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Parish Meeting Minutes - 14 Apr 1992

Minutes of the Longwick-cum-Ilmer Parish Meeting on 14th Apr 1992.

LONGWICK - CUM - ILMER - ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - 14 APR 92

ATTENDEES :-

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF LONGWICK-CUM-ILMER PARISH HELD AT LONGWICK VILLAGE HALL ON TUESDAY, 14th APRIL 1992 AT 8.00PM.

Present: Mrs S J Rogers (Chairman) Mr J V Maude (Secretary) Cllrs Mrs Brock, Mr Butler, Mr Gomme, Ms Robb and Mr Walker. Also present were 5 members of the public, 2 press representatives and PC Undery, Thames Valley Police. An apology was received from Cllr Mrs Priestley.

1. MINUTES. The Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 23rd April 1991 were read, confirmed and signed.

2. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT. The Chairman introduced the new Councillors and Clerk, and welcomed PC Undery to the Meeting.

The most important matter concerning the Council during the last year was the Village Hall and Playing Field. The Council was Custodial Trustee for the Hall, and had four members on the Management Committee. The Hall is becoming more and more popular, but fund raising is still needed and, to relieve some of the burden of debt repayment, the Council had precepted for a grant of £1000 for the Village Hall funds for the current financial year. The Chairman particularly thanked the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of the Village Hall Management Committee for all their hard work during the last year.

The Council had also during the year entered into negotiation with Princes Risborough PC regarding Longwick-cum-Ilmer participation in the future Burial Ground which would soon need to be provided. The Council had agreed to assist in the funding of a new cemetary, thereby preserving the present rights of burial of parish residents; the Council would also be represented on the Princes Risborough Burial Ground Committee. Unfortunately, the process of identifying and procuring suitable land had stagnated at present; the Council was currently awaiting news of further progress from Princes Risborough PC.

Dog fouling in public places in the village remained a continuing problem, highlighted this past year by the mess observed while work was being undertaken to remove a damaged chestnut tree opposite the Red Lion; the mature tree had subsequently been replaced by two new chestnut saplings, courtesy of the Parish Tree Warden, Cllr Mrs Brock with the assitance of Cllr Butler, and Wycombe District Council.

The Parish was currently becoming involved in the PATHWATCH scheme organised by BCC to monitor paths and other rights of way throughout the County; volunteers had come forward, and it was hoped to undertake the first comprehensive survey of Parish paths in the next month or so.

A subject which permanently occupies the Council is its consideration of Planning Applications affecting the Parish. During the past year 36 applications had been received, to 28 of which the Council had no objection; results notified by WDC show that 28 applications were granted conditional permission, 3 were refused and 2 were withdrawn; 3 decisions are still outstanding. It should be noted that there is no direct correlation between the applications approved and the lack of objection by the Council; our views and those of WDC do not necessarily coincide, but we do our best to permit the village to evolve, while preserving our traditional rural environment as far as possible.

Finally, the Chairman felt that a large debt of thanks was due to all the volunteers who came forward to help in Parish activities; without them the precept would have to be much larger, and many things just would not get done at all. There were too many to thank individually, but she particularly wished to mention the Venture Scouts for their efforts in digging flower beds, clearing ditches and litter and, as they were doing tonight, making tea! We rely on them all a great deal; perhaps too much, and we should all be very thankful for their efforts.

3. PAROCHIAL CHARITY ACCOUNTS. In accordance with the Charities Act, 1960, the accounts of The Princes Risborough Charity and the Monks Risborough Parochial Charities were laid before the Meeting. Mr Maude summarised the accounts as follows:

4. ACCOUNTS 1991/2 & PRECEPT 1992/3 Mr Maude placed before the Meeting the Statement of Accounts 1991/2 of the Parish Council (see Annex), and advised the Meeting that the Parish Precept for 1992/3 would be £3832.00.

5. STREETLIGHTING. The Chairman stated that a recent letter from a member of the Parish had again raised the question of the provision of streetlighting for Longwick. Mr Maude gave a brief resume of the history of this subject, which dated back at least to the development/expansion of the village in the early 1970s and from which stemmed public meeting majority decisions neither to require streetlighting in new estates in Longwick nor to incur the "urbanisation" and large costs on the rates to provide lighting along through roads in the village. Mr Maude also explained the difference between "Streetlighting" (for benefit of traffic on main roads, specified, provided and funded by County/National authorities) and "Footway Lighting" (for primary benefit of pedestrians on all other roads, provided and funded by Parish/Town Councils) and opined that what was now being suggested for Longwick

would largely fall into the latter category, and therefore necessarily still incur a (very large) charge on the Parish which it could in no way afford under the present funding/precept arrangements. Following a short discussion, without resolution, the Chairman closed the subject and proceeded to the next agenda item.

6. CRIME PREVENTION. The Chairman welcomed PC Carl Undery from the Community Liaison Department of Thames Valley Police, who had agreed to attend the Meeting and give a short presentation on Crime Prevention.

PC Undery opened his talk by stressing the fact that the fear of crime against both property and the person in this area far outweighs the risk; as an example, elderly ladies when questioned, overestimated the probability of being attacked/molested by a factor of 46:1. Similarly, against the perceived risk, most burglaries were actually carried out by opportunist criminals entering houses through open doors and windows, in daylight between the hours of 2-o-clock and 4-o-clock in the afternoon!

PC Undery then went on to discuss in detail particular measures to improve the security of domestic premises, cars, personal belongings such as ladies handbags and cash convertible items such as cheques, credit cards, etc. He ended his talk by emphasising the overall importance of deterence in crime prevention.

The Chairman thanked PC Undery for his most interesting and valuable presentation.

7. LITTERBLITZ 1992. Cllr Butler briefed the Meeting on Litterblitz 1992 which was planned for the week of 16-24 May 1992. The Parish Council was sponsoring a litter collection commencing at 1000am on 17 May at the layby on the Thame Rd; other village groups, such as Ventures, Youth Club, etc had agreed to participate. The Chairman hoped as many volunteers as possible would attend. The school was also planning its own Litterblitz in the village during the same week.

8. QUESTIONS. There were no questions or topics raised from the floor.

The Meeting closed at 9.10pm.

S. J Rogers 20 - 4 - 93

LONGWICK-CUM-ILMER PARISH COUNCIL STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS - 1991/2

PRECEPT - £3568.00

EXPENDITURE

Clerk's Salary £450.00 Clerk's Phone £132.08 Clerk's Car Mileage £ 39.25 Petty Cash (inc Duplicating) £ 84.71

REGULAR EXPENDITURE Village Hall hire (PC Mtgs) £ 88.00 Village Hall Grant Aid £856.58 VH/PF Renewal/Repairs £ 1.67 PC Insurance (inc Village Hall) £356.07 Audit Fee £ 58.75 Footpath Rent (to BCC) £ 10.00

SUBSCRIPTIONS & DONATIONS Bucks Assn of Local Councils £ 80.15 Wycombe Dist Assn of Local Councils £ 4.00 Bucks Playing Fields Assn £ 20.00 Bucks Council for Voluntary Services £ 5.00 Council for Preservation of Rural England £ 12.00 Ilmer PCC (Graveyard Maintenance) £ 30.00 Horsenden PCC ( " " ) £ 30.00 Pr. Risborough Neighbourhood Scheme £ 20.00 Bucks Rural Youth Resource Fund £ 7.50

NON-REGULAR EXPENDITURE Casual Labour £ 50.00 Election Costs £ 76.97 Clerk/Cllrs Course Fees £ 32.00 Solicitors Fees (Reserve) £200.00

Balance cf £ 923.27 Total £3568.00