ELTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

Draft Notes – Annual Parish Meeting of Elton Parish Council took place in the Highgate Hall on Tuesday 17^th May 2016 at 7.30 p.m.

 

NOTES

 

PRESENT:  Cllrs Cummins, Donoyou, Gentry, Holman, Owen and Smith

 

BY INVITATION:  County Cllr M McGuire

 

IN ATTENDANCE:  Mrs W Gray Parish Clerk – no members of the public were present

 

 

1. APOLOGIES: Cllrs Porter, Rankmore, Strowbridge, District Cllr R Mathews

 

 

2. NOTES OF MEETING 2015: Cllr Holman proposed that the notes of the meeting

were signed all in favour.

 

3. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: The Chairman read out his report to the Councillors and again reiterated his thanks to the support he had received from council members.

 

4. AUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31^ST MARCH 2016:
5. a) To approve the Annual Governance Statement by resolution
6. b) Consider Accounting Statements by members as a whole
7. c) Approve Accounting Statements by resolution
8. d) On approval Accounting Statement to be signed and dated

Cllr Donoyou resolved (a),(b),(c) accepted, seconded Cllr Smith all in favour.  Document duly signed by Chairman and Parish Clerk and RFO.

 

5. ANY OTHER BUSINESS:

 

 

The meeting closed at approx 8.05 p.m.

 

 

 

Signed: ……………………………….Chairman

 

 

 

Date:    ……………………………….

 

 

Chairman’s Report – Year ending 31^st March 2016

 

In compiling this year’s Annual Report, may I give thanks to all who served on the Parish Council during the year.

 

I am especially pleased to welcome our two new councillors Amanda Owen and Mark Gentry both of whom have made very positive contributions to our meetings.

 

May I also thank and acknowledge the contributions made by my other fellow councillors.

 

I am most fortunate in having such a hardworking and gifted Vice Chairman in Richard Donoyou.  Richard’s contribution to our meetings and particularly in the field of planning, verges and footpaths have been outstanding. May I also thank him for his tireless efforts as our Tree Warden.

 

Tim Cummins for his continued efforts and interest and work on our Street Lighting and other Council expenditure.

 

Ray Rankmore who continued to provide a very experienced and professional hand with our financial matters.

 

Mike Porter for his vigilance on our footpaths and especially his good humour.

 

Mrs Shirley Strowbridge who has continued to bring to our attention many matters of concern in the village.  I am delighted that Shirley is no longer our sole lady councillor and hopefully we will continue to address the imbalance over the years to come.

 

Mr Richard Smith again for his hard work on the A605 junction and also for his great efforts on the Spinney.  The rewards will come in the years to come but the seeds (or rather saplings) have been sown. Richard has also kept abreast of the progress of the various planning applications that have come before us.

 

Many thanks to Mrs Wendy Gray our excellent Parish Clerk for her very professional assistance and hard work assisting with Parish matters. I will say again that we are most fortunate in having Wendy as our Parish Clerk.

 

During the year, the Parish Council has again dealt with a full agenda of topics, those of main interest being:-

 

• Planning –  9 planning applications came before the Council.

 

• Finance – The precept for the year ending 31^st March 2016 was £13,000 and will remain the same for the forthcoming year 2016/2017.

 

• As mentioned above the project to turn the Spinney from a garden rubbish collection area into a small wooded open space lined with a hedgerow has taken shape.  More work will have to be done but a positive start has been made.

 

• Over the year a number of meetings have been held with Elton Estates to discuss matters of mutual concern.  I look forward to these continuing.

 

• I believe the PC has established a very good working relationship with the Elton Society and hope this will continue throughout the year.  The Society have untaken a number of events such as May Day celebrations and Litter pick which do a lot to enhance enjoyment of village life.

 

I would like to close by thanking Mr David Strowbridge for his efforts on neighbourhood watch and PCSO Barry Chamberlain our now retired village police officer.  We look forward to working with his successor Emily Bryant.

 

I would also like to extend a very big thank you and the Parish Council’s gratitude be extended to Cllr M MacGuire in respect of helping resolve issues with Stocks Green.

 

Thank you for your attendance.  We will be pleased to answer any questions from the floor.

 

 

Mark Holman – Chairman

Elton Parish Council