Ilmington Parish Meeting - week 48

2:50pm Tuesday 25th November 2008

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Ilmington PARISH MEETING: An open parish meeting was held in the Village Hall on Tuesday, November 18. It was chaired by Cllr Tony Wilkins; the majority of councillors were present, and also County Cllr I Seccombe and some 29 parishioners.

The chairman opened the meeting by welcoming all those attending, and said that Mr R P Scott would be officiating. Mr Scott then explained that the meeting had been called to give all parishioners the opportunity of making their views known about any increase in the parish precept for the next 12 months from April of next year. The Parish Plan had been published early in 2006 and had set out in some detail those improvements in the village that parishioners would like to see. This had led to an Action Plan which was published later in 2006 and set out the actions to be taken. The parish council had used the plan as a guide and had implemented various parts of the plan as time and finances permitted. The stage had now been reached where the council needed to raise the precept if further progress was to be made, particularly as the responsibility for the costs of mowing the playing field and repairing the play equipment had been transferred from the District Council to the Parish Council. For a band D property in Ilmington this year’s council tax amounted to £31.92 for the parish. If the parish precept were increased to £40,000 this would imply an approximate increase from £31.92 to £106.40 for each household.

Various organisations in the village had been asked if there were any improvements they needed which could be paid for out of the precept, and these were then discussed.

1. Playing Field Committee. Mr Gregg Woodall, secretary of the committee, explained that the project for this year had been the new shed, which had cost £12,000, of which the parish council had contributed £2,000. A replacement pavilion had been considered, but had been put on the back burner for the time being. The next important project was the improvement of the car park which was estimated to cost about £20,000, but it was not intended to tarmac the area. The committee were asking the parish council for a grant of £5,000 a year for three years. Mr Woodall stressed how important the playing fields were to Ilmington and the surrounding villages, with an enormous number of children playing football, cricket, tennis, etc. The committee were doing all they could to raise money themselves. The chairman said that digging up the car park was not necessary - gravel or shingle top dressing should be sufficient.

2. Tennis & Multi Sports Club. Mr Woodall had been asked by the club to present their case for funding. The two items for which they needed funds were a footpath from the car park to the new practice wall costing about £1,500, and a replacement for the weldmesh fencing on Court 2, which was becoming unsafe. This would cost about £8,000, and they were willing to fund some of it themselves. It would be possible to fence the two ends only.

3. Sports & Social Club. Mr Fred Edmunds put the case for a new boiler and hot water heating system in the pavilion, and the club were asking for £5,000 towards the cost.

4. Village Hall. Mr Rob Hawkins said that the village hall did not need any money from the parish council. However, later on Mr Stephen Wright pointed out that there were some tired items of equipment in the hall, for instance chairs and tables that needed to be replaced, and wiring that needed updating. He felt that the village hall should receive money from the parish council.

5. Ilmington Bowling Club. The chairman of the club had written to say that for Health and Safety reasons the slabs surrounding the bowling green had to be relaid before Easter, and asked if the parish council could help financially with this.

6. Grace’s Playground. Alison West explained that they had raised about £33,000 towards the cost of the new equipment, but asked if the parish council could contribute a further £5,000. They were waiting to hear if they had been successful in their application for a grant of £15,000 from the District Council. County Cllr Seccombe offered to give them advice on obtaining grants.

7. Churchyard Mowing. Mr. Angus Chambers had written to say that the mowing costs for labour alone came to about £1,500 per annum. The Parish Council already contributed £250 a year, but he asked if this could be increased.

The following comments were made by various Parishioners attending the meeting.

The Parish Council should provide more money for work within the village, such as repairing the stream walling in Middle Street. The new shed on the playing field was a great improvement, but some assurance should be given that the old container would go eventually. It was then explained that the District Council were being asked if the container could remain for another few months to provide safe storage for the equipment belonging to the play equipment company. Although it was good that the Parish Council were willing to finance some of these projects, they should be prudent at this time of financial crisis. More money should be spent on the play equipment. The Cricket Club should not be allowed to hold another 20/20 tournament because of the excessive noise this year from the loud speakers. Assurances were given that this would not happen again. Mr. Scott was congratulated on the Parish Council web site, which he had set up.

Mr Shurey had written to say that he considered the cost of items for the Playing Field Committee, the Sports and Social Club and the Multi Sports Club should be completely borne by the members. For example the huge cost of the car park could be substituted by the young and fit members of the various clubs attending the field a few weekends to spread loads of hard core and gravel. He also added a few thanks to the Parish Council for all the work they did on behalf of villagers.

The following proposals were made for the amount of Parish Precept for 2009/10.

(a) To be reduced to the minimum figure possible - there were no votes.

(b) Maintained at £12,000 - 4 votes (c) Increased to £18,000 - 8 votes (d) Increased to £25,000 - 10 votes (e) Increased to £40,000 - no votes.

These proposals would be discussed at the Parish Council meeting on 26th November.

Mr Scott was thanked for presiding over the meeting.