GOODWORTH CLATFORD PARISH COUNCIL

PLANS for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June were outlined by Jane Eastwood at the March meeting of the parish council. This will involve closing part of Village Street to allow for a street party. There will be a fancy dress competition, races and a treasure hunt for the children. Festivities will go on into the evening with a bring your own picnic and live band, and there will be a competition for the best dressed house. Costs will be kept to a minimum to maximise support for the day and make it a happy and inexpensive event for all the family. Thanks to an anonymous donor a scarecrow competition is being sponsored.

Recreation ground

Following a public meeting, which outlined plans to upgrade the play equipment, Cllr Paul Doran and volunteers conducted a survey of more than 200 homes in the village to see what use is made of the current facility and thoughts on how it might be improved.

With great enthusiasm Cllr Doran reported that a group of people, some of whom attended the meeting, had pledged support for the project. He asked the council to sanction the group to embark on a series of fundraising events and manage the project which was agreed. It is thought that a more extensive refurbishment of the playground will appeal to more age groups and the cost may exceed £40,000. The council agreed in principle to increase its contribution towards the project from £15,000 to £22,000.

Councillors discussed the controversial issue of banning dogs from using the area entirely due to the health hazards they left behind for children and those playing on the football pitch to find. They will be investigating the possibility of passing a bylaw to exclude dogs permanently from June 1 and ways the order can be enforced. Support from TVBC's dog warden will be sought.

Village shop

Martin Jourdan, chairman of the village shop committee, was pleased to report an upturn in sales and expressed his thanks to customers old and new. He reported that the re-designed shop was definitely viable and worthy of the council's financial support as discussed at their previous meeting. The committee's gratitude to about a dozen volunteers, who have put in an enormous amount of time and effort to keep the shop going, was also recorded.

Mark Haszlakiewicz presented the accounts for the past few months which gave a more detailed financial picture. About a third of the gross margin comes from newspaper business. There are plans to increase the delivery charge but not to its full cost.

The council will start paying the village shop rent of £335 monthly by standing order from April.

Finance

Councillors were shocked to receive a bill of £1841 for last year's election expenses which was almost twice the expected amount. This means that a slight year end surplus is now a deficit which the council will have to cover by not re-investing all of its maturing funds. Some of this money may also be reserved for the replacement and refurbishment of playground equipment. The remainder will be re-invested in a fund which offers the most interest.

Planning

It was agreed not to object to a retrospective application for a ground-mounted solar array at Barrow Hill House on the grounds that residents' efforts to generate their own electricity should be supported. Planning chairman Geoff Scard added that a condition be made to minimise the visual impact of the scheme, which is outside the residential area and in designated countryside, using evergreen hedging.

Affordable housing

The council has invited Jane Rukin, of Community Action Hampshire, to make a presentation about affordable housing at the village club on April 3. All residents are invited to attend and hear what options might be available. Councillors will be able to discuss with her whether there is a need for another scheme, possible sites, and rules for how people qualify to live in such homes. Residents of Wherwell and Upper Clatford will also be invited.

Parish Assembly

The next parish assembly will be on Thursday May 24. All residents are invited to attend and enjoy some light refreshments. Historically, this was the annual opportunity for villagers to exercise their right to ask questions and raise important issues with the council but, as this is now encouraged at every meeting, this is a more light-hearted event. It is hoped that people will be interested to hear about what the council has been doing to enhance life in the village. Cllr Alan Willens will give another presentation of Ivy Sheldon's slides of the village after the interval.

Everyone is welcome to attend the next meeting of the parish council which will be held at the village club on 1 May 2012 at 7pm.