Annual Parish Meeting May 2019

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING Monday 13 May 2019 7.00pm
MINUTES OF THE DENSTONE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING HELD ON Monday 13th May 2019 VILLAGE HALL (7.00pm).

1. Attendees: Cllr M Shermer (in chair), Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr L Beckett-Fountain, Cllr S Ratcliffe, Cllr C Kelly, Cllr B Wright, Cllr J Turner, Cllr J Mountney and Borough Councilor S Sankey. Apologies Cllr K Stratton
   Cllr Shermer began by congratulating Borough Councilor S Sankey and Cllr L Beckett-Fountain on their recent election results.
2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 23rd April 2018 were signed by Cllr Shermer as a true record and agreed by all.
3. Chairman’s Report. Cllr Shermer read out her report a copy is available upon request from the clerk.
4. Any Other Matters The councilors were thanked by the parishioners present for their persistence in getting some of the road issues sorted.
   The meeting closed at 19.10

Welcome to the Annual Parish meeting and an update on what has happened during the last year. There have been a number of changes to the makeup of the Parish Council in the last year, Philip Frampton and I both joined the Parish council in April 2018 and I took over as Chair in September. We said a fond farewell to Peter Robotham in September 2018 and welcomed Christine Kelly as a new Councillor in November. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Peter for his contribution to the Parish Council and we’re pleased that he continues to support various ongoing projects giving generously of his time. We are also pleased to welcome Cavell Portman as our new Lengthsman and offer our thanks to Dan James, wishing him well in his new job.

There have been many tasks completed during the last year and other projects are well under way. The Oak road Play area had been resurfaced and its life extended by another 15 years. We still battle monthly in our pleas to ESBC for the repair of potholes and the pavements around the village and we are committed to continue until satisfaction is achieved. The Mobile Post Office continues to have a few teething problems, but we are working closely with the powers that be to ensure that it becomes a regular visitor to our Village Hall each Monday between 1pm and 2pm. However, “if you don’t use it you’ll lose it!” A new Key safe holding the padlock key has been attached to the gate of the Old Railway line and access to the code is publicised on a poster to the left of the gate. The new bench, sponsored by the International Workers’ memorial scheme and a new picnic table were installed on the railway platform in May.

Our thanks go to Sue Edmonds for once again creating and producing the excellent Denstone Diary, a great reflection on our splendid village. The Denstone Voluntary Car scheme is working successfully thanks to the efforts of Roy Smith and the volunteers from the village. The new Denstone Country Show, organised by members of the Tom Boden Memorial Trust, took off to a flying start and the organisers are looking to an even greater event in the coming year! The village was, once again, Highly Commended by the Best Kept Village judges, our thanks to the children for their posters and to all who contributed to this success. The judges praised many aspects of our village, but stated that they thought we “lacked sparkle!” We are entering again this year, and we already have many volunteers to help add that extra sparkle. The judges will be randomly visiting between 1^st May and the end of July, so, if you think you can in any way brighten your patch of the village, then please go ahead.

The WW1 Commemorations were very well organised by Sue Edmonds and the Royal British Legion loyal supporters. The occasion was perfectly orchestrated, a most moving gathering with thoughts and words which touched the soul. Thank you to all involved. We have also welcomed the Reverend Elizabeth Jones and her husband, Terry to our Parish and wish her well in her role here at Denstone. We also have our new ‘Parish Press’ which has replaced The Weaver Message to keep us up to date with Parish church news.

The Parish Council’s current project is on the Old railway line. Sadly, the Teen recreation area is no longer in use and is at risk of falling into disrepair and will become a financial drain on the limited funds of the Parish Council. Therefore, after much consideration, and having taken advice from ESBC and the Head Ranger, the Parish Council are investigating an upgrade to this facility to create an all age exercise area, a sunshine gym, to enable all ages and abilities to enjoy exercising in the outdoors. The Parish Council wish to acknowledge all of the work and commitment of the ‘Denstone Youth Fund’ whose great efforts and fundraising created the teen area which opened in 2008. However, we would not be serving the best interests of our present community if we didn’t look to the future. I’m sure that you will have noticed that we have already addressed the problem of the overgrown hedges which were causing the area to be dark and damp. Already the sun is shining through and brightening this environment. For more information about the Parish Council then visit http://www.denstonevillage.org.uk/index.php/community/parish-council/

And finally, but perhaps most importantly, I wish to thank my fellow Councillors and Julie Sadler, our Parish Clerk, for all of their hard work, time and commitment to our village on your behalf, they all always go that extra mile!          Best wishes, Margaret Shermer, Chair of Denstone Parish council, April 2019