Chairman’s
report – March 2008
Early last year the sad news reached us that our Vicar, Rev Dr David Ottewell, had died suddenly. This came as a great shock to the parish council and to the community. In commemoration and, after liaising with the Trustees, the parish council is purchasing a seat which is to be erected in the very near future on the area fronting the parish centre.
Last May we were able to increase the number of councillors from 7 to 9 and were pleased to welcome Geoff Payne and Gary Warrender onto the parish council. Previously they had attended most meetings as members of the public. During the year Marilyn Cockett left the parish council, owing to her other many commitments, and Lynn Allwood was co-opted in her place. Marilyn however is still a familiar face in the village, being involved with the football club and being the guiding light in organising the annual Christmas Market. A thank you to her and all the residents who give their time to arrange such an event. The Christmas carol service, held on the same evening, raised c£150 for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.
The parish
council conducted its budget exercise in December 2007 when it was decided to
increase the precept slightly from £22k to £23k to take account of projects
in the pipeline. The play
equipment on
We spend quite a
substantial sum maintaining the areas we own, e.g.
To try and prevent further vandalism we had to take the step of protecting the pavilion as it was continually being broken into – thus palisade fencing was erected and this does appear to have done the trick.
The parish
council has, over the past few years, continually lobbied the Highway Authority
in an effort to improve safety for school pupils on all the roads leading to and outside all three schools in the village. In the past we have conducted our own survey
of pedestrian numbers crossing
Anti-social
behaviour has been a cause of concern during the year and we have been liaising
closely with Police representatives. Residents adjacent to the car park at
As many will know there have been problems during the year with severe ponding, flooding and sewage issues. We have for some time been in communication with DMBC Environmental Services and the Water Authority and hopefully the serious problems which existed previously will now have been resolved.
We comment and make observations on planning applications but we cannot formally approve or reject, this responsibility lies with the Planning Authority. However, we do try to make constructive and practical comments so that our views can be taken seriously by Planning Officers and the Planning Committee at DMBC.
We communicate with the public in various ways. Residents can raise issues at all our meetings prior to commencement of formal business, our minutes are displayed on notice boards, our website has been updated and we include parish council articles in the Arrow which is delivered to each household on a regular basis.
Our meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month in the Parish Centre commencing at 7 pm (except August). Everyone is welcome to come along to listen to our discussions and see how parish council business is conducted.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all my colleagues for their attendance and the work they do at, and away from, meetings. They are all unpaid and so much of what they do goes unnoticed but greatly benefits the community. Thank you too to Ward Cllr Patricia Schofield who attends our monthly meetings, we are grateful for the interest she takes.
Thank you to our handyman, Mr Baker, who gets on with the job in an efficient and capable manner.
A thank you to the Garden and Allotments Association who have planted bulbs on our behalf in the village and also for their hard work in organising the Gala each year which is a community event enjoyed by everyone.
Finally, without a professional and competent Clerk, which we are very fortunate to have, the parish council could not function properly. So a big thank you to Marjorie!
Jennifer Worthington
Chair