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. Copies of an unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2005/2006 were circulated for the information of members of the public. The Chairman of the Finance committee thanked Cllr. Bob Henley and internal auditor Tim Fox for their work on the accounts which would, in due course, be audited by Chartered Accountants Hacker Young.

The year's accounts were in line with budget with Village Hall letting showing a continuing upwards trend, most likely due to the improved facilities. New carpets, upholstery cleaning and an improved sound and public address system had all helped to make the hall a more desirable venue. The next planned improvements would be to the toilets and, with a generous donation from the Rural Touring Theatre, to stage lighting and backdrop.

On the expenditure side, funds had been made available from reserves for the completion of the Booth Bed Lane Play Area as this was identified as a priority in the Parish Plan questionnaire. Further funds would be made available to progress other Parish Plan items.

A member of the public thanked all the Councillors for their hard work on the Council and its committees and made special reference to the retiring Councillors whose work would be remembered in the Village. A round of applause confirmed the meeting's agreement with her words.

A member of the public asked if the Parish Council had received advice about the Code of Conduct for councillors, was there an officer overseeing this scheme and was it beneficial. He was very concerned that the code represented an erosion of democracy. The councillors replied that they were required to agree to a standard Code of Conduct and also to register specific financial interests. To some this might seem intrusive and might deter some potential councillors.

A member of the public raised the matter of the Youth Centre again and, expressing sympathy with the reservations of the school and local residents, asked what were the alternatives to the planned location. Boro. Cllr. Kolker replied on behalf of G.Y.P.P. explaining that no funds were available to redevelop the current Youth Centre Site and the proceeds from the sale of this site, with planning permission for one dwelling, were needed to fund this and other community projects. Of the other suggestions, Booth Bed Lane would be too expensive to develop, needing additional services and car parking and a position on the school field near to the mini-roundabout was on land too wet for building. Alongside the school seemed to be the only possibility. If no Youth Centre is built, the uniformed organisations will disappear from the Village. It only requires a 7 meter wide strip of land and would be of use to the school as an additional indoor play area. Cheshire County Council own the land and their Estates Department are in favour as is the Executive Member for Children's Services.

A member of the public pointed out the potential problems of access along a badly lit drive and asked if the Parish Council was likely to be asked to fund a youth leader.

The Chair of the School Governors made the point that the development would not be in the school's interests, specific problems being security, vandalism, car parking, the proximity to school children and the application of the Joint Use Agreement (1968). The options for future expansion of a very effective and thriving school would be severely limited.

The Chairman hoped that all parties would work to seek common ground.

Cllr. Salmon reported that he had heard that the train service would not be resumed until at least November due to the Italian company supplying the signalling system going into liquidation. Cllr. Owen, who had served on the Railway Compound Liaison Committee replied that the last announcement had been of a resumption in June. He undertook to contact the project leader immediately for clarification. A related topic was the station building which was under threat of being demolished and replaced with a bus shelter as the canopy impedes train drivers' sight lines. Cllr. Owen asked the meeting for its opinion. This was overwhelmingly in favour of saving the station building which was considered part of the heritage of the Village. Volunteers were sought for 'Friends of Goostrey Station' which could be a lobby group for the preservation of the building and for a footbridge over the line.

Homewatch. Jonathan Robinson, the Goostrey Homewatch Co-ordinator explained the structure and aims of this mutual self help organisation. Goostrey is one of the safest areas in one of the safest boroughs in Cheshire but the purpose of Homewatch is to make the community even safer by encouraging communication between neighbours and providing a warning link with the Police. A network of members provide a two-way exchange of information. Increasing use is being made of e-mail and Mr Robinson collected e-mail addresses. He also thanked Tom Oldham, his predecessor, for his 13 years in the role of Co-ordinator.

Cllr. Richardson explained the 'Datalink' or 'Message in a Bottle' scheme whereby vital information (contacts, ailments and medications etc) are stored in a jar. A sign by the front door indicates that the resident is a member and a similar sign indicates the location of the jar within the house. This scheme is being promoted by the Lions organisation.

Tree Warden. Chris Mallet explained his role as the Goostrey Tree Warden. There are some 7500 tree wardens in the country aiming to keep trees in good order. Working with the Cheshire Landscape Trust, 40 trees in Goostrey have been photographed and will be monitored over the years to provide information on the effects of pollution etc. Mr Mallet can apply for 25 trees per year to be planted for the benefit of the community and can also organise the filling in of hedges, repair of dry stone walls and replacement of damaged trees in public areas. He would like suggestions for planting in the late Autumn e.g. the banking around the station.

Waste Management. Helen de Lemos, Cheshire County Council's Waste Strategy Manager began her presentation with a quiz to promote awareness of the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). The meeting learned that 60% of the rubbish in household bins could be recycled. Cheshire had recycled 25% of waste last year and 30% this year. The average amount of waste per person per year is 535 kg for the whole country, but 647 kg in Cheshire. Cumbria is the only county with a higher average. On average, each person uses 300 plastic carrier bags per year. She recommended the 'bags for life' on sale at £2 from shops, post offices and libraries. These were selling at a rate of 1000 per month with a total of 40,000 sold across Cheshire so far.

She emphasised the following reasons to change our attitude towards waste:

Landfill gases are more potent that carbon dioxide re. global warming. Pollutants leak out from landfill sites and need to be controlled for years. The amount of landfill allowed is being reduced by legislation every year. Landfill is expensive in terms of tax, the cost of ever reducing available sites and complying with environmental standards.

Cheshire County Council will be introducing kerbside collection of cardboard and plastics in addition to glass, cans and paper and collection of kitchen waste is planned for the future. It is also improving facilities at Household Waste Recycling Centres. It is promoting the use of home composters, re-usable nappies, bags for life and aiming to get the message across in schools and by poster campaigns. In a general discussion the following questions were asked and suggestions made:

Incineration? Cheshire aimed to separate as much recyclable material as possible from waste and pass on the remainder to existing processors.
Batteries? There are containers for household batteries at Waste Centres.
Fridges? Fly tipping of fridges is still taking place even though district councils will collect them.
Packaging? Excessive, unnecessary packaging is a huge problem. National leadership & lobbying are needed to raise awareness.
Fortnighly collection? This had been a success in Vale Royal, boosting the recycling percentage to over 40%. In other areas 50% had been achieved.

The Chairman thanked the speakers and invited all present to join the Parish Council for light refreshments, the Meeting closing at 9.45 pm.