PEASEDOWN ST JOHN PARISH COUNCIL

Annual Parish Report for the Year 1st April 2003 to 31st March 2004

  1. General
    1. The year started with members looking forward to the pending election on 1st May 2003. The Parish was not asked to attend an election for Parish Councillors as only 15 candidates had put their names forward for a 17 seat Council.
    2. Cllrs. McInnes, Mrs. Ashman and Jovcic-Sas had retired while John Graham and Mary Kennedy appeared on the nomination form. One vacancy already existed on 1st May so the Council was still two members short.
    3. The Annual Meeting of the Council was arranged for 12th May 2003 when the first business after the election of Chairman was to co-opt two further members from a list of six volunteers. After a fairly convincing co-option exercise the Chairman was able to welcome Carol Matthews and Ray Witt. Ray Witt died suddenly in November leaving a vacancy, which will be filled by co-option on 29th March 2004.
    4. The Precept was fixed at £65,000, being a 3% rise on the previous year but reflecting the true precept required to fund the level of services in a parish of this size.
    5. The Precept reflected a high investment by the Environment Committee as they improved the quality of life for residents by extending the floral displays.
    6. The Precept was also swollen by a grant of £5,500 given to the Peasedown St John Community Association to enable them to employ a part time administrator to improve the efficiency at Beacon Hall.
    7. The Clerk has been working on a Portfolio since August 2003, which when submitted and found to be of the agreed standard, will give the Clerk the necessary qualification for the Council to proceed further with its registration as a Quality Council.
    8. The Council remains signed up to the new Ethical Framework whereby all Councillors are bound to a new Code of Ethics. They are also required to declare, in writing, personal interests that may conflict with their judgement on Council matters. After the uncontested election held on 1st May 2003, all new members were signed up and all old members were asked to sign a declaration that their interests had not changed since they signed up initially. The Monitoring Officer agreed this arrangement.
    9. Work on the Public Open Space continued during the year and on 20th September 2003 the POS was officially opened and named Ecewiche Green by the Chairman of the Parish Council. Trees and shrubs that had died were replanted in February and the contract was signed off in March 2004.
    10. The Council is still a full member of the Avon Local Councils Association. The Clerk is still a member of the Society of Local Council Clerks and attends local weekend training and the annual conference.
    11. Several meetings have been convened to discuss the possibility of installing Parish Wardens in the village. The scheme has now lost its funding and will be taken over by a new plan for Community Support Officers run by the Police. The Parish Council has been asked if it would like to part-fund one of these new officers.
    12. A "shadow" Youth Parish Council has been formed by eleven youths that will now decide for themselves how to proceed before being officially ratified by the Council. Enthusiasm for the Council has waned in recent months due to a change of Youth Leader.
  1. Finance Committee
    1. The committee continues to monitor all spending committees to check they keep within their budgets.
    2. The monthly Cash Flow Statement from the Clerk is found to be most helpful to this committee (and others) and through its perusal each month the Council's spending is accurately monitored bearing in mind that the precept is paid in two instalments.
    3. The committee continues to streamline its work on the precept by the use of the Accounts Summary and Cash Flow Statements and other aids generated by the Council's computer, which has been of great benefit to the Council and Clerk.
    4. The committee continues to work within the Council's Financial Regulations and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 1996, which were amended in 2003 to encompass the new Lighter Touch Audit procedure.
    5. The Council has a duly appointed Internal Auditor who does the day to day checking of the books for the Clerk. The External Auditor receives the signed certificates produced by the Clerk, Internal Auditor and full Council and duly agrees the accounts at the end of the year. The new system thus insures that the Council keeps to a rigorously high standard of public accountability.
    6. The committee was again able to allot grants, within the Council's guidelines, to voluntary bodies based in or serving the village. The amount placed into budget for 2004/2005 is £1,500 as this year.
    7. The committee has adopted several voluntary systems, which will be required if the Council is asked to conform to the new "Best Value" legislation and these systems, in turn, will support this Council's eventual application for Quality Council status.
    8. The committee, using its delegated powers, continues to review the Council's investments always using the best offer available.

3. Burial Committee

 

    1. The cemetery caretaker continues to keep the areas around the graves in a very tidy condition and a contractor mows the un-plotted areas.
    2. The cemetery caretaker, in the winter months, continues to keep the shrubs and trees tidy.
    3. The caretaker at the Churchyard has continued to keep the area tidy and the grass cut regularly. This is a service carried out by the Parish Council free of charge for the Parochial Church Council.
    4. One of the toilets in the Cemetery Lodge has been open now for two years. A part-time caretaker has been appointed to open and close the door to correspond with Cemetery opening times. The exercise has proved a success so far with little vandalism reported.
    5. The number of burials this year has dropped back to the average. 

4. Lighting Committee
    1. The committee continues to monitor it's lighting stock and the Clerk reports repairs and outages to the retained contractor for action.
    2. The committee installed four new lights in various parts of the parish.
    3. Black spots and desirable sites were identified and have been added to the Action Plan for next year.

5. Environment Committee

    1. The committee has had another busy year as problems and suggestions, prompted by the public meetings held to discuss the Parish Design Statement, are still being addressed by an ongoing comprehensive Action Plan.
    2. The committee has continued to monitor footpaths, highway matters (not related to planning applications), youth and elderly peoples' problems, countryside questions and the environmental input into planning matters.
    3. B&NES Council have consulted the committee on many aspects of service delivery. The committee still works as an agent, with B&NES funding, for the clearance of vegetation from footpaths. Hanging basket frames were erected through Bath Road and the machine for watering high baskets has proved to be efficient. Consultation with B&NES in now complete and the parish Council looks forward to the erection of comprehensive urban footpath signs.
    4. The committee is delegated to carry out the Council's legal requirement under licensing laws in that it has to be informed and is expected to comment on licenses for entertainment and the selling of liquor in public houses and public halls.
    5. The committee continues to support the work of the School Crossing Patrol, a service that is fully funded by the Parish Council.
    6. The committee continues to support the Peasedown St John in Bloom Competition and, judging by the high standard reported by the Judges and the publicity generated in the local press, it was considered again to be a success in 2003 and will be continued this summer.
    7. The allotment holders continue to pay the same rent as last year, although the Coles family has negotiated a rise in their rent to £70 per annum. After a suggestion from a group of tenants it was agreed to renew the gate and allot keys to all tenants.
    8. Plans to put a bus shelter outside the Bath Road Methodist Church have now been abandoned as the owner of the proposed new shops has agreed to design the frontage to take the new bus shelter to be part-funded by the Council.
  1. Recreation Field Committee
    1. The committee administers the Field for the Council; all Council members are trustees of the Charity recognised by the Charity Commission.
    2. The committee has now completed the third year of its Action Plan. A kissing gate and plant gate has been fitted to the Whitebrook Lane entrance and a new four-bar post and rail fence has been erected to complete that boundary. Further fencing will be done next year and it is planned that by 2006 the Field will be completely fenced and gated. 
    3. The local Scout group has asked the Council for help in identifying land for a Headquarters for their Group. The Council has agreed in principle that they should push forward with their plans and fund-raising on the understanding that the Council will supply land in the Recreation Field - subject of course to planning permission being granted.
    4. All equipment in the Play Area is fully usable having passed its annual inspection by RoSPA in June. A part-time caretaker trained in the maintenance of play equipment, looks after the Play Area. The Disability Discrimination Act comes into force in October 2004 therefore RoSPA has been asked to carry out an assessment of the play area for suitability for use by disabled people.
  2. Magazine Committee
    1. The committee has continued to pursue a policy of informing, consulting and entertaining having been given the task, through printed publicity and the web site, of involving the whole village in the workings of the Parish Council. Bearing in mind the Council's commitment to working in the spirit of the "Best Value" legislation and its intention to get certification as a Quality Council, the Newsletter is an essential prerequisite of both aims.
    2. The delivery of the Newsletter has now been put into the hands of the local Scout Group. Newsletters to addresses in the outlying areas are now sent by post.
    3. The committee is grateful for the news items supplied by organisations - without which the publication would turn into a Council newsletter that would maybe satisfy "Best Value" ideology but completely ignore public participation.
    4. The committee continues to service the Council's Web Site with Cllr. Mrs. K Thomas acting as un-paid Webmaster. The Web Site receives over 2500 hits a month.
    5. The editorial work on the bi-monthly Newsletter continues to be done by the Clerk for which he is paid 128 extra hours per annum.
  3. Personnel Committee
    1. The Clerk continues to service the Parish Office for 33.5 hours per week - thought necessary to enable the Clerk to tackle the extra work that is required to service the new public open space and other extra duties asked of him this year.
    2. The committee has noted the rise in the National Minimum Wage and adjustments have been made where necessary.
    3. The committee has now funded for two years a part time caretaker to oversee the opening, closing and cleaning of the toilet in the cemetery (see 3/4). People visiting the Cemetery have welcomed the service and little vandalism has been seen so far. It is expected that the service will continue.
    4. The committee has appointed a new Caretaker at the Cemetery who has also agreed to service the floral arrangements during the summer. 
  4. Planning Committee
    1. The committee has considered and made comment upon fifty planning applications during the year. The proposed shops on the old Ashgrove Motors site in Bath Road was initially welcomed but still not started. This new development includes a bus bay and this Council has been told that the developer will supply a site for a bus shelter, which will answer the problems mentioned in paragraph 5/8. The Council will be looking to B&NES for a financial grant towards the bus shelter.
    2. B&NES asked the committee for its comments on a possible 20-mph limit zone in Bath Road outside the school. This Council has put forward several suggestions for the zone to be expanded to take in the Home Zone in Frederick and Albert Avenues and to continue for the whole of Bath Road as far as the new platform outside Belle Vue Close. The committee still awaits the B&NES observations on the suggestions.
    3. The committee continues to view planning applications with the help of policies laid down in the Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Local Plan. The SPG was approved by B&NES on 25th January 2001 - is possible that the SPG will be reviewed next year.

 

First Published for the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 29th March 2004. Extra copies are available from the Parish Council office. Please ring 433686.