YEARLY
NEWSLETTER MAY 2004
General
During
this year the Parish council
members have been Geoff Casey, Gerald Jeanes, Paul Moore, Neville Park
(Chairman), Michelle Taylor (Now resigned) and John Wright. After
giving a sterling
service over the years, Jackie Longley resigned as Parish Clerk in
August 2003
and Jacqueline Witt has now taken on the onerous task of keeping us all
on the
straight and narrow. Mary Mears continues to provide an outstanding
service as
Cemetery Clerk. The council has operated with one member short for the
whole of
the period and now with a resignation and one member sidelined through
illness,
(we wish you a speedy recovery Paul), volunteers are urgently required.
Any
interested parties should contact either a Council member or the Parish
Clerk.
Planning Applications
The
council has dealt with 21 planning
applications during the period April 2003 to March 2004, mainly for
domestic
dwellings. Recently the planning process was given, from a local
perspective, a
much welcome boost with the introduction of a policy, by Mendip
District
Council, to give more weight to decisions/remarks made by Parish
Councils. The
Parish Council continues to have due regard to the guidelines contained
within
the Village Design Statement when dealing with planning matters.
Affordable Housing
Following the
housing survey, a need for affordable housing within the parish with
priority
given to local people was established. The process has now progressed
with
provisional drawings for three two-bedroom and three three-bedroom
dwellings. A
public consultation day when the proposed plans and artistic
impressions will
be available for viewing and comment will be held in the village hall
in the
very near future.
Financial
It has been
necessary to increase the precept by above inflationary levels this
year, this
is due mainly to prudent increases in the past and rising costs, which
have
resulted in a fall in the reserve fund. However, overall the level of
precept
is still below many parishes of similar size in the area. During the
financial
year the council has made grants to the following organisations:
Relate: Victim
Support: Bridget Parker Trust: Leigh Recreation Field: Leigh First
School: The
Parish Warden Scheme.
Quarry
Matters
The main item of
note this year has been the change of ownership of Barnes Close quarry.
This
initially created noise nuisance problems with an increased level of
motorbike
scrambling in the area. Following discussions with various
representatives of
parish and district councils and the new owner, this problem now
appears to
have diminished. The Parish Wardens are continuing to monitor the
situation. As
to the long term plans of the new owner for the future use of Barnes
Close, no
specific plan has been submitted and at the current time no planning
application has been made for this property.
Roads and
Footpaths
The council has
continued to make representations to Somerset County Council Highways
department with regard to outstanding maintenance work required within
the
Parish, with limited success. Also a second request was made to extend
the
30mph limit to include Townsend, unfortunately this was turned down.
The policy
to replace footpath stiles with kissing gates when possible is
continuing.