Chairman’s Report May 2009 

This is my second year as Chairman of the Group Parish Council, and looking back over the last 12 months I would like to say a big thank you to all of our Councillors for your dedication and hard work in making the Council run smoothly and getting things done.

I don’t intend to provide a complete list, containing chapter and verse for all that has been achieved/discussed over the last year, instead I would like to highlight several important issues/developments:

1       Quality Council Status

We gained this accolade in January this year and as a Council we must all feel immensely proud of achieving this status.  It proves that we are aiming to improve the level of service that we are providing for the community and it goes without saying that a lot of hard work and dedication has gone into achieving this award.  Now all we need is for HALC to do their bit and issue us with the appropriate certificate, quite ironic really that it is taking them over four months to issue us with “Quality Council” Certificate. 

2       Newsletter

This was a major part of the jigsaw in attaining “Quality Council” status and it continues to thrive, we owe a big thank you to Councillor Liz Overstall who has stepped into the breech as Editor and we must continue to use this as a very useful form of communication.

3       Website   

Again this was another important factor in achieving “Quality Council” status, the Parish Website has been maintained and also improved over the last 12 months, we realise that its content must be kept up to date and I would encourage us all to view the site regularly and inform the Council of changes that need to be made.

4       Bus Shelter

This was finally completed in 2008 and hopefully the community at large is benefiting from its installation.

5       Lengthsman Scheme

This is in its seventh year, and is a valuable form of completing general maintenance for our Group Parishes, we have been slowly spending more of this budget each year, but we are still leaving ourselves with surplus capital at the end of the financial year.  We must ensure that we try and find new areas which will benefit from this annual capital expenditure.

6       Parish Footpaths

I am pleased to report a significant increase in the work that has been completed within this initiative, with the installation of 2 new signposts and 7 new gates; in addition a total of 450 metres of vegetation has been cleared. Again communication from both ourselves and the community is the key to ensure more improvements are made, and therefore in addition more of the allocated budget is spent, in the coming year.

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking Peter Overstall for his hard work within his role as Footpaths Officer, which has ensured the items of work/maintenance have been carried out in a very efficient manner.

7       Twinning     

This is a relatively new project which started in November and then gathered at a pace to then take in a visit to our prospective twnniners in Segonzac, by myself and fellow Councillors Madeleine Bradley and Peter Jinman, together with our Clerk, Andy Shipp.  I feel that we would all agree that there are opportunities not to be missed in the benefits of a twinning arrangement, however, this is not a baton to be taken up by the Group Parish Council, and instead it needs to be initiated further by the community as a whole.  We have seen a growing interest from members of the public to develop this further and hope that it continues for the benefit of the community.

Once again this year we have had two of our long standing Councillors, John Middle and Jean Addis standing down, but I am pleased to report that we have gained four new Councillors in Bennie Krige, Richard Baker, Glyn James and Judith Webb, and I would like to take this opportunity of welcoming you all aboard. 

On a final note I would again like to thank all Councillors for their support over the last year which continues to make my roll as Chairman much easier.  Once again, I would also like to thank our Clerk, Andy Shipp, who continues to make things run very smoothly and keep everything ship shape, and I feel that we are very fortunate to have someone like Andy whose dedication to the role never fails to impress. On a final note, as we are all aware, Councillor Derek Harris is standing down as Vice-Chair and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his contribution in this position over the last 3 years.

Councillor Paul Sheen

Chairman

Ewyas Harold Group Parish Council            Dated: 5 May 2009