MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH ASSEMBLY HELD ON 29 MAY 2014 AT THE VILLAGE HALL, HILL RIDWARE, COMMENCING AT 7.30PM 1. PRESENT Parish Cllr M Hill (Chair) and approximately 15 residents 2. WELCOME Cllr M Hill welcomed everyone to the Annual Parish Assembly for 2014 and thanked them for coming. 3. TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE PARISH ASSEMBLY HELD 16 MAY 2013 Resolved: to approve the minutes. Proposed by Cllr A Harrison and seconded by Cllr K Bowdler 4. MAVESYN RIDWARE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT A copy of the report from Mavesyn Ridware Parish Council is attached as Appendix 1. 5. REPORTS FROM OTHER VILLAGE ORGANISATIONS a. Ridware History Society (Mark Eades) – Was formed twenty years ago and currently has approximately 17 members. Winter programme involves speakers especially with a local interest. Summer programme is based on visits and field trips. Study group consists of approximately ten members who study, research and publish booklets on local history. An open history day will be held at the village hall in July. b. HS2 Action Group (Anthony Sutton) – only formed one year ago with a purpose to stop HS2 and keep all residents informed. They meet weekly in different pubs on a rota basis. Nigel Shepperson was thanked for his extensive reading. The group also organise workshops, information days and fundraising events. c. Flower club (Carmel Hemmings) – report attached as Appendix 2. d. WI (Desley Baldock) – report attached as Appendix 3. e. Bowls Club (Geoff Evans) – report attached as Appendix 4 f. Henry Chadwick Parents and Friends (Kate Allman) – meet approximately 3 or 4 times per year and generally consists of mums at the school. Purpose is to raise money for the school. Recent purchases include digital cameras, stage extensions, playground shelter, coaches for trips, ice lollies for sports day, school discos, summer fair, Christmas fair and other social events. g. Village Hall Committee (Ann Harrison) Hall has had a successful year due to the hard work of the committee. New shutters have been installed with thanks to grants from WI, Parish Council and Norman Barber. New cooker has also been installed. Future events include a hog roast, WWI tea, Live and Local events. Hall is used on a regular basis but the hire charges are not enough as £10,000 needed every year. h. Toddler Group (Ann Harrison) – Started in September and has approximately 8 – 15 each week. Future events include a teddy bear’s picnic and visit to the school. Mavesyn Ridware Parish Assembly Page 1 of 6 6. NEIGHBOURHOOD ISSUES AND CONCERNS The following concerns were noted: It was noted that hedges and verges on the surrounding lanes required cutting. A request was made for daffodil planters at the entrance to the village. The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and councillors for time and attendance. Meeting closed at 8.05pm ……………………….……………………………………………… Signed by Chair/Vice Chair ……………......…… Date Mavesyn Ridware Parish Assembly Page 2 of 6 Appendix 1 - Mavesyn Ridware Parish Council Chairman’s Report CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2014 Hopefully you will have seen a copy of the Annual Report for the Parish Council. It is a short summary of the activities of the council over the last year. Every year we deal with the same issues that never seem to go away. The main issue is always dog poo and further to requests from residents a new bin has been installed by the Bull and Specs for dog walkers in that area. We hope that it is being well used. The council is currently working to make small but necessary improvements to the play area. It would be nice to make big improvements in the future and bring it up to date. However - this is a big project and a lot of work will be needed to get the necessary funding and to design the perfect play area. If there is anyone willing to help take on this project then please let us know. HS2 is also a hot topic with everyone worried about what it will do to the parish whilst it is being built and also when it is in use. The Ridwares against HS2 Action Group have worked hard to read, digest and summarise all of the legal documents to help us all understand the impact that HS2 will have. With the kind assistance of Nigel Shepperson and the Ridwares against HS2 Action Group the Council has delivered a petition against the HS2 Hybrid Bill – one of the 1,925 delivered to Westminster. A pedestrian crossing had been agreed with Cameron Homes and Staffordshire County Council but unfortunately the funding was not received and Staffordshire Highways removed it from their work list. However, County Councillor Martyn Tittley has agreed to help us get the project started again. As always, we are grateful to our local policing team for their continued hard work and regular reports to the council regarding issues in the parish. PCSO Lisa Anderson has sadly left us but has been replaced with PCSO Ashley Bennett. Sharon Lycett has recently resigned as a parish councillor after several years of hard work. She was heavily involved in setting up and running the youth club - which has gone from strength to strength. Her voice of reason will be missed during the meetings but the council wishes her all the best for the future. That brings me to the end of my report and I would now like to ask other organisations to give their reports. Mavesyn Ridware Parish Assembly Page 3 of 6 Appendix 2 – Flower Club Report Hill Ridware Flower Club Hill Ridware Flower Club, which was formed over 40 years ago, meets every third Thursday at the Village Hall. It is run by Karen Wakefield – past winner of the Huxley Cup, a national competition hosted by the Women’s Institute. Karen tries to keep us all under her control whilst teaching us traditional, modern and contemporary flower arranging techniques. Our members come from the surrounding villages of Hamstall Ridware, Kings Bromley, Uttoxeter, Blithbury, Rugeley and as far afield as Whittington, Lichfield and Canwell, and of course Hill Ridware. We make new friends, pick up hints and tips as well as new ideas, and there is always lots of fun and laughter. Some of us help decorate local churches at Easter, Harvest and Christmas and Karen is also a member of the Flower Guild at Lichfield Cathedral. Next class – Thursday 5th June, 8.00p.m. at the Village Hall New members are always welcome Carmel Hemming – Secretary May 2014 Mavesyn Ridware Parish Assembly Page 4 of 6 Appendix 3 – The Ridwares Women’s Institute The Ridwares Women's Institute Our WI has had another varied and exciting year. Firstly we had the enlargement of the group when we welcomed Hamstall Ridware WI to Mavesyn Ridware WI and the institute became known as The Ridwares WI. We currently have 53 members with three more about to join us, making us the largest group in this area. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month at the village hall starting at 7.45pm. The group are involved in many activities - the monthly coffee mornings are well supported and helps bring the community together. Local police support officers often attend and hold their surgery over coffee, this enables villagers to keep in touch and help to voice any concerns. The Pancake races held on Shrove Tuesday was well supported and the overall winner was Keith Vernon (chair of the Village Hall Committee). Members support the Parish Magazine with donations, collating and help to deliver to every house in the village. The afternoon teas continue to be successful, over 100 people attended the Welsh Tea in March and almost 80 came to the St. George's Day tea and this has enabled us to collect over £700 for our chosen charity - Midlands Air Ambulance and hope to reach our £1000 target before the end of the year. We support events arranged by our County Federation in Stafford and attend annual council meetings and Markets days and we continue to collect "coins for friendship" for the projects undertaken in support of the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW). A number of members are keen quizzers and support the local quiz each month which supports local charities. The Craft Club meet every fortnight and are presently working on a new banner for our Institute. This year saw a new venture for us with a "Make Zings" evening for mothers and daughters giving them an opportunity to learn new crafts, this will be repeated again later in the year. Members were also invited to take part in The Holy Writ project which is currently on display at Lichfield cathedral and were asked to embellish squares of fabric which were then put together to make a beautiful cloak. In June 2013 the WI served refreshments to over 400 cyclists when the village hall was a designated check point for the Brewood Scouts Cycle Challenge. Our walking group meet once a week and continue to "litter pick" on our way through the village and the lanes. We added another rose to the rose bed this year in memory of Rita Grey and planted up the troughs outside the village hall and a small flower bed is also planted up at the top of church lane. We continue to support Henry Chadwick school and made a donation of £400 to the village hall towards the purchase of shutters. The Tinsel and Trimmings evening in December was again very well supported and the Rugeley Power Station Brass Band was in attendance for the switching on of the Christmas tree lights which was done by Scott Carson and local girls Abbie and Ellie Holloway.