Chairmans Report

CHAIRMANS REPORT FOR 2008-2009 Welcome to the Lawford annual assembly. Firstly the good news. Again this year the Parish Council has been able to reduce the Parish element of the Community Charge. Secondly the good news. The refurbishment of the play area at Riverview has been completed. Funds are being assembled to provide more play equipment on the Waldergrave Way playing field. The extension to the car park on the School Lane playing field has also been completed using planeings from the Wignal Street resurfacing. Thirdly the good news. A recent PCT survey continues to shows Lawford to be one of the healthiest places in Tendring. This year Kevin Smith resigned from The Council and we welcome David Ashley in his place. David Smy has also resigned and the appropriate notices are now being displayed. Our participation in The Parish Path Partnership has proved a success. This arrangement passes the responsibility of maintaining footpaths from ECC to the Parish Council. Funding for work will still be provided by ECC and already David has been able to obtain funds for minor works. Please report any footpath problems to The Parish Clerk. The Highways Committee under the Chairmanship of Ken Edwards continues to be quite successful and communication with ECC has improved considerably. We cannot win them all but a structured approach has certainly improved our success rate. Minutes of the committee are available from the clerk and Ken will be pleased to discuss any questions you may have. Both football clubs are now working together in a project to develop a new pavilion on the School Lane playing field. The Parish Council will deal with the initial planning costs but grant money is of course being actively sought. The Council monitors all planning applications and comment where appropriate. This year TDC has to develop a new plan for the District and all Parish Councils have been given the opportunity to give their views on four different options. We will be discussing this document and passing on our comments. Similarly there is a new housing strategy but as far as we can see this mainly affects Clacton and Harwich in line with the overall strategy for Tendring, which is targeted at regeneration of, deprived areas such as Jaywick and Colbayns. Recent planning applications for large areas of Lawford and Mistley to be added to future development plans are being strongly resisted. Last year we spent in excess of £75,000 including grants. This year that figure will be seriously reduced but a precept in excess of £50,000 is still required. Our budget is complete and with our accounts available for scrutiny. The Clerk would be pleased to discuss these by appointment. We await planning decisions for the proposed Tesco store. The Parish Council has not objected to the proposal but has made it clear that we are concerned about the position of the car park relative to Manningtree and the current provision for traffic control. With Mistley and Manningtree we continue to fund two Community Support Officers. Policing is discussed on a regular basis and we have been able to improve the reports we receive. These reports show a low level of crime and compared to the towns in the district feel that Lawford is a very safe place to live. Major items of expenditure include:- Grass cutting Current Contract £10,000 Toy Maintenance Contract at 3 locations Provision of play equipment and safety surfaces. Over 100 Street Lights. Please report defects to the clerk. Wages and Salaries. Maintenance of three Playing Fields and other open spaces. Maintenance of Conservation Areas such as Owl's Flight Dell. Assistance with the maintenance of the churchyard. It is a statutory requirement for Parish Council to see that a graveyard is provided. Assistance towards the running costs and maintenance of the village hall. Small grants to local schools and other organisations. We have byelaws regarding dog fouling and will prosecute should sufficient evidence be presented. The situation is improving but we still have a number of uncaring dog owners who do not clear up, and who, if caught, will attract a fine up to £500. There are many other aspects of work of The Parish Council, which are too numerous to discuss in a short report. We do meet monthly and call for a public debate. The Press reports our meetings. Our minutes are published in the free press, on the notice boards and the web site. The Parish Clerk is available in the office on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, unofficially on most other mornings. Our phone number is in the book 395898 and we have an answering service and an e-mail and fax address. We now have an excellent web site, Google Lawford Parish Council and open the site supported by Essex County Council. Our objective is to manage the affairs of The Parish professionally with open access at all times. Visitors are very welcome. Our County and District Councillor Sarah Candy attends when she can and reports when she cannot. We invite various representatives of those bodies who are also involved in various aspects of the Parish to attend as necessary. Our other District Councillor Val Guglielmi is a member of The Parish Council as is Carlo Guglielmi District Councillor for Manningtree, Mistlet Tendring and Little Bentley. Lawford is a large parish, one of the largest in Tendring. A recent health check showed that we are well situated compared to most other areas. Your Parish Council will continue to strive to ensure that this situation continues. I conclude by thanking all Councillors for their co-operation during the year and their wise advice, which is always gratefully received. I also thank the Parish Clerk whose attention to Parish affairs is quite often beyond the call of duty. David has obtained the qualifications required if we are to progress to being a Quality Council and obtain any benefits, which may accrue. Finally a special thanks to our real worker who really gets his hands dirty on our behalf Dennis Hitchcock. Brian J Rolfe Chairman Lawford Parish Council