Annual Parish Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Ellisfield Annual Parish Meeting
held in the Memorial Hall on Friday 22nd April 2005 at 8.00 pm

Present

Paul Turner (Chairman of Ellisfield Parish Council and Chairman of the Meeting)
46 members of the public (including Parish Councillors Caroline Cazenove, Steven Gould, Tim Guinness & Peter Mitchell)

Minutes

Taken by Jacqui Matthews (Ellisfield Parish Clerk)

In Attendance

Cllr Anna McNair Scott (County Councillor)
Cllr Mark Ruffell (Borough Councillor)
PC Andrew Reid, Local beat officer, Hampshire Constabulary
Lucy Keal, Environmental Service Officer, BDBC

1.

Apologies for Absence. Chairman read out a list of 12 apologies.

2.

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 23^rd April 2004. The Minutes had been circulated at the beginning of the meeting but time was allowed for reading. Meg Freeman proposed and Caroline Cazenove seconded that they be approved as a true record. Agreed and signed as a true record.

3.

Matters Arising from the Minutes. None.

4.

To receive a report from the Chairman of the Parish Council.

Chairman presented his report (Section 1), which included draft 2004/5 Accounts and details of the 2005/6 Budget and Precept Calculation. All noted.

5.

To receive a report from the Trustees of Ellisfield Educational Trust.

Bernard Cazenove reported on behalf of the Trust:

The trustees are Bernard Cazenove, Clive Parnell-Hopkinson and Peter Mitchell. Capital had risen from £42,000 to £47,000 because the stock market had gone up. Once again, the biggest benefactor has been Cliddesden School. Requests for funding invited from village residents, these are not means tested but must be educational. All applications are treated confidentially.

6.

Any other Village Matters.

Highways: Traffic speeds along the Axford Road continue to cause concern and Chairman reported that Hampshire County Council Traffic Management team had taken measurements of traffic speeds for 2 weeks from the beginning of December. There had been comments that this was the wrong time of year and the measuring devices had been placed in the wrong position to catch speeding traffic, there were also builders vans parked in the road which would have affected traffic speeds. Results showed that peak times for traffic were 8 am and 4-5 pm with an average speed of 41 mph and a top speed of 61mph (1 mph above national speed limit which exists along the road). Keith Pauw, Area Manager for HCC Traffic Management Team, had reported that he would secure a budget to carry out traffic calming measures and that the work should be completed by the end of the summer. His suggestions were for ‘gateways’ on either side of the road just before the main settlement areas, to remove central white lines and to paint solid white lines along sides of road (with broken lines at junctions and driveways); these measures intended to make the road appear narrower. Mr Pauw had agreed to let Parish Council have copies of plans/designs for gateways by mid May. Mr Pauw also suggested not applying for a speed limit until the above measures had been seen to have some impact on traffic speeds. A ‘gateway’ may also be installed at Saucy Corner. Ling Hopwood expressed concern that it is very muddy on the wood side of Axford road, and white lines may not have much impact. There followed discussion about the state of Parish roads in general, mud on the road and overhanging trees. It was discussed and agreed if anyone was concerned they should contact the Parish Clerk or HCC Highways direct.

Affordable Housing: Chairman reported that, following the last Parish Council Newsletter, 11 individual or couples had shown an interest in more affordable housing for the village. Only 3 of these have officially registered their need with BDBC. Chairman reported he and the Clerk had met Gordon Richardson, Rural Housing Enabler, to establish the process for exploring this need and subsequent action. Chairman assured the meeting that if the project was to go ahead, there would be much discussion including location and design of houses (particularly in the light of feedback from residents of Farrier’s Field). Gordon Richardson had advised that the first step should be for an official Housing Needs Survey to be conducted on behalf of the parish by his organisation. There were questions about whether any site had yet been identified (the answer was: no) and to whom the houses would be allocated (the answer was: to people with a strong Ellisfield connection first, followed by Farleigh, Cliddesden and Dummer).

The meeting closed at 8.40pm

Chairman……………………………………………………

Date.……….…………………………………….

The formal meeting was then followed by presentations (Section 2) from PC Reid, representatives of Ellisfield Village Organisations, Cllr Anna McNair Scott (Hampshire County Councillor), Cllr Mark Ruffell (Borough Councillor) and Lucy Keal (Environmental Service Officer, BDBC).

PC Reid, Hampshire Constabulary:

PC Reid reported that crime in Ellisfield last year had been very low with only 3 crimes reported (representing a slight decrease from last year when there had been only 3 reported). While there had been some distraction burglaries in Axford and Dummer, Ellisfield remains a safe place, largely thanks to the efforts of Neighbourhood Watch and Keeper Watch. PC Reid advised that should anyone have any concerns, they should call him direct (contact details in Hill and Dale) or call 0845 045 45 45 or in case of real emergency dial 999.

St Martin's Church:

Bernard Cazenove, Churchwarden, reported:

Congregation numbers continue to be quite good although many seem to be C & E (Christmas and Easter!)

Last year, the east wall was underpinned at a cost of £19,800 with much of the money raised within the village and supplemented by a grant from BDBC. The Church is currently covered with scaffolding once again as repairs are carried out to the roof.

Future projects include; improving the vestry, the main entrance and the steps to the burial ground. There are also plans to install a hearing loop.

The total costs of running the church are approx £30,000 + the cost of repairs and the quota has increased to £12,000

Memorial Hall:

Hilary de Ferranti, Chairwoman of the Memorial Hall Committee, reported:

The Memorial Hall remains solvent. There had been some very good entertainment through the year, including ‘Hog the Limelight’ evenings and, of course, The Christmas Fair. Roger Graham reported that whilst the ‘Olde Tyme Music Hall' event was a great success; he was concerned that there seemed to be more people in the audience who live outside Ellisfield, posing the question whether the events were viable from a residents point of view. He asked people to let him know what type of entertainment they would prefer.

Neighbourhood Watch:

Nigel Wilson, Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, confirmed PC Reid’s report and made the point that it is important to be aware of security to protect property.

Horticultural Society:

Meg Freeman, Horticultural Society Village Representative, reported:

The society includes members from all three villages; Ellisfield, Cliddesden and Farleigh and that currently 100 households subscribe. The cost of joining is £5.00 per household. This entitles you to attend meetings, garden visits and enter shows. Forthcoming events on the Horticultural calendar include a Plant Sale on 8 May and a talk about butterflies in Hampshire on 27 July.

Volunteer Group:

Peter Hopwood, Volunteer Group Committee Member, reported:

The Volunteer Group started three years ago with the aim to reduce the cost to the village of maintaining Lower Common, the Gravel Pits and the Burial Ground.

Thanks were given to residents who allow the Volunteer Group to store equipment close to sites.

It was confirmed that more people are needed to volunteer, pledging 4 hours per year to spread the workload for something that benefits everyone.

Parish Paths Group:

Peter Hopwood, Parish Paths Group Leader, reported:

Kit Lane remains in a bad condition and there have been added problems with effluent discharge.

The Bluebell Walk is on 1st May and an Autumn Walk on 25^th September. Once again these have been advertised in the "Discover Hampshire" booklet and will hopefully attract people from outside the village.

Ellisfield Ladies:

Doreen Lonergan, Chair of Ellisfield Ladies Club, reported:

There are currently 60 members and there is a ceiling of 70 due to the size of the Memorial Hall. More members are needed from Ellisfield itself rather than people living outside the village. A full programme of entertainment is planned for the year, although not including Christmas Carols as this event was very poorly attended last year.

Anna McNair Scott, Hampshire County Councillor:

Congratulations to the Parish Council for keeping the precept so low, contributing to the lowest Council Tax in recent years.

SEERA (the South East England Regional Assembly) consultation had been dreadful, focusing only on numbers of houses with no mention of infrastructure required to support such plans. There continued to be concern about the boundaries of Western Corridor and Blackwater Valley Development Corridor, particularly the areas of Basingstoke and Deane that were situated south of M3 motorway. Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Officers have said that they want development in excess of maximum numbers suggested in SE Plan.

Cllr McNair Scott confirmed that speeding traffic was a problem Ellisfield shared with many villages across the County.

Rights of Way: There had been reports that the Government had been looking for footpaths and bridleways that could be upgraded to Byeways Open to all Traffic (BOATs). Notices should be displayed if this option was to be pursued and Cllr McNair Scott recommended that, if this proved to be problem, then a copy of the 'definitive map' should be obtained.

Mark Ruffell, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Councillor

Cllr Ruffell concurred with Cllr McNair Scott’s appraisal of SEERA and consultation on the SE Plan, warning that this could result in an additional 100,000 houses over the next 20 years resulting in the formation of Basingstoke City! He advised the Parish Council to work with the Basingstoke District Association of Parish and Town Council (BDAPTC) to move Ellisfield from the Blackwater Valley and Western Corridor area to Residual Hampshire.

Local Planning Issues remain important and Cllr Ruffell reported that recent BDBC Planning Officers had approved an application to build 30 houses in Cliddesden and, in response to local concern, this had subsequently been rejected by councillors sitting on the Development Control Committee.

PRESENTATION

Lucy Keal, BDBC Environmental Service Officer Conservation

Basingstoke and Deane is a Waste Collection Authority (WCA) and has a statutory duty to collect household waste, collect commercial waste if asked and to prepare a recycling plan. All waste collected must be passed onto a Waste Disposal Authority (our WDA is Hampshire County Council). The WDA has a responsibility to dispose of waste through landfill, incineration, materials recovery facility, compost or household waste recycling centres.

Hampshire has a county-wide integrated waste management project called Project Integra, a partnership of all Hampshire’s Local Authorities and Hampshire Waste Services. The Management board comprises of members from each authority. Project Integra have been awarded funding from WRAP and DEFRA for the delivery of a Behavioural Change Strategy. Research has been done into triggers, motivators and barriers to recycling. A high profile communication campaign will be launched in March (bus backs, ad shells, newspaper articles, targeting sample areas, education and doorstepping).

In Basingstoke and Deane, there is a statutory target to recycle or compost 30% of the household waste collected in Basingstoke and Deane by 2005/2006. In 2003/2004 we recycled 16% of the waste collected. Currently, recycling in the borough is co-ordinated through kerbside collections; paper and card, plastic household bottles and food and drinks cans. Also through ‘Bring Sites’; glass, aluminium foil, textiles, books and shoes (TRAID, The Salvation Army and The European Shoe Recycling Company) and Charity Shops. There is currently a cross party group of Borough Councillors investigating the possible options for improving our waste and recycling collection service.

The presentation finished with a review of household rubbish brought to the meeting by the Chairman - a range of items collected to establish what can and can’t be recycled. As we have a plastic bag scheme for kerbside collection in the village, it is particularly important that only items that can be recycled are placed in the bags; if the collection staff spot anything in the bag that is not acceptable for recycling (for example, glass), the whole bag is likely to be reassigned to landfill, etc. Tetrapak type drinks cartons were highlighted as, despite popular conceptions, these cannot be recycled due the nature of the material (a combination of cardboard, plastic and aluminium foil).