SUCKLEY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
12th JULY 2010 at 7.00 pm in Suckley Village Hall
 AGENDA

1.          Apologies for Absence

2.                  Declaration of Interest -please record in attendance register with agenda number and declare to   meeting with reason

3.         Public Participation
         The Chairman will invite members of the public present to make a short presentation to the Council

3.1                              Report from County Councillor
 3.2                              District Councillors Report
 3.3                              Facility for Lengthsman to report if required
 3.4                 Facility for Footpaths Warden(s) to report if required
 3.5                              Local Police Officer's Report

4.       Approve and sign Minutes of the Annual and Ordinary Parish Council Meeting held on 10th May 2010.
Approve and sign Minutes of the Parish Council Planning Meetings held on 17th May and 21st June 2010.

5.                  WOODLAND ROAD-Flood Defences

6.                  HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS - 

(a)               Footpaths (any items not covered by Footpath Officer's Report)
(b)               Lengthsman (any items not covered by Report from Lengthsman)
 (c)               Verge encroachment - chunks of concrete placed along the edge of the verge
             at Primrose Hill/Birchwood Lane (Clerk/J Green to report) )
 (d)               Bridge at Longley Green - Cllr J Green
 (e)               Tarmac in front of playing fields - Ref PEM 114772 - (Clerk to report)
 (f)                Gulley Grid missing - Acton Beauchamp Road between Suckley sign and
             the letter box opposite Barrow Lane, (still chasing Herefordshire Council)
 (g)        Missing Post Boxes - Clerk to report
 

7.        COMMUNITY PLAN (Clllr A Grieve)
 

8.                YOUTH INTERESTS (Cllr L Devenish)

9.                CHARITY REPORT (s)

(a)               (Cllrs to report on any meetings which have taken place)
(b)               Brookes Memorial Fund


 10.        FINANCE

(a)         Cheques for authorisation - Clerk's expenses May/June 2010 (to be advised);
 Expenses Parish Meeting (to be advised); Lengthsman - May 2010 to be
 approved - June/July 2010 (to be advised); Playing Fields - to be approved
 NPower; D Reynolds (Mowing); KES (Peter Kelsall - electrics) Severn Trent

(b)        Approval of Accounts to 31a May 2010 - available for meeting

 (d)         Effectiveness of Internal Audit (Clerk to report)

(e)         Insurance requirements

11.        RISK ASSESSMENT

(a)         Report on any negative inspections of bus shelters, playground equipment,
 Skateboard facility, sports equipment, trees in Quarry, Map Board (Cllr J Green
to report)

(b)          Annual Risk Assessment Schedule - review - already circulated by the Clerk

 

12.               PLAYING FIELD COMMITTEE
(Cllr C Luton/Cllr J Green to report)

13.               THE QUARRY
 (Clerk to report)

14.                MODEL STANDING ORDERS (Review)
 (already circulated by Clerk)

14.      PLANNING(Cllr P Griffiths to report)

(a)   Tundridge Stud (Horse Walker etc.) (Clerk/Cllr J Green to report)
 (b)   Remove existing softwood porch and rebuild in hardwood - The Old Rectory,
       Suckley. Listed Building Consent - Granted
 (c)   Letter re South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy/West Midlands Regional Spatial
      Strategy (attached for parish cllrs)

 15.                 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - 17th May 2010 - Review

16.              SUCKLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL
 (Cllr L Devenish to report)

19.      VILLAGE HALL CAR PARK
          Request from Tracey Sutton, Countryside Dept County Hall Suckley Walk - 28* September - 10.0 am -          1.30 pm (Clerk to report)

20.       CORRESPONDENCE -  All correspondence is available for viewing from 6.45 pm

21.        MATTERS FOR FUTURE AGENDA

DATE OF NEXT  MEETING - 7.00 pm Monday 13th September 2010.

 

SUCKLEY PARISH C0UNCIL - ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
17th MAY 2010 at 7.30 pm in Suckley Village Hall
Present: 36 electorate, 7 Parish Councillors, two District Councillors
Mr Albert Higgins, Festival Housing, PC Sarah Ransome-Williams
In Attendance: Mrs Diana Taylor, Clerk
Apologies: Co Cllr Clive Smith, Cllr Andrew Grieve, Mr A G Duncan,
Mrs Holden
The Chairman, Cllr A W Huband, welcomed everyone to the meeting.
County Councillor - no report, apologies received from Co Cllr Clive Smith due to illness.
District Councillors David Hughes and Anthony Warburton reported to the meeting. Dist Cllr Hughes had been heavily involved with the planning side of District Council work including the Joint Core Strategy up to 2026. This had been started in 2004, working with Wychavon and Worcester City Councils. With the change of government, this Strategy would have to be re-evaluated, giving local councils the opportunity to develop planning according to local need i.e. affordable housing in rural areas and villages, with more input from Parish Councils. Environmentally, the waste system had been very successful, with a higher increase in the recycling rate. Both Dist Cllr Hughes and Dist Cllr Warburton had been heavily involved in trying to find a solution to the Woodland Road flooding problems. They would be working hard to get some funding from MHDC towards the Festival Housing offer to provide a solution and manage the contract.

Woodland Road Flood Barrier Scheme - Cllr Mike Jackson reported on behalf of the Parish Council. It was now nearly two and three quarter years ago since the flooding in Woodland Road. Initially, Woodland Road had been high in the pecking order for a flood barrier/scheme via Malvern Hills District Council. However, in November 09 just when the Parish Council thought a scheme would be forthcoming, Woodland Road suddenly dropped down the order and it became very unlikely we would get a solution. The Parish Council then had to explore other options. Fortunately for all of us, Festival Housing stepped forward, and had offered to construct and manage a flood barrier project. Cllr Mike Jackson then introduced Mr Albert Higgins, Head of Property at Festival Housing, who would speak to the meeting. Mr Higgins stated that flooding was a big issue for Festival who had been looking at a range of products to construct a barrier to take the water away from the area and reduce the pressure on the water system. The Scheme would be put out to tender, and the barrier landscaped as far as possible. He was hopeful that the work could be concluded within three months, but certainly before the Autumn. Festival would be doing this as a Community Project. On behalf of the Parish Council and Woodland Road residents, the Chairman thanked Mr Higgins and Festival for stepping into the breach. We all looked forward to the finalisation of this project in the coming year.

Chairman's Report - this had been circulated to all those present. This gave a brief account of the Parish Council's work throughout the year, with special thanks to District Councillor David Hughes on his tireless efforts to keep Woodland Road high on the District Council Agenda.

Community Plan - Cllr Mike Jackson reported that Cllr Andrew Grieve and his team had worked hard to put together the Suckley Community Plan 2010 document which was circulated to all present. A letter had been sent out to all parishioners, with the result that 20 -25 people had agreed to take part in small task groups, the current results of which had been posted on the Suckley PO website. This was obviously an ongoing project, and a number of interesting issues had been forthcoming. Everyone was welcome to participate in this project by contacting Cllr Andrew Grieve by phone or e-mail.

West Mercia Police - PC Sarah Ransome-Williams had attended the meeting with the intention of giving a report on behalf of West Mercia Police. Unfortunately, she had received an urgent call during the meeting, so Cllr Mike Jackson stepped in to present her report. Suckley was regarded as a very low crime rate area, with no burglaries in the last 12 months, one vehicle crime, three violent crimes, three criminal damage crimes.

Footpath Wardens - Mr Richard Harward and Mr Peter Markins presented their report. Over the past year they had continued to try and keep the footpaths clear. This had included the steps at Crews Court and the sawing up and clearing of fallen trees in several locations. Stiles had been replaced at Stocks Farm and and above the Riddings at Longley Green. The old stile by Catterals Farm drive had been replaced by a self closing gate and Mr Mike Sweeney was in the process of changing a stile on his property with a metal gate provided by the County. A small team of volunteers had built a row of steps to connect the upper and lower footpaths above Grove Hill Stables in an attempt to try and alleviate the problem of walkers on the ridge above the stables. Worcestershire County Council had reorganised the Countryside Services Access Teams. There would now be five areas, Suckley being in the South West area. Tracy Sutton remained as Area Officer. The change meant that the Parish Improvement Programme (PIP)would no longer continue to operate. County have stated that money to spend on the ground would not be reduced. They have secured an additional £150K to spend on capital improvements. In addition to the Area Team, County now have two Project Officers delivering larger capital projects such as the installation of new footbridges, and an Enforcement Officer who will carry out enforcement matters of a more complex and contentious nature. When Mr Richard Harward moved to Alfrick last September, he had teamed up with Mr Peter Markins to form joint footpath wardens for the parish with the idea of handing over to Peter when all the footpaths had been covered. However, the combination had proved so effective they had decided to continue meeting a half day each week to carry out maintenance work, with work being referred to County if felt to be outside their scope. They were still resisting joining the P3 scheme, and ordered materials as and when required. They hoped to continue to provide enjoyable walking for all footpath users, and asked for any problems to be reported to them as soon as possible. The Chairman thanked Richard Harward and Peter Markins for the invaluable work they had done and continue to do for the benefit of both parishioners and visitors to the area.

Suckley Parochial Church Council - Dr A Lewis (Churchwarden) reported on behalf of the Revd A Bullock who was away on a sabbatical. The Church was going through interesting times - the congregation was getting a bit younger. The church had a large capacity in the centre of the community, and the idea is now for the church to be involved in more community activities. The church needs and wants to be involved in providing a useful role within the community. The PCC hope to work with the Suckley Community Plan for the future of the parish.

Suckley Playing Fields - Cllr Carol Luton reported to the meeting. Since the death of Harold Cooper, the cost of mowing the Playing Fields had increased substantially. Harold did so much for the Playing Fields and the community, and sadly last year we fell short of his standards. Hopefully, in the coming year this will be rectified with Cradley Football Team mowing the field regularly and also buying in professional help. Work is taking place to improve the Pavilion facilities, with new toilets, electrical testing and wiring and rendering of the walls, together with new floor tiling. New netball posts had been purchased and hopefully these would bring in some more income with the all weather pitch being marked out for netball. Thanks were due to Cllr John Green for taking over some of Harold's duties, and for his regular reports to the Parish Council on safety and risk assessments. The memorial bench for Harold will now most likely be placed in the churchyard.

Alfrick Charity Trust - the Accounts for the year were available for inspection. The Clerk read out the report from Mr A G Duncan. The Trustees of the Charity had met three times during the past year. The Charity provided financial support to Suckley and Leigh & Bransford Primary Schools with smaller contributions to Broadwas and also to Secondary Schools serving children from the area of benefit - Alfrick, Lulsley and Suckley. 19 grants had been made to individuals and schools during the year.

The Hill Trust - Mr Mo Dutta, as new Chairman of the Trust, reported to the meeting. Thanks were due to Mr Tom Talbot who had run the Trust very effectively for many years. Mr Dutta stated that the community must use the hall to make it successful, and support fund raising events. Any new ideas for fund raising would be welcome, and forms would be sent round the meeting to fill in. Future events planned included a talk on waterways and rivers, a quiz night, an Autumn Fayre, a Pudding Club evening and a Race Night.

Suckley Charities - The Clerk read out a report from Mr Adrian Holmes. For a variety of reasons, no meetings had been held in the past 12 months, but there would be a meeting in September 2010. Nevertheless, progress was made in 2009 on a number of issues. The issue regarding the removal of Suckley Charities from the list of Charities by the Charities Commission had been resolved. Agreement had also been reached with the

Charities Commission on the scope of the Trustees of the Suckley Charities to amend and update the Charities' Deed to meet current requirements. Trustees will be considering proposals at forthcoming meetings. Donations to provide further opportunities for children to develop their musical abilities and talents at Suckley School, and for the provision of equipment to the Suckley Mother & Toddlers Group had been made during the year. Income from investments had held up well, but other income had dropped due to the negligible interest paid by the Bank on balances. The Suckley Charities also received a donation from Mrs Dunn's Charities in 2009. The situation remains that new members for the Charities Committee are required in order to meet the requirements of the Constitution. Members were pursuing a number of avenues to try to bring Committee membership up to the required quota.

Suckley History Society - Mr Richard Harward spoke for the Society, which had now been wound up, with a surplus of £3,000 in its account. It had been decided to divide this equally between Suckley School and Suckley Village Hall and this had now been done. The School had decided to arrange a whole school trip to Warwick Castle followed by a "history week" at school. Additionally, a large digital photo frame showing pupils on trips and in school activities had been purchased. The Village Hall had plans to purchase a projector; to make a "Suckley Village Hall" sign which can be seen as one approaches from either direction and to repair and reposition the notice board.

Suckley Primary School - Mr M Meckin, the new Head Teacher, reported to the meeting. Since his appointment the school now had 50 children on the register. The Ofsted report from June 2009 rated the school as "good." A very successful new intake open evening had taken place, and he was proud to report that one of the school's pupils had achieved a scholarship to the Kings School in Worcester. He had also met every single family over the Spring term. Unfortunately, due to adverse weather conditions, the first decision he had to make was to close the school for five days in January 2010. The hot dinners scheme had started in February and was proving very successful with an 85% uptake. After school clubs were also doing well - cooking, arts, tag rugby - which gave the children opportunities to socialise. The School's tag rugby team, although one of the smallest, went through to the quarter finals in a 28 school tournament. On the arts side, Mr Bancroft who taught violin lessons, took the children to Hereford Arts Festival. The trip to Warwick Castle, funded by the History Society, was very much enjoyed by all the school, and thanks were due to all the local charities who supported the school's activities. Building projects were planned for the summer, including a range of apparatus for the reception class. The curriculum was starting to change, and the challenge was to find what life skills and values children need for the future and for the school to continue to engage with the community.

There were no public questions. The Chairman closed the meeting by thanking all who had attended and reported. On behalf of the Parish Council he was delighted to see so many people, which showed that parishioners were interested and concerned about the wellbeing of the Parish in which they lived.
 
 
 

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