WELL PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL VILLAGE MEETING HELD AT WELL INSTITUTE ON MONDAY 12 MAY 2014 Present: David Webster (Chairman), Sarah Sharp (Vice-Chairman), Avril Lane, Sydd Perry, Martin Jones Julia Hamby (Parish Clerk) and 14 parishioners. 1. Apologies had been received from Mr Mark Sampson, Mr James Bourne-Arton and Mr David Hobson, Mr David Greaves. 2. Minutes of the Last AVM. These had been circulated to all Councillors, published on the village website, and were available to anyone who wanted to see them via the Parish Clerk. There were no issues arising which were not also included in the agenda for this meeting, so it was agreed not to read them out verbatim. Sarah Sharp proposed, and Martin Jones seconded, that they be accepted as a true record; this was carried unanimously, and they were signed accordingly. 3. Matters Arising from the Minutes. There were no Matters Arising from the minutes. 4. Reports. The following reports were presented to the meeting: a) Well Institute Trustees. Mr Mark Sampson was unable to attend but had forwarded the following report: Following the sudden, and unexpected, return of the Institute to the control of the Trustees a number of changes have taken place. Sandy Henderson and David Webster have retired as Trustees and Gerry Heap stepped down some time ago. Mark Sampson remains as a Trustee and Ruth Smirthwaite and Samuel Webster have been appointed. A change in Trustees necessitates a somewhat lengthy legal process as the Institute is not a Charity and the building is actually owned by the Trustees. The requirements are all now met and all that remains is for confirmation of change of ownership from the Land Registry. The Trustees will hold their first meeting as soon as they have heard from the Land Registry. The Institute is fully insured, running costs paid and lettings etc. continue albeit at a low level. b) Well Quoits Club. Mr Dave Hobson was unable to attend but sent the following report: Well Quoit Club finished about mid-table again in 2013 in the Zetland ‘A’ Division. The 2014 season commenced on the 29th April away to Bowes ‘A;. Not a very good venue as it is normally cold and wet, snow or both, losing 5-2. Our second game at home to Cockfield wining 5-2, not a bad result as they are a fairly good team. Quoit Club Suppers – due to the Castle Arms at Snape recently changing hands and the new owners requesting £42 game for our refreshments, we quickly decided to seek an alternative option. Milbank Arms continuing to be closing Monday evenings during the summer, we had to look elsewhere. Fortunately we have now negotiated better terms with the Chef at the Mason’s Arms, Nosterfield who made us very welcome and the suppers have been excellent. c) Well Ringmaster Scheme. Mr Geoff Ross reported the following: We currently have 8 members, and have received a total of 38 messages from the police during the last 12 months. 1 Thankfully we continue to be in a relatively crime free area and consequently the majority of these messages relate to incidents in the wider North Yorkshire Police area. Any residents interested in joining the scheme are invited to make contact with me. d) Well Oiled Club. Mr Geoff Ross reported the following: Our Oil Club is now into its third year and we currently have 23 members. During the last 12 months we have had 5 deliveries, totalling 32,000 litres. Kettlewell’s consistently offer the most competitive rates and as a result, all our orders have been with them, although I do regularly enquire of other companies to ensure that we are obtaining the best discount. Our average discount, compared with an individual order, has been in the region of 5 or 6p per litre, which translates to an annual saving to the Club as a whole of about £1600, or over £70 per member. Individual requirements obviously vary depending on the property size and rate of oil use, but an order every 2 or 3 months seems to satisfy most households. Any Well residents interested in joining the group should contact me on 470388. e) Community Police. This report was given by PCSO Ian MacDonald. He started his report by saying that North Yorkshire and Richmond and Hambleton were the Number One spots to live in because of the low crime rate. He then went on to give a brief update on Crime Outcomes that have replaced detected or undetected crime recording. As far as the performance overview for our area is concerned, there was nothing to report. There is a new Commander for Hambleton and Richmondshire, Superintendent Simon Lovell has taken on the role. Bedale Mobile Watch has been resurrected but there was nothing to report, he then gave some information on recent crime near to the Well Parish. Finally, although not in his printed report he referred to the mention in the Chairman’s report at the AGM regarding the possibility of a defibrillator in the village and how useful he felt this would be especially during the TDF when roads could be closed for up to 6 hours meaning that access for ambulances would not be possibly and how a defib machine saves lives. He gave a description of how they work. He also mentioned some training that would be taking place at West Tanfield in the near future and gave his contact details to the Clerk so that she could contact him regarding this. A copy of his full report is available on the Parish Website along with these Minutes. The question of the cost of a defib machine was raised and Martin Jones confirmed that the actual machine costs £900 and the box to store it in would be £600. PCSO MacDonald said that West Tanfield were fundraising to buy a machine. Finally Mrs Kath Greaves praised the NY Police having had dealings with them on a couple of occasions recently and couldn’t speak highly enough of them. f) Well United Charities. Mr James Bourne-Arton had sent a report as follows along with his apologies for his absence at this meeting and his contact details which are available from the Clerk should anyone require them: After many years of invaluable help from Jean Kitchen, as secretary, she has stepped down. In fact she has asked to step down but as we have not been able to find a replacement we continue to rely on her generous help. We are anxious to find a replacement. It is a tough act to follow. The job is a thankless one, requiring ensuring that the rent from the houses is paid into the bank account and coordinating any repairs. We would love to be able to find a replacement to allow Jean to enjoy a very well earned break. Other than that I do not believe there is anything to report. The houses are all occupied. 2 g) Nevill’s Trust. The following report was received from Mr James Bourne-Arton: We are continuing to look to provide financial assistance to the children of Well and Snape towards their education. We have advertised to help any child who is looking for extra educational support otherwise not provided for by the State (i.e. Music tutorials etc.). If anyone would like to be considered for some financial help please contact me. In addition we continue to look to help those children/young adults going onto tertiary education/apprenticeships. Lastly we have asked Roger Hamby to join us as a trustee. He has been nominated to be the Well representative. This nomination had gone via the Parish Council and is Minuted there, however, there were no objections to this nomination as the village trustee for Well from those present at the Annual Village Meeting. Sarah Sharp asked about the money being given out by the Trust, can we as a PC know what amount this is? This information may be available on the Charities Commission Website in the form of published accounts for anyone who cares to look for it. h) St Michael’s Parish Church. David Webster reported that, In the last twelve months all may have seemed tranquil on the surface but much work has been put into the re- action the Parochial Church Council has made to the Quinquennial report on the structure of the Church itself. The project started with a public meeting a year ago where it was overwhelmingly decided to restore the fabric, (phase one) and in the longer term, convert the building into a dual purpose, worship and community use facility. For phase one we applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a major grant in excess of £100,000, but unfortunately this March were informed our application had failed. This does not preclude us from applying again, But this time with a greater perception of what it is the HLF requires from us in order to look more favourably on our application. Indeed there is a tiny silver lining in this position as we were told that the works were not urgent enough. With this delay, they are fast becoming urgent enough! Phase two cannot obviously be considered until phase one has been secured. On day to day issues, we hosted the annual Remembrance Service for the benefice last November, with Christmas and Easter services in the usual cycle. Regular services are held on the first and third Sundays of each month, the other two weeks services are held at Snape Castle. The Church is served by two full time clergy, assisted by two retired clergy and we have one regular organist and one assistant.