FULBROOK PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF MEETING
Date: 11th May 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:
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
No public participation
2 Declaration of Interests
Nothing new to declare.
3 Minutes of the meeting held on the 23rd March 2023
Minutes of the last meeting were signed by the Chairman.
4 Fulbrook Parish Council Vacancy
4.1 Resignation of chair
Peter Burns has made the decision to step down as Chair of Fulbrook Parish Council however he
will be staying on as a councillor.
4.2 Appointment of new chair
Malcolm Taylor put himself forward to become Chairman of the parish council, which was agreed
by all councillors.
5 Matters arising
5.1) 20MPH speed limit
We have received comments from parishioners who agree and disagree with adding a 20mph
speed limit through Fulbrook and below are some of the advantages and disadvantaged that were
bought up:
Advantages
• Safer for children and older adults who might not be as quick crossing the road to be lot safer
through the village
• It takes a car travelling at 20mph about 40 feet (12 metres) to stop, whereas a car travelling
30mph takes about 75 feet (23 metres) to stop.
• Many drivers coming though the village currently do not obey the 30mph and are often
driving 40mph or faster (evidence from previous speed watch events and data from vehicle
activated speed reminder) so if this can reduce the speed even slightly there will still be a huge
safety benefit.
• 20mph zones can also limit pollution. When vehicles move more smoothly, with fewer
accelerations and Decelerations, it reduces particulate emissions from tyre to brake wear. Even
zero emission vehicles still cause significant air pollution this way.
Disadvantages
• Imposing a 20 mph limit may not stop the few driver who drive through the village at high
speed.
• Thames Valley Police have made it clear that they will not enforce 20 mph speed limits across
the county.
• Drivers tend to ignore the 20 mph limits in Witney and other places (though this can be
disputed through observed opinion)
• Driving at 20 may lead to inattentiveness.
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• The cost implication for the parish council is at present an unknown factor
6 Reports from County and District Councillors
No reports
7 Amenities
The plant sale looks likely to be a very successful event and discussion need to be had on what the
parish can use the money for to give back to everyone in the village.
Possible ideas include:
• Movie night
• Play Park.
• Speeding through Fulbrook
• Benches around the village
• Housing needs survey
• War memorial maintenance
Councillors to think about how they would like to use the money and to discuss at the next
meeting.
8 Fundraising
Councillors to keep an eye open on fundraising routes and opportunities
9 Planning
Nothing new to report
10 Speed Watch
The Parish Council is always discussing the possibility of bringing back speed watch. However,
last time that the villagers used the handheld speed camera and collected data to give to the police
it didn’t get the support back from them. It is therefore assessing how effective it is compared to
the time taken to collect and analyse the data and if people would be interested in volunteering
their time for it. However, since the parish has gained a speed camera which now collects the data
for us which can be downloaded and analysed without the need for people to use the handheld
speed camera.
11 Play Park
It was discussed that a new proposal of costs for the project need to b drawn up again as the old
plans, which were delayed and disrupted because of covid, are 2 years old and therefore the prices
will have increased. A new budget then needs to be produced so discussions and research can
begin on how much funding the project will need to be able to complete the whole upgrade.
Clerk to email Richard at Sovereign Play and ask for a revised plan and pricing
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12 Financial Statement
12.1) Financial Statement for March agreed at the meeting.
12.2) The Fulbrook News has received a large private anonymous donation and therefore currently
do not require a donation from the parish council.
12.3) Annual Audit
The Audit forms for 2022/23 have been received from Moore UK with a submission deadline of
30th June. This is currently being prepared and Clerk to ask John Yeatman to carry out the internal
audit again this year. The period for the exercise of Public Rights is scheduled for the 5
th June to
14
th July.
13 Climate Change
Nothing new to report
14 Next Meeting
The next meeting will take place on the 13
th July 2023