20 April 2010
| 
KILSBY
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on
20th April 2010 in Kilsby Village Hall commencing at 7.30pm
Present: 6 parishioners plus District Councillors Brian and Catherine Lomax, County Councillor R Brown, PCSO Les Conopo Northamptonshire Police. Clerk- C Camp.
Parish Councillors M Cahill, C Smedley, R Dunn.
The Chairman of the Parish Council, Mr Rob Chamberlain, chaired the meeting.
1.Apologies for absence were received from Councillor E Taken, P Martin, A Cole, PCSO L Humfress, Mrs C Clay, Mrs J Bates, Sarah Wurr, Liz Morrice,
2.Minutes of the last Annual Parish Meeting – 5th May 2009 were agreed by the meeting to be a true record and were approved and signed.
3.Any matters arising from those minutes The poor state of the roundabout on the A5 was discussed. This is still an ongoing problem which the Parish Council continue to raise with the Highway Authority. The Chairman pointed out that sponsorship has been sought for the centre of the roundabout so that it can be better maintained.
4.Report from the Police- PCSO Les Conopo introduced himself and explained that the parish has benefitted from two extra PCSOs who started work in Feb 2010. He said that apart from the recent “Rave” there have been no reported crimes. PCSO Conopo prefers to work a late shift as this is prime time to be at DIRFT. He made people aware that next week the two PCSOs will be working together over the weekend and on Monday and Tuesday and will be driving and “Ops Guardian” vehicle. This is an initiative to tackle acquisitive crime such as theft and car theft. In the event of an emergency the public were asked to dial 999 or 03000 111 222.
5.Report by the Chairman of the Parish Council – Cllr Chamberlain. (Appendix A)
Questions:
i) It was felt to be very concerning that Parish Councillors are going to be excluded from DDC Planning site visits. The Parish Council has resolved to write and complain about this ruling.
ii)What is section 106 money? This is planning gain money used to help mitigate the effect of a development on the local community. If it is agreed it is conditional on entering into an agreement with the developer prior to getting planning permission.
6.County Council Report –Cllr Brown. Report attached (Appendix B).
Questions: Concerns were raised over the Ridgeway being used as and HGV Rat-run.
Councillor Brown advised that KPC request a renewal of the weight restriction on Longdown Lane, and he will be happy to add support to this.
PCSO Conopo left the meeting at 20.20
District Council Report – Councillor Catherine Lomax
Councillor Lomax stated that this is here 9th Annual Meeting as District Councillor. She is still a member of the Licensing Committee which upholds the rules of the licensing authority.
DDC have lobbied the Government for greater clarity and an exception for the need for a licence by schools if they are running events at which there will be no alcohol.
She is also on the Scrutiny Committee and has been involved on three task panels.
1. Use of Consultants. This is inevitable to some extent as expertise needs to be bought in.
2. Investigation of Bus Passes to ensure that rural areas are not penalised. DDC initially allow free travel, but have now adopted the Government scheme of free travel after 0930.
3. Sickness levels of staff are being monitored and an in-house nurse has been employed.
Councillor C Lomax also attends and speaks at Planning Committee Meetings and is on the Affordable Housing Panel.
The District Council has introduced free swimming for over 50 year olds.
Daventry Country Park has been given Conservation Area status.
Waste and Litter collection has been put out to tender.
There is a bid to reduce the number of Councillors. Pest Control has already been scrapped to try to meet 15% cuts across the board. Plans for a Canal Arm have been put on hold, and has become a “Water space” on Eastern Way.
The recent planning application for 13000 houses has been refused on appeal.
Plans for 6th Form for Daventry Schools is on hold awaiting funding.
A national energy infrastructure plan has been requested on Wind farms following a number of applications.
The prospect of houses on the BT Site, and plans for DIRFT 3,4,5,6 will affect the village, way of life and make an impact on the local road networks. She will continue to oppose the BT site, and try to negotiate good s106 agreements for the local community.
Questions:
Why are local Councillors being barred from Planning Site Visits? – this is a Daventry DC policy based on Health and Safety grounds. Cllr Brown suggested that this is raised at Northants ACRE and CALC as Kilsby Parish Council has proved by attaining Quality Status that they can add value to decisions and it goes against the Charter of Closer Working between levels of Government.
District Councillor - Brian Lomax stated that he would make no political comments since he is approaching the election for his seat on 6th May. The Chairman was happy to allow him to speak to report on his previous years work as a District Councillor.
He reported that he sits on the Appeals Committee, Corporate Governance committee responsible for the budget, and the Planning committee.
He attends an Affordable Housing task panel, Member Training and Development and Strategy group meetings.
Housing – Although two large housing developments have been refused in Daventry, there will be 6200 houses built on the Radio Mast site in Warwickshire.
Finances- DDC rates are due to rise by 2.4%, but at the same time they are making cuts of 15.9% with a further 10% of cuts planned over the next 4 years. This will mean that it becomes impossible to deliver many of the current services.
DDC have also made a loan of £5M at 1% interest rate over 2 years for improvements at Silverstone Race Course. He feels this is disgraceful.
In addition the District Councillors hold regular surgeries in Kilsby, Barby, Onley, Ashby St Ledgers and Welton. Mr and Mrs Lomax are also both members of Barby & Onley Parish Council.
Questions: a) Councillor Brown stated that the Motor Racing Industry centred round Silverstone provides 40,000 jobs and the loan has allowed work to start at Silverstone which will create further jobs.
Councillor R Brown left the meeting at 20.55.
7. Report from Village Charities– Ms Janet Chappell attached (Appendix C)
8. Report from Village Hall Management Committee Attached (Appendix D)
9. Report from the School Governors – Mr Angus Farmer Attached (E)
10.Reports from Village Organisations Reports attached from Kilsby Tennis Club – Ron Mason (Appendix F) Twinning – Tom Hindle (Appendix G), Kilsby Garden and Produce Association – Christine Clay ( Appendix H), Pre-School (Appendix I), W.I. –Joan Bates (Appendix J), Christmas Tree Committee (K), Bowls (L), Guides – Liz Morrice (M), Rainbows and Brownies (N).
11. Items raised by Parishioners present
a) The Parish Council was asked to inform the parish via Kilsby Kronickle that grants are available from Daventry District Housing.
b) Parishioners were asked to take down old notices, when advertising on telegraph poles etc around the village.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.45pm
Signed: Date:
============================================================
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|