ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
THURSDAY 28 APRIL 2016 @ 7.00p.m.
@ THE VILLAGE HALL, CREETING ST MARY
Present:Cllrs N Hardingham (Chairman), H R Coton, P Scully,N Smart & J Palmer
Mrs A Squirrell (PC Clerk)
In attendance:SCClr M Hicks; MSDClr S Morley
D Primmer (CSM Welfare Charities); A Rogers (CSM VAP School & CSM Website);
C Bingley (CSM VHMC); V Brittain (Mother & Toddler Club)
R Brittain (Blacksmiths Field Play Equipment Project);
2members of general public
- Apologies
Cllr H Craggs; Mrs R Richardson; Mrs J Williams; Mrs J Smart; Suffolk Police - Confirmation of the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of
It was proposed by Cllr Palmer, seconded by Cllr Scully and agreed unanimously that the minutes be signed as a true record.
- Matters Arising
item 10 – Matters Raised by Parishioners – seating at Jacks Green.
It was asked whether any progress had been made re the installation of seating at Jacks Green. It was agreed that this would be raised as an agenda item at the next PC meeting.
- Address and Report of the Chairman, Cllr N Hardingham
Attached as Appendix1.
- Income and Expenditure Account – year ending 31 March 2016£
Brought Forward / 10890.45
Precept / 8700.00
Grants / 1064.17
Other Income (including VAT refund) / 14346.99
Total 2015/16 / 35001.61
Revenue Expenditure / 6479.95
Capital Expenditure / 6310.09
Donations totalling made to: / 1550.00
Needham Mkt 1st Responders
Mid Suffolk Citizens Advice Bureau
CSM Village Hall – Insurance for building & Fabric
PCC Churchyard maintenance
Mother & Toddler Group
VAT Input / 1704.71
Total Expenditure 2015/16 / 16044.75
Figure to be carried forward to 2016/17 / 18956.86
n.b. these figures have yet to be audited by our accountants and therefore, should be regarded as a draft figure for the purposes of this meeting
We have continued to keep our revenue spending as low as possible again this year. This is done by using volunteers to carry out necessary repairs and maintenance to our street equipment wherever possible and we convey our thanks to Brian Jessup who was able to replace two Notice Boards at the cost of half the purchase price of new. The annual Fireworks Display once again made a small profit.
An explanation of the increase in income is the success of the fundraising by the Play Equipment Project. By means of events, sponsorship and grants a total of £15000 plus has been raised with the funds ring fenced in the Parish Council Blacksmiths Account. To date £6500 net has been spent on supply only equipment with a balance of £7000 in this account for further pieces required such as Notice Board and Picnic Benches. It should also be noted that under the terms and conditions of the Big Lottery Grant we are required to refund any VAT reclaimed by the Parish Council.
At the end of the year we again can report a healthy carry forward sum of £18956.68 but must remember this figure includes the amount still to be spent on the play equipment.
- Reports were received as follows:-
a.County Cllr M Hicks (filed with minutes)
- from his report Cllr Hicks highlighted the devolution discussions currently taking place, the success of the Children’s Services and Education Services.
b.MSD Cllr S Morley (filed with minutes)
c.Suffolk Constabulary – nothing received
d.Creeting St Mary’s Welfare Charities – Mr D Primmer (filed with minutes)
e.CSM Diamond Jubilee Hall Management Committee – Mrs C Bingley (filed with minutes)
f.Creeting St MaryNewsletter – Mrs A Squirrell/Mrs R Richardson (filed with minutes)
- Cllr P Scully agreed to contact Rosie Richardson to ascertain full details required for editing the newsletter following the offer of a job share. Gipping Press Ltd was publicly thanked for the help and support they give in helping to ensure a regular distribution of copies.
g.Creeting St Mary Website – Mr A Rogers (filed with minutes)
h.Creeting St Mary VAP School – Mr A Rogers (filed with minutes)
i.W.I. – Mrs J Williams (filed with minutes)
j.Mother & Toddler Group – Mrs V Brittain
-reported there were approximately 20 children attending weekly. Although the original idea was to help mothers lose weight , this had fallen by the way and the initiative was for the children to meet and play whilst providing craft activities and health snacks. A plea was also made for more adult helpers for this group.
k.Community Pre-School Nursery – nothing received
l.Creeting St Mary Social Club – nothing received
m.Blacksmiths Field Play Equipment Project – (filed with minutes)
- it was agreed that the sponsors, Poundfield Productds Ltd, Material Change and Breheny Contractors Ltd, should be publicly thanked for their generous donations towards the project. Grants has also been received from Big Lottery Fund. Cllr M Hicks’ Locality Fund and Cllr S Morley’s Locality Fund.
- Matters Raised by Parishioners
No matters raised. - Closure of 2015 Parish Meeting
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.35p.m.
Appendix 1
CREETING ST MARY ANNUAL PARISH MEETING – 28.04.2016
ADDRESS AND REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN, CLLR N HARDINGHAM
Welcome to the Annual Parish Meeting, and thank you for attending.
This is the occasion at whichyour Parish Council and other community organisations in the village report back to you on their activities during the year, and you have the opportunity to ask questions and raise issues on any matter relating to the village. This is in contrast to ordinary council meetings, which anyone is welcome to attend, but questions have to be restricted to items on the agenda.
I must start by reporting the sad death of our Vice-chairman, Alistair McKelvie. He gave great service to the village as a member of the council from 2005 onwards, and was chairman from 2007 to 2010. His determination to make sure things were done right made him the right man for the job when we were under pressure to redraft all of our standing orders and procedures, and when Elsie Rivers retired as parish clerk he worked with Ann to make sure everything went smoothly.
On a happier note I am delighted to inform you that Hugo Craggs recently indicated that he would be willing to join the council, and was duly co-opted at our last meeting.
I hope to show you in the rest of my report that the parish council makes a useful behind the scenes contribution to the working of our community which could not come about without it. It is not a huge commitment of time and effort, and we are still short of three councillors, so if anyone would be interested in finding out more please get in touch.
We held 6 full council meetings, and an extra 5 planning meetings where these were needed to meet Mid Suffolk deadlines. We decided that no increase to the precept was needed for 2016, so our proportion of the Council tax amounted to about £30 per household.
Particular things I would like to mention for the year are:
Finally getting Suffolk Highways to put extra road safety markings outside the school, and putting the safety signs further up the road (this took almost a year of repeated efforts).
In the autumn we received a complaint about Flordon Road being obstructed by lorry movements, and Breheny's and a police representative came to a subsequent meeting to explain why it happened, and discuss ways of avoiding a repeat.
We adopted the phone box at Jack's Green, with the intention of moving it up to the position now occupied by the redundant one outside the village hall, because many people feel they are iconic symbols of rural England. Unfortunately we have been so far unable to remove the other on because it was adopted by Community Heartbeat Trust, and we are still waiting on them. However it will be moved eventually, so we retain it as a feature in the village.
We played a key role in forming the Play equipment committee, and Rob Brittain will be reporting later on their success.
In the autumn we had an offer from Brian Jessup to build new notice boards for Jack's Green at cost, and these have now been installed. Many thanks to Brian.
We were again able to underwrite and fund the early purchase of fireworks for Guy Fawke's, so that we could benefit from a discount, and claim back the VAT. As a result (and with favourable weather) this event made a useful surplus of over £250, which can be used for this year's event.
We have had a working party to clear overgrown scrub at the bottom of Blacksmith's field, two village litter picks, and another working party to plant over 100 trees on the field and along the A14 embankment. If anyone would like to contribute some tlc to these over the summer they will reward the effort!
So far as planning is concerned I regret that we have worked hard to represent your views on the Grove Farm, Whissell's Farm, and Breheny's applications to Mid Suffolk, without success. I am certain that with goodwill, and a willingness to compromise on the part of the developers, better solutions could have been reached in all of these cases. In particular I know that most of us accept that development will take place on the Breheny site, but the existing proposal is out of keeping in scale with the village, and the provisions for road and in particular footway access are inadequate and potentially hazardous. This is still at outline stage so we can hope that we can press for improvements when it comes to the detailed application. I also found it regrettable that our District Councillor did not see fit to present to the Committee the views of the village expressed at a very well attended meeting.
Finally I would like to thank all the members of the council for their efforts over the year, in particular Paul Scully for diligently walking the footpaths, and we all hope he will soon be back to health. To Jan Palmer for keeping a close eye on Blacksmith's field and the play equipment, to Rosie Richardson for carrying on editing the Newsletter while we look for a volunteer to replace her, to everybody who chips in with work parties and other odd jobs that need doing, and finally to Ann Squirrell to whom we are indebted for her invaluable work as Parish Clerk.
1 |Annual Parish Meeting 28 April 2016