Alison Macallan sent apologies for her absence due to illness –
Soo James agreed to act as secretary for the meeting and took the
minutes.
Welcome
CC(H)
Chairman, James Radley, welcomed all to the 2
nd
AGM and introduced the guest speakers for the evening;
| Jane Harrap |
Hampshire Association of
Parish and
Town Councils |
| Debbie Wicks |
Hampshire & Isle
of Wight Wildlife Trust |
| Simon Ambler |
New
CC(H) Councillor for Church Crookham West |
1. Chairman’s address, Review of 2004-2005 and looking ahead
James explained that this second year had been a busy
one for the CC(H). Our candidate, Simon Ambler, was elected on 5th
May 2005 as Councillor for Church Crookham West. Simon and James now
both sit on Hart District Council’s (HDC) Planning Committee.
The committee sat to consider the QEB development at the Princes Hall
in Aldershot
on Thursday 14th July. HDC
rejected the planning application but it has now gone to appeal. The
case is
likely to be heard in October 2006 and will be approximately a five
week
process. James thanked all members of the community who had written in
highlighting the associated issues for consideration at the hearing.
James gave
special thanks to Ken Blockwell for heading the QEB Campaign and for
all the
hard work Ken and Pat Lowe conducted at the Bourley Road Car Park
during the
campaign.
A more
immediate issue for the CC(H) is the news that TAG Aviation are
planning to double the number of flight at weekends. This will not only
mean
more noise but will increase the number of flyovers that are off
course. James
requested that residents of Church Crookham make their feelings known
by writing to Rushmoor Borough Council.
2. Jane Harrap – Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils
Jane
detailed that there are over 8500 Parish Councils in the UK which are
the lowest tier of council to have statutory powers. Their purpose is
to
represent local people and the community with a high ratio of
councillors to
residents. The benefits of Church Crookham having their own Parish
Council include
having control of how our budget is spent, decisions on planning issues
etc. and
Jane recommends Church Crookham following this route.
To set up
the request for a Parish Council at least10% of the electorate (or a
minimum of
250 people) have to complete the application form which is submitted to
HDC,
along with a boundary map. The district council will then hold a
referendum
before submitting the request to the Office of the Deputy Prime
minister. It
can take between 1 to 6 months for a decision to be made and will be
reported back
through HDC. The Association
of Parish and Town Councils can provide advice
for potential councillors and clerks who must live within a 3 mile
radius of the
proposed parish boundary.
Concern was
raised that this procedure had been attempted some 15 years
ago in Church Crookham but HDC were unable (or not prepared) to fund a
Parish
Council. James provided an illustration of the extra cost the parish
councils
of Crondall and Crookham Village make to
the
Council Tax and pointed out that Church Crookham residents are already
paying
£45 per year that currently goes into a “murky pool”. If Church
Crookham had
their own Parish Council they would have to be paid pro rata from HDC.
3. Simon Ambler – CC(H) Church Crookham West
Simon thanked all who helped with the election campaign in May and
explained that after the
first 5 months he was still learning how the council operates.
One of the
current major issues he is involved with is securing new management of
the
Velmead Community Centre (VCC). The VCC is currently managed by Hart
Leisure
Services as it was originally commissioned by HDC from the developers.
However,
HDC have floated the idea that they no longer want to manage it which
coincides
with concerns expressed by Crookham Village Parish Council
that the VCC it is not operating to its full potential. Suggestions
have been
made that it could be handed over to a local community group or the
Parish
Council to run. Since, February 2005 there have been discussions
between local
representatives and the Parish Council with HDC on how a successful
hand over
could be achieved. In July 2005 a paper was put forward for HDC Cabinet
to
debate. However, the decision ratified by the Cabinet varied
significantly from
the Parish Council requirements. More meetings are scheduled and it is
hoped that the issue can be bought back on track.
Simon has also been involved in is the development of School Travel
Plans. HDC is one of
the lowest achievers in the country for setting school travel plans
even though
finances are available to help schools with the plan preparation.
Without a
formalised
travel plan schools are not able to tap into “Section 106” money for
improving
routes to school.
Another
concern of
Simon’s is the lack of youth facilities in Church Crookham - the
nearest
facility being The Point in Fleet. Hampshire Youth Services have been
proactive
in surveying local children about what they would like to see provided.
This
has resulted in the Hart Community Outreach – a traveling bus that is
kitted
out with coffee, computer points etc, where local kids can enjoy a chat
with
their mates in a safe and secure environment. The bus will travel
around the
district according to a timetable and will particularly concentrate on
outlying
regions. The project will hopefully highlight what works best for the
youths
and will help to establish more suitable permanent sites.
4. Debbie Wicks - Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust(HWT)
Debbie
outlined her role
as head of conservation at HWT and its 45 year history. The trust
employs about
55 staff who are involved in a range of community projects including
management
of 1700Ha of MoD land with protected wildlife. The presentation Debbie
gave at
the meeting covering the various aspects of the trust work is available
on
request (e_mail: admin@ccguk.com)
at nearly 10 Mbytes it is too large to put on our web-site.
5. Treasurer’s statement of accounts
CC(H) treasurer, Soo James, explained that during the first year the
annual accounts were prepared to align with the date in September 2003
when the
original committee was elected. However, the Electoral Commission
require
accounts that align with date the CC(H)
were actually
registered (1st January 2004). Hence, the accounts presented
at this
2nd AGM are subject to change before they are submitted to the
electoral commission in January 2006. Soo proposed to the committee
that the AGMs are rescheduled to coincide with the end of the
accounting period
(December/January) in order that only one set of accounts need be
prepared and agreed.
At the date of the AGM (26th October 2005) the CC(H) held a
net receipt over payment of £31.6 which, when added to the
balance of the first
accounting year, provides a balance of £932.
6. Refuse collection
James explained that the bin lorries used by HDC have come to the end
of their
natural life and HDC do not intend to buy split body lorries again due
to their unreliability. However, a consequence of buying single body
lorries
means that blue and black bins can not be collected at the same time.
Currently two options are being proposed;
- Double up lorries and crew
- Alternate collection weeks
To double up lorries will require an increase in council tax of at
least 20%.
Currently, for a band D house, HDC receive £125 pa of which
£34.40 pa is
allocated to waste collection. The average cost of waste collection in
Hampshire is
£47.40 per household (the Test Valley allocation for waste
collection is set
at £70 pa!).
As
Hampshire the land
fill sites are nearly full if Hart residents continue to generate
non-recyclable waste at the current rate then Hart will need to build
an
incinerator. It is believed that by alternating the collections on a
weekly
basis this will encourage households to recycle more of their waste.
Consequently,
bigger blue bins, double the current size would be provided if the
scheme was
adopted (which it subsequently has been). Other Councils which have
adopted
this method of waste collection top the league for recycling. It is
predicted
that this method will save £1.60 pa (per household) whereas
doubling up lorries and crew will increase
council tax payments by £15.35 pa.
A show of
hands showed
that all present were unanimously in agreement that blue/black bins
should be
collected on alternate weeks. James explained that the HDC Council were
debating the waste collection issue tomorrow (27th October
2006) and
he would present the views of the members of the CC(H)
at the meeting.
7. Election of Officers
The following officers were elected;
James Radley
|
re-elected as Chairmen |
| Alison Macallan |
re-elected as Secretary |
| Gill Butler |
e-elected as Membership
Secretary |
| Soo James |
re-elected as Treasurer |
| Pat Lowe |
elected as Press
Secretary |
| Ken Blockwell |
elected as Election
Officer |
8. Any Other Business
James
announced that there was a Full Council meeting at HDC at 19:00
tomorrow evening (27th October) to discuss the refuse
collection issue.
AGM closed 22:10.