LISS PARISH COUNCIL – ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2012

The Annual Parish Meeting was held on 21st March 2012 when 7 members, Mrs M Effenberg of the VDG and approximately 19 parishioners were present.

Also in attendance, District Councillor Mrs J Gray & Parish Clerk R Bowery.

Apologies were received from Councillors Linsley & Payne, County Councillor Mr V Clarke & District Councillor Mrs J Onslow.

In the absence of Cllr Linsley the chair was taken by Cllr Logan.

The Chairman welcomed attendees, made health & safety announcements & introduced council Members. She informed the meeting of the funeral arrangements for Tony Grant.

GOOD VILLAGER AWARD

The Chairman had great pleasure in presenting the Good Villager Award to Bob Perry. Bob had a long history of working as a volunteer for various village groups. He had been Group Scout Leader for many years, was actively involved with Liss Conservation Rangers & played a big part in the Crossover Youth Centre where he worked as a volunteer & was always available to cover sessions when other volunteers were not available. Notably, Bob had proved to be a very good Santa at the last Xmas event.

The Chairman said that the Council had fully agreed with the nomination & felt that Bob was a very worthy recipient.

In response Mr Perry said that he was honoured to receive the award , he very much enjoyed his volunteer work & that he had every intention of continuing his volunteering efforts in the future.

PRESENTATION ON THE VILLAGE PLAN BY MRS EFFENBERG

Mrs Effenberg said that the VDG had distributed questionnaires to the 2300 village houses & received 381hard copy & on-line responses; there had also been 93 responses to the on-line youth questionnaire.

As well as the answered questions villagers had submitted many additional comments that were being taken into consideration.

Mrs Effenberg said that the evidence of public backing for the West Liss pavilion project obtained from the questionnaire had already been used successfully by LPC to support a grant application to EHDC.

Mrs Effenberg thanked all the members of the VDG who had worked so hard on the Plan & also LPC Members who had been involved, particularly Gina Logan & Angela Wright.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Effenberg & her team for their very important work on the Village plan as well as past works on the Village Design Statement & Landscape Character Assessment.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING 16th March 2011 were circulated. Proposed by Mrs M Effenberg and seconded by Mr G Burgess, they were agreed and signed as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

The following report from Cllr Linsley, Chairman of LPC, had been circulated.

“Since I last reported to you in March 2011the Term of Office of the previous Parish Council ended and elections for new councillors were held in May. In Liss Ward 10 candidates for 10 places were duly nominated and in Liss Forest 2 for 3 places. All 12 were thus declared elected and the Council, having then advertised the vacancy duly co-opted Anne Cains for the vacant Liss Forest seat. We welcomed Sue Brown, Rebecca Chads, Elwyn Thomas and Philip Thompson to our ranks. Sadly Councillor Brown’s work conditions changed and she has recently resigned.

I must express my thanks to those councillors who stood down last May. Graham Baker, Ian McInnes and Michael Payne have all made great contributions to the Council’s work. The other two retirees, both past chairmen of the Council, are Roger Mullenger who served for 12 years and Jim Duckham 25 years. Between them they have made a contribution to the life of the village which will be hugely missed.

Two projects have exercised the council for a number of years, the Skatebowl and a New Pavilion on West Liss Recreation Ground to replace the Scout Hut and the council’s wooden hut. Questions on both of these issues were asked in last autumn’s Village Plan & Design Partnership surveys. In both there was overwhelming support for a new pavilion whilst the majority were against the skatebowl facility. A youth online survey did indicate that a majority of those who responded would use a skatebowl. I thank Margaret Effenburg and her dedicated team for the huge effort that went into the surveys.

Due to the increasing dilapidation of the West Liss Buildings a determined effort to get the New Pavilion project underway was started in late spring last year. The original concept drawings and builder’s feasibility pricing from a number of years ago were resurrected and shown to the Parish at the Village Development Group’s Exhibition organised by the Village Plan & Design Partnership and held in the parish hall over the first weekend in June and the plan was broadly welcomed. This level of approval was confirmed and amplified in the replies to the September questionnaire included within the autumn Village Voice.

During late summer and autumn a committee of councillors and representatives of users of the existing facility met regularly to determine the full requirements of the building. A local architect was selected and appointed. The architect was given a brief resulting from the user group meetings and her proposals were tabled at the November council meeting. The current plans for the building, with which we hope to submit a planning application, reflect the comments and proposals received since the architect’s initial proposal.

The original drawings were priced at around £250,000. The increase in scope of the building and time, have put the projected cost at significantly more than the original figure.

The Pavilion Development Advisory Committee was set up during December with a brief to drive forward and manage the project. With the increased cost in mind the committee; are investigating a number of methods of construction to seek the best compromise of cost, design and appearance.

With respect to financing, we have now secured funds amounting to £183,000 made up from money already set aside by the parish, monies expected to be within the parish budget for the next two years, increased precept, the Developers fund held by EHDC, a Community Project grant and the 1st Liss scout troop. Plans for further funding from funding organisations, parish events and local donations, collections and a buy-a-brick scheme are all in place. Applications to funding organisations are awaiting planning consent although a number of expressions of interest have been submitted.

I must thank Cllrs. Keith Budden and Elwyn Thomas and our Assistant Clerk, Andrea Mann for the huge contribution that they are making to this project.

I reported last year on the issue of parking on the “Tesco” bus stop. Buses cannot get into the stop to pick up and drop off passengers – difficult and dangerous for passengers and other road users. The issuing of parking tickets has not been effective with at least one multiple offender so we are currently working with the Police and the County Council to move the bus stop a few yards towards Hillbrow.

The Christmas fair in December was again very successful despite cold weather and there seemed to be a much bigger attendance than normal. Thanks to all those villagers who ran it. A number of the people who have made this event so successful over many years feel they are no longer able to continue in the role. This means that unless new volunteers appear the 2012 event will have to be seriously cut back.

Liss Forest Resident’s Association under Villager of the Year Tony Grant have again made a great contribution to the maintenance of Liss Forest Recreation ground and the play equipment. Tony also used his influence to obtain the new railway buffer which will be painted when summer comes and has continued his work to improve the Riverside Railway Walk. I would also like to thanks Councillors Gina Logan and Keith Budden for their work on the Village Voice and Gina for her support as my vice chairman. Councillor Sue Halstead has again been a tower of strength in her role as chairman of planning, a vital part of the Council’s work.

The council has now purchased a Traffic Speed Recorder which thanks mainly to Cllr. Les Mann will be moved to different parts of the village. One alarming statistic so far is that more than 1,000 vehicles per day are speeding when driving down Hill Brow past the schools. A meeting March 1st.is currently scheduled with HCC to discuss these issues.

Work is in progress to produce, with the aid of SDNPA funding, a set of walks leaflets centred on Liss. Thanks go to Sue Halstead and Gina Logan together with ex. Councillor Roger Mullenger for this work.

Finally thanks must go to Cllr. Brian Mayo for his continued good management of our finances. He will report during the meeting.

Finally I would like to give my thanks to all those staff, councillors and villagers who have helped me to carry out my duties as chairman during the last year – especially Our Clerk Dick Bowery who has been a tower of strength.”

The Chairman added that HCC work on the alterations to the Tesco bus bay would commence after 1st April & that there had been a meeting with HCC Highways to review options for improving road safety outside of the schools as well as at the Hill Brow Road junction at The Drovers. The White Bridge on the Riverside Railway Walk was to be re-engineered soon, keeping its curve which is aesthetically important whilst being widened with the provision of hand rails on both sides. The materials will be oak to match the other three bridges. It is hoped work will be completed by the end of April. The project is being funded by HCC. There will also be a new Riverside Railway Walk leaflet available soon to take account of the improvements which have been made, including information about the Longmoor Railway as well as the Nature Reserve.

The Chairman felt that praise was due to the developers of the Crossing Gate site who had managed to create a new development of high quality that was sympathetic to the Conservation Area.

FINANCE REPORT

Cllr Mayo, Chairman of the Finance Committee, reviewed the financial report. He thanked the Members of the Finance Committee for their assistance & particularly the Clerk who prepared management accounts as well as the budget documents for the Committee.

The precept for 2011/12 was £143553 with contributions made to the Village Hall, West Liss Recreation Ground and pavilion and the parish allotments. These are all registered charities, which, because of financial regulations, have to be accounted for separately. Estimated expenditure for the year is anticipated as being in line with budget.

The Council has precepted £182510 for 2012/13, or £70.27 per band D dwelling. This represents an increase of £15.00 per dwelling & this sum is earmarked specifically for the West Liss pavilion development project; a similar sum is planned for 2013/14. Should the project not proceed for any reason then these amounts will be refunded to ratepayers via the annual council tax levy.

A broad analysis of total costs and revenue, including the Charities accounts is as follows:

2010/11 / 2011/12 / 2012/13 / Increase/-decrease
£000's / £000's / £000's / £000's / %
Staff costs / 96.1 / 99.4 / 97.0 / -2.4 / -2.41
Insurance / 7.3 / 7.9 / 8.0 / 0.1 / 1.27
General administration / 7.3 / 7.4 / 6.9 / -0.5 / -6.76
Grounds maintenance / 9.7 / 8.9 / 8.5 / -0.4 / -4.49
Village hall costs / 5.6 / 5.9 / 7.0 / 1.1 / 18.64
Grants to local associations / 11.1 / 10.6 / 11.4 / 0.8 / 7.55
Capital projects & provisions / 18.8 / 16.9 / 17.1 / 0.2 / 1.18
155.9 / 157.0 / 155.9 / -1.1 / -0.71
Funded by:
Interest & other receipts / 0.5 / 0.6 / 0.7 / 0.1 / 16.67
Rental incomes / 12.8 / 13.6 / 13.5 / -0.1 / -0.74
From to reserves / 0.5 / -0.8 / -40.8 / -40.0 / 5000.00
13.8 / 13.4 / -26.6 / -40.0 / -289.86
Precept / 142.1 / 143.6 / 143.6 / 0.0 / 0.00
West Liss pavilion precept / 38.9 / 38.9
13.8 / 13.4 / 155.9 / -1.1 / -7.97
No. of band D dwellings / 2572.33 / 2597.78 / 2597.11
Band D tax / £55.26 / £55.26 / £70.27 / £15.01 / 27.16

The audit of 2010/11 accounts was carried out in May 2011 by the independent internal auditor and approved at the Council meeting on 16th May; the Audit Commission signed the final clearance of the accounts, without any changes, on 19th August 2011.

Audited 2010/11 accounts for the Charities accounts were approved at Council on 14th September 2011 and our thanks go to Mr West for his services as auditor.

REPORT ON ATTENDANCE OF COUNCILLORS

In the past year the Parish Council has met 14 times. Mr Budden & Mrs Wright attended 13 meetings. Mrs Halstead, Mr Linsley, Mrs Logan & & Mr Mann attended 12 meetings. Mr Mayo attended 11 meetings. Mr Thomas & Mr Thompson attended 11 out of a possible 12 meetings. Mr P Payne attended 9 meetings. Mrs Chads attended 8 out of a possible 12 meetings. Mrs Cains attended 5 out of a possible 9 meetings after her co-option to the Council in July. Mrs Brown attended 5 out of a possible 9 meetings before her resignation in January.

Before the election there were two meetings of the old Council & of those who did not stand for re-election Mr Duckham & Mr Baker attended both meetings, Mr McInnes & Mr M Payne attended 1 meeting & Mr Mullenger did not attend any.

In addition to Council meetings there were a further 29 meetings of committees plus meetings of sub-committees & advisory groups. Councillors also attended meeting of various outside bodies to whom they were appointed as LPC representatives. LPC were also represented by Councillors at various other meetings at EHDC, SDNP, HCC, etc. as well as attending planning appeals & site meetings.