Annual Parish Meeting 19th May 2014: Chairman's Report
My predecessor, Dick Ware, was able in his report last year to reel off a list of achievements some of which were and are visible – for example, new Christmas lights, a Jubilee tree, new gates and water supply for the cricket club. And then there was the invisible fibre-optic broadband, where the Parish Council collaborated with others to bring it to the village. In contrast I regret that I cannot give you such a catalogue of achievements. This is not to minimize the work of your councillors but simply a reflection of just how long things take to resolve.
When I adopted this role a year ago I had an early aim of attempting to get the triangle at the foot of Barrack Hill dealt with and off the agenda. Both our and our County Councillor's efforts have moved the issue along but not yet to a conclusion. To get Bucks CC even to think about repairs involved an audit which in itself cost £600. We are grateful to Tim Butcher, our County Councillor, for paying for this aspect from his allocated funds. As there has only been one accident in the last twenty years (in 2001), the site was and is not considered a safety issue and thus not a priority. So despite our and Tim's efforts, the unsightly triangle has yet to be repaired. I say repaired and not replaced because we all realize that modern vehicles will reduce a grass triangle to mud quite quickly. The estimate we have received for the repair is for some £16,000. The amount was a shock, not least because it was at odds with an unofficial estimate given to me by a Transport for Bucks official of around £8,000 some ten days earlier. All very frustrating and the issue is still to be resolved.
The other work for which we have been trying to get a response from the CC is a clearance of the blockage to the drain by the War Memorial. The lake this creates is an irritant especially when traffic throws up water on to mothers and children at school delivery and collection times and on to the War Memorial itself. Again, requests seem to disappear into a great black hole despite the seeming good intentions of the two Local Authority Technicians who addressed the previous Parish Council meeting. I shall not dwell on roads and verges – it is a frustrating subject but we have to recognize the budgetary constraints on public bodies and the more severe problems of flooding elsewhere in the county earlier this year. For the future, however, may I ask all villagers to route questions on this subject through the Clerk but also accept that it is Bucks CC not the PC with whom responsibility lies.
I mentioned the War Memorial. This centenary year is the appropriate one for it to be cleaned and this will happen. The delay is because we deemed it right to seek a grant from The War Memorials Trust. That process is in hand and a contractor has been booked.
What have we achieved then? Sadly, some advances remain unseen. We have set up a Calendar of Events as a reminder of actions to be taken, whether it be the annual inspection of the Play Area, the payment of our insurances or the cutting of the hedge around the Jack Adams' Field. We were embarrassed last year to find that some necessary actions had been overlooked. However small a council we are, we do deal with public money and it is important that we have proper controls in place. I can report that we had our Annual Return signed off by our internal auditor last Friday, much earlier than last year and on time, and our bank balance has been enhanced by a significant VAT reclaim. We are grateful to our RFO, Elaine West, for her work in both these areas and for bringing greater order and clarity to our finances.
Our accounts now contain specific reserves for some items of expenditure which we think might occur or which are recommended as good practice. These include holding six months operating costs; the costs of one contested election; and a provision for unforeseen legal costs. We want to avoid lumpy and unexpected payments, as recently occurred at the Pond, which may compromise smaller but important expenditures to preserve the look of the village. One example of the latter is the repair to the fence between Porch House and White Roses. You may recall a car ploughed into it but, as we do not hold an insurable interest, we cannot claim against the driver and we cannot, as yet, find the owner of the land. So this work has been agreed and the order placed and will be paid for out of our funds.
One other successful initiative was a working party set up by the Parish Council to discuss options for the Jack Adams' Field. The results of their meetings have been a resurgence of interest in, and financial support of, the cricket club. They have also led to discussions of a possible re-siting of the Play Area there – which would be a longer term project requiring a good deal of further discussion.
I mentioned the look of the village and I cannot let this opportunity pass without thanking the Common Management Committee and its working party for their unpaid work in maintaining the Common and the Pond. Chris Wege, who for some unaccountable reason has chosen to go on holiday today, leads these efforts and he has produced two booklets on the Common and the Pond both of which are for sale at a price subsidized by the parish council. If you would like a copy I ask you to get in touch with Elaine West.
It is entirely appropriate that I thank my fellow councillors, each of whom has a portfolio to watch over and frustrations with which to deal, for making my job easier. And, when we were at a low point last summer, with the loss of a clerk for several weeks the arrival of Linda Collison as our new Clerk transformed our work, brought order to our proceedings and made our jobs more pleasurable. Thank you all.
Terence Prideaux