Chairman's Report 2013/2014 Gaydon PC

Meetings

The period covered by this report has seen an enormous increase in the workload of the Parish Council. As a result the council has moved from meeting every two months to monthly meetings. Since the last annual meeting the PC has met 9 times. The minutes of the meetings are in the Parish Council section of the Gaydon website.

Thanks and introductions

I would like to thank the clerk and members of the Parish council for their attendance at council meetings and for the large amount of work that has been done outside of the formal meetings.

May I also thank District and County Councillors for their attendance at our meetings and the valuable advice that they have been able to give to us.

from 2003 APM - The chairman thanked Mike Moody, who was taking his last meeting after 7 years as clerk a period which has seen an unprecedented amount of legal change and very large number of planning requests. The chairman also welcomed Mike's replacement Mrs Corinne Hill.

Who is who and who does what

Mr Alan Scorer         District Councillor
Mr Chris Mills         District Councillor
Mr Chris Williams      County Councillor

Mrs Corinne Hill       Parish clerk

Mrs Mary Fox           Cemetery
Mrs Annette Conway     Disabled Services, Gaydon Liason, FORSE rep
Mr John Rickman        playground area, flood prevention, chairman
Mr David Pirie         lights, litter and street furniture
Mr Bernard Price       footpaths,  Gaydon Liason, vice-chair

from 2003 APM - Mrs Mary Fox - Archives (honorarium) Mrs Fox considered herself too old to be a full member of the council

Miscellaneous Events

The Gaydon Parish plan was adopted by the District in April.
Planning consent was granted to convert Gaydon Inn to a residence and to replace the barn by two houses.
There were objections to some content on the Gaydon Website which hosts the Parish Council information. A call was made for volunteers to run an alternative site.

Gaydon Lighthorne Heath - new town

The Proposal by SDC to build a new settlement at GLH to help meet the housing target in the draft Core Strategy was the major event of 2013. It was fiercely opposed by a majority of local residents and created and continues to create a heavy workload for the Parish Council. It was also the catalyst for the creation of the pressure group FORSE, which continues to campaign against the choice of location for the settlement..

Health and safety

Installation of Grit bin in Church lane.
Horse Chestnut Tree on the Village Green felled.
Installation of Ladder and safety equipment in St.Giles Church Clock tower
Loose coping stones fixed to parapet in Play area
Climbing frame and Roundabout renovated and restored
Planning granted for new dual carriageway between junction 12 M40 and Jaguar Land Rover
Street Lights added to plan for dual carriageway (PC objected)

Accounts

The precept this year is £8,128 an increase of 2 percent.

The precept for 2003 was £6500 which included provision to meet an unexpected expense for work on the tree on village green.

Flood Defence

A new pipe was installed under the Banbury Road and a swale and bank flood defence was dug at the back of the Kineton Road. There have been no reports of flooded houses in Gaydon since the works were completed. The Kineton Road scheme requires some further work to be done. This is planned for Summer 2014

from 2003 APM - No flooding there was a new and larger pipe down the Banbury Road - part of the roundabout deal - not really tested yet.

Councillors' Areas of Responsibility

I call upon the individual councillors to speak on their areas of responsibility. JR