Reports Presented to the Annual Parish Meeting May 2015
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Reports Presented to the Annual Parish Meeting May 2015 Report by the Chairman of the Parish Council .................................................................................................. 2 Manuden Community Centre Management Committee ................................................................................. 3 Manuden School ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Manuden Pre-School ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Manuden Guides ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Report to the Parish Council on the Activities of the Parish Church ................................................................. 6 Friendship Club .................................................................................................................................................. 7 The Manuden Singers Report of the Year 2014 - 15 ......................................................................................... 7 Manuden Junior Football Club .......................................................................................................................... 9 Manuden United Football Club ......................................................................................................................... 9 Manuden Playing Fields Association ............................................................................................................... 10 Manuden Golf Society ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Manuden Womens Institute ........................................................................................................................... 11 Manuden Footpaths ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Manuden & Berden History Society ................................................................................................................ 13 Manuden Cricket Club ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Manuden Fun Run ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Badminton Club ............................................................................................................................................... 15 The Manuden Park Group ............................................................................................................................... 15 Appendix – Financial Report ............................................................................................................................ 16 Report by the Chairman of the Parish Council This is the first report for some 8 or 9 years that has not been prepared by our sorely missed chairman Les Atkinson – much of what I report, as acting chairman, was achieved under his watch and guidance. Last year Les reported on the flooding that occurred in early 2014. As a result of the village meeting we had, and largely through Les’ persistence with the various authorities, there has been at least some work done to alleviate the issues raised though frustrations do remain with the inaction and inability of Essex Highways to deal with some of their responsibilities. We continue to ask villagers to take some responsibility to report blocked drains and ditches – both to us and to the relevant authority. There have been some changes to the Parish Council since last year, departures and arrivals. We should thank Chris Forster for his many years service to the Parish Council, his input on all things financial were invaluable – Jo Ellis was on the council for a shorter time but made an impact as well with her help on the defibrillator initiative. We welcomed Lizzie Mclean and Katrina Hardy to the council last year and already they are making their marks with the play park improvement plans. As some of you will have noticed we had an election on the 7th. We advertised for potential councillors to throw their hats in the ring and Richard Dale-Cooke was the only nominee apart from the 6 sitting councillors. We were duly elected unopposed so we welcome Richard on board - his skills at baking shortbread are renowned and will be more than appreciated! As regards highspeed broadband all I can say is the promise might be highspeed but the implementation distinctly lowspeed – we are still no further forward. One resident has taken BT to task about her very intermittent and inconsistent connection – the Parish Council will join her initiative in the general harassment of BT – lowspeed is one thing but no-speed and now-and-again-lowspeed should be reported – the more complaints they get the more likelihood we are to have the cabling looked at and hopefully replaced – eventually with fibre. Frank Bengtsen has once again, at his own cost bought, and with the help of Richard Dale-Cooke, planted more crocuses on the green near the village sign – they looked fantastic this spring. We live in a very beautiful village. The Parish Council would welcome similar suggestions as to how we might make it even more attractive. On the subject of beauty of our village the sale of the old almshouses went ahead and I believe that their re-development has completely altered the look of that part of the Street and for the better. We must thank Dennis Bonney for his hard work on the bench and village notice board opposite the old village hall. We should perhaps say that the village hall has been sold for residential conversion, whatever the sign on its wall says! Finally, as usual I would like to thank Charles, our Parish Clerk, for his unfailingly cheerful support and relentless endeavour on the village’s behalf. I will very happily let him reply if anyone has any questions about potholes! John Archer, May 2015 Manuden Community Centre Management Committee It is a year since the wonderful facilities here at the Manuden Village Community Centre first opened for business. And it has certainly been an eventful year with many highs and some lows. Overshadowing the year was the loss of the inspiration and driving force behind the whole venture - our founding Management Committee chairman, Les Atkinson. His leadership, commitment, energy and endless contributions are sorely missed. But we were all delighted when he was awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours. The Centre was officially opened on 13 September 2014 when we welcomed our local MP, Sir Alan Haselhurst to declare it open. We were also delighted to see so many people from the village who came to see the range of facilities the Centre offers and enjoy a family day in a great setting. Another highlight was the visit by HRH The Princess Royal on 31 March to open the four affordable houses at David Collins Drive, a project driven by Manuden Parish Council in partnership with English Rural Housing Association, Pelham Structures and Uttlesford District Council. After being shown round Chris & Lizzie Hannington’s house, Princess Anne spent some time in the Centre meeting villagers and guests over wonderful refreshments provided by the WI. We are very grateful for the grants we have received from Viridor, the Essex Community Foundation, Sport England and Stansted airport. These have allowed us to equip and furnish the Centre. Bookings for the use of the Centre have steadily increased during the year. There are regular classes and clubs involving activities such as pilates, yoga, Zumba, karate, badminton, football and various forms of dancing, including pre-school movement for the very young. The Management Committee is working hard to increase these further. There are plans to screen a film in June in conjunction with Saffron Screen Pop- up Cinema and to show the Rugby World Cup game between England and Australia in October. The Committee also welcomes the initiatives by a group of local ladies who have some great plans to improve the play area. The Centre is an amenity for the use of Manuden and the surrounding areas. If anyone would like to start a club, society or activity, or arrange a one-off event such as a party, dinner, concert or meeting, they should contact Chris Bailey, who will be happy to help in any way she can. I would like to thank Chris Bailey, as well as our caretaker, Chris Hannington, and all members of the Management Committee for all their hard work. Without them, the Centre would simply not function. We hope the Manuden Village Community Centre will continue to go from strength to strength and to be the amenity that Les envisaged. Barbara Cheney, May 2015 Manuden School Once again it has been a very busy year at the school. It has been a time of change in education which the school has worked hard to embrace as well as continuing to provide the best learning opportunities that we can for the children in our care. It has also been a time of sadness for the school as we lost our friend and colleague Maggie as well as our Handyman Colin. Amongst the myriad of clubs we offer, we are now hosting an early morning tennis club, an archery club and re-established our links