Chairman's report 2021
Irnham Parish Council AGM 5 May 2021
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Irnham Parish Annual General Meeting, Zoom is not the ideal medium for such a meeting but we have been obliged to use it for parish council meetings during the last year and it has enabled us to carry out our parish business meetings. Hopefully, all being well, this will be the last time that we are obliged to use it and we will be face to face again soon.
Due to the way zoom works may I ask you to mute your appliance and during the open meeting raise your hand so that we can allocate space for people to speak rather than have people speaking over each other.
The covid pandemic has restricted the parish council arranging any public events for the parish but, when we are permitted, we will resume some simple events.
Perhaps the most notable thing that happened to the parish this last year was winning the small parish best kept village competition. The event was run by Lincolnshire County Council and judged without advising parishes that any judgement was taking place. So, on behalf of the parish thank you all for contributing with your nice gardens as it earned us £400 to be spent to benefit the parish, and as you will have noticed the “gold” litter bin on the front lawn at the Griffin Inn is our trophy for the event.
Last year the council asked for views on what are known as ‘village gates’ a simple structure to reinforce the entrance to our parish villages and we hoped remind motorists that they are in a village area, to slow down and take care. In Irnham by the majority response the idea was rejected although planters were thought by some parishioner’s to be acceptable. In Bulby the response was in favour and so ‘gates’ have been installed. While on this subject I would like to point out a Parish Council cannot just do just what it likes, there are rules we have to follow. The money comes from our allocated precinct, in this case we have to have permission from the road authority and locations agreed with them before anything can be done. The items must be made and installed. All this only happens with time and effort given freely by volunteers. So, our thanks to Jenny Crow (Parish Councillor, and our clerk) who negotiated and met with the road’s authority for the permissions, David Hall for purchasing materials and manufacture and Andrew Crow for installing.
A similar scheme is being considered for Hawthorpe. Being a small hamlet Hawthorpe does not have speed restrictions and it is hoped that ‘gates’ will help reduce speeding vehicles.
Due to Covod the phone kiosk book swop in Irnham has been closed for the last year but we hope it will be available to parishioners again shortly. This facility is maintained and looked after for us by Mr and Mrs Dobson and I would like to thank them for this.
In Bulby the phone kiosk is used as an information centre with local leaflets. This year the Bulby defibrillator has been mounted on the kiosk and our thanks are due to Andrew Crow for this work and Mr XXXXXX for the necessary electrical work. Also Mrs XXXXXXX for looking after the kiosk.
After many years of use the Parish notice board in Irnham required maintenance his has been carried out and has now been reinstalled, looking like new, and our thanks to David Hall for this renovation.
Councillor Jon Crook proposed that the parish purchase some daffodil bulbs which were divided between the three conurbations and planted by volunteers in the autumn, for which we thank them, this enhanced the existing spring display which we know was enjoyed by parishioner’s and passing traffic. We propose extending the spring flowering season by purchasing additional varieties this year for future generations to enjoy. We also benefit from the South Kesteven County Councils scheme to tidy villages.
Jenny Crow featured in a past television broadcast from Irnham promoting this village clean up scheme which all helps to keep our parish relevant.
As a council when dealing with planning applications we endeavour to keep our approvals to applications within the aesthetic vales held by parishioner’s, which is not always reciprocated by the district authority but recent applications passed by ours and regional council are mainly within this remit.
Recently we asked if the ford at Bulby could be road signed with better depth and hazard warnings as drivers do not see it as a hazard but a challenge, vehicles get stuck in it as even 4x4’s can be carried under the adjacent road bridge in exceptional conditions. Unfortunately this request was misunderstood by the road authority and resulting road signs ‘promoted’ the existence of the ford. This resulted in additional road traffic through Bulby, with families even parking in the ford for photographs, a delivery van needing a tractor to tow it out, etc., etc., luckily we have the efforts of Councillor Amanda Ayre, who remonstrates with the council on road related matters trying to amend this problem.
We endeavour to advise parishioner’s of events and activities within our parish and produce our seasonal leaflets to keep information flowing about parish matters within the area. We will continue to do this.
Many people contribute to the, as smooth as we can make it, work within the parish but our very special thanks must be given to councillor Jenny Crow who freely gives her time to being our very active Parish Clerk, for her dedication and perfection to this duty I thank her on behalf of all parishioners.