Minutes of the Annual Assembly of Downholland Parish

Minutes of the Annual Assembly of Downholland Parish

Held on Tuesday May 10th 2011 at The Village Hall, School Lane, Haskayne.

Present - Cllr A Johnson (Chair of Downholland Parish Council); Parish Councillors O Connolly, N Jenkinson, D Cull. L Blane, P Turpin and R Coady; Cllr D Westley; Wendy Kelly of Haskayne and Downholland Community Association; CBM Joanne Dawson; Mrs Williams of Downholland Haskayne Endowed School; Dave Sephton and Sue Sephton.

Apologies – Received fromCouncillorUna Atherley and Sharon Cottam.

654. Minutes of the meeting held on 13thApril 2010.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13th April 2010 were RESOLVED to be a true and correct record and signed by the chairman.

655. Chairman’s Report (Cllr Andrew Johnson)

Downholland Parish Council meets every second Tuesday of the month (apart From August) in Downholland Village hall. Elections to Council are held every four years

All our meetings are held in public and during each meeting standing orders are suspended so that members of the parish can raise matters of concern to their parish council.

Your parish council is responsible for maintaining the parish field with its children’s play equipment, the pavilion and the adjoining car park.

This council’s representations to Central Government, both directly and through LALC, appear to have been successful; we have had an assurance that parish council elections will not be delayed in this way again.

The (delayed) parish council elections were held on May 27th 2010, nine candidates stood for election to the seven council places. The names and contact details of your parish councillors are set out at the end of this report. The AGM of the Council took place on 8th June when the following were elected;

Chairman; A Johnson

Vice Chairman; O Connolly

Trustees to John Plumb Charity; Cllrs O Connolly & N Jenkinson

Representatives to Area Committee of the Lancashire Association of Local Councils; Cllrs O Connolly, N Jenkinson & D Cull

Foundation Governor to Ormskirk School; Cllr A Johnson

Representative to PACT; Cllr R Coady

The Clerk was confirmed as the Responsible Finance Officer

In the past year the council has held its Annual Assembly and 11 ordinary parish council meetings.

Membership has been constant with seven elected members throughout the year. All statutory notices and agendas were displayed in a timely manner on the council’s notice board and website.

Value for Money

The parish council set its precept in February this year at £10,500 – unchanged from last year.

The capital schemes completed this year are;

CCTV upgrade of village and Village hall (jointly with the HDCA) with help from Parish Capital Funding from WLBC

Car Park upgrade with help from Parish Capital Funding from WLBC

Zingo du play equipment with help from Lancashire Environmental Fund

Replacement of swing frames with help from Lancashire Environmental Fund and a contribution from Cllr Mike Otter; LCC Parish Champion.

Communication with residents

The parish council communicates with parishioners via its four notice boards; on School Lane near the village hall, and on notice boards on the Kings Arms, the Scarisbrick arms and the Bluebell. It publishes KIT four times a year which reaches every Downholland household. Residents can also access the council’s own website which has recently had a facelift to make it more users friendly and accessible. We intend that this will be yet another way in which parishioners can get up to date news on parish council and other village activities organised by the HDCA, school and the churches.

Residents’ Guide

A Residents’ Guide has been published each year for the past four years giving details of local services and activities. It will go out with a special edition of KIT and the report of this Assembly next month.

Parish pavilion, parish field and play equipment.

The parish car park has been improved, with help from a West Lancs. B.C. Capital Grant Scheme. The kerbstones have been reset, drains and drainage improved, parking bays set out and access to the playing field restricted with a hedge and a fence

We recognise that the pavilion needs some attention and spent some time considering how we might carry out essential repairs and at the same time enlarge it to make it a dual use changing room and youth centre. However as we explored this, it became apparent that dual use was an unworkable compromise and we are now considering other solutions to make the pavilion and the parish field more attractive and more used by parishioners.

We have also received a grant from Lancashire Environmental Fund to purchase the new Zingo Du play area which is a welcome addition to the existing play equipment. We replaced the swing frames partly funded by Lancashire Environmental Fund and ourselves plus a contribution from LCC via Cllr Mike Otter (the County Council’s Parish Champion)

Bus Services

Despite a long campaign by the PC to save it the funding by LCC for 315 Ormskirk to Southport bus service has been withdrawn and the bus service cease to run from May 29th 2011

No buses ran through Downholland during the severe winter weather in late 2010. The Parish Council still has not received an adequate explanation for the absence of snow clearing and gritting in the parish from Lancashire County Council.

The new bus stop with improved disabled access and a bus shelter was at last installed by Lancashire County Council this year.

Civic Service.

The Council held its Annual civic Service at Our Lady’s Church on 3rd October 2010 followed by a reception in Haskayne Village hall. The service was conducted by Father Smith with input from members of the Parish and the children of Haskayne School. We were well supported by local civic representatives.

Planning applications;

LO Jeff’s Site

The Application to build approx 45 houses on the former L O Jeff’s site (Haskayne Business Park) went to appeal in August last year. Prior to appeal, however, West Lancs. BC changed its policies and as a result did not contest the appeal, leaving developers free to lodge an application for housing on the site. The parish council has supported the principle of houses being built on the site but has not had an opportunity to study and comment on the latest application.

Woods Close and Kings Arms Car Park application.

An application to build houses behind Woods Close and on the Kings Arms car park met with opposition from local residents because of concerns about car parking, traffic dangers, loss of amenity (overlooking), security concerns and loss of natural habitats for fauna and flora. The parish council supported the residents and communicated their concerns to West Lancs. BC.

Quality Parish Councils.

I would like to congratulate our clerk on her success in the obtaining the Certificate in Local Council Administration awarded by The National Association of Local Councils (NALC). Not only does this mean that council is now served by a highly qualified and professional clerk, it opens the way for our application for Quality Parish Council status. We began to prepare for this during 2010 -11 and hope that by this time next year our application will have been lodged and successful.

Finally….

During the year, the council has responded to District Council planning applications on numerous occasions, dealt with various other issues and taken the criticisms that come with public service. All this and more are day-to-day Parish Council activities, which are not covered in detail in this report.

I should like to thank all my fellow councillors and our clerk for their help and attendance during the past year. Without them nothing would happen. Thank you all too for your support as parishioners.

656: - Report on activities of Lancashire County Council by County Councillor O’Toole

No report was available.

657: - Report on activities of West Lancashire Borough Council by Cllr David WestleyElections

Following the Elections on the 5th May, no change in overall control although the Conservative Group increased its majority from 7 to 12 leaving the political make up as 33 Conservative and 21 Labour.

I was fortunate to be re-elected and along with Councillors Una Atherley and David O'Toole will continue to represent the Ward to the best of my ability.

The Leader has indicated that he wishes me to continue as the Cabinet Member for Finance & Performance Management which includes responsibility for Financial Services, Audit, Insurance, Exchequer Services and Revenue & Benefits. I also chair two Cabinet Working Groups – Business Plan and Voluntary Sector Grants. I continue to be a member of the Planning Committee.

Financial Challenge

I am sure everybody present is aware of the financial pressures on local authorities and West Lancashire is no different. Whilst the prudent financial management of the Council's finances over the last 9 years ensured it was debt free with adequate reserves and much better placed than many authorities to meet the financial challenge from reduced Government grant and income the size of the task is such that there needs to be major changes.

Over the past 3 years the Council has reduced expenditure by £3.7m through a programme of efficiencies and savings including a 10% reduction in the workforce (57 jobs went although only 2 compulsory redundancies). All achieved without any material cuts in services.

Over the next 4 years the Council will need reduce expenditure by a further £5m out of a net budget of £17.5m.

Business Plan

Being well placed financially, the Council has the benefit of time to effect change and is currently finalising detailed proposals to effect the necessary savings in the form of a 4 year Business Plan. The outline Plan was presented to Full Council in April and the final proposals will be presented in July but will be subject to a public consultation before implementation.

There is a determination to squeeze out every practical efficiency before having to resort to cuts in services.

The Senior Management of the Council has been changed for a CEO & 10 Divisional Managers to a CEO and 2 Executive Directors which has already saved £320k pa.

A programme of Major Service Reviews is in course and this is looking at everything the Council does, how it is done, can it be done more efficiently or indeed does it need to be done.

Partnerships

Existing

• Leisure – West Lancs. Leisure Trust & Serco
• Beacon Park Golf Club – DCT Leisure
• Human Resources - LCC

New

• Financial Services, Insurance, Legal & Member Services – LCC
• Revenue & Benefits and ITC – Joint Venture Company (LCC/BT)
• Vehicles & Maintenance – Out to tender
• Homecare Link – Out to tender
• CCTV – Out to tender

Summary

Council Tax was frozen for the second year running and lowest increase over the last 10 years of any borough in Lancashire.

The days of expanding services are gone and the overriding priority is to maintain the quality of essential frontline services by providing them in the in the most cost effective manner. To achieve this there is question all non essential activities and to take advantage of the economies of scale through partnerships providing back office services.

I would like to end by expressing my appreciation of Jill Cavan for the efficient and effective way she fulfils her role as Parish Clerk.

Cllr Connolly asked to what extent the cuts would impact on Parish Councils. Cllr Westley advised that the cuts should not really impact on Parish Councils – there is strong support for them at both the Borough and County Council.

Cllr Johnson asked for an update on the review of the winter maintenance of roads and highways. Cllr Westley advised that the report had been delayed but will be presented to the Three Tier Forum in June. He had made representations to have the bus route in Haskayne ploughed and gritted during periods of future severe weather. A new product which could cope with lower temperatures had been purchased to supplement the grit used in previous years.

Cllr Johnson expressed his frustration that it was now May and the review had not been completed. He felt that the failure to plough in the immediate aftermath of the snow had caused the extreme and protracted problems. The Parish are relying on Cllrs Westley and O’Toole to press the case for improvements in future years.

668:- Report on behalf of Downholland Haskayne Endowed Primary School (Mrs M Williams)

Cllr Johnson stated that Downholland was very fortunate to have such a wonderful school of which it was rightfully proud.

669: - Report by Trustees of the John Plumb Charity (Cllr O Connolly)

John Plumb was a local man who dies in the 18th century. He left assets in his will to provide monies for the relief of poverty in Downholland. The original money has been used up and the original purpose gone but the charity is continued today, supported by the Parish Council. The trustees are currently two parish councillors, Norman Jenkinson and I.

Each year at Christmas the Trustees visit 2 or 3 elderly people in the parish, tell them about John Plumb and give them a Christmas card and a small cash gift.

From the responses received from the recipients of these visits we know they are well received and this link with the past continues to send out a positive community message.

670: -Report by the Local Police (CBM Joanne Dawson)

CBM Dawson advised that she had been SBM at Scarisbrick since October 2009 and had recently added Haskayne, Downholland, Altcar and Halsall; following PC Barlow’s retirement.

From April 2010 to March 2011 there had been 47 crimes in Downholland Parish; of which 41% had led to an arrest. This consisted of 12 burglaries; 9 thefts; 4 assaults; 7 acts of criminal damage and 15 drug offences (all for possession of cannabis).

Incidences of Anti social behaviour were low although there was a problem with the use of motorcycles on the Cheshire Lines. Warning signs were being erected and these would allow the police to seize bikes without having to give a prior warning.

Rural Watch was proving to be a great success.

PCSO Baldwin had previously been shared with Knowsley Ward. As from March she has been dedicated to Altcar, Halsall, Downholland and Haskayne.

Cllr Johnson thanked CBM Dawson for attending; the Parish was pleased to have her.

671: Report by Haskayne and Downholland Community Association (Ms Wendy Kelly)

The Association has managed reasonably well over the past twelve months, in spite of the economic climate. The car boot sale made a profit of £1400. There are regular bookings of the hall from various groups and HDCA is grateful for their support.
The U3A helped to obtain wireless broadband for the hall.
A number of grants have been applied for in order to create much needed additional storage space. Unfortunately these have not been successful but HDCA are persevering.

Unfortunately some events have had a disappointing low level of support from local people these have included a 60’s night and attempts to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

672: - Report by Tiny Tigers Playgroup (Cllr Blane)

Tiny Tigers Parent and Toddler group is now situated in Haskayne School.

The reason this happened was because we were aware that the village hall needed more storage space and we were taking up a lot, and because after discussions with Mrs Williams at Haskayne School we felt it would be a good opportunity to get new parents and children to see the school, and perhaps help to increase future numbers attending the school.

Tiny Tigers is now run by Sue Wilson as I was having too many commitments with the Nursery.

Sue is loving running the group.

Mrs Williams at Haskayne School kindly lets us use the outdoor school facilities and the children, and parents enjoy this as there is play equipment, a fully furnished play house, sand pit, and of-course our cars, bikes, slide etc.

I purchased more indoor toys when we moved to the school including books, jigsaws, paper, crayons, cars and baby toys as the equipment we had at the village hall was mainly larger outdoor items.

The numbers have dwindled as they often do at this time of year. We were only seeing 3 children each week. Other parents suggested that us changing the day to a Monday was a problem so we changed it back to Tuesday and they still didn’t come.

I have ensured the poster of Tiny Tigers is in every parish notice-board and in each issue of the KIT. I have also created a group on Facebook to ensure our advertising goes a long way.

Sue has decided to stop Tiny Tigers until September, and the new School year.

We will take this time to discuss anything that we may be able to do to increase numbers.