Blackwater and Hawley Town Council Council Offices, Blackwater Centre, 12-14 London Road, Blackwater, Surrey GU17 9AA Tel: (01276) 33050 www.blackwaterandhawleytowncouncil.gov.uk

Minutes of The Annual Town Meeting of the Electorate At the Hawley Leisure Centre, Hawley Green Monday 22 nd March 2010 at 7.30 pm.

In Attendance Cllr Blewett, Cllr Collett, Cllr Smith and Mr Gahagan, executive officer. Thirteen residents, three guests – Mrs Chris Bridger, Women’s Institute; Mr Robert Thain and Mr Daniel Hawes, Council Planning. In the absence of the Chair of the Council it was agreed that the Vice Chair Cllr Blewett, would chair the meeting. 1. Chair’s Welcome The Vice Chair Cllr Blewett opened the meeting and welcomed the residents and guest speakers. 2. Apologies for Absence Apologies were received from Cllrs Robinson, Barrell and Clarke. 3. To Receive the Minutes of The Annual Town Meeting The minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on the 23rd March 2009 were received. Cllr Smith proposed approval of the minutes as a correct record for signature by the Chair and Mr Alan Freakes seconded the proposal. 4. Matters Arising There were no matters arising from the minutes. 5. The 2009-10 Annual Report Quality Parish . This has been the first full year that Blackwater and Hawley Town Council has been a Quality Parish after being awarded this status on Tuesday 24 th February 2009. In Hart, only South Warnborough Parish Council and Town Council share this honour with us. This recognises a great deal of work done by our staff to improve the performance of the Council and I would like to place on record our appreciation of our staff’s quest for continuous improvement in both our performance and the services we provide Children’s Play Area . The new children’s play area on Hawley Green continues to prove very popular. This is a much safer and attractive place for parents to take their young children, being well observed by passers-by on both Hawley Road and Fernhill Road. The play area was funded from developer contributions from the Toad Lane development on the old Entecon site. The Council is planning to add an extra piece of play equipment for younger children within the next couple of months. Pedestrian Phase at the Traffic Lights . This is also a very convenient location for parents and children after school collection time at Hawley Primary School and it now benefits from a push- button pedestrian phase at the traffic lights, which was installed during the last year. As well as helping parents get across the road with their children, this pedestrian phase also helps many others who have to cross the road at this dangerous and confusing location. The pedestrian phase works were also paid for out of developer contributions from the old Entecon site. Budget – No Council Tax Increase . Following the loss of half of the parish’s population to Rushmoor in the 1990s, and the withdrawal some seven years ago of grant support from Hart District Council for the costs of the Leisure Centre, the Council has faced a challenge to balance the budget for some years now. This challenge is even greater with Ancells being removed from our (cont) st 1 parish from 1 st April 2010 as part of the Hart parish boundary review. The Council continues to work hard to reduce costs in every way we reasonably can, whilst increasing income by getting more people to use our facilities. As a result of this work, there is no increase in the council tax once again this year for the third year running, following a very low increase of just 0.3% the year before that. New Parish Boundary . Two years ago the big issue we were dealing with was the Parish Review being carried out by Hart Council. This followed a petition from residents of asking for a Town Council for their area. The outcome of the review was that three new town councils are being set up from 1 st April for Church Crookham, Elvetham Heath and Fleet, none of which have town councils at the moment. In addition will become a separate parish on its own on the same date, instead of being part of parish. Our ancient parish boundary runs through the middle of what is now the Ancells Farm estate. As a result of this half of that estate is in our parish and half is not. It was clear that the whole estate would want to be part of the new Fleet parish, so this Council agreed not to oppose their move into Fleet, although we will be sad to lose our friends in Ancells. This, however, will mean a further loss of around 20% of our council taxpayers, but also a reduction in our costs as the various Ancells facilities are handed over to the new Council. Your Councillors . During the past year we were pleased to welcome aboard Keith Clarke to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Celia Hennell. Your councillors, therefore, are; Ancells Ward - Anthony Barrell; Blackwater Ward - Brian Blewett, Keith Clarke, Richard Robinson; Hawley & Ward – Adrian Collett, Jeff Smith, Nigel Milton-Tomkins Council Website . The Council has been planning a new website for some time now. With our budget challenges we run with very few staff, so work has to be prioritised. This has meant that the new website has not happened as quickly as we would have liked, but our executive officer is confident that it will be ready for launch during April. Newsletters . In the past 12 months we have produced four Town Council Newsletters, three of which were distributed to every house in the parish. The Newsletters are designed to keep people informed about what’s going on in Blackwater and Hawley. It is planned that we will make our newsletters available on our new website once it has been launched. Councillors’ Surgeries . Eight times a year the Council holds a Saturday morning Councillors’ Surgery, where any of our residents can come along and talk to us about local issues or concerns. While these are not particularly well attended, those who do come along tell us how much they appreciate them. Surgery dates for the rest of 2010 are 5 th June, 3 rd July, 4 th September, 2 nd October, 6 th November and 4 th December, all starting at 10.00 am. Our Staff . The councillors would like to place on record our appreciation of the tremendous work done by Tom Gahagan and all the Council’s staff. Without their efforts people would really notice the difference around the parish. Coping with our challenging financial situation requires a little bit more, and they give that while still being cheerful and helpful to members of the public that we all serve. So a big thank you is due to all our staff. Planning Applications . Cllr Blewett summarised the planning applications received during the year from the planning authority. Financial Summary . Cllr Blewett summarised the Council’s financial performance from the audited accounts for 2008-09. Income £390,787; Expenditure £327,258. He also summarised (cont) 2 the change in the Council Tax charges in the last four years from the 2006-2007 financial year to the 2010-2011 one for a band ‘D’ household. During this period the County Council element of the Council charge had increased by 14%; Hampshire Police increased by 22.5%; Hampshire Fire and Rescue increased by 14%; Hart District Council increased by 18%, Blackwater and Hawley Town Council increased by 0.3% (one third of one per cent). 6. Presentation by Mrs Chris Bridger – Women’s Institute Mrs Chris Bridger gave a short presentation on behalf of the Women’s Institute and the Chair thanked her for her presentation. 7. Presentation by Mr Robert Thain from Hart District Council on the Urban Density and Characteristic Study Mr Robert Thain, who was assisted by his colleague Mr Daniel Hawes, then gave a short presentation. The Chair thanked them both for their presentation. 8. To Consider Resolutions of which written notice has been received There were no written resolutions received. 9. To Receive Questions from the Floor A question was raised about somewhere for dog walkers to go in view of the Special Protection Area (SPA). In response the Council stated it was working in partnership with other principal authorities on the Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) at the nearby Hawley Meadows, which is maintained by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership. One question was raised about the occasional difficulty parking in the Hawley Memorial Hall car park. It was pointed out that there were two additional car-parking areas available on the site, one at the leisure centre and one by the outdoor multi purpose area. Another question was raised about developer’s contributions and the path on the Hawley Green. In response six other proposals had recently been submitted by this Council to Hart District Council as part of the developers contributions scheme administered by them. The path was an aspirational item and would be discussed at a forthcoming Hampshire County Council action team meeting. A question was raised about another item of equipment for the toddler age group in the play area. The Council was planning to add one piece of equipment in the next few months. Another question was raised about the pedestrian phasing at the Hawley Road junction. This was a Hampshire County Council matter and would be looked into. A question was raised about the Hart District Council car park in Green Lane adjacent to Lidls. It was unlikely that Hart District Council would re- open the car park (which had closed about six years ago) in view of the fact that Lidls had extended customer parking in the car park up to two hours. The Council’s understanding on the matter was however that Hart District Council was still in negotiations with Lidls. A question was raised about a streetlight not working. Although the Council owned some streetlights in the parish, the responsibility for their maintenance rested with Hampshire County Council. The street lighting throughout Hampshire would all be brought up to current standards in the next few years with Blackwater and Hawley’s to be completed by the end of 2013. The Council had committed to spend a bit more in order that all but five in an unadopted road could be adopted by Hampshire County Council thereby reducing ongoing annual maintenance costs by the end of 2013.

9 pm The meeting was brought to a close ______Ch air

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