Annual Parish Meeting 24th May 2005

Littlethorpe Parish Council



Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Tuesday 24th May 2005

in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.





Present: Mrs. W. Orme

Brig. J Wardle

Mrs. J. Jowitt

Mr. I. Galloway (District Councillor)

Mr W Lupton (Clerk)

24 Parishioners





Apologies None received



Chair. In the absence of the Chairman it was agreed that Cllr. Orme should act as Chair for the meeting.



Very serious concerns were raised by a number of members of the Parish and a full discussion regarding these issues took place.



The key issues raised were:



1) Resignations of Chairman Edmonstone and Cllr. Shipley

2) Representation of remaining Councillors

3) Performance of the Parish Council to date

4) Performance of the Parish Clerk

5) Exempt Session conclusion

6) Crime in Littlethorpe and the recent Police meeting

7) Railway restoration

8) Rights of Way and road conditions
9) Precept and Accounts

10) Roundabout reports and communication within the Parish



1) Cllr. Shipleys letter of resignation was read out. Chairman Edmonstones letter was not read out but is to be discussed by the existing Councillors at an Exempt Session of the Parish Council due to be held in the near future - this was due to the personal nature of the letter. A report will be presented to the Parish in due course.



2) The question of the resignation of the remaining Councillors was raised and Cllr. Galloway informed the meeting that the Councillors had been properly appointed, and, as they had no desire to resign, this was not an option to be considered. However Councillors agreed that the recruitment of two parishioners to the Council to replace the retiring Councillors should be processed immediately.



3) The Parish Council accepted that there had been a number of problems this year and assurances were given that the focus on relevant Parish issues will be paramount in the future.



4) The Parish raised a number of concerns about the Parish Clerks performance. The Clerk addressed the questions that were raised and the Parish Council agreed that his job description should be clarified. Councillors agreed that Parishioners should have an opportunity to submit their concerns on the subject to the Chairman and were requested to do so by the end of June at the latest.



5) Concerns regarding the Exempt Session held on the 26th January were raised and Cllr. Wardle explained the situation fully to members of the Parish present.



6) Clearly this was a successful and helpful meeting for the residents of Littlethorpe. A number of concerns had been raised and the police representative gave a full update on the recent mini crime wave in Littlethorpe. It was agreed that this issue would be included on all future agendas and that the Parish Council would endeavor to appoint a member to represent them at the CAP meetings. Criticism was leveled that the Parish Council was inappropriately represented at the original meeting but this was not substantiated, as both the Chairman and Cllr. Orme were both present. The Parish Council agreed that they would endeavor to revitalize the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in Littlethorpe and Quarry Moor.



7) This remains a very serious concern to the Parish and the Parish Council agreed that it should be a top priority to focus upon. It was agreed that they would try to establish stronger contacts with Bishop Monkton and Burton Leonard Parish Councils to encourage a more assertive and pro-active approach to the problem.



8) It was agreed that both presented a problem within the Parish. The blocking of footpaths and Rights of Way would be raised with the relevant authority and it was also agreed that Parish complaints about road conditions would be forcefully raised with the Highways department.



9) Concerns were raised about both the level of increase in the Precept and procedural issues. Answers were provided by the Clerk and it was explained that the percentage increase on 1004/95 was 2.5% rather than the 7.8% printed in the Borough Council notice. This represented an increase of only 22p per annum per household.



10) A helpful discussion resulted in a request to the Clerk to deliver any information in good time before press date each month.



In recognition of the importance of the issues raised these minutes will be presented foe approval at the next Parish Council Meeting on 26th July 2005



The Acting Chairman concluded by saying that the Parish Council would endeavor in the future to establish an effective chain of communication and be more pro-active on the major issues that will concern the Parish in the future.





The meeting closed at 8.30pm. Back to top