You are at Parish Plan/PP meeting 20 December 2004.
''Please note: For data protection reasons names have been reduced to initials only on this on-line copy''
DS, District Councillor
HF, Rural Community Council
LT, Clerk
Mr O welcomed all to the meeting and introductions were made. Councillors had received a draft copy of the Action Plan although they had not had an opportunity to discuss it. The Parish Council would need to discuss the proposals at a separate meeting although this should not delay the consultation planned for early January.
Mrs W outlined the background to the Parish Plan Group and the draft Action Plan. The results of the questionnaires, distributed to all households, had highlighted the important issues for villagers. The research was a powerful weapon for the Parish Council to work with the Parish Plan Group in achieving improvements for residents. J said gave examples of positive actions that had already happened i.e. reading/riding groups and the setting up of groups to produce Village Design Statements for each village. The Action Plan would be crucial in achieving the improvements that villagers have indicated they want. J emphasised the tight timescale and invited Council members to comment following presentations of the main proposals. J introduced RM and LR who had co-ordinated some of the work.
R gave a presentation on the following categories of the Action Plan:
Mrs W invited comments and questions from Council members.
Mr O commented that the Parish Council had a legal duty to set the Precept and this seemed like a directive as to what they should be looking at. R clarified that the aim was to work in partnership with the Council and the survey had highlighted the communities� priorities on which funding could be spent. Woodhouse spends less per capita than neighbouring parishes. Mr O said that there is limited money available with difficult choices to be made. Improvements sometimes had to be delayed and he did not want was to raise unrealistic expectations. R suggested that if the Council had more communication with residents there would be a better understanding of the decisions made. The partnership suggested by the Action Plan would strengthen the Council�s position by sharing work to fund raise for specific projects.
Mr B gave his initial views on the Action Plan. He queried whether the Council could �own� the Action Plan when it included issues outside the Council�s jurisdiction and also whether the Council had the resources to carry out the actions. Mr B did not feel that the answers substantiated the view that more information had been requested and referred to question 100. The question asking if people were willing to pay more on their Council Tax was not included within the questionnaire. In response, PPG members referred to questions 98 and 99 in the survey.
Mr S pointed out that if people wanted to know more about the Parish Council they could attend meetings � currently they were poorly attended. With regard to the budget he pointed out that 50% of Council income is spent on running the Village Hall/Annexe/Field and the Council were trustees of the King George V Field charity which encompasses all of these premises.
R responded that present communications do not appear to work and that there was a need to look at other methods. Many residents are elderly and others work full time and will not have time to attend meetings, however they would be more likely to read a newsletter.
PC said that people don�t attend meetings per se and minutes are not always a good form of communication. Better information and communication should enable councillors to be better able to represent the community. A large number of people would like to be better informed and this was an opportunity for the Council to improve things. Whilst current communication may be adequate it is not good � Council needs to be proactive and there are many people on the PPG with imagination/skills who are willing to make their expertise available to this end.
Mr B noted that the subject Public Service/Health and Well Being question 4 had actions needed by others than the PC and how could they be responsible. Mrs W clarified that some issues could only be endorsed/supported by the Parish Council whilst other service providers may be asked to take action. The Plan would be sent to other service providers in the consultation process however the Parish Council needed to be aware of and endorse the Plan in totality.
Mr P noted that the work of the PPG was extremely valuable and commented on the enthusiasm and hard work that had been carried out on behalf of the parish and thanked all present. He referred in particular to the Transport/Traffic section and said that he was looking into gathering information from villages within a 10 mile radius as to traffic calming/speed reduction measures implemented.
LR then gave a presentation on work done on Planning and the Environment and Traffic and Transport.
County Hall had been asked for information on how to help the police in monitoring traffic and they had also obtained a speed complaint form which residents could complete when they witness traffic matters giving cause for concern. They have also indicated their interest to the Rural Community Council in applying for grant aid to purchase a mobile monitor and a Vascar speed gun to gather data which may help when seeking permanent solutions. Liz also reported that WESRA were collecting video data with regard to traffic incidents involving horses and riders. Other issues being looked at were the parking and congestion problems within the parish.
The survey results indicated that planning policy and planning applications were not accessible enough. The Borough Council will be posting applications on their website and there are volunteers who are willing to extract this information.
Other areas highlighted by residents and included in the action plan were affordable housing, renewable energy sources, litter and dog fouling. Suggestions were to produce educational fliers to encourage owners to be more responsible, install additional bins and provide free poop bags.
Mrs F noted that the Village Design statement needs to be produced with full community consultation and when endorsed by the Borough Council will form supplementary documentation given to possible developers. There are already a large number of VDSs in progress with some already adopted and proving very useful.
Mr B said that whilst he had sympathy with all that had been put forward he wondered how some of this could be achieved. As examples he questioned who would restrict school traffic and suggested that the Parish Council could not afford to employ landscape gardeners due to other needs.
Mrs W clarified the action points were a mix of suggestions for the short and longer term and that the PPG had also suggested a priority ranking. The group understood that some items, such as landscaping would be of a lower priority.
Mr B referred to earlier meetings where it had been said that if an item is not feasible then it shouldn�t be included in an Action Plan.
Members of the Parish Plan Group commented that the Action Plan is a working document for use over the next few years and not all the actions would be completed in the short term. Comments were also made that this was an opportunity for the Council to work in partnership with Parish Plan Group members on the Action Plan. It should ensure that the wishes of parishioners are kept at the forefront of Parish Council work for years to come.
Mr S referred to the Safe Routes to School footpath and commented that it is well used but not during inclement weather. He also pointed out that many vehicles come from outside the village as a high percentage of children attend outside the catchment area. Mr P said that authorities are looking at staggering school start and finish times which may be a possible solution?
There being no further questions Mr O thanked everyone present and all those who had contributed to the Action Plan for the enormous amount of work already completed and that which will continue to be carried out. The Parish Council would meet separately to discuss the matter before the next Council meeting on 10 January 2005.
LT
Notes of a Meeting between Parish Council and Parish Plan Group
Held in the Village Hall, 20 December, 2004 @ 7.30pm''Please note: For data protection reasons names have been reduced to initials only on this on-line copy''
Present:
Parish Councillors
PO, LP, JW, AlS, DB, RM, LM. (Mr M also part of Parish Plan Group and Mrs W the Chair)Parish Plan Group
JC, JH, RM, MT, RH, LR, HH, PC, DN, AIDS, District Councillor
HF, Rural Community Council
LT, Clerk
Mr O welcomed all to the meeting and introductions were made. Councillors had received a draft copy of the Action Plan although they had not had an opportunity to discuss it. The Parish Council would need to discuss the proposals at a separate meeting although this should not delay the consultation planned for early January.
Mrs W outlined the background to the Parish Plan Group and the draft Action Plan. The results of the questionnaires, distributed to all households, had highlighted the important issues for villagers. The research was a powerful weapon for the Parish Council to work with the Parish Plan Group in achieving improvements for residents. J said gave examples of positive actions that had already happened i.e. reading/riding groups and the setting up of groups to produce Village Design Statements for each village. The Action Plan would be crucial in achieving the improvements that villagers have indicated they want. J emphasised the tight timescale and invited Council members to comment following presentations of the main proposals. J introduced RM and LR who had co-ordinated some of the work.
R gave a presentation on the following categories of the Action Plan:
Crime & Safety
Whilst most people felt safe there were requests for more involvement, communication and a higher police presence. An encouraging 103 residents wished to be involved in Neighbourhood Watch and work had already started. Countryside Watch already have a strong network and Neighbourhood Watch could link into this.Health and Wellbeing
More information, education and easier access to facilities had been highlighted in the results. The Friends of the Cottage Surgery proposed to work with service providers to look to improve facilities and awareness of what was already available.Employment/Business
Whilst there is a good take up of local services this could be improved. Members of the Parish Plan Group proposed to set up a local business group to discuss some of the issues highlighted by the survey and encourage people to use local businesses.Village Facilities
There was a lot of support for providing facilities in Woodhouse and improving the quality of facilities in Woodhouse Eaves. The action plan suggested that two working parties could be set up to plan improvements to the village hall and children�s play equipment. The groups could explore fund raising opportunities. Action to improve take up of the allotments was also suggested. It was also suggested that the churches were made aware of the survey results.Local Government/Communication
Results from the questionnaires indicated interest in receiving more information about the work carried out by the Parish, Borough Council and County Councils. The Parish Council was asked to consider setting up a working group to review its communications. Possible solutions were surgeries and a regular newsletter delivered to all residents.Parish Council Income
The group suggested reviewing the Council income, keeping this to the forefront of Council�s agenda for the next several years.Mrs W invited comments and questions from Council members.
Mr O commented that the Parish Council had a legal duty to set the Precept and this seemed like a directive as to what they should be looking at. R clarified that the aim was to work in partnership with the Council and the survey had highlighted the communities� priorities on which funding could be spent. Woodhouse spends less per capita than neighbouring parishes. Mr O said that there is limited money available with difficult choices to be made. Improvements sometimes had to be delayed and he did not want was to raise unrealistic expectations. R suggested that if the Council had more communication with residents there would be a better understanding of the decisions made. The partnership suggested by the Action Plan would strengthen the Council�s position by sharing work to fund raise for specific projects.
Mr B gave his initial views on the Action Plan. He queried whether the Council could �own� the Action Plan when it included issues outside the Council�s jurisdiction and also whether the Council had the resources to carry out the actions. Mr B did not feel that the answers substantiated the view that more information had been requested and referred to question 100. The question asking if people were willing to pay more on their Council Tax was not included within the questionnaire. In response, PPG members referred to questions 98 and 99 in the survey.
Mr S pointed out that if people wanted to know more about the Parish Council they could attend meetings � currently they were poorly attended. With regard to the budget he pointed out that 50% of Council income is spent on running the Village Hall/Annexe/Field and the Council were trustees of the King George V Field charity which encompasses all of these premises.
R responded that present communications do not appear to work and that there was a need to look at other methods. Many residents are elderly and others work full time and will not have time to attend meetings, however they would be more likely to read a newsletter.
PC said that people don�t attend meetings per se and minutes are not always a good form of communication. Better information and communication should enable councillors to be better able to represent the community. A large number of people would like to be better informed and this was an opportunity for the Council to improve things. Whilst current communication may be adequate it is not good � Council needs to be proactive and there are many people on the PPG with imagination/skills who are willing to make their expertise available to this end.
Mr B noted that the subject Public Service/Health and Well Being question 4 had actions needed by others than the PC and how could they be responsible. Mrs W clarified that some issues could only be endorsed/supported by the Parish Council whilst other service providers may be asked to take action. The Plan would be sent to other service providers in the consultation process however the Parish Council needed to be aware of and endorse the Plan in totality.
Mr P noted that the work of the PPG was extremely valuable and commented on the enthusiasm and hard work that had been carried out on behalf of the parish and thanked all present. He referred in particular to the Transport/Traffic section and said that he was looking into gathering information from villages within a 10 mile radius as to traffic calming/speed reduction measures implemented.
LR then gave a presentation on work done on Planning and the Environment and Traffic and Transport.
Traffic and Transport
L said that the Action Plan reflected the concerns of parishioners over traffic and traffic speeding. The peak spots highlighted in the responses were Forest Road/Beacon Road/Maplewell Road and Main Street at the Bull�s Head junction. Highways authority records did not provide the evidence and the group felt that occasional and very visible police monitoring did not reflect what actually happened.County Hall had been asked for information on how to help the police in monitoring traffic and they had also obtained a speed complaint form which residents could complete when they witness traffic matters giving cause for concern. They have also indicated their interest to the Rural Community Council in applying for grant aid to purchase a mobile monitor and a Vascar speed gun to gather data which may help when seeking permanent solutions. Liz also reported that WESRA were collecting video data with regard to traffic incidents involving horses and riders. Other issues being looked at were the parking and congestion problems within the parish.
Planning/Environmental Issues
L said that a large response had been received from residents concerned that the open countryside between the two villages should remain. The Village Design Statements would incorporate respect for the unique aspects of the parish such architecture/vegetation/dry stone walls/beauty spots etc.The survey results indicated that planning policy and planning applications were not accessible enough. The Borough Council will be posting applications on their website and there are volunteers who are willing to extract this information.
Other areas highlighted by residents and included in the action plan were affordable housing, renewable energy sources, litter and dog fouling. Suggestions were to produce educational fliers to encourage owners to be more responsible, install additional bins and provide free poop bags.
Mrs F noted that the Village Design statement needs to be produced with full community consultation and when endorsed by the Borough Council will form supplementary documentation given to possible developers. There are already a large number of VDSs in progress with some already adopted and proving very useful.
Mr B said that whilst he had sympathy with all that had been put forward he wondered how some of this could be achieved. As examples he questioned who would restrict school traffic and suggested that the Parish Council could not afford to employ landscape gardeners due to other needs.
Mrs W clarified the action points were a mix of suggestions for the short and longer term and that the PPG had also suggested a priority ranking. The group understood that some items, such as landscaping would be of a lower priority.
Mr B referred to earlier meetings where it had been said that if an item is not feasible then it shouldn�t be included in an Action Plan.
Members of the Parish Plan Group commented that the Action Plan is a working document for use over the next few years and not all the actions would be completed in the short term. Comments were also made that this was an opportunity for the Council to work in partnership with Parish Plan Group members on the Action Plan. It should ensure that the wishes of parishioners are kept at the forefront of Parish Council work for years to come.
Mr S referred to the Safe Routes to School footpath and commented that it is well used but not during inclement weather. He also pointed out that many vehicles come from outside the village as a high percentage of children attend outside the catchment area. Mr P said that authorities are looking at staggering school start and finish times which may be a possible solution?
There being no further questions Mr O thanked everyone present and all those who had contributed to the Action Plan for the enormous amount of work already completed and that which will continue to be carried out. The Parish Council would meet separately to discuss the matter before the next Council meeting on 10 January 2005.
LT