recent village plan 2012 has not been updated. It showed a predominantly elderly
population living in low occupancy houses and 64% had been in Fulbrook for more than 10 years
https://fulbrookvillage.net/media/n04jjqua/fulbrook-plan-2012.pdf
It seems that others in the village may be interested in a similar project and we wondered if the
council would consider exploring whether there is a village need for eco downsizing houses built
in the local style.
We have some land south of Field House which is relatively convenient for the facilities in Burford
and could be made available for such a project.
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Yours sincerely
Oliver & Robyn Sharpley
Oliver explained that he owns a field next to his property which he is wanting to develop to enable
downsizing from his current home which is getting too big for him. He put in a pre application to
WODC and was met with a negative response from them and that he would have to identify a
specific housing need to build on his field. He has realized that there will be other older residents
living in the village who would also like to downsize and stay in the village but there are not the
houses available for them to currently do this.
MT has suggested that Community First Oxfordshire can help with doing a housing needs survey
which costs around £1,200. This would mean the council would be able to get a better
understanding of what everyone in the villages housing needs (including social housing) are so we
can explore Oliver’s idea further.
Councillors to discuss this matter further to see how they want to go forward.
6 Reports from County and District Councillors
No reports
7 Amenities
7.1) Plant Sale
Plans are going well with the plant sale and some live music has been added to this years event.
MT has also purchased a Sum Up machine so that people can pay by card now instead of just cash.
MT has tested this out by paying a pound on to the machine to make sure that it works with our
parish council bank account.
Clerk to reimburse MT for the Sum Up machine.
7.2) Spring Village Clean Up
MT has arranged the spring clean up which will take place on the 15th April.
8 Fundraising
PB to follow up on some fundraising routes.
9 Planning
Nothing new to report
10 Speed Watch
No new updates
11 Play Park
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Richard from Sovereign Play has sent over a revised plan to do another section of the play park
upgrade.
Councillors to look through the plans and discuss at the next meeting.
Filipa has agreed to do the play park inspection from April.
12 Financial Statement
12.1) Financial Statement for January/February agreed at the meeting.
12.2) War Memorial Fund
All councillors agreed for Malcolm to contact the Charity Commission to change the usage of
funds to enable them to be released and used towards the upgrade of the play park.
12.3) Donation to Fulbrook Village Newsletter
All councillors agreed to donate to Fulbrook News.
PB to contact Laurence and discuss an amount that would be suitable to help them keep the
newsletter going.
12.4) MT and Clerk to organize a meeting with McCracken and Sons to discuss the contract for the
village grass cutting.
13 Climate Change
MT to look into ‘Land App’ which helps to see what local land is being used for – They offer
training in how to use the app efficiently and to the benefit of the village.
14 Next Meeting
The next meeting will take place on the 11th May 2023