Annual Report
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ANNUAL REPORT
March 2009 – April 2010
In providing a report to the village for the year just finished I would like to begin with some thanks.
Catherine continues to be a first rate Parish Clerk and works above and beyond the call of duty; we have recently extended her hours and moved her up the salary scale but she is motivated by doing a professional job.
Reg Dunn has taken on the role of Chairman of the park trustees , vice chair of the Parish Council and works non stop for the village , particularly in the area of highways which I know is like banging your head against a brick wall .
I also wish to thank all of the Parish Councillors who give their time to maintain and improve the life of our community, thanks for agreeing to serve to Phil Martin, Anne Cole, Charles Smedley and Mark Longmuir our newest recruit. I am a very fortunate Chairman because I have such a willing pro-active group of councillors. My thanks also to John Lathan who had to resign as a consequence of poor health; he was an energetic and hard working councillor . There are 11 seats on the Parish Council, we had a vacancy as a consequence of John Lathan’s resignation but with Mark’s recruitment we have a full council for 2010/2011. My thanks also to Brian and Catherine Lomax and Robin Brown our District and County councillors
The PC would like again to thank Steve Hartwell for his work in the village, Chris Lomas and her colleagues who continue to produce a top class village newsletter, Don Atwell who with Eddie Taken and Nigel Gostick’s help keep the village website as a valuable resource. My thanks also to Phil Martin our neighbourhood watch coordinator who does a great job.
The Recreation Ground is now managed as a charitable trust by a group of trustees under the chairmanship of Reg Dunn. David George is the secretary and the PC would like to thank them and others for managing the park for the whole village
Kilsby became a Quality Council during the last year only the 13th Parish in Northants who have achieved this status. The application made us look very closely at our procedures but puts us in a position that we can take on more influence over our own affairs as the proposals for devolvement of local government to grass roots is developed.
The spend (ex VAT) up to 31 March 09 was £34421 against a budget of £35132. The council has budgeted for a precept of £35050 this year which is a reduction in the amount charged to Kilsby residents of 1.8 % for the 2010/11 rates bill. Two major things happened in financial terms in the last year. 1) We moved the Reserve account for the village from the Bank of Ireland to Nat West in order to ensure the reserve was fully protected.
2) We repaid the public works loan because the change in financial markets meant we were receiving no interest on our reserve whilst being charged 4.5 % on the loan. The spending figures exclude repayment of the loan because the money was transferred from reserve to pay the settlement figure.
The Parish Council has a separate Planning Committee chaired by Vince Penman (who has my grateful thanks for stepping up to the role following John Lathan’s resignation.) This has considered 25 planning applications during the year. We are deeply concerned that the planning committee will not be able to attend site meetings following a recent ruling by DDC which we will protest against in the strongest terms
We dealt with the following new planning applications in the period April 2009 to March 2010
DA/2009/0186 Building of Cattery Malt Mill House, 25 Malt Mill Close - Approved
DA/2009/0166 Construction of Building for B2 and B8 use at Butchers Pet Care Crick - we didn’t comment but it was approved
DA/2009/0407 Enlarge front porch and side extension to 4 Postle Close - Approved.
DA/2009/0350 Windfarm with 8 turbines this was refused as it would affect the listed building Stanford Hall. It has gone to appeal and will be heard on 22 June
DA/2009/0457 12 Malt Mill Close. Insertion of two front dormers and rear roof lights to form room in roof space. Approved
DA/2009/0458 3 Postle Close, First floor side extension. Approved
DA/2009/0579 Single Storey rear extension 3 LLamas Farm Court. We made no observations.
DA/2009/0638 Signs at DIRFT - we did not wish to have light pollution so wish the lights to be turned off at night.
DA/2009/0620 Construction of a Windfarm with 5 turbines Land adj to Watford Lodge Farm, West Haddon Rd, Watford.
DA/2009/0678 Addition of first floor to existing bungalow 9 Watling St Kilsby -approved
DA/2009/0689 Removal of Condition 8 of planning permission Da/2005/0888 to allow unrestricted occupancy for the approved unit. Wharf Farm, Kilsby Lane Approved
DA/2009/0688 Single Storey rear extension Grafton House, 4 Rugby Road, Kilsby- approved
DA/2009/0699 Remove tree subject to Tree Preservation Order. 31 Hall Close Refused at first then later approved.
DA/2009/0700 Work to tree subject to Tree Preservation Order. 3 Rugby Road Approved
DA/2009/0713 Works to tree subject to Tree Preservation Order 3 Rugby Road. Approved
DA/2009/0801 Construction of a building for B2 and B8 use with 5% increased floor area. Butchers Pet Care, Crick. Concerns raised over traffic. Approved.
DA/2009/0857 Construction of detached dwelling and garage to rear of 22 Rugby Road. Withdrawn
DA/2009/0830 Demolition of existing buildings Outline application Former Midland Meatpackers. Crick Approved
Da/2009/0736 New commercial vehicle maintenance unit. Concerned over highway safety of entrance onto A428 and A5 Approved
DA/2009/0974 Refurbishment of concrete sectional houses 3, 4,4,7,8 Smarts Estate Approved
DA/2010/0017 DIRFT Expansion Site Wanted better footpaths/cycleway to link Crick and Kilsby. Felt car park entrances onto A428 was inappropriate, were concerned over the visual impact of a 3 storey car park at front and wanted enhanced planting. Signage to stop construction traffic coming through the village.
DA/2010/0090 Alterations to Piepowder 10 the Banks Kilsby
Commented on West Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy looking at general planning policy and infrastructure
Attended symposium on plans for Rugby Radio Station and DIRFT 3
Commented on Rugby Core Strategy / Borough Council Development Framework
Barby Gun Club Monitoring
Aircraft Noise
Draft West Northants Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
Consultation on creating sustainable communities we did not comment.
In terms of planning there are 3 major developments to report.
1) Under the planning permission for DIRFT 2 there is a requirement for the developer to provide support to the local community by providing funding for projects to improve road and footpath infrastructure. In the last few days we have been told that the funding should be released shortly and we have a meeting with the Fund Manager and the contractors to get the work in Kilsby underway. This S106 money is a substantial sum and will allow us to deal with a number of things raised in the Parish Plan in the area of road and footpath improvement and safety.
2) We continue to have dialogue with Barby Sporting Club over the noise nuisance suffered in Kilsby and the latest developments are that they have been unable to commence work on the bunding because of planning problems over the road used to deliver the soil to site. Also the PC has discovered a similar case in Wales that resulted in a noise abatement order and have agreed in principle to meet with DDC and the BSC to establish how that affects our situation.
3) Charles Smedley has attended a symposium on behalf of the owners of the BT site on the A5 who plan to build DIRFT 3 which will be a 6m sq ft warehouse development and will have severe consequences on the local infrastructure .My particular concern is the impact on our local road network. The PC is already in dialogue with Pro Logis over this development and will keep working to minimise the effect locally
The PC in partnership with Crick and DIRFT has sponsored the recruitment of 2 dedicated PCSO’s on a beat which covers the 2 villages and the industrial estate in the middle. The PCSO’s started work in February and all the feedback I have had so far has been positive. In May a bi monthly meeting begins (in which Kilsby will be represented by Phil Martin) will help to develop a strong relationship with the PCSO’s and ensure we get value for money in the project .
We have begun discussions with local landowners to extend the size of the cemetery as the capacity within it will be fully used within a few. We need to ensure that it will be able to provide a facility for villagers for the foreseeable future.
Annual Report produced: 20th June 2010.
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