The Stratton Annual Parish meeting was held on 18th May 2021 at Stratton village hall. The Annual Parish Meeting outlines the activities undertaken by the council over the past year on behalf of parishioners. It gives residents the opportunity to comment, ask any questions and raise any issues they may have and to help and inform the council’s programme for the year ahead.
Below is the Chairman’s report presented at the meeting.
Chairman’s Report for Year 2020/2021
I said in my report last year that Stratton Parish Council had endured a year of doom and gloom. That comment related to the elections held in May 2019 when Stratton ended up with only three elected councillors and not the recommended quota of seven. The past year has also been one of doom and gloom but in quite another and worrying way – Coronavirus. The national and indeed world pandemic has affected everybody in one way or another and that has applied equally to Stratton. A year of great challenge, with two full lockdowns, and the lifestyle of every resident altered and adapted to the strange circumstances in which we all found ourselves.
The Parish Council also had to adapt and strive to keep abreast of matters, whether dealing with issues in remote ways or working with and using other organisations to help provide advice and services to the Parish.
Because of the first total lockdown the Annual Parish Meeting had to be postponed. The government enacted legislation to allow such meetings to be held outside the normal legal timescales. Consequently, the auditing of the parish accounts was also delayed with an extension of up to three months permissible.
During this difficult time, when Covid restrictions allowed, Council activities and actions were still undertaken and works carried out. An innovation for the Council was using a Zoom link to hold two remote meetings during the second lockdown – something new and scary for several councillors!
The search for a new Parish Clerk continued with numerous adverts placed both within and without the parish. Several interested people make initial applications, but these failed to materialise into a firm candidate for the post. It was late in the year before we were able to interview and appoint a new Parish Clerk – Mrs Michele Harding, an experienced clerk who has worked for, and is continuing to work for several other West Dorset parishes as well. Michele officially took up her position with us as from the 1 April 2021 and we are very pleased to welcome her.
With Covid causing such disruption, our main efforts were directed at maintenance issues. The basic maintenance of the village green and playing field was carried out by our contractor on a regular basis while additional work on hedge trimming and gully clearance was completed. Further areas of work on trees and bramble cutback around the playing field was also carried out, these being highlighted in the report we commissioned several years ago. Numerous smaller maintenance issues were achieved, some ground works, repairs to noticeboards and to the play area. The main area of work was the re-installation of the Millennium Village Map. It was considerably difficult working within and with the various Covid restrictions to get a design agreed, appropriate wood obtained and a local workman with time to do this incredibly unique job, and who fitted it in amongst his other scheduled work commitments. The map was finally finished and successfully re-installed during late March.
The new public bench purchased late in 2019/20 to replace the rotten one by the alms-houses was installed once the first lockdown restrictions allowed the work to be carried out. The bench was dedicated to two very well-known ex-Stratton residents – Mrs Gladys Gould and Mrs Maureen Lloyd. Members of both families were present when the bench was fitted to the base and both they and their friends kindly made donations towards the cost of it for which the Council is very grateful.
Considerable time and commitment were incurred by Councillors in working with officers from Dorset Council Highways to secure safety improvements along the A37 main road, from under the railway bridge as far as the entrance to Stratton village. This involved numerous contacts and discussions with officers, meetings, and a site visit to explain our concerns. Several village residents formed The Stratton A37 Pressure Group and acting on behalf of concerned parishioners were also involved. Although the group was outside the jurisdiction of the Council, they kept the Council informed of their activities and worked to help get improvements carried out.
Only one policy objective was completed during the year – the introduction and adoption of a written policy on Communications. This covered how and in what ways the Parish Council will communicate with its residents. The policy commitments have not yet been fully realised and further work is in progress to complete the goals that have been identified. Details on how to contact the Council will be distributed to every household in the parish allowing people to be fully aware of how the Council works and the various ways contact or to receive Council information. Updated information will also be posted on the village notice boards and the other places where council information can usually be found, such as the bus shelters.
The Parish Council continues to support local groups and others who help residents in the parish through distribution of Section 137 Grants, with five separate grants being made this last year.
Work on the parish council website has continued, with an upgrade carried out, ensuring the Council remains fully compliant with the Transparency Regulations for Smaller Authorities. Numerous announcements have been made over the past year covering matters that fall within the remit of the Council, such as news, updates, or events likely to affect residents. Now that we have a new parish clerk in position, we can look to see what further enhancements can be made to the website to provide greater detail and increase distribution of information. All announcements on the website are immediately posted on the Council’s Facebook page, often accompanied by relevant photographs.
The parish council finances remain in a healthy position, with good review and budget control processes in place. This ensures that decision making can be carried out and expenditure directed to areas where it is most required.
My final thanks go to all councillors – Cheryl Hobbs, Matthew Garner and Alan Wheeler for their dedication and hard work during the past year. Now that vaccinations have arrived and are so successfully being rolled out and the second lockdown is slowly being lifted, let us hope the year 2021/22 will be a better one not only for Stratton Parish Council but for every one of our residents.
A.J.Aylott
Chairman – Stratton Parish Council
12 May 2021
The Annual Parish Meeting was followed by the Annual Meeting of the council.
This meeting comprised mostly of electing a Chairman and a Vice-chairman for the next year and the allocation of the council roles and responsibilities that individual councillors will take on, as well as agreeing legal and financial matters.
Other matters of interest included: –
- The co-option of a new councillor, Mr Simon Joslin. This brings SPC’s complement of councillors to 5 – still 2 short of the allocation of 7.
- Discussion of the new Dog related Public Spaces Protection Orders – with confirmation that these would not alter the agreement currently in place for dog walkers to use the SPC playing field.
- Discussion on help towards paying for this year’s Christmas tree – further inquiries to be undertaken.
The next ordinary meeting of the parish council will be held on Tuesday13th July, 2021, when it is hoped that the lifting of Covid restrictions will make it possible to use the Aylott Room instead of the large Ashley Hall.