1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Parish Cllr. Leake, from PC Carl Hurst
and from members of the Public, The Betts, The Olliers, The Rockels & Doris
Mitchell..
2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS ANNUAL MEETING
The Minutes of the previous Annual Meeting had been publicised at the time and
were unanimously agreed to be a true record and taken as read.
3. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Firstly, the Chairman introduced each of the members of the Parish Council and
welcomed each of the evening's speakers.
She then presented her Report which is summarised as follows:
a). As well as attending Parish Council meetings, Councillors also attend or
Chair the various Parish Council Committees.
b). A tribute to his work for the Parish was paid to Geoff Basford.
c). This year's replacement for the Best Kept Garden Competition, which had 8
entries last year, the Garden Open Day, was described and volunteers were
sought.
d). The work at the railway compound is now winding down but representatives of
the Parish Council still attend the regular Liaison Committee meetings.
e). There was continued financial and moral support provided for the defence
against the Gas Plant which unfortunately failed but the planning constraints
placed on it will now be closely monitored.
f). The move towards the obtaining of Quality Status was outlined, including the
provision of a comprehensive work portfolio by the Clerk to gain an AQA
Certificate of competence, one of the fundamental requirements for this status.
g). The Parish Plan has now been completed and will be launched later in the
Meeting.
h). The development of the new play area at Boothbed Lane was described in
detail, including the proposals for Phase Two, the work starting shortly.
i). Concern continues regarding the loss of the Post Office facility and Mr Andy
Wright, the Rural Transfer Advisor, is still working hard on the case and hopes
to make progress within the next few weeks.
j). The critical assessment of all planning applications has continued.
k). Speed signage within the Village is actively being considered, both static
and mobile speed indicators which can shortly be obtained on loan from the
County Council, parking on pavements also to be discouraged and pot holes in the
road to be reported to Highways.
l). Representatives of the Parish Council and the Clerk have attended a series
of development meetings organised by the Borough Council.
m). The thanks of the Parish Council on behalf of the Residents were extended to
Mr Derek Rathbone for his superlative work maintaining the Village Green and to
Mary Moston & Steven Pollock on behalf of the Residents of the Old Paddock for
their hard work in making this area an absolute picture.
Finally, she thanked the Parish Councillors, the Borough Councillors and the
County Councillor for their support during her term in Office and pledged that
the Council would continue to do everything it could to represent the interests
of the Residents of Goostrey.
4. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR 2004/2005
Copies of an unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2004/2005 were circulated
for the information of members of the Public and the Chairman of the Finance
Committee, Cllr. Salmon, reviewed the work of this Committee and the process by
which the accounts are drawn up.
A draft is firstly produced jointly by the Clerk, who is also the Responsible
Financial Officer, and the Management Auditor, Cllr. Henley, this is then
assessed by an independent Internal Auditor and then passed for assessment by a
Government appointed External Auditor.
Following an explanation of an item on the account referred to as the Suspense
Account, the draft account was approved by the Meeting.
5. VILLAGE HALL REPORT
The new Chairman of the Village Hall Management Committee, Cllr. Julia Sewell,
introduced herself and the new Village Hall Manager, Terry Collins. After paying
tribute to the past Chairman, Mrs Sally Ball, for her hard work on behalf of
this Committee over many years she then presented the following report:
a). There were very few lapses of security over the past year.
b). There had been a number of improvements including new curtain tracking,
light tubes and the purchase of a new TV, Video and DVD.
c). A new outside tap has been installed to assist external functions.
d). Further improvements planned include new carpeting for the Lounge, corridor
and Committee Room and an improved amplification and loop hearing system,
quotations currently being obtained.
e). The Village Hall is to have a new roof, installation beginning on 18th July
and the Parish Council apologise in advance for any inconvenience to hirers
which this may cause.
f). The hire of the Hall remains economically viable with increases over last
year in both the value and number of hirings.
g). New Booking Forms have been designed and printed which should be clearer to
hirers to complete.
h). New Licensing Laws are being introduced by the Government and any
implication to hirers will be drawn to their attention in due course.
6. POLICE REPORT
Firstly, Chief Superintendent Phil Thompson, Commander of the East Cheshire
Division, gave a detailed account of the difficulties that the previous system
had posed when he took over, the Force being very much over stretched to service
around 1,400 non-urgent calls each day and 400 emergency calls each day.
Following analysis of how the Force responded to these, the calls were
prioritised and greater weight was directed to the lower priorities whilst still
retaining sufficient cover for emergencies, the lower priorities now being
directed to the new Neighbourhood Policing Units, Goostrey being in the
Congleton area. This has now started to operate responses to calls for
assistance on a much more Community Focused approach although there is still
much to do in this respect.
Sergeant Gareth Woods then summarised the work of the local team by emphasising
that he wanted every person in the Borough to know his name, those of his team
and his contact number and that he was working closely with Homewatch throughout
the Borough with a view to tying in Homewatch with the work of the CAT teams.
He reported that there is now a voicemail facility for non-urgent calls with one
single number to ring and that an e:mail facility is also available which links
in with Homewatch, an explanatory leaflet with all contact numbers being
available from him at the end of the meeting.
The Chairman then invited Mr Tom Oldham, Goostrey Homewatch Organiser, to inform
the meeting of his plans to develop a wider e:mail based Homewatch network
throughout the Village and he made a plea for internet users to come forward to
offer their services as co-ordinators, ideally at least one for every road in
the Village.
Following the answering of a number of questions, the meeting showed its
appreciation to the Police representatives.
7. PUBLIC FORUM
The Chairman invited Mr Adrian Prescott of New Platt Lane to present the
contents of a letter regarding Racecourse Wood, which he had e:mailed to the
Parish Council for its consideration, so that it attained a much wider and more
immediate audience. As an immediate response, the Chairman stated that she had
contacted Congleton Borough Council and that there are 2 Preservation Orders
currently in force and that the land is at least largely owned by a local farmer
although a small corner could be owned by somebody else.
His concern related to the approach to local residents by someone calling
himself "Vinnie" who claimed to own Racecourse Wood and who has been pushing
people to buy it with the suggestion that otherwise travellers had expressed an
interest in its purchase.
To summarise the concern, therefore, further guidance on who does own the wood,
what if any are their intentions and are there any other preservation orders in
force regarding any future use of this valuable ancient woodland site. The
meeting was asked to contact Mr Prescott with any information which they may
have regarding these considerations.
The only other issues raised were concerning traffic speeding in the Village and
it was pointed out that this matter was being addressed by the Parish Council
from a number of directions.
8. THE PARISH PLAN
Ged Simpson of Cheshire Community Council was the Community Adviser responsible
for managing the project on behalf of the Parish Council and which was paid for
largely by a grant from the Countryside Agency.
He began the launch of the Parish Plan by describing the stages through which it
progressed from the establishment of a Steering Committee and its Focus Groups
through the distribution and collection of the questionnaires, their analysis,
the interpretation of results, back via the focus groups to identify actions and
finally to the production of the Parish Plan. Of particular note of which the
Village should be proud was the level of response of the questionnaires at 78%
as compared with a norm of around 30-40% for most other Parishes.
Cllr. Salmon, Chairman of the Steering Committee, then presented the main
features of the Parish Plan based on the six target areas of the Environment,
Transport, Crime & Safety, Youth & Leisure, Planning and Business.
Principal issues related to the Boothbed Lane Play Area, the Youth Club, the
Station Yard and the Station facilities, a Walking Bus Scheme, Inappropriate
Developments, Tree Preservation Orders, and a number of Environmental issues
including speeding traffic and inconsiderate parking.
Finally, he emphasised that the formulation of the Parish Plan is merely the
beginning of the process of bringing the identified improvements to the Village
and asked for anyone to offer their service who may have some particular
expertise in, or simply enthusiasm for, any of the items listed.
He then thanked all concerned with the project from the Countryside Agency down
to the individual households who had supported the project by returning the
questionnaires and invited everyone to pick up their copy of the Parish Plan at
the end of the meeting.
In concluding the Meeting, the Chairman invited all present to join the Parish
Council for light refreshments, the Meeting closing at 9.45pm
