PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTER March 2013 Issue 25 Ampfield Ampfield Parish Assembly Monday, 29th April 2013, 7.30pm at Ampfield Village Hall All parishioners are warmly invited to attend. Ampfield News Ampfield News ANNUAL PARISH ASSEMBLY AMPFIELD PARISH COUNCIL NEwSLETTER To be held at CONTENTS AMPFIELD VILLAGE HALL ON The Agenda for this Annual Parish Assembly 2 MONDAY, 29th APRIL 2013 AT 7.30PM Chairman’s Review of the Year 4 Baddesley Division County Councillor’s Report 2013 5 The Agenda for this Annual Parish Assembly is: Ampfield & Braishfield Borough Councillor’s Report 7 Apologies for absence Finance Committee Report 9 Minutes of the Annual Parish Assembly held on 16th April 2012 Transport Liaison & Road Safety 10 Matters Arising Ampfield Recreation Ground 12 Chairman’s Review of the Year The Friends of Chapel Wood 13 County & Borough Councillors Council Finances & Administration Planning 14 Transport and Highways Parish Communications and The Ampfield Parish Website 15 Ampfield Recreation Ground The Ampfield Market 16 Friends of Chapel Wood Ampfield Village Hall 16 Planning Communications & Website Ampfield Countryside Heritage Area 17 Other Reports for 2012/2013- see Parish Newsletter Local Action Group (LAG) 18 Any Other Competent Business & Open session Footpaths 18 St. Mark’s Church Ampfield 19 Light refreshments will be served at 9.30pm. Ampfield Community Pre-School 20 Doreen Matthews Ampfield C.E. Primary School 21 Clerk to Ampfield Parish Council The photograph on the front cover was taken in late January 2013 - captions were invited on our website. 2 www.ampfield.org.uk 3 www.ampfield.org.uk Ampfield News Ampfield News changes mooted for the Flexford area. a meeting in public to these residents’ alternative Chairman’s We are intending to develop our redesigned proposal. It received no support from parishioners BADDESLEY website to allow more targeted communications (the scheme’s proponents did not see fit to be REVIEW OF THE and “alerts” to parishioners with interests in present) and it was -as Allan Clark’s note on DIVISION COUNTY special concerns - e.g. planning- coming up before planning explains- rejected. Representations YEAR the Council. This will also involve the creation of received about the main proposal were fully COUNCILLor’s an email address bank - see Pete Edward’s and considered by the Council in deciding their REPORT 2013 2012-13 has been an Julian Jones’ article on Communications and the view on it. They concluded that the balance of interesting year, busy and Website. advantage to the Parish as a whole was such that not without progress. it should be supported. If the eventual decision I was first elected to It has been a pleasure to see Ampfield School of TVBC is in favour of the development, the represent the Baddesley We have succeeded, with moving forward under its new management Council’s priority will be to ensure that it goes division as the County quite a lot of hard work, arrangements, and growing back from a difficult forward successfully and brings the greatest Councillor in January 1992. in getting the Recreation period. The present interface of school, church possible advantage to the Parish. My long experience at Ground into good enough and parish is welcome and encouraging. This the three levels of local shape for it to be used for is helped by the work being done in Chapel Looking ahead, there will be a lot to do on government has enabled cricket and other functions. Wood to improve the facilities there, and by the many fronts in the coming year, and the Council me to get things done and Rabbit, mole and cattle addition - thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery will hope for support and assistance from helped me work successfully assaults have been contained and in the wettest Fund- of really good digital projection and sound parishioners. for all my constituents in summer for a long time, the new drainage system equipment in the Village Hall. Ampfield, Braishfield, North has functioned effectively. We have improved The Parish -civil and parochial- has been sorry this Baddesley and Valley Park. the surroundings, making a better ambience for Financially, the Parish is on a sound footing. year to lose some long standing and well known players and spectators. We are sorry that the We are slowly building up essential reserves to supporters; June, the widow of Geoff Wood, Further reductions in grant settlements were announced by the coalition government in footballers decided, for the time being, to go help with a new Pavilion, and (a new central Dorothy Jackson and Lahja Swan, who were the Autumn 2012 statement and the overall elsewhere due to the problems posed by rabbit government requirement) to fund any elections always ready to offer good advice and a helping financial position of the County Council for the damage, but are looking forward to the 125th that we may face in the coming years. In the hand. We shall miss them. foreseeable future will be even more difficult. The anniversary celebrations of the Cricket Club later last financial year (accounts will be available County Council have put in place an ambitious this year. Sadly, for the moment, a new pavilion at the Assembly) we have kept a tight rein I look forward to seeing you and hearing your programme of cost reduction and efficiency remains a pipe dream - but it is still a target. on expenditure, but managed nonetheless to views, concerns and expectations at the Assembly measures to bring about savings of £97 million of meet our essential requirements for upkeep, on 29 April.” the targeted £100 million. The County Council Actuality has, however, brought us improvements purchases and repayment of loans as well as ad will utilise their Grant Equalisation Reserve to help in speed limits and traffic management; and hoc demands. We succeeded in producing a Margaret Rothwell balance the budget over the next two years. we look ahead to more action, in Green Lane modest decrease in our proposed precept for Chairman and elsewhere, to reduce existing problems. A 2013/14; it is a pity that the arcane workings of It is good news though that I can report that the factor in this will, we hope, be an echo from central legislation and Borough calculations have County Council’s Council Tax will once again be the past - the appointment of a “lenghthsman”, transformed this to a - fortunately still small- frozen and will remain at £1037.88p for a Band in cooperation with other local parishes, to increase in Council taxes. “D” property. All political groups supported this improve our own control of highway and general position that there should be no increase. maintenance and to give us the capacity to deal Throughout the year, the elephant in the room promptly and cheaply with practical problems that has been the proposal for a development of As the Adult Social Care Spokesperson for arise in the Parish. 39 houses at Morley’s Lane. At the time of the Liberal Democrats I scrutinise and monitor writing, the final decision of TVBC on this plan the budget carefully and work closely with the Bus services, or rather the lack of them, continue has not yet been made, though we may have administration’s Executive Member in order to to be a worry: we monitor arrangements carefully this before the actual Assembly. As you will be secure a balanced budget for the department. I to try to get the best possible service for our aware, there has been vocal opposition from a was deeply concerned by the situation of those parishioners, and, as part of what is a conscious group of parishioners who wished to see the vulnerable individuals who required two carers to effort gradually to improve communications in development transferred in reduced form to the assist them to remain in their own home. They general, we conducted a special mail drop of Recreation Ground. Besides the various public were being charged double amounts of money HCC’s questionnaire on this subject to those consultations on the proposed Morley’s Lane for their care. I felt that this clearly was an extra parts of the parish that were most affected by scheme itself, special consideration was given at tax on disability and I highlighted it and spoke to 4 www.ampfield.org.uk 5 www.ampfield.org.uk Ampfield News Ampfield News the Executive Members on this anomaly. I was constantly scrutinise and monitor their investment housing, many of these are young professional grateful when the Conservative administration decisions in order to gain the maximum returns AMPFIELD & people who traditionally would have been home listened and then acted to change the situation for the pension scheme. With the economic owners by now. Worryingly, the average age of a at the following Full Council. In the 2013/14 uncertainty it has not been an easy task in recent BRAISHFIELD first time buyer in the Borough is 37. Adult Social Care budget there is an additional times. However, most of the fund managers we £11 million allocated to tackle the rising demand have selected have made excellent choices in BOROUGH The changes we have made to the Core Strategy for services from an increasing elderly and frail their investment decisions. COUNCILLOR’S mean that we need to undertake further population. consultation to afford the public opportunities to My County Council Community Allowance of REPORT comment on the revised document now called At the Full Council in November 2012, I placed £13K has supported grant donations to local The Local Plan – a better understood name which In the 18 years I have been a motion on “The Future of Social Care” pressing voluntary organisations and sports clubs within my we are now able to use again.