Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of BEECH
Held in the
Village Hall on Monday, 26 MARCH 2007 at 7.30pm
PRESENT: Councillor John Henderson, Chairman
Councillor Edward Neish, Vice-Chairman
Councillor
Patrick Burridge
Councillor
Ian Gibson
Councillor June May
Councillor Norman Miles
County Councillor Mark Kemp-Gee
PC Lucy Ryan
Mrs
Sheron Gillard, Clerk to the Council
3 Members of the Public
APOLOGIES/OPEN
MEETING
Chairman
welcomed everyone to the meeting, receiving apologies from Councillor
Jenny Poole.
CONFIRMATION
OF MINUTES
The
Minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2006, copies of which had previously
been circulated, were confirmed.
Chairman John Henderson signed the minutes as a true record.
CHAIRMAN’S
ANNUAL REPORT
Copies
of the Chairman’s report were made available to all present and would appear in
full in the next Beech Newsletter.
Council
Membership
Chairman
spoke of the work of Councillors and thanked them for
their efforts in the past year.
With
elections due this May, Chairman encouraged members of the village to put
themselves forward for election, particularly because if Beech Parish Council
decide to try for Quality Parish Status (a scheme being heavily promoted by
central Government) ideally it must have at least as many candidates as Council
seats.
In addition to a number of
small donations totaling £250 for the year, the Chairman detailed the two
substantial donations the Council was pleased to make to village facilities
this year ie. £2,500 to the Village Hall and £2,000
to St Peter’s Church building fund.
Planning
Councillors have considered 19 planning applications this year,
which is about average. Its responses to
proper planning issues and applicable reference to the Village Design
Statement, ensures that Beech Parish Council continue to have a credible voice
with the planning authority, East Hampshire District Council.
Highways & Footpaths
The Chairman was delighted to
report that the hard surfaced path laid early last summer, on the verge along
Minutes
of the Annual Parish Meeting 26 March 2007 continued.....Page 2 of 2
Council Tax
Chairman was pleased to
report that the Parish Council’s precept has again reduced for tax payers in
07/08.
Before
taking questions, the Chairman ended his report by thanking Mrs
Sandi Fisher for continuing to audit the Council’s accounts and Mrs Sheron Gillard for her work as Council Clerk.
QUESTIONS
ON REPORT
King’s
Hill Footpath: A path serving the top
end of King’s Hill is being investigated.
REPORT
FROM
Cllr Kemp-Gee spoke of a relatively active year for HCC and Beech, noting
the opening of the new
In
advising a 4.9% increase in the HCC element of Council tax, Cllr
Kemp-Gee congratulated EHDC on its 0% increase and gave details of the grants
received by different counties from central Government eg.
Hampshire receive £96 per head whilst
Before
ending, Cllr Kemp-Gee spoke of a new initiative
between HATs (Hampshire Action Teams) and HAPTC
- the Village 30 Programme
– a speed limits project which would allow villages with community support to
introduce or extend a 30mph limit. A
letter would be received by the Parish Council for consideration at its next
meeting.
Finally,
Cllr Kemp-Gee spoke of the challenging year ahead and
his concerns about future development in the area, particularly the strain on
the existing infrastructure.
There
being no questions, Chairman John Henderson thanked Councillor Kemp-Gee for
attending the meeting.
REPORT
FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR PATRICK BURRIDGE
Cllr Patrick Burridge confirmed that EHDC had
frozen its Council tax for 07/08 with the intention that it would be frozen for
a further 2 years (a total of 3
years).
Recycling:
Beech continues to be one of the top recycling villages in the area, with East
Hampshire being one of the top districts in the country. The monthly roadside glass collection service
will be introduced in the next few months.
Cllr Burridge will be standing in the forthcoming
District elections on 3 May 2007.
PC
LUCY RYAN
The
beat officer for Beech explained that since the introduction of Community
Safety Officers (police officers working from and with EHDC) her role had
become even more village focused and she was pleased to be the village’s first
point of contact about general policing concerns eg.
speeding, littering, etc. She reported that the area continues to have a very
low crime rate.
MATTERS
TO BE REFERRED TO PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS
a) Correspond with Forestry
Commission and
b) Litter – particularly along
Forestry Commission land on King’s Hill.
Clerk to request litter pick by EHDC.
CLOSE
OF MEETING
There
being no further questions from the Public, the Chairman reminded those present
of the forthcoming elections and thanked everyone for their attendance and formally
closed the meeting at 8.29 pm.
Signed:....................................................
Chairman
Beech Parish Council Date:
.......................................................