MINUTES OF ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - 15 APRIL 2008

CHIRTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting held in the School at
7:30 pm on 15 April 2008

Present

The Chairman, Anthony Mather, and Councillors David Baker, Jeremy Cross, Stewart Neale, Jonathan Oliphant (Clerk), Stephanie Robertson and Sarah Withers.

Twelve parishioners attended. Apologies were received from Mr Molland, County and District Councillor, Mrs Stewart Cox and Wiltshire Police.

Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 16 April 2007

These were approved and signed by the chairman.

Financial Report

Copies of the accounts had been issued to those present. The Clerk said that the council's total income for 2007-08 was £1810.32, which includes reclaimed VAT. Spending was £1337.57 resulting in an increase in resources of £472.75 in the year. Of this spending, £592.57 was for purely administrative purposes the main element being the cost of insurance. You will have noticed that your council did not increase the precept this year despite a rise in the cost of living.

Chairman's Report

The Council (Anthony Mather, chairman, Stephanie Robertson, deputy chairman, and councillors David Baker, Jeremy Cross, Sarah Withers, Stewart Neale and Jonathan Oliphant, clerk) met on six occasions during the year. Members of the public attended two of these meetings. Among the items considered by the council were:

Planning Applications — Fifteen applications were received since the last annual meeting covering building work as well as work in a conservation area. The council raised no objection to any of these, and none were refused by Kennet District Council.
Old Garage Site — After much delay matters have now been resolved and building work should start in May. The two low cost houses will be completed first, with the remaining three house being built as the market demands. Your council stressed that they were anxious for the appearance of the site to be improved as quickly as possible.
Parish Website — The parish website has been up and running for a year and Stewart Neale has continued to improve its look and accessibility. Activity has been encouraging but it would be good if more items of interest could be made available. We need to make it as attractive as possible to those who visit it, especially to those outside the village.
Parish Plan and Village Design Statement — Stephanie Robertson and Stewart Neale have done a stalwart job in interviewing a wide cross section of the village to obtain their views on what they think of the their village and how they would like to see it develop. A comprehensive report will be produced and presented to the village later this year.
Traffic Speed Survey — The survey lasted for seven days (168 continuous hours) during which 5,824 vehicles crossed the equipment. One of the criteria for safety camera enforcement is that 85% of the traffic must be travelling at least at 35 mph in a 30 mph limit. At Chirton it fell below this requirement at 33.1mph. During the entire week only 5 vehicles travelled at a speed that would require the driver to be prosecuted at court. It is reassuring to know that very few of the drivers were exceeding the speed limit but everyone should be mindful of the fact that in some instances even 30mph is too fast! Your council will continue to monitor the situation and request a further check if necessary.
Village Hall — While this is not within the council's remit we have cooperated with the Village Hall committee to try to work out what practical steps we can take to resolve the present unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Best Kept Village Competition 2007 — Once again we came second in Kennet District in the medium village section. Our marks were up from 55/100 to 71/100, the judges remarking that the overall impression was "nice village well kept and tidy. Good effort by the village" [see Best Kept Village Competition - Chirton in Second Place]. We have entered once more this year and hope that everyone will once again help us to present the village in the best possible light. Judging takes place in late May.

Open Meeting

The following questions were raised by those present:

Question: Do the judges for The Best Kept Village Competition take account of unavoidable eyesores such as the old garage site?
Answer: Yes, the clerk is asked to mention these on the entry form.

Question: Now that the plans for the old garage site have been passed, is there any chance that they could be changed again?
Answer: Kennet District Council advise us that there is nothing to stop a developer from making fresh applications. However there is every hope that the current plans will be fully developed.

Question: How were the participants chosen for the Village Survey consultations?
Answer: Over 100 people attended a total of nine meetings. Participants were chosen randomly from the voters list so as to represent the widest cross-section of the village. Questionnaire forms were still available for anyone still wishing to air their views [see VDS Questionnaire]. An exhibition of the results will be presented to the village later this year.

Question: Would it be possible to deposit old gravel scrapings from a resurfaced drive on FP7 to the north of the school?
Answer: Yes.

Question: How can the dangers of cars travelling at unsuitable speeds past the school, as well as parking dangerously, be mitigated?
Answer: The Clerk agreed to approach Wiltshire Highways and the Police to see what more can be done. The Head Teacher had been very helpful by approaching parents and asking them not to park in front of The Barracks. Some still ignored this request.

Question: What can be done to prevent the foul smell emanating from the drain near the telephone box on very wet days?
Answer: The Clerk said this depended on getting the drain down the west side of The Street repaired. There were some signs that Kennet District Council might help with the cost, estimated by Wiltshire County Council as £20,000.

Village Signs — An offer to help keep all the village signs clean was gratefully accepted.

Vote of Thanks

The Rev. Gillie Baker expressed thanks on behalf of all those present for all the work that the council had done for the village over the past year.

There being no further business the chairman thanked all those present for coming and the meeting closed at 2010hrs.

Posted: 21 April 2008

CHIRTON PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting held in the School at 7:30 pm on 15 April 2008