CANWICK PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - CHAIRMAN’S REPORT DELIVERED TO THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING ON APRIL 19th 2010

Welcome

- A warm welcome to all parishioners. I am Lance Pennell and I have been Chairman of the Parish Council since mid-2003. Until February, last year, we had a full council whose composition had been unchanged since the 2007 election. However, Cllr Gordon Canner resigned, having moved away from the Village and his place remains vacant in spite of several sets of advertisements. If you are aware of anyone prepared to represent you then please let us know.

- 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, Mrs Brighton for our NKDC Councillor(s), and then an update on the Parish Plan. Finally, there will be an opportunity for Parishioners to ask questions.

- Before I introduce the other councillors and our Clerk, for those who have not yet met them, I have to say that we are thinner on the ground than usual. Cllr Mrs Griffin is unwell and Cllr O’Melia is away overeas, 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 (absent tonight)

- Malcolm Hales

- Robin Narborough

- Lorcan O’Melia (absent tonight)

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

- Our Clerk is Mrs Sandra Rudolph, who is experienced in the role, having been the Clerk to Heighington Parish Council for over 25 years, a post she still fills. She has carried out her work for us from the Heighington parish office, for which we pay them an agreed fee and provide our own consumables. Whilst on occasion it may be inconvenient to some to have to travel to her office to view plans etc, she is fairly close by, she is there for most of the week, and we would be unable to provide such a well-found, permanent office in Canwick. Her contact details are clearly shown on our notice board outside. Overall, we feel that our Parishioners have been properly served by the arrangement.

Unfortunately, for us, Sandra wishes to reduce her workload and has asked to step down from her role with us. She originally wished to do so earlier this year but then agreed to help us for a few more months. We have a replacement in prospect but she will not be able to join us before the middle of the year. She will also not live within the Village but with the help of the Internet and e-mail that should not be an obstacle. Sandra will be continuing as Heighington’s Clerk and has offered to help our new Clerk as she settles in, so we will still have some contact with her, but we will miss Sandra greatly. She has a tremendous grasp of the business of Parish Councils and she has helped us develop greatly during her time with us. Today may be perhaps a few weeks early, but I wish to take this opportunity to recognise publically her contribution to us.

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. As a "carrot" to get the Parish Partnership scheme under way NKDC initially allocated up to £4000 per Cluster to be put towards something to bring benefit within each group’s area. After considerable discussion, our Cluster’s was allocated to Canwick Village to help with putting play equipment back onto our Playing Field, a major boost to the project, which was brought to fruition just before Easter last year, and the equipment has been well-used since. Last year there was a lower sum which we spent on providing each council within our group with presentation equipment. This comprised laptops, projectors and a variety of screens appropriate to site, a most useful upgrade. However, I fear there will be no money for the coming year.

- 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, and that mandated by them to come from the County and District Council and now the East Midlands regional 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 by the District but we have to pay our part in upgrading existing lights. At £125 per light, 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 a couple of years ago, 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.

- 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 you heard over the past couple of years, 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 this has been unchanged for several years and we do have a substantial, increasing 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 last year, we decided to take out a Public Works Loan to help the Village Hall Trustees provide the disabled facilities which were long overdue, in addition to 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 have now borrowed £6000 as a fixed rate loan, at 3.82% interest, repaid over 20 years. We immediately gave this 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 this summer you will see 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 bebefit of the village as a whole.

- Overall, we have endeavoured 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 goes on and Councillor Ian Carrington will update you on progress shortly.

- 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.

- 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.

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.

That concludes my report - do you have any questions?