Parish Council Chairman’s Report 2010 -11
Thank you for your attendance tonight and welcome to your 2011 Annual Parish Meeting.
I shall briefly summarise the PC activities for this year and how the future looks.
Following this there are various reports which have been submitted and are available as hard copy or can be viewed on the village website. We are available to discuss and elaborate on these reports as required by your-selves tonight.
Finally there is an open forum and for us the most important part of the meeting in which we wish to hear your opinions and ideas as to how you would like the village to go forward in the coming year.
Parish Council Changes
The current PC members shall be standing down and a new PC formed on Thursday 5th May.
I would like to convey my thanks to all those past and present PC councillors who have been in office during the last four year period. In particular I would like to convey our thanks to our most experienced and longest serving councillor Mike Brown for all his work on the PC and for the village.
Clare Lightfoot shall continue in her role as the Parish Clerk and Finance Officer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for the excellent and capable support provided to the village and PC.
The first scheduled PC meeting after the forming of the new PC is timetabled for Tuesday 17th May at 8.00 p.m. I would like to remind you that all parishioners are welcome to attend PC meeting. Every meeting has a “villager’s forum” through which contributions/concerns can be put forward for the PC to consider.
2010 -11 Parish Council Plan Outcomes/Objectives
Financial
Finances are in good order, the precept has been held static at £7250 for the fifth year in a row. You will note there is a separate Finance Report prepared by Clare and Mike that shows our finances to be under close control and in a healthy position.
Village Character – The PC continues to strive to maintain a village character through consideration in all planning applications of balancing improvements with the requirements of a rural village
Village Hall – Regularisation of the land between the PC and UVHAT has been finalised. The parking facilities have been improved through resurfacing and alterations to the original car parking area and a matted surface extension provided for when circumstances require. Thank you to all those involved in this project and the assistance provided in raising the additional funds required.
Recreation and Playground – The mowing schedule continues relieving the village of substantial contractual charges. Thank you to everyone involved in their past and for their ongoing assistance in maintaining the recreation ground. Mounds have been created to the far left of the recreation ground for biking activities.
There are funds in the PC this year for playground improvement. A playground committee has been established. Thank you to all those involved with the playground; David shall be updating us on progress later in this meeting.
Bus services, Roads and footpaths
The current bus service is under threat again and a bus subsidy review is underway. The service is of vital importance to this rural community. We have combined with Blewbury to make as strong a representation as possible. A survey sheet has been sent out to households and your response is important. Please use the bus service where possible to enable us to continue our case for securing this service.
The Parish has a contract with OCC Council for cutting of the grass on the village footpaths. Thank you to the volunteers for cutting the footpaths; as an “in-house” service we achieve a much better result and generate an additional income to the PC for village improvements.
The PC has remained committed to trying to achieve a cycle route or at least an improved path from Upton to Blewbury. This remains a difficult issue which is mainly outside of our Parish Council boundary. Discussions with Blewbury PC and the OCC Footpaths Officer continue.
Village amenities and Upkeep
The volunteer group has continued to carry out further excellent work this last year carrying out remedial and improvement works on behalf of the village and its environs. The annual litter pick was again well supported. Thank you to everyone for your help with these on-going activities.
Youth and Clubs
There remains a nucleus of thriving clubs in the village, which the PC is keen to assist where possible in whatever small way we are able. This is an important element of the village community and the PC would like to encourage further activities for the village youth. Short mat bowls is the latest addition to the activities on offer from within the village. The karate club, Brownies and Guides, the Dog club, Wine appreciation society, Theatre group, the Upton Ladies Coven, Upton Table Tennis, the cycle group and the village drop in sessions continue to thrive.
Communications
The Upton News and Web site continues as the main steer of our communications. Thank you to Brian Rippon for re-designing the village web site. Thank you to all those involved with the submission of entries, compilation, printing and delivery of the Upton News.
George and Dragon Pub
Our thanks to Kenny and Jo for providing a friendly, welcoming pub, with excellent food and drink. Please continue to support the pub where possible; it is such an important element of traditional village life and a valued village facility.
Putting Upton on the Map
The PC remains keen to assist in promoting Upton into the future, whilst having due regard to preserving our private village life. The recreation ground combined with the extended and refurbished village hall provides us all with an excellent collective area for social and club activities through the year.
The Uptonogood mountain bike challenge was a great success last year and achieved wide spread acclaim. The village fete was outstanding and provided another hugely successful day for the village. The PC would like to convey our thanks to all those involved in the management and organization of both events and wish the organizers similar success for this year.
John Dickens Chairman Upton P.C.
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Upton P.C. Finance Report 2010-11
After last years record turnover of just over £136,000 this year almost returned to normal with an expenditure of £9990. Even at this level it was still well above the norm of about £6000 as we spent £3888 on improvements to the car parking facilities by extending and re-surfacing the existing car park and laying an extended car parking area using plastic matting. Much of this car park expenditure was offset by a donation of £1343 received as a result of the Barn Dance organised at Prospect House by Hilary and Simon. Our thanks to both of them and to all the others who helped with the organisation and running of this event.
We are pleased to report that at the end of this financial year our balance is just £180 higher than we estimated in our budget produced 15 months ago whilst we were in the thick of the village hall spend, this demonstrates that we have kept excellent control of our finances. Looking at the figures produced at our half-year revision, our expenditure is £20 under spent and our income £9 less than predicted which means our current balance is just £11 more than we predicted six months ago.
The current balance of just over £7000 is about £2500 higher than you would expect a council of our size to be holding. This is a result of our putting away an annual sum towards the cost of improving the children’s play area. It is intended that the council will contribute £5000 towards the play area project in the next financial year, providing that goes ahead it will give us a predicted balance at the end of the coming financial year of £4732.
For the fourth consecutive year the annual precept has remained unchanged. If we can get through the play area project which will be the last of the amenity improvement schemes we have managed in recent years, we forecast you can look forward to a relatively small decrease in next year’s precept but this is entirely down to the volunteer effort coming from our residents. The savings on the mowing projects this year are likely to be close to £1600 including the contribution from the County Council for cutting the footpaths and a further example of the saving made by our volunteer work force is the £1000 we saved in using our volunteers to lay the car park extension. If it were not for this volunteer effort your precept would have to be raised by at least £10 per household.
Mike Brown and Clare Lightfoot
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Parish Transport Representative’s Report
We are grateful to Mr Graham Homer who took over as Upton’s Transport Representative during the past year. Mr Homer is a very frequent bus user and has a hands on approach by talking to other bus users and the bus drivers.
During the year two meetings for Transport Representatives have been held in Oxford. These meetings provide a forum for dissemination of information.
Currently, a review of subsidised buses is being undertaken. Surveys were distributed to all households in the Parish (170) through the Upton News. So far 17 (10%) have been returned. The Parish Council will analyse the responses and endorse a case for the bus service to continue.
Clare Lightfoot (Clerk)
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District Councillor’s Report
This is my last report to Upton Parish Council as its District Councillor. Having stood in every District Council election in the last 28 years and having represented you for the last sixteen, as well as being your County Councillor for four years, I have decided that it is time for a change and I am not offering myself for re-election in Upton and Blewbury .
You may well have heard in the news in recent months that Councils, up and down the Country, have been forced to slash expenditure on front line services following swingeing cuts in central government grants to local government. Although there have been some minor changes, the closure of some super-loos comes to mind, we have been able to protect the Vale from serious damage to front line services. This has been achieved by the very substantial savings achieved from joint working with SODC which have saved about £3.5 million so far. Savings, either from staff costs or from savings that could only be implemented from having the joint management arrangement with SODC now come to about £1.5 million per annum. I do believe that the Vale, which has the 13th lowest council tax out of some 290 district councils, offers excellent value for money. I would not want to diminish the challenges ahead for the Vale. The number of personnel that the Vale employs has been significantly reduced and many who have left are, inevitably, the most experienced and longest serving.
This sea change would be difficult enough to navigate, but councils, and this applies equally to parish councils, face the prospect of wide ranging changes which may or may not come from Mr Pickles’ Localism Bill and other changes to the planning process. How much of this Bill will finally make it to the Statute Book remains to be seen and I do hope that there are some major changes along the way. Just to examine one strand: the Localism Bill is supposed to give local communities greater control over the way in which their neighbourhoods develop, or, presumably, don’t develop. And yet the Chancellor in his budget statement blamed the planning process being a drag on economic development and has promised to streamline the system to reduce delays. These aspirations are fundamentally contradictory. Few communities these days are going to volunteer to have 300 houses built at the bottom of their respective gardens. Believe me, I know.
I am grateful for the courtesy and welcome that I have received from Upton over the years. There have been times when we have had our disagreements, usually over planning. But if I was to say that I felt apologetic about this, I would not be truthful. I have always sought to ensure that the legal rights of every one, and particularly every applicant, were upheld. Planning is often a complicated process in which all sorts of shades of grey can develop, and this, inevitably, leads to differences of opinion. As I said, I don’t apologise for those differences, but I am sad that they happened.
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St Mary’s Church Report
St Mary’s continues to grow through the loving service of many villagers. We have said goodbye to Father Anthony and his wife Rosemary Lury who have retired and moved away from the Benefice. We give thanks for their support but we are once again looking for an organist for our regular Sunday Eucharist service. Fr Geoffrey Borrowdale has joined the Benefice as an Associate Priest. Family services have continued on a monthly basis with Mr Richard Burrow playing the organ for us. The church was full for the Crib and Carol service, following the service we all enjoyed mince pies and a wassall cup.
The fete was again very successful and our thanks go to Mrs Jessie West and her team of helpers. We were fortunate to be able to use the refurbished village hall and patio for the teas and the weather was kind to us. As ever we would like to thank all villagers who supported the fete in many different ways.
The church was used for 2 weddings this year, both families having close connections with the village.
There have been 2 baptisms and 3 funerals during the year.
Sadly a long serving member of our congregation, Theo Gordon passed away. She is greatly missed.
Looking to the future, the PCC is in the initial stages of investigating the installation of a toilet. Bearing in mind that the church is a listed building this will not be straightforward.
Clare Lightfoot
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Neighbourhood Watch Report
During the past 12 months we have only had one incident in Upton.
This was the theft of a digger from a property in Church Street during the evening of 4th April 2011. I am awaiting an update on this case.
Otherwise I have little to report this year which is most encouraging.
I still attend the quarterly NAG meetings at Milton Park but am pleased to say that where crime is concerned we are most fortunate compared to Blewbury and Harwell who regularly have incidents of theft and also teenagers being a nuisance in the evenings.
The SID speeding machine is still in regular use on the A417, particularly outside the Upton Fruit Farm and at the top of Station Road and is quite a deterrent for motorists.
Hare coursing is one of the major problems in this area but even that is centred in Hendred not Upton.
On the whole I think we have an awful lot to be thankful for living in Upton.
Celia Davies
Upton Neighbourhood Watch Organiser
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Summary of PCSO Activities
“Have Your Say” meetings are held bi-monthly in Upton. These meetings provide an opportunity for a confidential one-to-one meeting with the local area PCSO.
During the past year PCSOs have attended 4 of our 6 Parish Council meetings.
They usually start by saying that there is not much crime to report in Upton.
I have extracted below some issues which have been dealt with during the past year:
- Speed Indicator Device operations carried out on A417
- Poachers apprehended in the Village Hall car park
- Illegal hare coursing patrols stepped up
- Illicit motorcycling on land south of the Ridgeway, in Upton parish. 2 Section 59s have been issued and there will be a continued police presence
- Smoke from bonfires in the George & Dragon field have been a hazard on the A417
- Additional patrols carried out following the theft of property
- Attention was paid to vulnerable people in the village, especially during the bad winter weather
Clare Lightfoot Parish Clerk
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Blewbury School Report
- New heating system required after failure of pipes. Phase 1 of 3 complete. Work paid for by county due to catastrophic nature of problem.
- Teachers room adjoining staff room completed on time and budget.
· Budget surplus and carried debt eliminated in this financial year.
· School participated in village events such as Apple Day, Band Day, church services.
· Choir performed at Oxford Castle Market
· Performance of the musical Oliver.
· Children helped design the new play area and picked out trees.
· Early morning orchestra proving popular
· Raised money to buy chickens for Ugandan partnered school
· New Commenius project has started. Children from Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic stayed with Blewbury/Upton families, our children will be making trips to these countries over the next year.
· Staff continuity maintained for another year
· Welcomed three new governors in the last year. Now have a full complement.
In the coming year:
· Possibly installing PV solar panels on school roof this Summer depending on final approval from full governing body,
· Governors will be running three BBQs in June (Uptonogood, Blewbury Festival Family Day, and Treasure Hunt at the school)
· Didcot Partnership of 15 schools evolving rapidly in response to gradual withdrawal of services supplied by local authorities.
· Year 6 classroom will most likely be replaced this year either by a replacement structure or by a permanent extension to the main building.
Andrea Brown
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Report of United Charities of the Ancient Parish of Blewbury (Blewbury, Upton and Aston Upthorpe)
The United Charity is managed by a group of Trustees. One of our functions is to provide financial gifts to certain elderly residents of Upton at Christmas time and to contribute to a Christmas lunch for them. This was carried out last year but the number of recipients has, sadly fallen. If anyone feels that they would like to nominate a new recipient to the charity, would they please contact me. There are certain financial criteria to be met, but we guarantee total confidence and careful consideration of any nominations made.
Charmian Whitmell, Trustee, representing Upton
Pippins, Fieldside, Upton. Tel 01235-850163
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UVHAT Report
The new facilities to the village hall continue to be appreciated, with villagers and visitors being pleasantly surprised. We are pleased that the Bowls Club is slowly gaining a following, and thank Tony and Joan Durbin for giving it their commitment to make it a success.
The Wine Club continues to flourish thanks to Mike Collins and his committee. The Guides and Brownies too, although sadly, the Tuesday evening Guides had to finish because of lack of a leader.
Thanks to Yvonne Collins and her many helpers for keeping the “Drop In” available.
We are pleased to have an increase in bookings for children’s parties. It’s good to have the hall used during the day.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to Brian Simpson, for not only keeping the day to day running costs of the all in good order, but for steering us through the labyrinth of funding that was obtained, enabling the completion of the extension.
Brian is retiring from the post of treasurer this year. We still hope to enjoy his company at events and wish him a well-earned break. Ross Caffyn has kindly agreed to take up the challenge. We offer her a warm welcome and look forward to working with her.
Some of the aspirations we still have when funding allows are to complete the refurbishment of the toilets, i.e. in the gents, new floor, wall tiling, WC and Cistern. In the disabled, new floor and baby changing unit. Hand dryers in all.
The kitchen too, needs a bit of TLC and the proposal is to have the walls tiled. Plus a new frost heater and microwave. Fortunately the ceilings in all the toilets and kitchen were redone at the time of the alterations to the Ladies cloakroom.
Ideas are in the pipeline for the little room next to the kitchen! However, do you have any thoughts about it that you would like to share?
Meanwhile, freestanding shelving is required for use in the new storeroom, which will enable us to store the boxes etc from that aforementioned little room.
Then of course we will probably need a lean-to shelter outside, to store the bins!!!!!
Jessie West (Chair)