May 2019 Chairs Report
Chairman’s Report 2018/19
We started the year with a fabulous set of posters from the children at school to advertise our entry into the Best Kept Village competition. They were amazing and certainly caught the judges and the villager’s eyes. We didn’t progress beyond round 1 but were only 2 points off. The children did a wonderful job looking after the plants at the War Memorial which looked lovely all summer.
We have again tried to get the CC to do something about the puddle that forms outside the school when it rains a lot but, to date, have not been successful but it is being monitored.
We have finally secured the use of the speed sign in our village, we share it with 3 other Parishes and have it on a rota. It seems to have had quite a positive effect; drivers do take note of their speed and adjust it accordingly.
In September we invited the new Head of the school to come and have a chat with us about her plans and ideas as we are always keen to support the school.
Marshchapel school is now Nursery to Year 2 (age 2-7 years) and the older children attend the federation school at Grainthorpe.
The large tree on the Playing Field suffered a catastrophic incident at the hands of some mindless individuals and it has cost quite a substantial sum to try and save the tree, with the help of a professional tree surgeon. Hopefully we have done so but it will take time to recover. At this point please may I ask you to ring101 if you see or witness any vandalism/unsocial behaviour in the village.
In October we got our ‘phone box professionally repainted, then we had the idea of renting out the panes to local advertisers. This has been a huge success and has helped the PC re-coup well over half the sum it paid out. There are still a few panes left if anyone is interested.
We did briefly look at rural housing and the possibility of utilising the land at Hall Garth but this was halted due to the person leading it at East Lindsey moving on. We do intend to try and get some further action with this.
We helped the local Archive Group with some funding due to problems with their web site and they have reported everything is ok again now.
The Police held a Community meeting in the village following a spate of burglaries and unsocial behaviour. This was well attended and gave good advice on house security.
We have monitored and commented upon quite a few planning applications and tree preservation works over the course of the year. We try to take a fair and unbiased view of any plans that come to us for comment and look carefully at any planning issues that neighbours ‘flag up’ to us. Sometimes a Councillor has a pecuniary interest and this is always noted in the minutes and they take no part in any vote.
We finished the year on a sad note, the playing field fence was vandalised and needs a more substantial repair this time. Thank you to the individuals who effected a temporary one, we are very grateful. We did contact Anglian Water over this, since they share the boundary and they have said that they will replace the fence for us.
The Councillors all work hard and give their time freely for this village, please help us look after it and if you see anything that you know is wrong please contact 101.
We will, shortly, be looking to co-opt one more Councillor to our team. If you are interested and would like to be involved please talk to any of the Councillors or the Clerk and watch for our notice and then apply.
Finally my job would be impossible without the support from my fellow Parish Councillor’s and the Clerk, every one of them has a key part in the way our Parish Council runs day to day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their work and constant efforts.
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Although we are not obliged to report on the Trust I would like to say that the vouchers were well received at Christmas along with the village calendar which Vicky worked so hard on.
We lost a tenant of the cottage just before Christmas but have a new one now and hope that he settles in to our cottage and village life.
The Trustees are committed to handling the affairs of the Trust fairly and will not tolerate any circumstances that are not in the interests of the Trust.
If you or someone you know could benefit from the Trust, which operates under a heading of ‘in need’, please do not hesitate to contact any of the Councillors or the Clerk. It will be handled in the strictest confidence.
Finally, if you are now a Pensioner, in receipt of state pension, and you are not on our Parcel/Voucher List, please let the Clerk know, we are not mind readers and everyone now looks so young!!
Cllr Paul Rickett – Chair 14th May, 2019