Broadwoodkelly Parish Council
Annual Parish Meeting
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting for Broadwoodkelly Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Tuesday 22nd May 2017 at 7.30 p.m.
Present: Chairman Cllr Roger Heggadon, Cllrs T. Hill, D. Reed, Mrs B. Cook and R. Gant.
Cllr J. Clark had sent his apologies because of work commitments. The apology was accepted.
Borough Councillor Louise Watts and 2 members of the public were also present.
1. Minutes of the previous meeting:
It was proposed by Cllr Gant that the minutes of the meeting held on 23rd May 2017 be signed as a true record. This was seconded by Cllr Hill and unanimously agreed. The chairman signed the minutes.
2. Matters Arising from these minutes
There were none.
3. Chairman’s Report covering the activities of the Parish Council over the past year
The chairman began his report by thanking his fellow councillors for all their hard work and support over the past twelve months.
He also thanked the newest councillor, Beverley Cook. She has done an excellent job in setting up and maintaining the village website.
There have been several planning applications throughout the year, which has kept the council busy.
He concluded his report by thanking the clerk for her work throughout the year.
4. Report by Borough Councillor
Councillor Watts stated the Borough Council has held their AGM and Councillor Mike Davis has been elected the new mayor and Councillor Tony Leech is the Deputy Mayor.
They have been working very hard to close the budget gap. An ‘Invest to Earn’ group has been set up to look at commercial property investment. Some investments have been made and these should bring in £190,000 per year plus funds which are being put away (£16million has been spent). The properties are in the South West. The group is also looking at other ways to earn money – ways in which to utilise the Kilworthy Park building and its grounds, handing over the running of public toilets to town/parish councils, increasing car parking charges and decreasing some support to local groups.
Councillor Lois Samuels has been re-elected as Deputy Leader.
A member of the public asked what happens when/if the tenants of the commercial properties go into liquidation? Councillor Watts stated she was not able to give a direct response to this question, but contingencies are in place to cover this event.
Councillor Watts asked how the new recycling scheme has settled in. Councillor Cook stated she has been missed a couple of times, but when she rings up her recycling is collected.
5. Members of the public to address the parish council or Borough Councillor with issues of concern
A member of the public congratulated the council on getting the website up and running.
He was also appreciative of receiving the minutes and agendas via email but stated he had not received them this time. The clerk was very apologetic and stated that she had overlooked sending them on this occasion.
He stated it was good to see the budget information on the website and asked what was happening to the surplus. The clerk explained that at the moment it was going into General Reserves, but it was the intention of the council to either keep the precept at its current level or decrease it gradually over coming years.
Cllr Gant mentioned to Councillor Watts that the Borough Council has re-instated the discretionary rate relief for the village hall. He mentioned it to Councillor Samuel when she was present at a meeting as it had been taken away and the village hall had to pay business rates for the first time. He would like to express his thanks to her if she had taken up the case.
6. Date of next meeting
May 28th 2019 (this date is subject to change)
The meeting concluded at 7.55 pm