Minutes of the ANNUAL PARISH MEETING of Stanford in
the Vale held on
Present: Cllr.P.G.McMorrow(Chair) Cllr.S.Bambury Cllr.G.Hughes
Cllr.P.Gill Cllr.Mrs.G.McMorrow Cllr.M.Isaacs
Cllr.M.Tilley(
Mr.R.Walker(PublicPurposes Charity) Mr.D.Axford(Public Purposes Charity)
Mrs J.Greenwood(Village
Hall Management Committee)
PC M.Stone - PC D Clarke(
Mr.D.M.Dew(Clerk) 2
Parishioners
1, Apologies
Cllr.B.Burls
2.
Report of
PC Stone accompanied by soon to be transferred PC Clarke praised the village for having a “better class of youth” and things were very good compared with other local villages. Again with regard to criminal damage the village was excellent although an incident in the school play house which was trashed has resulted in the offenders being made to apologise and make amends. There is an alcohol problem and there has been incidents where alcohol has been confiscated. Problem areas are patrolled especially in summer but it has been proved that in some cases parents are buying cheap supermarket alcohol for their children . It was gratifying that Stanford villagers often asked what they could do rather than what were the police doing about it. Parking especially on zigzags near school had been concentrated on and tickets had been issued. Speeding while not a problem in the village was in evidence on the A417. Earthline lorries were monitored and reported including the unsheeted loads. RoSPA take action on this. They would also monitor cars left with engines running early mornings outside paper shop Questions were asked about drugs and a specific area was identified with the TVP to be informed of any further incidents. They were pleased to report no incidents of theft in the village. Chairman thanked the two constables for their comprehensive report and thanked them for their work in the village.
3.
Report of
OFSTED report for Stanford school was very good and felt it
was a school to be proud of. County Council is considering 20mph speed limits
in towns and if successful into villages, although police will not monitor the
limit. Chairman said that a child had recently been knocked down in Van Diemans and the parents had asked for 20mph limit/humps to
be installed. Councillor said to think carefully before advocating speed humps
due to noise etc. The bend between Pusey and Hatford leading to
4.
Report of
District Councillor
The problem with bus passes was being looked at ie passes start at 9.30 buses leave Stanford at 9.20
meaning Stanford residents have to pay while other villages further along route
pay nothing. Connections for
5.
Finance and
Clerks Report
Parish Council Clerk and Finance Officer reported on year end finances. There was a surplus of £3200 and this had enabled council yet again to reduce the 2008/09 precept by £2500 to £20500.
Closing balance
This includes an Investment account of £42,888.85 being held for possible rec land purchase
Bank Interest received £ 1400 Salaries - £21000
Mowing Grant £ 4880 Mowing - £ 5638
Street Cleaning Grant £ 900 Cleaning - £ 2400
Misc Grants £28000 Projects - £35000
Vandalism had been costing approx £80 per week. The Investment Account figure had been questioned by the auditors but had accepted our explanation. There had been perceived complications over the Bow Road/Hatford Brook project as the riparian owner was refusing to pay for necessary work carried out by Council. A decision was taken under new “Climate Change” regulations that this work be carried out under s137 as being “for benefit of the village”. This did not pre-empt a future Council decision to seek payment from the owner.
Clerk gave a brief summary of reported Government plans for future Parish Councils with much emphasis placed upon community involvement including placing “under privileged “ on councils.
Council and meeting thanked the clerk for his work during the year
6.
Report of
Parish Council Chairman inc future projects and works
·
The local elections of 2007 saw the present
council returned unopposed. Councillors thank the parishioners for this vote of confidence. We
welcomed Mr.M.Vallis as one of the
·
The July floods brought concerns over isolation
of our village with the A417,
·
Vandalism to property was costing some £80 per
week at one stage this year. Fortunately the situation improved and one young
person was successfully prosecuted for setting fire to safety surfacing on the
junior play area. We are grateful and appreciative of the speedy action by
villagers then and also again this week when the school fencing was again set
ablaze for the second time in a year.
·
Our community received two awards in the Village
of the Year Competition, for conservation and for community and youth
activities. The Best Kept Village Competition has been discontinued having run
for fifty years. We commissioned an Honours Board listing the twelve awards
gained from 2000 and the previous Best Kept Large Village Award from 1982.
·
On behalf of the Parish Council and our
Community we offer our thanks to the following benefactors: The Public Purposes
Charity, Oxfordshire Youth Organisation, WREN, Sweet Fuels, M.J.Cox,
Cobra Pumps and Pump Parts. The PPC financed our purchase of the John Deere
mowing macine, the new footpath across Church Green,
the repair of the damaged corner of that green and are providing the kick start
to £10,000 of external funding from WREN in addition to covering the cost of
access to the proposed new equipment. Fuel for our grass cutting comes from
Sweet Fuel,M.J.Cox and Cobra
Pumps and Pump Parts.
·
With the expertise and painstaking thoroughness
of application to the chaotic condition of financial accounts that we have
inherited our Internal Auditor has satisfied the Audit Commission that the
revised accounts she has compiled are beyond reproach. Not only has Ms Cheryl
White completed these financial reports from 1997 – 2001 but has clearly
defined the repercussions from these years to the satisfaction of our latest
appointed auditors BDO Hayward the fourth set of auditors dealing with post
accounts back to 1983. Accounts in respect of 2001- 2003 have also been
submitted.
·
Thanks are extended , as usual , to our staff
who continue to donate hours to this community and forgo due entitlements as do
all Parish Councillors
7.
Report of
Parish Council Recreation & Leisure Chairman
Maintenance
We have continued maintenance of all greens, verge , shrubs, trees and play areas. The large cylinder mower (John Deere) is working well and the surface cut is shorter and proving more acceptable to our needs.
Further maintenance on concrete posts, fencing ang gates (chain link) has been done at the Rec.Ground as well as timber rails around the Village Hall play area being replaced. This has to be put down to vandalism. Fortunately vandalism has been limited. Everyone is being more caring about our village and our litter picker Chris Stallard is establishing a cleaner environment. Our continued thanks to our Parish Clerk Mike Dew for coordinating litter maintenance amongst his many other duties.
Our thanks go to Challow Garage for machine maintenance and fuel, and similarly to Cobra Pumps. From this April, our new sponsor will be Sweet Fuels who have offered fuel at cost. Darren and Chris Rolls serve us very well and thanks to their diligence the whole village looks well cared for.
Projects
The Council has been pleased to support the friends and family of Matt Anns who died in October 2006, in their efforts to erect an extension to our skate park in Matt’s memory. The young people were awarded grants which covered the cost of the whole project . They will be busy later this month maintaining the surfaces of the ramps with special paint.
We have selected a contractor to erect a pyramid climbing frame ( Elastic Ropes) and two picnic tables in the Village Hall play area. Completion is scheduled towards the end of April.
We have installed tarmac around the Youth Shelter in the rec.ground as it was very slippery with mud. Our thanks go to the Public Purposes Charity for funding this.
Future Projects
· Picnic tables and benches are also being considered for this coming financial year
· We are still in the planning stages of erecting a higher fence to prevent footballs from flying into Perry’s Road bungalows during matches
· We will continue to monitor the condition of the footpaths to ensure the County Council maintains them for safety
· We still look for more land to increase opportunities for leisure and recreation.
We look to all members of the parish for continued support
and the sharing of ideas, to enhance the quality of recreation for all.