BPC ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES 15.05.23 — Bulwick Parish Council

BULWICK PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING 23/05/2023, 6pm at Bulwick Village Centre

P Meeting of the Parish

Minutes of Bulwick Annual Parish Meeting held on Thursday 23rd May 2024 at 6.00 pm in the Bulwick Local Centre.

Present:

Councillors: Cllrs M Beaton (Chair), J Sanderson, I Martin, A Lashmar & Clerk Disney

In Attendance: 5 members of the public.

1. Apologies received and approved:

L Vaughan, S Hedderly Police Liaison Representative

2. Chairmans Report 2023 – 2024 :

Cllr M Beaton (Chair) Opened the meeting and explained the objective and the reports within the meeting.

The Chairman reflected over the third year in office. It has been a very active year for the council with planned activities gathering pace & being completed. Residence can see the activity first hand in the village, & details from the Parish Council report in the annual news letter and by reading the Parish Council minutes.

The Parish Council continues to search for new projects that will improve our local services and environment.

He thanked his fellow councillors for their unstinting commitment to their roles. Thanks also went to Hayleigh Fisher for her service and welcome was given to Anne Lashmar and Ian Martin who have joined the Council.

Cllr Beaton (Chair) then extended the councillors heartfelt thanks to Ann Disney, our wonderful clerk without whose steadfast support, guidance and diligence we could not have functioned let alone achieved anything - thank you Ann.

Additional thanks were given to Stephen Hedderley for his continued liaison with our local police force.

Cllr Beaton (Chair) expressed delight that attendance had improved at council meetings and that a number of parishioners have been taking a genuine interest in what the council does. I would ask those of you who have not yet attended to please find the time to come along to one or two meetings so that you can participate more directly in local governance and development. We are here to serve you as best as we can within the remit of our powers and welcome as much feedback and engagement as possible. Please do join us.

Meetings: There were 6 meetings held over the year, A representative from Kingscliffe Emergency and Flood planning team attended a meeting and it was agreed that Bulwick PC would support a larger group of local villages to enhance the plan. Mr S Hedderly (our PLR) agreed to act as the link, with Cllr Lashmar supporting. More on this is coming year (Please note this is not a direct Parish Council led activity but that they support the development of a plan.)

To keep updates the information is shared on the Parish Council Notice Board by the Pickled Village Shop; posted on our Facebook pages (https/www.facebook.com/groups/bulwickparishcouncil); on the Parish Council Website https//www.bulwickpc.org.uk . So please do follow us and be kept informed on the plans and communication including meeting dates; agendas and minutes from the meetings

Planning: Over the 12 months a number of planning notices were reviewed by the Parish Council. Most of these were straight forward and the Council was able to support the application.

Changes in the Parish Council Team: During 2023, Joanna Doel sadly had to stand down from the Parish council role. The Councilors thanked Jo & wished her all the best for the future, Councilor Ian Martin was Co-opted to fill the vacancy & has also taken on the role of deputy chair. Additionally our vice chair, Hayleigh Fisher, also resigned from office after 3 years in the role. The Parish Council thanked her for all her positive contributions to improve the Bulwick Village environment. Councilor Anne Lashmar has been co-opted to fill this vacancy

Village Maintenance: We have worked hard to make sure village maintenance has remained on track: Drains have been routinely cleared and the Highways team at Kier have identified drains in the

village that need to be repaired and/or replace. in 2024; grass cut and hedges trimmed back on

Chairmans Report 2023 – 2024 :

Cllr M Beaton (Chair) Opened the meeting and explained the objective and the reports within the meeting.

The Parish Council continues to search for new projects that will improve our local services and environment.

Additional thanks were given to Stephen Hedderley for his continued liaison with our local police force.

Planning: Over the 12 months a number of planning notices were reviewed by the Parish Council. Most of these were straight forward and the Council was able to support the application.

Village Maintenance: We have worked hard to make sure village maintenance has remained on track:

Drains have been routinely cleared and the Highways team at Kier have identified drains in the

village that need to be repaired and/or replace. in 2024; grass cut and hedges trimmed back on

village greens and verges (with borders kept for bees and other beneficial wildlife); more broken

fencing by Brook House has been replaced; the Parish Notice Board has been refurbished by local resident Tim Disney; fly tipping reported and dealt with promptly; highways sign on the Deene Road has been reinstated after it fell down and we have a new bin on the Church Lane /Main Street junction. Litter picking equipment has been purchased and on the 24th of March a number of residents turned out for a team-Bulwick litter picking expedition.

Thanks to all those who took part.

Many more items have been scheduled for repair via the Fix my Street website. To see these and/or report any more items head to: https://www.fixmystreet.com

Defibrillator / Phone Box: When we started the project to purchase the telephone box and place a defibrillator in it, we assumed that this would be a simple task… well it has been a big learning curve to all in the Parish

Council! The telephone box is a grade II listed building - a K6 telephone box Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 - to be precise! This meant that planning permission had to be granted before any restoration could take place. It is worth noting not all K6 telephone boxes are listed but ours is!

After discussion with planning and Historic England, permission was finally granted. We then discovered

that there are very few companies that undertake restorations of this kind. By the perseverance and

doggedness of the Councillors and the Parish Clerk we were able to deliver the project, although

it took much longer than expected.

The defibrillator is now in place and training was given in April to village residents in the Village Centre. For those that missed the training session, operating instructions can be found by the defibrillator in the phone box.

New Bench: A new platform & bench have been placed at the bottom of Red Lodge Road to replace

the old bench that was damaged a few years ago and beyond repair. We have received positive feedback

from residents on having this bench back in place as it gives a lovely view down to the church from this

special spot.

Cherry Tree: Hopefully you will have noticed the flowering cherry tree by the new bench which has

been planted and a plaque erected in honour of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Website: It is now a requirement that all Parish Councils must have a website that complies with

Website Content Accessibility Guidelines and we now have just that! https://www.bulwickpc.org.uk

20 is Plenty: After requests from residents for further action to calm speeds in the village we have

put in place ‘20 is plenty’ advisory signs.

Making Bulwick Safe: Stephen Hedderly, our Police Liaison Representative, has been receiving police

reports and attending various crime prevention meetings and will keep us all posted with any matters

relating to our community and thus helping us all to keep each other and our village safe. His contact

details are at the bottom of this newsletter and you can see the latest Police Liaison Reports on our website: https://www.bulwickpc.org.uk/plr

Mobile Speed Sign: There is a routine in place for charging the batteries in the mobile speed sign. There is also a plan for 2024 to purchase a second set of batteries to avoid ‘down time’. A match-funding grant has already been

approved for a new solar-powered speed sign which will be installed later on this year.

Coming soon

 New posts on Blatherwycke Road and Top of Main street to allow Mobile Speed Sign to be moved

 Solar Panel Speed Sign (Match fund Grant already secured)

 1 of the remaining 3 heritage lamps to be restored (funding allowing)

Lastly, a special thanks to all who support the village by organising activities and keeping the local environment

clean and safe. Wishing you all good health, happiness and success in the

3. Accounting Statement 2023 – 2024 :

The Parish Clerk presented a statement of financial accounts and reported that the balance as of 31st March 2023 totalled £8,684.99. This included the Match Fund Grant for Solar Speed Sign and therefore is a slightly higher reserve than FY22 / 23.

The precept in 2023 / 24 was kept to the same amount as 2022 / 2023 to allow the Parish Council to undertake refurbishments and improvements in the village in line with Residence requests to bring the village facilities to an acceptable standard. There were a number of significant purchases: continuing with the Street Lighting refurbishment with 1 heritage lamp restored on Deene Street and in delivering the planned bigger projects; The Phone Box restoration; providing a village defibrillator; a new bench (and base); planting a cheery tree in memory of Queen Elizabeth II; and purchasing dedicated litter picking equipment

The Parish Council website was also migrated to a newer platform providing better access to all our users.

This was a large task with many of the older documents having to be reformatted to allow them to transfer.

The Parish Council also increased the hours worked by the Clerk from 22 to 30 hours a month to support the delivery of the projects.

As many of our residents are finding increases in their domestic bills, the Parish Council have also seen some increases theirs such as the unmetered electricity supply to our street lights. The Parish Councilors are working to ensure that the residents are getting value for money wherever possible

As we look to the year ahead, the focus is on maintaining the village assets; providing a Solar Panel Speed Sign; and potentially refurbishing another heritage streetlight (funding permitting) as we move towards the 2025 election year.

The full End of Year Accounts can be found on the Parish Council website at

http://www.bulwickpc.org.uk

4. Reports from:

4.1 Police Liaison

In the last year we have attended the Rural crime event in Northampton and shared relevant tips with residents. The highlight was Sergeant Abigail Anstead attending last years Annual Meeting of the Parish to personally update the council and villagers with Rural Crime Policing agenda

Bulwick PLR is now an established part of the PKR network, allowing the residence to have access to local crime statistics and early warning system of local crime trends.

The focus is not working on an emergency and flooding plan by working with Kings Cliffe, specifically Flood risk challenges and early warning information for residence.

5. Open Forum

No questions raised.

Meeting closed at 6.21 pm