MORTIMER WEST END PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of the Council Date: Thursday 16th March 2017 Time: 7.30pm Place: Mortimer West End Village Hall Present: Cllr Robertson (Chair) Cllr Jonathon Bray Cllr Andrew Arthur In Attendance: Christine McGarvie (Clerk) 17 members of the public Edward Crookes – Englefield Estate Cllr Marilyn Tucker (Borough) Richard Edwards– Englefield Estate PCSO Aimee Scott-Malloy Grant Munn - BT Glenn Peacey – HCC
Apologies: Cllr Thurlow Cllr Roger Gardiner Graham Dennis (Hampshire Wildlife Mrs D Povey - Silver Circle Trust) Anthony Dench - Chairman MWECC Heather Sims (Village Hall Nick Munson – Mortimer Produce Show Committee) Adam Green - Burghfield FC Michael Hatch (Relief in Need) Marion Wyatt – Parochial Parish Church
Action 1 Minutes of the Parish Assembly held on 17th May 2016 These were approved soon after the 2016 Annual Parish Assembly. The minutes were acknowledged. 2 Chairman’s Welcome and introduction to the meeting Cllr Robertson welcomed everyone to the meeting. He gave his report (appendix A). 3 Guest Speakers – Glenn Peacey HCC Superfast Broadband and Grant Munn (BT) Glenn gave an overview of the HCC Superfast broadband project. The government’s initial target was to reach 90% coverage. Which left 20% of the country without a solution. 80% of coverage was achieved with commercial money. There was then a £10million pound project , partly funded by the government and partly by HCC to reach the next 10% of properties. The second contract was to reach 95% of properties by the end of this year. The cost of reaching these areas increases as they reach more remote areas and the revenue potential becomes lower. 25,000 properties are expected to be upgraded during this phase of the project. There is now a 7.8 million additional fund with the aim of reaching 97.4% by end 2019. BT are currently drawing up a plan for this. There will also be a £1mill fund for match funding for community led solutions in order to reach the last 2.5% of properties. Glenn encouraged residents to check their postcodes on their website and register their interest so that they can be kept informed of developments. https://www.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com/ Member of public asked whether the Access community fund is only with BT and the answer was that it is at the moment. However, there is also a ‘Better Basic Broadband subsidy’ which can be applied for if you have speeds below 2mb. APA 2017 minutes Page 1 of 18 16th March 2017
Action Groups of residents can use this grant together to use another supplier such as wireless. However, this source of funding is closing at the end of the year. Another member of the public asked if they had considered using Gigaclear. Glenn said that they did tender for the contract but didn’t have the required scale at that time. Grant Munn from BT Described how service for Mortimer West End is in the most part delivered from a cabinet Silchester 6. He explained that slow speeds are due to the distance of most properties from the exchange. Silchester 6 has a fibre cabinet next to the copper cabinet. If you are near to it you may get up to 67-80mb. 24mb and above is considered superfast. An alternative solution is putting fibre into premises, considered ultra fast. This is used where there is high density and also in very rural areas. Fibre into all premises in rural areas could end up cheaper. Some people in village are served by PCP 1 (which is in West Berks and not covered by this scheme) and some by PCP 6. BT will be surveying in the village during June/July. The hope is to provide an fttp (fibre to the premises) solution. The aim would be to implement this October through December 2017 although this is dependent on the outcome of the survey and problems could occur with blockages in the ducts. Properties served by the exchange in Mortimer are not covered by this project. There were several questions from members of the public How do cabinets cope with power supply interruption as this does happen in MWE? They have batteries in the cabinet. If the fttp solution is chosen you would need equipment in your house which would have a back-up unit. What speed service would we get? 200mb is the retail offer at the highest level. Will copper be obsolete in the future? Yes it will be in the future but not yet as needed for emergency services. There is a copper recovery programme What is criteria for choosing fttp versus another cabinet? Decision is made based on cost and potential revenue. They have to consider the amount of money in the budget. 4 Borough Councillors Report Report from Marilyn Tucker – Appendix B
5. Playground project – Appendix C from Cllr Nick Thurlow
6 Organisation reports Reports were given by the following organisations as follows: a. Englefield Estate – Edward Crookes and Richard Edwards – forestry manager. The estate is a family owned, land and property business. It is important that the estate is financially viable and can contribute to the local community. The estate owns 14000 acres of residential, commercial and farmland property. The impact of Brexit on agriculture has big implications both in the short term with effects on commodity prices and also longer term with the loss of CAP (common agricultural policy) support. Englefield are supporting a community project in Ufton to improve their broadband speeds using a wireless solution provided by Gigaclear. The estate has been working with Mortimer Parish Council on their NDP (Neighbourhood Development Plan). Ian Langrish the local warden is retiring at end of May. Mineral extraction –in 2011 Hanson submitted a planning application to extend gravel extraction in Benyons Enclosure, however due to the financial situation at the time it didn’t happen even though the application was approved in 2015. It is now likely that a new operator will be appointed in the next 3 or 4 months to APA 2017 minutes Page 2 of 18 16th March 2017
Action implement the extension outlined in this planning permission, with work to start at the first half of next year. The estate will look to set up a local liaison group with parish council once negotiations are complete. The project will go on for a number of years. Forestry management Many local groups have benefitted from visits to the Englefield forests including Silchester school, Scouts, Search and rescue dog training, and the Brownies. There has been harvesting work in Benyons enclosure. A tree safety survey is being done by an external contractor. Identifying those trees on highways that are a risk. Over the next 6 to 9 months some of these roadside trees will be removed or pruned to make them safe. The estate will also be replanting where trees have to be removed as their overall policy is to increase woodland. Benyons enclosure has 3km public pathways and 12km permissive footpaths. There are several diseases affecting trees in their forests which have to be taken into account when planning what to plant. Member of public raised issue of quad bikes in woodland. Advice is to phone 101 to report them. Bicycles are not allowed in the woodland and there are no plans to change this. The warden will be retiring this year. b. Hampshire Police – PCSO Aimee Scott-Molloy, Appendix D Clerk Responsible for Pamber and Silchester area which includes Mortimer West End. Incidents of quad bikes and motorbikes in the woods are still going on but Aimee explained that as a PCSO she has no powers outside of her own area and therefore incidents on the West Berkshire border are difficult to deal with. Residents should call 101 if they see a suspicious incident. Aimee stressed the need for greater home security and is happy to provide more advice in this area. Speeding – well aware of issues but resources are limited. Sheep on the road is a continual problem. Hampshire Alert is very popular and helpful. Question about speeding on chapel road. Residents concern about 50 speed limit on Chapel Road. Aimee to raise with colleagues. Beat report can be sent to residents and will be put on website by the clerk. c. Mortimer West End Cricket Club – Anthony Dench Chairman - Appendix E
d. Parish Parochial Council – Marion Wyatt - Appendix F e. Trustees of the Gravel Allotment Trust – Cllr John Robertson Appendix G f. Calleva WI report – Appendix H g. Hampshire Wildlife Trust - Burnt Common – Appendix I h. District Annual Show – presented by Nick Munson – Appendix J i. Relief in Need charity – presented by Cllr Robertson. Appendix K j. Village Hall Management Committee – Appendix L k. Burghfield Football club – Appendix M 7. Election of village hall committee Chairman Heather Sims Secretary Virginia Bray Treasurer & Produce Show Rep Stephanie Merrison Parish Council Rep Andrew Arthur Silver Circle Rep Beryl Donnelly Committee Member Clive Rumble Committee Member Brian Totham
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Action Members were read out to the meeting, no objections were raised and all were duly elected. 8. Open forum No questions were raised. 9. Any other business The meeting closed at 9.35pm
Signed: …………………………………………………………………. Date:……………………………………… (Chairman)
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Appendix A Chairman’s report REPORT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL FOR 2016/2017
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome and thank-you for attending our Mortimer West End Parish Assembly.
I am John Robertson, chairman of your Parish Council and it is my pleasure to introduce the other councillors.
It has been a year of change in the make-up of the council, our Parish Clerk Maxta Thomas leaving on 27th May and Fraser Brown leaving us in September last year. We thank both of them for their contribution to the Council’s activities during their tenures. We welcomed two new councillors Jonathon Bray and Andrew Arthur and a new clerk Christine McGarvie into the council over the past year. Nick Thurlow is now in his fourth year as a councillor. He is the vice-chairman of the council and is our representative on Basingstoke & Deane Association of Parish & Town Councils and Clarke’s Educational Trust. Andrew Arthur represents us on the Village Hall committee, Jonathon Bray is our Footpath Inspector and I represent the Council on the Mortimer Relief In Need Charity, the AWE Local Liaison Committee and the Roman Town Advisory Committee.
I will now give you my Report for the past year.
Regarding Gravel Extraction from Benyon`s Enclosure you will be aware that this is “on hold” at the moment and Edward Crookes of Englefield Estates will give us an accurate update on the present situation when he makes his Report to this meeting.
One of our functions as a Council is to review Planning applications within the Parish and pass our comments on to Basingstoke & Deane Planning Department. These are, in the main, to do with building extensions. We make a point of speaking with immediate neighbours regarding applications and taking note of any comments.
Our local Police Liaison Officer is PCSO Aimee Scott-Molloy who will give a Report later in the Meeting. We have not progressed a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme for Church Road, Welshmans Road and Turk Lane but as mentioned at this meeting last year there is an alternative for anyone interested. This is called Hampshire Alert and can be accessed on the WEB at hampshirealert.co.uk. If you register you will become the recipient of messages on information, crime alerts and witness appeals local to this area. The Scheme plays a key role in preventing and detecting crime and anti-social behaviour and improves the flow of information between us, the community, and the police.
Speeding on the roads in the Parish continues to be a problem. Over the course of the year we hired a Speed Indicator Device from Hampshire County Council and this was installed for a one month period in both Soke Road and Church Road in locations already agreed with the Parish Council. Over a month we had approximately 5000 hits per week for speeding over 30 mph. There was a noticeable immediate reduction in traffic speed following their deployment which has gradually increased over time. We will repeat the deployment this year. The Police continue to utilise their speed detection equipment in Church Road at random intervals.
We have now discontinued our Village Blog web-site and a new web site has been created at mortimerwestendpc.org.uk with a link to Facebook. This is maintained by our Parish Clerk and all Parish Council Agendas and Minutes of Meetings are on it.
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Potholes remain a problem in the local roads as does fly-tipping. This is a particular problem in Stone Hill and having reported the problem to HCC we met them on site to discuss the problem. One positive answer to the continual nuisance of litter in ditches is the ability in the future to use the Lengthsman scheme . This is funded by HCC and we shall be able to hire from Pamber Parish Council their Lengthsman to carry out various tasks such as ditch clearing, hedgerow sign clearing and litter picking.
Broadband speed and the introduction of faster broadband is an issue which affects most of us. To this end we have invited Glenn Peacey of Hampshire County Council and Grant Munn of British Telecom to give us an update on the propsals for this area, that is an overview on the upgrade programme and the BT infrastructure in the area.
As Parish councillors we are Trustees of MWE Gravel Allotments Trust which makes us responsible for the Recreation Ground and the Allotments. Use of the Rec Ground is rented out to MWE Cricket Club and Burghfield Football Club on a yearly basis. We have been granted funding from three different sources for the renewal of the equipment in the Childrens’ Play Area, that is Basingstoke & Deane Local Infrastructure Fund, Greenham Common Trust and Relief In Need Charity, and hope to proceed with the work in the near future.
I represent our Parish on the AWE Local Liaison Committee. Typically, at each meeting there is a presentation on the current environmental, safety and health records, reports on new building work being undertaken and presentations on various subjects. The MOD after investigation and consultation have stated that Aldermaston and Burghfield sites are not to be selected as the location for the storing of nuclear reactors from dismantled submarines. If any of you require information on what is discussed at these liaison meetings the Minutes are available on the AWE web site or you can ask me personally.
I represent the Parish on Silchester Roman Town Joint Advisory Panel. Our presence on this Panel is that the Roman Amphitheatre is in our Parish. English Heritage have the Guardianship of the site and the freehold is owned by Hampshire County Council with their Countryside Service managing the site.
My final representation is on the Relief-In-Need Charity. This charity is for the benefit of the parishioners in Wokefield , Mortimer and Mortimer West End.
Wine with savoury snacks including cheese and biscuits shall be available at the end of the Meeting so please stay behind and take the opportunity to have a chat with your councillors , your neighbours and friends. A quick thankyou to my wife Lynne for providing the goodies.
John.A.Robertson
Appendix B Cllr Marilyn Tucker – APA report
Rates – Unfortunately the Borough has had to put up our rate this year which means the Borough’s amount for a Band D property is £111.42 and with HCC, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and your Parish precept the total for a Band D property is £1,515.56 or 10 months at £151.56.
BDBC has always been known as a pretty wealthy borough but investments these days do not produce the interest rates they used to. Therefore they are proposing to invest in more assets for the future. APA 2017 minutes Page 6 of 18 16th March 2017
Top Personnel changes – As I mentioned last year the Borough has a new CX (Mel Barrett) and a new Executive Director for Borough Services (Rebecca Emmett), both of whom have requested and visited our ward and Roger and I have shown them around. Sadly our other Executive Director (Laura Taylor) has left us to become CX of Winchester City Council. We advertised for a replacement but unfortunately the candidate chosen declined the offer. The role has now been changed to a Deputy CE/Executive Director and readvertised.
Jane Austen Statue
Jane Austen lived her first 25 years in Steventon. There are many events being held to mark the 200th anniversary this year of her death. especially local artist Adam Roud has been commissioned to create the first statue of Jane Austen in bronze which will be placed outside the Willis Museum at the top of the town. I understand the unveiling will be on the anniversary of her death on Monday 10th July. Fund raising for the statue is being led by the town’s MP, Maria Miller through trust grants and individual donations.
Local Plan covering development to 2029 has been approved
For the local plan it is essential that the Borough has at least a 5 year land supply for development. If we can’t prove that, areas of land are at risk of being refused by the Borough but granted by the Inspectorate which was what was happening previously prior to its approval.
An outline planning application for the area of land west of Basingstoke, owned jointly by the Borough and the County Council and known as Manydown, has been submitted. This is expected to be developed over the whole plan period amounting to approx. 3,200 houses. This area should not affect MWE, but other sites to the east of Basingstoke will affect the traffic going north and south on the A33. Improvements to roundabouts etc. are proposed but I fear they might only help with the present traffic not the future traffic.
Bin Collections
The present contract is coming to an end and it is out for retendering. Due to government requiring us to cover all ways of collection we are having to include alternate weekly collections for our grey bins (general waste). It does not mean that is what BDBC wants to happen though. What are your views?
Basingstoke Leisure Park
As I mentioned last year discussions are still going on with NewRiver Retail to redevelop the Leisure Park in Basingstoke. Many of the facilities need upgrading and NewRiver are proposing upgrading and enhancing the whole of it (except Milestones Museum) and including a Designer Outlet Village adjacent to it. The latter would pay for the improvement of the other facilities. It is very exciting but it still at the discussion stage, not at planning application stage yet.
Rough Sleepers
Over £263,000 has been awarded by Government to fund specialist psychologists to work over three years with those people rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness in the borough.
John Lewis and Waitrose in Basingstoke APA 2017 minutes Page 7 of 18 16th March 2017
The Green Charity Tokens can be given towards “The Dwelling Place” which is accommodation based service for single homeless people and we do of course encourage people to choose this charity.
Travellers in Silchester
Travellers have moved onto a site adjacent to Culhams Mill/sewerage works off the Little London Road and have submitted a planning application for 13 mobile homes. It hasn’t been registered yet as they had not included relevant information. BDBC have been to the High Court and obtained an Injunction to stop further works being done there.
Devolution
You may have heard about suggested devolution, i.e. changes to the way Local Government is organized. Lots of ideas but nothing agreed upon between BDBC and HCC as yet. The position seems to change from day to day, so it is a matter of watch this space.
MJT
May 2017
Appendix C Report on the Mortimer West End Playground
The children's play area adjacent to the cricket ground has been in existence for many years, and is widely used by Mortimer West End (and visiting) families, especially in the summer.
The playground itself is tired and dated, reflecting the design and construction standards of the 1980s. Although the playground is compliant with modern safety standards, it does not meet the highest standard possible that would be achieved with modern design and construction.
Approximately 2 years ago, MWE Parish Council embarked upon a project aimed at refurbishing the playground, giving local children a much improved playing experience as well as improving the safety standards of the playground. The achievement of this goal would mean a financial investment measured in the tens of thousands of pounds, so external funding would definitely be needed for the project to be successful.
Over the past 12 months, MWE Parish Councillors have received quotations and designs for the playground, ascertained potential sources of funding, put together bid documents and presented the case for the refurbishment of the play area. The MWE Parish Council is pleased to report that funding agreements have been received from 3 different sources.
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council - The Greenham Common Trust - The Relief in Need Charity
MWE Parish Council are still liaising with the funders to finalise details, but it is the current plan to start construction in the month of April with the build anticipated to last approximately 3 weeks. It is hoped that full details can be finalised at the MWE Parish Council meeting on Thursday 6th April.
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Appendix D Report from PCSO Aimee Scott- Molloy
PCSO 16140 Aimée Scott-Molloy
Contact your Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101
Or via email on [email protected]
(Please do not report incidents via email)
Incidents reported to Police 16/05/2016 – 15/03/2017
Total reported – 25
• 10 of these have been registered as crimes by the Home Office • 9 crimes reported in the year previous (15/05/2015-15/05/2016) Breakdown of incidents:
Anti-social behaviour (environmental/nuisance/personal) – 5
All 5 incidents are related to off-road motorcycle being driven within the woodland near to St Catherine’s Hill
Assault – 1
Burglary dwelling – 2
Burglary non-dwelling – 1
Criminal damage – 1
Domestic related incident – 1
Driving complaints – 1
Mental health related incident – 2
Public order incident – 1
Road traffic incident/collision – 4
Suspicious incident (people/vehicle/other) – 3
Theft – 2
Theft from vehicle – 1
Theft of vehicle – 1
Community policing priorities:
Mortimer West End shares the same three Policing priorities as the rest of the Basingstoke District:
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Dwelling burglary:
• There were 2 dwelling burglaries in Mortimer West End this year • One in June 2016, one in July 2016. Both incidents occurred during the day. • Mainly jewellery was taken. Also, money, electronics and tools. • 0 dwelling burglaries in the year previous
Non-dwelling burglary:
• There was 1 non-dwelling burglary in Mortimer West End this year • 0 non-dwelling burglaries in the year previous • Occurred in May 2016 • Garage break, believed to have happened when the garage was being used and unlocked.
Traffic offences:
• 4 road related incidents this year, including 3 collisions • 2 incidents of livestock in the road; 1 collision causing damage only. • 2 collisions causing minor injury Follow us on Twitter @BstokeRuralCops for regular updates on incidents in the area
Sign up for Hampshire Alerts on www.hampshirealert.co.uk – you can join the area most relevant to you to receive up to date crime information via email
To receive the monthly beat report, contact me via email to be added to the distribution list
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Appendix E Report from Mortimer West End Cricket Club
ACTIVITY REPORT 2016/17
Mortimer West End Cricket Club enjoyed high participation in the club’s playing activities in 2016. The three adult sides played over 50 matches on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and our junior sides from Under 9s to Under 15s played 34 matches in total in the period between Easter and the start of the summer holidays. We also hosted a small number of corporate matches, providing local companies with a cricket-based social occasion for their staff and customers.
Our competitive performance on the pitch was not up to the levels of prior years with only three wins for each of our 1st and 2nd XIs, and both teams were relegated at the end of the season. The Sunday friendly side fared better, winning 8 of their 22 matches.
Thursday evenings saw upwards of 50 children take part in our weekly junior training sessions under the guidance of our ECB-qualified coaches. The club is very fortunate to draw on the experience of Paul Bew, an ECB Level 3 coach to provide leadership and oversight of our junior programme. The competitive nature of junior cricket is a lesser focus for the club, with participation and fun being the priority, however we enjoyed successful campaigns in the Berkshire Youth Cricket League where our U11s finished third in their division and our U9s joint second.
Looking forward to the 2017 season, indoor training sessions for the junior and adult sides has started and we have a full fixture schedule in place for all of our teams. In addition, the club has recently invested £30,000 in a new outdoor cricket net facility at the ground. The cost of this project has been met through extensive fundraising efforts by the club over the past three years. We hope that this new facility will be an attraction to new members and improve the standard of cricket and cricket coaching that the club is able to offer.
The club earned the ECB’s ‘Clubmark’ status in 2009, and will be reassessed in 2017. ECB Clubmark shows that a club is well run and provides the right environment for our members. Clubmark accreditation also means that the club is recognised as a safe, rewarding and fulfilling place for participants of all ages, as well as assuring parents and carers that they are choosing the right option for their young people.
Anthony Dench MWECC Club Chairman
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Appendix F Report from Parish Parochial Church – Marion Wyatt St Saviour’s Annual Report 2016
2016 saw little change in the life of St Saviour’s. The Service pattern remained the same with 1st and 3rd Sunday 9am Eucharist, 2nd and 4th Sunday 6.30pm Evensong and midweek 2nd and 4th Thursdays 9 am Eucharist. Remembrance Sunday and Christingle, as always, were well attended which just shows that there is still a need amongst the Community for the traditional festivals if not regular (weekly) Church. We are very grateful to Rhona Johnson and Carole Wood who play the Organ for us at our Services. From the Quinquennial inspection which took place last year and the Architect’s comprehensive report which arrived at the beginning of the year this listed immediate work to be done and other defects to be attended to over a period of time. Of the immediate work to be done the gutters and roof have been attended to keep the church water tight. The rest will be dealt with over a period of time when finance allows. There has also been an Electrical Survey carried out at the suggestion of our Insurers which listed necessary work to be done some of which has been dealt with and some still to be done. We are looking into the replacement of the Lych Gates which are badly in need of attention There is nothing in the report that comes as a surprise to the PCC in a building that is 161 years old this year and we will do our best to deal with the defects over a period of time. The Churchyard also requires regular attention and general maintenance which is overseen by Andrew Port and his son. Graves and their tidiness are the responsibility of the families of the deceased whilst Contractors keep the grass under control. We are very grateful to the Parish Council for their financial contribution towards the cost of the Contractors who cut the Churchyard in the summer months and hope that they will continue to do so.
We have had some success with our fundraising this year in the form of the Last Night of the Proms and a Christmas Wreath making day in December. These events enabled us to meet our financial commitments in 2016. We are very grateful to everyone who has supported us. These events together with a Gift Aid rebate enabled us to pay the Parish share for 2016 but we are still not in a position to contribute to the Benefice administration costs. Our Appeal to every household in the Parish to assist with the financial strain of keeping the Church open resulted in a few more ‘Friends’ but we are still always ‘sailing close to the wind’
What the future of the Village Church will be we do not know but we continue to hope in ‘where two or three are gathered together’ will bear fruit and enable us to keep the Church open and serving the Community. We thank the Clergy for their Ministry.
The Churchwardens
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Appendix G Trustees of the Gravel Allotment Trust
The Trustees are the current Mortimer West End councillors and they manage the Recreation Ground, the Children’s Play Area and the Allotments.
The Recreation Ground is let out to MWE Cricket Club and Burghfield Football Club. Grass cutting and maintenance of borders has been contracted to the Cricket Club.
The Play Area equipment and surrounds are inspected on a weekly basis by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council. A yearly Inspection Report is carried out on our behalf. The Trustees made a decision last year to have the area refurbished with new equipment and a presentation shall be made at this meeting on the current progress of the Project which has been led by our Vice Chairman Councillor Thurlow.
This year has seen one plot change hands and two smaller plots coming free. The latter are currently being cleared to allow them to be re-rented after a period of neglect. The paths surrounding the allotments are also being cleared up. The current cost of plot rental is £20 per annum.
John A. Robertson
Appendix H Report of Calleva WI
Calleva WI has had a good year during which we have been able to welcome some new members. At our April meeting we had a talk entitled “Be nice to bugs”. This was not, as you might imagine, about good and helpful bugs in the garden but rather those which live in our bodies. Therefore we were given great tips on a good diet and healthy living.
In May we had an outing to Kenwood House near Hampstead Heath which, after a none too promising start weather wise, turned into a most pleasant day with the sun shining. We we able to see the rhododendrons and azaleas, which were at their best. And the view over London from the Heath was amazing. A most enjoyable day.
Another interesting meeting was in July when we had Adrian Smith from the Mortimer Chocolate Company as our speaker. He gave us an insight into the cocoa industry from bean pods grown in various parts of the world to processing techniques past and present. But the best bit of all was the tasting. Healthy eating forgotten! However, it was dark chocolate, so I guess we were OK! What's not to like?
We have always had a garden meeting in August where Stella Balderston (a founder member) always kindly opened her home and garden to us, and this year was no exception. We were very pleased that the sun shone for a change as we have had rain for several Augusts in a row. We held our own version of the Olympic Games with such events as welly throwing, egg and spoon races, skittles, darts and throwing ping pong balls into jam jars (which was very difficult as they bounce off the edge very easily). Medals were awarded to the winners at the closing ceremony.
Sadly, little did we realise that this fun evening was to be our last in this lovely garden as unfortunately Stella died shortly after Christmas.
Speakers not turning up for a meeting is fortunately quite rare but this happened in October, so we came up with the idea of having members share their memories and personal experiences which were most interesting and amusing. One told of a childhood journey and summer camp in Russia; another shared her fear of heights and edges and described a most unlikely holiday trip, which involved flying to Switzerland and places to visit there which are relatively flat. Looking up to the top of a mountain beats looking down from the top every time!
This ended up as a very interesting evening as wee all gained an insight into aspects of the lives of our members of which we were largely unaware.
As usual we ended the year with a Christmas party with food, fun, quizzes and laughter, so all in all, another good year!
Diane Imms (President) APA 2017 minutes Page 13 of 18 16th March 2017
Appendix I – Hampshire Wildlife Trust
Burnt Common – work in 2016
Restoration work by Hanson has progressed painfully slowly but eventually some progress was made.
The penstock to control the outflow from the lakes was installed.
Some profiling of the workings in the south of the site was done to create some pools and at the same time some of the scrub and trees were removed from the wetland area.
The bunds holding water in the old silt lagoons were breached in order to allow these to drain and dry out but this was not done until late in the year so the effect will not be noticed until the coming summer.
Areas of grassland in the north of the site were cut and the arisings stacked around the edges of the site, this work maintains the flower rich grassland and provides compost heaps for use by animals such as grass snakes.
The rushy area in the sw of the site was also mown and again arisings stacked, this helps to prevent the area getting overgrown with willow and other scrub.
Scrub was removed from the banks along the southern edge of the site to preserve the heathy nature of the vegetation here.
Graham Dennis
Appendix J – Mortimer Produce Show – Nick Munson
The 2016 show was well supported with good entry levels across most classes. Children's classes were quieter than we would have liked, despite distributing many potatoes for the growing competition and circulating special advertising flyers covering Children's section of the main schedule via local pre school groups. Elsewhere the vegetable and fruit classes had a good number of entries as did domestic, photography and art. Home made liqueur is also picking up but home made wine seems to be out of favour except for one or two stalwarts. .
We use a panel of independent judges who are experts in their individual fields to judge the various classes and they regularly comment about the quality of our entries in our Show. It is wonderful that a small village show like ours attracts such positive comment.
A show like this doesn’t just happen and the committee work hard throughout the year to pull it all together. We are always looking for new members so if you would like to join the committee or have ideas or suggestions that you think would make a difference then please do contact us.
I would like to thank all our sponsors who give financial support to enable us to fund this event. We have a cross section of business, personal and charitable supporters and without them the show would not be financially viable.
Thanks again to all who make our annual village show a success year after year.
Regards
Nick APA 2017 minutes Page 14 of 18 16th March 2017
Appendix K – Relief in Need Charity
Stratfield Mortimer Relief in Need Charity
The Charity is an amalgamation of several ancient charities dating back to the 16th Century. The area it covers is the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Stratfield Mortimer which now comprises the parishes of Stratfield Mortimer, Mortimer West End and Wokefield. Its principal asset is Burnt Common, in Mortimer West End, which has been used traditionally to provide winter fuel to the old and needy in the parish. In 1995 an agreement was reached with ARC Southern (now Hanson Aggregates) to allow extraction of gravel from the land and the license entitled the Charity to a royalty based on the amount of gravel extracted. The gravel extraction was effectively completed in 2006, following which the land is being restored.
The Trustees of the Charity, of which I am one being the nominated person by this Council, deal with various grants of money of which there are two main types. The first is the traditional grant to the old and needy for the provision of winter fuel with more general grants made in special cases of need. The second category is the grant of funds for the benefit of the people of the parish. The largely takes the form of grants to local organisations.
Moneys distributed this past year have included a grant to MWE Produce Show towards the hire of a marquee, a grant to MWE Cricket Club towards new practice nets and a provisional award of moneys towards the restoration of MWE Children’s Play Area.
John A Robertson
Appendix L – Village Hall Committee
Report This has been a year of many changes for the Village Hall. We have lost three committee members over the course of the year – Toni Lidster (in June) Cherry Graham (in September) and Fraser Brown (in October). And then, in December, Beryl Donnelly resigned as our Bookings Secretary. Beryl has actually been a member of the committee for 47 years, and still continues as our Silver Circle representative. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank Beryl, and our other departing members, for all their work in support of the Village Hall. But I am very pleased to welcome onto the committee Andrew Arthur and Brian Totham, who both joined us in November, and who have already proved their worth in DIY skills! Thanks are also due to Stephanie Merrison, who took the additional job of treasurer off my shoulders in August, and to Virginia Bray, our hard working secretary. We have made a formidable trio, as people have “come and gone” around us. But with a trio of men on the committee as well (Clive Rumble being “the third man”) I think we currently have a strong committee with a good mixture of skills to see us through the year ahead.
As for the past year, I am pleased to announce that after many years of running at a small loss, the Village Hall has managed to make a profit this year. Our fundraising events last year were particularly successful. Our Bingo night in the Spring was much enjoyed. So we are repeating it this year – on Saturday. So, if you haven’t got your tickets yet, please book your place with Andrew this evening. We’ll be buying the ingredients for your chillis tomorrow! Our Woodland Walk and Treasure Trail in July and our Quiz Night in October were also popular and profitable and so we will be running those again in the coming year. We also tried a new venture in 2016 – car boot sales. We ran three last year, and are planning to hold four in this coming year, on the first Sunday in April, June, August and October.
The hall continues to be used on a regular basis for dance classes, craft groups, dramatic society rehearsals, parish council meetings, and, of course, for the Mortimer West End Produce Show in August. But we are particularly pleased to have received some new regular bookings recently with Pilates on Monday mornings, Meditation on Wednesday afternoons, and Indoor Cycling on Monday and Friday evenings, and possibly soon on Saturday mornings. And then, of course, on top of that we have many one-off bookings for parties and meetings, and these have also increased significantly this year.
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Hopefully, more people are becoming aware of the existence of our Village Hall both from our presence on the web (on hall booking sites and on Facebook) and as a result of our advertising of our events and facilities both on-line and around the village. We will again be at the Mortimer Easter Egg Hunt this year promoting both the Hall and the Blackheart Orchestra concert which will be happening that evening.
So I’d like to finish by saying “please use your village hall”. There are a number of flyers in the foyer about forthcoming events. Please do take some and we hope to see you back here soon.
Heather Sims Chairman Mortimer West End Village Hall Management Committee
Appendix M – Burghfield Football Club
Introduction
We have used the pitch at Mortimer West End for many years now. I have been involved for the last 4 years. In that time, we have held a good relationship with the local council and adhered to any changes that have been needed.
A new set of goals were purchased 2 years ago by us to replace the old ones. They had become very dangerous and no longer fit for purpose, therefore had to be replaced. These are currently housed at the ground, the posts inside the shed and the crossbars on top. There may be a need for these to be held somewhere else if the council feel that this isn’t a suitable place for them. If that is the case we are open to suggestions.
Every other year we tend to reseed the pitch where needed. This obviously depends on the weather for the previous season and in turn the state of the pitch. It has not been helped recently with the increased number of our teams playing here.
Plan for Next Season
Our current plan for the 2017/18 season, is to continue only with either 2 or 3 teams on alternate weeks. So there will still just be a maximum of 2 games per week on the pitch.
We will definitely keep the current Under 13’s two teams there. They will likely stay for 2 more years and move before they become Under 16s.
Our current Under 15s will likely move to an alternative location before next season, but they could stay for one more year if needs be.
The Under 17s are too big for the pitch to handle in the wetter months, so we are planning to move them to a bigger and harder-wearing pitch for the new season. They really enjoy using MWE and have done for many years, but the pitch has suffered with the older age groups playing on it so it will be beneficial for all parties, if they play their games elsewhere from next season.
Looking further ahead, we currently have 1 x U12 and 2 x U11 teams that will be moving to 11 aside games in the next few years. They will ideally replace the current teams as they grow too big for the pitch.
APA 2017 minutes Page 16 of 18 16th March 2017
Facilities Comments from our Coaches
Under 15s
The facilities are very handy and we get a lot of positive feedback about doing teas & coffee's out of the kitchen, it certainly helps in those winter months.
The only thing I would say that would needs looking at is the pitch, it could really do with heavy seeding over the summer as the wet day matches are slowly making that pitch thinner and thinner for grass as every season that I have been there passes.
Other than that we really like the whole setup of 1 game and not being next to other matches and potential footballs from all directions to duck from.
Under 13s
We’re enjoying our first season at MWE, the pitch and facilities seem to work pretty well for us.
We do have a bit of an issue with parking on the changeover, last week someone mentioned the Parish Hall over the road so is it possible for it to be used that as an overflow?
I think the pitch is perfect for U13-U15, if it was used for teams of that age group only the pitch would hold up much better.
To be honest I think 2 teams a week through the Winter is pushing is a bit but it’s just about holding up. The pitch is likely to need to be treated in the Summer.
Under 17s
We have used MWECC for last 7 or 8 years, and think of it as our "home" (and previously my eldest son's BFC team used MWECC for a further 6yrs or so)....many of our players are from Mortimer so training in Burghfield and playing games near Mortimer is a good balance for us...we also use MWECC for some summer training.
Advantages are that MWECC offer quite good parking facilities, use of toilets for training and games. The pitch, while compact, drains very well during wet conditions. It is also convenient.
Relations with MWECC are good, and they are happy to allow us to decide on pitch conditions for games as we have been very responsible over the years.
One disadvantage is that it can be slow to defrost during cold weather....but not much we could do about this.....
Season Updates from our Teams
Adam Green – Under 15s
East Berks FA - Division 5
I’m the manager of Burghfield FC U15's we have played at MWE for 3 seasons now as your pitch is a perfect introduction pitch for 11 a side (Given that it is quite small), With a bit of luck this season will bring us success with us currently being very competitive in our division.
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With the size of the pitch being what it is, I think we have outgrown it a bit, I think this will be our last season on this pitch, and I would just like to say thank you for providing a perfect introduction pitch for 11 a side we have certainly made good use of it now it’s somebody else's turn.
Andy Willis – Under 13s
U13 Bulls – East Berks FA - Division 3
Pre Christmas finished bottom Div 2 with 1 point, now playing in Div 3, so far 1 draw 2 loses, the team has struggled to adjust to the loss of some good players in the summer and in our first season of 11 aside football. But we are still fighting and hungry for that first win.
U13 Bears – East Berks FA Division 4
Started well in Div 4, tailed off a bit before Christmas but have started strong in the new year, currently joint second and in the semi-final of the East Berks Plate Competition.
Des Kinsella - Under 17s
East Berks FA – Division 6
We play in East Berks Under 18 league, (although we are only U17's) and currently are top of the table, and are unbeaten so far this season, having won all 9 of our games
To summarise, Burghfield Football Club are extremely pleased with our relationship with Mortimer West End Cricket Club and the parish council. We have an opportunity to continue this relationship for the foreseeable future with the plan for our age groups to use the MWE pitch as an introduction to 11 aside football.
A couple of points that we would like to investigate,
- Can we use the car park at the Parish Hall as an overflow? - Is there a better place that we could keep the goals? Currently the crossbars are on top of the shed. This was supposed to be a short term home for them. - What is the councils plan for the maintenance of the pitch? Is there a budget in place for this? - We are always looking for new homes for our 25 teams, are there any other locations that can be taken into consideration within the parish?
APA 2017 minutes Page 18 of 18 16th March 2017