Alvingham Parish Council
Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting
Held on 5th March 2024
Present: Councillor N Ashley
Councillor V Stratford
Councillor G Cummings
Councillor S Shucksmith
Councillor A Graves
Clerk: Mrs S McFarland
Apologies
Councillor Mossop was unable to attend due to still being abroad.
Minutes of meeting held on 14th March 2023
The minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting which was held on 14th March 2023 were read and approved. They were proposed by Councillor Cummings and seconded by Councillor Shucksmith. Councillor Ashley then signed them as a true copy of the meeting.
Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
Treasurers Report
Councillor Cummings reported that we had started the year with £4500 and had ended with £4419.96 meaning as predicted we had broken even on the year. Money has been spent supporting the Kings Coronation as well as the Church Yard. The precept has remained the same as in the preceding year, funds are therefore available should they be required for anything worthy in the coming year.
Chairmans Report
Over the past year we have stood our corner about drainage, road conditions and footpath maintenance.
After endless nagging on our part taking the 90 degree bend out of the water course crossing Highbridge Road near Kingshill has lead to a much smoother flow. In addition the excellent job done cleaning the dyke through to Abbey Road has ensured there was no flooding during the recent heavy rain.
So far as the roads are concerned there has really been no change. Hopefully with more funds becoming available in the coming year things will improve. All we can do is carry on reporting what needs to be done and remind everyone to also report problems.
Although we have helped financially with the upkeep of the church yard during the year we have not really achieved the results we had hoped for. This is an item that must be discussed before the growing season really gets underway.
We have had quite a few planning applications, most of which went to plan. The odd one did not seem to be completed as per the original permission. Future applications need to be better monitored and the planners more adamant about the end result.
Towards the end of the year along came the potential of mega pylons marching across our patch. This is causing major concern. Individually we are powerless. All we can do is to be seen supporting the major pressure groups suffering with the same problem. The annoying issue is how much of this grid will be underground or offshore. All we can do is to try and help stop the proposals.
Finally, a big thank you to The Clerk who manages the admin side of the council work so well and our treasurer who manages the financial side of things and who has taken the bit in his teeth on the pylon problem, these efforts are very much appreciated.
Clerk’s Report
This year there have been 5 meetings, 1 extraordinary meeting and 1 public meeting to discuss the National Grid Pylon proposal. Meetings have been well attended by our Councillors. We have said goodbye to Councillor Whalberg and have welcomed Councillor Stratford in her place. The public meeting held to discuss the National Grid proposal was extremely well attended with approximately 100 members of the community present which shows the strength of feeling in the community about the proposal.
6 planning applications have been received during the year; in addition, we have faced the Viking CSS pipeline plans. Steps have been taken to secure a new defibrillator for the village and some excellent fund raising has been carried out to help with the cost of this.
The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and the meeting was declared closed at 7.45pm.