BISHAMPTON ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2003

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Parish held at the Villages Hall, Bishampton on Wednesday 30 April 2003.

Members of the Parish Council present were: Mr Malcolm Argyle(Chairman and District Councillor), Mrs Annette Bufton, Mr Eric Carter, Mr Rupert Segar, and Mr Nigel Smith.

Also present was Mrs Ann Belcher (Parish Clerk) who took the minutes. The meeting was attended by three parishioners.

1. Apologies
Apologies had been received from Mrs Liz Tucker, County Councillor and Mr Charles Tucker, Parish Councillor, both of whom were involved in the District election the following day, from Ms Toni Gilligan and Mrs Betty Lane, Parish Councillors for Throckmorton, and from Mr Peter Charlesworth who had supplied written questions which he had sent via Mr Nigel Smith.

2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 1 May 2002
Mr Peter Jesson proposed and Mr Eric Carter seconded a motion that the minutes be approved and signed as a correct record. The motion was carried unanimously.

3. Matters arising
Mr Peter Jesson addressed the meeting on the subject of the Police and Community Consultative Group for the south Wychavon district of which he was now Chairman. He explained that the group existed as a forum for members of the public to express concerns about police policies and to bring forward ideas for improvements to policing. The group consisted of a wide range of people including Councillors, neighbourhood watch co-ordinators and representatives of local groups. The subject of anti-social behaviour was particularly under discussion at present. Meetings were held quarterly in the Civic Centre in Pershore and were open to the public and advertised in the local press.

4. Report from the County Councillor, Mrs E Tucker
The Parish Clerk advised the meeting that Mrs Tucker was preparing a written report which she would make available after the meeting to all those who had attended.

5. & 6. Report of the District Councillor and Chairman of the Parish Council, Mr Malcolm Argyle
Mr Argyle reported on changes to the Local Plan Review document, the updated version of which showed an increased area for employment in Throckmorton. This had been done to enable the owners of the land, Qinetiq, to generate enough finance to enable them to build the link road to the bypass.
Marshalls Transport and Drummonds Poultry Farm had put forward proposals to encompass their site within the employment site and to replace the poultry farm with light industrial uses.
Mr Argyle reported on plans by the four Parish Councils surrounding the airfield site – Hill and Moor, Pinvin, Wyre Piddle and Bishampton and Throckmorton – to produce independent Parish Plans with the aid of grants from the Countryside Agency, working together on proposals for the airfield. This jointly produced part of the Parish Plans could then be adopted by the local planning authority as Supplementary Planning Guidance, which would have much weight if considered by an Inspector at a planning appeal.
Mr Argyle explained that Parish Plan meetings were held fortnightly on a Sunday, the next taking place on 4 May.
In response to a question Mr Argyle explained that Severn Waste could not afford to build the link road from the landfill site to the bypass at present, following an Inspector’s refusal to allow the building of an incinerator at Kidderminster and the termination of Severn Waste’s waste disposal contract with the County Council.
Mr Argyle concluded by advising the meeting of the departure of Mrs Betty Lane from the Parish Council after 23 years service, also of Mr Chris Austen, who had resigned recently after 8 years on the Parish Council, and of Mr Nigel Smith who after a full term of 4 years on the Council had decided not to stand again for election. Mr Argyle thanked them for their services. He also introduced Mr Rupert Segar and Mr Eric Carter who had both joined the Parish Council during the year, along with Mr Charles Tucker. A further new Councillor, Mr Edward Chadwick, had been elected in the uncontested election. This left 6 Councillors out of a possible 9, Mr Eric Carter having been out of the country at the time for submitting nomination papers.

7. Open Session

Parish Council finances
In response to a question, the Clerk reported that the balance in the Parish Council account at 31 March 2003 was £12,234.12. The Chairman explained that the precept had been increased by £2000 this year to enable the Parish Council to progress the Parish Plan.
Parish Newsletters
A further question was asked about the lack of Parish Council newsletters during the year. This was acknowledged and Rupert Segar offered to undertake to do articles for the newsletter in future.
Young people
A question was posed concerning the lack of things to do for young people in the village. Annette Bufton reported that a joint working party was to be set up with representatives from the Parish Council and the Villages Hall Committee to look at what could be done to improve the play area.
Roads
The poor state of the Parish’s roads was discussed. It was mentioned that specific complaints could be made to Rupert Segar, who would pass them on to the Highways Partnership Unit. Complaints had been made several times about the poor state of Long Lane, Throckmorton.
Police matters
PC Cavendish was congratulated on receiving another award for his work in obtaining the first anti-social behaviour order in Wychavon.
In response to a question Pc Cavendish explained that the portable speed signs which were mentioned in last year’s minutes were not now available to Parish Councils to borrow because of the possible civil liability which would be incurred if their use resulted in an accident. Therefore it was now a matter for the police to use them.
PC Cavendish went on to give a report about policing in the area. His own beat had now been changed and he had taken over The Lenches, Lower Moor and Wyre Piddle. He was also covering for a Pershore colleague at present. The West Mercia force was permanently under strength and although Tenbury, Hartlebury and Inkberrow had been taken over, only eight new officers had been allocated to the area. He encouraged parishioners to report incidents to the police in order to demonstrate the need for a higher level of policing.

8. Any other business
It was agreed to put reports from local clubs and charities on the Parish Council web page and in a folder in the village shop.

The meeting ended at 8.45 pm.

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Chairman Date