Notice Board

AGM Minutes 2010

MINUTES Of THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SOUTH NEWTON AND STOFORD
PARISH COUNCIL
WEDNESDAY 12th May 2010 at 7.00pm

Attending: Chairman: Cllr Derek Blake
Vice Chair: Cllr Naomi Piner
Cllr Denis Barry,
Cllr Henry Swanton
Cllr James Green,
Cllr Richard Beattie
The Clerk

Members of the community

Apologies: Cllr Robert Henstridge

1. Chairman’s address and welcome
Cllr Blake welcomed everyone to the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council and mentioned that this has been a very sad year for the council as we have lost three members who have served the parish for many years. Don Fardell was a member of the Parish Council for a great many years and did a great deal of work. He sadly died on Christmas day and this will be a great loss to everyone. Roger Small resigned earlier in the year due to many other commitments. He was a key member, dealing with the varied array of planning issues. Cresswell Butters, our Chairman, resigned last month due to ill health which forced him to sadly stand down. I know this was a bitter blow for him, as he always had the very best interests of the parish at heart.

It has also been a very confusing time for the Parish Council this year due to changes to the ruling council for Wiltshire. This means that we have to now think in a different way and adjust to the new Wiltshire Council rules and continue to do what we can to make things better for our Parish and the surrounding area.

Unfortunately, there have not been many changes from last year. The Parish Council is still trying to increase the road and pavement improvements along out stretch of the A36. Wiltshire Council have been contacted again regarding the pedestrian crossing at Stoford, which has still not been installed. Some minor improvements have been made to the A36 with potholes being filled but resurfacing work still seems a long way off. The Parish Council will keep trying for you all.

Crime on our patch, I am pleased to say, has not been a major point of contention. Our Community Police Officer’s have been doing a great job and I believe their prompt action has managed to nip any minor crimes in the bud, giving us faith in the police service. I have not heard of any complaints within our community and with the renewed enthusiasm of Neighbourhood Watch I hope this will continue.

To make the villages look tidier, we have requested new street signage from Wiltshire Council. This will however take time but we will keep trying as this will improve the look around the community. One thing we have achieved is the introduction of ‘SLOW’ signage on the road in the main estate of South Newton which hopefully will help stop any vehicles from travelling too fast in the village.

On a very positive note and following a request from the village hall committee, the Parish Council has been able to donate the sum of £5,000.00 to help with the refurbishment of the village hall kitchen facilities. As you can see this has been a great success for everybody in the local community and many positive comments have been made, it is something that will be of great service to our parishioners young and old.

The recycling bins still continue to be of great service in the village which obviously helps to prevent any unnecessary dumping of bottles, tins, newspapers, etc. We have also managed to secure the use of the waste compactor on a twice yearly basis which again helps with the control of fly tipping in our community. The waste compactor is due at the end of May and we will provide a notice to let people know the exact date.

With our previous Chairman, Cresswell Butters, only recently resigning, I now find myself moving from the position of Vice Chairman to Chairman.
I find some issues still very confusing and the changes at Wiltshire Council certainly do not help. If there is anything I have forgotten to mention in this address, I apologise.

I would like to mention the appointment of Ali Simons who is our new Parish clerk. Ali has been writing many letters on behalf of the Parish Council which can sometimes be a very frustrating experience but Ali is taking it all in her stride and I thank her very much on behalf of myself and the other members of the Parish Council.

Again, I would like to thank you all for coming this evening and I look forward to any questions or concerns you may have for the Parish Council.
Thank you very much.

2. Clerk’s report – see here

3. Minutes 6th May 2009
The minutes of the AGM from 2009 were signed.

4. Traffic Survey
The police had provided a traffic survey report for April 2009 for vehicles travelling the A36 through South Newton and Stoford. A total of 74,801 vehicles were checked during a 7 day period. 50.58% were exceeding the limit (but this included every vehicle over the limit by 1/10th of a mile per hour or above) most by one or two miles per hour. The average speed of those exceeding the limit was low at 33.55 mph. The average speed of all vehicles was only 30.6 mph.

5. Parishioners
There were a number of issues raised by the parishioners present.
a) The pedestrian crossing at Stoford is an ongoing matter. Wiltshire Council have recently written
and provided information from the Highways Agency. They now advise that if there is funding available
and the scheme achieves a reasonable value management score they expect to build the crossing in
2013/14 to align with major renewals on this section of the A36. They also need to revisit the current
design in order to determine what drainage requirements are needed. There are also additional
factors such as the requirements to renewed environmental procedures and of course the purchase of
land. They stress that guidelines are strictly provisional.
b) One of the lights at the top of the yard, in South Newton stays on all day. Cllr Blake asked that the
number of the light be provided and he will contact Clarence to ask for this to be fixed.
c) Potholes on the road in the yard are really bad and require attention.
d) Problems experienced with televisions due to the plant room on the Heritage Audi site now running.
Cllr Beattie advised that Heritage Audi have withdrawn their application and will re-apply at a later date.
e) The mound in the yard in South Newton, in front of Mount Lavinia, which has been there for many
years really needs to be moved. The parishioners feel this is a health hazard. Clerk will write to
Environmental Health.
f) Parishioners asked whether green planning notices are always put up.
Wiltshire Council are required by law to put up the planning notices.
g) Clarification asked for regarding cleaning of bus stops by the Parish Steward. The Highway Service
at Wilton advised that he will clean the bus shelter on St.Andrew’s Road, South Newton but the one
opposite on the A36, South Newton is the responsibility of the Highways Agency.
The parish steward will clean the Stoford bus stop as a special favour to the parish.

The Meeting closed as 8.06 p.m.