Warsop Annual Parish Meeting Minutes - 17th March 2008
Town Hall, Church Street
Market Warsop, Mansfield, Notts.NG20 0AL
Tel: 01623 846011

7536. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 17th March 2008

7537. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 19th March 2007 were circulated and approved.

7538. The Chairman gave his report:
Well, another year has passed and there have been many changes, not least to the council itself, with four new members, and we are all here to do one thing, to work on behalf of the people of the whole of the parish to improve the social economical and environmental issues that affect all our lives.

First I am pleased to say that this parish council is financially secure, so much so we have been able to offer a nought % increase to the precept, for the second year running, placing no extra burden on the ratepayer.

We have been able to support many of our local organisations and voluntary groups through our financial prudence, from the British Legion, Warsop Carnival, the BMX track, and many more. I would like to say a special big thank you to the carnival committee this year for all their effort in raising money from DVD’s, Christmas cards and Robin Hood and his merry men, some merrier than others!

We have seen the new local enterprise growth initiative come into Warsop with the incubation units on Burns Lane and it is up to us to continue our support for and encourage more business to come here, could they find a better place to come? No!

We have seen the new houses spring up in the old Royal estate, with tenants already moving in, the opening of the show house was last Friday, and it is a complete transformation, now we all have to keep the pressure up and see the same investment to regenerate the Mount Pleasant area.

As you all know we had the post office closure, select commission 1 of MDC carried out a long consultation with the public. As Warsop Vale sub post office was on the list, Peter, Sheila and myself were out on the streets campaigning, unfortunately it became quite clear especially at meetings with post office and post watch that nothing would stop the closures, so that was a failure and a bitter pill to swallow.

We have some success with road safety, the removal of the chicanes, interactive signs and the trial of Plato's, possible crossing outside Sherwood Street School, interactive sign on Cuckney hill, and also traffic lights for Eastlands Lane.

Improvements are now happening at the cemetery, bushes have been trimmed, the work on the cremated remains area is well under way and is looking much better already, the larger projects will be planned in as resources become available.

This year is going to bring many changes, with the introduction of the new local area agreement, what does it mean to us? Well, this government has tested the ability of local communities to govern themselves, working in partnership through a variety of initiatives, one of the most successful being the NRF these schemes were funded through different grants, to date over 5 billion of those grants have been mainstreamed by the service providers, so evidence shows this is the way to go. Service providers have to become more efficient and build in local communities needs, there are indications of roll changes but as yet, we await our part, what roll do we the parish council play ………………… watch this space!

Warsop Parish Council are hoping to obtain Quality Status, if we achieve this it will mean that we can demonstrate that we are representative, in touch with our communities, competent, and capable of taking on an enhanced role.

Finally, I thank all members for their support, I feel this year will ask more from us but we are up to it, and to Tania who works tirelessly for us all, above and beyond the call of duty, thanks seems inadequate for without her we would be lost, so thank you.
Cllr John Kerr
Chairman
Warsop Parish Council

7539. REPRESENTATIONS FROM ORGANISATIONS – None

7540. ANY LOCAL ISSUE WHICH IS CAUSING CONCERN
An elector brought up a problem of fly tipping at the nursing homes on Clumber Street. The Chairman is to ask PC Bacon to look into this.

Discussions took place on various matters including Warsop Post Office, the lack of goods for sale, the shop part not open all day and the empty shelves, with Post Offices being under threat at the moment nothing is being to encourage the people of Warsop Parish to continue to use it. Meden Vale Post Office was also discussed as they are soon to lose possibly 50% of their lottery custom as Camelot are to install another lottery point in the new village. The Chairman suggested a letter be sent to Camelot pointing out that this loss of custom could put another Post Office under threat of closure.

The Chairman read out an e-mail from Adrian Hardy regarding the Wardens and suggestions on how to address the anti-social/crime problems in the Parish by the bringing in of Night Wardens, paid or on a volunteer basis. The ideas were discussed but several problems became apparent, getting Wardens to be on permanent nights, resources to pay them and the problems in the Parish are not every night, majority are on a Friday night. The suggestion of volunteer Wardens was thought to be impossible, to expect people to work in that kind of environment for nothing. The suggestions made by Mr. Hardy were thought to be idealistic. It was added that the source of the problem is with the Police and pressure should be put on them to give the Parish more Police and PCSO’s. The Chairman told the meeting that he is in regular contact with Chief Inspector Lomas, has had several meetings that are ongoing on the Policing of the Parish and hopefully there will be a positive outcome in the near future.

Cllr. Stuart Moody replied to another email from Adrian Hardy regarding the Carnival accounts, he spoke on the subject as a member of the Carnival Committee, and told the meeting that the accounts are audited and the Parish Council are informed on a regular basis about the financial position of the Carnival funds.

After the Annual Parish Meeting the Chairman opened the Parish Council Meeting to attend to their monthly business.

These minutes will not be signed as a true record
until the next annual Parish meeting in 2009

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