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The Chairman
welcomed everyone to the meeting. |
| 1 |
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MINUTES OF
THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2003. |
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Cllr. Williams
asked for the name 'Bev' to read 'Beth' in the third paragraph of item 3,
Chairman's Report. |
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The Minutes of
the last Annual Parish Meeting, having been previously circulated, were then
duly signed as a true record of events. All agreed. |
| 2 |
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MATTERS
ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. |
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Nothing to
report. |
| 3. |
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CHAIRMAN'S
REPORT. |
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The Chairman's
Report had been prepared and circulated. |
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There were no
comments to be made on the Report. |
| 4 |
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TWEEDY
CHARITY. |
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The Clerk read
out the following report that had been prepared by the Trustee, Mr Barry
Woodgate. |
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The Almshouses
enjoyed full occupancy during the calender year 2003. |
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Bakers of
Danbury completed their contracted maintenance work but some minor remedial
work remains outstanding. |
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The Charity
continued to gain the benefit of paying for the water on a metered basis but
operating costs continue to rise. No increase in revenues has been effected for
many years and this may require a review. |
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The hedge
surrounding the Almshouses was "flailed" and for some time looked a sad sight
but it did manage to get back to the size it enjoyed many years ago and now
looks attractive. It will also save costs in the future. |
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The road
fronting the Almshouses is again looking a sorry sight, with many dangerous
potholes for walkers, especially the elderly occupants of the cottages. The
problem is compounded by the use of heavy lorries; not least of which are the
dustcarts of the Chelmsford Borough Council. Likewise, the verges of the green
and the Almshouses for the same reason. The Trustees would like to request the
Parish Council to again carry out repairs to the road and consider means of
protecting it and the verges in the future. |
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The Trustees
would like to record their appreciation once again for the continued support of
the Stock Parish Council to the Trust. |
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The Chairman
said that the Parish Council were very grateful to Mr and Mrs Woodgate. The
Chairman said that a note would be taken of their requirements. |
| 5. |
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SCHOOL
GOVERNOR'S REPORT. |
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The Clerk read
out the following report that had been prepared by the School Governor, Mr
Peter Bentley. |
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This
report covers the major events to April 2004 so far as they affect the
Governing Body and their responsibilities towards the stewardship of School
affairs. At the time I prepared last years report for the Parish Council the
Governors had been told that Heather Parsons had cancer and would be undergoing
an operation in May. Based on this information plans we made to manage the
school through the summer term on the assumption that Heather would be back in
July or certainly by the start of the Autumn term. Mr Pike our deputy head
would assume the role of Head for this period and his teaching duties covered
by other or temporary staff. Sadly Heather's cancer was in-operable so by the
middle of the summer term it was impossible to assess when, if ever, she would
return. Only in February and after an attempt to achieve a phased return did
she inform us that she would take early retirement on the grounds of poor
health. The uncertainty surrounding her illness has had an impact on everybody
but in particular the Deputy Head, his Staff and obviously anxious Parents
whose children were in years 5 & 6 where the continuity of teaching was
being affected. The Governing Body had expected that a medical assessment of
Heather in November would suggest early retirement but surprisingly the doctor
said she was fit to return to work. This was a bad decision for the school
because Heather never returned to work however, as a result of this decision,
her formal resignation was delayed for a further four months. |
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During these
last four months I feel that it is important to record the pressure placed on
both Kay Blackburn and Judith Penton by this situation as they had to manage
both Heather's wish to return to work with the certain knowledge that she would
not do so. Parents were becoming very pressing for information as they also
experienced how this continuing uncertainty was beginning to impact on the
whole operation of the school. Both Kay and Judith were taking the full force
of parental concerns. Equally the whole Governing Body agreed that having gone
this far we were not prepared to force a resignation now. However in
preparation Kay and Judith had meetings with County and between them prepared
for the inevitable point when Heather accepted that she would not return to
work. When that decision came they had David Yates ready to step in as acting
head to manage the school until a new head could be found. |
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David Yates is
a very experienced Head Teacher with more than 23 years in the role and has
made himself available for three days a week until the end of December by which
time a new head should have been recruited. His assessment to me of his initial
findings is that the teaching side of the school has continued despite all the
problems and " that what should be going on in the classrooms is indeed
going on". On the administration side things are a little less
clean-cut but David Yates is reviewing this now for the May meeting of the
Governors. |
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As the
Responsible Officer for the school I would just like to say that during this
very difficult year the administration staff had three audit visits and the
subsequent reports were all very satisfactory. My estimates for the financial
year to March 2004 indicate that the school will have carry forward reserves of
between £12,000 and £15,000 this is the lowest for some years but
satisfactory since we have incurred considerable added expenditure as a result
of the above events an element of which was not covered by insurance. I have
also assisted David Yates with the preparation of the 2004-2005 budget and
using his assessment for teaching staff requirements we have produced a
break-even for the coming year. This assumes that we will have a new
Headteacher in place by January 2005. These budgets have not yet been approved
by the Governing Body. |
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It has been a
very difficult year with many delicate issues faced so I would like to thank
the administration and teaching staff, particularly Rob Pike, for all their
efforts to keep the school running so well in very challenging circumstances.
As Responsible Officer I could not have met my duties to the School and its
Governors without their hard work and "good humour". My thanks also to Kay
Blackburn and Judith Penton who have so expertly guided us all through such a
distressing set of circumstances and we look forward optimistically to the
coming year. |
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The
Chairman said that the Parish Council were very grateful to Peter Bentley. The
Chairman said that everyone was happy with Mr Yates and that things were a lot
happier at the school. |
| 6. |
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ANY OTHER
BUSINESS. |
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A parishioner,
Richard Allan, broached the subject of traffic management and asking HGV's not
to use the route through the village. Cllr. Peacock discussed the matter with
him. Cllr. Peacock gave Mr Allan the background of weight distribution. He
explained that if Temple Farm in the Local Plan had gone through then a weight
restriction would have been put on the road. He explained that the Parish
Council had gone through every option with Essex County Council and Chelmsford
Borough Council. Cllr. Peacock advised that the speed problem was phase 1 and
the second stage would be to address the volume and size of vehicles. Cllr.
Peacock asked the public to give the Parish Council suggestions of what could
be done and advised that he would be willing to take the comments back to
Chelmsford Borough Council and Essex County Council. Suggestions made were
narrowing the road, pedestrian crossings like in Retendon. It was commented
that horizontal deflection would be less attractive and would be urbanisation,
which the villagers did not want. A parishioner, Virginia Henderson, advised
that several large vehicles are using Smallgains Lane/Well Lane and are
damaging the verges. |
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A parishioner
asked whether after the survey of the village had been carried out whether a
meeting could be held with the traffic engineers to discuss the matters raised.
It was suggested that a public meeting be held to discuss what has been done to
affect speed, what can be done about volume and size of vehicles. |
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The
Chairman felt the only solution was to put in a bypass. A parishioner suggested
cats eyes with speed cameras in. The Chairman advised that all the lanes
locally were also being looked into and that it was not only the High
Street. |
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The Chairman
said that she appreciated all of Cllr. Peacock's work on traffic and that she
was very grateful to him. |
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It was reported
that someone had given permission to have Damson trees cut on the public
footpath between Myln Meadow and Mill Lane. The parishioner said that they had
heard a rumour that the Parish Council are considering turning the area into an
open area for a play area. Cllr. Peacock advised that he had looked into the
matter with Chelmsford Borough Council. It was reported that ELS had cleared
the footpath as it was looking untidy and the Parish Council had asked them to
clear the undergrowth. It was suggested that a new Damson tree be planted. |
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Cllr. Peacock
advised that Chelmsford Borough Council have a new initiative for village Tree
Wardens to look after trees, replace trees and attend organised training. Cllr.
Peacock advised if anyone was interested in taking on the role they should
contact the Parish Council. Cllr. Peacock advised that he had approached The
Woodland Trust but they already spend a lot of time at Swan Wood. |
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A parishioner,
John Stratford, talked about the street co-ordinator of Neighbourhood Watch and
advised that they lacked a leader. The Chairman suggested that they elect a new
Chairman. She said that there were enough people who wanted the scheme so it
should not be too difficult to reassemble it. The Chairman said that she would
talk to Tom about the matter. |
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A parishioner,
Mr Allan, asked about the status of the new Doctor's surgery. The Chairman said
that there had been no end of problems and that they had re-applied with the
plans. |
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The Chairman
thanked everyone for coming; the meeting closed at 8.43pm. |
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RECEIPTS AND
PAYMENTS FOR YEAR-ENDED 31/3/05. |
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| RECEIPTS |
PAYMENTS |
| Precept |
£30,000.00 |
Admin |
£11,933.06 |
| Bank Int. |
£ 828.98 |
Grass
Cutting |
£ 3,670.00 |
| VAT Refund |
£
1,510.32 |
S137 |
£
675.00 |
| Misc. |
£
36.48 |
Open Spaces/Parks |
|
| Cricket
Club |
£
279.00 |
Etc |
£
5,155.48 |
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VAT |
£
1,439.11 |
|
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£32,654.78 |
|
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£22,872.65 |
| Current A/c. 31/3/04 |
£ 1,174.60 |
Current A/c. 31/3/05 |
£
1,127.75 |
| HIBA 31/3/04 |
£37,597.39 |
B/R 31/3/05 |
£
7,194.32 |
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|
Tracker A/c. 31/3/05 |
£40,232.05 |
|
----------------
£71,426.77 |
|
----------------
£71,426.77 |
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