Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of BEECH

Held in the Village Hall on Monday, 17 MARCH 2008 at 7.00pm

PRESENT: Councillor Edward Neish, Chairman

Councillor Ian Gibson, Vice-Chairman

Councillor Anne Burridge

Councillor Peter May

Councillor David Woodroofe

Councillor Gill Young

County Councillor Mark Kemp-Gee

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 Norman Miles, District Councillor Patrick Burridge and PC Lucy Ryan.

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2007, copies of which had previously been circulated, were confirmed. Chairman Edward Neish 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

Following the elections for the Parish Council in May 2007, Chairman Edward Neish spoke of the busy and successful first year for the new Parish Councillors elected for a four year term. They intend to continue to represent the village and to address the concerns of the community, which appear to remain as highway conditions, speeding and developments. Whilst not having any direct control over these matters, the Council, as a statutory body, uses its power to regularly raise these issues with the appropriate authorities.

Highways and Traffic Speed

A comprehensive Highways Condition Report 2007 had been submitted to Hampshire Highways in the autumn highlighting problems with flooding and poor road repairs. Some works had been carried out but Councillors are due to meet with Hampshire Highways again to consider further solutions. Councillors are also actively investigating the possibility of purchasing Driver Feedback Signs as a means of traffic calming in addition to applying under the County’s ‘Village 30’ initiative which would hopefully see speed limit through the village standardized at 30 mph.

Planning/Developments

Slightly fewer applications had been considered by Council during the past year and EHDC (the planning authority) had followed Parish Council’s recommendation in all but one case. With effect from 1 April 2008, all planning applications will have to be submitted to EHDC on-line. The Parish will no longer be provided with paper copies so are actively considering ways to ensure Council and public can view and comment on plans successfully.

Cemetery

Council had been actively looking to obtain a site for a cemetery and/or garden of remembrance.

Consultations

Council had again responded to a number of consultation documents this year, the most recent being EHDC’s Core Strategy for the Local Development Framework (which replaces the Local Plan).

Grants/Donations

Just under £200 in total had been donated to organizations including Alton Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Vitalize and the Hampshire County Youth Band Association in 07-08.

Representations

During the year, Council had welcomed Patrick Burridge (EH District Councillor), Mark Kemp-Gee (Hampshire County Councillor), Nick Hazlett (Forestry Commission) and PC Lucy Ryan to its meetings. Chairman Edward Neish expressed the Council’s gratitude for their continued support.

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting 17 March 2008 continued.....Page 2 of 2

Precept

The precept for 08-09 had been set at £12,000.

Before taking questions, the Chairman ended his report by thanking the Councillors for their dedication, Mrs Sandi Fisher for auditing the Council’s accounts and Mrs Sheron Gillard for her work as Council Clerk.

QUESTIONS ON REPORT

Where would Driver Feedback Signs be sited?

Councillors had identified 12 potential sites on Highways, Forestry Commission and private land with the likelihood that the first unit would be sited on Highways Land (once agreement/approval had been obtained from Highways and Police).

Would signs really change driving habits?

Possibly not but the information obtained from signs could be used as evidence to Highways and Police that road requires further traffic calming measures.

Why hasn’t 40 mph limit along King’s Hill been reduced to 30 mph?

It had taken 2 years to extend 30 mph limit to Snode Hill. Police are reluctant to agree to reductions in areas that cannot be policed (due to lack of resources). However, Council had applied for ‘Village 30’ programme.

REPORT FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR MARK KEMP-GEE

Chairman Edward Neish was very pleased to welcome Cllr Mark Kemp-Gee back to Beech. Cllr Kemp-Gee congratulated Councillors on their election last May and the best Highways Report he had received in the last 3 years. Lack of funding aside, he assured Councillors and members of the public that he would support Beech Parish Council in their negotiations with Hampshire Highways to find solutions to the road problems. With regard to speeding, he was able to advise that Beech has, in principle, been accepted for the Village 30 programme. Speeds will need to be measured and assessed (summer/autumn 08) to identify how far the 30 mph limit can be extended.

He felt that with an 8% rise in the Police element of the Council tax, it was not unreasonable to expect the Police to have the resources to enforce these speed limits.

The quality of road repairs had been a continuing issue throughout the County. A new contractor, Amey, had now been appointed to carry out these works on behalf of Hampshire County Council with improved quality control measures also being put in place.

Before ending, Mark Kemp-Gee stressed his support for Beech’s request for an extension of the 30 mph and would gladly receive any letters in support of this reduction from animal welfare groups

Chairman Edward Neish thanked him for attending the meeting and for his interest in Beech.

WRITTEN REPORT FROM PC LUCY RYAN

The beat officer for Beech was currently seconded to one of the response teams working out of Alton and was therefore unable to attend the meeting. She hoped to return to Beech at the beginning of April. In a written report, she advised that this year had only seen a couple of incidents of theft in Beech although there had been a spate of house burglaries in the Alton area recently and asked residents to remain vigilant.

MATTERS TO BE REFERRED TO PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS

a) Fallen trees along Forestry Commission land

b) Litter/Dog fouling bins

c) Signage for Village Hall

d) Parish Council Newsletter

CLOSE OF MEETING

There being no further questions from the Public, the Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and formally closed the meeting at 7.55 pm.

Signed:....................................................

Chairman Beech Parish Council Date: .......................................................