Tuesday 15th May saw both Stratton Parish Council’s Annual Parish Meeting and Annual Meeting take place at the village hall.
With two meetings, one after the other, it was an extended evening. The full, un-adopted minutes of both meetings will be available in due course on both the Stratton Parish Council’s website at www.strattondorsetpc.org.uk and on notice boards in the parish.
Annual Parish Meeting
This meeting reprises the past year’s events along with the presentation of the annual accounts. Below is the Chairman’s report for the 2017/2018:
Chairman’s Report for Year 2017/2018
‘The Parish Council has had a busy year, but it has again been a sad year. We started the year with five Councillors and have finished with four, this the result of the unfortunate death of Councillor Hannah Richardson in a road accident in October 2017. Her passing has been greatly felt by her family and by many different parts of the Community. For the Parish Council her work on helping to maintain and look at different possibilities together with other local Parish Councils for a revised public bus service was invaluable, she has been sadly missed. With no new Councillors stepping forward to help fill the gaps, it means that the Parish Council is not able to cover matters as promptly as we want to and delays can occur. It is a great shame that residents in the Parish want the best but are not prepared to come forward and offer a few hours of their time to help achieve things which reflect on all our lives and the surroundings in which we live. Having said that we did welcome Christopher Boulton, in June, as our new Parish Clerk. Hopefully, Chris has now settled into his post and is coping with all our various demands. I know all Councillors are grateful for the assistance, research and advice he has provided us. So, three vacancies to fill, and we hope that members of the public will step forward in the final year of this Council to help ensure that we continue to operate for the benefit of the residents of the Parish.
It has been very pleasing to see the vast strides made by the Allotment Society. Access to the new allotments only occurred on the 1 April 2017, but its members have already produced a wide range of produce, and their work has been the talking point of many. Hopefully, this coming year will allow even more success for the Society members.
Last year I mentioned a long list of activities carried out by the Parish Council, that list has not diminished, and indeed several new activities have come along with which we have been associated. One, being the May ceremony on the Village Green, where we were invited by family members to help inaugurate the commemorative stone to the Wrackleford Auxiliary Unit, G.H.Q. 203 Reserve Battalion. The inauguration was attended by many in the Parish, and was led by Mr Angus Campbell, Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, and Major General Tony Jeapes. We hope the Parish did the families of the Wrackleford members proud.
We continue to act as the access point for many residents of the Parish with the higher levels of local government in Dorset and other service providers. We spend considerable time and effort in trying to find the correct person in those authorities to try and resolve problems. We cannot always get what we want, but by working positively, we do put over our views. That can be done by us alone or working as a group of Parish Councils. Most of this work goes on unseen, although hopefully of benefit to the individual involved.
I will not say much on re-organisation of local government in Dorset, as that is only just coming about with clear conclusions, which should be finalised over the coming year and with initial elections in 2019 for a single tier Council replacing the County Council and W.D.D.C. and other District Councils. We have however, continued working and talking to neighbouring Parishes and the D.A.P.T.C, to see where and in what way we can work together or share services. That position and the need to share will become much clearer once the new Council is created.
Work on the Parish Council Web site and ensuring we are compliant under the Transparency Regulations for Smaller Authorities, had a hiatus in mid-year, when the Server unit on which the Parish Web site operated, disappeared. This caused numerous problems and meant that a complete rebuild was required. A tremendous amount of work was required, which could not always be dealt with as quickly as we wanted. But, through mainly the efforts of Councillor Cheryl Hobbs and Chris Boulton (Parish Clerk) a new site was achieved and finally re-introduced in early January 2018. Further work has been made to refine, expand or adjust slightly the layout of various pages and access points to information.
Various items of maintenance work have been done on Parish assets, with most of this work having been done by Councillors. I thank Councillor Peter Hallett, especially for dealing with much of this. Priority items requiring work in the coming year have already been noted.
Major changes occurred during the year with the Contractor holding the Maintenance contract for Ground and Hedge work terminating the contract. This caused considerable work to find, interview, agree and put in place new contractors. It was decided by the Parish Council to split the old contract into two parts. As such, improvements have been achieved in the presentation of the Village Green and hedges surrounding it. While work on grass cutting on the Playing Field has remained at a high standard. This did result however, in the cost being higher than the original budget provision. Although the work undertaken did cover the whole of the contract remit. Other budget savings covered the higher cost. The Parish Council did receive compliments from numerus Villagers on the condition of the Village Green and Playing Field.
The Parish Council continued its dialogue with the Highways Authority and the Police over the past year in the trying to get drivers to adhere to the Village speed limit. Several initiatives were undertaken including getting the Highways Authority to install road markings at various points through the Village. A recent speed survey confirmed that speeds have reduced, although we will continue to monitor and take action if required.
It was with the thanks of the Parish Council that a private group organised a ‘real’ Christmas tree on the village Green, and the annual Carol service was held with the Durnovaria Band involved. Thanks are also given to Judy Adams for carrying out the planting and caring for the village entrance tubs.
My final thanks go to all Councillors and the Parish Clerk for their dedication and hard work over the past year and ensuring that many of the matters we have attempted have succeeded for the benefit of the Parish.’
A.J.Aylott
Chairman – Stratton Parish Council
10 May 2018
The Financial Report for 2017/2018 was passed unanimously.
The next Annual Parish Meeting will be held on 14th May 2019 subsequent to parish council elections being held on May 2nd 2019.
Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting is a longer meeting than usual as, besides the election of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council for the year ahead, it is a requirement that certain documentation pertaining to financial regulations is publicly read out and agreed to by all councillors present.
The Chairman elected for the coming year is Cllr Andy Aylott and the Vice Chairman, Cllr Cheryl Hobbs. There are still only four councillors currently on the Parish Council from a quota of seven.
Some of the items discussed at the meeting were:-
- Acceptance of National Legislation and Local Conditions – as per the National Association of Local Councils.
- Finances – Review of Income and expenditure, annual accounting, audit regulations, budget monitoring and a review of the Parish’s assets and risk assessments.
- An update on Data Protection Regulations
- General Maintenance.
- Highways – The requested gully clearing has now been undertaken.
- Christmas Carol Event 2018 (14th December 2018) – The Durnovaria Band has now been booked
- Planning Gain Wish List – Various items previously agreed have now been completed, i.e. repainting of the tennis court white lines, posts on the village green etc. Further discussion regarding the provision and management of a defibrillator took place. Financial support for a Children’s Christmas party. Further items have been suggested for consideration – including a Christmas lunch for older residents in the Parish.
- Commemoration of the end of WW1 – Suggestion for a permanent memorial
The date of the next bi-monthly Stratton Parish Council Meeting is 17th July 2018.
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND
Stratton Parish Council Website – www.strattondorsetpc.org.uk