Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Meeting Room 1, Abbey House, Abbey Close, Abingdon, OX14 3JE

Contact: Darius Zarazel  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

14.

Apologies for absence

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

 

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Axel Macdonald and David Bretherton. 

15.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 519 KB

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Community Grants Panel minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2022. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2022 as a correct record and agree that the Chair sign these as such.

16.

Declarations of interest

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

17.

Urgent business and chairman's announcements

To receive notification of any matters which the chair determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair. 

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and outlined the meeting procedure to be followed. He also explained the emergency evacuation procedure and that there was no urgent business.

18.

Public participation

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Minutes:

A list showing members of the public who had registered to speak had been sent to the panel prior to the meeting.

19.

South Oxfordshire Capital Grant Scheme 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 862 KB

1.    To review and note the report and recommendations of scoring made by officers.

2.    To make a recommendation to the Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing about funding grant application(s).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The panel reviewed and noted the submitted grant applications and received representations from supporters of the following applications:

 

Wheatley Parochial Church Council for the revival at St Mary’s

 

Peter Fanning and Richard Cosier, representatives from Wheatley Parochial Church Council, spoke in support of the application.

 

The panel asked the representatives about the changes to the project and ways it had been improved since it was last submitted to the community grants panel. In response, Peter Fanning confirmed to members that changes to the scheme involved new lighting, replacement to the vestry floor, and a substituting of certain materials which had led to a reduction in construction costs.

 

Members also inquired about how the applicants estimated the total budget for the project and the supporters confirmed that they had received this costing from a professional quantity surveyor.

 

Regarding the heating of the building, members asked for clarification about how the building was insulated and what method of heating the applicants planned to use. Richard Cosier clarified that they planned to use electric heating, which may be reassessed in the future, but that heating was not part of their application.

 

Finally, members also raised the feedback from equalities for the provision of an additional handrail in the toilets and for more features to assist the visually impaired and the representatives for the application confirmed that they had passed these points onto their architect to be included in the plans.

 

RESOLVED: to note the application of Wheatley Parochial Church Council.

 

 

Holton Parish Council for Holton Orchard play equipment

 

Allan East, representative of Holton Parish Council, spoke in support of the application.

 

The panel asked the representative for the application about the types of trees planted in the orchard area of the site and Allen East informed the members that they had selected fruit trees and wildflower areas have been planted, and that the community were already benefiting from the area.

 

Members then inquired about the equalities feedback who noted that the play area might not be easily accessible for disabled children and could include more inclusive play equipment. In response, Allen East expressed his support for these ideas and had already had conversations with the councils’ equality and exclusivities officer, but felt the project needed to balance the cost of completion against the amount of equipment they could provide. In addition, he informed members that the equipment is low level with no kerbs, in order to improve access and they have also included sensory play.

The panel did note that there was no path to the proposed play area but the representative for the application expressed a commitment to raise money for a hard path connecting the gate to the play area.

 

RESOLVED: to note the application of Holton Parish Council.

 

 

Thomley Hall Centre Ltd for an interactive water feature with disabled access

 

Ewan Shinton, representative of Thomley Hall Centre Ltd, spoke in support of the application.

 

The panel asked the representative of the application about what the expected age range of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

 

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South Oxfordshire District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon
OX14 3JE