The Annual Parish Meeting was held on Wednesday 19 April 2006 in the Reading Room at 7.30pm.
Apologies: The Clerk.
Present: Mrs Hurst, Mr Sole, Mr Wheeler, Mr Hancock, Mr Wittey, Mrs Straw, Chairman - Mr Martin, District Councillor Elsby, County Councillor Kindersley (later) and five members of public.
Minutes: of the last Annual Meeting, previously circulated, were agreed and signed.
Reports:
South Cambs District Council Report – Ann Elsby
This year has passed quickly but has also been very busy. The cemetery, by the sound of it, has been sorted. The Reading Room has planning permission for a disabled entrance. Crail has gone ahead against the wishes of the village. SCDC has been capped so there are no more recycling credits that can help with village projects. The Community Funds are affected, so there are fewer grants available. Lower Road is still a problem. A petition has been gathered and presented to the joint area committee, but I need someone from the Parish Council to speak at the meeting on 19 June. I made excuses at the last meeting, but if no-one is willing to speak nothing will be done, and it will all have been a waste of time. I have also been talking with CCC Footpaths folk on footpath 12, which they say should come out onto St Georges, but we are disputing this. Further looks at maps are still needed. “Free travel for all pensioners” is a joke. The government has not given SCDC enough funding for them to cross boundaries, so they can travel within south Cambridgeshire, but not go into any town to shop. So far I have been doing a letter in Gamlingay and I think Sebastian has organised the other villages, but don’t blame SCDC or Sebastian. We are trying to do something about it.
If I am re-elected I will serve you as best as I can on the District Council.
Cllr Elsby was asked about the lack of cats’ eyes on Lower Road. She reported that it would be addressed at 19 June meeting.
Orwell School Governor’s report – Margaret Tomkys
This is my first report after just two terms discovering what a governor is meant to do, so please excuse if it is not what is expected.
After a difficult and changeable year in 2004/5 the school has begun a year of consolidation and steady improvement. Numbers have stabilised with no further fall in roll. A new teacher, Mrs Girvan, has been appointed for Year1, but the experienced staff remain a stable, reliable team with strong leaders and a very capable SEN.Co ensuring that all needed help is available. There is now a new set of assessment procedures in school which allows tracking of individual children’s progress and therefore targeting of support where each child needs it.
The attainment levels are very encouraging. The SATs were very good, well above the national average for reading and writing, equal to the national average in maths in Year 2, but well above for higher classes. Year 6 results show steady improvement, from good to very good, over a three year period. The figures show that value added to the children’s attainment levels by the school is high and puts it in the top 5% of similar schools in the country.
The OFSTED inspection was very successful. Comment on leadership in the school was favourable as was that on the new ICT structures. All classrooms now have interactive white boards.
The school received International School status and is in touch with schools in Ghana and also in London, from where some pupils will be visiting Petersfield next term.
After problems working with a deficit last year, it is pleasing that at the moment it looks as if this year’s budget will balance or even have a small surplus, though it will not be certain for some time. The Diocese has agreed a scheme of mainly external minor improvements to the school, for which the school pays 10% of the cost. Work will begin in April.
Close links are maintained with the Church and Diocese and one of the aims for the coming year is to develop the Christian Ethos of the school as underpinning its values as a community. Other aims for the year are to improve maths and boys’ literacy, and to strengthen contacts with other village communities.
The Governing Body, which has several new members this year, is engaged in trying to update the many official policies which the school is required to make available and to act within. For example, Child Protection and Intimate Care have just been agreed and a small subcommittee is at present working on the complex of policies covering Medical Needs.
Reading Room Report – Janet Wheeler
Work has been going on behind the scenes and I am now in a position to report on the progress that has been made in respect of the fire exit and disabled access alterations.
We are indebted to Brian McGeoch of The Old Post Office who offered to draw up the necessary plans for the proposed alterations. The Trustees would like to extend their thanks to Brian for his time and knowledge in providing the drawings which enabled us to move things on a stage further. Applications for Building Regulations and Planning Permission were submitted simultaneously towards the end of November 2005. We were finally granted Planning Permission on 25th January 2006 and were then in a position to obtain quotes for the work to be done. Last week I received the third and final quote and in the next few days the Trustees will meet to decide who will do the work. As anybody who has tried to obtain a builder in these parts will know it is very unlikely that the chosen contractor will be able to start immediately. Once we are ‘booked in’ it will no doubt be a waiting game. However, I am confident that the work will be completed by the end of the summer since everyone who was invited to quote was also asked to indicate their availability. If anyone is interested in seeing the plans and specification I have a copy with me.
This year’s accounts have just been audited and we currently have a total of £7939.53 in two accounts – £1686.82 in our ‘working account’ and £6252.71 in our Premium Business account. I have a copy of the accounts with me which I will circulate and a copy will be posted on the village website along with this report. This year the Treasurer has negotiated a very favourable insurance premium for the Reading Rooms but the downside is that we have agreed to a £1000 excess in order to keep the premium as low as possible. This means that we have to keep a minimum balance of £1000 available at any time in the working account to comply with this agreement. On a more positive note, the Parish Council has recently sanctioned a sum of £500 from the parish precept for the benefit of the Reading Rooms which is in addition to the figures already mentioned.
The Parish Council and the PCC remain the most regular users of the hall although whilst the Church was undergoing restoration, church services were held in the hall for some months with great success. Additionally the hall was used for Trafalgar Night celebrations and the Christmas Bazaar. Currently, regular fete meetings are being held in the hall to prepare for this years fete which is taking place on 15th July and once again proceeds will be equally shared between the Reading Rooms and the Church Restoration Fund.
Finally, thanks are due to our caretaker, Chris Sole and to David Chamberlain who I understand is still taking care of the grass cutting and also to everyone who has supported fundraising events.
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen – welcome to this year’s Annual Parish Meeting.
I was reading the minutes from last year’s meeting and saw that we were discussing a fatality on lower Road. One year on, and fatalities are still being discussed, the latest just before Christmas. The number of accidents along Lower Road over recent years is becoming a concern. Cllr Ann Elsby has collected signatures for a petition to get some form of traffic calming between the A1198 and Tadlow. This will be presented to a Council meeting in June and she has asked for a member of Croydon Parish Council to put forward our case.
Regarding calming measures within the High Street and Larkins Road, it has been suggested that due to Council cutbacks it is very unlikely that we would get any unless the village pays for them.
The churchyard extension is still moving forward. We need to apply to the Environment Agency for permission to pipe some sections of the ditch that runs adjacent to the churchyard extension. This is to allow vehicular access to the ground. Highways have approved in principle as long as the Environment Agency approves. Once we get this work done and have some hedging planted the site can be handed over to the PCC.
The building development at Crail proved to a challenging few months for all concerned. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, with a number of different applications, the developers finally got their planning permission. The Parish Council was disappointed with the outcome and felt that the Planning Committee once again ignored our recommendations.
On a positive note, the Parish website is now available and you will hear more about it later in the meeting.
Finally, I would like to thank the other council members and Marian for their help over the year, and also Zoë for filling Marian’s shoes on this occasion.
Parish Council Finance:
The Clerk sent a brief interpretation of the accounts - the Council has changed from the Yorkshire Bank in Peterborough to Barclays Bank in Royston. Income from stocks is usually £6-32. Because of the change in banks, the second instalment of £3-16 was not paid into the bank automatically, but sent by cheque. It has now been received and paid in, but will feature in next year’s accounts. All further interest should be paid direct now. VAT will be reclaimed shortly. The unadopted accounts were offered to the meeting for inspection.
Income Expenditure
Precept 2595 - 00 Insurance 423 - 02
Interest Bank 31 Reading Room hire 134 - 90
Stocks 3 - 16 Churchyard Maintenance 200 - 00
NSB 354 - 52 Churchyard extension costs 1572 - 00
Recycling credits 107 - 41 Audit 50 - 00
VAT repaid 218 – 65 Internal Auditor 30 - 00
Subs to Associations 144 – 73
British Legion wreath 16 - 50
VAT 275 - 63
Clerk (Salary, Sundry exp) 1179 - 97
________ ________
3279 - 05 4026 - 75
________ ________
Balances
31 March 2005 11550 - 60 31 March 2006
Add receipts 3279 - 05 National Savings 10277 - 69
Less payments (4026 -75) Bank Account 343 - 64
Stocks 181 - 57
__________ _________
10802 - 90 10802 – 90
__________ __________
It was stated by Mr Hancock that the precept has been cut this year as councillors felt enough had been accrued for the churchyard extension. Mrs Hurst reported that the Clerk had declined an increase in salary, despite the amount of work that she does. The decision on the transfer of funds from the NSB is to be made later in the meeting.
Village Matters
Church Restoration - Malcolm Ralph
The short version is:- hurray and well done Croydon (cum Clopton)!
This community - WE - should all be proud of what has been achieved. Over the years just about everyone has contributed in some way or other including simply supporting events. None of it would have been possible without strong support from the community. Hard work - YES - but culminating is celebration and re-opening. It is worth reminding ourselves that together we have completed one of the most significant phases in the, at least, 800 year history of the present building. Anyone who has been inside will, I hope, agree that we have visibly moved to a new level.
Some historical context for the newer Parish members; closure was threatened in the mid 1970s and since then, with only short breaks, an almost continuous series of works was started. We went through some very dark days indeed particularly in 1998 when English Heritage wobbled and the chancel roof collapsed! That really was the lowest ebb and closure was again a distinct possibility, but to its credit the PCC held its nerve and roped off the chancel and frankly rode out the problems we had with EH. The chancel was finally restored and re-opened in 2002.
To remind ourselves of the works just completed - all of the rest of the roof (save the chancel) i.e. nave, N and S transepts and porch; huge amounts of strengthening have gone in above the leaning arcades correcting (hopefully) the mediaeval mistake (!); we have a lighting circuit, heating circuit, ring main and most noticeably a completely new ceiling, which by a huge majority, has been favourably received. Personally, for the first time I do feel (fingers crossed) confident that we will pass the building on to the next generation in a better state than we found it - which is all we can do in the long history of such a place.
Total cost has been £174,622 which is close to the tender figure but only because works have been dropped along the way to keep the finances under control. We have squeezes the grant-giving bodies for all they are worth, and reclaimed VAT from the Chancellor, with the result that a little over 90% of the funds needed have come from grants (and VAT) which says a lot about what outsiders think of the value of the building. An important point for us parishioners to note is that this means for every £1 raised locally we have been given an extra £9, so the gearing of benefit for our efforts is very high - which should at least make us all feel better given the effort involved. The PCC anticipated being a few thousand pounds (0 - £3000) in the red on completion and this still looks about right subject to, on the negative side), sorting out another EH wrinkle, but on the positive side still with a slight possibility of one further grant award.
One incredible team-working effort I particularly want to mention tonight was the fantastic gang of twenty or more who turned out evenings and weekends through the bitter cold of January and February to transform the interior from a building site to a condition better than beyond living memory. This should also clear up the reported sightings of strange blue coloured beings covered in a white powder haze seen tramping back up the High Street on winter afternoons. Seriously, that really was some achievement and a memory all involved will enjoy recounting once their brains have finally thawed out, which should be about June time. A HUGE thank you to them all.
Secondly I want to mention Brenda and Paul Wittey’s booklet commemorating in words and pictures the past twenty years or so of restoration works ……………………
Brains behind?
Sold well
Anyone wants a copy and/or photos ………
Website
Also an historical report is available for anyone to borrow and again possibly for the website.
Looking to the future:
There is a general feeling around and in the PCC that we do need now to draw breath and enjoy what has been achieved - work being continuous and heavy since 1999. Debts will need to be paid over the next few years and works left out this time will need doing at some time e.g. windows HEATING, monitoring etc and we have a quinquennial inspection due soon – always the possibility of surprises!? So, fund raising will always be needed (and the PCC is addressing general funding) but hopefully more planned than panicked.
There is a strong desire to maintain continuous improvement to the interior and, building on the team effort I have already mentioned, the key focus for this is likely to be the recently launched 1st Saturday group which I must stress is to become the Last Saturday group. Just turn up from 10.30am onwards as and when.
The last Saturday in the month – 29 April
This may lead to launching a “Friends of All Saints” organisation (under the PCC) which would be a way of people being involved in the survival and use of the building, even if not involved in the church side of things. Thinking about it and reactions tonight or anytime welcome.
There is a desire for events in the church to make use of the building ….. (and often the Reading Room) as well - music, choral, whatever - again, thoughts or ideas welcome.
Finally, at the recent Annual PCC Meeting I publicly expressed thanks to all those involved in the recently completed works - from the architects, contractors, engineer, grants bodies, that magnificent clear-up and decorating team etc etc. I don’t intend to go through the list again tonight but I should like at this local level to thank especially all those families who have made private bequests towards the cost of these works - many of these are from old village families who have very long associations with Croydon. I would on behalf of the PCC once more thank everyone in Croydon for their support and now look forward to the community benefiting from what has been achieved whether in services, events, weddings, funerals and so on. I should like to thank Garth and Helen for leading this summer’s Fete, which will benefit both the Reading Room and church.
Finally, thank you Mr Chairman, for inviting me to make this report tonight.
Churchyard Maintenance: It was proposed by Mrs Hurst and seconded by Mr Wheeler that the Parish Council continues to help towards the maintenance of the churchyard with a payment of £225 to the PCC. All in favour.
Croydon Website: Mr Wheeler reported that although he was unable to attend the January meeting, at which the precept was set, he hoped that the monies saved from the £500 allocated to set up the website could be redirected to the Reading Room donation - total spend to date on the website is £26.
Finance: After discussion it was proposed by Mrs Hurst and seconded by Mr Sole that £2225 be transferred from NSB to the current account to meet imminent expenditure. All in favour. Form for a crossed warrant signed - Clerk to action.
County Council Report – Cllr Sebastian Kindersley
Public Session:
Parish Council Matters:
Clean Neighbourhoods Act: Read out by the Chairman - anyone interested would need to attend a training course. Cllr Elsby reported that the PCSO is doing this course.
CALC: Meeting on 31 May – fairly desperate for people to attend – any volunteers? Circulated.
CCC Statement of Community Involvement: To be circulated for any comments by 12 May.
Items for May agenda:
Precept: Balance remaining after website expenses
Date of next meeting - Wednesday 17 May 2006 at 8.00pm – Annual Parish Council Meeting
Date of next Annual Meeting - Wednesday 18 April 2007 at 7.30pm.
As there was no further business the meeting closed at 9.00pm.