PO Box 113 Wotton under Edge GL11 9BP Clerk Mary Leonard Telephone: 01453 844659 Email: [email protected] Website: www.kingswoodparishcouncil.gov.uk To the community of Kingswood, you are invited to attend the Annual Parish Meeting of Kingswood on Monday 22nd March 2021 at 7.15pm. Due to restrictions in connection with Covid 19 this meeting will be held via Zoom. Please see the joining instructions below. Kingswood Parish Council (KPC) is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Annual Parish Meeting 2020/21 Time: Mar 22, 2021 07:15 PM London Kingswood Annual Parish Meeting 1. The Chairman of Kingswood Parish Council (KPC) to open the meeting and explain the format. The Chairman Cllr David Rockey welcomed the community to the meeting and explained the format of the meeting and the legislation in connection with the holding of an Annual Parish Meeting (APM). There were 24 people present via Zoom for the meeting including councillors and presenters. 2. To receive and note apologies for absence. Apologies were received from Andrew Beamish Stroud District Council’s Neighbourhood Warden and from the Local Policing Team. The Police have sent two reports which can be viewed on the Kingswood Parish Council (KPC) website. 3. To approve the minutes of the 2019 Annual Parish Meeting. There was no meeting in 2020 as it was cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic. It was proposed by Cllr Paul Hemming to accept the minutes as a true record of the 2019 Annual Parish Meting. This was seconded by Cllr Jena Simmons. All members of the community in attendance at the 2019 meeting agreed and the matter was resolved. 4. To receive a report from the Chairman of Kingswood Parish Council. The Chairman of KPC Cllr David Rockey presented a report to the assembly. Cllr Rockey also formally thanked Kingswood Village Association for all their hard work supporting the community during the Covid 19 pandemic. Please see the report and the Power point presentation attached to the minutes. 5. To receive a presentation from Alison Robinson Gloucestershire Association of Parish and Town Councils (GAPTC) on the role of the parish council and parish councillors in the Community. Parish Council Members are reminded that the Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions: Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, and any disability), Crime & Disorder, Health & Safety and Human Rights. March 2021 6. Alison Robinson introduced herself as the Chief Executive Officer of GAPTC and presented a report on the role of the Parish Council. Please see the Power Point presentation at the end of the minutes. 7. To receive a presentation from Bob Hart Kingswood Village Association on the Kingswood Covid 19 support. Bob Hart introduced himself and gave a report on the support provided during the Covid 19 pandemic. He also formally thanked all the volunteers and the support received from the Spar shop. Please see the report and the Power Point presentation attached to the minutes of this meeting. 8. To make a virtual presentation to County Cllr John Cordwell in respect of his retirement from service as a county councillor after 40 years. Cllr David Rockey formally thanked Gloucestershire County Councillor John Cordwell for all his support during his 40 years as a County Councillor. Cllr Rockey estimated that Cllr Cordwell had attended at least 500 KPC meetings. As a token of KPC’s appreciation they have arranged a small gift of a photographic voucher which the clerk will deliver in due course. KPC wish Cllr Cordwell a long and well-deserved retirement. 9. An opportunity for members of the community to ask questions or to raise issues with any of the representatives present. a. There was one question raised by Cllr Christopher Dunn to the Chief Executive Officer of GAPTC Alison Robinson as follows; Cllr Dunn wanted to know about advice given by GAPTC to individual councillors and what happens if that advice conflicts with any advice given to that council as a body. Alison responded that GAPTC role was to offer advice to the parish council. b. Patricia Broadfoot offered thanks to the parish council for their work over term of office. The meeting was then closed. Parish Council Members are reminded that the Council has a general duty to consider the following matters in the exercise of any of its functions: Equal Opportunities (race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, and any disability), Crime & Disorder, Health & Safety and Human Rights. March 2021 Annual Parish Meeting (APM) 2021 Chairman’s Report I am glad to welcome so many of you to tonight’s meeting. The 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic. This will be the first APM carried out remotely. I of course would prefer that the Community is able to meet in person. However due to the dates when this meeting needs to be carried out by law, which is between 1st March and 1st June, this would be impossible. The Covid 19 pandemic dominated 2020/21 and continues to dominate, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The vaccination programme is being rolled out in the community very efficiently and this together with the road map set out by the government means that normal activity may be able to take place very soon. KPC like all other village organisations experienced a difficult year due to the pandemic. Face to face meetings were suspended at the end of March. The activities of the council were then carried out by the Clerk to the Council until legislation was passed to allow the council to meet remotely via Zoom. KPC first concern last March was the safety and support of the community during the pandemic. KPC were very pleased that Kingswood Village Association (KVA) set up a support group for the community and were able to join with them and offer financial support in the form of grant funding and administrative support. I want to thank Bob and his team for all the work they have carried out supporting members of the community who have had to shield or those who have been affected financially. KVA also supported Kingswood School in their endeavour of ensuring that all children have access to a computer so that they can continue with their education without interruption. Bob will tell you more of this in his report. KPC tried to keep all its facilities open but of course had to operate them in line with the government restrictions. For a short period of time the play equipment was closed, and the activities allowed at the playing field were restricted. KPC opened the play equipment as soon as the legislation allowed. KPC carried out a risk assessment and some equipment was removed to allow for 2 m social distancing. Safety notices were put up and hand sanitiser installed. KPC recognised how important the public open space is to all and did all in its power to keep the space under its management open for all to use. The playing field has been busier than ever during the pandemic. KPC are working hard to ensure that it can be enjoyed by all and has engaged the services of a play equipment inspector, put in additional bins and a weekly litter picking contract. Sadly, there has been a small increase in anti- social behaviour. This has been mainly broken glass, bottles and litter being found. KPC is increasing the patrols and the CCTV surveillance to ensure that this well used areas remain safe for all to use. The one facility which we were not able to keep open was the public toilets. This was firstly due to a water leak and then a much-needed refurbishment took place. However, we were still unable to open due to Covid 19 legislation make the cleaning of the toilets difficult and subsequently the cleaning contractor resigned. However, KPC is working hard on getting the toilets open as we believe this is a valued facility within the village. It is used not only by residents but by the all- important delivery drivers of which we have all become very reliant during the covid restrictions. During 202 KPC carried out all be remotely a consultation in respect of the monies referred to as Section 106 payments. This is money made available by developers and used for community facilities. The results of the consultation are for the monies to be spent on a fence around the play equipment and on toilets accessible form the playing field. The fence is due to be installed in April and work is now starting on the specification for the toilets. Usually in this meeting the final accounts for the year are made available, however due to the date of this meeting the financial year has not ended. The accounts have been made up to Friday 19tth March 2021 and are available to view on the website. The final accounts will be made available to view on the website once they have been completed. The budget for 2021/22 has been set and is available to view on the website. KPC has set the following objectives for 2021/22 1. Additional CCTV provision at playing field (Quarter 1) 2. Pedestrian Footpath on the access drive to the playing field (Quarter 1) 3. Bollards at Tyndale View green space (unless completed 2021/22) (Quarter 1) 4. Provision of accessible toilet from playing field. (Quarter 4/ 2022/23) 5. Automatic locking doors at the toilets Quarter 1 6. Footpath linking the current right of way with the cemetery.