WEREHAM ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2014

Attendance:

Cllr Jo Bruce                  JB       Chair

Nicola C                           NC          Parish Clerk (Minutes)

Members of the Public 8

Action

1.0         Welcome and Introductions

1.1          JB welcomed all and thanked them for attending. Unfortunately the presentation from the Prevention 1st project at the Borough Council was noted as cancelled as further preparatory work was needed.

2.0         Apologies for absence.

2.1         Karin Newell.

3.0         Last Years Annual Parish Minutes

3.1         The minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record.

4.0         Chairman’s Report

The last nine months have seen many changes but have proved to be more settled than the previous year thanks to the welcome addition of our new clerk Nicola Cooper in September 2013. It’s mainly thanks to her hard work that we have continued to move forward.

In August elections were held, in the village hall, for 2 vacant parish council positions. The results saw Roger Lankfer & Brian Bruce join us at the September meeting as our new councillors. Both have thrown themselves in to their posts & are a welcome addition to our team.

At the November meeting our previous Chairman Councillor Phil Norris stood down & I was elected on for the remainder of that term. I want to take this opportunity to thank Phil for all of his hard work as Chair over his 2 + years in post. It’s a thankless task at times but he always gave it his full attention & tackled things with enthusiasm. Thanks Phil.

In November myself, Brian & Nicola attended 2 evenings of training in Kings Lynn to learn how to be a councillor & how a parish council should operate. I personally felt it was a very worthwhile experience & it taught me a lot about what we can/can’t do as a group. It also helped to establish Brian & Nicola as new members of our team.

In January we carried out our annual precept setting exercise which saw a small increase on the previous year due to the unexpected extra election costs. As a council we remain vigilant & committed to reducing costs to all our suppliers but would not wish to compromise on the service we receive.

So far we have -

• Added a dog poo bin to the play field. There are 2 more planned for the village in popular dog walk areas.
• Implemented an annual Tree Management Plan to ensure villagers safety.
• Held an LDF Update meeting to allow villagers to hear about the proposed changes to the village development boundaries & feedback direct to the Borough Council on their concerns.
• Helped to organise a meeting with the Borough Council & villagers to discuss the planned changes to our school catchment area.

• Implemented the Parish Partnership scheme for improvements to the crossing at the Church Road/A134/The Row junction.

As usual the list of things to do is nearly as long as what we have achieved but rest assured we continue to progress things at a steady pace.

Items in current discussion include –

• A village hall agreement to allow them to hire out the playing field & play area for events.

• Renewal of our standing orders to ensure they are up to date with current rules.

• Implement a simple Parish Plan

So if you want us looking at things that concern you & your neighbours you need to let us know what they are. We are here to serve you & what you want. On that note if you attend our meetings then I would like to thank you for your support & in some cases patience! And to all those who don’t normally attend I would encourage you to do so, your views are really important to us.

And let’s not forget there will be a general election next year. If you would like to stand then put yourself forward. We are all just members of the village, volunteers, keen to help with the smooth running of the village we live in. If you are willing to put the village & its welfare above your own personal gain then think about it. It’s an education sitting here; you learn all about the little things that make a villages heart beat even down to its church clock. Expect passion from its residents, gain a thick skin & you’re half way there!

Finally I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow councillors Gail, Phil, Karin, Dave, Brian and Roger for all their help over the last few months, and I look forward to their continued support in the future.

5.0         Public Concerns

5.1         The area around the pond where the moorhens nest needs to be cut (it currently isn’t) and needs to be kept at around 1ft high. The brambles also need to be removed. This has been reported to CGM.

6.0         Close of Meeting

JB thanked everyone for attending and moved on to the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council.

Meeting closed at 7.20pm

Confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting: