Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting for the Village of Great Gonerby held on Tuesday 7th May 2019 at the Memorial Hall at 19:00
Present: B. Hutchinson Chairman, J Walker Clerk, 4 members of the public.
1. Apologies: Two members of the public for lateness.
2. Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 17th May 2018 were signed as a true record.
3. Chairman’s - Annual Report 2018/19:
I will break down my report into the various areas of activity -
The Memorial Hall / Recreation Ground – The hall, field and its management committee have continued their great work in managing the hall and field and it is a great success story with the hall once again exceeding our expectations in popularity and the resulting income. We should be proud of our involvement in delivering this project and we will, of course continue to offer support to the memorial Hall Committee as required.
Gonerby, Hill Top Cemetery – The cemetery continues to provide a first class amenity for the village and also provide additional car parking capacity for the recreation ground and Memorial Hall.
High Street – The hanging baskets have greatly improved and softened the look of the high street and with the addition of more baskets this year we anticipate a great display. I must mention the generous donation of plants from Downtown and also thank Cllr Thompson for his watering of the baskets during dry spells.
Pond Area – I’m very pleased to see that the work to improve the area is nearing completion and the new bollards and notice board look very good. I look forward to the installation of the wood carving completing the renovations of this important area in the heart of the village.
The village continues to be maintained to a high standard and our decision to take over and increase the LCC verge grass cutting will ensure that the village continues to be a pleasant and well maintained place to live. We, together with the residents of Great Gonerby should be proud to live in such a pleasant and desirable parish.
We must continue to find a balance between representing the views of our residents and the longer term development of the village. It is important that the village retains it character, history and identity, but also evolves to meet the needs of both existing and new residents.
I must reiterate our absolute resolve to ensure that no development applications must breach the clear separation from Hill Foot/Grantham.
Our financial position is very good, having managed our budgets diligently and with good sense.
This year has seen our new parish clerk grow into the role and although she had a tough act to follow, she has worked very hard to learn the role and I must thank Janet for all her help throughout the year.
I also need to record our thanks to Pat Eland for her invaluable work in keeping the village in such a clean condition. Although all are paid employees, I know that they regularly go over and beyond their duties to ensure their respective roles are fulfilled.
I would also like to thank all councillors their hard work, support and dedication during this last year.
I have enjoyed my time as Chairman and feel very proud of what we have collectively achieved. I was particularly pleased that our hard work was recognised in the Best kept Village award. We have over the past years added to the facilities and aesthetics’ of the village and with the imminent completion of the pond area, we may well be running out of large projects. We must now ensure that we continue to maintain the good work we have achieved thus far.
On a personal level I have made no secret of my desire to step down from all of my voluntary/committee roles including this role as Chairman. Sadly my motivation to help make the village a better place has waned due to the constant barrage of over bearing bureaucratic nonsense that has in recent years made the job unpalatable. However, I have been encouraged by your support and requests to continue so I will be prepared to stand again, if no one wishes to take on the role.
I am conscious of the time demands of being a Councillor and do want to spend the next year simplifying all of the roles and to reduce the time commitment to ease the burden and, hopefully make the vacancies more desirable.
Given the lack of large projects I propose to work towards fewer formal meetings and more business being completed between meetings using various forms of remote working to ensure democracy and transparency is achieved.
That is the end to my eighth Parish Council report and I thank you for your time, commitment and support.
4. Poor Land Report
Janet Watson the Chairperson of the Poor Land Trust was not in attendance so Cllr. Hutchinson gave a brief resume of the up to date position.
Cllr Hutchinson advised that there is a reasonable sum of money in the accounts but was unable to confirm amounts.
Cllr Hutchinson advised that the Trust were in discussions with Downtown following their enquiry to purchase the land. The sale will be subject to guidance and approval from the Charity Commission and will be conducted in line with their requirements.
Once the sale has been achieved the money will be held in Trust which will deliver a greater income than that at present.
There will be significant fees involved for the sale. Going forward discussions will need to be held as to how best to distribute the extra income to the benefit of the village.
5. Memorial Hall Report
Ian Skellern, Chairperson, advised this year has been one of ups and downs. After Janet Walker left us to become Parish Clerk, Steve Cook resigned as Treasurer. Fortunately, however, Glendyr and Tony Saward, newcomers to the Village, took on the tasks of Secretary and Treasurer both of them have excelled in the work and the administration and finances are very healthy.
The MUGA. A new 3G playing surface has now been installed and a new surrounding fence has replaced the old and damaged one. Also, a large shipping container has been purchased and installed in the wire cage alongside the MUGA; this has provided a secure storage facility for the football equipment and at the same time freed up a shower area to provide its intended function. Marris Foster, the 3G provider has now completed its contract by topping up the tiny rubber granules in the artificial grass. After we experienced further vandalism in attempts to gain unauthorised access to pitch, we decided to leave the entrance unlocked. So far no further damage has been reported and the youngsters in the Village can play their casual games in the earlier hours of the day before the booked sessions take place.
A 3-year maintenance contract has been let to SIS Pitches which currently manages the Meres 3G areas.
Maintenance. As a result of several teething problems arising from an increasing use of the Hall and its facilities, arrangements have been put in place to cover the legal requirements concerning fire, lighting and building security. We are currently looking to employ a cleaner and general handyman; we are also assembling a list of local contractors for the larger repairs.
Bookings. Monday to Friday bookings have now filled most of the available times with only a few vacancies still open. Weekend bookings are very popular for events such as children’s parties and special celebrations. New booking forms and rules for hire have been produced and are now in use.
Finance. Despite all the costs incurred with the MUGA, the year end accounts show a positive balance of approximately £10K; much of this can be attributed to the overall increased usage of the Memorial Hall and its associated facilities.
The Way Ahead. Our main bookings clerk Helen Wilson and husband Bill, who supported our maintenance and CCTV facilities, have announced their retirement after our AGM in June to spend more time with their family in America. They are actively helping us to find a replacement to manage the weekend bookings. Currently, we are a small team managing a wide range of issues. We desperately need more volunteers to support this vital community facility, any further degrading of our Trustees core may reduce the facilities we offer.
Cllr. Hutchinson thanked Ian on behalf of the Parish Council and congratulated him on the Memorial Hall’s continuing success.
6. Matters Arising by Parishioners
There were no matters arising
There being no further business the Annual Village Meeting closed at 19:30