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MINUTES
OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH OF KINGTON LANGLEY HELD AT 7:30 PM ON
TUESDAY 21st MARCH 2006 IN
THE KINGTON LANGLEY VILLAGE HALL |
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PRESENT: Cllr
Peter Hart (Chairman), Cllr. Mrs B. Bird, Cllr. K Burton, Cllr. D Gill, Cllr.
Mrs V Giles, Cllr. Ms. J Saunders, Cllr. Rev. John Schofield. Parish Clerk:
Mrs. S Hart. APOLOGIES
FOR ABSENCE were received
from Cllr. S Harris, Cllr. E Sudbury, Mrs. Lynn Evans, Mr. & Mrs. R
Weston, Mrs. A Palmer, Mr. & Mrs. M Sealy and Mr. M Dixson. |
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01.06 |
MINUTES OF THE LAST ANNUAL
PARISH MEETING The minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Parish
held on Tuesday 22nd March 2005 were read by the Clerk and on a
proposal from Mr. M Hinder IT WAS
RESOLVED that the Chairman sign them as a correct record. |
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02.06 |
MATTERS ARISING
Minute
01.05: Publication of this
year’s APM Agenda was put in the Village Magazine and hand delivered to any
address who did not receive a copy of the magazine. Minute
03.05: The bus shelter has been
erected and well used; it is the busiest bus stop in the village. Minute
05.05: the Housing Needs Survey
has been carried out but the results have been unsatisfactory and glaring
holes in the methodology have been identified. Apologies
for Absence: Mr. M Ellett
expressed concern that not all Councillors were in attendance at the Annual
Parish Meeting. |
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03.06 |
CORRESPONDENCE
No Correspondence has been received. |
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04.06 |
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT The Chairman, Cllr. Peter
Hart, reported that it had been a busy year in the Parish resulting in the
need to double the Parish Council meetings to meet monthly, including August.
Councillors are involved in a large number of documents circulating,
especially with regard to Planning in its broadest sense. As the consultation
process cascades down much documentation now has to be circulated. Cllr. Hart expressed his
commiserations on the death of Mr. John Oatley who had been on the Parish
Council including Chairing for many years. The village has gained two
very smart notice boards, thanks to generous donations by Atwell Martin
Estate Agents. Following the endless
stream of accidents through the double bends by the Greathouse and the
Parish’s request to impose a 40 mph speed limit, the Highways Department will
conduct a review at the end of this month. They will also consider a request
to lower the speed limit to 30 mph at the The Parish Council has
been asked to consider the work involved in reopening Cllr. Hart expressed his
thanks to all the volunteers in the village that work behind the scenes to
make the village what it is. He had put together a list of volunteer
organisations he knew about and asked everyone to look at and add to the list
if appropriate. |
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05.06 |
YOUR
County Councillor Mrs.
Jane Scott reported that it had been both a good year and a bad year for
Wiltshire County Council. Good in respect of what the Council had achieved
but bad in respect of the level of funding received from Government to fulfil
responsibilities in the year ahead. Public satisfaction with
County services continues to increase and keep WCC in the top quarter of all
councils. Over 80% of WCC performance
indicators have improved and the Audit Commission continues to rate WCC as a
“good” council and one of only 8 county councils regarded as “improving
strongly” from that good base. WCC
became the only council to be awarded Beacon Status for its work with
communities and received the maximum 4 stars for its environmental services. Following her re-election
in May, Cllr. Scott decided to bring forward a 4-year plan “Wiltshire 2009”
to set out aims and targets and show how WCC are to achieve them year by
year. There are 22 principal
objectives, all intended to provide excellent services at an affordable cost,
achieving high public satisfaction and with decisions taken in a transparent
way after increased consultation with all sections of the communities. Care for the elderly has
the potential for a substantial financial impact on the County Council. The Wiltshire Primary Care Trust is
transferring to the County Council some aspects of care previously financed
by the NHS. This represents a shift in
taxation from central to local government and an added burden to the council
tax payer. A million pounds of
savings were identified last year by increased efficiencies in how the
council works and Cllr. Scott believed WCC will double that amount in the
savings made in the year ahead.
Considerable investment in modern technology is now paying off. Without those projected savings it is
unlikely that WCC could have maintained its front line services at their
present level. Mr. David Sealy asked why
it was not possible to fight regionalisation of the police force and
expressed concern that we don’t get an adequate police service now. Cllr.
Scott was against consolidation of the police forces but also suggested
writing to the local MP, Mr. James Gray. The police claim that it would
strengthen the prevention of serious crime, namely drugs and terrorism, but
her view was it would be better to make that regional whilst keeping the rest
local. |
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06.06 |
YOUR DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
District Councillor Peter Green talked about
Social Housing in the District. A newly created non profit-making
organisation was set up to refurbish Council Houses as part of a £50 million
pound investment program. This had resulted in some of the capital assets
being sold which had helped to keep District tax low. There have been changes in the way that Planning
works. In 2004 the “Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act” changed and
restricted the way in which District Councillors are able to give their own
opinions about planning matters. The Boundary Commission looked at our District
before the 2003 election and changed the Ward boundaries. They are now
looking at it again and had proposed to change the boundaries for our next
election in May 2007 and to increase the total number of councillors to 54
from the current 53. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced
that they will be looking into possible organisation changes, including
amalgamating County and District Councils. Cllr. Green said
that there were three other local issues of concern that he wanted to
highlight. The first was the old Genus site. The owners are seeking planning
permission to create a business park. Secondly, the old Picnic Site by the
Plough Inn. The Brethren now own the site and will be bringing forward plans
to erect a place of worship. Finally housing development will remain
contentious because of changing Planning Regulations affecting a Conservation
area. |
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07.06 |
PRECEPT AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNT
The Parish Clerk reported
that Bank Accounts as at 21 March 2006 were as follows:
The Precept last year
(2005/2006) was set at £18,700 in order to:
Fortunately, as a result
of grants for the bus shelter and no extra costs on the annual audit there
has been no increase to the Precept
for 2006/2007, which has been set at £18,655. This will:
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08.06 |
LYTES ALMSHOUSES,
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09.06 |
Mrs. Lynn Evans sent her
apologies for not attending the meeting. Her report was read by Mrs. Sarah
Foster as follows: 2005 began with our ‘Learning to Learn’
year, which involved staff
training and a learning evening for parents. As a school we are also
spreading the word across the county through doing presentations, running
training sessions and welcoming colleagues into our school to observe. Mrs
Ros Hutchins our Reception/ Year 1 teacher is a perfect example of this as
she is a County Early Years Leading teacher and often has practitioners from
other Early Years settings coming to watch her excellent practice. During
the last year we have successfully completed our mission to have a SMARTboard
in every class. This enables the teachers and children to interact with the
computer and the Internet on a large scale. It has opened up a whole new way
of learning. We can now bring up aerial photographs of Kington Langley via
the web and zoom in on the school!! Thanks are expressed to those villagers who volunteer their
time to the school, and a special mention is given to Catherine Bloomer, Anne
Dixson and Tessa McWhirter. The Village Hall Committee has also supported us
with the issue of parking. Our parent
body, FOLFSA, continue to help us strive for improvement. One recent project
has been the rejuvenation of old kitchen. Thanks to a band of people led by
some parent governors the children now have a new food technology room and
they have embarked on their first cooking endeavour of making pizza!! Fund raising during the year has benefited NCH, Dorothy House,
Macmillan, CLIC, Operation Christmas Child, Barnados and The Children’s
Society. The latter charity benefited from our annual Christingle Service and
a group of villagers spending time in school with the children making their
Christingles in Cherry Hall. Thank you to all of them that helped. This year is our 150th
anniversary and we are encouraging past pupils to contact the school to share
recollections. The school will be opening
during Scarecrow Weekend for villagers and former pupils to visit – Saturday
1 till 4pm and Sunday 10am till 12.30pm. Please come and join us. And finally it has been an
emotional time recently because Mary Waite our Year 1 and 2 teacher has
decided to take early retirement. After 34 years of stalwart commitment to
Langley Fitzurse she is going to put her feet up at the end of the academic
year. We are sure that everyone will join us in sending her our best wishes
and good luck for the future. |
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10.06 |
RIGHTS OF WAY REPORT
Cllr. Mr. Dennis Gill
reported that again it had been a quiet year with few incidents; those that
had occurred had been amicably settled. The ‘Open Spaces Society’
had launched a campaign for claiming public paths for the official map – the definitive map of public rights of way; the Kington
Langley map being based on those paths that were in existence at the outbreak
of World War II. Cllr. Gill said that he would be grateful if anyone had any
contribution or proposal to introduce any possible new paths. He had two, the
first a path on the highway verge at Lower Common which had been used in the
past to avoid walking on the road and secondly Mr. Martin Ellett commented that
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11.06 |
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
REPORT Cllr. Mr. Dennis Gill said
that in the past year the village had had a small number of incidents
compared with Chippenham and other local villages; there was however, one
major burglary and some minor vandalism which unfortunately seemed to affect
the same householders and areas. Taken in all, Wiltshire continued to be one
of the safest counties in which to live. Cllr. Gill thanked those few
co-ordinators the village has for their assistance and said that he
endeavoured to keep them informed by email or written notes. For the village
itself the Village Magazine and website (www.kingtonlangley.org) were used. Last year and in the next
two years we will see the introduction of Neighbourhood Policing Teams which
would be more relevant to urban areas but will have, he hoped, some influence
in rural areas. Wiltshire has at present some 40 officers, which will
increase to 206 by 2008. All this is dependant on finance, which at the
present is funded 75% by the Government for three years, after then, who
knows. It may be like the CCTV system established and financed for a year or
two, then suddenly it is devolved onto the Town Council who cannot afford to
carry the additional finance. Cllr. Gill continued by
pointing out that distraction burglaries, theft from garages sheds and any
outbuildings and petty vandalism are always with householders, plus the
opportunist thefts that can take place when people are out shopping and in
crowded areas. Cllr. Gill finished by
reporting on the closure of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association. This
would not affect the viability of the Wiltshire and Swindon NHW Association
nor the network of NHW Schemes across the |
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12.06 |
PLAYING FIELDS ASSOCIATION As
Mr. Brian Boyce was out of the country Mr. Campbell Blair provided the PFA
report. Mr. Blair started by explaining changes to the Committee. Mrs.
Barbara Sealy had resigned from the Committee in May and was replaced by Mr. Warren
Burgess as Deputy Chairman. Mr. Blair
thanked Mrs. Sealy for her long and dedicated service and welcomed Mr.
Burgess in her place. In October 2005 the Secretary Mr. Gavin Lester
resigned, owing to taking up other village commitments, and was replaced by Mr.
Alistair Mathewson, an existing committee member. Mr. Blair thanked Mr.
Lester for his loyal support and welcomed Mr. Mathewson in this role. The
Playing Fields continued to be used regularly by the various sporting clubs,
as well as by the staff and children of the At
their meeting on 7th February 2006, the Playing Field Committee were
presented with a Petition signed by twenty-one teenagers from the village
requesting that a part of the playing fields be set aside for BMX cycling.
However, a number of issues had arisen from this request, namely, change of
use, added insurance liability, views of villagers (especially those
adjoining the playing fields), use by outsiders and cost. The young people
had volunteered to build the earth jumps, etc., themselves at no cost to the
KLPFA or the Parish Council. All the above have to be considered by the
Parish Council, whose authority must be obtained before the Playing Fields
Committee can take the matter forward. Maintenance
of the Pavilion, Children's Play Area and Fields generally, had continued during
the year within the budget available. In order to tackle the drainage
problems in the south-west corner of the field, which in very wet weather
resulted in the main football pitch being unplayable and therefore in loss of
income, three estimates were being obtained against a specification prepared
by the Committee for new field drainage pipes to be laid in the affected
area. When a contractor is chosen, applications will be made for grant-aid
from North Wiltshire and other organisations such as the Sports Council.
Money raised from the recent 'Race Night' and other fund-raising activities
over the last year would also be available. Mr.
Blair said that on the subject of vandalism, unfortunately there had been a
number of incidents of vandalism over the last year from broken glass being
spread in the Children's Play Area, to windows being smashed both front and
back of the Pavilion, and graffiti on the doors and window frames. Each of
the incidents has been reported to the Police. The cost of repairs, etc., has
exceeded £400. A copy of the most recent audited Accounts was
presented with this report and Mr. Blair reported a healthy balance of
£3,818.27. |
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13.06 |
VILLAGE HALL REPORT
Cllr. Mr. Dennis Gill said
that his first duty in this report was to extend thanks to those without whom
the Hall could not function, the Committee, and others who while not members
of the Committee, put in a lot of work to enable the Hall to operate in what
he hoped was a smooth and profitable manner. The sound system had
recently been upgraded at a cost of some £2,500, additionally £4,000 of the
loan for the new extension was repaid, which means that the Village Hall has reduced
the repayment period by three years. This coming year the Village Hall was
hoping to refurbish the kitchen and also find a cure to the plumbing
problems. The effect of the new licensing laws has not been a problem as yet,
we are all as it is said “flying by the seat of our pants”, as the Hall does
not at present have a ‘Designated Premises Supervisor’. Cllr. Gill asked if
anyone would like to volunteer. His thanks went to the
regular hall users for their continued support. Two Rural Arts Wiltshire
events were put on and Cllr. Gill gave thanks to Mrs. Valerie Young who put a
great deal of effort and time into arranging these entertainments. School Parking became an
issue during the 2005, mainly whether some of the hall car spaces could be
used by parents bringing children to school. The interim solution agreed was
for the use of six spaces up to the end of the summer term. From Cllr. Gill’s
own observation, the offer had been little used and currently makes little or
no difference to the parking outside the school. He understood that the
Parish Council were considering a possible solution. Finally, the 150 Club had
recruited a further fifteen subscribers and introduced a further four prizes
in 2006. Of the 177 subscribers 61 come from outside the Kington Langley /
Draycot Cerne area. It was an easy way of making a contribution to Hall funds
and to some a profitable one! |
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14.06 |
COMMONS EROSION PROJECT
As Cllr. Euan
Sudbury was unwell Cllr. Peter Hart provided an update on the Commons Erosion
project. It appeared that all
possibility of coaxing or persuading people not to park on the edge of the Commons
outside the School were now exhausted and it would therefore be necessary to
put in place a project to reclaim the pot-holed and damaged areas. Cllr.
Sudbury was in the process of getting quotes for alternative approaches.
Wiltshire Highways Department had already been contacted as they had
specifications for the right materials, including kerbing, and had a list of
Authorised Contractors which the Parish would have to use. The work would be
done over the Summer period. Cllr. Hart then invited
comment from the floor. Erosion of the
Commons verges outside the school concerned several villagers who wished to
see some form of physical barrier preventing cars from causing damage. Cllr.
Hart pointed out that Highways Department controlled the first 0.75 metres of
the Common and said that if we chose to put anything on the first 0.75 metres
without Highways consent they had a legal right to remove it. Mr. M Ellett suggested
considering turning part of the Common into a car park. This suggestion had
already been considered and dismissed by the Parish Council. Mr. Ellett also
suggested that drivers of cars damaging the Commons should be fined. However,
Cllr. Hart pointed out that the cost of enforcing a fine would be a burden on
Parish finances. Mr. M Chapman asked
about other areas in the village that were also suffering, namely the area
outside the Hit or Miss Pub. Cllr. Hart said that such areas were not
Registered Commons and therefore not under direct control of the Parish
Council. Costs for kerbing
and turf reinforcement for the area outside the School were then
discussed. Cllr. Hart said it was
likely to be in the order of £12,000 and would cover an area of approximately
150 square metres. |
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15.06 |
RECYCLING & THE ENVIRONMENT
Cllr. Mr. Keith Burton said that this was clearly
something everyone felt strongly about but that everyone in the village could
make a difference if they all acted together. Recycling was high on
everyone’s agenda. A representative from Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
was in attendance and provided leaflets covering the availability of Compost
bins from Wiltshire Wildlife. Brown bins have already been successfully trialled
and it would be possible to provide for the village as well if there was sufficient
demand. The cost would be approx. £20 - £25 per annum and the bins would be
collected every other week. The current doorstep
recycling was very successful and Cllr. Burton pointed out that village
volunteers are on hand if anyone had difficulty in being able to handle the
recycling for themselves (details in the Village Magazine). |
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16.06 |
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
(a)
Mr. Steve
Duffield said that he was pleased to see the footpath at the bottom end of (b)
Mr. Colin Coles
expressed concern about the suggestion earlier in the meeting about reopening
(c)
Car activity on
the byway was raised as a concern and Cllr. Hart asked everyone that if they
had any knowledge of drug activities on the byway or anywhere else in the
village they should immediately report it to the police. (d)
Finally Cllr.
Hart reiterated his thanks to the Parish Council and all the people who
contribute to the village. The meeting closed at
21:50 pm. (Full copies of all reports are held on file). |
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