Gerrans Parish Council

MINUTES of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Tuesday 1st May 2018 at 7.00pm in the Memorial Hall Annexe

Present:

Cllrs  Taffinder, (chairman), Bax, German, Hastings, Hetherington, Iddison, Meek ;

1. Skull (clerk), CC Julian German

Three members of the public attended. 

1. Apologies: Cllrs Cochrane, Edwards, Gill, Neal
2. Public Participation

– None

3. Minutes

Matters arising from the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting 9^th May 2017  (approved 6^th June 2017), and matters arising

The clerk reported the results of a traffic survey carried out by Highways in June/July 2017 which showed 95 – 96{c8c3b3d140ed11cb7662417ff7b2dc686ffa9c2daf0848ac14f76e68f36d0c20} compliance with the speed limit on Gerrans Hill in approximately 2,300 observations each of both uphill and downhill traffic. This, and the absence of any reported accidents in the last 3 years, meant that Gerrans Hill did not qualify for the installation of traffic calming measures.

He further reported that Cornwall Council are still clarifying whose responsibility are the dog bins in the car parks, and are no longer funding new bins.

4, Chairman’s Report

The Chairman gave a summary of the events of the year just ending. The full text of her address can be found at appendix 1 to these minutes.

5. Financial Matters

The clerk reported that The precept for 2018/2019 was set at £21,971 – an increase of £839 (= 3.79{c8c3b3d140ed11cb7662417ff7b2dc686ffa9c2daf0848ac14f76e68f36d0c20}) on the previous year to take account of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index. He said the Council’s finances remained sound. The total balance of accounts at 31st March 2018 was £36,708 (2017 : £34,917).This figure is £6,905 more than the budget forecast amount of £29,803 due mostly to provision made for the cost of a contested election which proved unnecessary, an underspend of the street cleaning budget caused by contractors’ illnesses, and reduced spend on car park grounds maintenance due to partial non fulfilment of contract. Detailed budget and accounts figures are available from the clerk.
6. Planning Matters

Applications reviewed in the calendar year to 31^st December 2017

Of the 16 decisions to support, all were approved by Cornwall Council.

Of the 7 decisions to object, 3 were approved by Cornwall Council, 2 were refused and 2 were withdrawn. 

7. Councillors’ Attendance

Attendance May 2017 – March 2018
(New Council elected in May 2017 so only 11months)

9. Any Other Business

– None

The meeting was closed at 7.15pm

______________________

Gerrans Parish Council

MINUTES of the Annual Assembly held on Tuesday 1st May 2018 at 7.00pm in the Memorial Hall Annexe

APPENDIX 1

Chair’s Report May 1st 2018

Since the last Annual Meeting we have made progress on some issues and been frustrated on some others. On the positive side we have completed a major refurbishment and replacement of street lighting, we have made more improvements to New Road Carpark which has resolved the problem of erosion of the footpath below the carpark, with thanks to Val and Steve for looking after the drainage.

We have a new roof on the Percuil toilet black and will have to deal with the roof at Tatams in the coming months. There has been continued improvement of the Church Close open space amenity, which is ongoing with a planned fitness trail, and we are planning to improve the childrens playground once the transfer of freehold of that and Treloan carpark is completed. This process was started by us last June and we were told it might take 8 – 12 weeks.

In a similar vein, we have been in correspondence with the minister for housing as well as our MP since August to express our concern about the way the planning inspectorate in Bristol has overridden planning decisions, and we have to date only received two identical letters from the minister and platitudes from the MP. We have also written expressing concern about falling police numbers and the proposed boundary changes, with similarly depressing results.

To end on a positive note, after more than a year of problems with our street cleaning, weed control and bin emptying, we now have a new contractor who seems to be getting everything done, and the village is certainly looking a lot tidier. My thanks to all councillors for their hard work, not forgetting Steve for keeping the show on the road.