Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of BEECH
Held
in the Village Hall on Monday, 16 MARCH 2009 at 7.00pm
PRESENT: Councillor Edward
Neish,
Chairman
Councillor Ian Gibson, Vice-Chairman
Councillor Peter May
Councillor
Norman Miles
Councillor
David Woodroofe 3 Members of the
Public
Councillor
Gill Young 1 Member of the
Press
County Councillor Mark Kemp-Gee
District Councillor Patrick Burridge
Mrs Sheron Gillard, Clerk to the Council
APOLOGIES/OPEN MEETING
Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, receiving apologies from Councillor Anne Burridge.
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2008, 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. The Chairman highlighted the following from
his report:
The recent severe
winter weather had again highlighted the problems of flooding within the
village. The Council hoped that the
planning conditions to be imposed on all new applications regarding the
disposal of surface water on site will prevent a worsening of this problem but were disappointed that attempts to alleviate possible causes
had not been successful. Council continue to work closely with Hampshire Highways to explore
possible solutions.
Traffic Speed
Plans to purchase
and manage a driver feedback sign for the village had been vetoed by HCC but it was now
expected that HCC would be making similar devices available for temporary use
in Hampshire villages in the near future.
Council were delighted that Beech had been
accepted under the Village 30 scheme and it was to be hoped that the
introduction of an extended 30mph limit throughout the village would help
reduce average speeds.
Planning/Developments
Council had
considered a similar number of applications as previous years which it now
receives electronically. The public can
view these at www.easthants.gov.uk.
Cemetery
The proposal to
purchase land and open a cemetery for Beech had been very seriously
investigated by the Council who were delighted when the Abbey indicated they
may have a suitable plot of land.
Following a newsletter article, a Parish Meeting had been held in
November to ascertain the village’s views which were deemed to be
positive. Further contact was made with
the Abbey and Councillors and Clerk attended training
on cemetery administration.
Council are hopeful that in time the Abbey will respond positively.
Village Hall
On behalf of the
Council, the Chairman congratulated the Village Hall committee on obtaining the
Big Lottery grant and for their efficient project management. The Parish Council had already donated
£10,000 to the re-development and would be discussing the release of a second
£10,000 grant during its March meeting, immediately following the Annual Parish
Meeting.
Finance and Precept
Chairman was
pleased to report that the Council’s funds were secure and unaffected by recent
problems in the banking sector. The
precept for 09-10 had been set at £12,000 a nil increase on the previous year.
Before taking questions, the Chairman ended his report by thanking the Parish
Councillors for their dedication, County and District
Councillors Mark Kemp-Gee and Patrick Burridge for
their continued interest and support, Mrs Sandie Fisher for auditing the Council’s accounts and Mrs Sheron Gillard for her work as Council Clerk.
QUESTIONS ON REPORT
There being no questions on the Chairman’s Report, the floor was opened
for general comments and queries.
Were Councillors
aware of the problems of motor cycle riders through local woodland and what
could be done to dissuade riders from this activity?
Members were aware of the noise nuisance and damage to routes caused by
motor cycle riders. Clerk would contact
the Forestry Commission to ascertain their policy on this activity.
Can Council please support neighbours to 30 King’s Hill with their complaints to EHDC
regarding alleged illegal light industrial use of this site?
District Councillor Patrick Burridge was present
and was able to update the meeting regarding this matter. EHDC had started enforcement proceedings
against the owners but had dropped the case due to lack of evidence. However, he was aware that recent increased
activities on this site, including burning of waste and excessive traffic movements, warranted the
re-commencement of enforcement proceedings.
It was noted that the continued gathering of evidence (photographs,
diary entries, etc) for presentation to officers at EHDC would be useful. Chairman Edward Neish requested that copies
of all correspondence should be sent to the Parish Council to ensure they were appraised of proceedings.
(Later in the meeting, County Councillor Mark
Kemp-Gee also indicated that having a particular interest in waste disposal in
the County, he would be pleased to assist and also requested to be copied in on
correspondence).
REPORT FROM
Chairman Edward Neish introduced and welcomed back Cllr
Mark Kemp-Gee to Beech. Cllr Mark Kemp-Gee spoke of his 4 year term ending on 4 June
2009 and indicated his intention of standing for re-election. He assured the meeting that Hampshire County
Council has a sound financial position to see these difficult times through
despite receiving the smallest amount of Government funding of any English
county and levying one of the lowest council taxes in the South East.
He is now the chairman of the East Hampshire Action Team (HAT) and
wants to see an improvement in delivery to Parish Councils, in particular
obtaining resources to improve Hampshire’s rural roads. This is currently difficult as whilst East
Hampshire is the largest district in terms of road mileage, they are not ‘A’
roads which generally attract funding.
However, he is committed to campaigning for more resources to maintain
our roads in a satisfactory condition.
He was delighted that Beech had recently had its 30mph speed limit
extended under the Village 30 scheme and brought news of a new protocol from
HCC that would empower parishes to purchase and manage temporary speed limit reminder
signs. He indicated that this had been
developed primarily due to demand from Beech and other parishes.
His other particular interests in the County include waste and mineral
sites and adult care. Hampshire was
leading the way in dementia care having recently received a 4 star rating and
had recently taken over 2 homes in Bordon and Alton
to increase its care for both disadvantaged adults and their carers.
Chairman Edward Neish thanked him for attending the meeting and his
continued support for issues relating to Beech.
REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR PATRICK BURRIDGE
The meeting welcomed Cllr Patrick Burridge
who spoke of the recent commitment from EHDC’s planning department to include
conditions on all future planning applications in Beech to dispose of surface
water on site to help in alleviating flooding problems in the village.
He reported that for the third year running, EHDC had not increased its
council tax. This situation would be
difficult to sustain due to a decrease in bank interest rates but they are
investigating alternative means of income generation, such as a green burial
site in Grayshott.
Developers’ contributions – it is planned that in future it would only
be possible to collect these for identified community projects eg. footpaths, play areas,
etc. He urged the Parish Council to give
this priority consideration.
EHDC’s Community Forum would be held in Beech Village Hall on 22
September 2009. Residents and Parish
Council were asked to consider topics and/or speakers they would like on the
agenda.
MATTERS TO BE REFERRED TO PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS
a) Items for Community
Forum on 22 September 2009
b) Identify community
projects for Developers’ Contributions
c) Liaison with Forestry
Commission and other landowners regarding use and access to woodland
d) Continued
monitoring of planning issues in the village
CLOSE OF MEETING
There being no further questions from the Public, the Chairman thanked
everyone for their attendance and formally closed the meeting at 7.53 pm.
Signed:..Ed Neish..................................................
Chairman Beech Parish Council Date:
....15 March 2010...................................................