THORNER PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 06 May 2014.
Present Cllrs T. Mycock (Chair), G Brown, D. Gibbins, V.Forster, D. Johnston, R. Myers, V. Goodall-Fawcus, D.Ramsey.
District Councillor; A.Castle.
Barry Riley (Clerk).
PCSO Geoff Nottingham.
2 residents.
Apologies Cllr G.Castle.
1 Welcome and introduction from the Chairman
Cllr Mycock welcomed residents and Councillors to the meeting.
2 Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting 08 May 2013
These had been circulated and were signed as an accurate record. There were no matters arising.
3 Chairman’s Annual Report
Cllr Mycock commented on new projects the Parish Council had commenced such as the Millstone being placed in the wall adjacent to the Ford and the ongoing improvement work being carried out on the Sam Sykes ginnel restoration.
The recently held village ‘tidy up’ had been a success with a good attendance from residents and the installation of the defibrillator outside ‘The Fox’ public house was well received although the lack of information on how to use the equipment was a concern.
He welcomed the Interim Clerk who came into post in February.
4 Parish Council accounts 2013/14
The Clerk, as Responsible Financial Officer, circulated a Receipts and Payments Account, which had appeared in the newsletter and was available on the web site.
With regard to the current balance of the Council’s capital reserves, the Clerk commented that the Auditor guidance concerning this was that the retained balance should not be more than twice the Precept.
5 Police report (including presentation on Neighbourhood Watch)
PCSO Geoff Nottingham gave a 12 month report on local crime, the information included the types of crime committed, detections and crime prevention advice.
The Clerk was asked to make the information available on the Parish Council web site.
6 Neighbourhood Plan update
The Clerk informed all present that due to the lack of interest in producing a plan, he had arranged a meeting with Mike Dando of Planning Aid to discuss an alternative plan namely an Area Action Plan. This would focus on protecting the green open spaces within the village and draw on the information researched and provided when the Village Design Statement was produced.
7 Presentations by village societies
Cllr Gwen Brown commented on recent activities by the Thorner and District Historical Society, there was a planned book launch ‘After the war came the victory’, which is about the previously untold history of Thorner and how it raised funds for the Victory Hall, also that a coach trip to Liverpool had been arranged.
8 Open Forum
Resident Scott Marshall, provided information on developments concerning the Church Hill Quarry, he informed all present that the site had been noted by Leeds City Council as a site of specialist interest.
Due to money being provided by the Community Fund and the Parish Council, the restoration of the Sam Sykes ginnel was well advanced.
The issue of speeding traffic and parking were, as previously reported at the Annual Parish Meeting in May 2012, still of concern, it was suggested that the provision of resident only permit parking may be worth considering.
Signed………………………………. Date………………………… Chairman Thorner Parish Council
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