2023 Annual Parish Meeting

Marshchapel  Parish  Council

Chair Report – 2nd  May 2023

Another year has passed and in our 4 yearly cycle, this was year 4, which means it is an election year.

Seven parishioners stood for election and as there was less than 8,  all 7 were returned unopposed, we will, in due course, co-opt a further member so we have the required number of eight Councillors, when we are advised to do so.

We will hold our Annual Parish Council meeting on Thursday 25th May when we will elect a Chair, Vice Chair and other representatives for the coming year.

We started off the year celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, what an achievement, for such a respected and gracious lady.  We joined with Grainthorpe Parish Council to give every child in Marshchapel and Grainthorpe School, from Reception to Y6,  a Jubilee Mug and we decorated the lamp posts with Jubilee plaques.  We also bought a Jubilee Bench which has been placed permanently in the Church yard at St. Mary’s in a place for quiet reflection.  We do intend to purchase another one to site in the village but had to put this ‘on hold’ due to the spate of vandalism we were experiencing, which has since been placed in police hands.

During the summer purple lidded recycling bins were introduced to Marshchapel to help with more recycling,  This bin is for paper and cardboard.

Unfortunately,  there was an incident with the fencing at the Playing Field but this was promptly repaired and we are pleased to say that the old football pavilion was finally removed,  which enabled us to have a good tidy up on the field and around the perimeter.

During the year Internetty have moved into the village with their ‘Fibre to the Home’ infrastructure and many villagers are now able to experience a much faster and efficient service.  This service will be available at the Village Hall, in due course,  providing free internet for all users whilst on the premises.

The future of The White Horse has been closely watched with a number of Landlords coming and going for various reasons.  The Parish Council are monitoring this situation and have looked at making this a public amenity.

We really wanted to have a Christmas tree in the village but ran into all sorts of difficulties with health and safety regulations this year.  Hopefully we can sort it out for another year, it is our intention to try and get one permanently installed.

Thanks to a donation from our two District Councillors we have been able to purchase a new notice board, the old one has seen better days and has served us well.

After a request from residents in Salters Close the PC have bought a push along salt spreader for use on the pavements between Salters Close and the shop.  Most of the residents in Salters Close are elderly and found the icy conditions very frightening.  We hope this helps them.

Cllrs Osbourne, Henderson and Pursey have done a good job keeping the War Memorial gardens neat and tidy and we are extremely grateful for their help.  We would also like to thank Cllr Osbourne for getting the bench refurbished at the Village Hall site with help from Kez.

Planning applications continued to come in, which we monitor and comment on.  If any Parishioner needs our help in submitting their views and comments please get in touch with the Clerk.    Our website is full of information about the Parish Council and all activities in the village.  Please check it out at:   marshchapel.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk

Finally, it should be noted that none of the above would be possible without the continued support from all the Parish Councillors, the District Councillors and the work put in by our Clerk.  I am very grateful for their efforts and the work they all put in.

Councillor Paul Rickett

Chairman – Marshchapel Parish Council

2nd May, 2023