2023 Annual Parish Meeting

Clerk: Mr S R Baxter | Email: clerk@norththoresby-pc.gov.uk | Tel: 0781 444 3058 Address: North Thoresby Village Hall, The Square, North Thoresby, DN36 5QL
For the community….by the community…

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

03 July 2023 – 6.30pm

MINUTES

Present:

Councillors:  Cllr. Gale (Ac,ng Chair), Cllr.Marshall, Cllr. Jones, Cllr. Snell, Cllr Berryman.

Clerk and RFO: Mr S Baxter   Members of the public (MOP):  circa 30

MeeOng commenced at 7.30pm.

MeeOng was held at the North Thoresby Village Hall, North Thoresby.

AGENDA ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1.   CHAIRMANS WELCOME

Cllr Gale introduced the mee,ng and updated all that she would be represen,ng the Parish Council on behalf of the Chair of the Parish Council who was unfortunately absent due to illness.

She welcomed everyone to the 2023 Annual Parish Mee,ng of the communi,es of North Thoreseby, Grainsby and Waithe and hoped everyone will enjoy the mee,ng and is welcome to stay for the monthly Full Parish Council mee,ng aNerwards. She thanked the persons providing the teas and biscuits and hoped everyone had had an opportunity to see the Agenda for the mee,ng.

The new Clerk was introduced and was invited to give two statements on the following subjects:

a)   The Recording of Parish Council Mee,ngs - both the legal permission and the criteria when the Chair will interrupt the recording

b)   The current Parish Council posi,on in regard to the conduct of Councillors and the process if the community, fellow councillors or officers feel they breached the Code of Conduct.

The Clerk thanked everyone for their pa,ence and hoped that these statements and updates would reassure the community of the process and considera,on of certain topics which had been raised by the community.
 
2.   TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2022

The Chair asked if the Councillors present or any members of the community wish to bring to their aTen,on any irregulari,es in regard to the accuracy of the minutes of the previous Annual Parish Council.

No inaccuracies were brought to the aTen,on of the Council.

The Clerk asked if a member of the Parish Council wished to propose that the minutes be accepted as an accurate record of the mee,ng.

•   Mo#on to accept the minutes as an accurate record of the 2022 Annual Parish Mee#ng was proposed, seconded and agreed unanimously. Mo#on carried.

3.   INTRODUCTIONS PARISH COUNCIL

The Chair wanted to ensure that the community were aware of who represented them on the Parish Council:

Cllr Vicky Marshall - stated that she wanted to ensure that the families and the younger genera,on had a voice on the PC and while she may have only been in the village of North Thoresby for a few years, she very much enjoyed living in the community.

Cllr Zoe Snell - stated that she had lived in the community for over six years aNer moving up from Kent. She was a former foster carer and wanted to be pay an ac,ve part in her community to ensure that issues like the traffic impact was fully reviewed by the PC and the Highways.

Cllr Helen Berryman - stated that she had been in the village for over 45 years and very much wanted to ensure that the community retained it’s community spirit as well as well as the Parish Council. She looks forward to being part of the team to help the community.

Cllr Lynne Gale - has been in the village for over three years and whilst she lives on the outskirts, she very much feels part of the community. She moved to the area just before the Covid-19 pandemic but has seen that this the ideal place to grow older and enjoy what the area and community has to offer.

Cllr Corey - stated the her family had been in the village for nearly 25 years with her moving back and forth into the village. She very much enjoys living in the area and her aim for her role is to forge beTer rela,onships between the community and the PC to ensure that everyone benefits.

Cllr Heather Howard - has been in the village for nearly six years and works in the local school and very much enjoys working with the younger genera,on in the community. She joined the Parish Council to help fight the major housing development.

Cllr Gale wanted to place on record the sincere thanks of the Parish Council to Cllr Howard who had for the previous few months been ac,ng clerk and through her hard work helped to keep the Parish Council together.

Cllr Buckenham and Cllr Gallop - unfortunately couldn’t aTend the mee,ng but both very much look forward to serving the community as the Chair and Vice Chair (respec,vely) of the Parish Council.
 
4.   REPORTS FROM COMMUNITY GROUPS

•   St Helen’s Church

Joe Gibson, Church Warden of 41 years from the Church welcomed all to the Church especially the younger genera,on. They wish promote the fund raising they undertake for Charity which includes the table top sales at the Village Hall.

•   Pop in lunch Club

Di King from the Pop in Lunch Club - the club was founded in 2005 which helps provide monthly lunch club to the local community at the Village Hall. This is really helps the older genera,on to meet and greet fellow members of the community which helps the isola,on some face. She wanted to thank Cllr Howard for helping - they welcome all volunteers to help.

She also wanted to thank the local school children who have regularly performed carols and music for the lunch group aTendees - this is a great example of mul, genera,onal integra,on which allows all ages of the village to work and enjoy music together.

•   Women’s InsOtute

Val Savage described how the North Thoresby WI was formed in 1929 and meets the first Tuesday of the month at the Wesley Centre. They have regular speakers - recent discussions have been family history and charity walks across the country. They have a very great mixed age range of members (18-80 years) and welcome everyone to join them.

•   Knit and Na^er

Margaret Gibson gave a detailed descrip,on of how the organisa,on was founded 12 years ago and they s,ll have most founding members. She stated that they meet at the Wesley Centre on most Mondays although they are currently in their summer break. They have been able to support a great range of chari,es and welcome anyone in the community who have spare wool to donate to help them con,nue to raise money for charity.

•   Askew Alms Houses

Di BuTerfield from the local Alms Houses spoke about the the local asset of the community which provides great help to local members of the community. They have recently finished the communal garden which has been a great success. They have recently undertaken significant work on the infrastructure of the houses to ensure they are ready for the future.

•   Working AcOon Group

Adrian Coy from the W A G has been in the area for over 40 years - their aim was ini,ally to stop the major housing development and although their main objec,ve has not been successful (as the ELDC Planners gave the approval of the applica,on) they have been able to secure vital changes to the plans. With the support of the village and the community they have been able to secure agreements (under a S106 agreements) for items such as a pathways being changed, hedges being retained rather then walls being built, the flooding risk being beTer managed and overall will be looking for the provision of beTer resources for local groups. He looks forward to con,nuing working with the District Council and the developers to secure the best possible outcome for the community.

He wished to place on thanks help from the whole community as well as Cllr Howard - help which has played a major role in securing successes for the village.

•   Wesley Centre

Lyne from the Wesley Centre described how she is one the stewards of the church which is part of a group of Methodist Churches in the area.   She described how the Church provides weekly Sunday services as well as Tuesday coffee mornings and Bible Study groups. They also have the Men’s Group on a Thursday which promotes good mental health for men. The centre has recently finished extensive work on the building and from the help of the Local History Group has created an archive room. As well as having only one of two Headmasters Houses aTached to a school in the Country they welcome all, especially the younger  genera,on.

•   Sports Teams in North Thoresby

Dave Bedlow gave a great debrief about the local football and cricket teams in the village of which he helps both to con,nue in their recent great success. The Cricket Club has mul,ple youth and older teams and the football club many teams enjoy the recently developed 5 a side football pitch which while it is privately owned, does welcome local groups to use the facility.

Mr Below also described how he was the unofficial custodian of the local Children’s Play Park and would encourage all younger members of the community to use the facility. He would welcome any help to maintain the area and look aNer the equipment.

•   Events and History Group

Claire Cooper described how she is now the Chair of the Group which originally started as the 1940s Events Associa,on. The group has been able to generate great significant sums for local causes and wished to thank the local community for their support in the recent events they have arranged. They have also been able to raise money for the village Christmas Tree as well as local ini,a,ves.

They have also been able to undertake significant research into the local historic areas around the village and look forward to con,nuing to inves,gate historical areas around North Thoresby and beyond.

5.   CHAIRMANS ANNUAL REPORT 2022 TO 2023 AND. LOOKING FORWARD TO 2023/24

Cllr Gale read out a statement from the Chair of the Parish Council.

It was confirmed that it will be published on the website in due course.

6.   PUBLIC FORUM (15 MINUTES)

There was mul,ple ques,ons about the roads and pathways in the village of which the aTendees were told that the majority of these issues lay with the Highways Department of LCC and it was advisable to contact them. The Parish Council has stated that they would be looking at the overgrown Rowan Tree at near the Doctors to see if it can be maintained.

The Parish Council did acknowledge that the raids near the new Beanlands Development were needing reviewing but the issue was that the developer had not finished the building and thus may be able to wait un,l the building was completed.  The PC would keep this issue under review.

The issue about the lime trees was raised - the PC confirmed that they were fully reviewed and worked on last year but would keep them under review.

MeeOng was closed by Cllr Gale on behalf of the Parish Council at 7.25pm.