LITTLE WITLEY PARISH COUNCIL
Annual Report 2007/2008
This has been a successful year for the Parish Council with good attendances at most of the meetings. Our Clerk achieved his qualifications and prepared the application for Quality Parish Status. This was achieved and the certificate was presented to us by Mr. John Duddington, Chairman of the County Accreditation Panel on Monday 14th January. Little Witley is the twelfth quality parish in Worcestershire and is by far the smallest parish to have gained this award. It is now hoped that the promised financial benefits of having attained Quality Parish Status will be forthcoming. During this year quality parishes have been involved in trial litter picking schemes and a number of vehicle activated speed indicators are being purchased for use by lengthsmen in quality parishes.
The Neighbourhood Watch Scheme is flourishing.
The Parish Plan was funded by an “Awards for All” grant via the Parish Council. The parishioners are to be congratulated for the high level of response to the survey. The Parish Plan has been published and the Parish Council are supporting the endeavours to fulfil the objectives detailed in the plan.
The totally unexpected flooding that occurred during June and July caused some problems in the village and Worcestershire County Council are still involved in investigating solutions to prevent further risk of flooding in the future.
The restructuring of the County Council highways services has been completed although there has been no marked improvement in their response to highways and drainage problems.
Planning applications during the past year have been mainly alterations and extensions to existing properties in the village and the majority have been approved.
Our lengthsman Chris Jones continues to provide an excellent service and funding for the scheme has been confirmed for a further year.
Several of our Councillors have undertaken training by the Worcestershire County Association of Local Councils which has given them a good overview of the workings of local government at parish level.
Our village website was launched in the summer of 2007. This gives not only information on Parish Council matters but other items of local interest. It is hoped that the scope of this website can be increased with the help of local residents.
A grant has been obtained to cover the cost of resurfacing both of the footpaths within the village. This work was undertaken in April.
External matters including the possible closure of rural post offices and the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy covering housing and infrastructure needs in the area up to 2026 concern the Parish Council. We are making representations on both of these issues to try to ensure that our surroundings and services do not suffer.
The Parish Council continues to give financial support to St. Michael’s Church, Nora Parsons Day Centre and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
We are very appreciative of the volunteer help given by parishioners in so many ways including litter picking and the distribution of information on the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. A lot of help will be needed to fulfil many of the items that have arisen from the Parish Plan and the strong community spirit here in Little Witley will certainly make this achievable.
Peter Hill
Chairman
Little Witley Parish Council 28th May 2008
| Income & Expenditure Account for the year ended 31st March 2008 | ||||||||||
| MAIN No. 1 ACCOUNT & BUSINESS ACCOUNT | Notes | PARISH PLAN No. 2 ACCOUNT | ||||||||
| Income | Income | |||||||||
| Precept | £4,852.00 | Awards for All grant | Nil | |||||||
| Bank interest | £131.07 | |||||||||
| Footpath resurfacing grant | £1,000.00 | 1) | ||||||||
| PAYE on ;ine credit | £150.00 | |||||||||
| VAT refund | £183.87 | |||||||||
| Government Stock Interest | £0.68 | |||||||||
| Refund of Lengthsman's Costs | £1,999.00 | |||||||||
| Lengthsman overpayment 2006/7 | -£170.00 | |||||||||
| TOTAL INCOME | £8,146.62 | |||||||||
| Less Expenditure | Less Expenditure | |||||||||
| Insurance | £380.70 | Printing & stationery | £1,217.11 | |||||||
| Clerk's Salary + PAYE | £2,473.89 | Survey results analysis | £390.00 | |||||||
| Public meetings - hall hire & catering | £348.76 | |||||||||
| Clerk's Expenses | Design of final publication | £175.00 | ||||||||
| Telephone | £13.00 | Grant refund to Awards for All | £1,794.13 | |||||||
| Stationery & Postage | £32.19 | |||||||||
| Travel | £24.59 | |||||||||
| Office Facility & Internet | £180.00 | |||||||||
| Website hosting fee | £58.50 | |||||||||
| Donations | ||||||||||
| CAB | £100.00 | |||||||||
| Friends of St Michael | £150.00 | |||||||||
| Nora Parsons Day Centre | £100.00 | |||||||||
| Audit | ||||||||||
| Internal | £50.00 | |||||||||
| External | £158.63 | |||||||||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||||||
| Footpath repairs | ||||||||||
| CALCSubscription | £125.95 | |||||||||
| Training | £265.13 | |||||||||