Marsworth Parish Council Mrs Dawn Slade, Clerk to the Council Miswell Farm, Tring Herts HP23 4JT 01442 824138, parishclerk@marsworth.org.uk Annual Parish Meeting 19/4/11 1. Chairman’s Report – Cllr Bob Kennedy Welcome to the 2011 Annual Parish Meeting for Marsworth. Whilst the Parish Council is well represented here I would stress that the meeting isn’t a Parish Council Meeting but is one for the whole village to participate in. Our task is to ensure the meeting takes place, and is properly managed and recorded, and also to report on the main aspects of Parish Council activity over the past year. Firstly I want to thank my fellow councillors and clerk for their efforts over the past year. Councillors give their time freely and often this involves hours of commitment and inconvenience. Work includes attending local government meetings, reading copious amounts of bumf, and fixing notice boards and vandalised bus shelters. Additionally I want to thank our District Councillor, Corry Cashman, who has worked tirelessly for everyone in the Cheddington Ward and will be sorely missed if the election on May 5th doesn’t return him. This year saw a change in National Government and with it some quite different policies on planning and the way in which local government is run. Indeed Aylesbury Vale’s own Plan is being completely re-written with substantially fewer houses than before. The so called Big Society or Localism Agenda has the potential for us to make a greater difference to our own community than hitherto. We are empowered to create our own Neighbourhood Plan and, following adoption, see through the changes it involves. Issues such as new footpaths (possibly from our village to Pitstone alongside the B489), re-development of unsightly or redundant buildings (such as those on the south airfield), and new road safety measures, can be dealt with in such a plan, and will have much greater likelihood of coming to fruition as a result. Our guest speaker, Paul O’Hare, from Community Impact Bucks, will shed more light on how we move that process forwards. However we are looking for volunteers to help us draw that plan up, and obtain the necessary support from the parish to approve it. The preferred High Speed 2 train route announced last year has sparked much opposition within the county. Whilst most of us believe the economic arguments are dubious, we have not as a Parish Council been vocal about the matter. This is because the second preferred route, if the Wendover valley option is overturned, is to run along this side of the West Coast Main Line through Marsworth, with consequent huge disruption to our immediate area during construction. The County has squeezed its budget for transport significantly this year and road repairs are taking longer and being done less permanently. We did however get the damaged railings by Startops replaced in the past year, and most speed bumps were re-done. However there appears to have been an increase in traffic speed through the village more recently and this will be an area of focus for us next year. I regret to report that we have been unsuccessful in finding land for use as allotments in the village, although we remain alert should the possibility arise. Probably the biggest issue of the year has been BWB’s planning application to re-develop the Fencrete site. From the outset we have stated a preference for a modest re-development of 4 or 5 houses, so as not to significantly increase traffic volumes through Church and Watery Lanes. However BWB’s advisers have pressed ahead with a scheme, initially for 14, now revised to 13 houses, and unfortunately Bucks Highways have sided with their view that the development would not increase traffic levels and risk. AVDC have followed suit, and only belatedly realised the full impact the scheme will have on our Conservation Area. It now seems likely that a 2-2.5 storey maximum height will be imposed slightly reducing the latest scheme’s impact, although the number of dwellings remains the same. We shall continue to fight for the strongest mitigation measures possible. Villagers can see in some detail the history of this matter on the village website www.Marsworth.Org.UK. I will close now with a brief announcement that on the day of the Royal Wedding at 1:30pm we shall be planting a ceremonial tree as replacement for the Horse Chestnut taken down on the village green in front of the Red Lion. Following this there is a party for all comers at the Recreation Ground, we hope everyone will go along and enjoy it. 2. Community Impact Bucks – Paul O`Hare Community Impact Bucks is an independent charity set up to support voluntary and charity organisations in Buckinghamshire. They will support Parishes in the production of a Parish Plan in order to understand the needs and aspirations of the local community. Evidence of need in the community is then based on robust evidence and debate can be initiated with local authorities. A Parish Plan can produce a vision for the future and can be used as evidence on strategic matters (Police, parking, BCC and AVDC). A Neighbourhood Plan is a planning policy document which is a legal document produced in conjunction with AVDC. It has to take account of national planning legislation. Community Led Planning (Parish Plan) deals with all aspects of the community and there is an obvious advantage to creating both plans at the same time. In order to begin the process, key groups in the community need to be identified and a meeting held with interested parties (8-10 people). Consultation activities are then set up to identify issues. Further information is available from www.parishplans.org.uk or communitydevelopment@communityimpactbucks.org.uk 3. AVDC DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT First, I would like to thank the Parish Council for always making me welcome at its monthly meetings. Financial matters Council Tax 2011 – 2012 The amount of government grant paid to the District Council to enable it to provide services in the Vale has been significantly reduced in 2011 and will be again in 2012. In effect, for each £ that the council spent last year (2010) it will have only approximately 82 pence to spend in 2011 and approximately 73 pence in 2012. The cuts were more severe than the Council had anticipated. AVDC identified more than £1.8 million in savings for the 2011 budget. It also used some of its reserves to ensure that all services would continue to be provided. Over the next 12 months the Council will be reviewing all its services and their costs. The 2011 – 2012 council tax, payable from this April, will remain substantially the same as last year’s. Some small increases will occur in parishes where the parish council has increased the parish precept. Buckinghamshire County Council, Aylesbury Vale District Council, Thames Valley Police and the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority are keeping the tax at last year’s rate. The total council tax bands for Marsworth are: Band A: £980.33 Band B: £1143.72 Band C: £1307.12 Band D: £1470.50 Band E: £1797.28 Band F: £2124.06 Band G: £2450.83 Band H: £2941.00 Icelandic banks The District had approximately £3,000,000 invested in financially troubled Icelandic Banks and their subsidiaries (out of a total of just over £100,000,000 worth of Council investments). When I reported to the 2009 Annual Parish Meeting it was anticipated that over half of the £3,000,000 would be recovered. By the time I reported to last year’s 2010 meeting the situation had further improved. The Council and other creditor Councils had been given “preferential creditor status” which could result in 80 – 85% of the council’s money being recovered. However, non-preferential creditors were not happy about this and had taken their case to the Icelandic Courts. The present situation is that the case has now gone to the Icelandic Supreme Court for final determination. In the meantime the council has had £500,000 of the outstanding £3,000,000 returned to it. If the Supreme Court finds in the council’s favour, and it is quietly confident that it will, then the council would expect to see 85 – 90% of the outstanding £2,500,000 returned to it. Developments around the Vale Planning for Houses and Jobs in Aylesbury Vale. The District Council’s Core Strategy plan provided for around 28,000 new homes in Aylesbury Vale by 2026. In October the coalition Government agreed to the Council withdrawing this plan. This means that the District Council is no longer committed to building 28,000 new homes. However, around 12,000 of the 28,000 have already been built or are under construction or have planning permission. The withdrawal of the core strategy could result in some large ‘opportunistic’ planning applications in areas which the Core Strategy had not identified for housing, particularly on the edge of Aylesbury. What, at present, seems clear is that there will not 28,000 new homes built in the Vale by 2026. However, a number in excess of 12,000 will be built. The Council is now in the process of preparing a new planning document, The Vale of Aylesbury Plan, which will cover the years to 2031. It is in the process of consulting Marsworth and all other parish councils in the Vale asking for their opinions on housing, jobs, infrastructure and leisure needs within their parish and in the Vale generally. The Parish Councils’ responses will help the Council decide what will go into The Vale of Aylesbury Plan. The advantage of the coalition government’s new approach to housing is that it provides for local authorities and local communities to have a say in planning for new housing and jobs. A possible disadvantage is that in some regions of the country not enough new housing may become available to meet demand. Aylesbury’s Waterside Development. The economic situation has slowed the pace of this project, which covers nearly 20 acres in the centre of Aylesbury. However, the Waterside Theatre is now open and offers a wide variety of shows including Aylesbury’s annual pantomime. The District Council was recently informed that the final cost of the theatre was £47 million. A further phase of the Waterside development, consisting of a Waitrose store, an hotel and the National Enterprise Academy, will also be built by the District Council – like the theatre. The cost of the supermarket and hotel amounts to approximately £18 million which the council proposes to borrow. I did not support this proposal in council as I do not believe that it is the role of the council to build supermarkets and hotels. High Speed 2 Train from London to Birmingham. The Government recently announced details of its preferred High Speed 2 rail route from London to Birmingham. This would pass through Buckinghamshire to the west of Wendover, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury and Quainton. The line is planned to be built by 2026. The County Council opposes the government’s preferred route, and advocates the West Coast Main Line route through Cheddington as an alternative. The District Council initially supported this position but, following protests from myself and other District Councillors, no longer does so. Its present position is that it opposes HS2 and does not advocate a West Coast Main Line or any other route. At its last meeting the Council voted to spend up to £100,000 fighting the Government’s HS2 plans. The vote went 48 or thereabouts in favour, with 2 abstaining, Councillor Avril Davies and myself. When I spoke I stated that I did not support the Government’s preferred option to the west of Aylesbury, on the grounds that mitigation arrangements to minimise the effects of both noise and visual pollution were both inadequate and unimaginative; they amounted, in my opinion, to little more than a series of random gestures. However, I further stated that in a time of economic crisis, with massive council spending and service cuts being implemented, I could not see how the spending of up to £100,000 of Aylesbury Vale council tax payers’ money in this way could be justified. There is, apparently, around £1,000,000 already available for a fighting fund to oppose HS2. Cheddington Station Proposed Closure of Cheddington Station Ticket Office I recently contacted Passenger Focus (the rail watchdog) for an update on the situation. As well as Cheddington Station, over eighty other London Midland stations are affected by similar proposals (i.e. closing ticket offices or reducing their opening hours etc). However Tring station would, under these proposals, see a small increase in its ticket office opening hours. The consultation produced over 18,000 objections and one expression of support. Most of the objections take the form of petition signatures (14,583), template letters (identical letters already written which just need to be signed by the objector) and emails (626), pre-paid post cards (3271) or individually written letters (706). Of the individually written letters nearly a quarter, 165, were from Cheddington ward residents. Five MPs including our own MP John Bercow also objected. The District Council has also, at my request, done so. Passenger Focus has now also objected to the proposals, It is not yet known when a final decision on this matter will be made by the minister responsible at the Department for Transport. More details of these proposals can be viewed at: http://www.londonmidland.com/news/latest-news/london-midland-proposes-changes-to-ticket-office-opening-hours/ Waste and Recycling Last Winter’s Refuse and Recycling Collections Most recycling and refuse collections took place on schedule in Marsworth during the wintry weather and over the Christmas and New Year holiday season. There were some problems where refuse and recycling crews were slowed down either because of poor road conditions, or the large volume of post-holiday refuse and recycling materials that they had to collect. However, most rounds that were not collected on the scheduled day were completed early on the following day. New proposals for improved waste and recycling collections are, I am informed, due to come to council in the Autumn. Fencrete Site This application was considered by the Aylesbury Vale District Council’s Development Control Committee for a third time on 31st March. The matter was again deferred: “To enable Officers to negotiate a reduction in the height of Block B and for British Waterways Board to discuss highways issues with Buckinghamshire County Council”. The application is to be brought back to Committee for determination. Democratic Details. District Council The political composition of the District Council is: Conservative 37, Liberal Democrat 21, and Independent 1. My work as your District Councillor In addition to my Cheddington ward commitments I am a member of the following District Council bodies:- Development Control Committee Licensing Committee Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee Environment Scrutiny Committee Grants Panel Buckinghamshire Historic Environment Forum Aylesbury Vale Pub of the Year Competition Volunteer of the Year Awards Great Brickhill, Wing and Ivinghoe Local Area Forum Leighton Linslade Area – Local Parishes Meeting My Allowance and Expenses My allowance and expenses for the last full financial year (2009–10) were: Basic allowance: £ 5,304 Mileage allowance: £ 512.40 Parking: £ 4.50 Train fare: £ 24.80 TOTAL: £ 5,845.70 The above figure does not include any costing for the laptop computer on loan to me from the Council. The mileage allowance includes attendance at site meetings all over the Vale for the development control committee. Polling Day 5th May 2011 Thursday 5th May will be polling day for the parish and District Council elections and for the referendum on the alternative voting proposal for Parliament. Polling Stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. Looking to the year ahead Significant issues over the coming twelve months are likely to include the three below: Government grant reductions will inevitably have a serious effect on the council’s 2012 – 13 and subsequent budgets, so that cuts to services would appear to be inevitable. The new “Localism” bill increasing the powers of parish councils and local communities has the potential to increase, and to change for the better, decision making at local community level. Full details of these proposals have yet to emerge – the Neighbourhood Plan appears set to play an important part in the future of villages and parishes. The Vale of Aylesbury Plan will set out the District Council’s strategy for housing, jobs, infrastructure and leisure provision across the vale to 2031. Like the, now defunct, Core Strategy it is likely to be a controversial issue. If you have any questions about any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me. Corry Cashman Tel: 01296-668565 e-mail: c.cashman@zen.co.uk 5. Vicarage Road, Marsworth, Nr Tring, Herts HP23 4LT Website: www.marsworthschool.com Tel/Fax: 01296 668440 E-mail : office@marsworth.bucks.sch.ukHeadteacher: Mrs Y Goodwin ANNUAL REPORT TO PARISH COUNCIL FROM MARSWORTH CE INFANT SCHOOL APRIL 2011 Personnel: Miss E Denyer returned to School after Maternity Leave in September 2010 but teaching 2.5 days a week instead of full time. Mrs B Moroney who covered Miss Denyer’s Maternity agreed to stay on for 2.5 days. Miss Denyer has left school for a second Maternity Leave at the end of Spring Term 2011 and Miss A Urban will cover Miss Denyer’s 2.5 days. Mrs J Stevens joined us as a Teaching Assistant after Half-term in the Autumn term. Mrs C Denyer, our caretaker retired at the end of April after 6 busy years and Mr P Broad will be joined us as Caretaker/Cleaner. Group Membership: The school continues to be a member of the following groups: Learning Community of Schools Buckingham Sports Partnership Small Schools Group This years activities with the Learning Community are an orienteering and problem-solving day for the Reception pupils at Green Park and Year 1 are going to Stowe for a Literacy Day. Year 2 will also be going on a Numeracy Day at Green Park. All the children thoroughly enjoyed a “Play in a Day” event in June in our new room funded by the Network Learning Community. Buckingham Sports Partnership has provided various sporting events for our Year 2 children: • Multi-skills sporting events at Cottesloe School • Small Schools Sports Festival at Stoke Mandeville Stadium • A Sports Leader has taken a weekly Multi Skills group for Gifted and Talented children with Dagnall school children at Dagnall School in the Autumn/Spring term and at Marsworth School in the Summer term. • KS1 class have experienced 6 weeks of Cheerleading. We also gained 2 Sports Activemarks for our contribution to the Sports Partnership. Facilities/Resources: Mrs Caron Owens (Premises Governor) carries out termly inspections of our premises with Mrs Yvonne Goodwin. She brings a great deal of expertise to this aspect of school life. New Room This was completed in June 2010 and we now have a new Resource/Classroom, improved staff facilities and a new Head’s Office. Bishop John came to bless our room in November – a very happy event. Outside Activities: The school joined the village at All Saints Church, Marsworth for the annual Harvest Festival service. The children then distributed their Harvest gifts to people in the village. For the UNICEF Day for Change the children came in in ordinary clothes and paid to do this. Their contribution was then sent off to UNICEF for children in Guyana. The children also baked biscuits for Cheddington Christmas Tree Festival in aid of World Vision. These activities, and through our RE lessons studying these countries, help the children to understand about life in other parts of the world. Our Friends of Marsworth School continue to hold a variety of events in aid of our school. We have purchased a number of resources for the school thanks to these events. Life at Marsworth School, as you can see, continues to be varied and enjoyable. We would also like to add our thanks to the whole village for their valued support of our school – it is much appreciated. Mrs Yvonne Goodwin Headteacher 6. All Saints Church – Mike Frost Reverend Carole Peters was priested in June 2010 at Newport Pagnell and presided at her first Holy Communion at All Saints the following day. A pattern of services continues to provide a variety of traditional and more modern services to satisfy the congregation of All Saints. The Monday morning “drop in” sessions prove to be a worthwhile outreach item and continue to be a social success. Church attendance is stable although the Harvest and Nativity were well up with the emphasis on family. The work to provide a kitchen and toilet facility was completed on time and to budget. The pews in the South Aisle have been revamped to form an informal, relaxing area. An amplification system, some repairs to the roof and stonework and handrails at the Lytchgate are planned. For reasons of security, the large items of church silver have been deposited at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford but a picture of the items is to be placed in All Saints. The churchyard is well maintained and mowed regularly by a group of volunteers. Support has been given to Stepavan in Armenia as part of the World Vision Project, the MS Centre at Halton, the Childrens Society, Royal British Legion, Animal Rescue and Christian Aid – Windmills. The new Boat Weekend in June proved to be very worthwhile and the Summer evening barbeque was well attended. Funds are always required to help with the upkeep of the Church so a Flower Festival is to be held over the weekend of the August Bank Holiday. Groups within the Church include the choirs, the Sunday Club, bell ringers and a thriving Mens Group. As you will be aware a church does not work without the people who are willing to use their God given talents and gifts to His glory. We are blessed at All Saints to have a willing band of volunteers (although not as many as we need) without whose help the work would not get done. 7. Bridge Club – Mike Frost 16-20 people from the local area meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in the Millennium Hall to play bridge. Thanks were given to Catherine Bushell who has run the Club for many years but is now retiring. Funds raised by the Club are usually donated to the Church. 8. Marsworth Newsletter Finance April 2010 – March 2011 Balance as at 31.03.2009 £ 1055.02 Balance as at 31.03.2011 £ 1264.40 Advertising has continued at a very similar level to last year and our sponsors continue to support us by contributing the same amount as they did last year. We have been extremely fortunate in that we had an anonymous donor who covered the printing costs for a few months in 2010 saving us a considerable amount of money. Our only additional expense this year has been £66.28 for additional software for the Editor. Richard Cooper Honorary Treasurer & Distribution Manager 9. W.I – Elsie Beesley Marsworth WI has maintained its membership at 43 with ladies coming from surrounding villages and Tring. We have one young Mum although the average age of the members is over 60. However, we do have fun and enjoy social activities (meals in the garden, theatre trips). The WI was represented at the NFWI AGM in Cardiff. Having raised £970.00 for the Chiltern Air Ambulance in 2009/10, the WI raised £500.00 for the School last year. The main fund raising events were a coffee morning, jumble sale and a ramble with lunch. Marsworth WI is 65 years old this year and will be inviting members from Ivinghoe, Aston Clinton, Long Marston, Cheddington and Edlesborough to a party in June with the theme of “Ladies Day at Ascot” It would be good to attract younger members but we will continue to be informed at our monthly meeting by good speakers whilst also having fun. 10. Police – PCSO Jackie Dodson The crime report was made available to the meeting and proved to be a better than last year. 2 “Have your say” meetings have been held in the Parish which provide an opportunity for the public to address their concerns. 11. Neighbourhood Watch The meeting was informed that Steve White is resigning from the position as Neighbourhood Watch Co-Ordinator but is happy to provide a handover to the next incumbent. Anyone interested should contact Steve or the Parish Council in the first instance. 12. Marsworth Pre–School –Tracey Kennedy, Chairperson for Marsworth Pre-School It has been another very successful year for Marsworth Pre-School, full of positive changes and new challenges to improve the already high standards that the Pre-School has achieved. Wendy, Patricia, Tracey, Jo and Jane together they make up a strong, enthusiastic, dynamic and caring team, who support the Pre-School children through fun, educational play. The staff have been on many courses this year to keep up to date and to develop new skills – and all our risk assessments and policies have recently been reviewed and updated. The Pre-School staff are supported by an enthusiastic committee who meet regularly to discuss Pre-School issues and events – in January we held our AGM during which the new Pre-School committee was elected, many of whom are new to it this year! The success of the Pre-School is reflected by the constantly high numbers of children attending, both for morning and afternoon sessions as well as the lunch club. The Pre-School continues to be popular not only for children from Marsworth, but also from surrounding towns and villages. The Parent and Toddler group still meet here at the hall every Tuesday morning, and this provides an opportunity for mums, dads and other carers to get together, and for the children to play, do craft activities and have juice and biscuits together. Each session ends for the children with a manic dash about on bikes, trikes and scooters, followed by music time. Like the Pre-School, the number of children coming to the toddler group is high (often 20-30 children), and many come from outside of the village, reflecting the fact that it is a very friendly and welcoming group. Fundraising continues to be an important part of the Pre-School committee’s role, and we aim to raise between three and four thousand pounds a year. Fundraising means we can purchase new and up-to-date toys and equipment, which brings much excitement for the children. The Pre-School are very grateful to all those in the village who support our fundraising on a regular basis events. 13. Millennium Hall – Neil Waterman The Committee meets monthly and currently consists of 13 members rep[resenting Pre-School, WI, Parish Council, Church and Neighbourhood Watch. A caretaker/cleaner is paid to work 6 hours per week. Hall income is similar to last year at £9,000. Regular users include Pre-School and Toddlers, Badminton, Dance, Fencing, Festival Company, WI, Bridge, School, Church and Parish Council. No complaints have been received this year. Fundraising events include the Firework Display on the Recreation Ground, a Christmas Bazaar and the 100 Club Draw. Repairs undertaken this year include refurbishment of the blinds and general plumbing and electrical maintenance. A new cooker was purchased with funding from the 100 Club. Stairs and disability access have been designed for the upstairs room and quotes to carry out the work range from £36k to £42k. 14. Marsworth History Society – Sandra Costello Three members of the Parish are available to research and collate matters of historical interest in the village. 15. Members of the Public The following matters were brought to the attention of the meeting: • The junction on the B489 to Cheddington is becoming increasingly dangerous as more traffic uses the route to access Castlemead • The carbon dating of the bones unearthed at the Church by the works required to install the toilet facility was paid for by money raised at the Steam Rally • Traffic management issues (speed, parking, volumes of commercial vehicles) were raised and will be dealt with as appropriate. |