Record of Annual Parish Meeting

WESTWELL PARISH COUNCIL

RECORD OF ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

Monday, 4th April 2016 at 7.30pm

Westwell Parish Hall

Present: Cllr Mrs Drury (Chairman, Westwell Parish Council), Cllr Mrs Wyatt,Cllr Ms Farrington, Cllrs Bainbridge, Bartlett, Butcher, Faulkner,and Mrs Wood (Clerk to Westwell Parish Council), with 34members of the public.

Mr George Horne and Mr Richard Filmer (guest speaker) were also present.

Apologies: Received fromCllr Miss Davidson(Vice-chairman), Cllr Lawrence, Cllr Krause (borough councillor), Cllr Simkins (county councillor), Mrs W Bartlett and Mr J Drury.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Annual Meeting of Westwell Parish, especially to those attending for the first time, and those who contribute year after year to making Westwell a strong and energetic community. She explained that this is not a Parish Council meeting, but a meeting of the parish hosted by the Parish Council. There will be reports from the many groups and societies in Westwell, after which there will be a talk by Richard Filmer.

Presentation of the Good Citizen Award

Mr Horne stated that it gave him great pleasure to give the award to a member of the community who is kind, hospitable, is actively involved in a number of village organisations, volunteers in the Hospice shop and works quietly behind the scenes.

To loud applause the recipient of the Award for 2016 was announced as Mrs Elizabeth (Liz) Jamieson, who thanked those present for her award.

Parish Council: The Chairman

On May 5th last year you elected 9 of us: Anne, Tom, Tessa, Ron, Tony, Clive, Nick, Lucy andmyself. Thank you for the trust you place with us to make good decisions about Westwellparish. We are all guided by Sue who is the parish clerk. We have an annual meeting of theParish Council to decide which of us will take on various responsibilities: Clive and Ron liaise with Highways, Tom and Lucy take the lead on trees. Anne is Vice-chairman and makes sure Ido what I need to do as chairman, and she works on the budget with Sue. There is quite a lot ofliaison with ABC and other parishes: Tessa attends the Parish Forum and Anne and Tonyattend the Kent Association of Local Councils, both useful networking with other parishes and the Borough Council. Nick and Anne liaise with the Police.

At the elections on May 5th: we thanked John Baldwin and David Hooper for their time asParish Councillors. David is now Playing Field Warden with Robert Bellwood. After the election we welcomed Lucy Farrington and Tony Bartlett as new Parish Councillors. We welcomed Larry Krause as our new Borough Councillor;Larry is well known to many because he is chairman of Hothfield Parish Council and married to theReverend Sue Starkings, so splendidly local.

Since this time last year we have had 7 full council meetings, 8 additional meetings to giveopinions on planning applications: the decisions are made by Ashford Borough Councilplanners, but we hope that by commenting carefully they do take Parish Council views intoaccount. Most planning decisions are delegated to officers, but if there is anapplication that should be considered by the ABC planning committee our Borough Councillor,Larry Krause, can ask for it to be decided there. We have considered 19 applications during theyear all of which were approved by the Borough.

A few other highlights :

In May last year you will remember the dramatic event of a large branch falling from thechestnut tree by the church gate, many months of discussion and tests followed. Trees are animportant part of the character of the centre of the village, but change is sometimes inevitableand safety is always important. ABC's tree officer, Linda Cross, was very worried about theamenity value of the tree on one hand and the risk state of disease and damage on the other.Eventually she insisted that a special tree sonic test was done: which we did on all threemature trees along the far side of the green. That determined the course of action, to fell thebadly diseased chestnut tree by the church gate and crown reduce the other two. StephenCook and the Blean Tree care team did the work.

We have a tree surgery item budget, but this work has required a draw down from reserves,and now the church path needs attention as the tree is no longer there at the end of the path.When we do thepath we will have to fill the tree root hole with something solid, so do helpyourselves to wood chippings now. They will have to be removed.

There are two other big tasks in the village: the access road to the cemetery has become amuddy rutted track and needs repairing. Ron will later tell you about the playing fieldparking problems, So several big ticket items which need funding, and may make it necessaryto increase the Parish Council component of the council tax next year. This is all for necessarymaintenance and improvement.

I hope you are all aware that there was boundary change proposal this year. In essence, theproposal is that at the next elections in 2019 the Parish Council boundary moves from thecentre of Sandyhurst Lane to behind the houses on the Ashford side of the Lane. This willbring a lot more properties within Westwell parish, including Hoads Woods Gardens andPotters Close. The older houses were part of Westwell until the boundary was moved to thecentre of the road in the 70s to enlarge Ashford. While I'm sure it will be good for Westwell parish in many ways, the proposals got off to a very unfortunate start with an entirelyinadequate consultation process run by the Borough, though as a parish we tried to makesome amends by a public meeting and a leaflet to every home and business in the parish.Nothing further happens until 2018 when we get into the run up to the 2019 election.

Throughout 2015 and early 2016 we have been waiting for the new Local Plan. It goes to ABC'sCabinet on May 12th; we are in regular contact with Council planners. So far all we know is thesites submitted off Tutt Hill, Kingsland Lane and at Beechbrook have all been discounted. From mid May we will be asking you all for comments on the total plan as it impacts on Westwell parish. As I think I said last year we do need to get our heads around building somenew housing in the parish - based on local needs - and that is a topic to return to after May.

The other ongoing challenge is finding a solution to the lorry parking problem. ABC hasproved it can enforce, but we need more lorry parking spaces in the borough. ABC's work and our protests have taken the A20 parking problem up the priority list. We are now pushing for proposals. That battle goes on - I should add that I declare an interest as many of the trucks are regularly parked outside my property next to the Hare & Hounds.

As chairman of your Parish Council I am utterly dependent on my fellow councillors: for their hard work and many emails and time in meetings, and on our parish clerk Sue Wood.

On your behalf may I say a heartfelt thank you to all of them.

Finance: The Clerk

The Clerk presented the draft Statement of Accounts for the year.

Receipts:

Concurrent Functions Grant: Parish Councils carry out a number of tasks which are undertaken by the Borough Council in unparished areas. Borough Council costs are met from Council Tax receipts, therefore residents in parishes are, in effect, subsidising other areas. The Concurrent Functions Grant is paid by the Borough Council in recognition of this. We had been told that the Grant would not be paid after this year, but it has been confirmed that it will continue. This is welcome because it is a significant part of the Parish Council’s income.

Council Tax Support Grant: This was brought in when changes were made to the way in which Council Tax benefit was paid. Direct payment to those eligible was replaced by a discount, therefore someone with a discount of 100% would pay nothing at all. This would reduce the number of residents paying the Precept, thereby increasing what these residents would have to pay. The Council Tax Support Grant is paid by central govt to the Borough Council and passed on, to offset the reduction in number of residents paying the Precept.

Payments:

Subscriptions: Higher because the subscription to the KALC for 2016-17 has already been paid.

Tree surgery: This was because of the survey and works associated with the chestnut tree on church green.

Printing: The March Eye could not be produced because of the editor’s house move, and technical problems meant that the April Eye could not be published. The Parish Council met the costs of printing the April Eye because of the significance of the Eye as a means of communication with all residents.

Cemetery: Costs incurred when registering the cemetery with the Land Registry.

Hall reimbursement: £176 for the hall was mistakenly paid into the Parish Council’s account, but the mistake rectified when identified.

Hall Management: Mr Clive Bainbridge

Maintenance

There is a constant round of electrical certifications, fire certifications, and generally trying to maintain the hall so that people will want to hire it. The latest piece of maintenance has been to totally refurbish the main toilets, which were completed including new flooring, and electrical work for around £2,500.

Finances

Even after paying for some large bills including the toilet refurbishment we still have around £6,500 in the bank so the finances are looking reasonable.

Use of the hall

Regular use of the hall slightly increased – thanks to Haley in the village with two nights a week of fitness / yoga in her uphill struggle to keep Westwell fit.

Bookings

Previously Carolyn Thorneloe, who has now moved away from the village. We would like to thank her for all her work over the years. Now taken over by Doris Cackett who can be contacted on 01233 712016.

Reviewed rates of hire

Generally unchanged, apart from Sunday bookings which are now same as Friday night and Saturday at £12 an hour. In addition we also charge a supplement for preparation time for an event rather than just the hours the hall is hired for the actual event.

Replacement of hall

Still an aspiration although it still looks as far off as ever. Researching the question of grants but the only one of sufficient size would be the lottery and initial research seems to indicate that we would struggle to get funding. We are lucky as we have a hall already …some places either don’t have one or it is literally falling down…

Charity

Last year I Mentioned that the hall was a charitable organisation – registered with the Charity Commission and with nine trustees, who make up the hall management committee. The hall does have very comprehensive specialist insurance but we are looking to change the status of the organisation to one where the trustees have only a limited financial responsibility in the very unlikely event of being sued.

Westwell Community website

Cllr Ms Farrington, a relatively new member of hall committee, is leading on this project to update our current website.

Cllr Ms Farrington reported that a new website is to be launched with the help of a £1000 grant from Cllr Krause. The existing website is restricted by way of architecture; the new website will have more tabs, hyperlinks, photos and will be easier to use. The ‘old’ site will remain but will carry only Parish Council content. Cllr Krause’s grant will be used to fund a webmaster to migrate existing content, upload new material and train volunteers. Cllr Ms Farrington noted that a website is only as good as its content, and expressed the hope that community groups will generate and upload their own content. The new website will use free BT software and is easy to use. It will be overseen by Cllr Ms Farrington but volunteers are sought and should contact the Clerk.

St Mary’s Church: MrMartin Wyatt

The Restoration work is now complete and as a condition of our grant from Heritage Lottery Fund, the Church is now open during the week from 9am– 5pm approx so visitors can go inside to look round.

Attendances have kept up well and the fundraising activities are very well supported. Thanks to everyone who helps with Safari Supper, Annual Fete and Harvest Supper/Auction of Promises. We are also supported by unsung heroes who provide lovely flower arrangements and perform such mundane tasks as cleaning the Church.

The tree on the church green (which doesn't actually belong to the Church) has been made safe by felling it - we owe our safety to the Parish Council for funding its felling.

As many will know, Bob our local Vicar who worked across the 7 parishes of our Benefice has moved to a challenging big job in Folkestone but the Vicarage remains empty until a replacement is found.

Attendances keep up well at the usual services and the notable new initiative of Messy Church for the under 10s is very successful - meeting on the third Sunday of the month in the Parish Hall at 3.30pm and led by Heather Lister assisted by Mim Oliver. The annual pet-blessing service will take place on Sunday 7th August.

The Annual Parochial Church meeting takes place after the 11amservice on 10th April where people listed on the Church Members’ Roll will vote on the appointment of various church officers. If you feel you would like to join the PCC please talk to Martin Wyatt or Sue Wood (Churchwardens) before 10th April.

Westwell Players: Mr Nick Faulkner

It’s been a quieter twelve months for The Players with just one big production of our pantomime ‘Pinocchio’ this January.

Read-throughs of potential shows started in July last year, followed by casting, some re-casting and then rehearsals from early September. Pantomimes tend to demand a large cast, so this was always going to be a challenge. I’m pleased to say that by means fair and foul, we press-ganged in several new recruits - many of whom are reportedly still sane!

Pinocchio was a complete sell-out over three nights plus a dress rehearsal and the feedback was all very positive. The show was financially successful, and this year we donated to a charity dealing with the care and treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Praise must go to the entire cast and backstage team for a superb production, but I feel particular praise must go to the performer who had so many lines, costume changes and songs to learn - Westwell’s very own ‘Dame’, Mr Gordon Forster!

We weren't twiddling our thumbs during our down-time: instead we went on some very serious fact-finding missions to suss out the competition - namely, The Kentish Players’ production of ‘Evita’ at The Hazlitt Theatre, and Egerton Players’ ‘Old Time Music Hall’.

Naturally, these missions did involve an element of food, drink and general merriment and they ended with us concluding that, yes, there is indeed some competition - and while some of it is very good, they still can’t compete with an exceptionally good wooden puppet, an outrageous dame and three very camp skeletons!

I’m sorry to report that we are losing two very valued members - Pam & Fred Nash, who have moved to start a new life in Norfolk. Pam & Fred have been dedicated members of Players for many, many years. Pam has worked wonders on costumes and of course dazzled on stage. Fred was initially in charge of lighting and backstage, but in recent years he got a taste for treading the boards - at which he was particularly good. We wish them every happiness.

Financially, the Players remain in good shape and during the past year we have upgraded all of our lighting system.

Whilst we are blessed with very dedicated and talented members, we are always in need of new recruits - and not just on stage. The easiest way to find out more is either by phone, email or via Westwell Players Facebook page.

Our next production is planned for November - further details to follow.

Westwell WI: Read by Mrs Mary Anne Pitt on behalf of Mrs Barbara Gardner

This year has been one of many changes for our WI.

We have a had a new president Barbara Gardner, also a new Treasurer Sue Fowler and

a new secretary Tracy Shaikh. Changing three officers at once certainly has bought its challenges to committee but hopefully with more ups than downs. The remainder of the committee were the same as the previous year.

December was our Christmas party meeting and this gave members a truly enjoyable evening. The previous committee presented a delicious meal and amusing entertainment from Lyminge handbell Ringers with members joining in to ring a bell or two. All followed by the arrival of Santa bearing gifts for all.

December also started our year of being hostesses for all group events during the year with an uplifting carol service at Westwell Parish Church. We were joined by many other members from our group.