Allhallows Parish Council - Annual Report 2006

Apologies for absence

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 17 May 2005

To receive the Financial Statement of the Parish Council's Audited Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2005

Chairman's Annual Report

Youth Committee Report

Medway Council Report

Reports from Local Organisations

Villagers' Life Magazine

Other business at the Chairman's discretion

Bob Marshall-Andrews MP

TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2006

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 17 MAY 2005 AT ALLHALLOWS PRIMARY SCHOOL, AVERY WAY, ALLHALLOWS AT 6.45 pm

PRESENT: Cllrs Mrs P Burrows, M Colyer , Mrs Y Forrest, J Luck and A Marsh; Mrs Jill Todd, Editor, Villagers' Life Magazine; Mr Clive Stanley, Webmaster; 7 parishioners.

There being no Chairman and the Vice Chairman not being present, it was proposed by Cllr Mrs Burrows, seconded by Cllr Colyer and agreed that Cllr Marsh chair the meeting.

1 APOLOGIES: A pologies for absence were received from Cllr Rod Morrad, Vice Chairman; Cllr Richard Festorazzi; Cllrs Mrs Jan Bamber, Chris Buckwell and Phil Filmer, Medway Council; Cllrs Mrs Maureen Stanney and Bob Beckey, St Mary Hoo Parish Council; Mrs Belinda Beckhelling, Mrs Glenda Davis, Mrs Chris Jackson, Mrs Joan Lambourne.

2 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD ON 13 APRIL 2004: The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting 2004 having been read, it was proposed by Cllr Mrs Forrest, seconded by Cllr Mrs Burrows and agreed they were a true account of that meeting and were signed by Cllr Marsh as Chairman of the meeting.

3 ACCOUNTS: The Financial Statement of the Parish Council's Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2004 were received.

We do all of course miss Mike Swaby; someone who did so much for the village is very difficult if not impossible to replace. Bob Beckey is working hard on the Village Plan and its findings will be most welcome. I am sure this will be a start to a much-improved Village in many ways. Other issues of particular importance were the meeting on the 8 February 05 with Superintendent Stella Mercer the Area Commander, Kent Police. She outlined the national constraints within which she had to work and invited questions. Mainly the questions from the floor were about youth problems and the quality of life. The 999 service also raised a few eyebrows. Parish Council accounts still remain in a healthy position with most of our funds in Barclays Base Rate Tracker Account which earns the maximum interest. We continue with a dialogue regarding a number of disputed Rights of Way with Medway Council. The Merit bus project seems to be getting off to a good start. The Clerk has attended meetings regarding the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act which are at times it would seem in contradiction of each other. Meetings have taken place with the Environment Agency regarding the Floodscape proposals. The Web site came on line this year with great success thanks to Mr Stanley our Web Master. The P C responded to the SEERA S E Plan, a very important document. We continue to support the British Legion Poppy Appeal, Victim Support, Allhallows Brownies, Red Cross Medical Loan Department. The Village is very much cleaner now thanks to Mrs Colyer . It is hoped the All Saints Playground will be converted into allotments. A youth shelter is to be erected on land that the Parish Council leases from Medway Council. The exact location remains controversial.

I am sorry that I cannot attend your Parish's nnual Assembly. I should be grateful if you would kindly read out this short report. Cliffe Airport. We all shared the relief when this ill-conceived option was finally ruled out, following the judicial review decision. Allhallows did so much to support the cause when required. Rural Liaison. I have attempted, as Chairman, to enhance the role of the Committee. There will be more meetings in 2005/6 and we shall welcome your Parish's new representative. Standards Committee. I remained a member in 2004/5; fortunately we had no local complaints to consider. Kent & Medway Fire & Rescue Authority. I remain as one of the Medway members. It is an excellent authority, but we are all much concerned and anxious at Government plans to “ regionalise ” the call centres (to where we know not as yet!). Staff and elected members of all parties share those concerns. Ward Funds. Both Phil Filmer and I were delighted to give support to your Parish Council during 2004/5, for a very worthwhile project. Mike Swaby . I should wish to place on record my appreciation of all that Mike did for the Council and village; he is missed at Medway's Standards Committee too. It remains my pleasure to represent Allhallows and also to deal with the individual issues raised with me by parishioners .

6 REPORTS FROM LOCAL ORGANISATIONS: T he reports from the various local organisations were read.

It is hard to believe that the next issue of the magazine is the eleventh since it has been called Villagers' Life. The magazine is doing well as regards advertising, which is really helping with the printing costs. It is one of the cheapest A4 parish council magazines in which to advertise. I would like to thank all those who regularly submit articles, we could always do with more, but they are very slowly trickling in! If anyone has anything they would like to see in the magazine, I am always open to suggestions.

9 WEBSITE - PRESENTATION BY CLIVE STANLEY: Cllr Marsh introduced Clive Stanley, the Parish Council's Webmaster. Mr Stanley said the website had been live since October 2004 and had had 7,970 hits so far. He then went live onto the website and demonstrated its capabilities.

Cllr Marsh thanked Mr Stanley for his presentation and those present for their attendance and closed the meeting at 7.35 pm

Click here for the Receipts and Payments Accounts for the year to 31 March 2005

Our Annual meeting is the time to reflect on a very busy year for the Parish Council. When our previous chairman Mike Swaby left us for the sunny parts of Spain I was nominated to serve as the new chairman. Allhallows Parish Council is a very forward thinking council, always at the forefront of the latest government developments for Parish Councils, e.g. our recognition to try to achieve Quality Council status. To this end the first was to ensure the Clerk has a Certificate in Local Council Administration; this was achieved by Roxana last year. I also hold this qualification. A portfolio is being compiled in order to become a Quality Parish Council. The Parish Council must comply with certain Tests to demonstrate the above in order to show that it has the capacity to take on the broader role envisaged.

Feasibility measures of flood risk management measures for the marshes and their impact on the local environment; large scale development at the Isle of Grain, which includes the 4 additional LNG gas tanks being built on the old B P site; the proposed wind generator farm to the rear of Thamesport - B P had previously been involved in the provision of wind farms at B P Neresco in Rotterdam and in Amsterdam; the combined cycle gas turbine power station by e-on/ uk .

We saw the launch of Speed Watch This has been developed by the partnership of Kent Police, Kent Association of Parish Councils, Medway Council and Kent County Council Road Safety Unit/Highways Services due to demand from the public for greater involvement in reducing the speed of motor vehicles in their communities. The Camera partnership and Road Safety engineers focus on areas where speed has a contributory factor in collisions; speed watch enables positive action to be taken by communities with the support of the Speed watch partnership. The Parish Council is pursuing this with other Parish Councils on the Peninsula.

Unfortunately our Parish Constable Trevor Bateup , retired. He used to give us a monthly report on criminal activities in the village.

Medway's Rural Transport Project . Since the launch of Medway's Initiative for Transport in November 2004 extensive consultation had been undertaken with local people, organisations and Parish Councils, following which two key aims have been identified. These involve the promotion of existing public transport services and the development of a new community transport scheme. A lot of hard work has gone into the Vital Villages Plan for which we thank Bob Beckey . The results allow us to produce a document that will set out the way forward for the parish.

The Parish Council has a commitment to help the youngsters of the village. To this end a Youth Committee under the Chairmanship of Cllr Mark Skudder has been set up which hold regular meetings. A range of activities such as a proposed drop in centre 14`s – 18`s possibly on the Brimp site; Youth Club 9`s – 14`s, and a full outdoor activity programme for all ages up to 18. I would wish to put on record my thanks to him and his committee members for driving this project. Financial support is given to most of the village organisations on an annual basis. Following a number of complaints regarding the sighting of the new youth shelter it was moved to another area. We are currently working on providing a first class allotment site on the now disused play ground in All saints Road. New tree planting continues around our controlled areas such as Cross Park, old school recreation area, and Avery Way wood section. Mark Colyer our tree warden looks after this for us. Many thanks Mark.

We continue to closely monitor all planning applications in our village and detailed plans are always available to the public prior to the Parish Council meetings.

Our web site continues to be used on a very regular basis and is updated every month, the magazine is now on it.

In conclusion I should like to thank all the members and the Clerk for the time and effort they put into trying to keep Allhallows a better place to live in for all. We have many differing challenges in front of us. Your Parish Council is there to help you all if we can. Why not come along to one of our monthly meetings or surgeries and talk to us.

As Councillors of Medway Council we are Members of the Cabinet. Janice Bamber has the portfolio for Customer First and Corporate Services; Phil Filmer has the portfolio for Front Line Task Force. As well as the work undertaken for Peninsula Ward residents Cabinet Members also have to take a strategic view and make decisions that affect the residents in the whole of Medway.

You may be aware that because of the Children's Act Medway Council has had to undertake a major reorganisation. Previously Education and Children's Social Services were two distinct departments. Now, everything that affects children must come under one enormous department.

Janice is also a Member of Hoo Parish Council and a Governor at Hoo Primary School. She serves on the Admiralty Court, Rural Liaison Committee, the National Association of Councillors, Medway Merit Awards Panel, Hands Volunteer Bureau Board and Grain Foreshore and Smithfield Marsh Management Committee.

Her present portfolio deals with the internal administration of the Council and covers Chief Executives Department, IT, Personnel, Building Maintenance, Performance Review, Government targets, Telecommunications, Members Services, Staff Training etc. The outward facing parts of the portfolio are elections, the Local Strategic Partnership and Customer First (previously First Point of Contact). Customer First deals with residents contact with the Council whether by telephone, email, face-to-face or correspondence. In 2005 the new Contact Centre opened. During January 06 the centre received over 47,000 telephone calls. The first Contact Point in Rainham also opened. Residents can go to a Contact Point office to enquire about any Council service and make payments. There will be a Contact Point in each of the five towns and two of these, Rainham and Strood , will also be a police office. Contact Points will shortly be opening in Gillingham and Rochester. In the rural area the Council has installed kiosks for residents to contact the Council and other services.

Phil is Chairman of Transport for Medway, Chairman of Merit, and Chairman of the Waste Management Partnering Board. He also sits on the Kent Transport Board, Kent and Medway Road Safety Forum, Local Development Framework Advisory Group, Medway Transport Partnership and the National Parking Adjudication Panel. His portfolio covers highways, road safety, parking, refuse collection and disposal, recycling, street cleansing as well as public and school transport. He has just overseen the introduction of the popular Blue Bag Scheme and the strategic waste review and is working to increase recycling to 40%.

Much painful effort was spent on working out next years budget, closing the £8 million gap left by the difference between the cost of providing services and the very poor

Government settlement received by Medway. As Medway starts from a low base, our Council Tax is £140 below other Councils; we get less return on the percentage of Council Tax charged.

Each Councillor gets £3000 to spend in their Ward. This year Janice spent hers installing seats at the bus stop near retirement flats at the request of the residents, paying part of the cost of the Community Policeman and installing a kickwall in Kingshill Recreation Ground, Fourwents Road, Hoo. Phil's Ward Improvement Fund went towards the cost of the Community Policeman, CCTV in Hoo village and the Doctor's surgery in Stoke.

Work is ongoing in several areas. Central Government have instigated a review of Local Strategic Partnerships and wants to change the way they work and to introduce Local Area Agreements. We are consulting with all of our partners on the changes.

Medway Council are negotiating their second Public Service agreement with Government. Having agreed the targets with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister we now have to agree the detail with the various departments. This is proving somewhat problematic and the deadline is the end of March.

For the future the Tour de France cycle race, the alterations to the roads and traffic flow in Chatham, regeneration of the waterside sites and the Olympics will keep us all busy.

Major Government inspections take place this spring. The Comprehensive Performance Assessment – The Harder Test (CPA) and the Joint Area Review (JAR) will examine every aspect of the Councils work. We want to improve on last year's assessment, which was a Good Council Improving Well. We want to become an Excellent Council. The Harder Test means exactly that and this year will concentrate on what the Council with it's partners have achieved in various areas. The result will not be known until December.

I have continued to handle a variety of ward-related issues over the last year, and on village matters, I am grateful, as ever, to the Parish Council and its Clerk, for keeping me informed of current activities and concerns.

On Medway Council I have been a Chairman of the new Licensing Panel, replacing the former role exercised by Medway Magistrates. We have heard evidence related to pub and club licence applications from across the borough. Where there have been solid objection reasons, applicants have not always succeeded in gaining very late opening hours. However, we have not had controversial cases in this ward. Indeed—and sensibly—we are not permitted to sit on cases from our own wards.

I and my two colleagues are ready to represent local views on planning applications which go to committee. There was controversy in the parish over the Stoke Road touring caravan park.

I was involved in the issue of the use of Seafront chalets during the supposed “closed period”. There were severe problems caused by “ overstayers ” parking at the end of Avery Way, opposite Kingsmead . That was unacceptable ands every effort will be made for next year's closure period to be observed, or enforced.

I have chaired the Rural Liasison Committee again. We started to take the Committee to the parishes for every other meeting and I am grateful to Allhallows PC for agreeing to host a future meeting. We continue to hold an annual open meeting, when all parish councillors can attend. The Committee is a vital link between the elected first tier of Medway government—the 11 parish councils—and the Unitary Authority. I shall conclude my chairmanship this municipal year.

I look forward to representing the parish during the last year of the current term for Medway Council, 2006/7. For a variety of reasons, I have not put myself forward to my party as a candidate for next year's elections.

Residents are well aware of the numbers of teenagers in the village, roaming around with nothing much to do. The vast majority are well behaved, responsible young people but there is a significant minority whose behaviour is upsetting or unacceptable and which affects the quality of life of the rest of the village residents, of all ages . The Parish Council wished to address the problem of the lack of facilities for everybody under the age of 18 and set up a parish council committee dedicated to youth. Committee members include 3 parish councillors, a representative of Medway Council's Youth Service and 3 representatives of local youth organisations. The committee is still in its early days but has already been given equipment that can be used by a future drop-in centre for older teenagers and by a re-formed Youth Club for those aged 9-14. These are being pursued. Ideas are being formulated for activities or facilities for children under the age of 9. One such is the possibility of running a Mothers and Toddlers group. Although the traditional name is “mothers” and “toddlers” this would be for any parent, guardian or childminder and for those from new born to starting school. It would not be in competition with the Pre-school but be complementary to it.

The remit of the Youth Committee is therefore to identify and facilitate or provide wherever possible for all people in the parish between the ages of 0-18.

1st ALLHALLOWS GUIDES

The Guide Company is going from strength to strength, we had a few Brownies who came up together and we seem to have reasonable parental backup. Last week we enrolled 3 more Guides and there are two others waiting to be enrolled. Last summer some of us went to the County challenge day, in Otford , in November we combined with Rainbows and Brownies to provide refreshments after the Remembrance Day service, and at Christmas we cooked a very successful Christmas dinner. As a result some of them will be taking cooks badge, and they have all nearly completed their chocolate badge-one for the chocoholics! The lady that runs Keep Fit kindly came in one evening and tested them for agility badge and we are planning a trip out to the pool or ice skating, so it is not all eating!

The Guide District is looking for a new Commissioner but we seem to be lucky enough in Allhallows to have a lot of adult help, thanks to the parents.

We are grateful for the support the Parish Council has given us, without that we would not have continued with such low numbers but now we are growing we hope to give a little back to the village.

Brownies are usually aged between seven and ten. Brownies have fun! They take part in indoor and outdoor activities that challenge them to do their best. Brownies belong to a Pack and work in small groups called Sixes. This gives each girl a group of ready-made friends to take care of her. It also makes her feel that she belongs to something special. We meet in the village hall every Monday (term time) from 5.50pm to 7.20pm and the weekly subs are £1. We have at present fourteen Brownies and many of our older girls have now moved on to Guides.

Over the Christmas period we went to see Aladdin at the Central Hall Theatre, Chatham, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. As a unit we have just completed the Cooks interest badge. Each child needed to do a number of challenges and then to make a healthy dish showing how to prepare fresh fruit, vegetable or salad. The dishes were brilliantly presented and they all deserve their badge. There are often other opportunities for Brownies to take part in special activities and events throughout the year. Many Brownie Packs go away on holiday, to camp or an overnight sleepover.

YANTLET RAINBOWS

We have 12 Rainbows at present, and the help of a couple of mothers and two Guides who are very good at running games. Last September we went to Cudham for a Rainbow Rumpus and they took part in various different activities, very good for the girls to realise we are part of a larger organisation . Changes are going on all the time in Rainbows, there is a new uniform and the programme has altered and we attend trainings to keep abreast of these changes. We would like to thank the Parish Council for their continuing support, without that we would find it difficult to manage financially.

We started back at 7th Allhallows Scout Group in September with 10 children we have held 3 camps at Allhallows, one including a Christmas camp which was great. We now have nearly 40 children from the age of6 - 15 years. We have had a busy programme with Beavers, Cubs and Scouts including the remembrance parade, Christmas bazaar, a disco, hiking, camp fires etc.. We hope to continue with a balanced programme but with the uncertainty of the renewal of the lease it is difficult for us to plan ahead.

Allhallows bingo is held on a Thursday evening from 7.30pm (eyes down at 8) until 10pm in the village hall.At present it is attendedby approx 40 people.Admission is 30p, bingo game books cost 50p each, there is also a raffle, 50p a strip, drawn at interval. Refreshments are available at interval, tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks. Proceeds go to help the village hall. '400 Lottery' is drawn the first Thursday of the month. All newcomers welcome, the more people who come, the bigger the prize money!

Friendship Club is held on the 2 nd Wednesday of the month and we have 12 members. New members are always welcome.

Last year we held 3 fund raising events. A sponsored silence, a bring and buy with refreshments of strawberry and cream and cakes, and a ploughman's lunch raising a total of £517.68 for the church. Our next fund raising event will be an Easter Bazaar with refreshments on April 12 th . We would love to see you there.

We have also lunched out at Rochester Cathedral Tea Rooms, The Red Dog and our Christmas Lunch together was at The Windmill and much enjoyed by all.

Connie Beckett once again provided lunch for us all when we met at her home to sing our favourite hymns and Ken Reynolds visited our group and gave a very interesting talk on his love of music and how he became a church organist. We are at the moment drawing up a programme for this year and hopefully our time spent together will be just as enjoyable.

The Short Mat Bowls Club meets every Friday, 7.00 to 10.00 pm in the Village Hall. Unfortunately we only have twelve members, which is not enough to join a league, but we still enjoy a friendly game each week.

Our Mission Statement: Inspiring children, in an atmosphere of fun, creativity and mutual respect, to want to learn, to enjoy learning and to become lifelong learners and independent thinkers.

This year as triple award winners, Allhallows Primary School has consolidated and built upon the successes of the previous years and the small period of stability the school had enjoyed. In July 2005 we were pleased to be awarded the Inclusive Schools Quality mark, November 2005 saw the school achieve the Basic Skills Quality Mark and in December we were recognised for our very good practice in realising the aims of our school and for developing all levels of our staff to achieve the best possible results with the nationally recognised award of Investors in People.

One of our proudest moments was the award bestowed on Mrs Sandi James who was selected from hundreds of nominees to be South-East Primary Teacher of the Year 2005. She was also shortlisted to the final three for the National award! The School Year 5/6 Sports team which had won the Small School award for the Medway Youth Games in two successive years and the overall Fair Play award in the previous year were nominated and awarded the Kent Messenger's Medway Junior Team of the Year 2005 by the famous boxer, Henry Cooper. To add to this, Class 5/6 and one of our newest teachers sailed to a wonderful victory in the Construction Industry competition involving 20 other schools for designing their own village.

Our school results were better than ever especially in English and Science with 54% of pupils attaining a Level 5 in Reading and Science. Two Year 6 pupils obtained Grammar School places and ten pupils obtained places at Hundred of Hoo, and from first hand accounts from the children and their parents, they are progressing particularly well.

The school is now fully staffed, with PPA time being covered by our Assistant Head Teacher Mrs James. Its ethos and commitment to the creative curriculum is being heralded as innovative and exemplary practice within Medway, and especially the role the children play through the School Council in identifying how they learn best and informing the class teachers.

The school continues to offer extended facilities through a much valued breakfast club and a range of after-school clubs, which are increasingly being run by community members. Visitors have been invited eg St Dunstan's who came to talk to the children about what life is like for those of our community members who have poor sight and visits have been organised to Chatham Dockyard, Guildhall Museum, The British Museum. Our whole school outing in the summer was to Joss Bay where we had a great day. French is now part of our curriculum with all children learning to speak the language taught by a French teacher in our language classroom. A greater number of pupils are now taking music instrument lessons! The choir has performed at local music festivals and brought Christmas cheer to many when they visited Chimneys and the Allhallows Park residential homes. Years 2 to 6 have the opportunity to go swimming for 7-8 week blocks of swimming at the Hoo pool.

The school continues to maintain good links with the local Pre-school and the local secondary schools. Regular church services are held each year and we look forward to visits from the local rector and Mr Reynolds who take regular assemblies. As previously, the school has raised in excess of £500 for the various charities it supports each year – Genes for Jeans, Leukaemia Research, Children in Need, Shoebox appeal etc. Sports equipment and computer equipment has been obtained thanks to the many vouchers collected not only by the families who attend the school but the dozens of you, community members who pop into the school to hand in your vouchers. Thank you for your kind gifts and donations and support with our school fairs. Please do join us for our school celebration assemblies each Thursday from 3.10 to 3.30 when we hear about the achievements of our young people.

The community of Allhallows is our biggest asset and if you would be willing to come and talk to the children about your jobs (careers), your past experiences or knowledge of the history of Allhallows (history) or the local environment (Allhallows bird life, the marshes, etc) we would be pleased to hear from you. Also if you have any talents you could share with our children eg as an artist, an author please contact us. WE NEED YOU.

Time seems to have flown by and the next magazine is the seventeenth since it was renamed Villagers' Life . It is good to have heard so many positive remarks about it from so many people over the years– it is obvious that residents eagerly await its arrival every two months, especially the elderly.

All those who have submitted articles and poetry, and also the regular contributors, are thanked for their submissions. It would be good to have some input from the youngsters in the villages.

Loyal advertisers are thanked for renewing their advertisements for another year. There are many new advertisers too, so please use their services when you can and mention Villagers' Life when you do so.

It is with regret that I have had to stand down from editing the magazine due to work commitments and for personal reasons. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as editor and wish to thank all those who have supported me, but I feel it is time to hand over the reins to someone who can devote more time to the magazine. I hope the magazine continues to go from strength to strength.

Last Revised ~ 01 May 2006		Web site design and creation by Clive Stanley Associates 01474 822676
Copyright © Allhallows Parish Council 2006