Annual Parish Meeting 2021 – Chairman’s Report

Chairman’s Report 2021

Last summer seemed to be dominated by problems arising from an influx of visitors to Neigh Bridge Country Park. Neigh Bridge acted as a sort of safety valve for the rest of the Water Park as the lakes nearby tightened their controls. Parking, litter and anti-social behaviour were the three main problems, none of which have easy solutions. During the winter I attended three multi-agency online meetings to explore the problems in the Water Park as a whole and to try and come up with some ways of ameliorating them. It was helpful to know that the problems at Neigh Bridge were widely known although as yet I haven’t heard of any neat solutions.

Recently the Parish Council heard some proposals from the rebranded Cotswold Lakes Trust about how they planned to be more of a presence at Neigh Bridge. This included employing someone to work weekends during the “season”, a new children’s playground, a pop up cafe, portaloos, 30 minutes free parking. We were heartened that the Trust had given so much thought in trying to improve the culture at Neigh Bridge. Time will tell, I guess!

When the first lockdown occurred last year and we could no longer hold meetings in the Village Hall, the Parish Council held weekly teleconferencing meetings. This was before we became aware of Zoom. As the year progressed we turned to Zoom and held monthly meetings once again. By taking out a subscription we could increase the number of participants and the length of the meetings. This was particularly useful when considering the planning application for the development of the land to the South-East of Ashland House. There was a very strong feeling in the village that this development should not go ahead and many people attended the January meeting to express this. It was gratifying to see the expertise within the village put to good use when formulating the objections. The Parish Council was able draw on all this when submitting its own objections. We are still awaiting a decision.

One of the achievements last year was the refurbishment of the telephone box and the installation of the second defibrillator. Several people helped but the driving force behind this achievement was Karen and Lynton Mogridge, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. A small team was formed to do the required weekly checks and their involvement is much appreciated.

Another achievement which has recently taken place is the creation of a new website for the village. We are very grateful for the work that Peter Watkins did in developing and maintaining the previous website for many years. It was great that Mike McKeown and Jon Lunn volunteered to create the new website. Migrating everything over took some doing and involved consulting with different groups in the village. The end result is very eye catching and user friendly. Several people have been trained to update the website so that every change does not have to go through one administrator.

The Village Lake has been a blessing for many people during the lockdowns by providing a safe space to walk and commune with nature. Mike Wilding (Chair of the Village Lake Committee) will report on all the developments there during the last year. On behalf of the Parish I would like to thank the committee for the work they have put in to make the lake such a special place. I was involved in helping to acquire the £5,000 from the Calor Rural Community Fund and I’m pleased to say that money has now been spent on such items as the eco island, the pond dipping platform and the shed to name just a few.

Although this is the second year that the village has not been able to convene the early Spring litter pick, thanks to several people who regularly pick up litter on their walks etc., the verges and footpaths are not looking too bad at all. Of course it’s frustrating to see the wanton throwing of cans and bottles in hedgerows and ditches but I think it would be so much worse if we just left it, so please help if you can.

We are very close to the completion of the process for the Neighbourhood Development Plan when the referendum takes place on May 6th. Although Ron Monroe and Sarah Powell stepped down from the Parish Council at the last election they volunteered to continue to see the NDP through to its conclusion. At times this has involved quite a bit of work for them and this has been much appreciated. I’m sure they will be relieved once the referendum has taken place and the result known.

I took over from Roger Sleeman as the Chair of the Parish Council in October. We lost so much experience at the time of the last election that it was really helpful that Roger, with his 40 years experience on the Parish Council, took on the role of Chair until the rest of us had a chance to find our feet. There are still many occasions when we are catching up to know the historical context of issues that arise but I think we make up for some of this with the enthusiasm of newcomers.

We eventually managed to get much of the footpath in The Street resurfaced. I have come to realise how important it is for the Parish Council to continue to exert pressure to get things done. However, there are different ways of doing this and I think we have seen the benefit of our Parish Clerk, Wendy Cartwright, forming positive working relationships with key people in the District and County Councils. Having said that we now have to face the fact that Wendy will be stepping down from this role, to focus on her music teaching, in a couple of months time. We are in the process of finding her successor. I’m sure the whole village would like to thank Wendy for what she has achieved and the manner with which she has done it.

I will end by saying that we plan to continue with Parish Council meetings via Zoom for the time being. While the health advice continues to identify the risk, in relation to COVID-19, as people meeting indoors it seems sensible to use Zoom. Anyone can attend these meetings. If any of you need help with how to use Zoom please let me know. Also you can approach any of the Parish Councillors if you wish to make a point or highlight a problem.

John Whitwell

April 2021