Minutes of the
held on
2009.01Election of Chairman
The Outgoing Chairman vacated his seat and asked Mr. R Holland to conduct the election of a new Chairman. Cllr Martin was nominated by Cllr Pike and there being no other nominees, Cllr Martin was elected Chairman for the coming year and resumed his seat.
2009.02 Election of Vice Chairman Cllr Lewis was proposed and there being no other nominees was elected.
2009.03Appointment of Sub Committee and Subject leaders:
a) Planning. Cllrs Martin and Watson
b) Finance. Cllrs Martin, Lewis and Andrews
c) Burial Board. Cllrs Andrews and Pike
d) Village Hall Committee. Cllrs Betts and Halewood
e) St Julian's Church School. Cllr Witty
f) Rights of Way and Enforcement. Cllrs Pike and Colston
g) Playground. Cllrs Betts and Lewis
h) Task Force Working Group. All
i) Parish Plan. Cllrs Halewood and Colston
2009.04 Appointment of Responsible Financial officer.
The Chairman referred to the current arrangement as being not ideal and asked for a fresh nominee. Cllr Andrews volunteered and this was agreed unanimously.
2009.05 Resolution on continued banking arrangements.
The Chairman proposed that the current arrangement with Nat West Bank be continued. This was agreed unanimously.
2009.06 Date of next meeting. This will be held Monday 10th May 2010.
AM 22.05.09
Wellow Parish
Council Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting Held Monday 18th May 2009 In the Village Hall at 7.30pm 2009.
01 Apologies for Absence
None
2009.02 Minutes of meeting held 12 May 2008
These had been agreed at the meeting of June 2008
2009.03 Matters arising
None
2009.04 Chairman's report
The Chairman gave his report for the year which is set out below these minutes,
2009.05 Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 10th May 2010.
AM 22.05.09
Wellow Parish Council
Chairman's report 2008/09
It is my privilege to privilege to present this, my sixth annual report as Chairman.
The Parish Council met on eleven occasions during the year with the usual range of topics under consideration.
Major items from the review year:
Planning: The Parish Council considered 15 new applications. In the main B&NES views accorded with that of the Parish Council. An application for an agricultural track in the meadow alongside the Wellow Brook from Ford Farm caused a great deal of concern within the parish but was subsequently withdrawn. New legislation was introduced in October 2008 redefining "Permitted Development" which has resulted in a reduction in the requirement for permission to undertake building work. As far as Wellow is concerned we are in an area of outstanding natural beauty and a conservation area and as such some of the new legislation does not apply in this parish. I repeat my previous advice to anyone contemplating work to their property to check with the planning authority to ascertain whether a formal application is required. Failure to comply with the regulation can result in expense, inconvenience and in some cases can result in works being removed.
Closed churchyard: Following tortuous negotiation with B&NES we were able to prove to them that responsibility for the closed churchyard at St Julian's had been accepted by their predecessors many years ago. As we receive funding from a trust for the maintenance of the Horton Starkie Grave, the Parish Council is continuing to maintain the southern aspect of the churchyard. Final responsibility for all matters in the closed churchyard lies with B&NES.;
Highways: Parishioners will not have failed to notice the very poor state of highways, not just in Wellow but across the whole of the B&NES area. The Highways Authority claims that this is due to the exceptionally bad weather experienced at the beginning of this year. As a consequence, the highways contractor has increased their staffing by 50% in an attempt to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. The state of the highway at Ford Farm, Bath Hill and Double Hill continues to give concern and we are pressing B&NES for remedial works to be carried out as soon as possible.
Traffic calming: Parishioners could be forgiven for thinking that nothing much had happened in the last year but we have been awaiting costings for the proposals from B&NES for much of the time. These have now been received and I repeat what I said at this time last year. I expect to see significant progress with these measures in the coming year.
Parish Plan: Work continues to implement the proposals contained therein.
Youth Club: Following the successful funding application last year, the Youth Club has been successfully launched and is providing a very useful facility.
Children's Play Area: Following on from last years successful grant funding and the installation of new play equipment I am pleased to report a further successful funding application due to the efforts of Mrs J Barr and Mrs R Brown. This time it is for a sum in excess of £30,000 for new equipment. Consultation with the play area users has been carried out to identify exactly what is required and will be installed in the coming months.
Christmas Tree: For the third year we have been able to hold an evening singing carols around a Christmas tree. This year we are grateful to Miss Marian Osborne for providing the tree. The collection proceeds in excess of £120.00 were donated to The Mondo Project.
Accounts and audit: Accounts for the year show a surplus of income over expenditure largely due to being without a clerk. The accounts for 2007/08 were signed off by our external auditors as being an accurate record. I am pleased to be able to report that we have held forecast expenditure for the year 2009/10 to last years level.
Personnel: We have been unable to recruit a clerk to date and although we have been able to cope, it is less than an ideal solution. The work is not that demanding and support is available from many sources. It requires about 20 hours per month and attracts a salary based on national rates. If anyone is interested or knows of anyone who might be suitable and interested please contact the Chairman.
Richard Holland continues as our internal auditor and we thank him for his efforts.
Stuart Cole continues to present the parish in good order in his role as Parish Sweeper and unofficial eyes and ears of the parish council. We thank him for all his efforts.
Public attendance: It is encouraging to see members of the public at our meetings. We average an attendance of 7 and would like to see more. We have a dedicated section of the meeting for members of the public to speak on any subject of their choice.
Conclusion: It has been another busy and fruitful year. None of this would have been possible without the support of all parish councillors who give freely of their time for which I wholeheartedly thank them. I also thank District Councillor Neil Butters who plays an active role in parish matters on our behalf. I look forward to another busy and rewarding year for the Parish Council.
AM 14.05.09