Appendix A Chairman’s report – presented by Cllr Tony Durrant 2018/19 has been an eventful year for the community. There are a number of reports to follow which detail the key matters however, by way of an appetiser I will summarise as follows: • ASB and development has caused disruption on a number of occasions. The main culprits are known to the authorities. The police have responded well to many 101 reports. It is important to keep reporting on 101, difficult and time consuming as it is at times, it is the mechanism for getting action. Of, course 999 is still there for real emergencies. • We have 3 developments on the go at the moment with Persimmon at Minchens lane being the most problematic when resolving issues. However, we are not letting them off the hook at any time. The other two are causing issues with site traffic parking and movement of lorries using the unauthorised routes through the parish. We are in almost constant communication with planning enforcement to stop the unauthorised activity. If you see anything untoward then let us know and also contact Enforcement officers at BDBC. On a more positive side, we have been busy allocating our reserves to community projects to assist them. These are the grants that we have made to support initiatives in the community: • Bramley Youth Club - £9545 to fund the youth workers for the year • Bramley School Association - £1000 towards the school fete (and we were acknowledged in the programme) • Tadley Citizens Advice - £1500 towards running costs • Bramley Cricket Club - £1867 for hire of the cricket roller • Bramley School Association - £1000 towards the fireworks event • Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge - £100 • Bramley WI - £1000 towards the cost of keynote speakers for the year • Muddy Fingers – £2000 towards setup costs of raised beds and fencing • Royal British Legion - £100 towards the cost of a new Standard, plus the annual £200 donation for the poppy wreath • Clift Meadow Trust - £3500 towards the 2019 fete • Royal British Legion – £750 to the Silent Solider campaign • St Michaels Hospice - £100 in memory of Phyl Davies • Beacon event costs – £2881 (includes the cost of the bench) • Bramley PCC - £200 to the Xmas Lunch initiative We’ve also spent the following on security measures: • £4872 for the CCTV at Clift Meadow • £180 for the storage cabinet for CCTV at Clift Meadow • £240 for the maintenance contract for CCTV at Clift Meadow • £5601 for the new car park barrier at Clift Meadow • £911 deposit for extra CCTV at Clift Meadow • £1316 hire and collection of concrete blocks at Bramley Green Road APM minutes 2019 final.docx Page 3 of 16 25th May 2017 • Our safe route to school project continues and is currently with HCC for review before it can move to the next stage. • Air quality monitoring continues near the level crossing and we are in discussion with BDBC on the matter. It is disappointing that they have been less than supportive and are spending taxpayer money on checking our data, the source of which is amongst the best monitoring systems available. • We have seen the welcome arrival of 3 new Parish Councillors to our happy band and they have quickly taken on key responsibilities and are making a positive difference – Cllr Oborn (Village Hall representative), Cllr Munday (Planning and Development), and Cllr James (Allotments and Burial Ground). Of course, the old stalwarts are still here and we continue to do our best for this community. We cannot always please everyone but we do our best with limited powers and resources we have to support the community. • We attend Borough Council meetings (planning, funding, cabinet, and other as necessary) giving freely of our evenings to make sure Bramley is represented. • The level crossing brings its own problems and we have posted the results of a very recent meeting with Network Rail on our website. • The Neighbourhood Plan has assisted us in a few matters but regrettably some Councillors and officers at the Borough are not giving it the consideration required in their deliberations. We have made representation to the Borough and are supported by our ward Councillors. The next step is to take our concerns to Government and communicate with the appropriate ministers and their departments. • On the subject of our ward Councillors, we congratulate Nick Robinson on his re-election and he and Venetia Rowland continue to give us tremendous support. • The Parish boundary changes were shelved by BDBC for this year but next Mays’ elections will see them implemented. Updates on this will be posted on our website and social media. • A big thank you goes to fellow volunteer councillors and organisers of the various clubs and events for the huge and often unsung contribution they make to this community. By way of recognition for the huge and unpaid efforts of my fellow Councillors we introduced a small award for the Bramley Parish Councillor of the year and it gives me great pleasure to announce the Cllr Ansell is this year’s recipient. It was a close-run thing but he just snuck in as the winner. He is not able to be here as his work demands on his time are considerable. Despite this, he devotes significant time and effort to specific projects and to the community as a whole. Appendix B Accounts – presented by Maxta Thomas (Clerk and RFO) Income for 2018/19 increased somewhat with the 16% increase of the precept. This was the first precept increase in 2012/13, and equated to an average increase for £6.00 per year per household. This increased funding enabled the Parish Council to continue maintaining and protecting the Parish, and to continue assisting our community facilities. As the Chairman noted, the Council has granted nearly £26,000 in the last year to a range of community organisations and initiatives. The Council has also continued to work on the security of our open spaces, with a further £13,000 expenditure on such items. For the coming year, the Council’s focus will remain on supporting the local community wherever possible. The Safe Route to School project continues, with support from the Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council Local Infrastructure Fund, and two other projects with support from this fund are in the APM minutes 2019 final.docx Page 4 of 16 25th May 2017 pipeline – a new purpose built storage facility at Clift Meadow (this project is part funded by the Parish Council), and a refurbishment of the play park at Clift Meadow. The Council finances will be monitored closely, as ever, so that we may use our funds in the most cost-effective way possible to ensure value for money for the community. The annual return figures will be published on the Parish Council website in the very near future. Appendix C Borough Council – written by Cllr Venetia Rowland “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” I think that Charles Dickens was a man of our times and this sums up really what the year has been like in the wider context. The boundary review took place, the new wards drawn up, the all-out elections planned and then all change! This has created a vacuum in my opinion as everyone holds their breath. My fellow ward councillor was re-elected but across the borough there were many changes. I personally think that this is a reflection about how people feel with the uncertainty in the country. However, I have always said that the reason I stood as borough councillor was about my community so let’s get on to that. I have been a regular attendee at the Development and Control Committee by way of calling in planning applications that the Parish Council has felt are not in keeping with the Neighbourhood Plan. I feel very strongly that communities should have a voice in planning and feel that this is not given enough weight in committee. I have registered my opinion, once again, with the Portfolio Holder and the Chair of DC. It is my pleasure to support the Parish Council and will continue to do so. I voted on retaining the bins on a weekly basis, in the rural communities we don’t get much for our council tax but at least we get our bins collected, well most of the time with the new contractors still needing time to “bed in”. I voted too on a Labour motion with regard to public transport. With BDBC ‘s Horizon 2050 vision I can’t not see how the aims of getting people to give up their cars to cut pollution works with cuts to our bus services? There is a disconnect surely. I arranged a meeting with Cllr Humby of HCC and we are looking at being more creative with the route of the Number 14 bus and looking at S106 funding which could support the hourly timetable. Whilst it will never be perfect we deserve a better service. Whilst I could go on about lowest council tax, new retail development within Basingstoke, the ice rink, etc. I think these things bubble along in the background. I would like to assure Bramley residents I am here to serve and whilst I don’t always get the result we all hope for at least I try.