1. Attendance and Apologies. Mr P Hounsell, Chairman of Hatch Beauchamp Parish Council, chaired the meeting. 3 Members of the Parish Council were present, no members of the Public.

Apologies received from George Downie, Peter Crossley, Mrs A Parson and Mrs J Holt

2. Minutes of meeting held on 23 April 2003. The minutes were circulated at the meeting and approval proposed by Mr N Parsons and seconded by Mr R Fowler. This was agreed and the minutes were duly signed by the Chairman.

3. Matters arising. There were no matters arising.

 

 

4. Report by Chairman of Hatch Beauchamp Parish Council. Copies of the report had been circulated at the meeting and it was accepted as read. (Copy attached)

 

5. Reports by representatives of local organisations.

Mr Holt reported that the Bridge Club was still looking for members.

Mr Hounsell reported that St John’s Church was having to raise £5,000 for the repair of two 16^th century plain glass windows.

6. Street lighting; Parish Plan; Neighbourhood Watch. As there were no members of the public at the meeting it was proposed by Mr N Parsons and seconded by Mr J Holt and agreed that no further action be taken.

There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 19.40

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

14 April 2004

Chairman’s Report

The Year commenced with the Local and Parish Elections in April 2003. At that time various members of the Parish Council decided not to seek re-election. Mrs Kingston, Messrs Lintern, Townson and Rogers. We thank them for the years of service they have given to the Village.

At the elections, Messrs Buck, Downie, Fowler, Graham, Holt , Hounsell and Parsons were elected to be members of the Parish Council. This left two vacancies, and we co-opted Mrs P Kent and Ms H Hooper to fill these vacancies.

During the year the Council has discussed ‘the Quality Town and Parish Council Initiative’ but as one of the requirements is that 80% of members were elected rather than co-opted which we did not meet, we will have to reconsider this initiative in 5 years time.

The Council has had meetings with SCC representatives regarding Station Road improvements, and the scheme for 20mph speed restriction outside the school, and continue to discuss the possibility of some addition pavement in Station Road. The extension of the 30mph speed limit through the whole village has now been completed.

Having asked on numerous occasions for the facility to split our waste, we were delighted when the recycling scheme (green boxes) were introduced last November. In addition we were included in the Organic waste collection (garden waste) which ended in November and has now started again.

The Council, through its Tree and footpath’s wardens, keep a watchful eye on the various footpaths in the village. We are at present working on securing the safety of those using the footpath from Home Orchard to the Village Hall where a number of trees have fallen.

We have had various presentations:

Jo Cox of the Community Council for Somerset on her role as Rural Housing enabler

Val Grainger of the Community Council for Somerset on preparing a Parish Plan

Mrs Joanna Lewin-Harris on her experience as a Parish Councillor for Bishop Lydeard in involving the village in the completion of their Parish Plan.

The Council continues to support the Village Hall Committee with Grants and with administering the grass cutting contract.

The Bus shelter at Capland has now been rebuilt.

We continued to act as statutory consultee with TDBC on planning matters.

We are supported at our meetings by Mr John Willams our TDBC councillor and Mr Rod Watson our County councillor.

With the adoption of new Standing Orders, as recommended by the National Association of Local Councils, a period for public questions would be held prior to the commencement of each Parish Council Meeting. Members of the public are welcome at all Parish Council Meetings.