BRACEBOROUGH & WILSTHORPE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING-Serial No. 007/15
Minutes of the meeting of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 13th April 2015 at St Faith’s Church, Wilsthorpe at 19:00hrs
Present- Barry Odell, Dave Kentish, Susan Burgoin, James Shorrock, Paul Morriss, Clerk-Ms R H Woolley, D. Cllr. Miss E Channell, C.Cllr Martin Trollope-Bellew, Malcolm Ravilious (Braceborough Church), John Ward, Diana Holden, James Williams (Braceborough & Wilsthorpe Village Hall), Barry Dobson (District Council candidate-Dole Wood Ward).
Meeting Commenced 19:00hrs
1. CHAIRMAN’S REMARKS- Dave Kentish welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE - None
3. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING-It was proposed by Susan Burgoin & seconded by James Shorrock that the minutes of the last meeting held on Monday 7th April 2014 be received. It was resolved that the minutes of the last meeting be confirmed as a true record & signed by Dave Kentish. All agreed.
4. CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT- Chairman’s report attached.
Cllr Kentish thanked Ibis Channell for her 16 years service to the parish as their District Councillor.
5. FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31st March 2013- The clerk reported the following:-
The Parish keeps the following in its reserves:- £700 towards Parish Council Election Costs, £100 from Lincolnshire County Council for replacement to plants at Braceborough Pumping Station, £550 towards replacing computer & printer. £99 pounds has been used from the £600 towards the printing of the Parish Plan to date.
The £400 towards possible purchase and refurbishment of Wilsthorpe BT Kiosk was transferred to the Village Hall defibrillator fund to provide equipment for both villages.
The £500 grant donated by Anglianwater (First Time Rural Sewerage Scheme) for refurbishment of St Faith’s Parish Church has been used.
The Parish Council has purchased passive speed signs to try to encourage drivers to adhere to the speed limit.
6. REPORTS FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR/DISTRICT COUNCILLOR-
a) C.Cllrs Trollope-Bellew – Report attached.
b) D.Cllrs Miss Channell – none
7. REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES FROM OTHER BODIES:-,
a) Braceborough Village Hall Committee – Report attached.
b) St Margaret’s Parochial Church Council – Report attached.
c) St Faith’s Parochial Church Council – Report attached.
d) Baston C of E Primary School – No report.
e) Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (NWS) Wilsthorpe – Susan Burgoin reported it had been quiet.
f) NWS Braceborough – Dave Kentish echoed Susan’s statement.
8. TO RECEIVE CONCERNS & CONSIDER RESOLUTIONS OF ELECTORS CONCERNS – None
9. ANNUAL PARISH MEETING CLOSED 19.30Hrs.
Item 4 Chairman’s Report
This past year has been as interesting as ever with a mixture of good results and some frustration.
We have taken steps in helping to reduce speeding through the villages. During the past year we have, through our work with the neighbourhood policing team had a mobile speed camera set up several times in both villages and the Parish Council has purchased and put out reflective speed signs through the Parish to remind drivers to keep their speed down. We know these measures have had some success but there will undoubtedly always be a hardened few who think that the limits only apply to others! We will, however continue to investigate other measures to further reduce this problem.
The proposed solar panel farm which caused a great deal of discussion and opposition this time last year, has at the time of writing not materalised into a formal planning application and no further information or correspondence on this has been received.
There was a good response to the questionnaire for our development of the Parish Plan, which is now with the printer and will be delivered over the coming month. My apologies for the delay, however as we feel that this is an important excercise that should be done every ten years to measure movement, demographics and record the Parish’s wishes it will be relevant for that period of time.
The Parish Council contributed to the cost of the defibrillators that have now been installed in both villages.
The pumping system for Wilsthorpe’s first time sewerage scheme has been installed in preparation for the actual laying of the pipework which will commence in the next few months, all households should have been contacted by Anglian Water.
Planning and representation is still ongoing with regards the closure of local level crossings which will have an effect on our area and the Parish Council has put forward objections to these closures and alternative suggestions which we feel would alleviate much of the impact that these closures would have.
We are continually entering into negotiations (battling) with highways to repair verges, cut back overhanging vegetation and repair potholes (which are appearing at an alarming rate). We recently did a full Parish walk about and photographed and recorded all the problems and this documented evidence was given to highways to respond to and resolve.
The Parish Council welcomes and invites all members of the Parish to attend the Parish Council meetings. Many Parishioners have done so over the past year and have assisted us in getting problems resolved and I would urge those who have not yet come along to join us in discussing any concerns that you may have and how we as your Parish Council are able to help and advise.
My thanks as ever go to all the people in our local neighbourhood watch who keep us informed of criminal activity in the area and what to watch out for ourselves, my fellow colleagues on the Parish Council, our clerk and the representatives from the outside bodies who keep us up to date with wider matters that affect our Parish.
I look forward to the coming year and hope for your continued support.
Dave Kentish, Chairman BWPC
Item 6 - REPORTS FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR
This year marks the half way point in this Councils term of Office. It is normal for there to be midterm blues, but this time it is not apparent, to me anyway.
Finance - The £ 148 M savings have been made, but another £ 90 M cut in Goverment funding will have to be found. The Council in February passed a 1 year Budget as we are uncertain what the impact of the 7th May will be, we normally have some idea what will happen in the next 2 to 5 years, so we can forward plan, but this year we are in the dark. L.C.C. have increased their share of the Council Tax by 1.9%, for the first time in 4 years, £20.25 a year on a Band D Property or 38p a week.
Councillors Allowances - An increase of 2.2% was recommended & passed, 2.2% is the amount that Officers Pay has increased in the last year, if Officers increase had been zero then the recommendation would be zero for Councillors as well. Councillors can refuse to take any part or all their Allowances.
Libraries - Stamford is a first tier Library, it will be open 48 hours a week. Bourne second tier open 45 hours. The decision on who runs the Service will be made later on in the year, if the new Judicial Review does not happen.
Boundary Commission - L.C.C. has suggested that the Council be reduced from 77 to 71 Members, for the 2017 Election. The average Division has about 7,200 Voters this will increase to 7,800 to 8,000
Stamford Hospital - The Trust Board met in Stamford on 24th Feb, their main decisions were:-
1) Increase the time the M.I.U. is open ( evenings & week-ends)
2) Increase the number of services provider @ Stamford ( Diabetes, Echocadiology, Antenatal, Urology and Dermatology)
3) Put in a static M.R.I. scanner instead of the Mobile, cost about £ 850,000, (instead of the Mobile that is there 13 days a month)
4) Build 2 Procedure Rooms on the site of the Hurst Ward
5) Increase the Parking ( but hope to charge for it )
6) Get rid of the West end of the site, but modernise the East end. Costing between £8.2 M &
£9.5 M
Finally I have had the pleasure of awarding £300 from my ‘Big Society Fund’ towards the cost of a defibrillator for the village.
Martin Trollope-Bellew
Item 7
(a) Braceborough & Wilsthorpe Village Hall Report
Since last April, the Village Hall Committee have run the following events:
· Concert: Hot Potato Syncopators (26 Apr 2014)· Bracefest (26 July 2014)
· Halloween Childrens' Party
· Pot Luck Supper (1 Nov 2014)
· Concert: Victor & Albert (28 Nov 2014)
· Christmas Eve
· Race Night (24 Jan 15)
· Concert: Shannon Reilly Trio (22 Feb 15)
Our next event will be a pot-luck supper on Saturday 16 May. We have started organisation of Bracefest 2015, to be held on 18 July. We anticipate submitting a bid for one or two shows from the Rural Touring Scheme in the next couple of weeks.
The Village Hall financial year runs from September to August – for the last full year to August 2014, income for the year was £8,634 and expenditure £9,860; a loss of £1,226. This is because we paid for the two defibrillators which are now installed at St Faith’s in Wilsthorpe, and at the Village Hall in Braceborough. The schemes for these are operational and we would like to thank all who have supported this initiative and who stand ready to respond if there is an emergency.
For the current financial year (since 1st Sept 2014), as of 13 April 2015 the Village Hall has £2842.84 in a Virgin Money Charity Account, £718.56 in a current account, and £334.70 in bar stock.
Following on from last year’s extensive works in the Village Hall garden, and with help from many people in the community we have finished the fence line, including planting fruit trees which will be trained as espaliers or cordons. Phil Stephens in Braceborough deserves a special mention for all his work to make this happen, and for arranging for a £400 grant from Baston Car Show to support the work.
In the next year we are looking to improve the heating in the Village Hall. This will be a fairly major cost – about £4,500 to £5,000 to purchase and install three air to air heat source pumps. We have identified that we will need planning permission, and of course also need to seek approval from the Diocese as the owners of the building. We are anticipating looking for grant support as well as fund raising for this project. Possible events under consideration include an auction of promises in autumn/winter 2015, and a village open gardens event in 2016.
James Williams / Treasurer, Braceborough & Wilsthorpe Village Hall(b) St Margaret’s Parochial Church Council.
I am pleased to report that our PCC again paid our parish share of more than £4000 in full to the Diocese last year. This is something of which we are proud and have achieved for many years now.
2014 was a relatively quiet and somewhat uneventful year in terms of the church building and its grounds. Repairs to the tiling of the porch roof were completed during late summer and planned maintenance tasks were successfully completed during the spring and autumn.
As a result the building remains safe and weatherproof, and the churchyard neat and in tidy condition. The grant awarded by the Parish Council a year ago has contributed significantly to the funding of the costs incurred in tending the churchyard. For that we are extremely grateful to the officers and members of our council.
I should also like to pay tribute to those members of the council who have succeeded in motivating the Highways Department to come and make some repairs to the road edges in Church Lane. There are now fewer potholes visible, less ruts for surface water to settle in and less puddles for our parishioners to splash through!
2015 promises to be an interesting year and one of opportunity. The Diocese has made arrangements for Marc Thomson, currently assistant curate to St.Guthlac’s in Deeping, to join the Uffington Group by taking responsibility for St.Margaret’s and our neighbouring parishes of Wilsthorpe, Greatford, Barholm and West Deeping. Mark is due to be licensed by Archdeacon Justine at an Evensong service at St.Margaret’s at 6pm on Sunday 26 April. Everyone is invited to come along to help welcome Mark to our local communities. There will be a short reception in the village hall afterwards. This should be a significant move to help support Carolyn during her ongoing period of illness. We look forward to working with Mark in helping support the work of the church in our parish.
On 2 May we are holding a Gift Day – only the second one in the past 10 years. This is to launch a fund to help pay for future essential repairs to the bells and bell tower – areas which have received little investment for too many years. Advice has been offered by friends in Greatford to help identify work which needs to be carried out on the bells. Once that has been done we shall invite specialists to advise on the condition of the internal woodwork and stonework before devising a schedule for costing. Then we shall plan fund raising and grant aid applications.
In closing, and on behalf of our PCC, I should like to extend sincere thanks to the Chairman and members of our parish council for once again providing this generous grant towards the maintenance and upkeep of our churchyard at St.Margaret’s. Thank you all very much.
Malcolm Ravilious, Churchwarden. April 2015.
(c) St Faith’s Parochial Church Council
As usual it is still a struggle to meet our financial needs, mainly the Quota! The donation from AWA last year was a great help and was used to repair plaster work at various points in the church and buy the special wall emulsion. The plastering was carried out by Dan Twiddy who is experienced in that type of work and the painting by our usual team of volunteers.