MINUTES
of
THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Held in the Parish Council Chambers,
Station Road, Codsall.
On Wednesday 21st April 2010
at 7.30p.m.
1. APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Parish Councillors Mrs P E Campbell, Mr L Stovin, and Mr D Walls. Apologies were also received from resident Mr Stephen Skinner.
2. INTRODUCTION OF COUNCIL MEMBERS BY CHAIRMAN
The Chairman asked all Parish Councillors, including the Clerk to introduce themselves.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Approval was proposed by Councillor Owen, seconded by Councillor Millar and unanimously approved by the meeting and immediately signed by the Parish Council Chairman.
4. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT ON PREVIOUS YEAR
The Chairman gave a very extensive report on the years events as detailed below:
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT ON PREVIOUS (2009 – 2010) YEAR
Policing
The Parish Council has continued to lobby the Police concerning at the low level of resources made available by the Police for Codsall and Bilbrook.
The Police have reduced anti social behaviour problems, but it still exists, with some outlying areas suffering.
The level of other crime is not high compared to the conurbation, but burglary and vehicle thefts are regular occurrence as well as theft from gardens, mainly it is believed, to stock car boot sales.
The CCTV system has proved its worth to the Police, resulting in several prosecutions.
Planning
The Parish Council continues to be consulted on Planning Applications within the Parish. The Parish Council continues to fight hard to retain the character, heritage and conservation within the Parish. Residents concerns and objections are often supported by the Parish Council and in turn by our District Councillors.
The main areas of concern and objection have been:
· Incursion and development in the Green Belt, the multiple-stable development of Hushpins Lane continues to be strongly opposed.
· Demolition of existing homes to build apartments.
· Back land development.
Speculative small and larger scale developments continue to seek sites within our Parish, and we need to continue our vigilance in order to preserve our village and heritage.
Railway Station
The increasing use of the Railway Station coupled with the reduction of parking at the Station Public House is continuing to cause over-spill parking onto many residential roads and the Co-op car park to the annoyance and frustration of residents and shoppers.
The Parish Council continues to pursue the problem with Network Rail, London Midland, Holden’s Brewery, the Police, County Council and District Council; the problem has yet to be resolved.
Land adjacent to the Station is currently not for sale.
Youth Projects
· Codsall and Bilbrook Youth Action Group is still active and interacting with Local Youths. It was instrumental in the founding of the Skate Park in Bilbrook, with the assistance of Bilbrook Parish Council. And the District Council.
· The Air Training Corps has formally opened its H.Q. and Parade Ground at the High School. The opening ceremony was a very high profile affair being attended by a Cabinet Minister, Air Vice Marshall, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, our MP as well as many District and Local Dignitaries.
Codsall and Bilbrook Twinning Association
The association continues to prosper with support from both Codsall and Bilbrook Parish Councils.
We shall be receiving a full report from the association later this evening.
Local Development
Whilst the i54 development is currently stalled, the inadequate access remains a major concern. Possible road developments could seriously affect Codsall and South Staffs.
The Parish Council continues to be vigilant.
Open Spaces and Maintenance
Approximately £13,000 of our annual budget is spent on maintaining and improving our open spaces.
Improvements have been made to:
· Lone singer gardens – restructured, tidied and flowers planted. The daffodils have been wonderful this year!
· Moatbrook Nature Reserve – available again after Severn Trent works, footpath and tree maintenance re-established.
· Codsall House Field – continuing tree husbandry and maintenance to retain the now developed parkland.
· Oaken Drive Field – shale path laid to overcome muddy surfaces for daily visitors to this popular venue.
· Play Area/Ground – continuing tree and hedge maintenance
· Bus Shelter A41 – annual refurbishment
· Installation of hanging basket display poles, to overcome County Council restrictions on use of lamp standards.
· The village planters continue to be planted and maintained by our workmen.
· War Memorial – trees and hedges reduced to keep area open and haven for contemplation
The War Memorial continues to be praised for its high standard of maintenance, recognition of all Servicemen and their families, who lost their lives preserving our freedom and way of life.
Thanks to our Parish Council workmen for their endeavours not only on the open spaces, but also for keeping the village clean and tidy.
Parish Plan
Parish Plan nears fruition with publication expected before the end of the year. The Plan has been developed in consultation with partner organisations (such as West Midlands Police and appropriate departments of South Staffordshire Council), as well as residents and local organisations (for example the Civic [History?] Society.
Thanks are due in particular to Councillors Matt Ewart Brian Holland, and Chris Millar together with Stephen Skinner resident, Inspector Chapman and the Parish Council Clerk for all of their time and effort.
Allotments
The Parish Council allotment at Watery Lane is fully let with a long waiting list. A plot-holders committee has now been formed. The very enthusiastic committee is helping the Parish Council Clerk with the maintenance and management of the site.
Mainly thanks to the committee, a further area has had drainage improvement work allowing the introduction of 6 additional plots to the site.
Grants and Donations
The following Grants have been made during the year:
· Codsall Community Arts Festival £1,250
· Citizens Advise Bureau £ 500
· Station Preservation Soc. £ 700
· Local Village Transport £ 500
· St Nicholas Graveyard Maintenance £6,000
· Village Hall £5,200
· Village Hall Car Park resurfacing £5,000
· S.Staffs Community & Voluntary Svc £ 100
· Campaign to Protect Rural England £ 50
· Codsall & Perton F.C. £ 120
· Scouts Carnival £ 200
· Sussed Summer Youth Scheme £ 708
· Sundry Small donations £ 180 £20,508
Village Hall
The Village Hall Management Committee continues to be led by Mrs Pam Allan. The Treasurer Mr Chris Haynes has resigned and has been replaced by Mrs Jill Hayward. We shall be receiving a full report later this evening on past years activities.
Keep Codsall Clean
Ably lead by Mr Stephen Skinner, 2 weekends have been dedicated to cleaning up outlying country footpaths. Volunteers from the Air Training Corp, Codsall Bilbrook Scouts and several Parish Councillors (and even our district councillor) have done a wonderful job with the Spring & Autumn clean up.
This continues to be supported by the Parish Council with sponsorship from Pet Stop.
Roads, Pavements and Highways
Concerns relating to safety, damage and repair issues continue to be reported to County Council Highways for action.
The condition of many of our roads and pavements remains a concern for the Parish Council and regularly highlighted to our County Councillor who continues to fight for improvements.
Various safety concerns with recommendations have been made including sequential traffic lights at Histons Hill, a rethink on traffic management on Birches Bridge and other road safety issues throughout the Parish.
Winter Gritting
Recent severe winter weather has again highlighted the need for improvement of County Council Highways winter arrangements in our parish.
The Parish Council has repeatedly requested that additional road gritting is undertaken in future and the provisions of grit bins in other difficult but less frequently used locations.
This request will be reiterated before next winter.
Annual Footpath Walk
This takes place every October in liaison with Codsall Ramblers to walk all the rural footpaths in our Parish and report any Problems to County Council for rectification.
The support last October was low with many footpaths not walked on the day.
We are very grateful to Mr Skinner for subsequently walking the majority of the remaining footpaths and submitting the relevant survey form.
The turnout for this activity could be better - it is hoped for a greater turnout this October.
Speedwatch
The Community Speedwatch Group led by Mr Stephen Skinner and supported by some Parish Councillors continues to operate. Speed of vehicles on the major roads in the village has been reduced; many thanks to all the local volunteers.
With additional volunteers this scheme could be extended to more problem areas in our Parish.
Any volunteers?
Finally
Many thanks are due to all fellow councillors, particularly those taking an active part in the Parish Council Committees.
Particular thanks to Councillor Chris Millar our Vice Chair for her support and attendance at events in the Chairs absence.
We offer her our support and good wishes for her coming year in office.
Thanks were also expressed to the Clerk for his efforts and diligence throughout the year.
5. POLICING IN CODSALL DURING PREVIOUS YEAR
The Clerk advised the meeting that he had received a voicemail from P.C. David Allen advising that he was currently on sick leave and had been for the previous 4 weeks, and extended his apologies for not being able to attend this evening. P.C. Allen hoped that in his absence a report would have been produced but regrettably this is not the case.
The Clerk did comment that the Chairman had covered Policing issues in his report so to some extent this had been partially covered.
6. THE ANNUAL SUMMARY ON INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
FOR THE YEAR TO THE 31ST MARCH 2010.
The Clerk went through the Income and Expenditure item by item and summarised the net position and the areas where savings had been made during the previous year.
In the main Open Spaces maintenance was less but as with everything that grows it will probably be necessary to spend more on Open Spaces maintenance during the new financial year. There is also concern major storms will bring trees down and these can have a considerable impact on the open spaces budget. A copy of the Income and Expenditure together with the details of the information for the Audit Commission Annual Return are attached at the end of these minutes.
6. VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
Chairman of the Village Hall Management Committee Mrs Pam Allen had extended her apologies for being unable to attend but forwarded a written report which was read out by the Clerk and is detailed below:
Looking back at what I said last year in my report, I finished by saying that the Bowling Club had expressed a desire to move to our Playing Field, since it was on the point of losing its present premises.
I am not going to rehearse all the meetings and correspondence that followed this request, but it took up a great deal of time and caused problems that spread into the wider community. Not until September was this resolved with the decision that Codsall Village Halls playing fields were not the right place for a bowling green.
The January minutes record that the extended lease had been received, the conclusion to a long-standing saga throughout the previous year, so the current lease will run until 2043.
A further memorable event was the resurfacing of the car park. Despite the hugely generous grant of £10,000 from the Parish Council, we were acutely aware that id the work was done we would have to add £7000 towards the cost. We thought long and hard about it before making the decision to go ahead, rather than risk an accident to our customers, or, worse a court case. No one can doubt the aesthetic as well as practical improvement to our environment.
The Whist Drive devotees decide to run it as their own club, which released members of the Committee from having to be in attendance on Monday afternoons.
In the Autumn we gad the opportunity to join a scheme which gave access to a business advisor. We were allocated Alison Braithwaite, who works for Wyre Forest District Council, and under her scrutiny we were galvanised into moving forward with marketing that we previously had not talked about, so that we now have a very attractive web-site and a brochure and we are pursuing other ideas, such as getting feedback from our hirers.
Also in the Autumn, Jill Haywood joined the Committee as our Treasurer. As good as his word, Chris Haynes continued to do the day-to-day bookkeeping and prepared the accounts ready for the auditor.
For various reasons, mainly a decline in private bookings, the Committee found itself running the hall on the residue of our funds until the end of the year. This clearly was not sustainable and the Committee has had to scrutinise its practices.
2009 was a very interesting and satisfying year in terms of what we achieved in improving the building, its surroundings and its furnishings.
As in the previous year, we have had a huge amount of support from people on the committee and from hiring organisations, particularly the Dramatic Society. People have plunged their hands into drains, climbed onto roofs, shifted filing cabinets, moved tables, cut yards of banqueting roll, painted, sawn, plumbed and wired stuff. The offenders continued to keep the shrubs under control and also did some interior painting and we are grateful to the Parish Council for its help in looking after the trees.
My thanks go to Chris Haynes and Alix Nichols to Jill Haywood, who has already made herself indispensable as our new treasurer, our manager, Maxine Hopkins, all of the Committee and the Parish Council especially Peter Serieys for his unfailing courtesy and good advise.
8. PRESENTATION OF PAROCHIAL CHARITIES ACCOUNTS
The accounts for year-end 30th September 2008 and 30th September 2009 were received.
The Treasurer Mr R Jeffs extended his apologies but had forwarded the accounts. Mr David Johnson who has been a member of the Charities Trustees was in attendance this evening as a public member and volunteered to give some basic information on the accounts. Mr Johnson commented that this was an extremely small charity with a very low Income and as can be seen some very small donations had been made as detailed in the attaching accounts.