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COLWALL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Assembly
of the Parish Meeting duly convened and held at the Colwall Village Hall, Mill
Lane, Colwall on Wednesday 6th May 2009.
1. Welcome and apologies for
absence.
The Chairman, Mrs
Nicky Carless welcomed 7 members of the Public and 12 members of the Parish
Council. Also present were The Clerk, County Councillor Roy Stockton and Tim Dixon.
Apologies were received from Councillors W Leaper, G Rees and T Hunt.
2. Minutes
The Minutes of the meeting held on 28th April 2008 were
agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the proceedings.
Councillor John Mills advised the meeting that 2008/09 had been another
financially satisfactory year with financial performance comfortably ahead of
Budget. However, some of these savings against Budget have been deferred until
2009/10; most notably the cost of the 4 May 2008 parish council by-election.
The Income and Expenditure
statement showed a surplus of £13,719. However capital payments of £14,470 on
the Village Hall loan must be financed from this giving an operating deficit of
£751. This compares to a surplus of £4,957 last year. The main reason for this
change was the £5,938 spent this year on renovations to the Clock Tower clock
faces. Excluding this cost out there was an operating surplus of £5,187.
The allocated reserve funds are
comfortably adequate but the General Reserve of £26,127, up £2,108 from last
year, is probably higher than necessary. This, however, is expected to reduce
in 2009/10 to a more normal level.
Councillor Mills thanked his fellow Councillors for their financial
awareness and prudence, to Alison Grimshaw the Council’s Internal Auditor and
to the Clerk for her stewardship of the accounts.
Chairman of the Planning & Development
Committee
Councillor Ashton advised that the Planning Committee has had a relatively light workload this year, as most applications were for alterations or extensions to existing properties, with very few requests for new build. The application for a large extension at the care home in Evendine Lane, however, gave the Committee more of a challenge to consider.
The two most contentious issues were the bridge and the new
road layout at the
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Councillor Ashton advised that he still believes that any member of a decision making committee at Hereford, should not be able to vote on applications without first having received some training in planning procedures and law. This would give applicants far more confidence in outcomes.
Councillor Ashton thanked the Committee for all its hard work.
Chairman of the Village Amenities Committee
Councillor
Beard provided a summary of the activities undertaken by the Amenities
Committee during the last year,
He
advised that the Committee oversees the many areas in the village that provide
recreational facilities, play areas, Walwyn Meadow, and Colwall Green. The play
equipment, village seats and litter bins are being maintained to the usual high
standard and all areas checked under the grass cutting regime. During the year,
the Parish Council has taken over responsibility for the Station Gardens after
years of dedicated work by Colwall WI.
Councillor Beard
also advised that Aunt Alice has undergone a program of repair during 2008. The
faces were removed and returned to the factory and the metal frames sand
blasted and then re-gilded. All hands were restored to their original shape and
repainted. The opaque glass was replaced with 5mm opal polycarbonate. The steel
supports holding the framework at the top of the tower were cleaned in situ and
repainted with rust resistant paint. The turret clock was taken to Gillett and
Johnston's workshop in Croydon where it was overhauled. One of the cables holding
the clock weights was found to be frayed, and considered to be a hazard so this
was replaced. Gillett and Johnston made final adjustments to the weight cable
when they returned the clock and she is now keeping good time
It was hoped to fund
the repairs by obtaining grant funding, however, despite the sterling work put
in by our various councillors, pursuing this vein it was not to be. Following
completion of the works the Parish Council received a number of donations
towards the cost which were very gratefully received.
Chairman of the Countryside Committee
Councillor Stace reported that the last year had been a successful year and thanked those who had played a part in this success. The condition of the footpaths has generally been excellent, with a regular series of path clearance, a programme of replacing and repairing bridges, gates and stiles and works to address a number of wet areas on some of the paths. There has also been a review of all the fingerposts in the parish.
A new programme of ‘Miles without Stiles’, saw all stiles on footpath CW39 replaced by gates, with funding from the AONB which aims to increase tourism from the hills to the neighbouring villages.
She
paid tribute to the work of the landowners in the parish in maintaining footpaths
across their land, and thanks were also extended to Mr David Togni for his
dedication in carrying out his role as Footpath Officer and to Steven Maund who
maintains the footpaths on behalf of the Council.
The Charlie Ballard Nature Reserve – Councillor
Stace reported that we have continued to maintain the nature reserve with
weekly checks of the reserve, litter picking and ongoing path maintenance. The Reserve Warden has used the new notice
board to good effect to highlights items of interest on the reserve.
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The July meeting of the committee was held on site to consider further
works for inclusion in the management plan including further tree coppicing,
pond deepening and improving access to the pond and to the reserve. As a result of the visit, we plan to install
a graded ‘beach area’ for children pond dipping. A large willow within the reserve has been
pollarded, some alders have been coppiced and various other tree works done.
Thanks were extended to Stephen West, who has been doing an excellent job of managing the reserve. Steven Maund who undertakes the footpath clearance, and
Sue
Scott-Wilson, for her continued involvement in Reserve.
Turning to the Orchard Project which is co-sponsored by the Parish Council, Councillor Stace reported that the Project obtained grant aid from the AONB and had a very successful year with highlights including:
· Assembling a band of 55 volunteers
· Preparing management plans for 12 orchards
· Purchase of tree pruning kit , and providing a programme of training for volunteers and owners, to enable us to make a start on implementing the management plans
· Rescue pruning of c120 trees and planting of 50 new trees across the parish.
· Running a series of successful public events including a fungus foray, Colwall Apple Day, a mistletoe fair and Wassailing.
I would particularly like to thank the volunteers, for all their efforts and the orchard owners, most of whom have made us very welcome.
Finally she extended her thanks to the clerk, who has been extremely efficient in helping all this to happen, and for being a great source of help and support
Chairman of the Council
Councillor Carless gave a summary of the activities and events in the
Village during the last year.
It was explained that a lot of Parish Council’s time has been taken up this year discussing the Colwall Railway Bridge replacement with Herefordshire Council trying to represent the wishes of the majority of the village by pressing for a two lane design.
No withstanding the Parish Council’s input Herefordshire Council have decided to proceed with a one lane carriageway controlled by traffic lights.
There has also been an increase of traffic at school times with the merging of the Downs School with Malvern College, especially at the junction of the Walwyn road and Old Church road. As part of the development on the site at the end of Brockhill Road a new one way road design was put forward. The Parish Council is concerned that this area is too small for such a design and that grass verges will be eroded by traffic. We are particularly concerned for the grass triangle on which the bus stop is sited as this is classed as village green and so has the same protection as Colwall Green. We continue to work with the Malvern Hills Conservators to ensure that this area is protected from traffic erosion.
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Thanks were extended to John Stock, a structural engineer who lives in Colwall, for his expert advice on these 2 matters. Without his contribution the Parish Council would not have been in a position to effectively put forward the Parish Council’s views.
Many individuals continue to help the Parish Council in their efforts to circulate the quarterly newsletter to all households in the village, with over 2,500 residents this is no easy task.
The current newsletter includes a survey for the youth of the village to answer. The Parish Council is reviewing the youth facilities in the village and welcomes any opinions on this subject.
Looking forward, we continue to strive to obtain Quality Parish Council Status and will start the process of reviewing the Parish Plan – a community lead blue print of how the residents would like the village to develop in the future and volunteers are welcome to contribute to this review. Once the Railway Bridge is complete it will be great to have more of the Council’s time to pursue more positive aspects to village life.
Finally thanks were extended to the Parish Clerk, Karen Davis, who over the last 12 months supported and directed the Parish Council and through her continuing professionalism will steer the Parish Council through the coming year.
5. Tim Dixon–Colwall Orchard Project
Mr Dixon gave a
very informative and interesting presentation on the activities of this project
in the Parish.
Mrs. Carless
extended the thanks of the meeting to Mr Dixon for his very enjoyable talk.
6. Parishioners Question Time.
A question was
raised about rent reviews of the library rent which the Clerk will investigate.
County Councillor R
Stockton read extracts from Herefordshire Councils annual report.
The meeting closed
at 9.00 p.m.
Chairman…………………………. Date………………