Agenda item

To receive the confidential report of the Deputy Town Clerk.

The Committee received the report of the Deputy Town Clerk concerning additional grounds maintenance requests.

There was agreement the issue of amenity land ownership in Witney was complex and residents were often left frustrated by lack of action when maintenance was requested. A wider project of dealing with the issue was certainly an aspiration of this Council within its term of office, so a decision at this point would be a starting point, but not solve the problem quickly.

The Chair advised the District Council was also beginning to audit its estate and grounds maintenance so discussions at an early stage would be beneficial in resolving some of the simpler issues.

There were concerns regarding the cost of taking on additional pieces of land but officers confirmed costs would be sought before any agreement was made.

Resolved:

1.      That, the confidential report be noted and,

2.      That, subject to cost, the Town Council will maintain any unregistered parcels of land with the Land Registry which have fallen into disrepair and are reported to the Council, providing they are small enough and in the vicinity of other maintained land and,

3.      That, subject to cost, the Town Council seeks to register these parcels of land subject to legal and insurance advice and,

4.      That, subject to cost and negotiation, the Council will contact former developers, where land is registered to them historically to see whether the Town Council can adopt the land, as they are reported and,

5.      That, the Town Council takes a pro-active approach in contacting other authorities on behalf of residents where maintenance is required on their land and,

6.      That, Officers engage with the District Council regarding problematic and obvious grounds maintenance areas maintained by the two authorities.