CARLTON AND CHELLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD AT CARLTON VILLAGE HALL ON MONDAY 14TH APRIL 2014 Present: Vice Chairman J Julyan, Parish Councillors D Jenkins, D Neil, R Simpson, J Tusting, B Green and M Stocker. Borough Councillor A Field- Foster Clerk M Wilson 7 Members of the public, Andrew Prigmore, Highways Bedford Borough Council 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received and accepted from Councillors Owen and Geerts. 2. TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING of 25th APRIL 2013 IT WAS RESOLVED that the Minutes were an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman. 3. TO RECEIVE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – As presented by Cllr Julyan in Cllr Owens absence Welcome ladies and gentlemen and thank you for coming to our Annual Parish meeting. I am Susan Owen and this is my second year as Chairman. The Parish Council comprises of Cllrs David Jenkins, Jane Tusting & Anne Geerts, Cllrs Martin Stocker, Doug Neal, Jason Julyan and also Richard Simpson, who looks after Highways and Cllr Barry Green who takes care of footpaths and bridleways. My Vice-Chairman is Jason Julyan. In addition to the 9 of us we also have our local Borough Councillor, Alison Field-Foster who never misses a meeting and is a source of invaluable advice. I would like to extend my thanks to all my fellow councillors for their work on behalf of the village. If you have a concern in the village you are welcome to either discuss it with our clerk or one of the councillors who will then bring the concern to the table for further discussion. The contact details are available on the website. My thanks must also go to Mandy Wilson, our clerk who in her first year has done an excellent job, once again if you have concerns Mandy will do all she can to help you. We continue to do all the things that are important to the village. We run the street lighting, keep an eye on the state of the highways and byways and report anything that needs to be done. We liaise with the Playing Field Committee and continue to support their work. We also maintain the Grace Baptist Chapel Graveyard. We continue to negotiate to have the hedge trimmed on Deejaks Field, at which point the lovely view will then be able to be enjoyed by the whole village. We also continue to negotiate also with the police regarding the speeding problem we seem to have in the village. We have received 10 planning applications for the village and although we actually have no formal power we work closely with the Bedford Borough Planning Committee. The council is now looking into forming a committee to produce a neighbourhood plan and Barry Green will talk about this later on. We were sorry about the recent flooding and devastation caused to the residents of The Causeway and will continue to work with Mr Prigmore and highways to ensure this does not happen again. Thanks must go to the Fire Brigade for their superb action in preventing further damage to properties. That concludes my report for this year. 4. TO RECEIVE FINANCIAL REPORT – as presented by the Clerk Financial report for the Year April 2013 to Mach 2014 The precept was maintained at £14892 for the 5th year running, and this figure has been requested again for the 2014/2015 financial year. The grass cutting grant from the Borough Council remained at £704.62. The grass cutting contract fell due this year and the Parish Council resolved to award it to Chris Horne Gardens for a 3 year period This year there was little expenditure on maintenance and repairs, with £692 spent on repairs to The Stone Barn, and some repairs to the Village Hall of £350. In addition the Council purchased a new dog bin for Pavenham Road at a cost of £195. Total income was £18265.97 which includes rental income from the Stone Barn of £1668 which is specifically for the Carlton Childrens Playing Fields use, an insurance refund of £303.90 in respect of damage to the light in Street Close, and £100 bursary towards the costs of the clerks training. Total expenditure was £17737.98 which included a £2000 transfer to reserved funds for Traffic Calming and £1000 for the Playing Feld. The establishment costs are over the agreed budget due to the training costs for the clerk and registration fees with the Society of Local Council Clerks for the Certificate in Local Council Administration qualification the clerk is studying for. Grants were made this year to The Villager and The Bridge Magazine Finally as at 31st March the current account stood at £14946.61 and the Reserve account at £18225.94 of which £14392.89 are reserved funds for the following: Playing Field, Village Hall, Baptist Church, Street Lighting, Traffic Calming, The Gannick 5. TO RECEIVE THE PLAYING FIELD REPORT - Presented by the Cllr Neil in the absence of the Playing Field Chairman This is the Annual Report of the Playground Trust written by the Chair, Mrs Emma Simpson, who is regrettably unable to attend this meeting. Following the expenditure of £4000 on play equipment in 2012, the Trust this year has focussed on replenishing its funds to address the inevitable need and consequent expense of equipment repair and maintenance. Towards this end the Trust acknowledges both the Parish Council and Carlton Open Gardens for their generous donations this year. Everybody should be aware that the continued existence of the playground and the provision of new equipment is dependent on abundant financial support. During the year the trustees turned their hands to an array of maintenance work in order to minimise costs. The old perimeter gateway through the hedge onto The Causeway has been planted with whips to secure the closure of this exit. The same hedgerow as it approaches Beeby Way had developed holes which have been fenced and replanted. Whips were further planted where the perimeter hedging needed replenishment in order to avoid the occurrence of new gaps in the hedgerow. Furthermore we are also trying to extend the perimeter hedge along the boundary with the Street Close back gardens, so closing off possible exits into those gardens. All this work has been done as a safety measure to prevent children venturing into areas we would not want them to be. The re-painting and re-staining of all equipment and benches was completed by the Trustees over the summer months. There have been instances of anti-social behaviour which we have tried to address with appropriate action. The issue of dogs on the playing field has been an on-going concern and a number of ‘No Dog’ signs have been posted to gently remind parishioners that we do not want dogs to be on the playing field at any time. This is purely for health reasons, to prevent the children picking up bacterial infections carried in dog waste. As usual committee members were in attendance at the Harrold Pit run in an effort to swell our funds. During the year the football pitch has seen good use and new net support brackets have been purchased and installed. Warners were retained as the grass cutters, and our annual safety inspection was performed by a new organisation, The Play Inspection Company, who’s report has high lighted the need of a significant amount of maintenance to be completed this year. In recent months we have been reviewing the ‘history’ of the Playing field and putting together a sustainability plan for its future. The Trustees are committed to ensuring that both the Children of Carlton & Chellington and indeed the whole community can avail themselves of this unique village asset far into the future. To a very large extent it is down to both the effort and generosity of the Trustees that the Children of this village continue to have a safe and healthy place in which to play, and we are indebted to both those who have donated funds and those who have given freely of their time to ensure this continues. Long may it do so. We would like to point out the need for more volunteers to help and provide a succession for trustees wanting to move on. To those who may be interested, I would say, the work is fun, not particularly arduous, but very satisfying. The Trust’s financial statement for the year ending 31st March 2014 shows, An income during the year of: £297.90 With an expenditure of: £195.98 And account balances as follows: The Community account stands at: £1649.75 The Business Saver account stands at: £1191.18 And the Petty cash balance is: £9.73 If you have any questions I will be happy to try and address them. If not, thank you for your attention. 6. GUEST SPEAKER Andrew Prigmore, Highways, Bedford Borough Council Mr Prigmore advised that from the 1st April Highways are now responsible for public footpaths as well as roads and footways. The Highways Representative for the Parish Council will be contacted by the Boroughs Highways representative to arrange a meeting to introduce themselves and walk the area. Mr Prigmore then took questions from the floor. Q: Why did The Causeway flood? A: A CCTV camera showed a blockage which has since been excavated. This showed that the pipe had collapsed, but also an accumulation of rubbish that may have taken years to collect. This has been cleared out, they have the new pipe and the repairs should be completed by the end of next week.