DRAFT UNTIL SIGNED

KINGTON ST MICHAEL PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 13th March 2008 at 8pm at the Village Hall, Kington St. Michael

CLERK – MRS C SUTTON

12 REDWING AVENUE

CHIPPENHAM

WILTSHIRE SN14 6XJ

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The Parish meeting is called annually by the Chairman of the Parish Council, but is a meeting of the People of Kington St. Michael, where matters brought to the notice of the Clerk in advance of the meeting can be considered by the parishioners in attendance.

Present: There were 22 people present including the WCC and NWDC representatives, Members of the Parish Council and the Clerk.

Apologies were received from Councillor B Isaac

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Minutes

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 19th April 2007 were distributed. These were approved as a true record and signed.
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Welcome by the Chairman

The Chairman welcomed all and thanked them for attending.
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Chairman’s Report

The Chairman gave the following report:
  1. For the second year running the parish council has seen a change in personnel. At the last election two long serving members decided not to stand for re-election. Councillors Anne Smith and Brian Gemmel had served as parish councillors for more years than either would care to remember. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them both on behalf of the parish council for all the hard work they put into this parish over those years. This meant that there were vacancies for two new councillors. I would like to make a belated welcome to our new members Linda Durno and Janet Smith who have both made a considerable contribution in their first year of service. At the risk of sounding like a mutual admiration society I would like to say that the promise shown by our clerk, Clare Sutton has continued and she is the exceptional clerk that we anticipated she would be.
  2. There have been a number of issues that have troubled us during the passed year. Some are coming to fruition whilst others threaten to be problematic for some time in the future. Flooding is one issue which in the current climate is likely to continue to be a problem.
  3. Planning issues continue to take up much of our time. There are two in particular. In the parish we have Oak Tree farm. The retrospective application to run a dog breeding facility was refused. It is going for appeal and we have put in our objections. We are keeping a close eye on the proposed Gospel Hall development of the site next to the Plough. This is outside our parish boundary but will impact on the approach to the village and the amount of traffic using the approach road. One change since last year is that most of us are looking at these plans on line to improve the length of time taken in making our comments.
  4. Traffic and roads. We continue to lobby for an improvement in the road surface on the road running from the dual carriageway to the Plough. We have contacted the neighbouring parishes of Langley Burrell and Kington Langley to enlist their support with success. I note some work is being undertaken at present which may assist. Fingers crossed.
  5. We are continuing to try to find a way to improve the road surface at Stubb’s Lane which is not exorbitantly expensive to local residents.
  6. Community Service projects have been undertaken in the parish. So far they have repaired the ceiling and guttering of the bus shelter, rebuilt a stone wall at the recreation field and reseeded the play area. They may have done more if the local wasps had not taken exception to their presence.
  7. Three achievements are that the proposal to drop the kerb at The Ham to assist push chairs and wheelchairs has been added to the programme of works by Wiltshire County Council, we are about to place signs at the pond and by the stream at the recreation field warning of deep water, and there are now road signs at Folly Row and Grove Lane.
  8. Traffic calming is being overseen by the transport group on our behalf. I believe there will be a separate report relating to that issue.
  9. The registration of the recreation field is still in the hands of the solicitors. I’d make a comment about lawyers at this stage, but as I am one I’ll leave that to others.
  10. The Shop and Post Office. The shop is the responsibility of the committee. Our only involvement this year was the resurfacing of the ramp. The shop continues to build on its initial success. On the committees behalf I would make a plea for anyone who could volunteer to help or knows of someone who could volunteer to help to contact Avril Balmforth. In December we received the unwelcome news that the Post office had recommended our Post Office to close. We had six weeks to put forward our argument against that closure. The argument we put forward was complimented by the representative of Postwatch who attended a meeting we had with the Post office’s representatives. We were very disappointed that the Post Office rejected our arguments and the Post Office will be closing on April 2nd 2008. The main reason they gave was that our post office did not make enough money. As many of you know we have complained about the erratic service we have been given by our post master and we feel that the parish has been let down by him. The shop committee are looking into an alternative postal service for stamps and parcels. It will not be possible to deal with pensions and benefits but there may be a possibility of cash back at the PDQ machine. These services would be available whenever the shop is open and not when the post master feels like it.
  11. We have continued to financially support good causes who are too numerous to mention.
  12. There are so many in the parish who deserve thanks for their work. I am sure I will miss many people out but we thank The W.I for the flowers and their work with the elderly: Margaret for overseeing the notice board, Linda for the website, Nigel for the pond area and other work: all the people who attend meetings on our behalf: the recreation committee for the work they do, the youth club. She may have gone but I would like to thank Angela Baker for the incredible amount of work she has done in this parish, we wish her and her family well in their new life in Canada. Thanks to the shop committee for all the work they have put in turning a failing business into the successful venture it has become. Thanks to the transport group for their work to improve the traffic situation in the parish.
  13. Finally in order to make our meetings shorter and less onerous we have adopted meetings every six weeks rather than every two months. This did not meet with universal approval but has made for more time for a drink afterwards. I hope that such a visit is possible after this meeting.

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Statement of the Parish Council’s Accounts

The Clerk distributed an Income and Expenditure Account showing the balances for the previous year and the forecast for this financial year. (Copy attached)
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Reports from Local Authorities

Councillor Jane Scott WCC (copy attached)
Councillor Sherry Meadows NWDC ;
Councillor Meadows thanked everyone for voting for her at the elections last year, and explained that she had spent a great deal of time helping residents with planning issues, and had also been working very closely with WCC on the one council initiative. She confirmed that NWDC had grant money available for local good causes, and encouraged parishioners to apply for this.
6 / Reports from Local Clubs/Organisations
Kington Tots (copy attached)
Acorns (verbal report, summary below)
Autumn Club (copy attached)
Book and Video recycling scheme (copy attached)
KSM Club (copy attached)
St Michael & All Angels Church (copy attached, and see verbal summary below)
Recreation Field (copy attached)
Kington St Michael School (copy attached, and see summary below)
Village Hall Management Committee (copy attached)
Kington St Michael Shop Limited (copy attached)
WI (copy attached)
Women Out Walking (verbal, summary below)
KSM Charities (verbal, summary below)
Police (verbal, summary below)
Youth Club (copy attached)
KSM Parish Plan (copy attached, and summary below)
7 / Summaries of Verbal Reports
Acorns Pre-School
It was reported that the pre-school had now increased it sessions, and was offering 2 mornings and 2 full days now, which was popular. There had been some staff changes, with Brian Holmes leaving and Nikki MacMillan being recruited. Grants had been received from the Parish Council and NWDC, for which thanks were given. The NWDC grant was to cover the purchase of IT equipment, and one laptop had already been purchased.
St Michael and All Angels Church
Following the report a question was asked about the whether vane, and whether it would be reinstated. It was confirmed that quotes had been sought, but that it was likely the cost would be prohibitive. It was suggested the church could apply to NWDC for help as advised by Councillor Meadows.
Kington St Michael School
Mr Alvis provided a written report for distribution, and also pointed several key events during the year, including a very positive Ofsted report, and the appointment of a new head teacher, Miss Cornelius. He referred to several improvements in the fabric of the school including the resurfacing of the car park, new gates and new toilets, and invited all residents to attend the annual barbeque, and also to visit the school at any time to find out more. The Chair thanked Mr Alvis, and mentioned how pleasant it was to have the school attending the meeting.
Women Out Walking
It was reported that the group will be preparing a formal report to the Parish Council for its next meeting.
KSM Charities
It was reported that the provision of an extra room at each end of the Almshouses is well underway. This will allow disabled access to toilets in these houses and is necessary to ensure that when people become disabled they do not have to leave the Almshouses. Other recent improvements have meant that the houses are now much more comfortable, and all are currently occupied. The works have been more expensive than anticipated, and the charity will be seeking grant money to cover the shortfall. The allotments are also all being used, with a waiting list of 6-7 people. Arrangements are now in place to ensure that people not maintaining their allotment adequately are asked to move on.
Police
PC Barham explained that the appointment of a new Chief Constable for Wiltshire, Brian Moore, would lead to a number of changes, including improving standards on uniform, and improvements in standards. Chief Constable Moore had met every employee of the police in Wiltshire, and was keen to ensure that both staff and the public are happy with the services provided. There was also a new sergeant for this area.
Kington St Michael was one of the villages the team would be focussing on for the next 3 months, and the priorities of speeding and parking had been identified. There was a suggestion that sometimes parking could be a deterrent to speeding. PC Barham would be meeting with Kristian Price of WCC Highways to discuss options, which included build-outs, rumble strips and coloured stripes and one way systems. The PCSO and Special Constable would also be making more foot patrols at key times, and more speed check work would be carried out subject to availability. PC Barham would be asking that the speed limit sign at the North end of the village be moved further out. She would also be working with the school on posters etc to hand out to speeding drivers. It was suggested that she include Grittleton school in this.
PC Barham was working on Neighbourhood Watch in the area, and was hoping that this would be up and running efficiently again soon.
PC Barham requested that any suggestions, concerns, feedback or information be passed directly to her either by phone or email.
Parish Plan
The purchase of a thermal imaging camera by CAVE was expanded upon. It was reported that KSM would be one of the first villages to benefit from the camera, which would highlight which areas of a house were giving off the most heat. It was hoped the start taking these pictures next winter, and the camera would return at a later date to see whether any insulation measures undertaken had reduced the amount of heat lost.

Meeting closed at 9.30pm

Note: Copies of reports are attached to the master of these Minutes, however copies can be forwarded on request.

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