Appleby Magna Annual Parish
Meeting Minutes - 5th April 2007
Present:
-
Mr J Quimby –
Chairman
Mrs D Morris
Mr K Colver – Vice
Chairman
Mrs E Jeffrey
Mrs M
Hemmerdinger
Mr P
Hemmerdinger
Community Support Officer
Apologies: - P.C. Davis
172 Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting
held on 6th April 2006
The Parish Council endorsed the minutes as a true record.
173 Chairman of the Parish Council –
Annual Report
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and reported the precept
would be £12,000 therefore, people paying Band A council tax would contribute
£17.97 per annum and those in Band D would contribute £26.91. The Parish
Council had to consider the pavilion needed to be replaced or
refurbished. The Parish Council maintained four play areas and the closed
church yard. In the last year it had spent £800 to repair the church yard
wall, £360 to repair the pavilion showers, £600 towards the cost of a village
maypole and workshop, £300 contribution towards new goal posts for A.M.F.C., a
contribution towards re-grassing the area outside the almshouses, £600
allotment hedge cutting costs and the general maintenance costs of the
Recreation Ground. The Parish Council had nominated the Sir John Moore
Foundation / Coach House which had received the C.P.R.E. award. Together
with volunteers from the W.I. the Parish Councillors had completed a summer
litter pick around the village. The Chairman expressed concern about
vandalism to the bus shelter which the Parish Council had repaired on several
occasions and had applied anti vandal paint in an attempt to deter
vandals. The pavilion windows had been smashed by vandals; A.M.C.C. with
the help of volunteers had replaced the glass. Vandals had damaged the
picnic bench on the children’s play area which had now been refurbished ready
to be put back. The Chairman reported the Parish Council had employed the
Pest Control Officer from N.W.L.D.C. to control the rat population on the
allotments which was proving a success. The Parish Council were pursuing
a small one-way traffic system near to the school to make the roads safer and
to prevent further erosion of the grass verges. The Chairman reported the
Affordable Housing Scheme was ongoing with hopefully funding becoming available
in September 2007. The Chairman thanked the Parish Councillors and clerk
for their hard work and gave special thanks to
Mr Nightingale who had at his own cost had repaired vandalised panels.
The Chairman asked members of the public if they had any questions for
the Parish Council.
Q1. Where was the proposed affordable housing scheme to be built and how
did the proposed houses/bungalows remain affordable when sold on? The
Chairman replied that the proposed scheme was intended to be built in the field
beyond Parkfield Crescent and the tenants could only buy up to 80% which had to
be sold back to the Housing Association.
Q2. Why was reported vandalism not acted on by the police? The Community
Support Officer said that all reports where followed up but when police were
busy, it was difficult to find the police resources to attend
immediately. The Chairman reminded the meeting that the Parish Council
had delivered letters to all householders to report all vandalism to the police,
which should increase police patrols through the village.
174 County & District Councillors -
Annual Reports
The County and District Councillors did not attend and no apologies were
received.
175 Local Organisations - Annual Reports
Sir John Moore School 2006-2007 – Report by Stella Kent (Governor)
There are 119 children in four classes in the present school year.
Four interactive white boards have been installed with the computers being
upgraded. The school is actively promoting links with the church.
At the school Christmas Fair £1,200 was raised. ‘Reduce speed’ signs
installed outside the school have improved safety. The school continues
to thrive and flourish.
The Chairman thanked Mrs Kent for her report.
Appleby Online Centre – Report by Jon Dunkelman
The centre continues to be very successful, with many people taking up
the various courses on offer. Funding is becoming more difficult to
obtain, which has led to increased course costs and more voluntary labour. The
centre had been received an ‘Award for All’ grant.
David Taylor M.P. is due to visit the centre later in April. UK
online courses are being run to support the rural community. Some courses
are run in conjunction with Stephenson College. The Chairman thanked Mr
Dunkelman for his report.
A.H.E.M. – Report by Sonia Liff
The A.H.E.M. group has been rejuvenated in its 15th
year. The group is now concerned about climate change and global issues
and would like to investigate what difference the village could make with more
knowledge. A good turn out had watched the film ‘Inconvenient Truth’
about climate change and its implications. A representative from A.H.E.M.
will be attending a conference to see what could be done at village level,
maybe educating, bulk buying etc. Support was requested to investigate
and reduce the carbon foot print of the village. A.H.E.M. and W.I.
would be happy to assist the Parish Council with a village litter pick in
September. A.H.E.M. supported the proposed bulb planting in the Autumn.
The Chairman thanked Sonia Liff for her report.
Sir John Moore Foundation – Report by Fred Steward and Deana
Morris
During the last year the Foundation had received an award for
restoration from the Council for the Protection of Rural England. The
Foundation has organised many public events; including Centre Stage, a world
class range of entertainment aimed at a mixed age audience. The Estate
Management Committee is responsible for maintenance, letting and
conservation. Recently, the old laundry rooms had been renovated making a
basement ‘Cellar Bar’.
The Foundation had organised a village gala day in May 2006 and a Summer
Concert which had attracted an audience of 1,200. Thanks must be given to
the Arts Council and North West Leicestershire District Council for funding the
Centre Stage productions. £16,000 is now available to purchase a stage,
sound equipment and curtains. The recent Spring Ball had been well
attended with an audience of 110. The Foundation is currently trying to
obtain a license for wedding ceremonies. The Foundation would like to
thank the Parish Council for its continued support and annual donation.
The Chairman thanked Fred Steward and Deana Morris for their report.
Women's Institute – Report submitted by Jean Wightman
In February we celebrated seventy years of W.I. in Appleby, and although
membership does not grow we are an enthusiastic group. We are holding a
fashion show in Measham on the 19th April, an outing to Lichfield
and Shugborough Hall in May. We continue to supply plants and care for
the tubs outside the church also the W.I. planting at the I.T. centre, and look
forward to helping with the litter pick.
Appleby Sunday Club and Gold Group – Report submitted by Pauline Bee
The groups both meet twice monthly, with the help of Marie Lewis, Ilene
Massey, Dorothy Bamford, Beryl Mills, Emma Gray and Peter Bee. All are
most welcome.
1st Appleby Magna Brownies – Report submitted by Maria
Lewis
Our Brownie unit still meets at the Church Hall on Tuesday evenings in
term time and we have fourteen Brownies at the moment. Michelle Williams
and Gillian Tooth are our parent helpers and Emma Gray, a 6th
former, manages to fit in, coming to help us with all her other
commitments. I must thank these three for all their help and
enthusiasm. Some of the Brownies took part in a Thinking Day parade in
Ashby recently and we were invited back to the Scout hut on Pancake Day to join
the Cubs and Beavers to eat pancakes and play games. Now that the days
are getting longer we are hoping to be doing more activities outside, so you
may see us around the village next term.
Council for the Protection of Rural England – Report submitted by Liz
Shaw
A brief report of some of the issues Leics. CPRE is involved with:
One of the greatest
changes affecting the planning scene has been the enactment of the 2004
Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act. At a local level there has been a
radical change with the stated aim from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
‘of speeding up the planning process’. Stakeholders have been quick to
realise the potential of the new planning hierarchy. Leics. CPRE has
recently run a successful workshop for Parish Councils on the subject of the
new planning system. One aspect yet to rear its ugly head from this act
is the compulsory purchase angle. This states that ‘land may be acquired
by a local authority if it contributes to the economic and /or social well being
of the area’.
Mineral extraction.
Landfill / waste
disposal.
Nottingham East
Midlands Airport Draft Master Plan.
Draft East Midlands
Regional Plan.
Widening of the M1.
CPRE and RAC
Countryside Clutter with the regard to too many road signs that is confusing
and unnecessary.
Good Planning
Design Awards (Sir John Moore School won an award).
Appleby with Swepstone & Snarestone Mothers’ Union – Report
submitted by Pat Richmond
We have a total of 26 members. Members of the committee attended
all the Diocesan Council Meetings and also attended the Deanery Meetings.
Three members attended the Annual Conference held in Dublin. This was the
last Conference to be led by our World Wide President Trish Heywood, who
welcomed us. The All Ireland President of the Mothers’ Union also
welcomed us. Our members have attended our Branch Prayer Groups, Deanery
Prayer Groups, End of Season service at Measham, Start of the Season Service at
Donisthorpe, Wave of Prayer Service in Appleby Church, World Wide Day of Prayer
at both Appleby and Newton Burgoland, Lady Day service at Coleorton, Advent
Carol Service at Holy Trinity, Quiet Days at Rearsby, Nanpantan and Oaks in
Charnwood and the Retreat at Launde. The Diocesan Rally in Leicester in
May was attended by 5 members and 3 members went on the Pilgrimage to
Walsingahm in July. There are the usual ongoing collections for the
homeless, new mothers and babies. Unfortunately, we lost our member who
produced so many knitted items for many good causes. We collect for chalet
holidays and provide families with swimming costumes and suitcases. We
also collect for CWISY and for overseas projects. We again collected
Easter eggs for children in need and the mentally ill and chocolate bars for
Christmas for the latter. Our programme for this year was changed to the
first meeting in each month to be a social gathering for coffee after Holy
Communion and the second meeting for a speaker. We had talks on various
subjects, some serious, some in a lighter vein and some from representatives of
charities we felt deserved our support. We went to Saint Helens to attend
a talk given by our Diocesan President Pam Lang on her visit to India. We
had an outing this year to Staunton Harold, where we enjoyed lunch together and
visited the Garden Centre. We were lucky to have glorious weather for our
day out. In June we had afternoon tea at the home of Stella Kent.
Although the weather was not kind to us, it did not spoil our enjoyment of the
event. We have had very good attendance at meetings and I would like to
thank members for their support! I must particularly thank all committee
members for their support and help in putting together the programme. We
put our trust in The Lord that this coming year will be as fruitful and
uplifting as last year.
Finally, the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and contributing to
the Annual Parish Meeting.
MINUTES NOT YET CONFIRMED BY THE PARISH COUNCIL
Ms K. Stirk
Clerk to the Parish Council
12th April 2007