[ PC News ] [ PC Agenda ] [ PC minutes ] [ PC Annual Open ] [ Allotments ] [ Cemetery ] [ Finance ] [ Fishpond ] [ Planning ] [ Transport&Environment ] [ Outside Bodies ] [ other reports ] [ Human Resources H&S ]
Barton-under-Needwood
Parish Council
Annual Open meeting Minutes
Page last update on 14 May 2010
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL OPEN PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON
THURSDAY 1st APRIL 2010 AT BARTON UNDER NEEDWOOD VILLAGE HALL.
Present: - Chairman Cllr. Mr A. Wedgwood, Vice Chairman Cllr. Mr V. Trigwell, Cllr. Mr I. Gilbey, Cllr. Mr D. G. Sherratt, Cllr. Mr A. Kennedy, Cllr. Mr P. Jepson, Cllr. Mr. E. Sharkey, Cllr. Mr B. Bartram, Clerk – Mr G. J. Peck, 14 members of the public
- CHAIRMANS WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Chairman welcomed all those in attendance especially the members of the public.
- CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2009 / 2010
Cllr A. Wedgwood read his Annual Report, copy included with minutes (see below).
- RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED March 2009.
Clerk tabled these Accounts and added that copies were available for parishioners to peruse at their leisure.
- VILLAGE HALL CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
In the absence of Mrs P. Fisher, Mr A. Kennedy (Vice – Chairman) reported on a successful year. Report included with Accounts. Mr Kennedy addressed issues raised from a residents question regarding noise problems with local neighbour during some private hirer’s events. The matter is still ongoing. Another resident highlighted that two floodlights are not working in Hall 1. Building Manager will be informed to address.
- VILLAGE HALL ACCOUNTS
The Accounts for the years ended December 2009 had been prepared by the Treasurer, Mr David Moore, with a detailed explanatory report. Copies of the accounts were available for parishioners to take away.
- PARISHIONERS QUESTIONS
A resident highlighted his concern at the short deceleration lane when leaving the
A38 at the Catholme junction travelling north. P.C. Guy Jones responded that accidents had been few and possibly if an issue was made with the Highways Agency they might decide to close the junction altogether. It was recommended that drivers entering Barton should use the Barton Turn exit instead.
The same resident again highlighted the Dunstall Road parking issue during the day / term time by pupils at John Taylor School. P.C. Jones responded that the scheme has been SCC approved and is currently out for consultation. It as agreed for SCC Communities Liaison Representative, Richard Rayson to be invited to the next Partners & Community Together (PACT) meeting, to update the community. This meeting to be held at the John Taylor School on Tuesday 20th April 2010 at 1900hrs.
7. CONSERVATION AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN (CAMP)
Cllr. E. Sharkey gave a talk on progress to date from his Transport & Environment Committee and others. In the spring of 2009 ESBC gave approval for (CAMP) although at the time had no funding, but invited interested parties within communities to carry out an appraisal themselves. The launch date was last November but due to time and weather issues the exercise has only just commenced. There are several teams of volunteers but more specialised volunteers are still required. The E-on lighting scheme is still to be completed.
An update on the Village Design Statement is to be considered – the last one having been completed 12 years ago. The ESBC currently have no Conservation Officer or Architect. UPVC windows remain an issue – it had been noticed that one resident had countered the trend having recently replaced UPVC with hardwood frames.
Cllr. Sharkey concluded by stating that a positive policy is being applied and will continue in the future.
A resident asked on whether Article 14 Directive on Peoples Development Rights had changed. The response was that any changes would be adopted after consultation process had taken place.
8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
There being no other business the meeting closed at 19.28hrs. The normal P.C. followed immediately afterwards.
ANNUAL OPEN MEETING 1 APRIL 2010
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Starting a year with a new chairman can be challenging both for that chairman and for our Members. I begin this report by thanking my fellow Members for embracing the new philosophy set out at the start and helping to make it work. We are a very active and busy Parish Council and we could achieve very little without the support of our staff and an increasing number of volunteers who give generously their time and specialist knowledge to this historic and vibrant community. I’m very grateful to them all.
There are those in Barton who complain that this Council does nothing. They clearly know little of the activities carried out ably by Gerry Peck, our clerk, who looks after the plethora of administrative matters and manages our small but effective team of staff that keep Barton beautiful.
Reinforcing our committees with co-opted specialists in Planning, Architecture, Finance and Human Resources and adopting a committee reporting structure has helped focus our discussions & make sure we don’t miss the bigger issues.
Thanks to our communications initiatives on the village Website, in the Barton Chime, in Press articles and at the Civic Society there are more villagers who are recognising the mass of projects that we are delivering, at little or no cost to the village, to make Barton an even better place to live and work.
So what have achieved since last May?
Our Gilmour Lane village gateway from the Marina has been cleared of scrub & rubbish & landscaped with paths, seats and attractive trees including one celebrating Barton WI’s 90th.anniversary. We’re just waiting to complete a new drainage scheme for the County Council opposite the swimming pool & all the planting will be finished.
Visitors to Barton can admire & be informed by attractive Information boards at Gilmour Lane, Ash Tree Road Pocket Park & our notice-board in Main Street.
Barton Fishpond now has better facilities for village anglers who fish for free whilst attracting more visitors & income thanks to the enthusiasm & excellent work of our new bailiffs. It’s a great resource for Barton.
Parking & access improvements are benefiting our Allotment holders in Efflinch Lane.
Holland Sports Club has been granted a 99 year lease on our land enabling them to plan for much needed new changing rooms; a massive scheme now with Planning Consent for which they are seeking capital grants. We are supporting this invaluable amenity for the village.
In a much smaller way we are backing Barton Trade & Tourism’s BartonBiz - an attractive advertising initiative to bring visitors and trade into Barton.
Over £40,000 has been secured to provide better facilities for our teenage youngsters at Collinson Park, our largely underutilised recreation ground.
Traffic is a perennial issue for Barton. Whilst, despite continual pressure we may never secure a 7.5 tonne weight limit we can now discourage speeders with our very own Community Speedwatch initiative involving a host of village volunteers.
We’re keeping a very close watch on the massive Drakelow Park housing scheme across the border in Derbyshire and the associated Walton by-pass & new bridge over the river Trent, both of which could have a major traffic impact on our community.
Whilst welcoming in principle the employment prospects of the St George’s Park soccer academy we’re seeking to minimise its impact on the open countryside and on through traffic from the A38.
East Staffordshire’s ‘settlement hierarchy suggests there’s potential for more housing in Barton. We’ll be working to limit any negative impact whilst seeking substantial benefits for our community
We’ve also ‘seen off’ two schemes that many believe would have spoiled our rural community:
- the ‘safer routes to school’ roundabout proposed for outside the Shoulder of Mutton;
- Barton Marina’s application to build nearly 50 holiday lodges in woodland behind the Junior School.
Unfortunately our pleas to name the Radhurst Farm development after the late Sir Robert Douglas were ignored.
Looking forwards to the coming year we’ve much to do in addition to keeping our essential services going:
We’re expecting an exhibition of Eon’s scheme for new street lights in Main Street & Station Road, following close involvement by our Transport & Environment Committee.
That same group is running our Conservation Area Management Plan proposals we’ll be putting to ESBC. Today you can see their progress on this valuable project.
Again we’ve entered the Best Kept Village competition – will we win it this year?
Our present Cemetery is expected to be full within the next ten years so we’re hunting for a new piece of ground to keep the departed close to their loved ones in the village.
We’ve pressed the County Council to search for a solution to the school time traffic & parking chaos that clogs the village and there’s now a group investigating a coach drop off & parking area behind the Infants School. We’ll keep pushing for this.
Roundabouts at Barton Turns are not an attractive welcome to Barton. Supported by the Borough Council we’ve engaged a professional landscape architect to design and manage landscaping schemes to better herald the delights of Barton.
It’ll be a Red Letter Day for the village when we are able to announce that the derelict garage next door is to be demolished and a new store built. Its no secret that Midlands Co-op want to buy it and we are working with them closely to ensure that obligations to extend, level and surface our car park are secured. We hope there’ll soon be positive news.
I’m also delighted to announce that this morning we’ve been awarded a £50,000 Playbuilder grant to provide adventure play and exercise for the 8 – 13’s in the village. This means we’ll have over £90,000 to spend on Collinson Park creating a fully integrated playground for tinies to teens bang in the middle of the village – it’ll be a massive investment in the future of our young people and today’s success is a tribute to the determination & hard work of Vic Trigwell and his team. Work on the entire scheme is planned to start this Summer and be complete in October
Despite all this our Finance Committee are to be congratulated on keeping our Parish Precept for 2010/11 well below inflation and limited to the very modest increase we have awarded our dedicated staff.
If your Council elects me as chairman for a second year one of my final objectives will be seeking ways of encouraging more, particularly younger, people to stand for the Parish Council in the elections in May next year. We are emphatically not a political body – purely unpaid volunteers aiming to do their best for the community. Already we are planning presentations to spread the word via the Thomas Russell Junior School and we’ll then seek something similar at John Taylor.
There’s lots to do! Please tell us if there’s anything else we can help with and if you know anyone who’d like to join the team or help with a project – please let me know.
Adrian Wedgwood
Chairman
1 April 2010
Page last update on 14 May 2010