Annual Parish Meetings

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of Little Hale held at the Methodist Chapel, Chapel Lane, Little Hale, on Tuesday 2nd May 2017 at 7.30 pm.

Present: Parish Cllrs P Ireland, N Rooke, J Stapleton and D Cox NKDC, one member of the public and Mrs D Scott (Clerk)

1. Councillor Rooke, as Vice Chairman of the Parish Council, welcomed all to the Annual Parish Meeting. Apologies had been received from District Cllrs S Ogden and S Tarry and Mrs J Freeman

2. The minutes of the last Annual Parish Meeting, held on 3rd May 2016. It was proposed by Cllr Ireland, seconded by Cllr Cox and agreed unanimously, that the minutes were an accurate record and were duly signed.

3. Poor Gardens and Land Charities Report

Mrs Cox presented the report on behalf of the Charities. Mrs Cox circulated copies of the accounts and explained that the Land Rents had received £430 in rent, which had been distributed as 10 book tokens for school leavers, 5 x£25 for Year 6 and 5 x£50 for Year 11 students. Donations had also been made to Great Hale PCC towards the Messy Church sessions, to Little Hale Chapel and to Parva House Guide Association, leaving a very small cash balance.

She explained that Poor Garden income had been reduced by the agent’s fees for changing the tenant, arranging a new agreement etc but distributions had been made as usual to 17 pensioners, at £30 in April and at £20 each in December, together with a donation towards a couple’s marriage fees at Great Hale Church and a reclining chair for a resident in need. Two grants of £75 had been paid to vehicle-less households towards transport costs and three university students had each received £50 by cheque.

Mrs Cox explained that the assets of the Rebecca Packe’s Charity had now been transferred to the Little Hale Charities, and Mr Paul Rooke had become a Trustee.

4. Great Hale and Little Hale Joint Burial Committee

Mrs Scott, in her capacity as Clerk to the Burial Board, gave the report on behalf of the Trustees, and circulated copies of the accounts.

The Trustees continued to appreciate the income from the Parish Councils, especially during the last year when the income from burials, reservations and memorials had been much reduced from usual.

5. Parish Council Chairman’s Report.

Cllr Rooke read the report of the former Chairman, Mrs Needham, who thanked her fellow Councillors and the Clerk for their support over the last year, up to her retirement. She also mentioned Mr Laidlow for his efforts in gardening and litter picking. Significant planning matters had been few since the last APM, but the NKDC Cllrs had been supportive again. Mrs Needham reported that the decision to abandon the Community Building project had been disappointing but noted that there may be more support in future.

Highways matters continued to be difficult to resolve, with no resolution to the drainage and pothole issues raised. Disappointingly the 30mph limit application for Burton Road had been turned down.

Mrs Needham thanked Cllr Ireland for pursuing Broadband improvements and to the Defib Monitoring Group for their thorough checking and reporting to ensure that the equipment continued to be ‘ready for action’.

In conclusion, she thanked all the Cllrs and Clerks that she had worked with over the last 16 years and wished them all the best for the future.

6. Matters Raised.

There were no other matters brought to the meeting

The meeting closed at 7.50 pm

8th May 2018 - The Minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting and were signed by Cllr Nicki Rooke