PEASEDOWN ST JOHN PARISH COUNCIL

Annual Parish Report for the Year 1st April 2004 to 31st March 2005

  1. General
    1. The year started with a full complement of members as Mrs. S B Lee had been co-opted at the Council meeting held on 29th March 2004 in the place of Cllr. Witt who had died in late November 2003.
    2. Cllr. Bill Dixon passed away in Spring 2004 and was replaced by Mr. A A Spiller, by co-option, at the Council meeting held on 26th July 2004. At the same meeting a resignation letter was accepted from Cllr. Mrs. C Matthews who was finding it difficult to give the job the time she wished and also look after her sick father.
    3. A poll was called to fill the vacancy left by Cllr. Mrs. C Matthews and was held on 14th October 2004 when Mrs. R M Rich was elected from a field of three candidates.
    4. The Precept for the year 2004/2005 was fixed at £66,625, being a 2.5% rise on the previous year but to keep to that figure £3,000 was drawn from balances.
    5. The Precept again reflected a high investment by the Environment Committee as they improved the quality of life for residents by extending the floral displays onto roundabouts and roadside verges by permission from the Unitary Authority.
    6. The Precept was also swollen by a project to re-furbish the Beacon, which had suffered heavy vandalism over the years. The Beacon plinth was re-designed to be vandal-proof thus saving money in future years.
    7. The Clerk has been working on a Portfolio since August 2003. It was found to be satisfactory and a Certificate in Local Council Administration was awarded on 20th November 2004.
    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.
    9. Ecewiche Green is now under the full control of the Parish Council and has matured well after a full year's grass cutting regime. The steps leading in from the Morgan Way entrance have proved unsatisfactory, as the bank is not adequately retained. A scheme has now been agreed for remedial and improvement works in 2005/2006.
    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. The "shadow" Youth Parish Council has not progressed as well as the Parish Council would have liked but it is still in existence and now doing work on a proposed BMX track.
    12. Cllr. Butt published a paper on a possible re-structuring of the Council and its Committees on 27th September 2004. The scheme was debated at two Council meetings following a report by the Clerk. The new arrangements will be adopted on 21st March 2004 for implementation on 23rd May 2004 at the Annual Meeting of the Council. The scheme will require a radical change to committee Terms of Reference and Delegations and some committees will be amalgamated or even disappear. The effect the changes will have on the working of a committee can be found at the end of each committee report.

 

  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 all members of the Council are expected to keep 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 2005/2006 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.
    9. Under the new committee structure this committee will maintain its present duties but will also handle the finances of the Magazine Committee.

 

  1. 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 three 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. 
    6. Under the new committee structure this committee will disappear and day to day maintenance decisions taken over by the Amenities Committee leaving policy matters to the new Policy and General Purposes Committee.

 

  1. 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 two new lights this year, one in Carlingcott and one in White Ox Mead Lane. Another planned for Carlingcott had to be removed as a local resident objected to its erection.
    3. Black spots and desirable sites were identified and have been added to the Action Plan for next year.
    4. This committee, under the new structure will disappear, the maintenance of the existing lighting being taken over by the Amenities Committee with forward policies being monitored by the new Environment Committee.
  2. 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. Consultation with B&NES concerning footpath plans and signage is now complete and the Parish Council is still waiting the erection of the comprehensive urban footpath signs suggested by the Parish Council.
    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 Peasedown St John in Bloom Competition but in 2004 the number of entrants was so low that the judgement day was cancelled. It is hoped to restart the competition in 2005, maybe with a different format.
    6. The allotment holders continue to pay the same rent as last year and the standard of husbandry is very high with many tenants receiving discounted rent payments. One tenant won a prize in the Bath in Bloom Competition.
    7. Plans to erect a new bus shelter on the Ashgrove Motors site has been temporarily suspended as the shops proposal has been thought non-viable by the agent. The idea could well be looked at again as the agent has plans for housing on the site.
    8. Under the new structure this Committee will only look at environmental issues concerning highways, transport, lighting, waste disposal, re-cycling and its remit will be to comment on environmental consultations sent down from B&NES and Central Government. Amenity management of flowers, grass cutting etc will be transferred to the new Amenities Committee.
  3. Recreation Field Committee
    1. The committee administers the Field for the Council; all Council members are trustees of the Charities recognised by the Charity Commission.
    2. The committee has now completed the fourth year of its Action Plan. Three-bar post and rail fence has been erected around most of the old quarry site. Further fencing will be done next year which will finish the south and west boundaries of the Field.
    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 large part of the Play Area fencing has again been vandalised and contingency money had to be found to make the repair. A part-time caretaker trained in the maintenance of play equipment, looks after the Play Area. The Disability Discrimination Act came into force in October 2004 and RoSPA has made an assessment of the play area for suitability for use by disabled people. Some of the DDA work identified by RoSPA will be carried out in 2005/2006.
    5. An action group in the village called POP (Peasedown Opportunity Project) has identified an area in the bottom end of the Recreation Field, which they say would make a perfect site for a BMX track. POP has asked the Parish Council to allow them to develop the scheme. The committee has debated long and hard over the request and full Council has been recommended to refuse.
    6. When the Council is re-structured this Committee will be disbanded and the day to day work carried on in the Recreation Field will be transferred to the new Amenities Committee but full Council, in line with the fact that all members are trustees, will consider policy decisions.

     

  4. 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 - a change that has worked very well. Newsletters to houses 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.
    6. After re-organisation this Committee will be disbanded. The Finance Committee will take funding and policy decisions. The Web master will be appointed by the Policy and General Purposes Committee. The content of each Newsletter will be controlled by the Clerk who has been officially appointed as "Editor" and will work using guide lines laid down from time to time by full Council.
  5. Personnel Committee
    1. It has been decided during the year that, with effect from 1st April 2005 the Clerk's job will take in his work on the Newsletter and become full time (37 hours a week). A move thought to be 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, prompted by risk management issues raised by the Internal Auditor, has agreed to set up a new post of Assistant Clerk. The post will help to cover important times if/when the Clerk is sick at short notice and important documents are required to keep the Council in a "legal" position. The post, initially, will be for three hours a week and will commence on 1st April 2005.
    4. After re-structuring this Committee will be disbanded and its work take over by the Policy and General Purposes Committee. Two small three member sub-committees will be also appointed to work as (1) an interviewing panel and (2) a Staffing Committee to handle matters under the Employment Act 2000.
  6. Planning Committee
    1. The committee has considered and made comment upon fifty planning applications during the year.
    2. In May 2004 the committee was the first to see the new plans for the Mercedes complex on the commercial land off the by-pass. Comments from this Committee were sent to B&NES and the eventual planning permission was keenly welcomed by the Council. The building has now started for an opening in July 2005.
    3. The committee was consulted on plans by Somer Housing Trust to build extra trust housing in and around Frederick and Albert Avenues. A large deputation attended a Planning Committee meeting and supported an already convinced Committee that the plans were flawed. Plans were eventually dropped much to the delight of the Council.
    4. The committee continues to view planning applications with the help of policies laid down in its Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Local Plan approved by B&NES on 25th January 2001.
    5. Under the new Council structure this Committee will remain unchanged in its terms of reference and delegated powers.

 

First Published for the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 21st March 2005. Extra copies are available from the Parish Council office. Please ring 433686.