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Our SuccessesCHAIRMAN’S REPORT The Pond is a key feature of the village and this time last year I spoke about plans to get the silt removed and a new liner installed. Well, after many problems (and heated discussions!) with the contractors the job was duly completed last September. It’s good to know that the exercise shouldn’t have to be repeated for at least fifteen years and also that the work didn’t cost the Parish Council, and therefore you as the taxpayer, anything, thanks to our Clerk’s success in obtaining Lottery funding and also to a grant from Hampshire County Council, which was much appreciated. However the Pond is still not looking at its best. Although we were shown the invoice for 120 plants that had been delivered to the Pond we remain unconvinced that these were actually all planted, so we are going to ask Amanda Bassett of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, who spoke to us at the 2007 Annual Parish Meeting, to advise us on what has been planted and also what can be done to hide the exposed liner and pipe-work. Rest assured we will continue to do whatever is necessary to ensure that it is attractive as well as a haven for wildlife. Most other aspects of the appearance of the village rely on the maintenance work done by the Borough and County Councils. The frequency of repairing potholes in the road and cutting the grass on the Greens is always going to be compromised by budget constraints and indeed the weather, but we have been applying pressure in two ways to ensure that the work is done as efficiently and as effectively as funds will allow firstly I have spoken at one of the quarterly meetings of the Basingstoke and District Association of Parish and Town Councils about our dissatisfaction at the frequency and quality of grass-cutting, and the Borough Council have accepted much of our criticism; and secondly our Clerk repeatedly contacts Hampshire Highways about drains that have become blocked and pot holes that have appeared, or indeed re-appeared. The comparatively hard winter has obviously taken its toll on the Borough’s roads so we understand why repair work has been particularly slow recently, but it is frustrating to find that holes in the road, such as those in Popham Lane, that have been reported many times and eventually get repaired then return to their original state or worse because the repair work has not been effective. The re-surfacing of the road junction in front of the Church is another example of work that needs to be repeated. I’m sure that “Highway and Village Appearance” will remain as a routine agenda item at our Council meetings for many months to come. Of course you as residents play the largest part in making the village attractive with the work you do on your houses and gardens but we like to think that the Garden and Children’s Sunflower Competitions with their generous prizes add an incentive as well as providing a bit of fun. Many congratulations to the winners of last year’s Garden Competition Michael and Sheila Thomas, to the runners-up Graham and Janet Mew, and to Benjamin Lawes for growing the tallest Sunflower and Laura McAlister for the one with the largest flower head. One of the more time consuming aspects of Parish Council work is the review of Planning Applications of which there have been 31 since last May, that’s 24% more than the previous year. I would like to explain that the Borough Council’s Development Control Committee, rather than their Planning Department, determines the fate of applications if more than a certain number of objections have been received, the number being dependent on whether the development is inside or outside the Settlement Boundary, or if the relevant Ward Councillors consider that the Application should be reviewed by the Committee. With every application I sign a form which states that the Parish Council would like the opportunity to address the meeting if the application is reported to the Committee, and this year I spoke at the meetings at which three applications were determined - for the conversion of a garage to a tea room at the Shop, the erection of a single storey building at Portland Farm, and the building of the Sebastian’s Action Trust holiday home with respite facilities. In two of these the Committee overturned the Planning Officer’s recommendation and I’m sure that they were influenced by the arguments that we as your Parish Council and our Borough Councillors put forward. Moving from the past to the future let me share a couple of developments that we are currently discussing to whet your appetite….. a larger and more attractive Council notice-board by the Pond (more evidence here of the value of a Village Plan as many of you thought the communications from the Parish Council could be improved), and an updated framed map of the village in the Shop window to help tradesmen and deliveries find your house. If you have any strong views on these or any other village issues then you can of course contact Karen Bleazard our Clerk, either in person or via the website (/), or of course come along to one of our meetings. For the second year in succession we have been able to hold the Parish Council precept at the previous year’s value of £9785 – that’s the amount of money we ask the Borough Council to raise and provide through the Council Tax. In this year’s Council Tax Statement you received recently there is I suggest a misleading reference to a 1% change to the “Parish Total amount added to Band D”, but a discussion I’ve had with the Council’s Tax Department has confirmed that this reflects changes such as the number of properties in each Tax band or which have a discount or are exempt from Council Tax, and not a change in the Precept itself. Good control of their budget is just one measure of what an effective Parish Council can achieve and for that and for all their time and hard work, given completely voluntarily of course, I would like to thank all the Councillors – Carolyn Brown, Steve Green, Alan Purkiss, Adele Stevenson, Sara Thomas and Peter Waggett, and of course Karen Bleazard our Clerk without whose commitment and professionalism we would achieve little. Malcolm Dixon |