BISHAMPTON ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2004

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Parish held at the Villages Hall, Bishampton on Wednesday 21st April 2004.

Members of the Parish Council present were: Mr Eric Carter (Chairman), Mr Malcolm Argyle (District Councillor), Mrs Annette Bufton, Mr Edward Chadwick, Ms Toni Gilligan, Mr Rupert Segar, and Mr Charles Tucker.

Also present were Mrs Liz Tucker, County Councillor and Mrs Anne Boocock (Parish Clerk) who took the minutes. Mr Steve Booth, General Manager from Qinetiq and twenty parishioners also attended the meeting.

1. Apologies
There were no apologies for absence.

2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 30th April 2003.
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

Roads
There were several ongoing issues with no changes on the previous year. Councillor Segar had received no complaints directly from parishioners, although there had been several made to Wychavon regarding potholes etc. Cllr Tucker advised that there was a meeting due in May with the West Mercian Traffic Management and further details would follow. Mr Charlesworth asked for information concerning the Wyre Piddle bypass and Councillor Liz Tucker advised that the council tax does not go towards these roads, although the bypass had been paid for by a grant (50%) and from borrowing (50%).

Parish Newsletters
Cllr Segar passed details of the meetings to Mr Charlesworth for publication in the newsletter, and the web page carries this information together with the minutes of the meetings.

Young people
A steering group had been set up for Bishampton and Throckmorton and proposals for play equipment for the area outside Bishampton village hall were being considered. There was no deadline for the work to be carried out.

4. Report from the County Councillor, Mrs E Tucker
The increase in the council tax was 5.1%, although the budget spend increase was higher than the increase in the council tax. With regard to the Wychavon highways, the council last year had targeted the improving of unclassified roads.

The Education report from Ofsted was good with Worcestershire schools at or above average.

There were alterations to the county council divisions being put in place with the consultation date on 26th April. Support was required to keep Bishampton with Pershore and Throckmorton rather than to move Bishampton into the Upton Snodsbury area.

5. Report from the District Councillor, Mr Malcolm Argyle
Mr Argyle passed the chair to Steve Booth, General Manage from Qinetiq. Maps were handed out giving an overview of the site in Throckmorton. He advised that Qinetiq is a private company operating on sites owned by the MOD. He explained the map areas marked out and who used which areas. Qinetiq uses some of the buildings and others are leased for commercial use.

He explained that the area where the burial pits was had been filled and capped with a drainage system which was regularly monitored. The pits had been dug into clay with an 11 metre wall surrounding it. Future uses of the land were considered and the use of the area for a science and technology park was discussed. A road connection, possibly over the landfill site was a possibility. The value of the land could be as much as £250,000 an acre with planning permission.

Questions were then received from the floor.

MOD owns 65% of Qinetiq and would sell part at some stage, although the freehold would stop with Qinetiq. It would be unlikely that the land would be sold off without planning permission and if the land was returned to agricultural usage then the value of the land would reduce. A link road was unlikely in the foreseeable future, and any link road would not prejudice security at the site.

Thanks were given to Mr Booth for attending the meeting.

6. Report from the Chairman, Mr Eric Carter
Mr Carter gave his report, details of which were available on the web pages. Finance was discussed, together with confirmation that there would be support for Hill and Moor regarding Wyre Piddle and an amount of £800 had been committed to the forthcoming public enquiry.

7. Report from the Villages Hall Chairman, Mr Roger Ockenden
Mr Ockenden gave an update of event and thanks were given to him for all the work he has carried out over the past year.

8. Reports from other organisations in the village
Reports were also received from Neighbourhood Watch, the Stoneland Charity, and the Conservation Area, details of which could be obtained from the web pages.

9. Parish Plan
The results of the surveys used to inform the submission to the Wychavon District plan were advised (full details on the web page). More information is available from Mr Carter, together with graphs. With regard to the remaining hot topics, the airfield answers had been received. The consultation was to happen in the future. Additional comments would be appreciated with housing and transport being the more concerning issues. The Parish Plan was an action plan and vision of the parish. A vision of the present was also required with special things to be noted about the parish as it is now, with photographs to give inspiration

The collated information should be put to good use, rather than just put to one side and not acted upon.

10. Open Session
The skateboard ramp had been sold within the district and it was confirmed that the parish council would ensure that the problems that occurred with this, should not happen again. The issue had been with regard to noise and not safety and the Code of Practice had come into force after the application. Objections had been voiced after the ramp was put in place.

The problem of flooding in Broad Lane was discussed and new drainage would possibly help. Mr Argyle advised that a flood elevation scheme would depend on funding, and support from local residents by way of letters to the District Council would be a start.

Thanks were given to all who attended and the meeting ended at 9.40pm.

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Chairman Date