Chairman's Report - 17 April 2006

I had the honour of being voted Chairman at the October Parish Council meeting and since then, I have done my best to continue the work of my predecessor, Greg Watson.

This has been a good year, with several issues finally being resolved. The main one was the issue of double taxation, especially in respect of the charge for emptying the dog bins. The good news is that the City of York Council agreed to take ownership of the bins from 1 April 2005 and we should not be receiving any more charges.

We also have to pay for the upkeep and repair of the bus shelter on the village green. City of York Council has agreed to replace it with a more modern shelter, which will mean that the people waiting will be able to stand or even sit inside the shelter and see the bus approaching. We hope there will be less vandalism of the new shelter but, if there is, it will be the responsibility of City of York Council. We have chosen a design of shelter which should tone in well with the village green.

The Parish Council hired City of York Council to clean out the culvert, which runs beneath the village green. City of York Council has also built a silt trap, which should delay or prevent future build-ups of silt in the culvert.

With the much-appreciated help of several volunteers, all the allotments are now restored and let and the fence adjoining the school has been repaired.

The Parish Council has implemented new Financial Regulations and has amended the Standing Orders. Copies of both of these, plus other policy and procedure documents are available on request from the Clerk.

After some disappointing controversy, largely reflecting events which took place up to 11 months before, the Parish Council was able to set a precept for 2006/07 of £13,500, a significant reduction from last year, despite new proposals to spend nearly £1,500 for the young people of the village, continued support for the Community Centre and a commitment to the production of a quarterly newsletter.

The first newsletter was issued in February and we were pleased to receive some responses through the reply slip. The regular issue of newsletters is one of the things we need to do to gain Quality Parish status. The clerk has also been studying hard to this end. When we do achieve Quality Parish status, it will empower the Parish council to carry out more functions for the benefit of Upper Poppleton.

The biggest disappointment this year has been the continuing shortfall in the membership of the Parish Council. There have been several resignations and, although Richard Bramall, Ted Kendall and Stuart Robson have joined the Council, it remains two people short of its full complement of nine. We would welcome enthusiastic new members with open arms.

Thankyou

Anne Hook

17 April 2006