Parish Council Minutes - February 2026
DRAFT MINUTES
These minutes will be agreed at the meeting due to be held on 9th March and might be subject to slight amendment.
The minutes of a meeting of Oakford Parish Council held in the Committee Room at Oakford Village Hall at 7.30pm
Present:
Cllr’s J Levick (Chair), G Baylis, J Cridland, T Davies, L Gould, J Mayer and V Stevens.
In attendance:
District Cllr M Stratton and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
124/02/26. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr F Cross.
Apologies were received from County Cllr S Lodge and District Cllr C Adcock
125/02/26. Declarations of Interest.
Cllr Cridland declared a personal and prejudicial interest as her son is employed by Hampton Maintenance. Cllr Mayer declared a personal and prejudicial interest regarding Spurway Barton as she does some work for the owners.
126/02/26. Public Forum.
No members of the public welcome.
127/02/26. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12th January 2026 as an accurate record of the meeting.
With the amendment in item 102/01/26 to .org.uk the minutes were agreed as an accurate record.
128/02/26. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
None.
129/02/26. Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
No applications received.
b) Planning applications to note. (No comment required)
26/00111/PNCOU Prior Approval for the change of use of an agricultural building to one dwelling under Class. |Land and Building at NGR 289240 123320 Little Oak Farm, Oakford
c) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
25/01656/FULL Erection of extension to agricultural building and addition of sides to existing pole barn. Land at NGR 285908 122575 Beeches, Oakford. Decision: conditional approval.
d) Update on alleged planning breaches.
No update.
e) Any other planning matters.
No other planning matters.
130/02/26. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
It was reported that there had been an accident on ice on the road from Black Cat Cross to Hamslade Cross. There are some nasty potholes on the A361.
b) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains.
The cover of the drain in the road outside of the Village Hall was lifted by the force of water during heavy rain, The drain has been rodded but the problem is the pipe is too small. Water was also cascading out of a drain further up the road but it has since been cleared by Highways. The road is flooding by Chapels Farm because the water is lower than the drain entrance. Highways were out with a digger last week but it only seemed to have a large bucket and that restricted what they were able to do. The owners are keeping an eye on the drain to the side of their house at Lower Oakford. Cllr Levick contacted Highways to tell them they needed to send out a road sweeper. Although he was told they didn’t send road sweepers out, one has been out in the parish.
c) Update on improvements to the fingerpost signs.
One arm from the fingerpost at Fordmoor Cross has been removed for repainting. It is in a reasonable condition.
d) Update on flooding issues at Riverside as reported at the December meeting.
No update.
e) Any other highways matters.
No other highways matters.
131/02/26. Footpaths
a) Update on P3 funding.
The 2024-25 grant has still not been received. The Clerk has queried why it has still not been received.
b) Update on issues regarding the line of Footpath 5a.
Mr Cridland has downloaded the questionnaire to prove historical use of the line of Footpath 5a that people have used for a number of years and want to maintain. People are willing to sign it and it needs to be ensured that enough people do sign it. Once Mr Cridland has that evidence he will send it to the Definitive Map Officer. DCC has signed this of the path for the past twenty years. Mr Cridland also has two leaflets showing the line of the path and one is from 1993.
c) Any other footpath matters.
The DCC Rights of Way Department have sent out the annual forms for completion. The Clerk will complete the finance form and Mr Cridland will complete the others.
Action: Annual P3 forms to be completed by Mr Cridland. The Clerk will complete the finance form.
132/02/26. Reports:
a) District Cllr Report.
A written report was circulated by email prior to the meeting. There were no questions.
b) County Cllr Report.
A written report was circulated by email prior to the meeting.
133/02/26. Community Area:
a) Any points to note from inspections of community area.
Cllr Levick has emailed his report for the month to the Clerk. There were no points to note.
b) To agree to book Rospa Play Safety to carry out the annual inspection of the play equipment.
It was agreed that the Clerk would book the annual inspection. Cllr Stevens will check the pinch point on the entrance gate. He might need to replace the concrete under the gatepost. If the concrete has to be replaced he will submit an expense claim for the materials.
Action: Cllr Stevens will check the pinch point on the gate at the entrance to the community area and will replace the concrete under the gate post if necessary.
The entrance to the playing field is a lot better now it has been opened up, even though there has been a lot of rain this winter. It was noted that the hedge is becoming very thick. Cllr Levick has reported the leaning tree on the edge of the MDDC owned residential car park to them.
c) To receive quotes for the refurbishment of the pavilion interior.
Cllr Levick is still waiting for a second quote.
d) Update on getting grass cutting quotes.
Cllr Levick is obtaining quotes and the contractor will be agreed at the next meeting.
e) Any matters to note.
No matters to note.
133/02/26. Further discussion on new AGAR Assertion 10 on the 2025-26 Annual Governance.
Agreement of IT Policy and Information Compliance Policy. A draft IT Policy which the Clerk had drafted using a template from NALC had been circulated. Cllr Baylis had found another template which was simpler and more appropriate for Oakford Parish Council. There is another opportunity to attend Assertion 10 training in early March and this subject will be discussed at the March meeting.
134/02/26.Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payment: Mrs J Larcombe - £159.22 salary for January (Payment ref no: 2526/27).
A service charge of £6.00 was taken from the current account at the end of January. A service charge of £6.00 will be taken from the account at the end of February.
An internal transfer will be made from the Instant Access Account to the Current Account to return the balance to £500.00.
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balance.
No receipts since the last meeting. The Current Account balance is £494.00 and the Instant Access Account balance is £12,077.46.
c) Bank reconciliations 31.12.25 and 31.01.26.
The bank reconciliations were checked by Cllr Stevens.
135/02/26. To review:
a) Financial Regulations. Document circulated for councillors to review and approve at the next meeting.
b) Standing Orders. As above.
c) Business Risk Assessment. As above.
d) Data Protection Policy. As above.
136/02/26. Correspondence:
The following correspondence was noted.
DALC Newsletters.
MDDC press releases.
Local Government review. The consultation period has now started and continues until 26th March 2026. All councillors and the Parish Council were encouraged to reply.
137/02/26. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday 9th March 2026