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WELLOW
Annual Parish Meeting, Wednesday 25th April 2018 6.30 pm Wellow Village Hall
Wellow Parish Council Annual Report 2018
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Parish Council Activities: • Replacement of Wellow Cricket Pavilion • Wellow Community Garden • Wellow Neighbourhood Plan • Other Activities • Keeping in touch with Parishioners • Parish Council Finances
3. Representation on External Committees and Bodies
4. Parish Council Members’ Responsibilities and Officers:
• Parish Council Members’ Responsibilities 2017/18 • Parish Council Officers
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1. Introduction
This Report highlights the main activities of the Parish Council 2017/2018.
Your Wellow Parish Councillors are:
Cllr Gaye Chesterton-Kay (Chair) Cllr Harmeet Brar (Vice-Chair) Cllr Edmund Chesterton-Kay Cllr Alan Clark Cllr Trevor Grant Cllr Mike Jones Cllr Sue Jones Cllr Rich Millard Cllr John Sampson Cllr Philip Stehr
A full list of Councillor responsibilities is attached to this Report and can also be viewed on the Parish website at www.wellowparish.org.uk
Since last year’s Annual Parish Meeting, there have been a couple of changes in members of the Parish Council. Cllr John Saunders decided to stand down after 2 years’ service and we would like to thank him for all his hard work on behalf of Wellow residents. Welcome to Cllr Rich Millard who joined the team in June 2017. Cllr Millard’s primary focus has been and will continue to be on Recreation and Sports facilities in the village.
As many of you will be aware, two major projects that had been in the planning stage for several years, have finally been completed during the last twelve months:
2. Parish Council Activities
Replacement of Wellow Cricket Pavilion
The old Cricket Pavilion was demolished in October 2017 and a brand new one has been erected. This project simply could not have been achieved without Grant Funding from Test Valley Borough Council along with further Grants from our Ward Councillors and Hampshire County Council. The new building boasts a spacious new club room, bar, kitchen, away and home changing rooms along with wet rooms and toilets.
Huge thanks must also go to members of Wellow and Plaitford Cricket Club – this project was very much a joint venture; their ‘can-do’ attitude, personal input and boundless enthusiasm meant that every problem encountered (and there were plenty!) only made us all more determined to see it finished - a perfect example of what working together can achieve. WPC Annual Parish Meeting 25.04.2018
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A PowerPoint presentation will be running in the hall during the Meeting and will continue afterwards for those of you who are interested in seeing the build process as it has taken place. The official opening of the new Pavilion will take place on Saturday 2nd June at 11.00am, following which the Pavilion will be open if any residents would like to take a look, before the commencement of the scheduled match that day at 1.00pm.
Heartfelt thanks to Cllrs Mike and Sue Jones and Cllr Ed Chesterton-Kay who put in so much hard work and physical effort towards this huge project – their skills with project management, carpentry, tiling, painting, ground clearance and a host of other tasks not only saved a lot of money but also ensured that the Pavilion will be ready for the new season. It wouldn’t have happened without you guys!
Wellow Community Garden
The Wellow Community Garden has also been completed, again in large part, due to Test Valley Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and Viridor Waste Management funding grants which gave us enough money to complete the project. The Garden has been planted with shrubs and plants that give colour and structure throughout the year, along with six ornamental trees on the hillside next to the Garden.
The six benches encircling the Garden were donated by Test Valley Borough Council, Hampshire County Council, our local Nisa store, Blackwater Equestrian and two residents of the village. We are delighted that the Garden is now in situ and I’m confident that it will prove to be a great meeting place for everyone.
Wellow Neighbourhood Plan
Over the past year the Neighbourhood Plan team has been mobilised. The project team is organised into three working groups and one support group. These are the:
• Development Working Group: focused on potential land-use changes • Community Facilities & Services Working Group: focused on community needs • Environment Working Group: focused on environmental impact of any changes • Project Office: support for all teams and liaison with other parties such as TVBC
The work performed by these groups is reported on through a monthly public Steering Committee meeting. Strong liaison is maintained with Test Valley Borough Council to ensure alignment with and understanding of the relationship between the emerging Neighbourhood Plan and the Local Plan.
Other Activities
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Hatches Farm
Hatches Farm will be our focus for the coming year, but in the interim the Parish Council responded to a request from Wellow Youth Football Club for extra storage space. The Football Club continues to lease the pavilion and pitches from the Parish Council and was desperate for additional storage facilities, struggling for space to store kit and other equipment. A large storage building was erected in the Autumn to solve this problem, thereby freeing up the main recreational area of the clubhouse.
We are currently looking into ways of solving drainage issues with the pitches at Hatches Farm, which unfortunately have led to the disruption of some training sessions and postponed matches, due to waterlogged pitches.
Car parking is also becoming a problem for all users of the venue, particularly the lack of parking spaces, especially for the Football Club which now coaches more than 200 youngsters. The car park surface has seriously deteriorated over the years and a point has been reached where it has been necessary to tow cars out during heavy periods of prolonged rain. The Council is in the process of obtaining quotes to undertake a complete renovation of the car park along with extending it to cater for the increase in demand. Grant funding is being be applied for to help with financing this project.
Wellow Common SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest)
As landowners of Wellow Common, the Parish Council continues to manage this low- level heathland in accordance with the approved Management Plan, under the auspices of Natural England, from whom a grant of around £18,000 per annum is received. This money is ring-fenced and must be used specifically to cover the costs of implementing the Management Plan under a Higher Level Stewardship agreement. The current funding arrangements run until January 2019 and the future of such agreements will be impacted by new post-Brexit legislation. Unfortunately, although Natural England representatives are cautiously optimistic about future funding for Wellow Common beyond 2020, it is not clear exactly how the new arrangements will work, even at this late stage.
In the last year the usual bracken clearance, gorse burning and rhododendron removal was undertaken, along with some thinning of silver birches and the removal of a dead Scots pine. In addition, smaller remedial activities have taken place such as re- positioning of the green bins at the Plantation Car Park, so that access isn’t hampered by a huge pool of water during poor weather, replacing the worn padlock at the gate at Pickett Hill and monies were spent on ragwort removal. The Parish Council continues to appeal for volunteers to help with removal of ragwort later in the spring, please contact the Clerk email: [email protected] for more information or to register your interest.
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The Parish Council is very fortunate to own the Common but managing this special environment alongside the demands of recreational users is a constant challenge. It has been particularly disturbing to receive reports in the past year of activities such as quad-biking, overnight camping and drone-flying taking place at the Common, all activities that are not welcomed by the Parish Council.
Footpaths
Wellow Parish Council continues to monitor the 24 footpaths/Rights of Way around the Parish and arrange maintenance work as required. The Council takes advantage of ‘the Lengthsman Scheme’ run by Hampshire County Council whereby our £1,000 budget is match funded by HCC for footpath maintenance. The Parish Council also takes up the offer of HCC’s Rights of Way team to identify 4 or 5 footpaths each year to be included on the County’s Rights of Way Priority Cutting List.
Major clearance and improvement is generally concentrated on the most frequently used footpaths and in the past year this has included the following: Footpath 7 (St Margaret’s Church to Foxe’s Lane) - major cut back of tree and vegetation growth Footpath 17 (Gazing Lane to footpath 18) - reforming of the drainage ditch, laying of hard core on path, cutting back of tree and vegetation growth and removal of fallen tree Footpath 18 (Romsey Road to Buttons Lane) - major cut back of tree and vegetation growth Footpath 22 (Foxes Lane to Scallows Lane) – major cut back of tree and vegetation growth, new bridge over stream and two metal kissing gates installed.
A copy of the map showing each footpath is available on our website or from the Parish Office.
When footpath issues are encountered by parishioners this can be reported at the Hampshire Rights of Way online system https://www.hants.gov.uk/landplanningandenvironment/rightsofway/reportaproblem as well as informing the Parish Council.
Wellow Recreation Ground
Maintenance of the Recreation ground in general continues, supervised by Cllr Sue Jones. This includes undertaking regular risk assessments and overseeing maintenance and repairs to the playground and sports apparatus.
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This year general maintenance included repairs to the seesaw and multi-play equipment and painting the goal posts. The wooden roundabout alongside the play area was completely renovated and returned to its former glory and a new waste bin was also installed near to the Youth Shelter, replacing the old one which was beyond repair. Work is in hand for replacing the signs at the Play Area.
Litter Picking
Two litter picking days around the village were organised in 2017-2018, manned by a handful of volunteers and Council members. Over 50 bags of rubbish were collected over those two days. More volunteers are needed to help keep the Parish free of litter and grime – the litter pick dates are advertised well in advance on the Council notice boards, the website and social media. If you would like to get involved in litter picks then please contact the Clerk or Cllr John Sampson email [email protected].
The Council would like to thank those parishioners who are active themselves clearing litter. Every little helps towards keeping our village looking clean and smart.
The Council had some response from last year’s volunteer request for assistance in litter picking. However, there is a safety requirement to have a minimum number of volunteers in a group together so there is still a need for more volunteers to take further steps. Please contact the Clerk or Cllr John Sampson email: [email protected] for more information or to register your interest.
Remembrance Sunday/Wellow Poppy Appeal 2017
Once again there was an excellent attendance at the Wellow Memorial for the 2017 Remembrance Day Service. As usual, the Parish Council provided refreshments at Wellow Village Hall after the Parade. Thank you to everyone involved with the preparations.
The total banked to date for the 2017 Wellow Poppy Appeal organised by Phil Stenner is £4,911.83, but Phil expects this to be nearer £5,100 when the appeal ends on 30.09.2018. Phil would like to thank the businesses who had collection boxes, all of his collectors, and everyone who supported the Poppy Appeal.
Vandalism/Fly tipping
Thankfully there has been a decline in vandalism of Parish assets over the last year compared to the previous twelve months. However, the bus shelter at Whinwhistle Road was vandalised recently and work is in hand to replace the shattered panel. Reports of fly tipping are unfortunately on the increase. Unless this is on Parish WPC Annual Parish Meeting 25.04.2018
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Council land, fly tipping falls under the remit of Test Valley Borough Council and should be reported via their website at http://www.testvalley.gov.uk/mytestvalley
Keeping in Touch with Parishioners
Keeping Parishioners informed about Parish Council activities is important and we now do this in a variety of ways. The homepage of our website http://www.wellowparish.org.uk is updated with current issues and agendas and minutes of meetings are regularly uploaded. The Parish Council continues to produce its quarterly newsletter the Nightingale Times, which is also available to view on the website.
Details of Parish Council meetings are displayed on the notice boards located around the Parish and we do our best to accommodate requests from local organisations to put up notices about their events. Posters received into the office are routinely posted on our Facebook page.
During the last year we have made the transition to social media. Karen, our Admin Assistant has taken on responsibility for this and since April 2017 the number of followers on our Facebook page has grown from 260 to 417. It was through social media that we assisted the Church in finding an emergency first aider for last year’s summer fete.
Parish Council Finances 2017/2018
The attached Balance Sheet for 2017/2018 at Appendix 1 shows that Wellow Parish Council has total Assets, less Current Liabilities of £157,347. This includes a general reserve of £36,012, a small increase of around £2,600 compared to last year. Wellow Parish Council’s 2017/2018 Precept was £65,000, the same as 2016/2017. The remaining reserves have decreased as expected due to the new Cricket Pavilion and the remaining reserves are earmarked for future projects as listed on the Balance Sheet.
The 2017/2018 figures used to produce these reports have been audited by the Internal Auditor to the end of February 2018. Final accounts are due to be inspected by the Internal Auditor towards the end of May and will be finalised in time to meet
the requirement to submit the annual return. PKF Littlejohn, the External Auditor, has requested the Wellow Parish Council annual return on or before 11th June 2018.
Any person interested has the right to inspect the account and all related documents. These documents are to be made available on reasonable notice by application between the hours of 10.00am and 12.00 noon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
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Thursdays commencing on Monday 11th June 2018 up to Friday 20th July 2018. Please contact the Clerk to make an appointment and for further details. Local electors and their representatives have the right to question the External Auditor about the accounts and object to the accounts or any item on them. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the External Auditor and a copy sent to the council/meeting. The External Auditor can be contacted for this purpose from Monday 11th June 2018 until Friday 20th July 2018. Additional charges will be made by the External Auditor for any time spent on electors’ questions or objections.
Accounts are shown at Appendices 1 and 2. Detailed accounts are available on request. Monthly Income and Expenditure Reports can be viewed on the Parish website along with the Council’s Minutes.
Grants
During the past year, the Parish Council has awarded small grants to the following organisations – Wellow Primary School £1,000; Wellow Lunch Club £500; Simon Says £150; Victim Support £150; The Mountbatten School £200.
Further details including our grant funding policy and application forms are available on our website. Alternatively, contact the Clerk.
I would now like to take the opportunity to thank my fellow Councillors for all their hard work and enthusiasm. As volunteers, they all have many other personal commitments but always find the time needed to work on your behalf. Many thanks also to Sharon and Karen who work so hard in the office dealing with the day to day issues whilst at the same time keeping us Councillors informed and in line.
Finally, thank you to all of you for your input whether positive or negative and for your patience when it isn’t always possible to give an instant response. I can assure you that all of us do our best and will continue to do so.
Mrs Gaye Chesterton-Kay Chairman, Wellow Parish Council
3. Representation on External Committees and Bodies
Wellow Primary School Gaye Chesterton-Kay/Harmeet Singh Brar
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Test Valley Association of Parish John Sampson/Harmeet Singh Brar Councils Village Hall Committee Gaye Chesterton-Kay Roke Manor & Squabb Wood Liaison Mike Jones/Sue Jones Panels New Forest Association/North East Alan Clark/Harmeet Singh Brar/Trevor Quadrant Grant New Forest Consultative Panel Alan Clark/Harmeet Singh Brar/Trevor Grant
4. Parish Council Members and Officers
4.1 Parish Council Members’ Responsibilities 2017/18
Please see attached Appendix 3.
4.2 Parish Council Officers
Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer: Mrs Sharon Whitehouse
Parish Office, Wellow Village Hall, Buttons Lane, West Wellow, SO51 6BR Tel: 01794 323275 Email: [email protected]
Public drop-in hours: Tues, Wed, Thurs 10.00am – 12 noon.
Reports from Wellow Sports Clubs 2017/18
WELLOW & PLAITFORD CRICKET CLUB
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The Adult team were unbeaten champions of the Hampshire Northwest 2 league and have now been promoted to a higher league for this season.
The Club had three Colts teams last year, U9s, U11s, and U13s. The U9s gave an impressive performance all season, finishing joint 3rd in the table and reached the 2nd round of the cup. The U11s had a great season winning 8 out of 10 matches finishing 3rd in the league and got through to the quarter finals of the cup. The U13s only won 2 out of 8 games in a very hard league. However, they were short of players at the beginning of the season, but had great commitment and upheld the name of Wellow Colt cricket. All of the Clubs teams are now looking forward to the new season and utilizing the new pavilion facilities.
WELLOW YOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB
Despite weather in the past season that would have been more suitable for water polo rather than football, the Wellow Youth Football Club has had yet another successful year providing team football for children in and around the Wellow area. In the past year, we have expanded the number of regular participants from 150 to 210, split between nine sides that represent the village at ages ranging from under 8 to under 18’s. Although the teams are very important, the main expansion has come at the younger age groups of 5, 6 and 7-year olds, where we only offer training and the Saturday morning sessions held both at Hatches Farm, and at our neighbour, Headlands Farm, are extremely busy leading us to expand the number of qualified coaches to five. The club also continues to encourage and help our coaches to get their FA Coaching badges, and we have also seen some of the village youth train to get their referee qualifications.
Thousands of people continue to either participate or watch competitive football matches at Hatches Farm, and it has been yet another year of the facility being fully used by the community, and we try to encourage groups of youths to come along to use the goals outside our normal training sessions.
Although the philosophy and ethos of the club is very much centred on participation and player development rather than ‘winning at all costs’, this has still been a good year for several of our sides, and particular mention should go to our Under 12 and Under 13 sides who are both set fair for promotion from their respective leagues this year, along with the Under 9 side that has competed strongly in one of the top youth leagues in the area, with one of the players being signed on by Bournemouth Academy, and two others set to move on to Academy football next year.
Football in Wellow continues to thrive, although we could always do with willing volunteers to help run the committee and ensure that the club continues to thrive into the future.
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WELLOW TENNIS CLUB
2017 saw the 30th anniversary of Wellow Tennis Club since it was started up in 1987. A celebration was held on 7th July 2017 with a number of the original members (many who are still actively involved in the club) attending.
WTC continues to have a thriving social tennis scene with well attended "mix-in" sessions held throughout the year on Thursday and Saturday mornings whatever the weather! During the summer, there is also a "mix-in" session on Friday evenings with a monthly BBQ held on the 1st Friday of every month. These are very popular with the members, as are the club tournaments held every 2 months where all abilities are encouraged to come and take part.
Competitively, for a small village club, WTC participate in several Southampton and Salisbury Leagues very successfully considering the small pool of players available compared to larger clubs. There was a particularly pleasing result this last year with the Sarum A team winning the top division of the Sarum League for the first time in 20 years! Both the Ladies Vets and Mens A teams won their respective divisions too in the Southampton league. In the Sarum tournament held at Salisbury Tennis Club in April 2017, both the A and B event were won by Wellow pairs.
As with many other sports clubs, WTC are continually striving to maintain/increase the membership numbers in order to keep the club going as a viable concern. There is no guarantee that it will always be there without more members and village support. Offering coaching (particularly juniors) is still our biggest disappointment but it's not through lack of effort. The solution is very difficult to find. The recent launch of the new club website will hopefully help to promote the club to attract new members.
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Councillor Responsibilities APPENDIX 3
Chair Gaye Chesterton-Kay Vice-Chair John Saunders Clerk/Parish Council Officer Sharon Whitehouse Environmental Working Group Common Management Sue Jones/Mike Jones/John Sampson/Ed Chesterton-Kay Buxton Land Trees Burial Ground Phil Stehr Commoners Defence Harmeet Singh Brar Communication Working Group Newsletter Trevor Grant – Editor Website/Social Media Harmeet Singh Brar/Clerk Community engagement Harmeet Singh Brar Finance Working Group John Saunders Phil Stehr Budget Management John Sampson Ed Chesterton-Kay Grants Harmeet Singh Brar Trevor Grant Hatches Farm Working Group Sports Pavilion John Saunders Football Pitches & surrounding areas Alan Clark Trim trail John Saunders Hampshire Association of Local Councils Harmeet Singh Brar (HALC) Clerk Highways Working Group Footpaths and Licensed sites John Sampson/Alan Clark/Mike & Sue Jones Public transport Harmeet Singh Brar/John Sampson/Trevor Grant Community Speedwatch Gaye Chesterton-Kaye Lengthsman Scheme Harmeet Singh Brar/John Sampson Lower Common Road Recreation Ground Working Group Gaye Chesterton-Kay Recreation Ground Mike Jones Existing Pavilion John Saunders Play Area Sue Jones Community Garden Ed Chesterton-Kay/John Sampson Planning & General Purposes Committee John Saunders (Chair) Mike Jones Harmeet Singh Brar Phil Stehr Gaye & Ed Chesterton-Kay Sue Jones Alan Clark Flooding Harmeet Singh Brar/John Sampson Minerals and Waste Plan i. Roke & ii. Squabb Wood Mike Jones/Sue Jones Neighbourhood Planning Working Group Phil Stehr/Harmeet S Brar/Trevor Grant Policy and Staffing Working Group Gaye Chesterton-Kay (Chair) John Saunders Phil Stehr Mike Jones Harmeet Singh Brar New Forest Association New Forest North East Quadrant Alan Clark/Harmeet Singh Brar/Trevor Grant New Forest Consultative Panel Test Valley Assoc of Parish Councils (TVAPC) John Saunders/John Sampson/Harmeet Singh Brar Village Hall PC representative Gaye Chesterton-Kay Wellow School PC representative Gaye Chesterton-Kay/Harmeet Singh Brar Wellow Parish Lower Common Road John Saunders Ed Chesterton-Kay Recreation Ground Community Pavilion Alan Clark Gaye Chesterton-Kay Construction Working Group Sue Jones Gypsy & Traveller Liaison Harmeet Singh Brar/Alan Clark
Councillor Members/Councillor responsibilities 2016/2017 Updated 12.04.2017