AT the February meeting of Thruxton Parish council, chaired by Cllr John Davis with Cllrs Mike Windsor, Janet Graham, and Ray Bradbury together with Test Valley Borough Cllr Pam Mutton and Hampshire County Cllr Zilliah Brooks in attendance, the following topics were discussed:

Public participation:

Incident at Halcyon Drive: There had been an unfortunate incident at the entrance to Halcyon Drive when a very large vehicle, of foreign origin, with, not surprisingly, a foreign driver, had mistakenly turned in there, and then realising its error got into a bit of a panic and in trying to get back out had reversed rather recklessly, causing damage to the grit bin, the kerb and grass verges, and a hedge. It had also caused considerable disruption to traffic coming through the village.

A resident of Halcyon Drive described all this to the meeting and had already sent several photographs to the council.

The chairman of the meeting, commenting, said that this highlighted the need for signage in the approaches to the village to be installed, to warn drivers not to blindly follow sat navs. It is hoped to get such signage in place without undue delay.

Car park adjacent to sports field and school: The chairman of Governors, Margaret Rome, was very worried about the awful state of the surface. Vehicles, and even people, could be hurt. While appreciating this concern the chairman of the meeting said that use of the car park was always ‘at own risk’, and there should be a notice to point this out.

On the question of repair Ray Bradbury had been looking into this whole situation, with particular reference to cost. It appeared that the council were faced with the need for something like £40,000 to do a proper job. A daunting figure. The chairman of the meeting suggested bodies that might contribute, and the clerk will follow this up.

Speed limit near school: Margaret Rome raised the question of vehicle speed in the vicinity of the school What about a voluntary ‘20 is Plenty’ restriction, with appropriate signs. There was general support for this.

A resident spoke on the subject of trees which he had looked at in the company of John Davis and Mike Windsor. The borough council’s tree department had been contacted, and progress on this was awaited. One particular issue to be clarified was responsibility for trees on verges. The clerk will try to push this on.

Agenda items:

Village gated signs: On the matter of village gated signs Ray Bradbury showed designs for signs and the cost involved. However there was not enough available money to bring this to reality. Zilliah Brooks was asked to see about funding apparently promised by the county council. Leaf clearing: Commenting on recent leaf clearing at the Village Green Mike Windsor was pleased to report that this had been done to a very high standard.

Defibrillator: There was no further news concerning the future of The George where the defibrillator was still in working order. The hall trustees were in the process of getting clearance to have it fixed to their wall if circumstances require its removal from The George.

Cycle path: The county and borough councillors present each spoke about the bad state of the cycle path from Weyhill to Andover, and getting signs to prevent damage by HGVs .

Grit bin: A new grit bin will be provided and installed. It was pointed out that salt / grit in the bins is solid at present and needs to be broken up. Action on this will be requested.

Finance: On the finances the clerk confirmed balances of £12,400 with HSBC and £11,000 in the Co-op reserve account.

Aster Housing availability: Aster Housing had notified the availability of a bungalow on Stanbury Road for renting. This was being publicised around the village.

Next meeting: The next meeting is on 1 March at 7.30pm in the hall. All welcome.