Little Paxton Parish Council Annual Report May 2011 - April 2012
Welcome to this Annual Report of the activities of the Little Paxton Parish Council for 2011-2012. I have been privileged to be the Chairman of Little Paxton Parish Council since Peter Hagger stood down as both chairman and parish councillor last year. Special thanks go to Peter Hagger for his dedicated years of good service to the community, In this report you will find information on how your council used your money during the financial year 2011-2012. I believe the financial resources available have been used effectively and in the best interests of all the residents of Little Paxton whilst keeping the Parish Council Precept to an acceptable level. Please do review the accounts within this report. The Parish Clerk, Jenny Gellatly is always willing to answer any queries regarding the accounts or other Council matters. During the year, Emma Freeman and John Mouatt were co-opted onto the Council. June Griffin stood down as a councillor and thanks must be said to her for her time and commitment. Every effort is being made to fill the remaining 3 councillor vacancies for councillors. There were no big projects this year, however, the Council has had a busy year in continuing to support and enhance village life. The implementation of a Community Engagement Strategy, along with the starting of a Youth Forum, will enable villagers of all ages, to be informed about their village and express opinions as to what they would like in their village. The playing field continues to be the hub of much of village life and to safeguard its future as a large open space; the playing field is now part of the Queen s Jubilee Fields In Trust Project. The forthcoming Parish Jubilee Tea Party and annual Paxfest illustrate how important the playing field is as a venue for bringing a rapidly expanding community together. Little Paxton Parish Council hosted a very successful Organised Sport Relief 2012-Little Paxton Mile. The Council continue to support the production of a Welcome to Little Paxton leaflet and Village Views. We have also introduced more community notice boards to allow village events to be publicised. Much work has been done to improve the cemetery with the installation of a water pump. Expenditure for this as with all purchases, is shown in Council minutes published on the Council website along with a listing of all payments over 500(except salaries). 1
The Mill Lane development continues and some of the intended play areas are now in place. The Council is in the latter stages of discussion with HDC about the proposed Community Sports Hall. These are a few of the Council's activities; more details are to be found within the body of the report. An enormous thank you must be said to the Parish Councillors, Parish Clerk and Groundsman whose hard work and commitment go a long way to making Little Paxton as safe, welcoming and attractive as possible. Cllr Jeanette Cleaver Chairman of the Council Who is the Parish Council and what do we do? The Parish Council comprises 15 unpaid elected Councillors who serve for a term of four years. The Councillors represent an electorate of 2,733 persons. The Council has 11 seats and there are four vacancies. The Council employs 2 part-time members of staff:- Mrs Jenny Gellatly - Parish Clerk Mr. Perry Stentiford - Groundsman The Council has appointed Dr. Mike Williamson of Mijan Ltd as the Independent Auditor. The Parish Council has a Full Council meeting on the first Thursday of the month with the exception of August. All Agendas are displayed on the four village notice boards along with a Meetings Calendar. The notice boards are located at: Corner of St. James Road & High Street Corner of Gordon Road and Parkside Entrance to Skipper Way, the Island Site Samuel Jones Crescent Meeting dates are mentioned in the monthly magazine PE19, Village Views which is produced quarterly and the Council web site. Details of the meeting dates can also be found on the Cambridgeshire.net and MyHuntingdonshire websites. 2
Village Notices- the Council has dedicated one side of the notice board at the corner of Gordon Road/Parkside for village groups and organisation. This year it, the Council purchased a Community notice board for the playing field. There are community notice boards at the Post Office, Samuel Jones Crescent and inside two of the blocks of flats in Samuel Jones Crescent. Public Forum Notices are displayed (these are posters in luminous colours- so that they can be easily seen). These posters highlight three or four of the most important items on the Agenda. These are displayed on the Parish Notice Boards and also at the: Village Hall notice board Visitors Centre at Paxton Pits At the beginning of each meeting, there is a 15 minute public forum. This is an opportunity for the public to raise any concerns to the Parish Council. There are three Council committees and these are: Planning Amenities Finance & General Purposes There are currently five Advisory Groups. Summary of Income & Expenditure Account 20011-2012 Current Year Ended 31st March 2011 INCOME 31st March 2012 71,457.00 Precept 73,661.00 695.86 Interest on Bank Accounts 582.44 9,000.00 Cemetery Fees 1,137.50 898.15 Allotment Rents 831.80 105.00 Allotment Tap & Key Deposits 101.00 20.00 Ground Rents 20.00 325.00 Playing Field Maintenance Charge 225.00 0.00 Newsletter Sponsor 42.60 174.00 Newsletter Advertisements 132.00 1,154.52 Jobs for the Future 0.00 3
250.00 Parish Paths Grant 0.00 198.79 Paxfest 60.00 48.00 Church Donation Return 0.00 2,000.00 Mill Lane Bus Shelter contribution 0.00 550.00 Sale of Tractor 0.00 30.00 Bank Compensation 0.00 Insurance Claim 1,000.00 Misc Income 181.10 0.00 Term Deposit Bank Interest 86,906.32 Total Income 77,974.44 Expenditure 33,510.56 Staff Costs 33,245.31 8,396.62 General Administration 7,956.28 4,184.35 Insurance 3,565.90 550.00 Audit Fees-External 412.00 54.00 Audit Fees-Internal 36.00 2,907.44 Street Lighting 1,948.38 1,222.92 Cemetery 701.67 505.34 Allotments 617.97 40.00 Allotment Deposit returns 60.00 3,262.42 Maintenance 3,791.02 Capital projects 2011/2012 317.50 2,150.00 Capital Project 2010/2011 1,681.00 Donations 858.00 1,782.00 Section 137 Payments 1,761.99 190.00 CCTV 200.00 105.47 Flood Lighting 258.64 6,068.30 S106 Payments 4,634.25 630.87 Paxfest 848.97 Election Expenses 225.00 1,154.52 Jobs for the Future 0.00 Miscellaneous 12,810.35 Reserves 2,020.00 81,206.16 Total Expenditure 63,458.88 Summary 86,906.32 Total Income 77,974.44 81,206.16 Total Expenditure 63,458.88 5,700.16 Surplus/(Deficit) 14,515.56 143,193.48 Retained Surplus b/fwd 148,893.64 148,893.64 Retained Surplus C/Fwd 163,409.20 4
Balance Sheet As at 31 st March 2012 Current Year Year ended ended 31st March 2011 31st March 2012 - Long Term Assets - Current Assets 2,483.33 Debtors(VAT) 1,250.15 722.77 Pre-payments 1,524.61 146,492.97 Cash at Bank 161,167.07 149,699.07 Total 163,941.83 Current Liabilities 383.00 Creditors 422.43 Receipts in advance 532.63 805.43 Total 532.63 148,893.64 Net Assets 163,409.20 148,893.64 Retained Surplus Fund Balance 163,409.20 Financial Summary The majority of income comes from the Precept (this is collected by Huntingdonshire District Council and is included in Council Tax payments). The balance of income includes Bank Interest, Cemetery Fees, Allotment Fees, Grants to the Council, Playing Field Maintenance Charges and Village Newsletter adverts. The amount of Cemetery Fees received has reduced as burial plots are no longer available to non residents. Expenditure consisted of 0.5% on capital projects. The main projects were purchasing a bronze plaque for the Jubilee tree on the corner of St. James Road and new signage for the playing field. In January, the Council replaced its ride on mower with a new John Deere mower t as the old one was costing too much in repairs and parts were becoming unavailable. The S106 Island Site funds were the source of funding for the ride on mower. 5
Staff costs equate to 52%, admin including insurance 19.9%, Street lighting 3.06%,Cemetery 1 %, Allotments 1.06%, Maintenance 6.5%, Capital projects 0.6%,Donations 4.1%, S106 payments 7.3%, Paxfest 1.3% and Reserves 3.18%. What we achieved in 2011/2012 The Parish Council gave donations to the following organisations: Connections Bus Little Paxton Post Office Little Paxton Youth Club St.Neots Museum - this allows residents of Little Paxton to visit the museum free of charge. St James Church 1 st Little Paxton Scouts The Parish Council underwrites the production of the Village Views quarterly newsletter. Planning Matters The Parish Council made recommendations on 24 Planning Applications. Responses were given on the various Local Development Framework Consultations. All planning applications are reviewed by two nominated Councillors each month. Allotments The Parish Council has 25 full size allotments and 39 half plots and they are available to rent to anyone living in Little Paxton. The allotment site is now at capacity and there is currently a small waiting list for allotments. The Council appointed Mr Peter Jakes as Allotment Officer and our thanks to Peter for undertaking this task. Cemetery There have been 2 interments, 2 purchases and 10 memorial requests during 2011/2012. The Cemetery Regulations and Memorial Regulations were reviewed and updated in February 2011. The new Cemetery Regulations are effective from the 6
1 st September 2011. All owners of Exclusive Rights of Burial were issued with a copy of the new Regulations in March 2011. Flood Forum Survey In March, small survey was carried out regarding flooding in Little Paxton. The survey information was passed to Huntingdonshire Flood Forum. Mill Lane Development The Council is working closely with District & County Cllr Ken Churchill, Taylor Wimpey, Kier Homes who are the Developers on the Mill Lane Site, CHS Group (social housing landlords) and Huntingdonshire District Council. Revised draft plans for the community building were received in Spring 2011. A public consultation took place in July 2011. The revised plans have yet to be submitted to the Planning Authority. Website The Parish website is in the process of being improved. Village Events The Council are now the main organisers of the village fete Paxfest. During the year Huntingdonshire District Council organised five Activity Road Shows on the playing field. The District Council also ran free Multi Sports activities on the Multi Use Games Area during the summer months. The Connections Youth Bus visited the village once a week during the school summer holidays and at Paxfest- this was paid for by the Council. Sport Relief 2012 The Parish Council was approached by Comic Relief to organise a Sport Relief Little Paxton Mile on 25 th March. This is the first time that the Council has organised such an event and it worked closely with the Rangers at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve and NiceTri Events. Three routes were available- 1, 3 & 6 miles. All routes started at the playing field and headed towards Paxton Pits Nature Reserve running round either the sailing or ski- ing lakes and finishing at the Nature Reserve Visitors Centre. A total of 266 runners took part in the event. 7
Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field The Council has been actively working with Playing Fields in Trust to protect the playing field as a recreation area and as part of a national campaign to protect 2012 playing fields across the UK in the Queen s Diamond Jubilee year. There are three exemptions within the Deed of Dedication- which will allow any extension to the village hall, replacement of the Council garages and to allow the building of a community pavilion. The Deed of Dedication was signed on 4 th April 2012. A special plaque renaming the playing field the Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field will be unveiled as part of the Jubilee celebrations. Councillors Parish Council elections were held in May 2011. Eleven Councillors were elected. During the year, Cllr J. Griffin resigned and Cllr S. Radley was disqualified for non attendance. Cllr John Mouatt was co-opted in January 2012 and Cllr Emma Freeman was co-opted in February 2012. Meetings Attendance Summary The Councillor attendance was as follows: Cllr J. Cleaver 94%, Cllr S. Dean 100%, Cllr A. Denison 95%, Cllr D. Flavell 80%, Cllr E. Freeman 100%,Cllr J. Griffin 59%, Cllr J. Matheson 100%, Cllr J.Mouatt 100%,Cllr R. Moss 79%, Cllr S. Radley 17%, Cllr R. Russell 71%, Cllr L. Vincent 82% & Cllr C. Wright 97%. Overall the attendance rate was 81.4 %. 8
LITTLE PAXTON PARISH COUNCIL (As at 30 th April 2012) Councillor Address Post Code Telephone Number Jeanette Cleaver - 33 Lakefield PE19 6NZ 07802 708060 Chairman Avenue Sue Dean 29 Lakefield PE19 6NZ 07797 747948 Avenue Alan Denison 18 Mill Lane PE19 6LP 01480 370517 Dennis Flavell 116 High Street PE19 6QH 01480 405511 Emma Freeman 69 Skipper Way PE19 6LT 01480 218315 Jean Matheson 21 Jubilee Close PE19 6QG 01480 476298 John Mouatt 5 Lakefield Avenue PE19 6NZ 01480 219269 Roslyn Moss 7 Hall Close PE19 6QS 01480 475570 Reginald Russell 6 The Sycamores PE19 6QJ 01480 213647 Lesley Vincent 17 Beeson Close PE19 6NE 01480 531082 Cate Wright 32 Park Avenue PE19 6PE 01480 394287 Clerk of the Council Jennifer Gellatly 11 Hayling Avenue PE19 6HG 01480 470193 The Chairman of the Parish Council is Cllr Jeanette Cleaver and the Vice Chairman is Cllr Alan Denison. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman are automatically members of all committees. 9