Annual Report 2005/2006
1. Role of the Parish Council
There are currently three tiers of local government within the County, excluding the city. The County Council is responsible for some of the main aspects of national life, i.e. services for young people (e.g. schools and other education services, care for families and children), services for adults and the elderly (e.g. social care, disabled people), major environmental issues (e.g. road maintenance and traffic management, waste disposal, public transport) and working with the community (e.g. libraries, community safety and development, tourism, developing the local community).
The Borough Council administers a range of services including housing, community areas and leisure facilities (e.g. Keyworth Leisure Centre), planning applications and control of development, licensing, crime prevention and community safety, pollution control, collection and recycling of refuse, street cleaning and electoral registrations and elections.
Whilst having no executive power and minimum spending authority, the Parish Council of Stanton-on-the-Wolds plays a vital role in representing local issues and helping to improve the quality of life for parishioners. The Parish Council provides the opportunity for people to influence decisions that touch their lives. The Parish Council provides a conduit to the County Council and Borough Council.
2. Membership of the Parish Council
Your Parish Council members are volunteers elected or co-opted to serve a period of up to four years. The current Councillors were appointed in May 2003, or later if co-opted, and the next Parish election is due to be held in May 2007. It is open to any person on the electoral roll to stand for election to the Parish Council.
Current councillors are:
Chairman: Dennis Hackett; Vice-chair: Margaret Healy
Bryan Baines; Roy Butler; Jim Goodman; Alan Jackson; Alec McKee
The Parish Clerk is Mike Elliott, who is also clerk for other Parishes and who operates from 19-21 Main Street, Keyworth, telephone 937 6506. Mr Elliott is a “qualified” clerk in that he passed with honours his examination in Local Council Administration.
3. Planning
The broad aim of the Parish Council in terms of planning is to keep Stanton-on-the-Wolds a pleasant place to live avoiding inappropriate development. The Parish Council is asked by Rushcliffe Borough Council to comment on every planning application within the Parish boundary. Applications can be for new build, extensions, revised access and footpath diversions. It is important to stress that the Parish Council is only advisory to Rushcliffe Borough Council the final decision on each application rests with the relevant planning authority within the Borough Council.
When the Parish Council’s comments on an application are submitted to the Borough Council they take note of the input while also applying planning rules that are in force at the time.
When considering planning applications, the Parish Council takes into account the following:
- that the proposed development, in terms of size, location and design is in keeping with the character of existing properties and the surrounding area
- that there is no over-development of the plot
- that the proposed development does not have an overshadowing or overbearing effect on neighbouring properties
- that there will be no detrimental impact on the privacy of neighbouring properties
- that the proposed development does not create a terracing effect
- that appropriate access and parking have been allowed for in the plans
The Chairman normally visits or contacts the neighbour(s) adjacent to the property for which planning approval is being sought.
Over the past twelve months, the Parish Council has dealt with around 30 planning applications. On occasions the Borough Council has approved an application contrary to advice from the Parish Council.
4. Community Partnership
The Neighbourhood Watch is a scheme that has been in operation in Stanton-in the-Wolds since the late 1980s. Initially there were two separate schemes, one based on Stanton Lane and the other on the far end of Browns Lane and Melton Road. More recently the two schemes amalgamated and at the same time the scheme has expanded to cover most of the village and part of Nicker Hill (Keyworth). Very few houses in the village are outside the scheme.
Neighbours group together to watch out for each other’s houses, but in return also receive valuable information from the police about known local criminal activities. The police are very supportive of Neighbourhood Watch and many insurance companies offer discount on house insurance if the property is within the Neighbourhood Watch scheme. Two meetings of neighbours are held each year, normally at the Golf Club in January and July. Dr Paul Roebuck, who would be pleased to hear from potential new members via the Parish Clerk, administers the scheme.
5. Report on Activities in Previous Year
During the past year, the Parish Council continued with its policy of having bi-monthly meetings held in January, March, May, July, September and November. The January meeting was again the occasion when budget was set for the following year in this case for 2006/07 financial year. As usual, work was also conducted between meetings, including consideration of planning applications, but it is important to add that decisions other than planning were only taken at Parish Council meetings.
The Parish Council also continued to publish a bi-monthly Parish Newsletter, which has proved to be a welcome and informative source of information for the village. The Parish Council remained active on local environmental issues, street and gutter cleaning and advising residents of local facilities such as the mobile library service and the Keyworth community care bus service. The annual survey of all footpaths in the village was carried out.
Through its Parish Newsletter the Parish Council encouraged the involvement of parishioners in local community matters by attendance at the bi-monthly meetings. The last item on the agenda at each meeting is for a public session when any parishioner is welcome to raise any matter of concern or interest.
Publication on the History of Stanton-on-the-Wolds
The main initiative of the Parish Council over the past twelve months was the decision to proceed with a publication on the history of Stanton-on-the-Wolds. Councillors were not aware of a stand-alone publication on the history of the village and it was felt this omission should remedied. Information on Stanton-on-the-Wolds is contained in various publications, for example in more recent times in publications on Keyworth.
The first task was to find a parishioner who felt able to take on the role of compiler/editor for the publication. The emphasis was judged to be on compiling and editing since much of the material already exists through the Stanton Local History Group. We are extremely grateful to the members of this group for giving us permission to use their published work on the web and in existing publications. Following two earlier expressions of interest from parishioners via the Parish Newsletter, the Parish Council was delighted that Alan Hunt of Melton Road came forward to take on the role of compiler/editor, although work in progress has shown that authorship has been added to the role. Mr Hunt is a member of the Local History Group and the Parish Council see the publication as a partnership with the Group. Mr Hunt is carrying out the work as a “labour of love” and he is aiming to finish the publication during the autumn ready for printing and distribution by the end of 2006. The intention of the Parish Council is that each household in the village will receive one free copy of the history.
Printing will be commissioned via a printing company in Nottingham, which specialises in local history publications. The Parish Council had detailed discussions with the Countryside Agency about the possibility of a Local Heritage Initiative grant, but in the end decided not to go down that route, which would have involved in the opinion of the Parish Council unnecessary time and expenditure. Instead, the Parish Council is pleased that through the efforts of County Councillor, John Cottee, a bid for £1K to the County Council has been successful.
It was announced at the 2004 Annual Parish Meeting that the Parish Council was likely to apply for Quality Council status. This was a Government initiative announced in March 2003, which in theory would enhance the status and role of Parish and Town Councils. To take on Quality Status would mean Parish or Town Councils meeting certain criteria. In the event, the majority of councils in England have not proceeded with applying for Quality Status. Very few types of Council in Nottinghamshire have applied and those that have achieved Quality Status have been principally Town Councils.
After full consideration, the Parish Council decided at its July meeting not to proceed with Quality Status at the present time. However, the Parish Council said that it would act, as far as possible, within the guidelines for a Quality Status Parish Council and, for example, this new style annual report fulfils one of the criteria.
Speed Petition
The Parish Council has been concerned for some years about the speed of traffic on the A606 through the village. It is understood that Stanton-on-the-Wolds is the only village on the A606 between Stamford and Nottingham that does not have a speed limit. During the summer of 2005 a total of 209 people signed a petition seeking a speed limit on the A606. The petition was handed to County Councillor, John Cottee with a copy sent to our local Member of Parliament, Kenneth Clark. The upshot was that the Parish Council was informed that the County Council is looking to review the speed limit in all villages to start a prioritised programme of implementation over the next two years, to reduce speed limits. This will apply to roads that are classed as de-restricted.
The Parish Council will press for early implementation in Stanton-on-the-Wolds.
Unregistered Land
Following an enquiry from the Land Registry about unregistered land in the Parish, three small parcels of land at the junction of Stanton Lane and Browns Lane were identified as unregistered. It was known that residents with a Keyworth connection have occupied the two strips of land on the eastern side of Thurlby Lane for some years. One of these strips has been occupied on an intermittent basis. Following enquiries by the Parish Council the occupiers of these strips of land have been identified and discussions about the future of the land are in hand. The Parish Council will be requesting that one of the strips is cleared of unsightly material. A small strip of land on the western side of Browns Lane is being dealt with in the same way.
6. Financial Report for 2005/06
Parish Councils are required to provide parishioners with details of expenditure and the annual precept. Expenditure during 2005/06 financial year was £3,149.41 including £333.27 expenditure on insurance and £225.00 on grass cutting. The Parish Council’s precept for the 2006/2007 financial year is £4,542 which includes as yet unidentified capital expenditure. The Parish Clerk will present the financial report for 2005/06 as a separate agenda item at the meeting.
For More Information Contact:
Stanton on the Wolds Parish Council
Clerk to the Council, 19-21 Main Street, Keyworth
Tel: 0115 937 6506