CANWICK ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - CHAIRMAN’S REPORT DELIVERED TO THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING ON APRIL 18th 2011

Welcome

- A warm welcome to all parishioners. I am Lance Pennell and I have been Chairman of the Parish Council since mid-2003. Last year I briefed that we had a vacancy but happily I can report that Zuleika Vince was co-opted last summer to bring us back up to full strength. All of the councillors agreed to stand once more in this years election on 5 May and, in the absence of other nominations, have been returned unopposed.

- Tonight’s meeting is the annual meeting of the Parish Council at which the public may speak without invitation, unlike our "normal" monthly meetings. However, I ask that you do so through myself and avoid interrupting speakers unless they invite it.

- Hopefully you have seen the Agenda which has been on display on our notice board. There will be reports from myself, Councillor Ron Oxby our County Councillor, and from Mrs Brighton for our NKDC Councillor(s). Finally, there will be an opportunity for Parishioners to ask questions.

- Now, for those who have not yet met them, I will introduce those councillors. That said, Cllr O’Melia is away overseas, and could not have flown back to join us. So the remaining Parish Councillors are:

Introduce The Other Parish Council members and the Clerk

In alphabetical order:

- Ian Carrington

- Mrs Christine Griffin

- Malcolm Hales

- Robin Narborough

- Lorcan O’Melia (absent tonight)

- Mrs Zuleika Vince

I thank them for their work and support over the past year.

- Since last year’s meeting we have a new Clerk, Mrs Phil Shaw. As I told you last year her predecessor, Mrs Sandra Rudolph, had asked to stand down after 7 years as our Clerk. Sandra has worked hard for us, and I would like to record formally our thanks for her significant contribution - time, effort and her comprehensive knowledge of the Parish Council business. After a couple of false starts when promising candidates fell by the wayside on the cusp of appointment, some completely new candidates applied in the Autumn. After the interviews one of them stood out and Mrs Phil Shaw duly took up the mantle late last year. She has completed a number of training courses and is now established in the role. As with Sandra, she carries out her work for us from Heighington - close by not always convenient for some. However, she often passes through Canwick, and the telephone, e-mail and the Internet all provide parishioners with ready means of communication. Happily, Sandra’s experience is not completely lost to us, for she has remained in her post as Clerk to Heighington Parish Council and has provided Phil with support and an experienced ear as she settled in, which has been most welcome. As ever, the Clerk’s contact details are clearly shown on our notice board outside, and also on our website. Overall, we feel that our Parishioners continue to be properly served by the arrangement.

Meetings

- Your Council has met each month, except for August, during the past year, as has been the case for many years. At these meetings we discuss matters raised locally, planning matters referred to us by the District Council, local environmental issues, correspondence received, and our finances. In addition, we have attended a variety of additional meetings, both within the District and more locally, for training, information, or as part of the Planning process.

- The most regular of these is the Four Parishes Group where representatives from the Parishes of Branston, Heighington, Washingborough and ourselves have met since the mid-1990s to discuss matters of mutual interest; one of these is the employment of the Dog Warden where we have each bought into a wider contract at lower individual cost. As I briefed you over the past few years, we now double as one of the District Council’s "Cluster Groups" of parishes following the Government’s wish that some responsibilities be devolved down to Parish level. In our case the existing Four Parishes Group, may be able to act together to take over some aspects. As ever, the availability of resources - staff as well as finance - are obviously major considerations for a Parish of our size and we do not wish to increase the Precept as a result. However, the Dog Warden already illustrates that we can work together usefully and we have sought to play our part where practicable.

- The chairman of the Four Parishes Group from its inception was Gp Capt Bliss, and he saw us into the transition to a Cluster Group in 2007. However, he passed away that summer and I was elected chairman that autumn and now we have moved onwards. Our Parish Partnerships Officer at NKDC is now Sue Chambers. Through her and the fact that senior District Council staff attend our quarterly cluster meetings in person, we have better access to information and other contacts. NKDC initially allocated money to be put towards something to bring benefit within each group’s area, and this has helped to provide the children’s play equipment on our playing field, and presentation equipment for our parishes. However, as I told you last year, this money is no longer being provided.

- In all of this change we have not lost sight of the origins of the Four Parishes Group, and our meetings have not simply become regional District Council-sponsored gatherings. Once the Cluster-related business is complete and the NKDC staff depart, we conduct our local business.

- Returning to more parochial matters, the final set of regular meetings I would like to highlight is where Councillor Malcolm Hales and the Environment Committee members meet with the Highways and other NKDC staffs over local issues.

- Finally under this topic, no Parish Councillor has claimed expenses for attending meetings.

Finance

- The precept for the coming FY is £5000, an unchanged sum. So where has your money been spent. We have 2 major outgoings which each take around 1/3 of our precept and some others I will outline:

- The first significant expense is the Parish Clerk. She is contracted to work 12 hrs per month for us. In this she must deal with preparing for and recording our monthly meetings, dealing with our finances as our Responsible Financial Officer, together with the mountain of correspondence emanating from Central Government, the County and District Council and other bodies - much of it in the guise of consultation. She also acts in rotation as the secretary for the Four Parishes Group. Overall, I believe she is fully employed on our behalf. Her pay rate is mandated by a National Agreement covering all council employees and reflects her experience in the role.

- The second significant expense is the Playing Field. To help maintain this facility for the village, the Parish Council has, for some time, paid to have the grass cut regularly throughout the Summer, and to have the hedge cut each Autumn. The Playing Fields Committee remain responsible for the remainder of the expenses.

- There is an ongoing programme of improving street lighting. We have bid for new lights regularly to bring us up to the latest standards in terms of numbers of lights. These new ones are to the latest standard and are funded elsewhere but we have to pay our part in upgrading existing lights. We could not afford to replace all of the lights in a single year but we have agreed to replace up to 3 annually as they fail.

- We have 2 Dog Bins. The newer one was installed on the Playing Field, providing a larger one than was previously in place. The old one was relocated to the land opposite the Hall. NKDC charges for emptying each one regularly but we have no volunteers to take that job on at lower cost!

- We have 4 litter bins. These are situated: outside this building; on Hall Drive near to the seat opposite the Hall; by the bus shelter on Canwick Hill; and at the top of Canwick Hill alongside the Playing Fields across the road from Mill Lodge. Again there is a charge for emptying. We intend to buy another one this year to be located near to the junction of School Lane and Canwick Hill.

- For the several years we had sought from the County Highways department enhancements to the signs and road markings around the Village, particularly on Heighington Road. The work is now complete. Enhancements of this type are not always done free of charge as they often go beyond the minimum requirements for the road and we are required to pay for a proportion of the cost - but we believe it to be money well-spent.

- In similar vein, as I have briefed you in the past, we secured a substantial grant towards the cost of the Parish Plan. However, it only covers a proportion of the expenditure and we must pay our share.

- I mentioned the Dog Warden previously. We get a grant from NKDC to defray a proportion of the cost but after being unchanged for several years this has now been virtually halved for the coming year and we do have a substantially increased share to pay.

- We make a few grants. The most significant is to the Parochial Church Council and for this all villagers are entitled to be buried in the Churchyard regardless of faith.

- As you will see, we endeavour to spend your money for the benefit of the village. In previous years this has also included purchasing the second dog bin, a couple of litter bins, the bench outside this hall, helping the PCC to provide a new notice board at the Church.

- Until recently, we had existed on our savings and annual income. However, as I briefed you 2 years ago, we decided to take out a Public Works Loan to help the Village Hall Trustees provide the disabled facilities which were long overdue, as well as being mandated by the law! The Trustees had sought external funding with some success but one essential element was a local contribution. We took the view that the Village Hall is an asset for the whole community and that we should make a contribution. We borrowed £6000 as a fixed rate loan, at 3.82% interest, repaid over 20 years, which we immediately gave to the Trustees as a grant. The Social Club matched this and the disabled lift and new boiler were the immediate result. The local contribution proved to be the key to unlocking other grants and last summer saw the creation of a disabled toilet. Downstream, you will see changes to the entrance to allow access through the front door for all. We have only borrowed what is needed, and we believe it has been to the significant benefit of the village as a whole.

- Overall, we have sought to keep the Precept to a practical level and to spend it prudently for the benefit of the Parish.

The Future

- Work on the Parish Plan stopped at the consultation draft stage as we waited to see what effect last year’s change of government and its proposed Localism measures would have. However, with the publication date of the Localism Bill still not announced, let alone its content finalised, we have decided to complete the Plan and it should be published during the Summer.

- Another topic which has been raised from time to time is that of pollution. The unpleasant smells that sometimes emanate from the sewage works, and the nuisance caused by bonfires when lit thoughtlessly both have an effect on quality of life. However, NKDC can only act for us if instances are reported to them. Please light bonfires with consideration for others.

- Litter and fly tipping can also disfigure our picturesque surroundings. Please report any fly tipping to Malcolm Hales or to the Clerk - NKDC can only arrange for it to be cleared if they are made aware of the need. As to litter within the village, we could gain a grant towards the cost of a Litter Picker for the village if a suitable candidate was found to work a few hours a month. Please let us know if anyone comes to mind.

Communication

- It is now some time since the last Village Newsletter was produced. As I have outlined at previous meetings, we could arrange for a village newsletter to be published but what we cannot do is provide all of the roving reporters and editorial staff. If anyone can help, please contact the Clerk or any Parish Councillor.

- However, although we are unable to provide a newsletter at present, what we are able to do is let you know of our activities via the Internet. Our website www.canwick.org has details of our meetings and links to a variety of local, district and county organisations. Councillor Carrington has created it and updates it regularly, and there is a "News" page to keep Parishioners abreast of current topics which goes some way to compensating for the lack of a Village Newsletter. There you will also find contact numbers for the Dog Warden and for NKDC to report air pollution issues. There is also a link to the Clerk’s e-mail address.

- Staying on the topic of communication, NKDC are running a survey of Broadband speeds and seeking to determine where mobile phone coverage is poor. Details will go on our website shortly - there is already a link to a Broadband speed tester - and I ask that you report your experience to them. I believe there is significant scope for the providers to improve our service.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to thank all those on the Parish Council, including our Clerk, for their contributions during the past year. Further, I would like to thank our District and County Councillors for their continued interest, advice and assistance. They have all been of great assistance to me. I would also like to commend the NKDC refuse collectors who maintained their service in the face of considerable adversity during last winter’s snow and its aftermath.

And finally, in this public forum, I would like to let you know that I will shortly become a District Councillor. I stood in the Waddington West ward and when nominations closed was unopposed. I will take up my new appointment after next month’s election. However, I do not envisage a conflict between this and my Parish Council role here.

That concludes my report - do you have any questions?