ROADE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2018
Thursday May 10th 7.30pm in Roade Village Hall, Bailey Brooks Lane, Roade – under the Chairmanship of Cllr David Bennett, Chairman of Roade Parish Council.
Present- Roade Parish Councillors, South Northants District Councillors, Northants County Councillors
Approx30 members of the public
The Chairman opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.
The Chairman explained that this years Parish Meeting has a far more traditional format than last years which was dominated by the two proposed rail freight terminals.
- Minutes of the last Annual Meeting held on April 21st 2017
The minutes were approved and signed,the Chairman explained that there was a vocal recording of the meeting last year should anyone wish to listen to it.
- Matters Arising.
None
- Annual Report from the outgoing Chairman of Roade Parish Council
Please see Appendix A
- Reports on the previous year’s activities by our District and County Councillors.
Cllr Hywel Davies, SNC, gave a brief report
Cllr Steve Clarke, SNC, gave a report.
Cllr Adil Sadygov, NCC gave a report, please see Appendix B
- Reports from any village organisations on the previous years activities. Please see Appendix C. To Include;
Northants Police – The PCSO present explained that there had been a burglary in the village yesterday.
NCC – Regarding bus services 33 and 33A
Roade Village Hall and Playing Field Charity
Roade Rollers
Vivian Blyth -Friends of Roade Library
Steven Blyth - Stop Roxhill
Vivian Blyth – Roade History Society
Cllr Marshall – Roade PC Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
Cllr Marshall – on behalf of Roade Medical Centre
There followed a brief Q & A session. The meeting then closed at 8.40pm.
APPENDIX A
Statement of Year End Parish Council Accounts, 31st March 2018
£Opening Balance at 1 April 2017 / 501,085.00
Annual Precept / 76,000.00
Total Other receipts / 30,580.00
Staff Costs / 23,594.00
Loan interest/capital repayments / Nil
All other payments / 214,003.00
Closing Balance at 31 March 2018 / 370,067.00
Total fixed assets / 384,325.00
Total Borrowings / nil
Awaiting Chairman’s Report.
APPENDIX B
Dear Colleagues, Dear Chairman, Dear Clerk,
Where are we now?
On Crisis: The County Council went through a series of bumps on the road to recovery. Many difficult decisions had to be taken both internally and externally affecting elected members, staff employed and the residents of the whole of Northamptonshire.
Following first hints thrown in regarding the budgetary issues the NCC will face back in November 2017 and the introduction of S114 notice by Chief Finance Officer on the 2nd February 2018 the council had to face the streak of financial challenges.
Governance review, redundancies, compulsory cuts, possible Judicial Reviews on decision made, MPs and Government involvement, negotiations, debates, cross-party agreements, all those can best describe the state of involvement of members of the Council in current affairs and what we do to try to make things work for everyone again.
There is no doubt that due to certain decision taken over the period of 5/6 years the NCC was brought to the brink of collapse. I assume we can see ourselves as an authority in ‘Special Needs’ but don’t be fooled by multiple publications coming out from all possible sources. Your county Council is now under a new leadership and the executive team has got a bright and refreshed vision of the future to ensure that Council Tax stays low and the quality of service delivered kept high.
On Outsourcing Strategy: All authorities in Britain had to face cuts in funding from Central Government. No authority could be complacent enough to carry on as they were and hence why the innovative thinking through outsourcing and future-planning have been introduced. The Council was transformed into a business model which was suppose to deliver year-on-year real-term savings through outsourcing. Sad to say that not all details have been considered and scrutinised back in the day prior to implementation of the New Generation Model and little gaps have transformed into great loophole which caused over-spending due to the mis-calculation of budgets and prognosis. All outsourced services are coming back in-house over the period of next 2 years.
On the Libraries: The current NCC Budget has been set but unfortunately the sacrifice which was forced upon the members on the date of the vote was huge. Loss of Buses and County funded Libraries will stay a bleeding wound for communities across the whole of the County for some time. In Roade, our library came under hit and I want to express special thanks to the Friends of Roade Library and the Roade Parish Council on an active involvement in the process of taking over the County Libraries under the Community Ownership. I am assisting where I can but even tho things got better, we are still limping on the Communication front. Just recently the Parish Clerk has approached me with request on more information from Officers responsible for Libraries transfer process and I have chased them up as well as raised a formal request to the Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Wellbeing requesting greater transparency and regular feedback on the Libraries situation. I am also aware that South Northamptonshire Council is ready to help where they can and Roger has already been in touch with Finance and Procurement Portfolio Holder. We should feel grateful for all the work that Friends of Roade Library did and the willingness to co-operate on the Parish Council side as many wards and divisions across Northamptonshire do not have the luxury of volunteers or access to funds to even consider taking over the library on Community grounds.
On the Busses: The buses is yet another issue we are experiencing troubles with. All subsidies routes are going to go in the end of the School Term this year. There are only few options on the table with regards to what we can do about it. The work is in progress and I have been speaking to all my other colleagues who are facing the same issue in the area. Roade village will not feel the effect as much as other parts of my division will as X4, X7, etc will still be running through Roade.
Today we have seen the publication of the letter from Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in connection to Commissioners. Following the lengthy time warp and the LIMBO period of unkown fate we have been made aware today (10.05.2018) that the government will assign two Commissioners to oversee and assist the NCC.
The council is emerging into a new era of Commissioners. Following the report produced by Max Caller, the Independent Inspector appointed by the government to carry out assessment of the governance and an official letter from the Secretary of State:
and his address at the House of Commons:
following a Best Value report by Max Caller, the Inspector on NCC on the 15th March 2018 (the day early from an expected date)
We can see that Max Caller report has highlighted the number of important issue and certain failures, at times, within the NCC structure. He said that improvement work is required in the sphere of Governance, he believes that despite of inadequate funding from central Government, the NCC has suffered internally for it’s Governance Culture. Mr Caller has highlighted concerns of many newly elected Councillors, like myself, on the transparency and information flow within the organisation. Hence why the majority group took all measures to ensure we deliver best service to the residents, ditching chaos and hassle of internal fighting, leaving it all behind with a clear plan for the future.
We are now moving into a time of Commissioners coming in and residing by the Cabinet. I don’t yet fully know if they will undertake the full and proper role of the Cabinet and withhold decision making by members, if found unfit, or whether they will simply observe from the side and ensure the recommendations within the report are implemented to reach the best value for money.
On finances 2019/20: the Council has made a huge amount of savings and with each new day going by it is becoming clear that there will be no bail out by the government. The setting of a new Budget for 2019/20 has already started. Currently there is no defined figure of savings which has to be achieved to ensure the next year budget will balance but it will be no less than £17m. With no additional finances from the outside sources, the NCC will have to face a challenge of further cuts. This time round the blow will land upon the statutory services. More details will be published as we progress through the year and I will keep you up to date.
On Unitary: Leaders of all Districts and Boroughs as well as the County Council has united in the call to draft a plan for a possible Unitary authority. The Secretary of State is pressing ahead for a Two Unitary Solution (as in his letter of recommendation, mirroring the Best Value Inspection report) and the Leaders came together in the series of meetings to agree on the way forward. I believe the County is now going to submit the draft plan on 2-Unitary authority to become live in 2020 as the deadline set for the 27th July 2018. We practically have just about 2 months to understand the right way forward, to consult all elected members, to adhere to the advises of third parties and to organise a form of a public enquiry. The decision is supported by all 7 local MPs and the Government but not fully supported by all Elected Councillors across the County. There are many pros and cons to going Unitary and some state it will bring enormous savings and improved governance some say it will be disastrous to the residents and the County as a whole. We are yet to see where the Leaders talks will lead us to and I will progress you as new details will come live.
Rather than including everything in one massive update, I will try and send you chunks on new information if I feel it will be crucial and important for you to know.
I will keep you updated to what comes out. I will let you know about changes, and, if any, further decisions or recommendations made.
APPENDIX C
Roade Community Library Group Report to Roade Annual Parish Meeting 10.5.2018
Summary
Sorry that our excellent Chairman, Roger Wood, could not attend.
Yesterday Roger put our case to Ashton Parish Council who voted to contribute £1,500 towards library running costs, reviewable at the end of our first year.
We are hopeful that Hartwell PC will also make a contribution
Thank you very much to Roade Parish Council for their support. The Finance & General Purposes Committee have recommended that RPC should proceed to purchase the library building.
We had a very successful evening for volunteers last week but would welcome more - forms and details of what we are doing are available at our table.
Our next library event is next Thursday [17th May] - ‘After the Battle’, stories for adults and age 14+ by our wonderful library manager, Allan Davies, who was a performance story teller in a previous life.
The Summer Reading Challenge will go ahead as usual -the theme, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Beano, should be popular.
Thanks to everyone who has visited the library recently. We have exceeded our footfall target for 2017-18 by 8% - one of only 3 libraries in the county to do this. We’ve also had a significant increase in new people registering to use the library
ROADE VILLAGE HALL & PLAYING FIELD CHARITY
Roade Village Hall & Playing Field Charity has continued its core task of the provision and maintenance of an attractive and functional village hall, playing field and tennis courts for use by the parishioners of Roade.
There are some 15 regular user groups and bookings for occasional use are buoyant. Income from lettings is used to pay for repairs and maintenance of the hall, tennis pavilion and grounds.
Maintenance over the year has included new flooring in the Ladies and Disabled toilets and the entrance lobby, and installation of a fire alarm system in the building.
A Public Access Defibrillator will shortly be installed on the outside of the Village Hall. It will be kept in a locked cabinet and can only be accessed via a 999 call to the ambulance service.
Planning permission has been obtained to replace the play equipment in our small playground, and to provide safety surfacing and secure fencing around the area. Grants for this purpose have been obtained from various sources including S106 monies from Roade Parish Council, and a New Homes Bonus Grant from South Northants Council. Work is due to take place in July. The playground is open to all residents, not just those using the Village Hall.
Planning permission is now being sought to install floodlighting at the tennis courts to facilitate year-round play. In addition, the courts need resurfacing and we are actively pursuing grants to cover the cost of this work.
ROADE ROLLERS SHORT MAT BOWLING CLUB
It is pleasing to be able to say how well we, as a club, continue to flourish.
We bowl in the Village Hall, Bailey Brooks Lane at 6.45pm on Tuesdays and 1.45pm on Thursdays. Our Tuesday evenings are very well supported, embarrassingly so at times, and although Thursday afternoons attract smaller numbers, they provide a good opportunity for potential new members to give our sport a try - and in spite of the experience of many other clubs, who have great difficulty attracting new members, we continue to be consistently at our membership limit of 50.
On the competitive side we have six teams participating, with mixed success, in County Leagues, as well as our own internal Club Competitions. However, the key-word ‘enjoyment’ is the basis of all that we do - win or lose!
On the social side we’ve had our usual ration of fun. For our Country Dance it has to be said that 4th November was not a good date and unfortunately numbers were down; however, what we lost in quantity we gained in quality and those who did attend had a great time and enabled us to raise £274 for our Charity, Autism Concern. Together with other events and donations we in fact raised £650 this year.
Our Club continues to have a full complement of members, a very full bowling programme with four teams competing in County Leagues, as well as two in the Village League, a strong social conscience as illustrated by our annual Charity donation, and an albeit small social programme - really because there’s no time for a big one! We look forward to the year ahead with continuing enthusiasm.
Roade Medical Centre update on progress with new Surgery
The practice has been pushing the development of a new surgery for Roade village for some 7 years now. Progress has been frustratingly slow however significant leaps forward have been made in the past 12 months or so.
The Practice now has land in our ownership on the Ashton Road Persimmon Homes site.
The practice has appointed a developer who is working with us on design etc. for a new surgery.
Nene CCG and NHSE (NHS England property services) have finally acknowledged a new building is required.
Cost is a major issue as always and this is currently holding up moving forward (this needs to be agreed by Nene CCG and NHSE). The practice has now taken all the steps it can to limit the ongoing finical commitment to Nene CCG.
Many will be aware our local MP has shown some interest following a patient writing to the right Hon Lady requesting more information on what is happening with the surgery. The practice responded in detail and warmly welcomed our MPs support and agreed a meeting would be a good idea to determine what support/assistance could be offered, Jeremy Hunt (Health Minister) was also invited should he wish to add his support.
A new surgery is not a given and the decision will not be for the Practice to make although we remain very hopeful we will succeed, final decisions are unlikely to be made for some time.
Roade Neighbourhood Plan
The Chairman of the Roade Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group presented a brief report on the progress of the Roade Neighbourhood Plan thus far. South Northants District Council released the following statement regarding the plan which is open for consultation from April 26th to June 26th.
Report from NCC re Bus Subsidies
Dear Fiona
Thank you for your email, regarding a public meeting in Roade next week.
Unfortunately we are not able to attend public Parish Council meetings to discuss the reductions in a general sense. The reasons for this are two-fold, firstly that we cannot hope to provide this level of service and attendance to every parish that is affected, and secondly there is little that Officers can offer in terms of explaining the rationale behind what is ultimately a Political decision.