01/14

APOLOGIES – Apologies were received from Mrs G Goodliffe and Mr I Bush.

01/15

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

These had been agreed and signed at a previous meeting. 

01/16

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

It was reported that the request for a 10mph speed limit by Upper Mill was not feasible.

01/17

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Mr Dawnay read the Chairman’s Report.  He said that the Council had started the year with a new Clerk, Mrs Karen Dickson, and very quickly she proved to be an invaluable help.  A .new and more efficient filing system had been developed.  The Clerk and all but one of the councillors have email and this method of communication had proved to be an easier way of progressing the sometimes sporadic Council business, particularly as the Clerk does not live in Longparish.  Our efficiency has also been improved by use of the Standing Orders adopted the previous year.  Mr and Mrs Gould have brought the cemetery plans up to date after exhaustive work on the existing records.   The audit of accounts was obtained without any serious problem this year and thanks for this goes to our Responsible Financial Officer, Jeremy Barber, for his effort.  We had also been faster in dealing with more urgent items of business.

Unfortunately, owing to some serious family commitments,Mrs Dickson has had to give us her resignation.  We would like to record our appreciation for the extra time and work she has put in, along with her good humour.  We are in the process of appointing a new Clerk from a list of six candidates.  We had been at almost the same point in the same process last year, but this year our affairs are in a far better position.  The Longparish website is also up and running at www.Longparish.org.uk, thanks to much hard work by David Gould.

There had been plenty of committee work on the continuing problems of how to improve or to resite the Village Hall and to replace the temporary classrooms at the school and the playgroup portacabin.  There has recently been a consultation on this for the village and progress is being made.  The Council had supported these discussions and had given financial support for the planning stages.

The planning system had changed as Test Valley Borough Council no longer publishes planning notices in the local paper.  We had also changed our approach, as now the whole Council is included in the planning committee and details of applications are put  up on the village notice boards.  We also encourage anyone involved to attend our meetings and put their points, if they so desire.  Some controversy had continued with the Owls Lodge Shooting School and a recent invitation from Mr Faulds to visit the site had been appreciated, and hopefully will lead to a better understanding.

The continuous flooding this winter had pointed up road problems which have been taken up with HCC.  A new foot bridge at Pigs Bridge had replaced the old road bridge.  As for the footpaths there will probably be maintenance to do later in the year when they dry out after the wet weather.  Increasingly volunteers are taking responsibility for that, including strimming and clearing.  A new kissing gate had been installed near Upper Mill and two more are planned near the allotments later this year.

In the cemetery there had been a breakdown in the mowing system early last year, and emergency action had to be taken with volunteers helping to clear it , before a new contractor  took it in hand and restored it to a condition of tidiness which had not been seen for years.  This had been much appreciated in the village.  A programme for managing the trees and bushes was now in place.

01/18

ACCOUNTS 1999-2000

The Responsible Financial Officer, Mr J Barber, presented the Financial Report for the year ended March 2000.

01/19

SCHOOL REPORT

Mrs M J Darrah, as the Parish Council representative on the Board of Governors, presented her report.

At the time of last year’s meeting the OFSTED report had not been made public.  However, it proved to be an excellent report with only minor areas for improvement.  The number of pupils was 83 in January, a slight drop from 87 in 2000.  The school was keen to maintain its numbers in order to keep to 4 classes.

The staffing has been unchanged during the past year with the exception of the new secretary, Mrs Alison Kerr.  On the board of Governors, Mr John Ellicock (Chairman) had been absent this year.  Mr David Webb had held the post of Chairman in his absence.  Two vacancies for foundation Governors remain.

Mrs Darrah reported that the floors in the temporary classrooms were weak and a restriction had been imposed of a maximum of 5 adults in one classroom at any one time.  The Coleman heaters had finally been replaced by gas heating.  The continuing Community Project would further solve problems, but there would need to be careful coordination.

The surface of the car park was once again in poor repair and there was a need to refill holes.  Parents had been trying to park offsite, and Mr Barber had cleared the pavements of leaves top facilitate this.  It was hoped that the promised yellow lines to control parking outside the school would be in place before April.

It was hoped that improvements would be made in the school grounds, under the HCC Schools Landscape Project.  FOLS (Friends of Longparish School) continued to be supportive in raising money for extras, including books and IT equipment.

01/20

VILLAGE HALL REPORT

As the Parish Council representative on the Village Hall Committee, Mr Barber provided an update on this year’s progress. 

Whilst the existing hall appeared superficially to be in good condition it would need repairs, which could cost up to £100,000.  The architect brought in to assess the situation had recommended that resources be put into the building of a new hall.  The project was to build a new hall to the west of the existing school site as part of a community project to include also replacing the temporary classrooms at the school and the playgroup portacabin and improving the parking. .  Mr R Wills (Middleton Estate) had kindly offered to give a piece of land to build the hall on if the village wanted the project to go ahead.

A consultation meeting had recently taken place, when 116 members of the public signed the attendance book.  The response from the public had been overwhelmingly supportive.  Information on details of the project would continue to be available to the public via the Longparish Website (www.longparish.org.uk) and would also be made available to parents of children attending the school.

The Village Hall Committee had put on 3 events during this winter.  Finally, the Annual Village Clean-up day would take place on 7^th April 2001, when members of the public would be invited to assist with outdoor and/or indoor tasks.

01/21

PARISHIONERS’ COMMENTS

Mr Mellor asked about the predicted timescale of the Community Project.  Mr Barber explained that whilst it was difficult to be specific, the project would proceed in stages, the next of which was to establish usage of the facility.  A detailed design was also needed, but the entire project would depend on the money raised (with the possibility of a Lottery Bid).  The Architects had informed the Committee that such projects could be completed within 2 years, but could take up to 10 years; in this case 3 years would be a realistic prediction.

The matter of school size was raised by Mr Mellor.– Mrs Darrah explained that the school did have projections of school numbers, and that the Playgroup presently had a waiting list.  The village was working hard to keep the school open, and in the short term numbers were healthy.  In 2000, approximately 40% of its pupils were from out of the catchment area.  Without them the income of the school would be drastically reduced and its future would be less secure.

Mr Harris  raised the subject of the Village Clean-up Day.  Mr Dawnay explained that this mainly involved clearing the areas of the stream and Cemetery and village hall car park.  The question of insurance for the public was referred to.  Mr Dawnay explained that only those who had completed the appropriate training could use equipment such as strimmers on public land.

Clarification on where to find contact details of Councillors was requested.  Mr Dawnay advised those present that the official point of contact should be the Clerk, but that individual Councillors could always be approached directly if preferred.  Committees would be re-elected in May, and the list would be included in the next Hill & Valley.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.10pm